benhillboy

That was a great board, phantom foul though. How often do you feel a player can improve his foot speed/ inital slide step defending screens on defense once in the league? He’ll have to but again I can’t knock his defensive rating at all. He just had another great offensive board on a transition block, a lot of NBA players wouldn’t have followed the play. Very nice feel I’ve seen so far. This game got some wacky ass officiating for sure lol.

Oh sh*t Reed is on now. Just banged a cold blooded three to tie Texas AM with 5 minutes left. Missed the pull up three right after tho, questionable shot.

Never seen Reed Sheppard play in my life but his ratings versus Kentucky are eye popping like a mfer I might have to sit down and watch Kentucky someday. A +26 net over a 6th ranked team tells me immediately his floor is crazy high off that stat alone. Looks like he’ll fill out nicely at 6’3” too. Of course he’s a better future option than Trae who was a paltry +3 over a bad Oklahoma team. For comparison SGA was +15 over a good Kentucky team, Haliburton +22 over a bad Iowa squad, and Brunson was +5 over a dominant national championship team. No surprise all three are excelling at winning floor raising skills that Trae doesn’t even understand. I would say having to grind their ways off the bench and spot starting early on gave them an advantage in learning NBA off ball play and hunger over Trae but that’s a cop out, they’re just better basketball players and always have been. That boy DJ was -6 for a team that was never ranked Some of these one-and-dones boy I can’t.

I’m gladly eating crow on Banchero. His second year leap is crazy on both ends. You gotta deal with shawty every night. He’s too f&@kin big to move like a tweener wing.

That poster has more value than our entire scouting department. They all need a pink slip. Every night I watch Jaquez shaking my head. IQ, toughness, and feel higher than any Hawk old or young. Why these kids don’t stay in college at least 2 years is beyond me. Well I do know they don’t give a damn about actually knowing how to play just want some shiny chains and loose women lol. I thought Quin would bring some college coaching sensibilities but naw.

He spends too much time in the mirror checking out his ill-fitting watches, creepy dye job, ridiculous 80’s librarian eyeglasses, and expensive plaque belts for jacka$$es that played out years ago. No time for critical thinking-based coaching that highlight the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of his players.

I’m so surprised Nique praises McConnell so much. I wouldn’t expect him to understand his impact at all.

I know better than to blame these players. Most of them are helpless victims of horrible ownership and now a green, useless front office. They actually passed on a guy in the draft who Jimmy Butler is grooming to replace him. Un-f&@kin-real. But this Quinn guy. He simply ain’t it. No advantage to be had with him at the helm on most nights. His defensive administration is about as lazy and embarrassing as D’Antoni. He may be responsible for like 1 win since he’s been here.

Trae ranks 68th in the league in assist to turnover ratio and shoots two pointers well below league average (-11%). Two of the numerous reasons why he lags so far behind Bogi and Bey in on/off team offensive rating difference : Bogi’s gravity and Bey’s timely offensive rebounding actually helps the team create separation. Trae’s impact has and will always amount to about a point per game give or take (cool return on a max deal). The team’s total on/off per 100 checks out very accurately with the tape save for OO who’s off value is inflated by Clint who clearly doesn’t want to be here anymore: This is the company Trae keeps in terms of on/off: There are only 3 proven playoff players here in Bam, Klay (who’s been cooked), and Steph. Five other players I would welcome on my team in Okoro, Caruso, Cam Johnson, Brogdon, and Bridges. Scottie Barnes and Mathurin are just alright. The rest of this list is filler including the Hawks’ $58 million backcourt. I wish yall would stop reaching with the trade proposals and blaming role players. Hawks have done as admirable a job as they could surrounding him with the lob threats (at one point John, OO, and Clint were all in the top 7 or so in lob finishes) and shooting (4 players currently shooting threes above league average) that is required to supplement him. Of course there isn’t any cap space left for a mid market team to acquire high end defenders. There simply was never a sound build to be had around this kid on a max deal. With so many East players like Banchero, White, Tatum, Maxey, Mitchell, Brunson, and Haliburton making huge leaps in their game as teams have figured out Trae’s PNR tendencies and limiting cheap fouls, it’s hopeless. The common denominator in all of these dreadful defensive ratings since ‘18-‘19 is HIM. stats courtesy of the historical authority on NBA statistics BB Ref.

A draft pick they’re gonna f@&k up royally no question. Hawks had 2 instant impact players with size staring them in the face on draft night. Jaime Jaquez Jr is only leading the entire NBA in fourth quarter minutes for a team 5 games over .500 and here is where Brandin Podziemski ranks in the Warriors’ on/off: Hawks said nah give us a guard with no size who we know isn’t gonna play. Brilliance.

DJ’s scoring impact is so tepid. Opposing teams don’t mind his little flurries at all because they don’t feel any physicality from him and his points come with everyone else standing around disengaged.

Hawks lose to a team who’s about 2 years younger based on average age, with over $26 million less in payroll, and a depth chart that looks like this: The ‘23-‘24 campaign looking more and more like a trainwreck. Hawks rarely have the best player on the floor these days. Always behind the 8 ball when that’s the case.

Well damn. I’m mad at the overturn but the explanation was excellent.

OO beating everybody not named Paolo lol

OO doing a good job on Banchero, still not enough.

At least 2 of Trae’s threes should’ve fell, rim was tripping. You know he ain’t gonna shy away from shooting it.

Some more symmetry for you: The Hawks’ record all time without Trae is 14-20.

Huge tip by Jalen to end quarter after Trae kept it alive after his long miss. I thought Banchero would be a Carmelo type player. I was wrong, he’s gonna be far more well-rounded than that. Shawty cold. I used to hate Cole Anthony. Wouldn’t mind him backing up on my team one bit now. Kid got an edge to him.

Preciate it. I forgot to mention he’s very good defending cut actions while everyone else struggles. I don’t care if DeJounte is moved. It’ll definitely be sunken cost but whatever. I simply don’t value him and his former, less-heralded teammate Derrick White is a big reason why. Peep the vid: Murray literally provides none of these winning attributes. This is why White leads the whole NBA in +/- per 100. I can’t buy the notion Murray is “playing out of position,” his player type is supposed to reap some benefits from being a combo guard.

Nobody who watches and understands the modern NBA (obviously excluding Perk) would’ve expected anything over .500 for this assembly of players and staff. But even I’m slightly surprised at 6 games under with a below average strength of schedule. The individual players’ middling or worse metrics totally match the film. So many ways to exploit them, good coaches like Mazzula, Carlisle, and Spo are like kids in a candy store. When Derrick White says “most NBA players don’t know how to play” the Hawks are prime examples. Players who don’t screen, cut, communicate, pressure, drive, box out, or double team hard serve no purpose for winning. None. Put the cherry and sprinkles on top of a poor team passing IQ and no semblance of a vocal leader and you have a team that’s gonna be lottery bound by month's end. I can’t comprehend how yall follow Twitter.

Carlisle took some years off stealing money. He’s back on his elite sh@t he was on in Dallas. Pacers found something defensively in-season, something not easy to do. I knew the Bruce Brown signing would go under the radar for casuals but I knew it was gonna be quite significant. Kid’s team IQ and feel is solid as a rock. Any player who’s metrics go up in the postseason is a keeper (Denver!)

This was one of the more obvious gameplans to attack (poor and ill-footed) close outs from the Pacers as I’ve seen. They slick toyed with the Hawks in the first half. I‘m no Dre fan but our perimeter defense would’ve looked “better” with him no question.

Feel and proper basketball training>>>>>>>>talent. Size is kinda important too.

Haliburton has 94 assists to 9 turnovers in his last 5+ games. Curse the day the Hawks didn’t/ couldn’t draft him. His floor was as high as humanly possible and it was pretty obvious. Outside of drawing fouls he’s superior to Trae in every way, 2 years younger to boot SMGDH.

This is the personification of what meddling ownership looks like. No coherent or collective vision for serious competition. This Pacer team is the lowest paid in the league, $30 million less on the books this season than the Hawks. They obviously have a vision for a sound, sustainable build. Chances are the Hawks gonna have the worst defensive ranking in the Association by the end of this month. Nice.