Boston knew they could "Cavs Us"

[JTB]

I....like many of you watch every game and this years Hawks are no different than last years Hawks. DMC not being here isn't why we have lost these early 3 games...Bazemore is doing just fine. Pero is not the reason we have lost these 3 games, Splitter is doing fine.

We are the same team facing the same exact problems from last season so why aren't the wins coming as easy?...we will get to that but first let me prove we are the same team.  In 11 games as a team we are currently:

7th best offense ppg in the NBA

2nd best assist team in the NBA

15th best defense in the NBA (slightly out of the top 10 but that will change)

4th best offensive FG% in the NBA (we are clearly still efficient)

12th best 3pt percentage in the NBA (this will change as korver will get healthier, Sefelosha shot has been dropping like hot cakes, and despite the last outing against Boston Bazemore is still on a roll)

4th best Free Throw percentage in the NBA

9th best Point differential in the NBA

2nd best in steals per game in the NBA

.......OTHER than slightly being out of the top 10 in defense we are the same exact damn team despite minor roster changes. So what's the problem......many of you already know the answer.....REBOUNDING!

 

 

 

REBOUNDS ARE THE HAWKS KRYPTONITE AGAIN  

We rank 29th in total rebounds! In other words we can't bang with the big boys as you may have already noticed! Squawk I can't remember which NBA great said these words "Rebounds win Championships" but it's never been more clear than now.

Last year we were able to sneak up on our opponents and devour them with ball movement and offensive efficiency along with playing spectacular defense in passing lanes similar to what we are doing now and challenging every shot defensively and countering other teams misses on the offensive end with just being more efficient and making sure we score damn near every time but because we can't rebound the damn ball it's a huge possibility we will see more games this season like the Boston game.

The Celtics shot a terrible 40% from the field other than getting hot once or twice they were terrible shooting wise which was all the Hawks needed to win most games last season but instead of letting that concern them they knew they could "Cavs Us"!

 

 

HOW TO "CAVS" THE HAWKS?

 Shoot a terrible low percentage from the field but get tons of second chance opportunities and put those birds away.

I hate to say it Squawk but we are going to see more teams try this and by the looks of it we have 28 other teams that can rebound better than us so it's going to be a fight every game this season ALL because of REBOUNDS.

 

I hate the cavs...they have exposed us and the great things this team can do may not be able to off set the bad rebounding. Not sure how Bud is going to figure this one out but the only difference between the real Spurs and the Spurs East right now are rebounds!

 

....You heard it hear first! Next time we lose a game and your looking at the stat sheet and you see the Hawks were more efficient offensively, had a usual high amount of assist, less turnovers, more steals....and beaten like step child on the boards you know that we got "CAV'D"....thanks Tristian Thompson 

Edited November 15, 2015 by JTB

[JTB]

We will see more games like Boston...teams are going to just game plan to simply out rebound us and not worry as much about being effencient on offense cause they know they will get more and more opportunities....

What do we do Bud?

[Lurker]

lol Bazemore is part of the problem. Teams with big 3's are exploiting him HARD on offense. Its the reason for the first two losses (him letting big wings go off big time) and in the last game he let Crowder get 8 rebounds which is inexcusable.

[JTB]

15 minutes ago, Lurker said:

lol Bazemore is part of the problem. Teams with big 3's are exploiting him HARD on offense. Its the reason for the first two losses (him letting big wings go off big time) and in the last game he let Crowder get 8 rebounds which is inexcusable.

Dont completely agree.

Lost to Detroit- you can blame our big men solely on that loss though Bazemore did have a terrible outing the rebounding was terrible from all bigs

Loss to Minnesota- Wiggins was just hot. The shots he took were contested by Bazemore but he still managed to knock them down. Plus the t wolves as a team shot the ball well and the none of the Hawks decided to show up until the 4th quarter. Can't place all the blame on Bazemore.

 

Loss to Boston- Again we didn't get any rebounding from our bigs. You can put blame on horford and Millsap just as much as Bazemore for allowing a SF to get 8 boards in the game but regardless of that the Hawks still had a chance to win but couldn't get the key rebounds which were grabbed by Sullinger

 

 

oh and placing blame on Bazemore isn't necessarily a good one as we had the same rebounding problems with DMC in the lineup. It's time to blame the BIGS and the BIGS only. We can't seem to get not one of our bigs to avg double digit boards

Edited November 15, 2015 by JTB

[Lurker]

4 hours ago, JTB said:

15th best defense in the NBA (slightly out of the top 10 but that will change)

The defense isn’t going to get any better until/unless Sefolosha starts or a big wing player is starting alongside Korver that is acquired. Average perimeter defense exposes the fact that Millsap and Horford back there usually won’t cut it. Elite perimeter defense hides them.

And so far this perimeter defense is average…just like 2013-2014. There are changes that can be made to fix it, but the question is will they do it?

 

The only way to really fix the "crash the offensive glass" scouting report is....Millsap or Horford gotta go. Not to the bench, but gone in a trade.

[JTB]

2 hours ago, Lurker said:

The defense isn’t going to get any better until/unless Sefolosha starts or a big wing player is starting alongside Korver that is acquired. Average perimeter defense exposes the fact that Millsap and Horford back there usually won’t cut it. Elite perimeter defense hides them.

And so far this perimeter defense is average…just like 2013-2014. There are changes that can be made to fix it, but the question is will they do it?

 

The only way to really fix the "crash the offensive glass" scouting report is....Millsap or Horford gotta go. Not to the bench, but gone in a trade.

There's no offensive rebounds to get for our Hawks due to most nights they are extremely efficient. 

The focus need to be crashing the defensive glass and preventing second chance points. 

I doubt we trade sap or horford to fix these issues but I do believe bud can get more out of them as far as crashing the boards harder. Right now the effort isn't there consistently to grab defensive  rebounds. Bud could also try playing the big lineup more when opponents offense rebounds are hurting the team...I believe that is the next step. 

 

We haven't gotten a real chance to see Tiago play starter minutes with opposing bigs that rebound well and it might be a fix to the rebound situation if Tiago gets more minutes rather than bud running this small backcourt on the floor of Teague and Dennis.

[Diesel]

11 hours ago, JTB said:

Dont completely agree.

Lost to Detroit- you can blame our big men solely on that loss though Bazemore did have a terrible outing the rebounding was terrible from all bigs

Loss to Minnesota- Wiggins was just hot. The shots he took were contested by Bazemore but he still managed to knock them down. Plus the t wolves as a team shot the ball well and the none of the Hawks decided to show up until the 4th quarter. Can't place all the blame on Bazemore.

 

Loss to Boston- Again we didn't get any rebounding from our bigs. You can put blame on horford and Millsap just as much as Bazemore for allowing a SF to get 8 boards in the game but regardless of that the Hawks still had a chance to win but couldn't get the key rebounds which were grabbed by Sullinger

 

 

oh and placing blame on Bazemore isn't necessarily a good one as we had the same rebounding problems with DMC in the lineup. It's time to blame the BIGS and the BIGS only. We can't seem to get not one of our bigs to avg double digit boards

we share the same strenghts and weaknesses as Horf.  He's efficient but wilts against strong rebounding bigs.

[Lurker]

"Crash the offensive glass" doesn't mean ATL's side, it means the opposing teams side. The top of the scouting report for me is shoot a ton of threes, crash the offensive glass hard, and cover Korver.

Splitter isn't that good of a rebounder, I am not joking when I mean the only solution is in all likelihood Millsap or Horford goes.

[benhillboy]

I'm very upset that Al and Paul have taken more threes than Kyle, even with him sitting out a couple. That passiveness of staying away from the paint on offense definately carries over to the glass.  

I never found The Group unenjoyable  last year until we hit the wall in the Con Finals.  They made teams like Houston and LAC seem so undisciplined and predictable, I can't watch either.  But continued poor scouting and strategy on three point defense combined with over-shooting threes ourselves lowers the entertainment value for me.  Counting down the days to when Bud feels Edy can play 10 or 12.

I'm sure im overreacting.  It just seemed like we lost 3 straight the way we lost to Minny and Boston, something we never did last year until May.  We keep Favors and Gobert in check tonight and I'm back to rose glasses.  I'm stil getting used to this contending team thing.  You think your team is gonna steamroll the league with each win, you think they're headed for the lottery with each loss.

[Diesel]

I think we will contend.   Most of the league has average to poor rebounding.   It's just when we face a team that wants to rebound, we may be in trouble with this group.  I agree... Horf should not be shooting threes.  I don't know if he is still positioning himself to be a PF.  However, what I will say is that we ought to be scouting some bigs that can cover the glass.  I've been keeping up with the young guys.  These guys are big and they go after Offensive boards.

 

[Lurker]

I hate to say it but I will again... Horford needs to go if he doesn't want to battle with big men down there anymore.

[benhillboy]

39 minutes ago, Lurker said:

I hate to say it but I will again... Horford needs to go if he doesn't want to battle with big men down there anymore.

His rebounding rate is 34th, this only among centers.  He's pulling down 1.5 less than his career average, while shooting .28 points behind his career FG percentage.  He's only shooting .341 from three on an ungodly number of attempts.  To make that matter much worse, he's shooting an insane .889 on free throws, that is every blue moon he makes a visit.  He's supposedly the anchor on an inconsistent, declining defense.

I hope this isn't the way he's been advised to play to get a max contract.  I love Al, but I want no parts of that.  He was supposed to give us 20 and 10, nothing less.  He would be if he stopped this soft a$$ Stretch 4 sh@t.  I don't have that much of a problem with Sap taking threes because he doesn't camp out and can take off the dribble from there as well as mix in some post bully ball when opportune.  Al can't.  He tried to pump and drive from the arc and made a horrendous turnover.  Love Bud too, but I'm adamantly against this new style he chose for Al.

[hawkman]

1 hour ago, benhillboy said:

His rebounding rate is 34th, this only among centers.  He's pulling down 1.5 less than his career average, while shooting .28 points behind his career FG percentage.  He's only shooting .341 from three on an ungodly number of attempts.  To make that matter much worse, he's shooting an insane .889 on free throws, that is every blue moon he makes a visit.  He's supposedly the anchor on an inconsistent, declining defense.

I hope this isn't the way he's been advised to play to get a max contract.  I love Al, but I want no parts of that.  He was supposed to give us 20 and 10, nothing less.  He would be if he stopped this soft a$$ Stretch 4 sh@t.  I don't have that much of a problem with Sap taking threes because he doesn't camp out and can take off the dribble from there as well as mix in some post bully ball when opportune.  Al can't.  He tried to pump and drive from the arc and made a horrendous turnover.  Love Bud too, but I'm adamantly against this new style he chose for Al.

I think he's trying to emulate Kevin Love maybe? But Love actually mixes it up inside and rebounds when he has to.

[Peoriabird]

Some of us knew this after the 1st game against Detroit but were told to be patient.  The sample size was too small even though the Detroit game wasn't any different than what we saw last year especially in the playoffs.  I guess eventually most people eventually catch on.

[AHF]

2 hours ago, Peoriabird said:

Some of us knew this after the 1st game against Detroit but were told to be patient.  The sample size was too small even though the Detroit game wasn't any different than what we saw last year especially in the playoffs.  I guess eventually most people eventually catch on.

You should have known this before the Detroit game.  You can't draw any rationale conclusions from a single data point.  Heck, you can watch Tony Delk go for 50 in a single game.

[Peoriabird]

2 hours ago, AHF said:

You should have known this before the Detroit game.  You can't draw any rationale conclusions from a single data point.  Heck, you can watch Tony Delk go for 50 in a single game.

I guess you can since the conclusion was right.  Bud is more focus on offensive efficiency than rebounding which is why he purposefully plays smaller line ups and avoids including players that could help with rebounding i.e. a Bobby Portis etc.  His formula will not work unless we have the phenom like Steph Curry and h-ll even Golden State is top 10 in Rebounding this year.  So its a pipe dream to think that this team could even duplicate what they accomplished last year. 

 

And P.S.  Our problems have nothing to do with Demarre Carrol!

[Lurker]

41 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

And P.S.  Our problems have nothing to do with Demarre Carrol!

It does have to do with not having a SF that is PF sized starting. If ATL doesn’t have elite perimeter defense it completely exposes Horford and Millsap, and they only do when Sefolosha plays a lot.

[Peoriabird]

46 minutes ago, Lurker said:

It does have to do with not having a SF that is PF sized starting. If ATL doesn’t have elite perimeter defense it completely exposes Horford and Millsap, and they only do when Sefolosha plays a lot.

DMC is not an elite perimeter defender.

[benhillboy]

I can't knock Boston this year.  Their coach always said he wanted to play like us.  I knew they would run the Rockets out their own building tonight.

[Lurker]

1 hour ago, Peoriabird said:

DMC is not an elite perimeter defender.

Then explain why most people think the reason why Millsap and Horford back there didn’t get exposed because of Atlanta having a PF sized SF starting.

Tell you what, Sefolosha starting would temporarily fix some of the problems on defense, but it's not going to be permanently fixed all of them unless a PF sized SF is brought in and Korver gets back up to at least the speed he was at least season.

And excuse the grammar, I can't edit due to the VIP feature thing.