Official Game Thread: Hawks at Wizards: GAME 1

[hawkman]

36 minutes ago, Sarcatic1 said:

 A few of us have mentioned it all year that Sap struggles against stretch bigs. And its baffling as hell because he is a stretch big himself.  Both Morris twins have given him that work the last few years so today is no surprise.

Funny how a few of our former guys got labeled soft yet the Hawks got punked again today and those two aren't even with us anymore. Maybe a few more guys should have been getting that same criticism

When Gortat dunked on and then pushed Milsap, I was stunned that he just sort of dropped his head and walked off. That never happens in the NBA. That can't happen if you are the leader of this team. You're a 4 time All Star and Morris and Gortat both crossed the line. DO SOMETHING!!!! And once again, NOBODY on his team stepped up to defend him. Where were his teammates that love and respect him so much? This series should be the last we see of this team as it's currently constructed. I've seen enough.

[Peoriabird]

19 minutes ago, Lurker said:

Prefacing this with this is not a Howard bash fest, but there really isn't much you can do in this case with Howard not being able to guard stretchy big men. Putting Millsap with the second unit doesn't really work as he's not escaping the stretchy big with the first unit or the second unit.

They are not attached to the hip...You can stagger your line up to make it work.  Bud use to sub out Horford early all of the time.  Certainly after the 1st 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter, Bud should have responded with a line up change but he didn't.  Poor coaching.

[Lurker]

8 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

They are not attached to the hip...You can stagger your line up to make it work.  Bud use to sub out Horford early all of the time.  Certainly after the 1st 5 minutes of the 3rd quarter, Bud should have responded with a line up change but he didn't.  Poor coaching.

When Gortat isn't playing, Washington plays two stretch big men. Millsap is not escaping a stretch big man no matter what you do, unless you cut his minutes way down.

The roles are reversed from 2015 in the individual matchups, the Hawks bigs are likely to get their butts whipped for the rest of the series unless you cut Howard's minutes way down.

Edited April 17, 2017 by Lurker

[Peoriabird]

3 minutes ago, Lurker said:

When Gortat isn't playing, Washington plays two stretch big men. Millsap is not escaping a stretch big man no matter what you do, unless you cut his minutes way down.

Now I've figured out the issue...Bud and many posters rather lose than cut Millsap's minutes.   Interesting.

[Lurker]

Just now, Peoriabird said:

Now I've figured out the issue...Bud and many posters rather lose than cut Millsap's minutes.   Interesting.

Yeah, sure. Cut Millsap's minutes and get stomped by 20-30 or have the PG have an embarrassing 10 turnover performance like the last game in Washington for the next three games. Oh brother, I know Millsap is on your sh**list but both him and Howard had a shameful, embarrassing performance (Millsap mainly on defense) with me taking the temperature on social media and looking at the boxscore.

And if Howard had a good performance today, I'd be saying nothing but taking just 6 shots, making only 2 of them, and getting punked by the guy you mentored in Orlando is gutless. Only three players really showed up.

[Peoriabird]

Just now, Lurker said:

Yeah, sure. Cut Millsap's minutes and get stomped by 20-30 or have the PG have an embarrassing 10 turnover performance like the last game in Washington for the next three games. Oh brother, I know Millsap is on your sh**list but both him and Howard had a shameful, embarrassing performance (Millsap mainly on defense) with me taking the temperature on social media and looking at the boxscore.

And if Howard had a good performance today, I'd be saying nothing but taking just 6 shots, making only 2 of them, and getting punked by the guy you mentored in Orlando is gutless. Only three players really showed up.

 Millsap was a -20 +/-... The entire bench was positive! So who was making a positive impact on the game???  Wasn't Millsap

[Lurker]

1 minute ago, Peoriabird said:

 Millsap was a -20 +/-... The entire bench was positive! So who was making a positive impact on the game???  Wasn't Millsap

Howard was -21. So it wasn't Howard that made a positive impact either.

Edited April 17, 2017 by Lurker

[Peoriabird]

Just now, Lurker said:

Howard was -21.

This isn't a Either or here.  Ilyasova and Moose should have received more minutes....Maybe even Hump.

[Lurker]

4 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

This isn't a Either or here.  Ilyasova and Moose should have received more minutes....Maybe even Hump.

So by your flaming hot stance, Millsap and Howard should see zero minutes in the next game and Humphries and Ilyasova should start!

Good job! Can't use +/- when one of your boys also stunk at it.

[Peoriabird]

11 hours ago, Lurker said:

So by your flaming hot stance, Millsap and Howard should see zero minutes in the next game and Humphries and Ilyasova should start!

Good job! Can't use +/- when one of your boys also stunk at it.

No..They should see more advantageous minutes like when the match up favors them more than when  it is unfavorable to them.   For example, Ilyasova is a better match up against Morris

[Lurker]

Just now, Peoriabird said:

No..They should see advantageous minutes like when the match up favor them more than when unfavorable to them.   For example, Ilyasova is a better match up against Morris

Like I said, again, if Gortat isn't in, they replace one stretch big with two. They often play Morris with their bench when the bench comes in. There's no hiding for Millsap in this series, his history says he won't be able to guard Jason Smith either.

[Peoriabird]

Just now, Lurker said:

Like I said, again, if Gortat isn't in, they replace one stretch big with two. They often play Morris with their bench when the bench comes in. There's no hiding for Millsap in this series, his history says he won't be able to guard Jason Smith either.

If I were coach, I would roll the dice with Millsap vs Smith over Millsap vs Morris...Just saying.

[Lurker]

2 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

If I were coach, I would roll the dice with Millsap vs Smith over Millsap vs Morris...Just saying.

We've seen this story before... Granted Frye is better but he's not too much better. Millsap likely gives up 10-15 on jumpers to Smith.

[Peoriabird]

1 minute ago, Lurker said:

We've seen this story before... Granted Frye is better but he's not too much better. Millsap likely gives up 10-15 on jumpers to Smith.

The guy averages 5.7 points per game.  Even I don't think Millsap's defense is that bad

[Lurker]

6 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

The guy averages 5.7 points per game.  Even I don't think Millsap's defense is that bad

He's that bad against stretch big men.

[Peoriabird]

5 minutes ago, Lurker said:

He's that bad against stretch big men.

Smith still would be a better choice because the difference in skill level of the two guys

And by the way, Morris wasn't just shooting jumpers...He was taking Sap inside also

[rd79]

5 hours ago, hawkman said:

When Gortat dunked on and then pushed Milsap, I was stunned that he just sort of dropped his head and walked off.

This was really strange... Like a dog laying down in his back...

There he really showed he isn't an alpha. That's one problem of this team, no natural leader and Dennis won't get this role until Sap leaves. So Sap seems to think he is a leader and he may be the best player but he hasn't the heart to be a leader. 

But Bud seems to want to have the control and doesn't want a player to be a leader, that's why he humbles and benches Dennis sometimes. That also may be a reason Bud peaked with a team full of Betas...

[ISOJOE]

This should bei our starting lineup: Schro-THjr-TP-Ily-Sap; Ilyasova rebounded very well (9reb) in game one and Gortat would have to defend him. Good spacing for TP's and Dennis' Drives. I don't have a problem with Howard playing 25min but we should reduce the minutes with him and Dennis to an absolute minimum. 

[Bankingitbig]

11 hours ago, Peoriabird said:

 Millsap was a -20 +/-... The entire bench was positive! So who was making a positive impact on the game???  Wasn't Millsap

+/- isn't the greatest stat to compare players. Considering Millsap is primarily going against the Wizard's starting 5, whereas our bench played a decent stretch against their bench, which is known to be one of the worst benches in the playoffs. That said, Millsap needs to play better and I think he will next game. I want to see more of Ilyasova and Muscala instead of Howard though. Unless Howard is having a good game where he is being hyper-aggressive and getting a decent amount of OREBs.

[Guest]

I missed the game so I won't comment but the general tone from reading is...play better.

My biggest question is....

How did Prince play as a starter  in his very 1st NBA playoff game?