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Paul Millsap is out for the next two games. 37-34, here we come.

You just can't risk giving up even mid-rangers.

This is what the Hawks tried yesterday and uhhh.

Even if you swap Bazemore and Hardaway, the team still isn't talented enough to overcome Dwight PNR defense. For all the complaints with Dennis's defense (and saying that he had one of the worst games of his career yesterday is very warranted), honestly the only perimeter player that we've seen proof can fight over a screen on the team about 50% of the time at least is Sefolosha (we haven't seen enough of Prince to really tell). And Sefolosha isn't right atm, and he's only really GREAT defensively when he's 100% right. It starts and ends with this. It's not going to matter what is done defensively if three of your perimeter players definitely can't fight over screens successfully, the other isn't a great defender unless he's totally right, and we don't have enough data on the other. Play straight man without trapping with what we saw in the game last night of Dwight sitting back on the PNR will not work because no one on the team can fight over screens. Blitzing and trapping the PNR will not work because Dwight is not mobile enough to do this (after a bad stretch defensively, more long term players asked Bud to go back to this defense and it worked for a while but is starting to fail again). Switching everything will not work because of the same reason seen above. It's easy to say "Get better perimeter players on defense", but it's not as easy as that. Teams for the most part are just going hard at Dwight in PNR in defense, knowing they'll get open looks every time. You're basically picking between three bad options here. We saw the first one at the start of the season, and it actually worked for a short stretch, but the league adjusted to Dwight on the Hawks after a short time period, and then we saw the second option not long after things calmed down after the 1-10 stretch, this also worked for a time period but the league adjusted again to the defense. And now the Hawks are pretty much SOL. There is no other option they can try.

Dwight's PNR defense is so bad it wouldn't have mattered if Dennis played an average game last night, it would've still been a decisive loss, sorry but I've seen this story before, and these two things tell it all: 1. No Millsap=0-4. Three straight blowouts. 2. In the first game without Millsap last year (this season though), the guards all had an excellent game and it never looked like they had a chance at overcoming Phoenix, one of the WORST teams in the league. My point is this team is not talented enough to overcome Dwight's porous PNR defense.

Dwight Howard's the new Rudy Gay. Good stats but people don't realize how damaging he can be if he's in his bad habits. He plays PNR defense like it's 2008. Unless he accepts he isn't what he used to be, I hope he's enjoyed his only season in Atlanta.

When I read that Dwight is being gone after constantly on the PNR and is giving up practice jumpshots, its not hard for me to consider him the main issue. This game was so far gone by the end of the first it wouldn't have mattered if Dennis played an average game from what I read, it would have been a 10 point loss. And he would have had to realistically play a Phoenix like game for it to even be close. Otherwise...

Not really a case that I can definitely dismiss as “career year!” for various reasons and honestly reading the scouting report, this is who Tim Hardaway Jr really is, not the guy we saw in New York. Maybe not as high efficiency, but it appears my original take was wrong and the bad habits of New York got him. A Michigan scouting report says that he's a good transition player, solid decision maker and passer, does not mind playing in a team concept, and can be the ballhandler in PNR. And this is basically what he's doing now. He's the third leading scorer because he's the second best player on the team with creating offense. This isn't a good thing, this team is at their best when they spread out the scoring between 5-7 players, and right now only 4 players are putting up offense. Now did he show any of that in New York in 14/15? Outside of PNR ability, the answer to this is no. And it's appearing more and more that the issue with all of the New York players that left is that locker room was a total mess and there was no fault with all of those players. It doesn't mean there aren't issues with him. He is better than thought at creating his own shot but his lateral speed hurts him on defense even when he's playing hard.

It's fine if you want more toolsy guys, but the tools players need to mixed with skills players. It can't be all toolsy players.

You mean tools as his skills are fine. His skills are a passer at a big man spot and being able to guard 1-5. And Millsap never had a lot of tools anyway. If Millsap goes, Dwight will further slink back into his sulking. You want that?

What will be interesting to observe for me in the next game is what I seemed to gather from the last game I saw fully and what I seemed to see in the box score. From what I saw in the Memphis game, Dwight was hardly trying in the 1st quarter and suddenly flipped a switch and brightened up when he got to play with the bench. Almost the same in this game from what I gathered from the box score, just with a huge deficit. Dwight had no attempts from the field, but suddenly he gets very involved with the bench. What I'm seeing is Dwight just does not want to accept he isn't what he once was since the break, and this would be a problem even with a better point guard. The Hawks aren't going to play the go through the low post game, so it doesn't matter who is, and isn't here. They either want to play high PNR or play their high post offense that requires a big to be a good passer. Just because it isn't the 90s-early 00s, doesn't mean you can't play through your bigs, but they need to be above average passing big men to do it. And even though this isn't a good offense, they look their best when the high post offense is actually being run, and the big isn't caring more about trying to post. If Dwight would accept a role of being a guy that will roll hard on the PNR and actually pass out more than once or twice, and after that, just be a guy that looks to get tip ins on offense, it'd work. Right now it won't.

So freaking blinded. I guess those two back to back beauties vs Detroit and Toronto all of a sudden never happened. I guess Millsap is your whipping boy for this season, and he doesn't deserve it at all. 20 win team maybe with Millsap gone.

This isn't a conspiracy theory. Dwight didn't play hard with Dennis in at all in the last game i watched fully. And I didn't watch this game but ZERO attempts in the first quarter tells me he's continued to sulk but magically **flips on** with the bench. He was just lightly jogging and not working at all. They may not be mad at each other off the floor but they are angry on the floor at each other. Its kinda hard to play good guard offense if your man isn't bothering to set good screens because he is furious about not being able to get post touches. It goes both ways here. and again, 2-14 is terrible but this team isn't even in the ballpark of talented enough to overcome Dwight's horrendous PNR defense, its still a loss by at least 10 with even an AVERAGE Dennis game. That is, and is still my point. Its honestly a team that's lucky to be above 500. My other point still stands. 5-1 without Dwight. 0-4 with three straight blowout losses without Millsap. I mean, can we not even see this. Even last year with Teague the offense fell to pieces without Millsap. They cannot survive without his passing abilities. I almost wish Millsap would be out for the season. There's a legit chance if he were that this team would literally only win one more game. Show the doubters about him, show them.

Ship Howard off too, its never him with the Howard-heads, when the reality is he was the cancer in Houston and is becoming one here too. i guess it would take the whole team being shipped off for y'all to get it with Howard.

No, I'm implying that both are being clowns for feuding.

Like I said, 2-14 is inexcusable but what is ALSO inexcusable is not even TRYING to defend the pick and roll. Dwight's good stat line may as well be trashed as he was awful defensively in ways you don't see on the box score (on what I read). Either way, both of these dudes are now clowns to me if what I suspect is true. Dwight needs to grow the eff up and realize that his Orlando self is gone and stop looking to post forever on the low block and Dennis needs to man up and demand better screen setting. Don't put on a clown show feud together. Because BOTH of you look like fools.

Either way, I've seen this before and if what I suspect is true, it's not going to end well. It's not about growing pains and learning to fit together here, and the issues start with what we saw vs Golden State. They may be putting on a brave face to try to hide it, but right now, Dennis and Dwight both equally completely despise each other on the court. Teams that have inner feuding as a season go on usually have their season end in an ugly way. We're well on our way to a massive collapse to miss the playoffs or a massive Orlando style blowout in the playoffs. It's not always about the stats. I'm not defending Dennis here, but today, and really since the break, Dwight can't be defended period. He's regressed to all of his bad tendencies, and you can't look at the stats to see this.

Can't always look at the stats. He's the guy that fuels the offense with his passing. Without him, the offense dries up, even if he isn't playing well.

This is sad (and it wasn't just one possession): I guess....at least it wasn't a three? But these are practice jump shots for a great mid range shooter. Now, I'm not going to defend Dennis (didn't see the game), but these are the kind of things that make smarter people throw the stats away on Dwight Howard.

Explain this then: Hawks 5-1 without Dwight Howard. Hawks winless with 3 straight blowout losses without Paul Millsap. Overall point differential of a low lottery team without Paul Millsap (can't find that stat atm).

This has 2014 Braves written all over it. A mediocre team that just didn't die for most of the season, but finally died in the waning part of the season. The only difference is this team stole a lot of games they shouldn't have won. If Millsap is hurt enough to have to sit a while, and honestly his play lately has made it look like he's running out of gas, we are going to see another collapse within 4 years for an Atlanta sports team. He's the only thing that's keeping the team from being a below 20 win team.

I seriously think an agenda is going on in the FO. Bud did not want Howard and the FO forced him to get him and play him a lot as he's a "name".

Like I said, 2-14 can't be excused....but.... 1. Deciding that you are sick and tired of not getting touches and are going to be POUTING on the court with a certain person on the floor within ONE season on a new team is just as bad. 2. Staying back on the PNR to give up several warm up jumpers is not a good thing either (from what I read, you can trash Dwight's stats for today). Dwight is solo tanking the team right now because he absolutely hates the Dennis on the floor right now. He is only trying when another guard is in. I think it goes both ways. Dwight is sick of not getting to post and Dennis is sick of not getting good screens set for him.

I guess you missed the back to back -40 point differential massive blowouts with him on the bench. He's dragging an awful team to 44 wins. Without him this is a 17 win team.

Ohhhhh, its fun to see similar comments to last year's Houston. Oh, it was Harden that was the cancer. Just sub Dennis in for Harden and you have last year's Houston. No, its Dwight that is the cancer.