DBac

Tonight was certainly Trae's worst game shot selection wise. I've been fine with his shot selection over the year outside of the last couple shots in the Heat game. I don't he's been accruing turnovers in the same way that Prince does (trying to force tough passes that he has no business trying to make). but nonetheless he needs to keep that number down.

I'm gonna have so much fun watching Duke this year.

Odds are a future Hawk is playing on ESPN right now by the way.

Outside of that dribble driving exhibition in the 2nd, not a game to remember from Trae honestly. Bad shot selection, too many turnovers and got attacked on defense in the 2nd half.

Probably was a winnable game if not for all those turnovers and a cold night from 3 (from the whole team).

Lin gettin it going cool to see. Get that value up and maybe you'll get to play for a winning team this season afterall. Huerter was fantastic. Come back soon John.

1 minute ago, hawkman said:

The shooting will come. I just want him to be more selective. He's been blowing past anyone they put in front of him, so why bail the defense out by jacking 3s?

I agree I haven't liked many of his 3 pt attempts tonight (some have seemed like he just wants to duel with Kemba). But being willing to shoot from that far (and eventually being able to make them again) helps him blow by people even though he isn't necessarily the most explosive PG.

Trae has developed into a deadly dribble driver so quickly lol. Looks like the Menace the way he's blowing by people.

When the three ball starts falling we're gonna have a three level monster at PG.

Somebody has gotta check Trae about that last three (the one before that was alright, not the best but he can make that and he had space). That kind of shot can run teammates the wrong way, had his mind made up the whole time that he was gonna shoot.

Outside of that, glad he finally had a home game to remember.. in front of a nice crowd too. Refs were hating with those carry calls. Trae has a little edge to him, there was definitely a bit of a battle going between him and Winslow and he did not back down.

Guys responding well to Lin's rant so far

Just now, lethalweapon3 said:

Don't call him a Huert-ee.

~lw3

Hopefully its like Schröder's injury last year where it looked awful but he was ultimately able to play again pretty quickly.

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

I think Bjelicia is a legit shooting big for them, he spreads the floor for Fox and Heild to get to the rim. Shumpert is their defender - that won't change as long as he's healthy.

Bjelica and Shumpert were the two I was thinking of coming back to earth tbh. Both having unreal 3pt shooting years, well above their career work.

Just now, bleachkit said:

Props to the Kings. I love it when teams that are expected to be terrible are good. 

Fox looks way better, Hield is the sniper everyone thought he was out of college. Outside of them and Bagley I feel like everyone else on that team is overachieving and they'll come back to earth like the Magic last year.

17 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

The Kings basically decided to pick him up at half court, even double teaming him off of the pick and roll.   They pressured him about as well as any team this year.

People talk about benching Prince or Baze, but I think it's now time to bench Vince.

Insert Bembry into the starting lineup to take some of the ball handling pressure off of Trae.  Trae makes the game easier for others, but no one makes the game easier for Trae.  Putting another facilitator beside him may help Trae's offense.

I would bench one of Prince/Baze and Vince(though Vince will be benched naturally when Collins is back).

Also hope Huerter is ok.

Wonder why Trae was so reluctant to take threes tonight. He got some good work in on his driving game though.

Bob and Nique gonna need a lot of free food this year lol

Oh good now Trae has the Baze/Prince virus

Starters need to look at how the bench plays. One unit is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, the other is just making the simple play and giving high effort.

I can't defend Prince for this. Dude needs to chill

Dying to see Trae Huerter Prince Collins Dedmon/Spellman

Eventually I agree Prince is gonna have to scale it back but he's the best we got in terms of creating a bucket right now and we need that.

Baze has way worse tunnel vision than Prince to me.. thing is he's not as talented as Prince either.

Felt like this was Trae's best offensive game outside of the Cavs game even though he shot poorly from 3 they were good looks, showed some more craft around the basket. Passing was outstanding. He should've had 5 or so more assists with 0 turnovers I think.

Offense was really pretty in the first half. Nobody could hit shots but yeah ball movement was nice.

Vet leadership

Just now, RWF said:

Why is Bembry getting so much playing time? Tank commander?

Trae has 3 fouls and Lin has been useless.

As bad as the Hawks were, they're unwatchable without Trae lmao jesus. Actually making me cringe with their play.