kg01

CLP - Coach Lloyd Pierce Sounded really impressive.

The things that surprised me were: we want to play like MIA we want Rayf to play like Conley Fran's candid comments

And, even after that, they quickly realized he was unplayable. Not sure what folks still think is 'there' with this guy.

Right after the CLP sit-down, Fran Fraschila was next and he discussed Young a bit. Some of his comments were a little controversial IMHO but I agree with them. Synopsis: - Just talked to CLP and got to the Young/Conley comp he "stole" from you? Yeah, having watched Young 15 or so times, the biggest concern is people trying to get him to think he’s Curry. Instead of coming in hitting singles/doubles, they want him hitting grand slams. ‘Just be Mike Conley’. Mike hits his open shots, just run the team, keep it simple, find the open man, hit the open shot. "Don’t try to put on a show". - Is that hard for Young as it's clear he’s tried to duplicate Curry. "It’s obvious". You said he should "just be Conley". Is that gonna be hard for him? Yes. In HS he averaged over 40 pts/game, in college he avg’d almost 30. And I always felt there were ‘style points’ involved in the way he played and that concerned me. But CLP might be the right guy for him (since he coached both Curry and Conley). As an example, I saw him sit next to Trae during a game to offer guidance. – He (Fran) was big on that being a good sign. - How about Collins, good play I call guys like him (2nd year guys play SL) 'playground bullies' . They should be playing well. Should be dominating.

Not sure if y'all have discussed it but there was a tremendous interview with CLP on NBARadio yesterday afternoon. It was from summer league so they discussed a couple things in addition to Rayford. It was followed up by an interview with Fran Fraschilla who also had some thoughts on Rayf. The interview was conducted by a host and Eddie Johnson who's son had apparently been recruited by CLP back in the day. Long story short, it was apparent they had a good relationship. "Get my man Lloyd up in here." He said. Synopsis: Salient points from CLP: - What's the style gonna be in ATL Put young guys in position to succeed early. Need to defend, be efficient, understand pacing and movement. Be able to outwork teams. - On Trae's struggles. Depends on how you look at it. Shots not falling, that'll improve. We look at shot creation and, to me, he's been tremendous at that. Only had 3, 7 and whatever number of assists in Salt Lake but not for lack of clean passes/facilitating. With Prince, Huerter, etc. out there you'll see him have double-digit assists. Not worried about shooting. That'll come. - On playing fast, do players understand how hard that's gonna be on them? Do they understand what "playing fast" really means for them (work wise)? They all wanna run 'in theory' (ha, hah, heh) then the work starts ... "Pacing" refers to how we practice, not necessarily getting up/down the court fast. We give guys 0.5 seconds to make a decision. Everything we do is done with quick decision making in mind. That's what we mean by "pace". We'll see when we work with pace (i.e. high-level decision making), we'll see that we're always in the right spot, facilitating success. - Is there a team you try to emulate? Big fan of Spoelstra. You don't think of them as a "fast pace" team but that's not true. In the half court, they actually are a very fast-paced team. Everything they do is done with pace ... but in the half court. - Impressions of John Collins Always positive, walks with a bounce. Saw his highlights and was amazed since he hadn't seen him play much. Unbelievable athlete, can shoot 3. As excited about him as the other rookies. - Another guy we like because of the fire he showed in playoffs is Dennis, where does he fit in the mix? Oh, I just txted Dennis. He's over in Africa with his workout coaches, shooting coach, etc. Vowed to come back stronger/better. Adding he and Young, the concern is having 2 small guys .. I look at 'how are you gonna guard them'? Any time you have high IQ guys who can facilitate for others, you'll be tough to deal with. - And does he want to be there ... Yeah, there's been some stuff out there .. only thing I can control is what he and I talk about. He knows he's a Hawk right now and he knows we drafted a point guard and he knows 'from my voice' that they're gonna play together. We have to be patient with Young so he (Dennis) has got to grow up (yes, he said that) and show that he can be a mentor to a young guy and show the next step in his development (I presume he meant as a leader?). I'm excited for the opportunity and I think he can help Young. - Atlanta sports scene overall appears to be changing for the better ... My goal hasn't been to convince (people to be Hawks fans), it's been to learn the scene. See what's here. Been to soccer games, Dream games, etc. Hope we can capitalize on the excitement from the other teams. - Last thing on Trae, comparison to Curry. You said you want the team to play like MIA, is there a player you want Young to pattern his game after? Worked with Steph, played with Nash, coached Conley ... has abilities like Steve but I compare him to Mike (Conley). Left/right-hand floaters, gets into lane as a small guy. Slower set shot. If he can end up as a 'Mike Conley' type, we've hit a home run. People are looking for the 'splash' of Steph but I think you get a HR with a guy like Conley with vision, being able to facilitate. Cerebral, control pace of game, etc. Stole this comp from Fran Fraschila I'm posting a synopsis of Fran's interview next.

I've heard him speak a couple times and it seems clear to me that he's the real architect to that team. Folks that came after are accepting the credit he deserves. He definitely comes across as crazy but he knows his stuff.

I'll never understand the obsession with Okafor. He's a dinosaur. I'm not sure how much people need to see before they finally accept that. If he was willing to do or be the player that he needs to be in order to have an NBA career he wouldn't be on the outside-looking-in right now. "Bwah, but he can get better ..." No, not if he doesn't want to. If the light hasn't gone off by now, let some other schmuck team waste a spot/time on him.

I saw a great question posed on TOS ... how much is MIN kicking itself for giving Wiggins that extension to prevent him from being a rFA? Nobody's getting paid that kind of money this offseason. They vastly over-paid that dude.

Has it been confirmed that Rayford will miss time with his quad confusion ... I mean, contusion?

Heh, Jabari Parker offer comin' up?

Why you gotta hate on what I (could) have with Becki? None of us asked you to take down that shrine of Pit Stains aka Ashley Judd.

So ... you agree with me? And @Atlantaholic, I don't think we're underrating him. More like projecting what he is on a squad where he'd have more responsibility. IOW, not great. Certainly not $20mil-a-year great.

I agree on his defense, however, on our team that would have diminished value. He can get away with being so one-sided because of who he plays with. Again, the Biyombo comparison is apt here. Absent transcendent offensive talent to offset his deficiencies, the defense is just not enough to justify paying him $100mil+. Plus, at the dollar figure he's wanting, that's a player you expect to be a leader. He ain't that either. How's he gonna yell at Rayford for taking a bad shot when Rayf can just yell back at him, "Bruh, try hitting a shot outside 8-feet before you tell me anything. I gott jak up dees long-2's 'cause nobody guards your a**."

Now that's a good one, LucasDoncicTheThird. (hehe) ... if you gotta eggsplain the joke ...

Hey, if you go, you have 2 objectives ... (a) get Taylor Rooks' nimber and (2) get a nice pic of Becki Hammon for your boy. Tell her I'd like to learn some post defense techniques.

Well, when you don't dabble in high-end free agency, your NBA 'currency' is capspace and draft picks. Lotto picks are worth more in trades than non-lotto picks, right? Sooooo, if you're trying to trade in order to obtain high-end players ... doesn't it stand to reason that you'll need .... lotto picks ... in which case, the draft becomes important? Hmmm, doc? I didn't ever (or mean to) suggest that actually drafting was the only manner in which the draft is important.

This is the thing though. And it'a a 'thing' that's stretched across different coaches, front offices, etc. We don't play the high-level free agency game. For that reason, I'm fine with simply focusing on draft and trade as our means for improving. Not saying that avenue (high level free ag.) will never open up. I just think it won't open up until we make real strides via the draft and trade angles. Until then, talk like this isn't worth the time.

It should be for games of H.O.R.S.E. .... maybe. I do recall Rayford speaking on it at the draft. When asked, he did say it wasn't something they specifically used in offensive drills. Reading between the lines, sounds like it's kinda just there and that they didn't use it for anything.

Ayo @Spud2nique, my guy Isola was talking about how people totally overreact to summer league (and shouldn't). They were talking about it in relation to the Thai cave rescue. Said, based on SL overreactions, the only man alive who could've got them boys outta the cave would be Deandre Ayton .... oh, and Trae Young would've just missed the cave. Bah-dumph-dumph Eh, now that I write it out, I give it a 3 out of 10. Still, I thought it was funny that they kinda recognized that the Young-can't-play narrative is overblown. Long story long, we know nothing about these players really, at this point.

Agreed but, to me, this isn't a Rayford issue. It's a CLP issue. I can't conceive of a competent NBA HC who will allow this to go on to any high degree. I mean, it's plainly obvious that there are very, very few instances where a shot like that makes any kind of sense. And none of those instances occur with greater than 3 seconds on the clock. Are they just giving him enough rope to drown himself? Giving them enough 'tape' to turn to him in a film session and say, "See, this is why you don't take that dumb-arse shot. Your dumb-arse college coach allowed it because he's a dumb-arse, but if you want to win, we can't have that nonsense going on." I hope so. And as @JayBirdHawk said, get. rid. of. that. dumb. arse. 4. point. line. I mean, why?

Nah mayne, I got roped into a parents v kids matchup at kg03's soccer practice. It were ugly. I had to "play off" that I was falling on purpose to be funny.

Eggsactly, @JayBirdHawk @Spud2nique and @Sothron aka sothwrong (haha). Capela is a system-created player destined to falter outside the confines of DAntoni's clutches. Our only involvement here should be in asset-acquiring mode once HOU commences their tax-saving moves once they re-sign him. Them slow-playing it is the move. What TF else is Capela gonna do but wait and, as sothwrong so aptly put it, toss ATL to "sources" in hopes that it spurs the Rockets to panic.

Oh he been stankin like a Lincoln, but he's also being done no favors with this craptastic roster. Can we leave Lawndale in Nevada? Not Las Vegas, that would be too good for him. Leave him in some rando, podunk city somewheres.

Haha. All the regulars know not to pick him up. But strangers see the gear and think he's a baller. 2 minutes into a run, they're wondering why he keeps dribblin the ball off his own foot. Bruh?!

I don't know 'bout them other two but I had a mean step-bak in my day. Also had a killah double pump-fake, dream shake on dem foos. @macdaddy seems like that old guy who hacks on every shot then says, "No blood, no foul ... a broken wrist ain't bloody, play-on." @MaceCase is that dude with the fresh fits from head to toe. Wrisy bands, headbands all matchin ... then got no game.