Official Game Thread: Hawks at Thunder

[lethalweapon3]

“Do you know who you’re passing to? Do you like the things that I am coaching you? Where are you throwing to? Do you know?”

 

Everybody and their mother trying to get out of the Big XII Conference is trendy now. But consider Trae Young, a small-t trail, small-b blazer in that one department.

This guy spurned blue-blood Kansas to stay close to home, spending his freshman year in 2017-18 under the watch of Lon Kruger, who had recently helped propel Kansan prep-schooler Buddy Hield into the upper echelon of the NBA Lottery. The Sooners were not known to be an NBA blue chip factory; prior to Hield in 2016, the last lottery pick was Blake Griffin in 2009, and you’d have to roll the clock back to 1989 to find the prior one in Stacey King (also a sixth-pick; Mookie went post-Lotto 12^th).

But Trae was undeterred, staying True to Norman, the college town just south of his heroes playing for the Thunder in Oklahoma City. His reward was getting to become the face of a team whose next-best player was a James… Christian James, currently with a team in a second-tier professional Italian league.

Young was left to carry this team, and carry he did, becoming a network TV sensation while leading the nation in points and assists per game. OU surged up as high as #4 in the NCAA D-1 rankings, with wins over USC, then at #3 Wichita State, at tenth-ranked TCU, and versus his dad’s alma mater of Texas Tech to go 14-2.

Then the Big XII scouting reports were full – get the ball out of Trae’s hands, and then make some of these other OU players beat them. Sooner than later, the faltering started, and Young shouldered the blame. Because who else are critics going to waste time criticizing? I mean, Brady Manek? Kameron McGusty? Who are these guys? Does even Trae know?

Going 2-12 the rest of the way, hurtling out of the polls, the Sooners were bounced by their in-state rivals -- Lindy Waters III and the Oklahoma State Sooners – in the opening round of the Big XII tournament. Charitably deemed a 10-seed, OU fell in the “first round” of the NCAA tourney, too, to Jeff Dowtin (how do you not name the kid Thomas?) and the Rhodey Rams.

Trae was a hero, and the stats backed him up. But he couldn’t save everyone, and that was held to his detriment at Draft scouting time. What the reality was – and somewhat is, as Young prepares to face rookie Waters and his new team, the OKC Thunder (8 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, BS Oklahoma) – was that Trae was NBA-competition ready, and even NCAA Tournament ready, but the players he relies on nightly to help sustain prominence are not-so-much.

I bring up the examples of McGusty and Manek because, in 2022, each had a starring role for their college teams, after transferring out of Kruger’s OU and finishing up elsewhere. McGusty’s Miami Hurricanes made it to the Elite Eight. Manek’s UNC Tar Heels will be playing the game of their lives against Coach K in the Final Four on Saturday. But McGusty, then a sophomore, and Manek, a touted in-state freshman, weren’t up to snuff in 2018, when a one-and-done Young was ready to shine.

James was All-Big XII in 2019, but his accuracy declined from 55.9 eFG% (w/ Trae the prior year) to 43.5. Manek’s, from 57.7 to 55.7, declined every season before leaving the retiring Kruger and finding his way to Chapel Hill this season. McGusty, who transferred to Coral Gables upon Trae’s departure, never reached 50.2 eFG% again until this, his senior season where he led the ACC in points scored.

It would have been convenient to have had peak McGusty and peak Manek at the time of Trae’s wondrous college season. Better success on the scoreboards for OU could have forced Atlanta’s hand to trade up, not down, if they wanted a shot at Young. But often, those developmental levels don’t align. For now, we as fans of the Hawks (38-37) have to hope that the peaks of John Collins, De’Andre Hunter, Kevin Huerter and Onyeka Okongwu coincide with Trae’s All-NBA-worthy tenure in Atlanta – and, that we haven’t already seen these NBA career zeniths.

There’s not much more to share ahead of today’s game, as Jalen Johnson (out, concussion protocols) joins the power forward heap on the injury report. Danilo Gallinari (out, elbow contusion) remains sidelined while there isn’t much news on the timeline for Collins (foot strain, finger sprain). Hawks coach Nate McMillan was able to lean on Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot for forward minutes in Monday’s 132-123 win at Indiana, and he may need to do so even more if Hunter (questionable, sore knee) is again a late scratch.

Tomorrow’s rescheduled game back home against Cleveland will necessitate deeper lineups for Coach Nate, so Gorgui Dieng will likely see more of the floor alongside either of Onyeka Okongwu or Clint Capela.

The Thunder (22-53) still intend to close out the season with a bang, even as it takes one key player after another and puts them in rice. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (ankle) joins Darius Bazley (knee), Josh Giddey (hip), and Ty Jerome (hip) on the out-for-the-season list. Old fogies like Mike Muscala and Derrick Favors have long been shut down, while timetables for Kenrich Williams (knee, out since February) and Lugie Dort (shoulder, same) don’t exist.

That leaves a lot of upstarts for Mark Daigneault to play heavy minutes, including Waters, Theo Maledon Vit Krejci and Isaiah Roby. The quartet hit four triples each as the Thunder came back late to beat the subsiding big-T Trail big-B Blazers in Portland on Monday night, 134-131 in OT. Roby (30 points @ POR) and Aaron Wiggins (28 points) each achieved career highs, joining forces with Maledon (team-high 10 D-Rebs) and Aleksej Pokusevski (11 assists, 8 rebounds, 6 TOs) to keep up with the Blazers on the boards.

OKC shot 44.4 percent on threes Monday in Portland. If the Hawks elect to play at the level of their competition for 48 minutes, they might find themselves scrambling to keep up with an outfit with nothing to lose that shoots even sharper than Indiana (47.2 team 3FG% vs. ATL on Monday).

As was the case down the road in Norman years ago, Young’s current team seems to be leveling off, at best, just as he is ascending, although his brilliance may be enough to lead another upset or two at postseason time. It simply comes down to not having enough teammates peaking at the right time, no matter how eager you are the be the winning, show-stopping star – isn’t that right, Shai?

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Sorry for the late submits, Bad Xfinity Days are the new Bad Hair Days around here.

Tah-D'AH!

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

OKC is rolling about 8-deep. The backcourt, in particular, cannot afford foul trouble.

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

3 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

OKC is rolling about 8-deep. The backcourt, in particular, cannot afford foul trouble.

~lw3

Who's actually playing for OKC tonight?

[shakes]

I’ll be disappointed if Trae plays in the 4th quarter.   That’s the kind of game I’m expecting tonight.   Blow these guys out early and then rest up to take on the depleted Cavs tomorrow.   All goes to plan and we wake up Friday in 9th place.

[bleachkit]

4 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Who's actually playing for OKC tonight?

Players only NBA die hards have heard of.

[lethalweapon3]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Who's actually playing for OKC tonight?

Besides the mascot maybe, I've got:

Theo Maledon

Vit Krejci / Lindy Waters (two-way)

Aaron Wiggins

Isaiah Roby / Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

Aleksej Pokusevski / Olivier Sarr (two-way)

As Anthony Davis used to say, "That's All, Folks!"

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

9 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Lon Kruger

Hey we were just talking about shi.. lower level Hawks coaches, I thought of Bob Weiss but forgot Lonnie.

 

10 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Stacey King

You know he speaks like he’s Mike and we’re Pippen.. did you know that @lethalweapon3  

12 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Danilo Gallinari (out, elbow contusion)

I kid Gallo get back we need you!!!

13 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Lugie

You two close? I love pet names. (Like uhhh squd ).

 

14 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Shai?

JC+Huerter+ 1st round pick. 
 

Trae + SGA … ?  

Great game thread @lethalweapon3 learned a lot as usual!

Vegas has the Hawks by 12.5 last check.

2k has Hawks by 21.

Trae and Capela go off! 
 

GO HAWKS!!!! 

[bleachkit]

3 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Besides the mascot maybe, I've got:

Theo Maledon

Vit Krejci / Lindy Waters (two-way)

Aaron Wiggins

Isaiah Roby / Jeremiah Robinson-Earl

Aleksej Pokusevski / Olivier Sarr (two-way)

As Anthony Davis used to say, "That's All, Folks!"

~lw3

If we lose tonight....good god in heaven, that would be an unspeakable abomination.

[Spud2nique]

6 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Lindy Waters (two-way)

Hey we just learned about him a lil  

[Spud2nique]

6 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Olivier Sarr (two-way)

In 2K when they announced him I did a quick look up to see if he was real. I played against the dodgers in the show last year and there were fake players on the roster, like some of the software guys.  

 

 

[Spud2nique]

8 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

As Anthony Davis used to say, "That's All, Folks!"

What was up with his disco dance 70’s hair and glasses?  He took me back to when I was a baby. 

9 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Theo Maledon

@AHF’s guy

9 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Vit Krejci

This is the one I don’t know.

[Dnice]

[Guest]

55 minutes ago, shakes said:

I’ll be disappointed if Trae plays in the 4th quarter.   That’s the kind of game I’m expecting tonight.   Blow these guys out early and then rest up to take on the depleted Cavs tomorrow.   All goes to plan and we wake up Friday in 9th place.

Looking at our next few games, as well as Brooklyn's and Charlotte's, we have a good chance of being in 8th place in a few days.

[JayBirdHawk]

C'mon No-Knox, show me something! ANYTHING!

[JayBirdHawk]

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

C'mon No-Knox, show me something! ANYTHING!

....and he hits the threeeeeeee!

[terrell]

Kevin Knox made a 3...

[hawkman]

Kevin Knox????? Ok I see you young man!

[Dnice]

Kevin Knox it down...

[JayBirdHawk]

6 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

....and he hits the threeeeeeee!

No-Knox on  

8 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

C'mon No-Knox, show me something! ANYTHING!

He heard me