Lloyd Pierce Not Currently In Danger Of Losing Job As Head Coach Of Hawks

[hawkman]

46 minutes ago, marco102 said:

Also, this is what it's like to have a star player on your team.  When has yahoo, espn or any other station besides fox sports south cared about what's going on in the Hawks locker room. 

I may be in the minority, but I honestly don't like the extra press coverage. I'm also very uncomfortable with the amount of social media chatter surrounding the team this season. Too many trolls, unsolicited "loud and wrong" opinions, and BS narratives about this team. I'm failing to see how any of that is beneficial to a team full of impressionable young guys who I'm sure have social media accounts. Building team chemistry and getting acclimated to the NBA is hard enough by itself. The Hawks don't need the peanut gallery sticking their noses in the locker room making things worse.

[AHF]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

Blaming Trae, no. Blaming his fans for their current expectations without Collins, yes. Our results should be to no surprise especially considering Kevin was out for most of it as well.

Since Trae is balling, I fell his fans are putting pressure on LP when in reality, this mess is on TS

Trae has room to improve but that is expected for someone his age.  No criticism there from me.  Keep working to improve and elements of his game that are not where they need to be will get better over time.

Plenty of criticism to go around on all players, the coach and the GM beyond that.  It isn't a single cause leading to this record.  

[Watchman]

My 2 cents worth: 

I understand Trae's frustration. 

I would say the blame for this extremely disappointing season can be primarily pointed at Schlenk.  Not signing a real backup PG, letting Dedmon walk and not adding a decent replacement and, trading Baze and Prince for Turner and Crabbe was a bad call.  I have to disagree with those saying he built this roster for development.  Damian Jones is a huge bust, as are Crabbe and Turner.  Vince should have retired last summer.  I didn't realize until this season how bad Huerter is on defense.  Everytime you turn around, he's two steps behind his man, as he goes in for a layup.  Parker is good on offense, but bad on defense.  Trae is not much on defense.  Collins may have improved somewhat, be he isn't a stopper by any stretch of the imagination.  Len is inconsistent, along with the rookies.  All of them occasionally flash potential, but they are extremely inconsistent.  I don't share the fascination that some have on here for Bruno.  I am extremely disappointed with Collins poor judgment and suspension.  I don't think even the finest coach could win with this roster.  At some point, we have to start improving, or what few decent players we have will get out of here as fast as they can, especially Trae.  Coach Pierce makes really dumb decisions, especially with substitutions and lineups.  Vince is not a PF.  Other than Parker and Collins, we have no PFs.  I hope that Ressler will put some pressure on Schlenk, or he may never do something to improve this team.

[marco102]

Just some thoughts on who this veteran could be...

 

[bleachkit]

3 hours ago, marco102 said:

Also, this is what it's like to have a star player on your team.  When has yahoo, espn or any other station besides fox sports south cared about what's going on in the Hawks locker room. 

This is hardly a national story, I hate to burst your bubble. The Hawks are firmly irrelevant, I assure you.

[Sothron]

I really want to know who is being blamed for selfishness. The only person that could be said is playing selfish is Trae. He does hold the ball too much but our roster has no other capable ballhandlers. What is he supposed to do? People blasted Marbury for being "selfish" and he was usually the only real ballhandler on the court with him. What was he supposed to do?

[bleachkit]

We could really use a smart Tim Duncan/Al Horford type big that we can play though. That would really help settle things down and give us more structure.

[NBASupes]

4 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

We could really use a smart Tim Duncan/Al Horford type big that we can play though. That would really help settle things down and give us more structure.

Al Horford was perfect and I said it a thousand times but once he got 100 million, we had no shot

[TheNorthCydeRises]

7 hours ago, PSSSHHHRRR87 said:

From Yahoo: 

7 hours ago, PSSSHHHRRR87 said:

Collins’ absence and other injuries have forced Vince Carter, a 42-year-old former All-Star playing in a record 22nd NBA season, to have his minutes overextended.

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, Sothron said:

I really want to know who is being blamed for selfishness. The only person that could be said is playing selfish is Trae. He does hold the ball too much but our roster has no other capable ballhandlers. What is he supposed to do? People blasted Marbury for being "selfish" and he was usually the only real ballhandler on the court with him. What was he supposed to do?

Pass to other people who either can't shoot, can't post up, or can't create their own shots.  When that happens, they give the ball back to Trae to bail out the team with the shot clock running down.

[JTB]

3 hours ago, NBASupes said:

Blaming Trae, no. Blaming his fans for their current expectations without Collins, yes. Our results should be to no surprise especially considering Kevin was out for most of it as well.

Since Trae is balling, I fell his fans are putting pressure on LP when in reality, this mess is on TS

Well....yes ! If trae wasn’t ballin with a superstar stat line there would be no where near as many complaints including myself and I just can’t help it though I know in reality we weren’t going to be very spectacular anyhow 

But since trae is playing way above expectations for a year 2 player and if someone would have told me that trae was going to be in top 5 for ppg and assist at that....better believe I would have figured we’d be in the playoffs but I get it and I know injuries and suspension of course hurt those chances....even then it sucks to see trae put up such a good offensive stat line and not get much help or the win sometimes. 
 

But hey I’ve also said this before.... personally  I’m not trying nor do I think it’s fair to look to put blame on anyone for such a young team (not even Schlenk)....it’s ok to question some things like many do LP including myself  but there was too much of a mystery heading into the season . For example in terms of player development our franchise player we drafted Trae Young and 2nd best player Collins exceeded expectations in their 2nd seasons (trae so far this season / Collins last season) to the point that its sped up rebuilding plans unintentionally! Which is great! ....But at the same time has thrown Schlenk off just a bit because had he had this expectation of our young guys in the off-season there’s no way he whiffs on getting a quality center To replace dedmon and A real point guard who can run and lead the second unit.

so I don’t blame anyone cause no one knew what would happen in terms of developing the players but now that we see what we have, this in my opinion should be the LAST off season coming up  for that  we are a high pick lottery team. I’m ok if Schlenk don’t make a move this season even though I do still want Drummond, I get why we should stand still and make very minor moves...(I may bitch but we got to ride the tank wave out now since the season is a sure loss).
 

But in all seriousness I believe had Schlenk known trae was going to be this good he would have put together a better group of vets with expiring deals or 2 years left on their deal but the reality is Schlenk didn’t know.

[JTB]

1 hour ago, bleachkit said:

This is hardly a national story, I hate to burst your bubble. The Hawks are firmly irrelevant, I assure you.

Listen to nba radio...trust me I was shocked too that  the hawks got mentioned or even brought up and talked about for half a segment . It’s not good media attention but they are paying more attention to us then any of those years we made the playoff 10 straight times outside of the 60 win season of course.

but yeah we have more National attention right now than the last 3 seasons combined . 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I personally don't mind the national criticism.  Atlanta media protects it's own, until they flat out don't like a person.  People turned on Dwight after only about 40 games, because people thought he should be more of a role playing big that set screens and tries to block every shot.

He averages a double-double, played good defense ( except in the pick and roll ) but people act like he was the problem,

3 years later, fans are crying for a center again that can rebound and help with defense.  It's hilarious to me.

When people expected you to be improved, but you lose by 20+ points to a horrible team in the biggest media market in the NBA, you're going to get attention.  Trae can handle it, because he's going to continue to do everything in his power to help his team win games.  The question is, can everyone else handle the spotlight being shined right in their eyes?

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

29 minutes ago, JTB said:

Well....yes ! If trae wasn’t ballin with a superstar stat line there would be no where near as many complaints including myself and I just can’t help it though I know in reality we weren’t going to be very spectacular anyhow 

But since trae is playing way above expectations for a year 2 player and if someone would have told me that trae was going to be in top 5 for ppg and assist at that....better believe I would have figured we’d be in the playoffs but I get it and I know injuries and suspension of course hurt those chances....even then it sucks to see trae put up such a good offensive stat line and not get much help or the win sometimes. 
 

Trae is still averaging 28 ppg - 8 asst - 4 rebs - 37% 3FG.

And for the record, no one in the HISTORY OF THE NBA has finished a season averaging those numbers in those 4 categories.

[JayBirdHawk]

Well that's stating the obvious. Travis gave him Evan Turner as his backup PG, Len and Jones at C. Crabbe was injured when he traded for him and Parsons was never going to be in the rotation. 42 year old Vince was to serve more in a mentorahip capacity and is logging more minutes than expected and than he should because of John Collins' idiocy.....just saying.

 

Travis' expectation of this roster was 30 wins. Let that sink in - 30 wins.  So saying he's to blame when this was his expectation is just facts.

 

Now I do think how we lose is problematic (like the Knicks). The Lakers loss - tolerable.

 

[Cwell]

32 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Pass to other people who either can't shoot, can't post up, or can't create their own shots.  When that happens, they give the ball back to Trae to bail out the team with the shot clock running down.

Exactly. Pass it it to someone else, they take a few dribbles, and pass it right back because they have zero confidence in their abilities. If that first move doesn’t work, hot potato right back to the top of the key. Dudes is shook

[Cwell]

2 hours ago, Watchman said:

Other than Parker and Collins, we have no PFs.

Parker isn’t even a 4

[TheNorthCydeRises]

This negative attention is good for everybody.  That means that instead of coasting through the season and saying "woe is me", the national media might just hold management responsible for what has gone on this season.

If Collins comes back, and the Hawks start stringing together a few wins, people can say . . "See?  See?  It WAS all about Collins being out."

But if they continue to struggle, what then?  Management and the coaches can't just sit back and do the same things over and over.  Something will have to change.  Lineups . . personnel . . coaching . . executive management . . .something.

Even the Sixers fired Hinke in the middle of their "rebuild".  

Ain't no honeymoons in this league.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

This negative attention is good for everybody.  That means that instead of coasting through the season and saying "woe is me", the national media might just hold management responsible for what has gone on this season.

If Collins comes back, and the Hawks start stringing together a few wins, people can say . . "See?  See?  It WAS all about Collins being out."

But if they continue to struggle, what then?  Management and the coaches can't just sit back and do the same things over and over.  Something will have to change.  Lineups . . personnel . . coaching . . executive management . . .something.

Even the Sixers fired Hinke in the middle of their "rebuild".  

Ain't no honeymoons in this league.

Silver fired Hinkie for tanking too many consecutive years.

[Spud2nique]

Stay together and get the work in. Everything else with take care of itself for good or bad.