Official Game Thread: Trail Blazers at Hawks

[Atlantaholic]

20 minutes ago, Sothron said:

What did we shoot as a team in this game? 35% from the field? My God. If you took out Trae's shooting and performance I don't even wanna know how bad we lose.

Bogi had been straight napalm since late Jan until the last two games. I hope he hasn't hurt himself again. If there's one guy on the Hawks that can't shoot well while hurt we know it is Bogi. 

If JC is going to be out for awhile and I think he should be with his finger and foot issues then we do need to give Jalen real minutes on the team. They moved Hunter to PF and I swear anyone in the stands could have come down and got more rebounds than him. That isn't going to work. 

He's our (second) best perimeter defender so naturally... Nate has him defending the paint where he is awful. It was hair pullingly enfuriating to see the Blazers get everything they wanted inside every time we played the starting unit.

[thecampster]

7 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

I love him too but we gotta stop putting both he and Hunter in the game at the same time. There was one posession last game where both Hunter and Wright had open shots and they just kept passing the ball back and forth because neither wanted to shoot.

That possession was crazy. There were like 5 touches between 2 players and like 2 total dribbles. TBH, it confused the crap out of Portland though.

[kg01]

20 minutes ago, thecampster said:

Makes me miss Mike Muscala  (shudders)

Wait, everybody knows campst is no longer with us.  Did somebody say "campster" 3 times in the mirror or somethin'?

Is there a seance goin' on that I didn't get invited to?  I feel a ... presence..

Campster?  Is that you, campst?

[macdaddy]

5 minutes ago, thecampster said:

That possession was crazy. There were like 5 touches between 2 players and like 2 total dribbles. TBH, it confused the crap out of Portland though.

Except right on queue i believe Hunter ultimately missed the shot.   It was such a encapsulation of our recent play.

I do like Wright but I'm curious if his defensive impact is true or partially benefitting from the fact that he's often on the court when Trae is off and our unit on the floor is overall better defensively.  

[kg01]

9 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

I love him too but we gotta stop putting both he and Hunter in the game at the same time. There was one posession last game where both Hunter and Wright had open shots and they just kept passing the ball back and forth because neither wanted to shoot.

No, that was a glitch in your stream.  You got switched to a high level game of hot potato. 

(This qualifies as speed-dating on the GT campus. - hey, I can make fun of us.  You can't.)

[Atlantaholic]

3 minutes ago, kg01 said:

No, that was a glitch in your stream.  You got switched to a high level game of hot potato. 

(This qualifies as speed-dating on the GT campus. - hey, I can make fun of us.  You can't.)

It was hilarious you could even see them get madder after every pass. "you take it... NO. You! take it. GD no!, you TAKE IT"

[macdaddy]

2 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

It was hilarious you could even see them get madder after every pass. "you take it... NO. You! take it. GD no!, you TAKE IT"

I'm Team Delon on this one.   "I'm here to play defense.  You want that big extension you better knock down the damn corner three".  

[Diesel]

1 hour ago, Sothron said:

They moved Hunter to PF and I swear anyone in the stands could have come down and got more rebounds than him. That isn't going to work. 

I'll take this guy:

[Diesel]

45 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I do like Wright but I'm curious if his defensive impact is true or partially benefitting from the fact that he's often on the court when Trae is off and our unit on the floor is overall better defensively.  

well, when he comes in, he normally is the reason why defense picks up. 

He shuts down a lot of foolishness that our other guys allow. 

[kg01]

39 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

It was hilarious you could even see them get madder after every pass. "you take it... NO. You! take it. GD no!, you TAKE IT"

Yep.  I can see the first pass-back because that throws the defense off.  It's how Bogd got Trae an open corner 3.  But, after that 1st pass back, both defenders are basically there at that point.

[JayBirdHawk]

Sigh - my Nate Rant-O-The-Day!  

1.  Why is Okongwu still seeing limited minutes - no JC, no Gallo - and still only 19 minutes.   Is there some artificial cap to his minutes that we don't know about @Sothron @NBASupes @thecampster

2. Why can't JJ get the 6 minutes of nothing that Knox got?  Rather give him some developmental minutes over No-Knox.

[kg01]

5 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Sigh - my Nate Rant-O-The-Day!  

1.  Why is Okongwu still seeing limited minutes - no JC, no Gallo - and still only 19 minutes.   Is there some artificial cap to his minutes that we don't know about @Sothron @NBASupes @thecampster

2. Why can't JJ get the 6 minutes of nothing that Knox got?  Rather give him some developmental minutes over No-Knox.

Hawksquawk reporter: "Uh coach, why not change things up in your rotations with all the PF's out?"

Coach: "This. Does. Not. Compute."

 

[bleachkit]

40 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Sigh - my Nate Rant-O-The-Day!  

1.  Why is Okongwu still seeing limited minutes - no JC, no Gallo - and still only 19 minutes.   Is there some artificial cap to his minutes that we don't know about @Sothron @NBASupes @thecampster

2. Why can't JJ get the 6 minutes of nothing that Knox got?  Rather give him some developmental minutes over No-Knox.

My opinion of Nate has diminished this season. Stubborn, intransigent, by the book, etc. The game has passed him by. 

[AHF]

4 hours ago, Sothron said:

What did we shoot as a team in this game? 35% from the field? My God. If you took out Trae's shooting and performance I don't even wanna know how bad we lose.

 

Well, this is probably a good indicator:

Trae:  15-31, 48.3% FG%

Rest of the team:  25-78, 32% FG%  (OO and TLC shot 50% or better and everyone else was much worse)

[kg01]

Any thoughts on Hart v Wright?  I recall some of us had discussed it and some felt Wright was fine, others thought Hart would be an upgrade.

I think Hart is, by far, better offensively and would help our guard rotation.  Wright brings a lot to the table on the other end.  Offensively, he's so much better when he's aggressive which is rare.

Honestly, I'm thinking his muted impact is on the coach who somehow thinks he shouldn't be in the rotation despite us needing a guy with his defensive acumen.

Hart looks like another guy focusing on O, not D.  Sure he rebounds but we need on-ball defense badly.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[shakes]

49 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Any thoughts on Hart v Wright?  I recall some of us had discussed it and some felt Wright was fine, others thought Hart would be an upgrade.

I think Hart is, by far, better offensively and would help our guard rotation.  Wright brings a lot to the table on the other end.  Offensively, he's so much better when he's aggressive which is rare.

Honestly, I'm thinking his muted impact is on the coach who somehow thinks he shouldn't be in the rotation despite us needing a guy with his defensive acumen.

Hart looks like another guy focusing on O, not D.  Sure he rebounds but we need on-ball defense badly.

Hart vs Wright?   You sure about that?  I remember the Hart vs Huerter discussion, but don't recall anyone ever comparing hart and Wright.

[terrell]

7 hours ago, kg01 said:

I know folks will gloss over how well Trae has been playing but they really should take notice.  The rest of the team has played like varying stages of garbage these past few weeks and he's carrying them.

Yes he had a few hiccups but, overall, he's been MVP level.

And, on defense?  Well, let's just say his alter-ego is starting to take over ...

#I'mSmittenWithThaMitten

Trae

Edited March 15, 2022 by terrell

[NBASupes]

3 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Sigh - my Nate Rant-O-The-Day!  

1.  Why is Okongwu still seeing limited minutes - no JC, no Gallo - and still only 19 minutes.   Is there some artificial cap to his minutes that we don't know about @Sothron @NBASupes @thecampster

2. Why can't JJ get the 6 minutes of nothing that Knox got?  Rather give him some developmental minutes over No-Knox.

He don't do all the little things yet but he's getting better. 

[NBASupes]

10 hours ago, thecampster said:

What's crazy is his shooting stroke isn't terrible. Its a bit inconsistent but from a buy his size, its okay.

Defensively, he isn't terrible. His effort comes and goes. Sometimes his energy is really good, but then he just floats to the corner and disappears. If he has a fatal flaw its that he's too much effort and not enough finesse. His finishing footwork is pretty bad. He gets his body turned the wrong way at the basket by either over driving or over creating. He's a really good example of someone that a year of college in a smaller program could have done him a lot of good (with a coach who teaches).  Al Horford would be a really good mentor for Knox. The kid just keeps trying to do too much.

For those of you who remember tip drills in Jr. High/High School. Where you just jump and tip the ball over and over to yourself off the backboard. All about learning the feel, distance, body, timing. Knox needed way more of that, way less of styling.

and I never said he was amazing, I just said I'd like to see what we have in him before crapping all over him. I've been a proponent (and I think I couldn't have been more clear) of giving minutes to JJ over a host of others.  I think Knox could be very functional but he's gotten some really bad coaching in his life. He could use some serious 10 feet and in footwork fundamentals. That's where he could earn his money. Cuts, rebounds, finishing, boxing out, help defense.

As for Knox long term, I am not and never have been an individual performance guy. I've always been a fan of "how do these 5 pieces fit together". I wanted to see how Knox fit with our guys. It isn't terrible no matter what you think you're seeing. He isn't finishing plays well but he is starting plays well, understanding the concept and giving our guys what they need. He just isn't under enough control to finish plays well. It all starts with footwork.

I constantly catch him out of position and late on rotations. His effort is good.