JTB

You gotta let me finish....it will be his down fall if he doesn’t address it.

I can’t stress that enough at that. Schlenk has been a very good gm up to this point but not making a move on fulfilling our need for a quality center is going to be his downfall. i don’t even like to draft centers high because most are projects if not really all. I know us fans aren’t supposedly as smart as the front office folks but on this one I think it’s clear as day that Len, Jones, and Bruno (who isn’t ready yet, which is fair to him since he’s a rook)...this issue at center will hold this unit back from being able to make real progress or achievements that could be made this season in my opinion. seriously it’s so horrible that I almost say the hell with it ! Let Bruno go out there and learn. We are struggling at that spot anyways so why waste development time. ....and just for the record I’m more than ok with Adams remaining contract! Let’s not act like we are a sudden attraction to quality free agents in the off season. I’d be looking to trade for Adams in a heartbeat if I were schlenk

100% agree I just don’t understand the difference playing Len, Jones, or even Bruno at this point ! We are getting anything from any of them. I watched Adams the other night and he looks awesome. He may not be the best fit but I doubt we get the best fit center anyways...Adams would definitely fill in a number of weaknesses defensively, rebounding....offensively there’s obviously better choices than Adams but he is a good finisher and passer , I also like his bbiq as well on both ends.

Believe it or not I’m not worried about the offense clicking . New young players (rookies), 2nd year players, 3rd and 4th year players still adjusting to the nba. they will get the offense down before the defense that’s for sure. They need some time to play together and learn each other then we’ll see more advanced like sets

An experienced center like Adams would help some things to start and the reason he keeps getting mentioned because he’s available. Other than that collins has to really come into his shooting skillset when odds of strength are against him in my opinion as well as continue the constant off ball movement. one thing I don’t understand through this rebuilding process is how young players are going to get better when strength is an issue at certain spots on the roster. Young need to get stronger too but as a point guard he’s going to have a lot more leeway than a big man that need to add on muscle. I just don’t get how you can get better defensively as a unit when strength is your biggest issue! I mean all you can say as coach is literally “get stronger” ....do we really expect these young guys or anyone to build some major muscle during a season ????? i keep telling people and mark my words we get outmuscled by majority opponents and it won’t be as fun to watch this team as it happens

Smh there’s too much focus on cam late in this thread but Cam will be fine, he missed some wide open shots ....ok no worries he is rookie and still recovering from an recent injury and let’s face it ....cam can come in and hit all these shots and we’d still lose. as a matter of fact when Huerter returns we will witness just that! but let’s get back to the real issue ....the Defense as a whole is bad but the interior defense is just flat out horrible and weak (and to me our biggest issue) ... once an opponent gets physical on us we crawl back into our shell! Ya see even when we were down by 10 late in the second there was still some great urgency to get that lead down but the game had got a little more physical end of the second as well but we still are battling....then early in the 3rd Bam starts to get even more physical and take it to us even though he’s not making many shots he’s drawing fouls like Shaq out there. An once bam got going physically you see the frustration in our bigs especially collins I feel horrible for collins cause he got placed on bam when our other centers (not named Bruno) and He gives up the most size among our bigs .....it’s crazy to me to watch us continue to get beat by the same way but it is what it is

Death lineups are normally considered “a teams most explosive offensive unit that can be on the court and put up a helluva amount of points” to me and probably to most our best offense we can absolutely put on the court happens to be our best small ball lineup too.... pg-Trae sg-Huerter sf-Cam pf-Hunter c-Collins

Honestly I was among that crew as well. I didn’t really think hunter had much to work with offensively until very recently and now I’m just amazed cause the dude has some very good tools. now I do still believe trae and cams offensive ceiling is higher than hunters but real point is they can all be good Or even great offensively one day.

Right only time will tell...all we can do is hope for the best for all these young guys.

Let me ask a fair question ....not to put hunter on the Leonard list (I’d never do that unless hunter gives reason to)...but my question is.... Is it really a stretch to assume hunter can’t take the same path as Leonard ? ...again not saying he’s going to be as great as Leonard but hunter looks like he may coincidentally take a similar career path as far as how he will become a better player . ....am I reaching a bit? I’m not assuming he’s guaranteed to stardom. But for example hunters defense is very very good to be a rookie on all phases of that side of the ball seem like and I don’t think it’s just because it’s preseason I believe dude just has that "it" factor defensively....kinda similar to Leonard when he was a rookie and he just so happen to have a stellar built nba ready body for a wing man To go along with that defensive ability (and can even see him adding on more muscle pretty easily if he wanted)...ehhh kinda like that guy Leonard during his rookie season but last he has very good offensive potential and instincts from what we’ve seen so far. Dude is very consistent with his jumper and he takes great shots. He doesn’t try to do too much, he just takes the shots given by the defense.....just like How that guy Leonard started out i don’t know folks I think hunter has star potential just like trae and cam. It may take him longer to really pick it up on offense but the work ethic and IQ is already top notch to make it happen. we’ll see......

Nothing is wrong with that (Him being a project). I believe Bruno will show how quickly he can learn and I predicted over the summer he will be a starter at some point this season around the same time frame Huerter got his opportunity if we don’t make a trade of any sort. however what sucks is how long the waiting process will be until coach LP says “hey we need to switch it up, we’re getting outmuscled on a regular “...that could take 2 months into the season or so ! Not just because LP don’t see it happening but more so because he may feel the need to NOT have a knee jerk reaction once it (bully ball) happens....or if it happens (which I believe it’s not truly fixed despite the decent performance vs ORL the other night ) my only real concern for wanting another center right now .....also let me clarify my own personal issue while I’m at it about our center position and just the big man positions period...my concern right now is strictly regarding physicality THATS IT. I’ve been preaching it all week I’m just concerned about the bully ball stuff cause that leads to easy points all too often and it’s not a defensive fix. You can’t fix bully ball with defense that’s a fact but you can address it matching power with power. Now Long term my concern is of course defense for the whole unit but right now I just simply want to see the bully ball stuff to stop! why the teams sucks at defense? its no new news this team defense sucks but why does the team defense suck ? That’s where i am! And let’s face it there’s a good number of reasons why but we have to address it one by one (my opinion anyways) and number 1 on my list? You guessed it! We are simply just too weak when collins is at the 5. Then the centers we have (all except the rookie Bruno) don’t show any power or physicality whatsoever and get bullied just as easy as JC. And other teams know this so attacking the rim vs the hawks is a must! ....they don’t need to perform post moves, euro steps, or any of that, the game plan for the opponent is simple just got to run to the paint, back us down in the paint and lay it in! Smh so here’s where we are with what we have... we have only one physical big man on the team in my opinion and he’s a rookie and he’s not yet ready to play any major minutes. So that’s why I’d love a trade to get Adams as he at the very least resolves our physicality issues at the rim but he happens to be a good defensive big man too who’s close enough in age with our young guys. Also They don’t call him the strongest guy in the nba for no reason. JTB CONCLUSION FOR THIS TOPIC once I see the bully ball is addressed on normal basis and we aren’t getting beat down like the step child then I will be happy to address other defensive problems this unit has but right now until our team shows that physicality won’t be the reason they can’t get stops I can’t even look at the other defensive issues.

Ok ok I there now ...I do agree with that and what you’re saying .

Ok I recall Amare always setting screens for Nash like non stop...but either way I agree collins has to be feed

https://clutchpoints.com/hawks-news-lloyd-pierce-wants-to-see-john-collins-become-more-of-a-facilitator-this-2019-20-season/ it sounded good in the beginning but in the words of @NBASupes this plan , approach, or whatever may be “cheeks”

Well this is why I always said JC is our Amare Stoudamire type player. He’s doesn’t throw it down as viciously as Amare but you have to let him be who he is on offense!...a finisher not a playmaker. set screens on and off ball, continue to have a high bbiq on when to roll or when to pop, continue the good rebounding activity around the goal, put effort in on defense....and most importantly (This is one for LP) play him at the 4! i am not ready to give up on collins until this same type of play come against guys with identical frames and sizes. .....I think collins isn’t getting groomed properly. I read the other day LP say he wants collins to be more of a playmaker and I think it’s went to collins head too much to be a facilitator cause he too mentioned the need of him “making plays”....no sir! Focus on setting screens, off ball movement, taking good shots, and defense. Period.