Official Game Preview: Raptors at Hawks

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, High5 said:

I'm relieved we finally beat them, but this win didn't do much for my confidence in a potential playoff series. Their backcourt was 13/39 and 4/7 from the line and it still came down to the wire. 

They were 13/39 for a reason. Our defense was good, we actually kept Derozan from living in the paint and getting to the freethrow line. Thanks Thabo. 

These are how playoff games look.

[High5]

3 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

They were 13/39 for a reason. Our defense was good, we actually kept Derozan from living in the paint and getting to the freethrow line. Thanks Thabo. 

These are how playoff games look.

Sorry, but there's no way DeRozan ever goes 7-24 with only 2 FT attempts again. 

[Lurker]

3 minutes ago, High5 said:

Sorry, but there's no way DeRozan ever goes 7-24 with only 2 FT attempts again.

Against Atlanta alone, if Sefolosha is main defender than that 7-24 line may happen, he was named to an all defensive team in the past for a reason.

Now the free throws I doubt it, but we saw why Sefolosha is>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Bazemore as a defensive player. Sefolosha is more disciplined in general on both sides of the ball even if he's not a good offensive player.

Edited April 8, 2016 by Lurker

[Guest]

Just now, High5 said:

Sorry, but there's no way DeRozan ever goes 7-24 with only 2 FT attempts again. 

Well, it just happened so how can you say it'll never happen again?

Unlikely?  Perhaps.  Impossible?  Nah.  I'd challenge you to check out some of the box scores from their last playoff appearance.

[Lurker]

Now I'm not saying Sefolosha would stop DeRozan, but he'd make him be less efficient at the least, free throws on the other hand, idk...

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, High5 said:

Sorry, but there's no way DeRozan ever goes 7-24 with only 2 FT attempts again. 

If Thabo is guarding him it can happen. Baze is too light to keep Derozan out the paint, Thabo's length and size offers a little more resistance. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Lurker said:

Against Atlanta alone, if Sefolosha is main defender than that 7-24 line may happen, he was named to an all defensive team for a reason.

Now the free throws I doubt it, but we saw why Sefolosha is>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Bazemore as a defensive player. Sefolosha is more disciplined in general on both sides of the ball even if he's not a good offensive player.

Bazemore is AWFUL on defense.  Very low defensive BBIQ.  I give him credit for hustle but against smart offensive players ("smart" as in knowledgeable on positioning and getting fouled, among other traits) he's way out of his depth.

[Guest]

Agreeing with Lurker makes me feel dirty, lol (I kid, I kid)

[Plainview1981]

5 minutes ago, High5 said:

Sorry, but there's no way DeRozan ever goes 7-24 with only 2 FT attempts again. 

Maybe not that bad, but DeRozan is a fairly low percentage shooter by today's standards. 

[Peoriabird]

1 minute ago, kg01 said:

5 minutes ago, High5 said:

Sorry, but there's no way DeRozan ever goes 7-24 with only 2 FT attempts again. 

 

Hopefully there is no way Bud marches out a Schröder/Hinrich backcourt again and they go 0-8 with 3 turnovers

[Peoriabird]

1 minute ago, Peoriabird said:

Hopefully there is no way Bud marches out a Schröder/Hinrich backcourt again and they go 0-8 with 3 turnovers

And oh yeah no free throws

[Lurker]

1 minute ago, Peoriabird said:

Hopefully there is no way Bud marches out a Schröder/Hinrich backcourt again and they go 0-8 with 3 turnovers

It was mainly Teague/Hinrich, and it was a disaster. Should shut up some people on how taking Teague off the ball will actually help him. It won't unless he re learns how to play off the ball again like he did at Wake Forest.

[Plainview1981]

Tonight was a solid defensive effort... Not a great offensive game. Teague was really the only starter to shoot that well, but luckily Scott and Hardaway Jr were both on in the same game.

The Hawks will have to make games ugly to beat this team.  Hopefully they will not even have to run into them in the playoffs. 

 

To bad that Chicago is completely useless this season and so they did not beat Miami.

[JTB]

I knew the Hawks could beat the raptors as long as the refs don't hand the raptors a stupid amount of free throws.

Raptors are extremely mediocre if they can't get to the line in my opinion (not calling derozan or Lowry mediocre) and if the game is at least halfway  called decent I see the Hawks winning most games against them.

....we blew game 1 against the raps this season being up 20 going into the 4th, Hawks got too relaxed. But games 2 & 3 raptors just benefited from the whistle.

[High5]

I'm not saying the Hawks didn't earn the win with their defense, and I agree DeRozan's poor shooting can be exploited in future matchups, but my point is we had basically our best game imaginable defending their backcourt and it was still very close. If we have to rely on shutting both of them down to win then I don't like our chances. Sorry for raining on the parade. I probably hate Toronto more than anyone on here so nothing would make me happier than to eliminate them from the playoffs. 

[Lurker]

4 minutes ago, JTB said:

I knew the Hawks could beat the raptors as long as the refs don't hand the raptors a stupid amount of free throws.

Raptors are extremely mediocre if they can't get to the line in my opinion (not calling derozan or Lowry mediocre) and if the game is at least halfway  called decent I see the Hawks winning most games against them.

....we blew game 1 against the raps this season being up 20 going into the 4th, Hawks got too relaxed. But games 2 & 3 raptors just benefited from the whistle.

Still 100% disagree. The difference between how DeRozan has been defended has been huge in the home games in which both should have been won, and it coincides with Bazemore not starting. If Sefolosha starts they have a chance, if not it's going to be ugly. Bazemore is too undisciplined to guard DeRozan/Harden types in the playoffs.

[High5]

Also, I don't think you can be too critical of Bud for his lineups tonight. We were down a player and Hinrich/Muscala were part of that crazy 4th quarter in the last game against Toronto. I don't blame him for searching for something different in this matchup. 

And speaking of bad shooting, Dennis is now 8 for his last 40. He has more turnovers than assists during that stretch, too. Hopefully he gets this out of his system before the playoffs. 

Edited April 8, 2016 by High5

[Lurker]

DeRozan vs mostly Sefolosha:

Game 1: 43.8% shooting and NO FTs attempted on him directly (he drew the FTs on Bazemore IIRC).

Tonight: 29.2% shooting (7-24) and only 2 FTs.

DeRozan vs mostly Bazemore:

Game 2: 55% shooting (11-20) and 9 FTs drawn.

Game 3: 56.3% shooting and 6 FTs.

I rest my case.

[Guest]

7 minutes ago, High5 said:

I'm not saying the Hawks didn't earn the win with their defense, and I agree DeRozan's poor shooting can be exploited in future matchups, but my point is we had basically our best game imaginable defending their backcourt and it was still very close. If we have to rely on shutting both of them down to win then I don't like our chances. Sorry for raining on the parade. I probably hate Toronto more than anyone on here so nothing would make me happier than to eliminate them from the playoffs. 

In order to win in the playoffs our defense has to stop them, period.

If we cant stop both,  we have to stop one and limit the other.

If we can't stop either, then Teague has to match Lowry offensively and Millsap has to up his offensive game - he has struggled against Toronto.

Like Lurker pointed out, Thabo's discipline on defense vs Bazemore lack thereof is a big difference. Our bigs don't have to play a lot of  help  defense with Thabo guarding DeRozan, that's where he gets a lot if foul calls. 

 

[Guest]

Paul Millap has 25 blocks over the past seven games - that's some serious rim protection.