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benhillboy

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Everything posted by benhillboy

  1. benhillboy
    DJ needs to be much more active off the ball. He doesn’t make intuitive moves based on ideal spacing nor cut hard to create confusion for the defense. Bogi is much better.
  2. benhillboy
    His shot charts from last season and current: The floater is definitely something that he and the staff have to problem solve. His most efficient shot being long twos from the left wing isn’t ideal either although the staff has decreased his attempts from the opposite wing. Threes along the break of the arc have been limited as well. I’ve always thought that was the most ideal three in terms of depth perception and feel. He didn’t shoot great from there last season but kept the defense honest enough. Needs more catch and shoot opportunities from the top. Seems he’s totally abandoned the corner three to my chagrin. Super small sample but he shoots .448 from there in his career smh. Shooting so poorly at the rim is a fatal flaw, one that won’t be corrected until the Hawks get some semblance of a damn stretch 5 so he can isolate on Cs and drive quickly with no shot blocking present. Advanced metrics grade those misses the harshest because 1) it’s a damn layup and 2) they usually lead to points going back the other way with 5 on 4s.
  3. benhillboy
    I’ve never been a proponent of building around Trae but the Hawks are doing him a disservice. When he came out it was clear that three player types were in order to maximize his impact: 1. Defense first starting SG (Derrick White type) Huerter/ DJ/ Bogi ain’t that. DJ just doesn’t hold up on ball consistently and his career rebound drop off trend is very alarming. I love Bogi and like his effort level on D but again he’s a player who rises and falls with his surroundings, true self-starters on defense do their thing regardless. Dre as your primary wing has no motor nor splashy play ability and thus can’t raise defensive floors of his teammates. It isn’t prudent to have your starting SG run PG with the second unit either, it warps their role. 2. Stretch 5 who can protect the rim above average (Myles Turner type) Trae had a much better rhythm to his offense early on with stretch Bigs like Len and Ded. Just needed a huge improvement in talent level from that type. Having Clint and OO clog the lane takes away his isolation dribble drive forays to the hole when switched on to Bigs that he used to take advantage of much more often. I think that improves the confidence and rhythm of his floater, which we’ve seen fall from best in the league to shaky. Trae can spam PNR lobs versus bad defenses. Versus good ones it simply isn’t there anymore. 3. Defense first BU PG (Delon, Caruso types) Teams stocked with defensive-minded players can weather injuries better. Plus Trae just needs all the help he can get. While improved, he’s still a well below average defender who can still be picked on in almost any action by teams who actually run sound sets. The prospects of winning a championship with a mediocre or worse defense are futile at very best. I blame both Schlenk and Landry for continuing this “offense at the expense of defense” build style.
  4. benhillboy
    Are you “around” or aren’t you? And don’t make me sorry I didn’t stipulate a word/ character limit on your answer (just kidding) As far as Haliburton I hadn’t even watched him in college and it was easy to see his floor was high af from trusted detailed scouting report outlets. His current ceiling much less so. Was it ever definitively confirmed that he specifically “didn’t want the Hawks to draft him?” I would’ve traded Trae as quick as you can say “Trae.” Sorry I’m pulling you back in.
  5. benhillboy
    Hawks are 6-6 (47-47 last two seasons) with the 5th best offense and 5th worse defense. This loving embrace of being mid is getting to epic levels. I thought swapping John for Jalen would downgrade the team slightly but not much. To his credit he’s keeping them in that oh-so comfortable .500 space.
  6. benhillboy
    Updated to +23 after last night: I’ve always evaluated him as a -1 point player per game. +2 this season is great for him considering his abysmal shooting. His insane career high FT rate of .557 (only behind Lilliard, Giannis, and Jimmy as high usage/ minute guys) and much-needed increase in steals is his and the Hawks’ saving grace. The highest I’ve ever been on Trae was his ROY push. Simply because he was around 5-7 rebounds consistently and it was quite amazing. Those days are long gone though. It’s a considerable hindrance when you’re best passer can’t grab-and-go.
  7. benhillboy
    That was before Embiid was cleared:
  8. benhillboy
    F&@k me. So you telling me the Hawks missed on Derrick Lively and Cason Wallace for Clint? I keep a healthy distance away from those insider, rumor threads. But if true, again, f&@k me. Poor draft picks, regression in Trae’s shot. Kyle is on the edge as my avatar. I’m about to go with Plastic Man or Flip Murray out this mfer. Ira Newble even.
  9. benhillboy
    Hawks weren’t expected to win this game, no biggie. Sixers actually have a sound defense and clearly the best player on the floor. Nick Nurse is 10-6 versus the Hawks. LP and Nate weren’t equals and Quinn isn’t either. I hear him talking about getting beat on cuts. When your players don’t cut in practice they won’t defend it in games duh.
  10. benhillboy
    Ouch.
  11. benhillboy
    The first few times I listened to Landry speak as the GM I could tell he ain’t GM material. To be fair the top 4 picks have all been horrible, I’m pretty sure all the draft experts deemed ‘23 a mediocre class. On the flip side, regardless of positional need Jaime Jacquez will turn out to be yet another horrible draft miss in Hawks history. Definitely not Marvin over CP3 or OO over Haliburton but still foolish.
  12. benhillboy
    We finally got Trae to improve his nuances when chirping with officiating now Mute Dre gets double techs?! Awesome.
  13. benhillboy
    Nick Nurse better cool it on injury-prone, heavy workload Embiid’s minutes; he has a capable, hustling, sneaky passing BU in Paul Reed (OO please don’t get worked tonight). His net rating is only 2 points worse than Embiid’s but only has 13 minutes available to him a night. I suspect he’ll be around 18 if Embiid is gimpy, but he certainly shouldn’t be counted on to contribute much as a starter if Embiid doesn’t go (c’mon Clint).
  14. benhillboy
    Everyone knows it takes 20 games to see where your team is/ where they will be but Jalen’s FG added must be acknowledged along with Trae’s continuation of his horrible shooting last season. Jalen is 6th in FGs added, along with 7 other surefire All Stars in the Top 10: His improvement has been flat out remarkable. There will certainly be a drop off in his three point shooting at some point but still his shot selection, cutting/ baseline play, and taking advantage of favorable matchups will keep him in a great spot relative to the league. I long stopped expecting anything from Trae but this is getting out of hand even for me. He finished third worst last season and is now #466 out of #467 rotation players: Some absolutely horrible players in that mix sans CP3 (I like Giddey outside his shooting which is arguably worse on film than these stats suggest. The quickest way to get near the bottom of this list is smoke close range paint attempts and brick threes). It’s actually mind blowing Trae subtracts True Shooting as well with how elite he is at taking and making FTs. Obviously Julius Randle has been dreadful outside of playing the Hawks’ defensive unit that’s been substandard forever.
  15. benhillboy
    @NBASupes I know you can see how tired Clint is anchoring a defense with Trae playing alongside him for all his minutes. He’s gotta be gone by the deadline to restore his zest for the game, he’s not even 30 yet. He’s a far too high IQ defensive player to be a part of below average units every season. Trae would have a lot more defensive “value” alongside the Knicks’ Bigs in Robinson and Hartenstein: much beefier than OO, much more mobile than Clint, and far younger without all the stressful seasons playing behind guards like Harden and Trae.
  16. benhillboy
    Trae is now 4-9 head-to-head with Brunson in his career. Total +/- -1 to +48, respectively, stats courtesy of statmuse.com: (the fourth game Is omitted, Brunson logged less than a minute) Any decent guard can use Trae in perimeter actions to unbalance the defense but Brunson is the master he does it so easily. Lowry probably second.
  17. benhillboy
    Damn.
  18. benhillboy
    Bogi 4 point play upcoming…
  19. benhillboy
    Like clockwork Sadiq steps out in the corner
  20. benhillboy
    Mitchell Robinson is such a glass eater man. Hawks were fortunate he didn’t play in the playoffs a few years back.
  21. benhillboy
    Bogi has gotten so good keeping the defender on his back as he probes around the circle.
  22. benhillboy
    Trae with the feisty ball pressure on Robinson under the basket and Grimes crossing halfcourt. I’m with it.
  23. benhillboy
    Jalen’s spin move is so useful versus Bigs.
  24. benhillboy
    You right I should’ve said unequivocally “win the ship.” Kidd, Stock, and CP3 (finally in his proper second-unit role 10 years too late) are all some of my favs. But there’s a reason it hasn’t been done since Isiah 33 years ago.
  25. benhillboy
    But back to the Hawks: killed it from the line, ball was moving, Bey awakens, and DJ doing his “let me account for Trae being out on y’all ass” thing. Leggo.
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