Atlanta Hawks v. Miami Heat Playoff Series

[JayBirdHawk]

3 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

Our injuries are a huge factor. OO is not ready to be a full time center, hopefully he has a great bounceback game but if we need to count on him to be full time this whole series we will lose no doubt about it imo. He's capable of having a great game but not sure if he can have 3-4 of them. We need to snatch this game and hope Clint can come back at some point in game either 3 or 4. That's our best shot at this series. 

OO seems to have hit the 'rookie wall' in his 2nd season even though he has played limited minutes in each of his 1st two seasons.

[benhillboy]

3 hours ago, shakes said:

I said it earlier in the year and I'll say it again.  Their white guys are much better than our white guys…

Lol.  You would’ve gotten a warning and post removed on RealGM.  You told no lies tho.

3 hours ago, kg01 said:

Again, don't tell anyone I said it, certainly not benhil.  He'd never let me live that down.

Too late lol.  But for real I wouldn’t hold a post over someone’s head, especially knowledgeable fans like yourself.

The Heat are the only team to ever have a winning record playing at least 5 undrafted guys in 65 games.  The problem with trying to copy that blueprint of using picks to acquire proven commodities while developing like crazy is scouts not knowing role fits and owners’ focus on selling a star to high-income casual fans and advertisers.  Pat Riley mastered fit decades ago and has no desire for the spotlight after Showtime.

But I’m tripping off Bam saying he’s disrespected by the DPOY voting because they don’t play enough national games.  As if Tyler isn’t getting all the first place votes for 6th Man and Spo wasn’t a COTY finalist lol.

Finally got my avatar with New Thabo and Double OG.  Gyeah.

Edited April 19, 2022 by benhillboy

[marco102]

10 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

Our injuries are a huge factor. OO is not ready to be a full time center, hopefully he has a great bounceback game but if we need to count on him to be full time this whole series we will lose no doubt about it imo. He's capable of having a great game but not sure if he can have 3-4 of them. We need to snatch this game and hope Clint can come back at some point in game either 3 or 4. That's our best shot at this series. 

Did I miss something? I didn't think OO played bad at all.  He was out there battling.  

[JayBirdHawk]

27 minutes ago, marco102 said:

Did I miss something? I didn't think OO played bad at all.  He was out there battling.  

Need him to do more than battle, need him.to be productive....particularly when Bam is on the perimeter and he has the size advantage in the paint....can't get around by the lil guys......He's gotta Hodor 'Hold the Door'

[kg01]

36 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Too late lol.  But for real I wouldn’t hold a post over someone’s head, especially knowledgeable fans like yourself.

It was said purely tongue-in-cheek.  It's all guud between us ... other than the fact that we got major beef so .... good talk, good talk.

[marco102]

52 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

If the Heat win tonight and win game three then the series is OVER by the time someone wins a road game. This is why tonight is huge, if we lose than game three is essentially an elimination game. If we win tonight we can still survive a split in games three and four. 

No sure if you know this, but you are supporting exactly what I was saying.   The Heat would have won a road game.  If we lose tonight, it doesn't mean the series is over.  If the Hawks defend home court, it'll be 2-2 going back to Miami for a 3 game series.  Tonight is def good to have under out belt though. 

[Atlantaholic]

7 hours ago, marco102 said:

Did I miss something? I didn't think OO played bad at all.  He was out there battling.  

He got into foul trouble and had no offensive impact. 

[Sothron]

With Capela out and the refs letting the cHeat get away with murder we have no chance of winning the series. I have zero qualms saying it. 

Our offseason has to be about getting a second star player to put next to Trae. I guarantee once the Hawks lose, Trae gets All NBA the national media will turn this into "Trae can't get help in Atlanta, what teams should Trae go to?" 

So Schlenk has this offseason to put a star next to Trae. 

[HawkingAwesome]

pretty sure these refs would let lowry bring his gun on the court

[Dynamo]

Schlenk’s lack of roster movement at the trade deadline is being exposed.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

Quote

If there’s one thing you learn in basketball, it’s that what you did in the past doesn’t mean anything now. 

Don’t get me wrong, we’re proud of how far we got last year — we’re proud of how we showed everyone that the moment wasn’t too big for us. For most of the team, that was our first real playoff experience. So to win games at the Garden with how crazy that was, and to win a Game 7 on the road against the 1 seed, and then to go toe-to-toe with the team that ended up winning it all … I think we proved a lot to people with that run. And I know we proved a lot to ourselves.

But at the same time, last year’s playoffs feel like a million years ago.

And I feel like with this year’s journey, we’re having to prove ourselves all over again.

Just look at how the regular season went for us. It wasn’t the best start, and it wasn’t the best finish either. We struggled a lot with finding our rhythm. And we had to fight just to get into the play-in, as the 9 seed, to have a chance to even make the playoffs. Obviously, that’s not the situation you want to be putting yourself in, and that’s not where we expected to be back in October. We just weren’t playing well in so many different ways, to be honest. Missing shots, defensively we weren’t as active as we were late last season, some injuries piled up … there were a lot of things we needed to fix.

Not much time left to fix it Kev.  Friday is a big game!

 

Quote

But losing two games isn’t going to make us lose our confidence — especially not with the next two being in Atlanta. The only question that’s on our minds right now, heading into these home games, is how do you plan to respond? That’s what we’re asking ourselves.

And I can tell you the answer. 

We’re going to do what this team always does, and what the A always does, when our backs are against the wall: Come out fighting

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

Quote

The poor 3-point shooting and not taking care of the ball were pivotal factors in Miami’s win over Atlanta, ..........Atlanta’s best wings were all in foul trouble for most of the game, with the refs seemingly blowing their whistles every two seconds. That led to Bogdanovic, De’Andre Hunter and Kevin Huerter all playing a little less aggressively on Butler in the second half than they likely would have. Atlanta’s defense was much better than what we’ve come to expect out of this team, but it collapsed in the third quarter with Miami getting numerous open shots.

The Hawks have several holes to fill to annually compete with the elite teams in the East.

At the top of the list this offseason has to be getting better perimeter defenders. The Hawks drafted Hunter No. 4 overall in 2019 to be an elite defender, and he’s just not. He’s good but not elite, and if he’s the best they have, that’s probably something that has to be addressed.

Top-five picks are supposed to be transformative for a franchise. They’re expected to be cornerstone pieces. Hunter is a fine player right now, but you just need more out of someone who was drafted that highly. We do not know what kind of player Hunter can be nearing the end of his third season. We do not even know if he should be a long-term important part of the Hawks’ core. That is a problem general manager Travis Schlenk has to figure out, possibly as soon as this offseason, because he’s extension eligible and if he’s not going to be in the team’s future plans, moving him this summer would make the most sense.

The 2019 draft for the Hawks has already produced shaky-at-best results, and that’s a glaring issue. Hunter and Cam Reddish, drafted 10th, were supposed to be the guys to control games like this one where Butler is scoring 45 or when Duncan Robinson is going off in Game 1. Reddish was terrible this season — probably because he didn’t want to be in Atlanta anymore after requesting a trade this past offseason — and Hunter has been just OK. Again, these were the two players the Hawks were heavily investing in and relying on to cover for Young’s flaws. Not only did neither meet top-10-pick expectations, but the wing depth around them also hasn’t been good defensively, either.

 

[Diesel]

Reading what Kev said, makes you think...

Did the experience make us a better playoff team... I say yes. I believe that we have faced more elimination games than most teams playing.  I hope it translates to us not being anxious/scared in the moment. 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

He's out!

 

 

[JeffS17]

12 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

 

I read the article but it's pretty tough to takeaway exactly what our needs are when the most important player and anchor for our defense and a $20M/year player was out.  Our defensive scheme revolves around Clint.  Watching the game, I thought our wings defended well with the exception of Bogi who I don't think is capable of playing solid defense.  Butler went nuclear because we played scared of fouling out (for good reason).  I want to see us actually foul out.  Keep the intensity up, regardless of fouls.  That's on Nate though.  He needs to tell guys not to worry about fouls, play hard.

When this roster is healthy, I think we're a lot closer than Kirschner gives us credit for here.  Hunter's mediocrity this season might be a blessing in disguise 2 years from now if we're able to extend him on a value deal.  You win chips by having good value players (see: LA  this year)

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[macdaddy]

17 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Yeah i saw this and it only increased my paranoia of Trae wanting out.  Hopefully irrational. 

[Spud2nique]

22 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Indeed it is going to be fun.

“Having to win three straight to get into this position is a big deal for us, and we know how to turn it around. We've got to. And we're at home now. So it's going to be fun."

- Hawks star Trae Young