FreshFromATL
Self Made
Damn, it look like the STARS were out too at Staples.
In memory of our brother Charmander, RIP: The OFFICIAL 2019-2020 Atlanta Hawks season thread #Set
Born2BKing
Veteran
AVXL
Laughing at you n*ggaz like “ha ha ha”
This post will get ignored, I hope I’m wrong but literally every concern I had about him is coming true. Lotta Hawks brehs on here bought the hype and so far he’s been bad. Ok defensively but has given us next to nothing on offense
He is getting better game by game of late. If you are selling all your stock, I am buying it.
AVXL
Laughing at you n*ggaz like “ha ha ha”
It’s still too early to make a hard determination but he’s been a big disappointment so far. Not sure how you could take an unbiased look at his play and not be disappointed by what you’ve seen so far
O.iatlhawksfan
Devoted Joel Embiid hater
I was in the camp that thought Reddish was overrated but when the Hawks picked him I had to support it, and tbh he’s not so bad. My biggest question was his motor but he’s played with more motor than I thought he would. We see him all the time making hustle plays, I can recall last night Hunter missing a FT and reddish dove to save it from out to bounce and it resulted in a Hunter three. He’s played really well on defense, the obvious concern is offense but to me it looks more mental than anything, if he can just gain some confidence it’ll go a long way for him.
For me, I am fine with his performance offensively of late. I readjusted my expectations with the preseason and the first 8 games. After that I reevaluated him, he rated a 5/8.5 on offense and defense. I was on the high end for him before thinking he would be a 6/8 as a rookie but his offense was much worse than I expected and his defense was even better and I was on the high end previously.
For me with Cam, the tools are there. He is not Trey Burke or Perry Jones. He is beating his man off the dribble constantly and he is aware without the ball and on defense. Those things matter. Those are things you seen so many busts struggle with like Ben McLemore and others. I expected him to struggle badly finishing and with turnovers and he proved me right. What I like is over the last 4 games, I see him driving to the lane now looking for space. I see him making better decisions when slashing which I did not see at Duke or early on for our games. I see a lot of positives of late. It's not reflected in his metrics but I see them and I understand our situation is really bad with Collins/Kevin and VC being out.
I just want improvements from Cam on offense. So far, I am seeing that. He isn't get blocked 4 times a game or getting stripped like a mad man of late. He is being smarter with the basketball now. His decision making on his passes is improving and all season, he has been showing playmaking flashes.
Defensively, he is better than I expected and does a lot right which he showed at the end of his time at Duke but he is even better in the NBA.
The biggest issue I think will take a lot of time for him is three things.
1. He plays like a 6'3 170 PG on both ends but it works on defense because his lateral quickness is great, his length is 7'1 and his height without shoes is 6'7 1/2. On offense, it doesn't work. He doesn't have the explosiveness like a Schroder or young Brandon Jennings, clearly doesn't have it like Fox and most definitely doesn't have it like Morant or Rose. Nor does he have the body control of those guys. His body control looks like he's 6'9 and not smaller which is also a problem. I don't know if he will ever play big but I would like to see him add at least 15 pounds to his 210-pound frame and really play much bigger than he is. I think he will always kinda play smaller but I want him to at least be stronger and play to his weight at the least. Right now, he is really weak but his recovery speed, speed, and agility with his length make him look like a fukking octopus on the court. He really needs to work on his core strength and explosiveness in the offseason.
2. Shooting - He is special in terms of release, rotation on the ball, and his flexible release which the rare ones have. The issue is, his damn body is out of control on every shot. It looks funky. He doesn't look ready to shoot most of the time and when he does, his body is all over the place. I've never seen someone with so much going on who is supposed to be a shooter. It's not like Trae Young which his set shot. Cam shot is not set. I also think he didn't practice his shooting at game speed. I think it's taking him sometime due to that. I know the Hawks trainers are now working on that and the fact that he didn't get a summer due to injury shows but he really has to work on that. I think shooting will come, the body is easier to fix than the form.
3. Finishing - He is so ass at finishing. Like #1 stated, Cam, plays like a 6'3 170 PG. He plays weak and it shows. His body control needs a lot of work and even when it gets there and his body control is looking right, his lack of explosiveness and lack of strength makes him an easy target to just make a play on the ball without worrying about the consequences. Now he has improved in on this of late, it's still awful. He needs to add a lot of PG trickery to his bag around the paint. I also think he needs to just build strength which would help him in terms of drawing more fouls. He hates contact. He needs to build up both his core strength and physical strength. He also needs to add weight.
What I like offensively is his speed in general, first step, ball handling in the open court and in space when he is careful, vision, playmaking flashes, rebounding effort which is a massive improvement from Duke, agility, off-ball movement, decent BBIQ, PnR passing reads, and flashes of rare skill.
What I don't like offensively is his body control, explosiveness, carelessness at times, the body when he shoots, driving into traffic, a tendency to just chill in the corner as he got courtside seats, so-so feel for the game, finishing in general, mid-range shooting, and his tendency to get down on himself when the shot is not falling. Trae can do that but Cam and Hunter can't. They are too critical defensively.
Right now, Cam is a 5/8.5. My hope is by the end of the season, he is a 6/9. Trae ended OCT a 7.5/5 and by the end of November was a 6.5/5. He ended the season, 9.5/5.5. He made an insane leap in terms of progress. I don't know if Cam is capable of that much improvement this year but if Cam does improve to a 6.5 or 7 on offense, it will be just as impactful overall as Trae's 9.5 on offense as Cam's defense is damn good as it is.
So I am disappointed? No. I will only be disappointed when you are like Acie Law, Shelden, or A. Payne where it's clear, you are trash and have limited upside. Cam on the other hand has exceptional upside but to realize that, he needs A LOT of work.
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He plays with a solid motor. He just plays a too cool for school game and his tendency to chill in the corner and not insert himself into the action where you see Hunter, Bembry, Trae and Kevin doing rubs people the wrong way. It will take some time. He is not the only one that chills in the corner but those guys struggle to get to the paint off the dribble. Cam damn near can get to the hole at will. Cam is what you call, polarizing.
I will say this, Duke did a shytty ass job developing him offensively. @Poitier, was right about this and I was wrong. Coach K really ain't developing shyt anymore. He just recruits top-level guys, teaches them defense and lets them cook. Coach Belien is proving he can coach in the NBA right now. Has the Cavs looking semi-competitive and that's a good thing.
I was scared for Cam when his shot wasn't falling that he will be an ATG bust for it from what I saw at Duke. Atlanta already by game 12, got him driving much better, making smarter decisions, and showcasing playmaking abilities that he didn't show at Duke. Now his finishing and shooting is still shyt and that will take time but we are cleaning up the mess Duke created for Reddish and I say this as a Duke stan but the game has left Coach K by if it's not his specific system which he is using this year.
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He does have some early Wiggins in him. Not anywhere near as gifted with the explosiveness. Wiggins was a foul drawing machine. Wiggins explosiveness helped him with his mid-range shot too which wasn't money but was respectable. Both are fast af for their size but early Wiggins was 6'7 190 and always played like he was 6'7 190. Cam is 6'9 210 and plays like he is 6'3 170. It's problematic. There is a reason why Wiggs won ROY. But both have that too cool for school playing style. Cam hustle A LOT more and has a much better motor and it's not even close.
I don't know why people talk about early Wiggins like it's a bad thing. The kid was one of the most difficult covers early on with his size, speed, and athleticism. His body control was wack early on but he could draw fouls like a machine just due to his size and pure explosiveness.
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Sly Cookin
based
He is a baby. Give him time bro. He looks like a kid out there. He gon make a lot of ppl eat their words when he gets comfortable and stronger
Him and Hunter really don't know how to play NBA Basketball yet. Hunter is much more advanced in it than Cam but both are still learning. Most of these guys don't get it till December anyway.
Sly Cookin
based
Breh, I'm just happy we have 2 guys with this much potential on the wings. I'm not pressed for results just yet. Im enjoying the flashes of brilliance because I know the future is bright. There are some rookies that could get the job done but they just dont have the ceiling hunter and reddish have. This fanbase needs patience, collins being suspended is just making the youngsters look worse than they are
It's making everyone's job tough. Parker is a professional scorer and we are lucky to have him for 6.5 million but him starting right now is showing us why no one wanted him but us. He doesn't pass well. His off-ball offense doesn't exist. His defense is awful even if the effort isn't bad. His BBIQ is below average on defense and he is a streaky shooter. He is not a very good basketball player. He is just average at best and best suited for the 6th man role which he is really good at.
The rookies aren't even that bad. They play pretty good defense. Offensively, they are a work in progress but that was to be expected. Hunter was a PF at UVA and Cam offensively was average at Duke and that's not even talking about average for a draft pick but average for any ACC player. It was always going to take time. At least these two have good pallets and can dribble, pass and defend.
He is Mr. Jeyyl and Mr. Hyde. Sometimes he is good offensively, other times he is trash. He has a lot of Josh Smith moments but he always plays extremely hard and has CB breaking ability on plays.yall need to waive Alex Len, he's a cancer to yall growth....
I saw the Hawks go on some great runs and they were all stopped when he entered the game.
What the general consensus on Bembry?
Dude is garbage, but he plays hard.
Len ain't our problem now that he is back home as a backup center. Jones is as a starter but we don't have a starting center so we are screwed in that regard.
We played a good three quarters but that 1st QT was so ass. We won the 2nd-4th QT.
FreshFromATL
Self Made
Cam biggest issue is he's weak as fukk. Like, never hit a weight in his life weak.
Collins getting suspended fukked us cause now we're forced to play Bruno at the backup 4 and Jones is a 3rd string Center at best but he's starting.
Kevin's injury is hurting big time right now as well which is causing Trae to try and do too much on offense which is why his turnovers have increased .
What would be great is for Parsons or Crabbe to become useful since they're off the injury list but
Collins getting suspended fukked us cause now we're forced to play Bruno at the backup 4 and Jones is a 3rd string Center at best but he's starting.
Kevin's injury is hurting big time right now as well which is causing Trae to try and do too much on offense which is why his turnovers have increased .
What would be great is for Parsons or Crabbe to become useful since they're off the injury list but