staticshock
Veteran
Currently in New Orleans on a field trip. I checked the nba app & just shook my head
Needless to say, both Huerter and Collins would help, but let's not pretend like Trae's play hasn't been without its faults (which is to be expected given it's only his second season). Far too often he tries to force shyt on offense, which puts an already limited team in worse spots trying to compensate for it (one of the main causes for their offensive inconsistency), and doesn't provide much resistance on the defensive end.
Some of this could be mitigated if he didn't dominate the ball so much, and the Hawks used him more as an off-ball threat.
If that player has a dog on one end of the floor they are effective, I tend to assume they have a dog in them all around if they are good enough at what they do. I hate the idea that Cam doesn't have a dog on offense, he flat out isn't good, he ain't gonna be much of anything at this time on that end other than what he also can do.You’ve never heard someone refer to an aggressive player having some “dog” in him? ?
I been dogging the shyt outta Trae on the Hawks board. His ain't without faults. He's been much better in the last two games but he is part of the problem as well. His defense has been much better this season but oddly that's not the major problem as it was last year. He has a tendency to go Stephon Marbury mode. That shyt irks the fukk outta me.Needless to say, both Huerter and Collins would help, but let's not pretend like Trae's play hasn't been without its faults (which is to be expected given it's only his second season). Far too often he tries to force shyt on offense, which puts an already limited team in worse spots trying to compensate for it (one of the main causes for their offensive inconsistency and inability to generate any rhythm/momentum), and doesn't provide much resistance on the defensive end.
Some of this could be mitigated if he didn't dominate the ball so much, and the Hawks used him more as an off-ball threat.
Needless to say, both Huerter and Collins would help, but let's not pretend like Trae's play hasn't been without its faults (which is to be expected given it's only his second season). Far too often he tries to force shyt on offense, which puts an already limited team in worse spots trying to compensate for it (one of the main causes for their offensive inconsistency and inability to generate any rhythm/momentum), and doesn't provide much resistance on the defensive end.
Some of this could be mitigated if he didn't dominate the ball so much, and the Hawks used him more as an off-ball threat.
Ya'll say Kevin as if we didn't have this year looking like a clown for most of the season outside of the Denver game where of course, he got injured by fat b*stard. Kevin was here and wasn't doing much of anything. All of this Kevin talk needs to come to an halt. Dudes' defense was literally worse than Trae's by the RAPTOR and his defense didn't even improve. John is the player we are truly missing. His ass isn't great either but he fits both offense and defense and his movement frees up space for the wings. Right now, Jabari does too much iso ball. Collins never iso and he always made good decisions when it came to the pass. That's who we are missing. Kevin helps in terms of shooting but the defense with him and Crabbe is awful, in fact, worse with Kevin. None of them looking worth anything with Parker/Jones.Pressure gonna be on Travis this offseason.
Hawks have no one else that can reliably handle the ball other than Huerter
The problem with this is, nobody should be forcing shyt.Trae forcing shyt is still >>>> anybody else on the court right now doing anything involving the ball "within the game"
Bembry can reliably handle the ball (as long as he's not looking to score every time he touches it), and Jabari/Reddish/Turner have all shown the ability to handle some duties. It would be more of a collective effort of all the guards/wings to share the load. There's no reason why they can't scale back Trae's ball-possession, and use him running off screens; he won't even need to touch the ball with all the defensive attention he receives. Look at how the Warriors use Steph to get open shots by him just running around and being a distraction.Hawks have no one else that can reliably handle the ball other than Huerter
Honestly, this is a really fukking good post from an outsider. I wasn't expecting to agree as most outsiders don't know our team for shyt but damn, this was pretty good.The problem with this is, nobody should be forcing shyt.
That's why y'all haven't been able to have any consistency on that end. There are too many clusters of possessions where Trae forces up [missed] shots without moving the ball and/or turns the ball over (he has the ball in his hands for 9.2 minutes per game which is #1= in the league), and the Hawks get in a hole they can't recover from - in the 1st quarter they're 27th in offensive rating and 26th in points.
It happens every game.
If the Hawks used him as an off-ball threat more often, the team would be able to generate and maximize runs more often. As it now stands, everyone is just standing around while Trae dominates the ball, and living and dying with whatever he does; and when they do get the ball it's usually in tough, unfamiliar spots that they can't score in.
Bembry can reliably handle the ball (as long as he's not looking to score every time he touches it), and Jabari/Reddish/Turner have all shown the ability to handle some duties. It would be more of a collective effort of all the guards/wings to share the load. There's no reason why they can't scale back Trae's ball-possession, and use him running off screens; he won't even need to touch the ball with all the defensive attention he receives. Look at how the Warriors use Steph to get open shots by him just running around and being a distraction.
While it wouldn't turn y'all into world-beaters, it would be A LOT better than the system y'all have now.
Dedmon has been a huge loss for y'all.Honestly, this is a really fukking good post from an outsider. I wasn't expecting to agree as most outsiders don't know our team for shyt but damn, this was pretty good.
Bembry's issue is tunnel vision and he does the same thing as Trae where he drives into traffic and gets stuck but Trae with his passing and vision can make something out of nothing while Bembry just turns the ball over. That said, he can still handle it, especially without a screen which is more that I can say about than most of our squad. All of them have their flaws and none of them feel like Trae but Trae just is TOO ball-dominant and it's a determent. Especially when you got such a young team and our pace just isn't that fast anymore.
Our system been rubbish this year because we lost a shooter in Bazemore who shot like 6.1 threes a game and Prince who shot 7.3 threes a game and replaced them with much more projectable rookies who like most potential two way guys, struggling with their shot, don't take enough shots and constantly playing with dead legs as well as just aren't consistent offensively at all. The biggest loss was Dedmon who was a perfect fit as a swing big center. 3.3 threes a game, great floor spacer, 9+ rebounds a game and can communicate defensively. That loss has been our nemesis. Especially Trae's.
The biggest issue is the starting center spot. While Jones has done well as a roll man off of the PnR and he doesn't really hurt our offense, his defense is just awful with Parker and in general, it's always been bad even in GS. He does show flashes but for the most part, he is mentally too late far too often and obviously doesn't communicate well at all. Dedmon is not even that good but he just fit what we did.Dedmon has been a huge loss for y'all.
Y'all replaced him with Jones, who doesn't stretch the floor, at all, and doesn't do anything particularly well on either side of the floor to make up for it. And Len is shooting 3s at 16% on 1.4 attempts per game which is less than ideal, and with Collins out it's only one less big man to stretch the floor. Jabari's been more than adequete, but he's not good enough by himself and is best used as a 6th man-type.
2018/19 Hawks: 37 three-point attempts at 35%
2019/20 Hawks: 32 three-points attempts at 31%
It's evident y'all need to switch shyt up to get guys more open looks and easier scoring opportunities (they're not talented enough to create for themselves, or off basic PnR and PnP.), which will only happen once Trae stops dominating the ball.
The problem with this is, nobody should be forcing shyt.
That's why y'all haven't been able to have any consistency on that end. There are too many clusters of possessions where Trae forces up [missed] shots without moving the ball and/or turns the ball over (he has the ball in his hands for 9.2 minutes per game which is #1= in the league), and the Hawks get in a hole they can't recover from - in the 1st quarter they're 27th in offensive rating and 26th in points.
It happens every game.
If the Hawks used him as an off-ball threat more often, the team would be able to generate and maximize runs more often. As it now stands, everyone is just standing around while Trae dominates the ball, and living and dying with whatever he does; and when they do get the ball it's usually in tough, unfamiliar spots that they can't score in.
Bembry can reliably handle the ball (as long as he's not looking to score every time he touches it), and Jabari/Reddish/Turner have all shown the ability to handle some duties. It would be more of a collective effort of all the guards/wings to share the load. There's no reason why they can't scale back Trae's ball-possession, and use him running off screens; he won't even need to touch the ball with all the defensive attention he receives. Look at how the Warriors use Steph to get open shots by him just running around and being a distraction.
While it wouldn't turn y'all into world-beaters, it would be A LOT better than the system y'all have now.
Apart from putting the ball in the hoop, Cam's shown a lot of capability in nearly every other area of the game; the parallels between his game and PG's at the same age are eerily similar. I know there's a narrative around his box score #s, but he's showed glimpses of the player he can be; if he can become even half the player PG is, y'all can take solace out of that trade.I have been saying for the longest, we need to put the ball in Cam's hands a lot more. He is a pretty good PnR creator for others and it has good results. Hunter has some good results and some so so ones but even then, he is fully engaged. When they just stand in the corner or move without the ball, it can be difficult for them.
2018/19 (sans Trae's 3-pt production): 31 attempts per game = 33 points at 36%What's crazy about those numbers is a vast majority comes from Trae. Take out Trae's stats in both years, last year would go way up and this year's would go way down for the team.
Too early to definitively say that, but he did play like this at college where he dominated the ball (as the adage goes: a leopard never changes its spots). We'll have to reevaluate in a few years if/when he has a better support cast and more experience. Luka has the same tendencies, except he has the size to fall back on.I can agree with that, as long as it's understood that Trae's current usage/inefficiency is due to necessity and growing pains and not some type of fatal flaw in his game
I actually think Luka's tendencies are worse. He has the CP3 dribble, dribble, dribble syndrome while Trae has the Marbury, I don't know when to pass or shoot syndrome. Both won't win you a title unless they change their style of play. A lot of this will have to be others stepping up and earning Trae's or Luka's respect.Apart from putting the ball in the hoop, Cam's shown a lot of capability in nearly every other area of the game; the parallels between his game and PG's at the same age are eerily similar. I know there's a narrative around his box score #s, but he's showed glimpses of the player he can be; if he can become even half the player PG is, y'all can take solace out of that trade.
I fukks with Hunter too, he's shown that he can be building block going forward.
2018/19 (sans Trae's 3-pt production): 31 attempts per game = 33 points at 36%
2019/20 (sans Trae's 3-pt production): 24 attempts per game = 20 points at 28%
A significant margin, it's literally the difference between league-average and dead-last.
Too early to definitively say that, but he did play like this at college where he dominated the ball (as the adage goes: a leopard never changes its spots). We'll have to reevaluate in a few years if/when he has a better support cast and more experience. Luka has the same tendencies, except he has the size to fall back on.