MarylandHawk

If anything, he is showing more spring lately than he has in his entire professional career. He hasn’t had spring and has been stiff up until now. Just before he injured his wrist he was showing some spring but he injured that and started being timid again. He has to start leaving it all out on the floor or he might not get that second contract he wants.

I’m telling you folks, I am good at picking up on early trends. We will go at least 5 and 7 over our last few games and have a shot at the 9th spot if not better. At that point, this Hawks team will shake up the entire playoff scene. I will have my popcorn ready.

Is that there won’t be any trash teams in the play in or playoffs. We only lose to trash teams this year. Also, we don’t lose at home lately, so if we get that 9th seed, it’s on.

He is a great star to build around. I have watched the Hawks for 25 years and I have had the most fun watching the Trae led Hawks. He has already done more than any other player in franchise history and the arrow is still pointing up. At the end of the day there is only one team that will go home happy each year and he gives us the best chance to be that team now and in the future. Oh I didn’t see the hate tonight on Trae, I guess they will have to wait for another “off” game.

So you are saying there is a chance. Lol.

Curious on why you think Cleveland and Miami are not built for the playoffs?

Other teams are just better than they were last year. We are the same. The only thing that will make a difference in winning and losing is who can maintain the most urgency and effort for a full 48 mins. Effort and urgency is baked into the dna of teams like Miami, Phoenix, and Golden State. That’s why hey can win consistently despite who is playing.

Just win baby.

John’s off the dribble game has quietly improved this year too. His efficiency and Trae’s ball dominance is a perfect match. I still think Collins has some ceiling left. As Trae evens out his usage and the entire team becomes more efficient with moving the ball and knowing when to take theirs shots, John’s game will grow even more. He is good on post ups too. His only kryptonite is taller/bigger defenders in the post. He can’t post them up. But what he has started to do with that match up is turn and face the basket, get spacing and shoot the jump shot. We just need to keep trying to go to him more until it proves to be ineffective.

“We don’t talk about Bruno, no, no.” lol. That song will get stuck in your head.

Definitely.

Looks like im on track for 10-10 over 20 games.

This is true. Also, they do a lot of ball watching when their teammates shoot. They loose precious seconds staring and hoping the ball goes in or not cutting to the open spot when teammate is in trouble with a trap, double team, or mismatch. The playoffs start now and they need to go into playoff mode where all those things are critical.

I noticed when Nate does take in the Refs for his team Trae is quite and the team responds. I think that first tech he got was really the spark that turned this around.

And Trae had a hero ball three to help win the Hawks game. Your day bro. lol.

14 - 6 why not?

I noticed a few weeks ago he had his legs back and his energy level was top notch. It has just continued. I figure he made a mental note to himself that he was going to take it easy in the first half to let the new players settle in and then go all out on the second half season run and playoffs. We have to punctuate Lou Will’s career with the first NBA championship in his hometown. The story is writing itself.

Another reason I think the current rotation works is because Kevin is a better role player with the staters. He has a very versatile skill set and works really well with Trae and John. Bogi, Gallo, and Lou are savvy vets that really know how to play and can out duel any bench combination in the NBA including Phoenix. Throw in OO17 and Wright’s emergence, we are really cooking. Bogi gets more of a green light offensively when he is on the second unit but he also knows how to maximize Gallo and Lou so that hey can still be effective. It’s beautiful.

To answer your question, I still would like length and experience in the front court. I would love a deal where we traded TLC and a 2nd for Robin Lopez.

I see the Trae Haters faded to black once we started winning. I wonder what changed? Oh I know, urgency and defensive effort by the whole team.

Da man. It is more related to team defense but he is playing his role. The one thing I said before and will keep saying is that Trae can overcome his size issues with his scrappiness and his high basketball IQ. When he understands what the other team is trying to do offensively he can anticipate the actions and disrupt the play development by gumming up the actions. He can also call out their offensive sets so our defensive stars like CC and Dre can be in a better position to make a play. We are starting to see this now. Right now, we are playing better than we ever did last year.

It can end when the Pierce scapegoating ends….

That is still a good thing because if they keep playing like this and they continue to win their long term value goes up. So Bogi gets to win without diminishing his value.

Not to mention during a winning season with the allstar game in Atlanta.

You can’t underestimate Kevin’s chemistry with Trae and John. Plus I think Kevin and Dre is a better defensive combo especially with Clint. I was wondering how Bogi would affect the second unit but tonight proved he fit in super well. I hope Kevin earns the starting spot the rest of the way.