Phunkabilly

Btw @terrell, why your boy gotta do that to my Falcons???

Look at that shot distribution from the 8-man rotation... everybody with between 9-14 shots taken, and everyone with between 12-20 points scored. LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!

Haha, I was thinking about this thread towards the end of the game, and I came to the same conclusion as you... this was truly a team game where everyone played great and no real "hero" so to speak... these are my favorite types of games!!

For all you naysayers who were saying this team is crap and will be lucky to play .500 ball this year after only watching the first two games of the season, please take note... games like this against one of the top championship contenders (on the road, mind you) are what this team is capable of. We have the talent and coach to be right at the top with the rest of these contenders... these guys just need experience in Quin's system.

Yep, I'm getting those vibes as well.

We had eight players in double-digit scoring after 3 quarters, btw

Has there been a top 5 pick in the past 20 years who completely sucked or rarely played during their rookie scale contract and then came back to have a good career? I can't think of one. I think it's telling when a top 5 pick can't seem to get on the court... the drafting team has every incentive to help them be productive... in these situations, I'm willing to bet they either can't play, can't stay healthy, or don't have the drive to be the best that they can be. Keep in mind that covid hit hard during Wiseman's class, so teams had precious little information to evaluate those players, which creates even more unpredictability with projecting those guys. I sure as hell don't think a team that's trying to compete should shell out $12 million for the very slim chance that Wiseman is the exception to the rule. Easy pass for me.

Tonight's the night when the Hawks commit to Quin's system for all four quarters and pull out the upset for our first dub of the season... 115-112 Hawks. Trae gets back on track with a 26 point, 13 assist game.

This post is clearly the Squawk's greatest accomplishment. Welcome to the club, @Spud2nique!!

1. 50 wins 2. JJ & OO 3. 36.1% 4. 16th 5. AJ

Holy smokes! Is this the first time the $60M/year mark has been eclipsed?

I'm willing to bet that DJ's extension at least played a role in OO signing this deal. Much like Trae's and DJ's buy-in to Quin's system is helping the rest of the team also buy in, when your leaders put their money where their mouth is and show their commitment to the team with a team-friendly extension, it shows the rest of the team that they're serious in creating something special here long term.

Agreed. Love both extensions... offers the player some security while potentially giving the club an under-market price if the players continue on their projection. Especially in OO's case.. if he continues to develop some range in his offensive game (love the progress I'm seeing so far), then he becomes the perfect big for today's game, and $15.5M a year will be a flat out bargain. Also glad they're letting Bey hit RFA if he wasn't interested in taking a similar type of deal. As @AHF has preached in the past, we need to let RFA work for us instead of re-signing some of these guys at market price before we have to.

Think JJ is gonna become my favorite player before it's all said and done. I just love everything he does on the court.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find it now, but I do recall an interview with OO during his rookie or sophomore year where he talked about having an ultra-aggressive mindset when coming in as the backup center... basically, he didn't really care about picking up fouls since it was highly unlikely he would foul out with limited minutes... he just wanted to go out there and go balls to the wall in the minutes he did have in order to help his team win. I imagine that mindset has continued with him throughout his career up to this point. I think he's smart enough to realize, however, that if he starts getting starter minutes, he'll have to be a bit more judicious about when and when not to be ultra-aggressive, in order to keep his fouls in check. In other words, I don't really see the fouling as a big issue, as I think it has just been a product of his aggressive mindset up to this point... I'm sure he can make the necessary adjustments if/when he starts getting starter minutes.

I know some people have touched on this already, but I think the bolded statement is super important, if not absolutely necessary, to make this transition work. How many of us in our early 20's, after making MILLIONS of dollars, being a huge celebrity, and being put on a pedestal all of our lives, would be able to put our ego aside to fully buy into an unselfish, team-centric system that may cause our personal numbers and celebrity to take a hit? Trae really deserves a ton of credit for doing so. As Soth states, when your leaders and best players buy in, everyone else will follow suit. I've seen many interviews with people that were around during the Spurs' prime years say that one of the main reasons they were so successful is that Tim Duncan humbled himself and fully bought into Pop's system, which helped the rest of the team buy in. I'm very, very thankful that Trae seems to be doing the same.

@Spud2nique You better get on this JJ hype train soon! Seats are filling up fast!!

My two favorite things from the box score tonight

I'm in if you still need spots filled. Admittedly, never played fantasy basketball before, but have wanted to for a long time. But I've played fantasy football for like 25+ years and am always active.

I'm partial to King Gwu... i think it rolls off the tongue nicely.

I know the perception nowadays is that just about every basketball superstar is a diva and/or egocentric, and I do think Trae at least has some of that in him (although I feel it's a bit overstated), but I also believe winning is what motivates him, not the desire to be put on a pedestal. Personally, I've been very impressed with how receptive he's been to Quin coming in and running the ship. Trae is smart enough to realize that listening to Quin is likely the quickest path to accomplishing his main objective: winning. Now if the team buys in to Quin and we stink it up for the next couple of seasons, then I could potentially see Trae becoming frustrated and your scenario playing out, but I think it's much more likely we WILL have success. I'm very happy to see Supes' report that players are buying in... I don't know if I've ever been more excited for a season to start even with a relatively quiet offseason.

I'm surprised Schlenk never convinced the Wizards to go after him. I know he values flexibility, but that was his boy.

7'-2" at 16 years old?!?!?! Holy smokes!!

Maybe they were listing the top 5 players they underrate themselves?? That's either amazing self awareness, or split personality disorder.

Agree with all your points except about Hunter being the best 3 point shooter over Griffin and Bey. I think Griffin is clearly the better three point shooter, with Hunter and Bey being pretty close to each other. Even though I'm a huge JJ stan, my hope is that Bey and Hunter start with JJ coming off the bench, so long as JJ gets 20+ mpg (preferably 25+ mpg). I really really like him out there with the second unit with Trae/Bogi or DJ/Bogi as opposed to getting most of his minutes with the starters with Trae/DJ. To really maximize his skillset, he needs the ball in his hands a decent amount, and I think that's much more likely to happen with the second unit as opposed to having the Trae/DJ duo dominate the ball. Bey and Hunter aren't really playmakers, so they would probably fit in with the Trae/DJ duo better.