Bankingitbig

Screen assists from Game 1: Gortat: 7 Howard: 0 Too bad Gortat didn't teach him how to set an effective screen.

I don't recall Ilyasova on Morris that much and how that fared, but I would not sit my allstar for his backup like you are suggesting. Millsap needs to be on the floor and he only played 34mins which isn't that much for an allstar in a playoff game. I agree about Dennis and Howard and think Bud will switch Howard's minutes up some next game. Bench's +/- is inflated somewhat by playing against Wizard's horrible bench, but I think we will see more of Ilyasova and Muscala next game regardless. Bembry wasn't even active, so that obviously wasn't an option... We outrebounded Washington.. There was only really one a couple of times that I felt WSH really beat us on the boards when they shouldn't have. And I would much rather be playing Millsap, Ilyasova, Muscala, or Howard than freaking Humphries..... You can't just say oh we should be play X and X and X more... That's like me saying we should be playing Dunleavy more to get more three pointers, oh and we should be playing Thabo and Bembry more for more defense. Oh and we should play Humphries more to get more rebounds... C'mon man.... Doesn't work that way. You only can have some many players on the court at a time.

Bud, the coach, is fine. He has overachieved with every team he has had as a head coach in my opinion. Sure, he may make some questionable lineup decisions, but I much rather have that than any alternative out there at head coaching. Bud, the GM, needs some improvement. But I am still not convinced that he had full control over the roster makeup coming into this season and that he was behind the signing of Dwight.

Dennis had a USG% of only 24% during the game, which is actually not that high for a PG (Wall's was 32%). Here are OFFRTG's from the game: Schröder: 107.5 Hardaway: 77.9 Prince: 97.8 Millsap: 88.4 Howard: 83.6 Bazemore: 129.3 Dunleavy: 126.0 Muscala: 168.5 Ilyasova: 112.7 Calderon: 73.7 Schröder having 107.5 OFFRTG with Calderon at 73.7 while Hardaway, Millsap and Howard are all below 90 should mean something..... To me it means that our offense from our starters' is flawed. Why is that? Some think its Schröder, but how does he manage to have the best rating out of the starters? Most likely because he ran the offense well when playing with the bench guys like Muscala and Baze because obviously Calderon didn't (OFFRTG of 73.7). Thus, I think the offensive problems from the starters is just due to the make up of the lineup with Howard at Center. He isn't a Center that you can run a fluid, motion offense with. He isn't good at moving and doesn't set good screens. He clogs the paint standing only in the low block and he can't handle the ball. In fact, you can't even really pass to him when he is in the low block as a means of moving the ball because you know he will shoot an inefficient post hook. That said, I think Howard has performed well this year relative to what his expectations should have been. I just don't think he is a good fit for our offense. On a side note - Schröder had a DEFRTG of 125 and Howard at 119, which were the two worst. I actually would like Bud to test out a small lineup that plays very aggressive, switching defense. Play Schröder, THJ, Baze, Prince and Millsap. Gortat isn't an offensive juggernaut so Millsap can handle him. Prince should be able to handle Morris. We will get out rebounded, but I think we would make it up with better defense and offense. But first just give more minutes to Muscala (DEFRTG 98.6) and Ilyasova (DEFRTG 94.3) instead of Howard. Also, I understand looking at only one game is not really a sample size, but I think it is decent enough to show where we can improve. Also, I understand the bench's stats are somewhat skewed by getting to matchup against the Wizard's bench.

Dennis is not the reason we lost. He had 25 points and 9 assists and was efficient. He made a dumb decision to pull up for a three on a fast break and could have played some better defense but that is about it.

I think having 19 turnovers and only 18 assists contributed to the loss more so. But yea need to defend better when its Wall/Gortat PnR vs. Dennis/Howard. Though I don't know what else you would do in that situation besides telling Schröder to fight harder through the borderline legal screens. Howard is too slow to step up and if he did then Wall can blow past him or lob to Gortat. Maybe some wing on the side needs to help a bit more, but then you need much more aggressiveness/coordination out of the defense in order to rotate and help the helpers.

Prince was great. Had a buzzer beater drive in transition that was beautiful and a beautiful scoop in lay up. He also hit a pretty big three late in the game to try and keep us in it. I don't recall him having any poor defensive lapses and his shot selection was good for the most part. There was one shot where he ISO'd at the low block for a jumper when we had enough time on the shot clock to get a better shot. I'm excited to see a full year's worth of him in the starting role.

But that's 12 to 15 minutes that I would rather go to Ilyasova or Muscala... Or honestly even Prince at the 4 and play Baze/THJ/Thabo more. I much rather see Thabo instead of Dunleavy. Not sure the rational with that one. The only thing I can think of is that our offense is so bad that Bud feels like he needs Dunleavy's shooting and can't afford to play Thabo who is a negative on offense.

+/- isn't the greatest stat to compare players. Considering Millsap is primarily going against the Wizard's starting 5, whereas our bench played a decent stretch against their bench, which is known to be one of the worst benches in the playoffs. That said, Millsap needs to play better and I think he will next game. I want to see more of Ilyasova and Muscala instead of Howard though. Unless Howard is having a good game where he is being hyper-aggressive and getting a decent amount of OREBs.

That's kind of what Millsap was saying if you read his quote in context.. But yea it reminded me a lot of the whole Schröder & IT stuff... Just say they played a great game and get back to the film room so you can come out and take the next one. "The difference in the game was we were playing basketball and they were playing MMA," Millsap told reporters, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "They were physical. When the game is like that, we have to match their physicality. But again, we've got to go get some moves and bring them back to the court."

Humphries is a bad basketball player. I don't understand people's fascination with him. He was good in the CLE series last year, but that's about it and only because we needed a bigger body to rebound. Morris would run circles around him. I would much rather give those minutes to Muscala. I do agree that we need to put Thabo on Wall some to see how he does.

It's one game. We didn't play well and were still in it (granted neither did the Wiz till the 3rd). I will be happy if we split 1-1 on the road against them in the first two games. Expect a better game out of THJ, Millsap and Dwight next game. Also expect Bud to try Thabo on Wall some.

No. The last WSHvsATL game was his best against and he only scored 8 points with 3 rebs and 1 assist. I have heard quite a few "analysts" and pundits say that Smith being used will neutralize Howard.... Ok? Bud would love to have an excuse to not play Howard and use a more motion offense.

I think we can match anything the Wizards do pretty effectively. Play Howard when Gortat is playing. I think Ilyasova can match up well enough at center against Smith. If Wizards go small with Porter/Oubre at the 4, then we can go with Prince at the 4 as well.

Bud used those guys because we were getting blown out in that game. Then our deep bench brought us back into the game and Bud will usually always roll with those players after a comeback. That said, Bud doesn't usually change much in his rotations from regular season to playoffs. Most teams will shorten their rotations and play their starters more, but he doesn't seem to. I don't expect to see Kelly, Bembry, Humphries or even Delaney on the floor unless its a blowout. Muscala will get minutes, but I expect a rotation of Millsap/Howard/Ilyasova for our bigs. Muscala will get more minutes if he plays like he has recently. I am actually curious to how Bud will play his guards against WSH. Will Schröder step his defense up to be able to stay with Wall/Beal? Can't hide Schröder on Porter.. Schröder needs to be more defensive minded now that THJ is in the starting lineup and play like he did when he was a backup PG in terms of defense/aggressiveness.

Will DeAndre Bembry finally hit his first NBA career three pointer in the last game of his rookie season? He is 0-16 from three this year. I would be chucking from three if I were him. Can't end your rookie season without a single three made.

Pretty cool site. Needs to do a better job of distinguishing being guaranteed contracts and player/team options when looking at a specific team's salary.

You had me until the 3rd line.

Well I think Hawks' fans care, but I don't think the players care. Hence, why most of our team is resting tonight. Looks like it will end up being BOS 1, CLE 2, TOR 3, WSH 4, ATL 5, MIL 6, IND 7, CHI 8. I would like the Celtics to get #1 seed and play the Heat #8. I think the Heat could take them. If not the Heat, then the Bulls.

Definitely think THJ has cemented a spot in the starting lineup since Baze has been back for awhile now. Why not Sefolosha though instead of Prince? I think Sefolosha didn't look 100% and I would definitely prefer Prince over him. That said, I can see Bud trusting Sefolosha more as a starter in the playoffs over Prince if he is 100% healthy.

We would win the 3-way tiebreaker and be the 5th seed if we lost out and the Bucks lost. If we lose out and the Bucks win, then they would get the 5th seed and we would be in a tiebreaker with Indiana for the 6th seed. Indiana would win that tiebreaker by having the better season series record with that final win over us. Thus, we could fall to the 7th seed. That is how I understand it. We just need one win to get the 5th seed or for the Bucks to lose.

C'mon now.... This is like everyone talking about how Boston is a lock to get to the ECF despite the fact that they haven't won a single playoff series as a group yet. Sure - Washington will be favored, but I don't anticipate this Hawks team getting swept by anyone to be honest (yes even the Cavs).

Amazing game! Millsap was so clutch even with his free throws late in the game. Also, I loved seeing Hawks owner, Tony Ressler, dabbing up our players after the game! Maybe he will dish out the $. We might be able to get Boston in the semi-finals if they get the #1 seed over the Cavs and we stay at the #5 seed. Cavs have a back-to-back against the Heat, who are looking to get into the playoffs. The Cavs starters have played a lot of minutes over the past three days. Then the Cavs finish the season at home against the Raptors. Meanwhile, Boston is home against the Nets tomorrow and home against the Bucks on Wednesday. Cavs do own the tiebreaker though.

We can. But depending on how much they command, we will certainly be in the luxury tax. For example, if Paul gets a max and THJ's contract starts at $20M/year then we will be over the luxury tax just with our guaranteed contracts, #18 pick and #31 pick rookies and then two minimum contract rookies to make a 12-man roster. That said we have Bird rights on Ilyasova, Sefolosha, Muscala and Dunleavy, so we could also resign them and go even further over the luxury tax if we want. But that isn't the kind of roster that teams typically go far above the luxury tax for in my opinion.

Don't agree with Stu since we really don't have much history to judge management/ownership. But I do somewhat agree with @NBASupes. The only way I see the Hawks resigning both Millsap and THJ is if they dump Bazemore or Howard's salary.