benhillboy

Early wins over the Bucks and Wolves look even better now based on their records but make no mistake, a win tonight would be the highest quality victory to date. This OKC team is a f&@kin circus. A +8.3 point differential for the second youngest squad in the league playing the 6th toughest schedule to date is insanity. Their chemistry is near Bogut Warriors level. Hawks need to focus on hitting the glass on both ends like never before. It’s literally the Thunder’s only weakness.

Seems so. I’ll take it over some of the names I hear in the NFL nowadays. Sh*t like T’Demetriustavious

People around the league are giving Jalen his proper due especially seeing how the Hawks struggled without him. But I wished his name had more ring to it to differentiate him from the 15 other Jaylen/Jaylin/ Jaelyn/ Jalen/ Jay-Lin/J’Lens in the league (am I missing a spelling lol). Nothing like Gradey d*ck tho. His middle name shortened to Ty Johnson is decent

Looking at this brass though I’m not holding my breath on any significant, obviously improving moves. Need more yachts and land acquisitions! Most teams have a couple players at the end of their bench with great metrics. I need a barf bag looking at how the Hawks fleshed out their roster. On what planet should Patty be making $7 milly? Thank goodness for Jalen wildly outplaying his rookie deal.

Yeah these past 8 games were a soft spot in the schedule before a gauntlet in January. The strength of schedule before the Cavs game was 7th. It’s now 20th and the Hawks still lost significant ground The 4 game losing streak didn’t do them any favors at all. If they can somehow beat OKC to start the new year though I’ll damn near forgive all of the losing (2 losses to the hampered heat most notably) Trae has been at 40 minutes per the last 5 games. Hawks gotta get a capable BU in here asap.

Peace and Prosperity To All of Yous. I for one won’t miss 2023, sh*t was horrible for me but I’ll bounce back like a Trae nutmeg. 2024 onward ho!

Yeah not his best day. But Patty was +17 and Trae was -11, I’ll side with the +/- detractors today and call it bullsh*t

I like Trae swiping down low. Use them fouls on poor FT shooters.

He doesn’t have the vision Jalen does let alone Trae Jalen would’ve bounced or lobbed that easy.

the dreaded 3rd quarter. The Wiz are so bad I wouldn’t worry tho.

Lol Trae can just style on these fools. And yeah I think Jalen got all the rust off. Such a talent.

Trae’s defensive play that led to the insane alley oop by Jalen showed his potential using his quickness. Used his feet to wall off Avdija beautifully then baited him into a drive to poke the ball away from behind. I had to rewind it a few times it was so sweet. He also had a midair two handed steal on the incline of a pass last game. That play is usually reserved for high end defenders with the best anticipation, scouting, and hands. He’s never going to be a notable possession-to-possession defender but he’s really making plays this season, which helps way more than not.

Jalen assaults the rim.

Trae and Clint should dominate and Hawks cruise by 13. If Poole drops 29 and the Wizards pull away late it’s high time for a “player’s only” meeting. Hawks really need to rescue Delon outta there. Even in only 10 games to have this on/off amidst all the garbage is nothing short of remarkable:

Of course I was talking the Bulls PG Ron Harper, and who the hell calls him poor man’s Jordan? That was always Drexler. Ron didn’t average 20 points with any franchise he played for. Cleveland didn’t make no noise until Daugherty and Price’s sophomore season and Ron was on the way out. And was Detlef not the third wheel to GP and Kemp? You challenge silly stuff, don’t try me on anything NBA related from the 90’s on. “I must be young,” sit down and wake me up when you go as in depth on a player as I do.

I love the discussions here. Hawks basketball post-Bud certainly isn’t my cup of tea but I’ve followed only to stay engaged here. Supes loves Dre and hates metrics, that’s totally fine. I find that metrics match my eyes for players I like even going back to the late 80’s. Secondary core guys like Ron Harper, Terry Porter, Doc, Detlef. Hell, Mugsy Bogues and Spud Webb both have periods of very impressive two-way metrics as they should. Peak Klay and Anfernee Simons are two notable outliers from this era who I swear by with crappy metrics but even then I don’t discard them. I’m actually looking forward to the Blazers game, their backcourt of Simons and Brogdon will eat most likely. I despise both KD and James Harden’s games but I can’t help but respect their crazy impact numbers both ways. @NBASupes I regularly watch wings like Jimmy, Jaime Jaquez, and Jalen Williams, I can’t pay Dre too much mind. But this is what I see as an off ball defender: He chases well and denies pretty good for for someone who isn’t the best at starting/ stopping or chopping steps. Still no Jae Crowder by a long shot. His strength hand fighting off the ball is acceptable (unlike DJ who Donovan Mitchell bench pressed and sent flying multiple times). He closes out pretty well and under control. Sees his man and ball pretty good. But he doesn’t show and retreat hard, something Trae desperately needs when he’s found at the POA (ironically Trae does this pretty well when he wants). He doesn’t bait bad passes or anticipate them. Great off ball defenders point, yell at, and even shove teammates to position better, he never does. He can’t defend two on a nail on the wings because of this lack of communication. He doesn’t front well, even like-sized players. He takes good angles off ball but his first step/ acceleration is below average. He doesn’t flash arms consistently enough when his back is to the ball or even when he’s facing it to deter passing lanes. He doesn’t swipe well when packing the lane as a helper. He doesn’t draw a lot of charges as a step in defender. He doesn’t diagnose plays a step ahead, always reactive. He boxes out mediocre and certainly doesn’t have any rebound tracking skills or feel when shots go up. All of these things tend to show up in defensive metrics of guys who don’t post gaudy defensive counting stats like Slo Mo ,Joe Ingles, and Nic Batum, let alone dudes like LeBron, Kawhi, Tatum, PG, Caruso, Derrick White, Draymond, GP2, and Delon who can literally control opposing offenses off the ball for short spurts. Great defenders know all these things make an impact regardless of teammate and scheme weaknesses.

I wish. I know OO and Bey would turn up with me OO got that Cali fire and Bey look like he keep a volcano vaporizer in a backpack.

Them boys pouring ‘yac and passing blunts around at halftime. It’s like Ron Artest is an assistant coach.

He’ll be well over 50% for his career from the corner now. The staff really should design more ways for him to get em up. Unfortunately soon-to-be-traded-and-draft-assets-wasted ass DJ simply doesn’t have the floor command nor passing chops to draw and kick, let alone skip pass to the corner. Trae doesn’t exactly have the patience to camp there either lol. It would create more space and variety for the offense but hey Quin knows better than me. I’d love to hear what Quin told DJ his role is because I don’t see a clear defined one. Being a tweener who’s pretty f&@kin weak may have something to do with it. Trae is indeed now 1-7 versus his peers (Ball, Haliburton, Brunson, SGA, Morant, Fox, Garland) but this one might’ve been the worst. I didn’t watch until the inevitable fourth quarter meltdown but I do know the Hawks were up 23

I never cared for any starters in the Trae era outside of Steroid John and Jalen. All my favs have been reserves: OO, Ded, Bey, Kevin, Lin, “Pierre” Bembry, Delon of course, Gallo, and my boy Bogi. To answer your question Clint has had the obvious highest impact on winning since he arrived keeping the defense on the brink of professionalism and he’s a putrid offensive on ball player. Don’t make me answer any more questions about the Hawks, yall need League Pass bad lol. A four minute stretch of OKC is more entertaining than 48 from the Hawks. Jaime Jaquez (fireable offense taking Bufkin over him) on Christmas was more impressive than Dre’s whole career. I will leave you with this nugget heading into Thursdays game versus the Kings: Trae has played head-to-head versus most of his peers this season. Young high usage small guards under 27: SGA Brunson X2 Haliburton Garland Ja LaMelo He’s 1-6, only win coming versus LaMelo who’s a whole clown casserole. 8-15 dating back to last season. Hawks have lost 3 games to Charlotte and Cleveland with Trae in and Ball and Garland out (full starting lineup for the Hawks in both Charlotte games) I don’t know who you expect to pair with Trae and magically become a contender, I told y’all anyone short of Jimmy Butler ain’t making any difference. I’m a heat fan so your notion of trying to build a super team of talent and high draft picks around Trae doesn’t register. He doesn’t even have the intangibles to add to great chemistry, only subtract. If you wanna knock Garland and Fox for playing alongside Mitchell and Sabonis to discount Trae’s supporting cast go ahead, that’s fair. DJ and Clint can’t hold their ball sacks: But Traes style, size, and IQ will clash with almost any player with an intelligent floor game and great impact metrics. Fox will more than likely make it 1-7. If Trae can’t be a floor raiser versus these guys what chance in hell does he have to do so versus AS level veteran wings? About as slim as Maute Bol on a water fast. Max deal wasted, he and DJ’s impact ain’t about nothing bro. If it isn’t evident on the floor you’re on BB-Ref enough to see that when compared to the rest of the league. You are still on pace to win our bet tho, ever so slightly.

I can accept and rationalize stats for my favorite players good and bad, y’all should do the same. Jimmy’s playoff +/- is only +26 as dominant as he’s been the past couple (career regular +/- +2128) Steph is on pace for his worst healthy on/off by far this season at -7.2 (career +5691). You +/- and advanced metrics non-believers will come around at some point trust me. After Trae retires most likely.

I’m fully aware of Haliburton’s and SGA’s poor career +/-. You know I don’t rely on one metric. Check their WS/48, on/ off, and net ratings this season. Most are out of reach of anything Trae is capable of with far younger and/ or lower paid teammates. And when yall laugh/ dismiss serious basketball conversation (and stats that every outlet follows) it just reeks of deflecting hurt. But I’m talking to folks who totally dismiss the fact that he leads the entire planet in turnovers since he arrived yet has none of the size or athletic advantages that all the other players who turn over a lot have. I know yall live and die with other peoples opinions of Trae but just ignore me instead.

His career on per 100 is -.5, squarely in the middle of what I’ve been declaring his true impact is for 3 years. His on/ off is a mediocre +3.3 mainly due to horrible BU PG options outside of Delon. But “Superstar!” Anyway, back to some real original analysis. Trae takes a corner three once every 4 or 5 games shooting a whooping .464. When is his IQ gonna level up to taking advantage of arguably the game’s most valuable shot?

Bud molded so many fringe players into useful pieces. Pero, Baze, Shelvin, I never even heard of DMC before he got here. Moose is still in the league due to his formative years under Bud, Money Mike not so much You could still get a great seat versus the Warriors for a reasonable price. Best game I ever been to. Watching Kyle move and shoot and Thabo glide across the floor every night was an absolute blast for me. Kyle led the team in minutes with an obscene TS% of .699! Thabo had a microscopic 100 defensive rating. Hawks would have to tear everything down to identify players who can be that efficient and get to a near 6 point differential again

You have issues with reading comprehension at times D, we still love you tho.