djjob23

Congrats Vit! Really like his game and am glad to see him playing well after his ankle roll in Summer League!

https://www.fiba.basketball/opqt/poland-estonia/2023/news/opqts-krejci-carries-czech-republic-past-estonia-israel-dominate-north-macedonia
 

As a side note, here’s Vit highlights from the Aug. 4 game as well:

5 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Hope Philly is ready for another year of the FT show (if he suits up that is)!

7 hours ago, kg01 said:

Journalism is ded.

Outlets like BSPN, and their incessant need to pretend to be providing new content 25 hours a day, killt it.

100%. Good reporting takes time, connections, responsibility, and should provide unbiased facts. BSPN/journalism doesn’t have time to provide good reporting and there are minimal/no consequences when providing inaccurate content/hot takes. If it sticks, then they’re the first and have credibility. If it doesn’t stick, then they’ll bury it, but continue to cherry pick content to support their takes.

BSPN/journalism “NeWs” compete with social media (immediate gratification), so they overrule good reporting and choose the profitability model of using talking heads/diarrhea content. Seem like such a shame living in a world with unlimited connectivity/information in our pockets and yet not having the luxury of knowing if anything is true.

1 hour ago, Diesel said:

The Mamba, the Big O, and The Dream want to have some words with you. 

There's a question that goes unasked in basketball....

Had Jordan Not retired, would Hakeem have rings?

There's a few more...

Did the Bubble give Lebron his 4th ring?

Would Curry have another ring had KD and Klay not gone down with ACL injuries?

Did Lebron picking a fight with Draymond, secure Cleveland's only Chip?

 

Haha! If only I could show my 11-20 (rule follower here lol). You named 3 of the next 4 on my list. I flipped Curry ahead of Hakeem due to his elite shooting, but was definitely conflicted with that rank and would likely flip based on my mood. 7 out of 10 days Hakeem goes ahead of Curry, but not today. As for your questions, I’d say:

• Had Jordan Not retired, would Hakeem have rings? At least 1 of the Rockets rings would be in jeopardy.
• Did the Bubble give Lebron his 4th ring? The bubble season should still be valid, but the bubble style definitely catered more to LeBron’s strengths.
• Would Curry have another ring had KD and Klay not gone down with ACL injuries? I’d say yes. Toronto wouldn’t have stood a chance against a healthy GS.
• Did Lebron picking a fight with Draymond, secure Cleveland's only Chip? Steph and Klay both shot under 30% in Game 7 (can’t win games with that), but LeBron definitely needed that motivation from Draymond to take them to the promised land. 

djjob23’s Top 10 All Time (super tough to stop at just 10):

1. Michael “Air” Jordan (GOAT)
2. Bill “Mr. 11 Rings” Russell
3. Kareem “The Captain” Abdul-Jabbar
4. LeBron “King” James
5. Tim “Mr. Fundamental” Duncan 
6. Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain
7. Ervin “Magic” Johnson
8. Larry “Legend” Bird
9. Shaq “Diesel” O’Neal
10. Steph “Chef” Curry

Generationally, players naturally become better than their predecessors due to influence, but I tried to filter that out because players should be celebrated by how dominant they were over who they played against. This is fun and I’d be down to do more installments of this. 11-20, 21-30, etc. 

OO at Drew League 2023! Are there any other clips out there?

On 8/6/2023 at 12:13 PM, djjob23 said:

DJM highlights from Day 1!

 

Day 2! Tons of DJM and Mo clips. DJM to Mo fastbreak 4th clip in is ELECTRIC! DJM’s such a baller! Mo just has that IT factor and can’t wait to see how much he grows under our coaching staff! 

17 hours ago, kg01 said:

No worries, brose. They got Jason Hart who's elite at ........

.... hold on, I'll figure it out.  Defense?  No.  Shooting?  Nah.  Passing?   Uhm, not really, but he excels at ....

Ah, nevermind.

Seriously though, the best part of this is Kerr with his 'gee aw shucks, that's jus' how it is the 1st day' response.  As if this is the same as the Dream Team losing a scrimmage they sleepwalked through.  He chooses to skip over the fact that the DT responded and mollywhopped the select team afterwards.

I'm still kinda fine with Trae's omission, because I don't think the team is well put together regardless.  So my snarkiness isn't me wanting him there.  I am curious, though, to see what impact it has on player's reps if they struggle in the real games.

I’m only fine with Trae’s omission if it’s not considered an accolade to a player’s career. Historically when we mention HOFers (and yes Trae will be a HOF when it’s all said and done), Olympics/USA participation/medals are usually a part of the conversation. Trae deserves it (especially if he’s willing)! However, as Gilbert hinted at, if there’s any truth to Nike being a factor in these roster builds (rather than their basketball skills/willingness), then these medals/participation for USA should be null and void.

Wow this play looks rough! Things like this should keep that chip right on Trae’s shoulder. USA could really use his skills!

19 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Anyone have highlights?

 

 

DJM highlights from Day 1!

Ask and you shall receive! DJM highlights below from Zeke End Tournament (Gueye hookup @ 1:20)!
 

Have we heard any updates on extensions? These potential extension predictions for OO and Bey in this article look to be spot on value-wise if OO’s outside shooting and Bey’s defense improve without losing production in other areas.

https://www.peachtreehoops.com/platform/amp/2023/8/3/23817865/what-rookie-extensions-onyeka-okongwu-saddiq-bey-prediction-stats-analysis-atlanta-hawks

Side note, I think we need to move forward with players that are team-first and passionate about the game (like DJM). Money focused players aren’t motivated after they get their bag and only play during an expiring/extension season. Most of the time they aren’t winners and we need to put winning first!

5 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Always hate to see anybody get injured. Guess Mo Bamba is going to get some mo’ burn?

The others on this list have way more to prove than Trae. Quin helped address some of Trae’s scoring efficiency (fewer shots) and defense (way more active) issues when he took over, but these need to continue to improve. Infusing the new coaching staff’s offense should help address off-ball movement as well. Trae is notorious for slow starts to the season, but hopefully he’s healthy, rested, and laser focused on these areas for Quin’s boot camp so we can carry that chip all the way to the promised land!

https://www.si.com/nba/2023/08/02/five-players-make-or-break-seasons-basketball

Five Players Entering Make-or-Break Seasons in the NBA This Year
Zion Williamson, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Trae Young, Ben Simmons

“For his scoring efficiency to shrink to that extent is concerning, particularly with Young being a player who doesn’t defend well or move much off the ball. And between coach Quin Snyder entering his first full year with the Hawks, plus fellow point guard Dejounte Murray having just signed an extension, Young’s situation is certainly worth watching this season.”

JJ said he modeled his game after LeBron and Ben Simmons after he was drafted. Now his GLeague coach is saying the same thing and he’s doing workouts with LeBron this offseason. I’ve been bullish on JJ since seeing him in the GLeague and he’s grown so much, but something tells me his development with the direction of this coaching staff (no roboNate to bury him on the bench) is going to be eye opening this season! 

Was hoping to get Michael Lorenzen at the deadline for some injury insurance, but to get both Hand, Johnson and Lopez for pennies is some AA magic and should help tremendously with our relief and defense in later innings. We now have Minter and Hand as our primary and secondary lefty relievers. Can’t wait to see Hand’s debut!

Always a big Javy fan, but Sean is so much better to me overall and will likely be the best in Braves history if he can play a couple more seasons consistently.. He’s in a little slump right now, but with Travis too, this is without question the best the Braves have ever been at the catcher position for a season!

Not sure if this was already posted, but interesting if true. You think Pascal would be happier in ATL? 

Sources have described a team where the veterans — VanVleet and Siakam especially — were deeply frustrated with the younger players on the roster and VanVleet let them know about it, something the younger set didn’t appreciate at all. Nurse wasn’t able to bridge the divide as key players kept getting hurt and open three after open three drew only iron.
Source: Michael Grange @ SportsNet

Average Age (by Minutes):
ATL: 25 (9th)
TOR: 26.2 (16th)

Wide Open 3P% (6’+):
ATL: 38.4% (11th) | 16.1% frequency (27th)
TOR: 36.2% (27th) | 16.7% frequency (25th)

Open 3P% (4-6’):
ATL: 32.5% (27th) | 13.3% frequency (26th)
TOR: 32.6% (25th) | 15.1% frequency (15th)

Change my mind… Doubling down on youngsters when we have a full staff of assistant coaches and a swath of player developers. This puts us below the luxury tax, loads more potential, and brings a ton of versatility/spacing to the roster. Sign a vet PG (Jevon Carter) and we’re ready to win it all in a year or 2 baby! Who says no? 

2023-24 Roster:
Trae / Jevon Carter / Vit Krejci
DJM / Bogi / Garrison Matthews
Bey / AJG / Bilal Coulibaly
OO / JJ / Tari Eason
KP / Dereck Lively II / Bruno Fernando

It wouldn’t surprise me if some players believe their job is done after 82 games and the rest is seen as overtime. I don’t want any players on my team that play just for the paycheck or can’t perform when it matters most. Give me passionate players that meet their childhood heroes on the court and have wet dreams of basketball. That’s where you find hearts of champions. 

Great teams could care less about a player’s “position”. It’s about making mismatches to give your team a better chance to win the game. Most if not all teams have a 5 that can shoot the 3 (not us) and at least an 7 footer on their roster (not us). Not having these options seemed to have limited us in certain situations and made us more predictable. It’s like starting a chess game without your knights. If you don’t have versatility, then you’re less competitive.

KP would bring a lot more strengths to our current squad than negatives. If not KP, then we should still look for a big stretch 5 that gives us a spacing option. Players like Jokic, Embiid, Giannis, Markkanen, KAT, Nurkic, Myles Turner and Brook Lopez could be replacement starters, but are either not available, expensive, or lack D. Potential bench options could be Mo Bamba, Pokusevski, or Aldama. Out of these other options, I could see either Myles Turner, Nurkic, or Bamba as possible other options.

Yes, we could look at bringing in 2 other players that provide us these 2 options, but I’d rather kill 2 birds with one stone and gamble on KP (if we can get him) as his injury history/salary should make his trade value lower. Having KP would give us the option of having a more versatile 3 starter rotation in the frontcourt than we currently have.

It’s time to make the roster more versatile so we aren’t as predictable. CC and OO are too redundant. KP fills a lot of holes we have in our roster and compliments JC and OO beautifully. 

Additionally, now that we have a better coach, I think we need to give players with stunted development (Hunter, JJ, AJ) this offseason to show our new personnel how much they can improve. Having said this, I think Hunter and Bey are somewhat redundant, but Bey has a better motor than Hunter (although Hunter has better tools). To me, Hunter is just coasting til his next pay day (does he even like basketball?). This team needs a defensive minded “dawg” at the 3 that plays with heart on both sides of the court and tries to do anything to win. If neither can fill this role, then Tari Eason would be a wonderful fit for us (plays with a chip on his shoulder and wants to be a hall of famer).

KP and Tari Eason would be my 2 main targets this offseason (with CC and Hunter being replaced), but if we added any big stretch 5 and 2-way 3-4 with heart (both starting caliber) to this roster, I’d be a happy camper.  

The fix is in! Another uphill battle tonight…

Refs assigned for tonight’s Hawks @ Celtics game and their their team records since Trae's been in the league (% rank vs 30 teams | % rank vs other refs for same team) when reffing for either team:

James Williams #60: BOS 14-7 (5th | 37th), ATL 9-14 (24th | 51st)
Mark Lindsay #29: BOS 16-7 (3rd | 29th), ATL 6-11 (27th | 61st)
Karl Lane #77: BOS 16-7 (4th | 31st), ATL 12-15 (21st | 40th)
 
Based on the assigned refs, ATL has a 15% chance to win tonight. We’ve won only once in 12 games this year when when the refs have been more lopsided than tonight.


GO HAWKS!!!

Regardless of what we need to do to win against Boston, if it’s 8 vs 5 too then it’s game over.