JacketRacket
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I'm curious what moves he might make. I personally have no idea who I'd move if I was him. Anyone have any thoughts?
ATL Hawks Season Thread
- Thread starter SidewalkJacket
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I'm curious what moves he might make. I personally have no idea who I'd move if I was him. Anyone have any thoughts?
forensicbuzz
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Burn it to the ground!!!!
Golden Tornadoes
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I would look to add another wing defender beside Hunter. The biggest problem right now is our defense, and Hunter is really the only backcourt player that can defend 1-4. GM Schlenk built this team much like he did GSW, but what makes them work so well is having a 2 guard who can defend 1-3 and having Draymond who can cover 1-5. For the Hawks, Bogdanovic isn't a great on-ball defender and we all know Trae is an offense first guy. That means night after night, the opposing team's guards are going to get good looks because our backcourt players are not great defenders. Personally, I'd love to see us trade Gallinari (position of depth and movable contract) for someone like De'Anthony Melton or possibly even Matisse Thybulle (if PHI would trade him away). The only problem is that would crowd an already crowded wing room with Hunter, Reddish, Huerter, and TLC.
My second thought would be to ride it out. I'm not sure the exact number, but with injuries and COVID, our starting 5 and typical rotation haven't played many games together at all. Maybe try to get them all back and see how it goes then. Use more zone principles to help mask the defensive deficiencies that plagues the team. Toronto played a boxing one during their championship run and it helped to buoy their defense enough to shut down GSW. It also didn't hurt to have Kawhi Leonard either.
They need to make some moves around the edges but, for the most part, they have to wait until the core is actually back and playing together.
Can't be making roster decisions based on a stretch of now 10+ games where the bulk of them saw the team with literally 2 guys that are actually on the team out there.
The elephant in the room, for me, is there's a coach problem no one wants to talk about. The issues they're having are identical to those had under the previous guy. The one who everyone said was the problem. What we're seeing is that wasn't totally the case. Not saying he shouldn't have been fired (obv.). Just saying he was part of the problem, not necessarily the cause of it.
Can't be making roster decisions based on a stretch of now 10+ games where the bulk of them saw the team with literally 2 guys that are actually on the team out there.
The elephant in the room, for me, is there's a coach problem no one wants to talk about. The issues they're having are identical to those had under the previous guy. The one who everyone said was the problem. What we're seeing is that wasn't totally the case. Not saying he shouldn't have been fired (obv.). Just saying he was part of the problem, not necessarily the cause of it.
Golden Tornadoes
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Did the Hawks choose to keep the wrong wing? Sure, Hunter has had his fair share of injury issues, but to me he just seems lost at times and Reddish showed he could be a really key piece during the ECF last year….just my two cents
The stuff coming out about Reddish is troubling. First of all, HE asked out. They didn't want to trade him, it seems.
Also sounds like he wasn't bought in to the team concept which made his odd play, at times, make sense. Seemed like there were 3 teams out there when he played - the Hawks, the opponent, and Reddish.
The team is playing tangibly different since the trade so I can't help but wonder if his attitude may have had a depressing effect.
I'm a huge fan of his potential so I hope he figures it out. But I can't really fault them for trading him. I just don't like the return.
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Man, I like reading Hoopinion. It’s so much better than a lot of the basketball writing I see (or any of the sports writing
Maybe he’s wrong, but I’m sure he knows more about NBA ball than I do
www.hoopinionblog.com
Maybe he’s wrong, but I’m sure he knows more about NBA ball than I do
Trae Young Is a Miracle
Prologue I thought Trae Young was the third-best prospect in the 2018 draft. I didn't think Trae Young would be this good. Lon Kruger, the ...
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Hawks just went through two consecutive win or go home games in two different cities, so I’d expect them to be ragged. Plus, Miami is about the worst match up for Atlanta—Trae Young plays with space, while Miami can keep rolling another defender in—there aren’t many gaps to attack.
Game 1 to Miami
Game 1 to Miami
mstranahan
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Atlanta has an atrocious roster with lots of over hyped players on huge contracts. No one in the league wants Collins (they’ve been trying to trade him for a couple years), the players voted Trae the twelfth best guard in the Eastern conference…..
Who's over-hyped? Nobody talks about Hawks players.
This smacks of 'I don't like Trae so I don't like the Hawks'. Come on, Strahan, you're better than that.
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We’re going a little off the “Jose” topic here, but even on a down year, Trae Young is a good player, and not 12th PG in the East.
Jose is a little further down the list, but with a positive WAR:
mstranahan
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I don't know Trae Young. Never met the man. Don't know if I would like him or not. Could be a great dude or a turd. I have no idea.
IMO, he is overhyped and overpaid. He can score and he can also distribute. He couldn't guard a tree. No doubt he's an NBA starter and can put up sick numbers at times. Like Caleb Love he can also shoot his team out of a game. He is paid the exact same salary as Luka. Which is laughable. 2-time MVP Jokic makes 10% less than Trae, as does Devin Booker. Lots of guys I would love to have over him that are below him on the salary line.
The Hawks have made some head scratching trades and questionable draft picks, , especially in the lottery. (Marvin Williams (2), Sheldon Williams (5), Reddish (10), Okongwu (6) . Horford (3) and Luka (3) whoops Trae (5), Collins (19) and Teague (19) are notable exceptions as all turned out to be solid picks. Too early to tell about Johnson and Griffin, but one seems like a potential dud and the other could be a nice 3 & D guy.
I hope I did this right. Tried to move the convo to a more appropriate thread.
Can't really look at salary that way. Teams don't necessarily choose the exact dollar figures. It's percentage of the cap in a particular year, which changes every year. So the timing matters. If Jokic were a free agent this year, his salary would be more. Heck, Bradley Beal iiuc is the highest paid player rn.
Every "offensive engine" can be considered a bad defender. That's not an issue specific to Young. And there are lots of players one should take over him. I won't argue that. But that doesn't mean he's a bad or overhyped player. Whether the Hawks win with him or not depends, as is the case with every player, on how the team is built around him.
Say what you will about those other guys but the reality is, at this point, the Hawks have progressed further in the playoffs than both DEN and DAL. And before it's said that Luka will "surely" win a title at some point, I'll remind you he plays for a pretty bad owner when it comes to building a team. Right now, all Luka's guaranteed to do is put up individual numbers.
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Hawks just fired their coach (Nate McMillan) per the Athletic
theathletic.com
Hawks fire coach Nate McMillan
The Hawks are 29-30 this season, McMillan's fourth with the team, sitting at eighth in the Eastern Conference.
theathletic.com
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Jeff Shultz weighs in:
theathletic.com
I don’t know if I could coach a college or pro team, even if Gregg Popovich taught me everything he knows. Coaches take all the blame.
Even if Nate McMillan's firing is justified, Hawks' problems go beyond coaching
It's fair to assume McMillan wasn't going to fix the Hawks. It's equally fair to assume the problems extend far beyond the coaching.
theathletic.com
I don’t know if I could coach a college or pro team, even if Gregg Popovich taught me everything he knows. Coaches take all the blame.
