REHawksFan

Conversely Hawks have created 11 turnovers and only turned it 3 times so it's a wash. Q is which one is sustainable? The TOs or the 3pt?

I said no less than a dozen times during our arguing that the Hawks needed Trae to be a superstar to win UNTIL and UNLESS they get better defensively AND get consistent production from the supporting cast. None of that happened under LP and so the numbers supported the philosophy that Trae needed to be a superstar to beat the good teams. BUT, under Nate, the defense got immediately better and we've seen significantly better production from Bogie, Snell, the backup PG position, and even Huerter. This team is different than it was before and it's better for it. I'm super excited because they are a better TEAM now than when LP was in charge and everything was Trae centric. Trae has played a tick worse but I'm fine with that as the team winning is less dependent on him now.

Yes it was, but he said at the beginning that he was going to watch Trae even when he didn't have the ball and then he didn't speak much to that at all. Would have liked more on Trae's movement or lack thereof without the ball.

For anyone that enjoys such info...... Hawks are now 18-6 since Nate officially took over March 1 as Leader of the Pack (3rd best in NBA and 1st best in East) Hawks have 10th best Defensive Rating in NBA since March 1 (5th in East) Hawks have 6th best Offensive Rating in NBA since March 1 (2nd in East) Hawks have 6th best Net Rating in NBA since March 1 (2nd in East) Hawks have 6th fewest TOs in NBA since March 1 (1st in East) Hawks have 9th best A/TO ratio in NBA since March 1 (3rd in East) Hawks have 8th best EFG% in NBA since March 1 (4th in East) Hawks have 7th best TS% in NBA since March 1 (3rd in East) So add it all up and the Hawks have been one of the best teams in the East and solidly a Top 10 team in the NBA over the last 6-7 weeks of the season.

I agree, but it's more than just "we have no other option so I guess we'll match." I think JC has proven he'll be the best player available so it's an easy decision to match. In fact, it won't surprise me if the Hawks just up and offer him a deal that he signs before even going to the market.

Interesting. I've long just assumed that Dallas would find a way to clear enough space to sign JC. In reality, I don't think it really matters because the Hawks, imo, will match whatever off sheet he signs.

Yeah.....Benny missed the mark on this one. The art of a good troll is it has to at least be plausible enough to be believable. This was just straight nonsense. And you bring up a good point. Teams routinely target him to take him out of the game more so than any player in the NBA it seems like. At first it was because the Hawks didn't have anyone else to beat them so it was a sound strategy. But since Nate took over and Bogie got healthy, they have multiple weapons but teams still throw everything and the kitchen sink at Trae. Why? Cuz he's a damn superstar that can single-handedly take over and win the game for the Hawks. That's why.

Hawks enter play tonight 31-26 with a 0.5 game lead in 4th place in the East over Boston and NYK who are each 31-27. They are 4 games back of the Bucks who are in 3rd place at 35-22. They are also 1.5 games up on the Heat who are 30-28 in 7th place. They are also 2.5 games up on Charlotte who are 28-28 in 8th place. A win tonight against the Magic and the Hawks will have a 1 game lead over Boston as they are idle while NYK plays Charlotte. Consider this: Hawks schedule this week: Magic (tonight), @ NYK (tomorrow), Miami (Friday), Bucks (Sunday) Now also consider: Boston this week: Phx (Thursday), @ BKN (Friday), @ Cha (Sunday) - they could easily go 0-3 but I'm thinking 1-2 NYK this week: Cha (tonight), Hawks (tomorrow), Tor (Saturday) - this is 2-1 at worst Miami this week: @ SAS (tomorrow), @ Hawks (Fri), Chi (Saturday) - the way they are playing, 1-2 or 2-1 with a loss to Atlanta Charlotte this week: @ NYK (tonight), @ Chi (Thursday), Clev (Friday), Bos (Sunday) - I think this is either 2-2 or 3-1 depending on the NYK game Bucks this week: Philly (Thursday), Philly (Saturday), @ Hawks (Sunday) - I think they are 0-2 coming to Atlanta Given the above schedules, the Hawks COULD be in for a HUGE week IF they could go 4-0. Do that and it is entirely possible that Boston goes 1-2, NYK go 2-1, Miami goes 2-1, Charlotte goes 2-2, and Milwaukee goes 0-3. Then the standings would look like this: 3. Bucks 35-25 4. Hawks 35-26 5. NYK 33-28 6. Bos 32-29 7. Mia 32-29 8. Cha 30-30 Hawks would have a 2 game cushion with 11 games to play and be just 0.5 games back of Bucks for 3rd place. So this really could be a HUGE week for the Hawks IF they can figure out how to get to Sunday 3-0.

Hall of Famer. One of the greatest shooters of all time.

Would sure like to hold the tie breaker over celtic and heat. Just need to keep winning though. Especially against the likes of Orlando.

Clown take

But we aren't talking about players that take 4 shots a game. When guys are taking 17-22 attempts it lessens the impact of fts you are talking about. And why should we ignore one of traes elite abilities in drawing fouls? When talking about efficient scorers, the ability to create fta and gets points from the line is an asset that not all players have. I don't think its fair to ignore that for Trae to try to paint him as inefficient. He just gets his points differently than others.

That may be true about bleach, but saying Trae is not efficient is not being objective. You can say he doesn't shoot a high % on floaters and that would be fair, but saying he isn't an efficient scorer is just wrong. Due to his elite level of FT making, he still ends up as one of the most efficient scorers in the NBA despite making a low % of FG attempts. But you can't just ignore FTs and they points they give.

Some of our fans seem to give Trae much less credit than even outsiders do. They're loud and vocal when he struggles but much less so when he's leading the team. And as far as last night went, he was coming off of a week without playing. You'd think our fans would cut him a little break. I guess that's asking too much.

It's not a mystery and it's not false. Just a simple stat that I think shows how efficient a player is with his scoring.

PPS Trae's 16th. Luka is 17th. LBJ is 19th I think. AD is like 22nd or something.

Maybe I'm just getting hung up on the word "efficiency" but, I have to just laugh every time I see some of y'all say this. Among the top 50 scorers in the NBA, Trae is 16th in efficiency, ahead of guys like LBJ, Luka, Paul George, and Anthony Davis. I know you are just saying he doesn't shoot for a high %, but I hope you know there's more to efficiency than just shooting %.

Nate praising Trae's aggressiveness. Imagine that. Also, its so incredibly nice to have a legit coach making adjustments every night.

Lavine scores 50 and they lose by 12? Thats gotta sting. Hawks becoming a really good TEAM led by a superstar player.

I mean, 39 pts in the half for Lavine and they only lead by 13. If Bogie and Gallo just hit the shots they normally do the game is even closer. Hawks absolutely CAN win this game. But not if Lavine stays nuclear.

Wait, what? Every tanking team eventually changes course to try to win. KB said that could never happen because tanking would create a losing culture so the team would never leave the tanking state. But if you listen to TS from the very beginning, he always spoke of the process taking a certain time frame and then you move on with progress. This idea that changing course is some deviation from the plan is just wrong. It was ALWAYS the plan. It's part 2 of the tank. The only thing in question is the timing as it appeared (at the time) to be a year early.

To be clear, it's not being hung up on Trae scoring. It's being hung up on what gives the Hawks the best chance to win. And up until Nate took over (and has proven over the last few weeks that it can be done), we'd not seen the Hawks win consistently without Trae scoring a bunch. I'd rather the Hawks win and Trae score 4 pts than the Hawks lose while Trae scores 40. But that wasn't ever an option under LP and really wasn't an option until Nate really established his way of playing over the last several weeks. Now we have the option of winning even while Trae doesn't play well as we've seen several times now. That's what Nate has brought to this team.

The TEAM has grown tremendously since Nate took over. LP ran a "system" that revolved around Trae being elite every single night in order to have a chance to win. The supporting cast never seemed to be consistent enough to carry the team when Trae had an off night or was off the court. But Nate has torn all that down and created a TEAM dynamic where the supporting cast has upped their play and can now carry Trae when he's off or hurt. And yes, they will still need Trae to be the superstar some nights, but it no longer has to be EVERY night. I'm ecstatic with what I've seen from Nate because it means the TEAM is getting better. And I never thought Nate could do this so fast. It's really encouraging.

I didn't make a single post during the game last night because I'm tired of arguing with people that are supposed to be on the same side. So I get the post and appreciate the sentiment behind it. I just disagree with your characterization that those of us that disagree with you have agendas and somehow care less about the Hawks winning. The reality is we all want the Hawks to win or why would be spend so much time on this message board? You seem to take a more holistic approach that says just win, doesn't matter how or why. Just win baby. And that's great. That works for you and is apparently enjoyable for you. But some of us ENJOY digging into the numbers and trying to analyze trends to see WHY the Hawks are winning and HOW they are winning. And that's OK too. There's enough bandwidth for both sides. It doesn't make us "agenda driven" just because we like to play along and see how and why a team has success. We just enjoy the game and the team in a different manner than you do. I know this will probably provoke another argument and that's not my intent. I also don't plan on posting much anymore (during games) because it obviously upsets certain people when I do. So y'all enjoy and GO HAWKS!

You'd rather lose watching the whole team brick than win with a super star. LOL. I've see enough for one night.