FINALLY ! -Pre season is here !

[Peoriabird]

2 minutes ago, AHF said:

Agreed.  Efficiency is his key for this season.  Tonight he shot more than 21 shots per 36.  Just saying that isn't sustainable for a guy whose career fg% is 41%.  It is roughly double his career average.  

Most important is that he finally had a plus game.  Good note to go into the regular season on.

What made his game so good tonight was his shot selection...He drove the lane, posted up a smaller defender as well as taking open shot within the frame work of the offense.  So you can't just evaluate him based on the number of shots he took but rather the quality.

[AHF]

1 minute ago, Peoriabird said:

What made his game so good tonight was his shot selection...He drove the lane, posted up a smaller defender as well as taking open shot within the frame work of the offense.  So you can't just evaluate him based on the number of shots he took but rather the quality.

I'm not critical of his shot selection or efficiency tonight.  Just saying he won't get that volume of quality shot opportunities matched up against guys in the regular season and will need to be successful without that many looks.  He needs to make the looks he gets count ala March/April THJr.  Thus, efficiency.

[AHF]

Kelly is cut.

[Peoriabird]

8 minutes ago, AHF said:

I'm not critical of his shot selection or efficiency tonight.  Just saying he won't get that volume of quality shot opportunities matched up against guys in the regular season and will need to be successful without that many looks.  He needs to make the looks he gets count ala March/April THJr.  Thus, efficiency.

In other words, you are afraid that tonight doesn't represent growth in his game but rather an aberration.  Your prediction is that he will force more shots during the regular season when he doesn't get the same looks he got tonight which would lead to the same  inefficiency as last year?

[Guest]

 

1.  

   Chris Vivlamore 

    

   ✔ @CVivlamoreAJC

   Darvin Ham said Bud also injured his ribs on the court-side collision.

[Dnice]

Well crap.

[AHF]

1 hour ago, Peoriabird said:

In other words, you are afraid that tonight doesn't represent growth in his game but rather an aberration.  Your prediction is that he will force more shots during the regular season when he doesn't get the same looks he got tonight which would lead to the same  inefficiency as last year?

I think he is a volume scorer who shoots better when given lots of shots than when given a smaller number of tries.  So I do fear another 42% fg%, 34% 3pt% type season.

Obviously tonight is an outlier.  It is1 out of 5 preseason games where he made half his shots let alone 70% of them.  A 70% shooting game is a significant outlier for anyone on our team not named Dwight, Edy or Kyle.

[High5]

I really don't think Bud acquired THJ with the hopes of turning him into an efficient low volume scorer. What he gave us after the break was great, but with his ability to get a variety of good looks and put pressure on the defense I'm sure Bud wants him to become a more prolific scorer than that. So if things are going according to plan then THJ taking 10+ shots won't be an unusual sight. 

[Gray Mule]

Did any one mention here that K.K. had a healthy off season and looked good shooting last night?

TH jr. has apparently arisen from his "deep sleep" or hibernation.  Before his last two games, he

was useless.  Good to have him back.

Scott, with his hitch in his get-a-long and his legal problem, makes him one of the players on the

edge of the overfilled 16 players on the final 15 roster.

Hawks and their defense, which is becoming their trademark.  Something we must all remember:

The NBA has became, more and more, a three point shooting league.  This has slipped up on many

of us.  We all remember when we were bombarded with forty eleven threes in a row in the playoffs,

hitting every one of them.

Check out the history of the NFL.  Primarily running offense with passing thrown in, literally, as an

extra.  Then, along came the AFL upstart major league which was, for the most part, pass first and

run when all passing lanes closed down.

The two leagues merged and we now have NFL and AFL divisions which clash each season when they

meet in the Super Bowl.  Notice how, now, passing has become so much more "the thing" than it was

before the Super Bowl came about.

I tell you all his NFL history to remind everyone, we must become a better 3 point defensive team.

Did any one notice that the officials sign for a three and a NFL touchdown are similar?  Then, using

a baseball term, the three is called a home run! 

Hawks are much better, defensively, inside.  Great!  Defend the rim.  Just don't ignore the three point

line, defensively or offensively.

GO LOTTERY BOUND ATL HAWKS !!

[Hawwwwwwwwwwwwwwks]

2 hours ago, aali34 said:

Did we ever run it with Jeff Teague?

yeah, we ran it a few times with jeff

Many teams actually use this play tbh

Ive seen philly, cavs, warriors, rockets to name a few

But yeah, dennis can use this probably to the effectiveness of tony if he gets more of these, Ive always wanted his offense to come more from side/baseline pick and rolls as opposed to high pick and rolls, that way, the defender will go less under the screen since he is chasing from behind already, which will open up the offense even more. Spurs used these as primary options for scoring for parker since he had the same problem as dennis (poor threes).

[NBASupes]

10 hours ago, AHF said:

Kelly is cut.

Great for him, gives him a chance to find a NBA team. 

[macdaddy]

Anyone see the Sap post game interview.   Do you feel like you and Dwight are gelling?   {awkward pause.......}  we have work to do.     Do you expect to be able to play well off each other?  {awkward pause} blah blah blah.   

I know i'm reading into it but he seems less than sold on the team this year.   I know he's kind of a perfectionist.  

[NBASupes]

10 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Anyone see the Sap post game interview.   Do you feel like you and Dwight are gelling?   {awkward pause.......}  we have work to do.     Do you expect to be able to play well off each other?  {awkward pause} blah blah blah.   

I know i'm reading into it but he seems less than sold on the team this year.   I know he's kind of a perfectionist.  

Dwight does a lot of things wrong the fans don't see. I accepted it but it's gonna make Sap going have to step into the role Al was in last year and I am not sold that Sap can do it.

[AHF]

7 hours ago, High5 said:

I really don't think Bud acquired THJ with the hopes of turning him into an efficient low volume scorer. What he gave us after the break was great, but with his ability to get a variety of good looks and put pressure on the defense I'm sure Bud wants him to become a more prolific scorer than that. So if things are going according to plan then THJ taking 10+ shots won't be an unusual sight. 

Until he becomes an efficient scorer like he was last March, that means taking shots away from better options to feed him and that is the opposite of what our system is supposed to do.  He needs to be able to score efficiently even when he isn't taking 10+ shots.  The preseason exemplifies that.  4 games of poor shooting; 1 game of great shooting.  Feed him when he is on and minimize him when he isn't.  That needs to be his role.  Not keep shooting when you are 0-7.

[AHF]

12 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Anyone see the Sap post game interview.   Do you feel like you and Dwight are gelling?   {awkward pause.......}  we have work to do.     Do you expect to be able to play well off each other?  {awkward pause} blah blah blah.   

I know i'm reading into it but he seems less than sold on the team this year.   I know he's kind of a perfectionist.  

I hope it isn't negativity but I think a perfectionist riding Dwight is a good thing.  Not a "it's all about me" guy like Kobe but a guy like Sap that is all about team.

[macdaddy]

17 minutes ago, AHF said:

I hope it isn't negativity but I think a perfectionist riding Dwight is a good thing.  Not a "it's all about me" guy like Kobe but a guy like Sap that is all about team.

Good news is that Dwight sees it the same way.   So he seems serious and buckled down right now

Quote

“I thought we did OK,” Howard said. “There are a couple things to work on but we were solid tonight. We can definitely get better. We just have to get a rhythm with each other. Preseason has been tough because Paul has been out a little bit. So he is trying to get his rhythm. I’m trying to learn all the plays and figure some things out. It’s going to take some time.”

 

[High5]

1 hour ago, AHF said:

Until he becomes an efficient scorer like he was last March, that means taking shots away from better options to feed him and that is the opposite of what our system is supposed to do.  He needs to be able to score efficiently even when he isn't taking 10+ shots.  The preseason exemplifies that.  4 games of poor shooting; 1 game of great shooting.  Feed him when he is on and minimize him when he isn't.  That needs to be his role.  Not keep shooting when you are 0-7.

Obviously the plan would include him becoming more consistent. I'm just saying there's more to Bud giving him the green light than trying to shoot him out of a slump so he can settle into a role where he takes 5 or 6 shots a night. He wants THJ to be our scoring punch off of the bench. And there are shots to be had with the departure of Teague.

Edited October 19, 2016 by High5

[aali34]

5 minutes ago, High5 said:

Obviously the plan would include him becoming more consistent. I'm just saying there's more to Bud giving him the green light than trying to shoot him out of a slump so he can settle into a role where he takes 5 or 6 shots a night. He wants THJ to be our scoring punch off of the bench. And there are shots to be had with the departure of Teague.

I kinda agree, I think Tim Haraway's role might be that of a spark plug. If the game is close, he might be that guy that comes and knocks down some quick shots to give us a lead or take down one.

[High5]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

Anyone see the Sap post game interview.   Do you feel like you and Dwight are gelling?   {awkward pause.......}  we have work to do.     Do you expect to be able to play well off each other?  {awkward pause} blah blah blah.   

I know i'm reading into it but he seems less than sold on the team this year.   I know he's kind of a perfectionist.  

I saw it more as a positive. He knows the two of them have great potential and they're trying to figure it all out. Which everyone should expect. Going from Horford to Dwight is as drastic a change as you can make.

The more interesting part was him calling out the bench for making the game close at the end. At least that's what it sounded like. Not that he did it in a destructive way. He just wants this team to be as strong as it can be. 

[Guest]

Yup. SAP is a perfectionist and I think that he actually believes he and Dwight could do some special things this year and just wants to have an opportunity to get the most out of it. I think it takes them a couple of months to figure it out completely. By the new year, they should know each other's habits well.