RedDawg#8

Memphis rocked us last season. Hopefully we show some growth. Magic also give us fits. Good schedule to size ourselves up before the season.

Hmmmm interesting. I hope everything checks out. Chicago opted not to resign him, hopefully there isnt some condition we dont know of.

Maybe Kev can learn a few things

Bogi to me is less so a shooter and moreso a Scorer, who can shoot.

Lol see! I just checked and it looks like Bobby Portis and DJ Wilson are the top candidates for backup PF.

Schlenk mentioned that the Dunn signing wasn't technically officially until Friday. Has there been any word on this today? Do we know if they waited to sign him last in order to use the exception on him?

What if he went to Milwaukee, does anyone even know off the top of their head who Giannis' back up is? lol That could be a great situation for him to come in and get buckets for their second unit.

I know, but you like advanced stats. What were numbers before and where do you want them to go? I dont know which advanced stats you deem as valid so I want you to choose.

@NBASupesWhat are some hard line numbers you want to see from JC that would qualify as him "earning it" in your book?

Trae literally had to have some all time great numbers as a rookie and sophmore just to get the slight respect he does have. Cam is going to be a beast, but he hasn't made it undeniable the way that Trae did. His best games as a rookie compared to Trae's seem pretty ordinary. We know different, but outsiders only see highlights and boxscores.

He might be. Thats funny because he told me I sounded just like his coworker haha

Those damn narratives. I was commenting to an old classmate, who is a season ticket holder, on how good we did this offseason and how we will make some noise next year. This guy was like "we still cant play defense, I guess we will just try to outscore everyone." When I told him about the defensive additions he was like "well the coaching sucks so it wont matter anyway." When I said coach finally has a good, deep roster, he says "Yeah that's what we thought last year, but look at us and look at Dallas" (here is where I knew it took a dive) He then goes right to the narrative. "So would you do the Luka trade all over again? If you say yes then everything else you said means nothing." I'm like dude, let it go. Our team is looking good and all you are worried about is the Luka trade. Both teams won, move on. He says, " See I knew it, you are just a homer" Point is. Some people swear by narratives and can never let them go. And instead of admitting fault in the original position, they just add on more and more moving goal posts until they can find one that sticks. For us and Trae, it will always end up back at Luka. Trae and our Hawks will never be good enough, because that would mean 90% of the experts got it all wrong when they said we made a mistake before either kid played a single minute in the NBA. And its easier to move the goalposts than it is to admit they were wrong. Thats why I compare Trae to Old School Isaiah Thomas. Doesn't matter what he does or accomplishes, he will always have a negative perception about him because that's the narrative. He cant just be great. It comes with a bunch of extra baggage. For Isaiah, he did it to himself. For Trae it was done to him. Either way, his story has been written, and all he can do is make some exciting memories along the way for us.

50 wins out of 72 games? That's like the equivalent of 57 wins in a normal season. I'd give us 50 tops in a normal season which is about 43 in 72 games. 43-29 seems much more realistic to me. We are talented, but dont have much chemistry or experience yet. There will be some natural ups and downs, but way more ups this year.

You can tell its the offseason when we are having debate on which retired players a guy who doesnt even play for us reminds us of more lol. Lord help us in 2020. We need Atlanta Hawks basketball by yesterday!

Malone had a mid range. Giannis is like the Forward version of Shaq in his prime

Interesting.... You got me working this out in my head now.

Miami will not repeat as Eastern Conf champs. They are good, but this season was a one-off, not the start of a dynasty.

I personally think Giannis is a bit overrated. And there is a big difference between him and Lebron. You play off of Lebron and he can still kill you in a multitude of ways because of his ability to create. You play off of Giannis and all of a sudden he is neutralized and literally just a cold body taking up space on the court. The one thing I will say is that as talented as Lebron is, he only ever achieved about as much as Giannis has in his career so far before teaming up to make super teams. We dont know how much more lethal Giannis could become if he ever gets to play alongside another Superstar or 2.

But he wasnt a bad shooter either. Lebron at 25 was shooting .333 on 5 threes a game. https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jamesle01.htm He was a streaky shooter who could run off threes one moment, but then go ice cold another. He was at least a threat. I get what you are saying but its not the same. Giannis shoots a much worse percentage on much less volume. He is a bad 3pt shooter. https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/antetgi01.html He is NOT a threat and you happily dare him to take that shot. Teams did not dare Lebron to shoot like they do Giannis. They werent playing up tight on him out there, but they definitely werent backing up in to the paint either.

Giannis cant shoot. You couldnt leave LeBron open like that. Giannis needs a guard to run with him.

He dont have the attitude problems like Smart so that's rich in my book. He reminds me of Tony Allen just smaller.

No doubt. I actually championed our small lineup last year because it was our best lineup. I just know that most people would tear LP a new one if we are playing Collins at Center more than say O.O or Bruno. Both of which is a likelihood right now

Agreed with all of this. I just dont want to hear people calling out LP because they see John at Center again next year. It is what it is. If Galli is cool with the high mid 20's in minutes, and even John for that matter, then its a moot point in the end.

So the other 18 games that he coached that get them to the Super Bowl dont count for anything?

These moves signal expectations for Coach LP. Trae asked for help. Sure. But he is still just entering year 3 and so far has exceeded all previous expectations. The pressure wont be on Trae until he signs his future Max Contract. Only then can we say okay, now prove you are worth it. Right now Trae is playing on a discount. The pressure is solely on the organization to create a winning and competitive roster around him before he becomes a FA.