Official Game Thread: Hawks at Knicks

[benhillboy]

10 minutes ago, StephenHawking said:

Embrace the tank!!!!

Love how we are like 4ppg away from being a top seed in the east. 

My fear grows that we won't be able to outtank the other teams. Sadly we are too good already.

If we keep having these staggered injuries I can’t see how we aren’t bottom 5 (lol OKC in their division cellar).  I trust Schlenk to strike a deal if he has to move up to get his guy.

Edited December 11, 2017 by benhillboy

[hazer]

1 minute ago, benhillboy said:

What would it take to get Porzingis in a Hawks uni?  Out of everything he can do his ability to switch and defend near the arc is just crazy.

Definitely someone I’d love to see the Hawks pursue. Or Klay-T, Grik Frik, and the like...

[lethalweapon3]

PRO BIRD TEAM FANS' MOODS TODAY, RANKED

1. Pelicans

2. Ravens

3. Falcons

4. Hawks

5. Cardinals

555. Seahawks

717. Eagles

~lw3

[KB21]

26 minutes ago, Lurker said:

Why has Dennis not been playing? I know he's in foul trouble but still.

Bud's tiring of Dennis, IMO.  He's going to want to move on because he wants effort from his guys defensively, even if their effort doesn't lead to effectiveness.  Dennis's defensive effort had sucked the entire season.

[NBASupes]

20 minutes ago, KB21 said:

Bud's tiring of Dennis, IMO.  He's going to want to move on because he wants effort from his guys defensively, even if their effort doesn't lead to effectiveness.  Dennis's defensive effort had sucked the entire season.

Dennis has the impact of an average NBA player but he happens to be a starter at the deepest position in the NBA. 

31 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Competitive Tank at its finest.  Nice of Baze to not even try to hit the rim.  I don’t think he was aware of the rule.

I care more about Taylor developing than Dennis sitting.  He made a couple defensive plays Dennis simply won’t.

My boy Bembry stinking it up but good to see Illy maintain his shooting groove.

What would it take to get Porzingis in a Hawks uni?  Out of everything he can do his ability to switch and defend near the arc is just crazy.

I love a competitive tank. Anything else like the Sixers is bad Basketball. This Brooklyn Nets like tank is great. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

29 minutes ago, KB21 said:

Bud's tiring of Dennis, IMO.  He's going to want to move on because he wants effort from his guys defensively, even if their effort doesn't lead to effectiveness.  Dennis's defensive effort had sucked the entire season.

Maybe if Dennis didn't have to carry the entire offense, his defense would pick up.  Dennis didn't seem too upset with being out of the game.  He was constantly encouraging the guys from the bench.  Maybe Bud told him before the game that he was only going to play 20 or so minutes, and that he was going to give the other guys a look, seeing this was a back to back.

I didn't see Bud's after game press conference, so I don't know if anyone asked him why Dennis didn't play the final 8 minutes of the game.  LOL @ coming in at the beginning of the 4th, after sitting out half of the 3rd quarter . . scoring a quick 7 points . . then get pulled again after 3 minutes of play.

Good job Dennis.  Keep doing what you're doing man.

[KB21]

That's not an excuse for a complete lack of effort on defense.  According to ESPN's RPM ratings, the only point guard with a worse DRPM rating than Dennis this year is Emmanuel Mudiay.  He's not efficient enough offensively to offset this.  From my standpoint, it's time to move on.  

[KB21]

http://www.myajc.com/sports/basketball/budenholzer-benches-Schröder-late-hawks-loss-knicks/Yuj2Ix6Ck18qQv0tfkle9L/

Quote

“You’ve got to ask Coach and then let me know,” Schröder said. “I’m supposed to be out there but it didn’t happen. So, that’s it.” 

All you have to do is watch Isaiah Taylor fighting over the top of screens to see why Dennis sat.  That's something that Dennis clearly doesn't do, and the Hawks actually battled back into this game with Dennis on the bench.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

9 minutes ago, KB21 said:

That's not an excuse for a complete lack of effort on defense.  According to ESPN's RPM ratings, the only point guard with a worse DRPM rating than Dennis this year is Emmanuel Mudiay.  He's not efficient enough offensively to offset this.  From my standpoint, it's time to move on.  

Repeating . .

9 - 14 FG for 21 pts tonight. . . . in 22 minutes.   Had scored 7 in a row in 3 minutes in the 4th, when Bud abruptly pulled him for the rest of the game.  And was +5 for the game.

And as soon as Bud pulls him, NiaKita ( sp ) goes on a little run of his own, to push the lead to double digits.

Dennis is in the same boat that Joe Johnson was in, during his first 4 - 5 years as a Hawk. No one can create their own shot with any effectiveness, so they always throw it to Dennis with like 8 seconds left, for him to turn milk into moonshine.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

“Isaiah gave us a big lift,” Budenholzer said. “Malcolm (Delaney) came in, in the first half, gave us a big lift. Just a coach’s decision.” 

 

LOL @ Bud.  Why lie man?

Isaiah was negative double digits +/- for most of the game, until the Hawks made that final push at the end.  Combined, Taylor and Delaney were 1 - 7 FG, for 2 points and 4 assists. . . . and -4 for the game.

 

Edited December 11, 2017 by TheNorthCydeRises

[nathan2331]

Good loss. I don't know how PG defense gets measured, but it's no surprise Dennis is near the bottom of the list. At times he's just not engaged, and even when he is, he's never really had the tools to be a great defender anyways. On a playoff team,I'd imagine he'd play with more energy on defense but I can't get too frustrated considering how bad we've been. I'm telling y'all, if we draft a rookie with instant and make a few additional roster moves, we'll be back in the playoffs.

 

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk

 

 

[DBac]

Didn't watch tonight. Looks like Bembry was terrible out there though. 

[StephenHawking]

vor 5 Stunden, TheNorthCydeRises sagte:

“Isaiah gave us a big lift,” Budenholzer said. “Malcolm (Delaney) came in, in the first half, gave us a big lift. Just a coach’s decision.” 

 

LOL @ Bud.  Why lie man?

Isaiah was negative double digits +/- for most of the game, until the Hawks made that final push at the end.  Combined, Taylor and Delaney were 1 - 7 FG, for 2 points and 4 assists. . . . and -4 for the game.

 

Yeah that's a weird answer. I mean I would've understood if he's arguing about their defense or poise but not about giving the team a lift lol. 

Anyway Dennis needs to work on his defense asap. It really sucks that he could be a top 10 pg if he simply would care.

[Thomas]

Just want to mention another strong three point shooting game for Ersan but guess what, the other guys shot a whopping 16% from three. A rather self destructive number there. This after nailing over 50% one day ago. Felt like neither team really has a grip on how to close it out even with all the scoring.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 hours ago, Thomas said:

Just want to mention another strong three point shooting game for Ersan but guess what, the other guys shot a whopping 16% from three. A rather self destructive number there. This after nailing over 50% one day ago. Felt like neither team really has a grip on how to close it out even with all the scoring.

Well, when your best closer is on the bench due to a "coaching decision", it's hard for people who are normally not in that situation, to be the closer.

Bud purposely tanked this game, I guess, to prove a point to Dennis.  If he wanted to reward Taylor for playing defense, he could've played both he and Dennis together in the 4th quarter.

[AHF]

1 minute ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Well, when your best closer is on the bench due to a "coaching decision", it's hard for people who are normally not in that situation, to be the closer.

Bud purposely tanked this game, I guess, to prove a point to Dennis.  If he wanted to reward Taylor for playing defense, he could've played both he and Dennis together in the 4th quarter.

If he played Taylor for defense, it was probably less a reward for Taylor than a wake-up call for Dennis.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

3 minutes ago, AHF said:

If he played Taylor for defense, it was probably less a reward for Taylor than a wake-up call for Dennis.

The problem with this, is that Dennis knows that the team needs his offense.  So anytime Bud calls himself "punishing" Dennis for his lack of defense, he's actually punishing the team as a whole because they can't consistently score.  Dennis isn't being phased by this. He's probably laughing at Bud for not playing him. 

When Bud "punished" Dennis last year after the All-Star break, it started the downward spiral to the 2nd half of the season.  And it was made worse when Millsap went down.

But better be careful with his little games.  If the team doesn't rapidly improve after we get our "superstar" in the draft, he's the one that will be out of a job in a year or two.  Dennis may be here, or somewhere else.  But Bud will be sippin on some sizzurp in a Buckhead bar.

[AHF]

Winning games means a lower draft pick this year and that is it.  There is zero downside to picking up a loss.  The real meat of the season is player development.  For Dennis, his major area of needed development is on defense.  

I don't know that Bud was sending Dennis a message with this game or not.  Dennis does need to know that he has to put more focus on his D.  He doesn't just have the mental or physical capacity to focus on offense -- he can likewise put some more focus on D and really improve himself as a player.  He will need to at some point.  He has the tools to be a good defender.

Bud may very well have been just tanking this game and not using it to send a message to Dennis.  I don't know but Dennis does need to absorb a message on his D for the long-term.  My point with the previous post was that I found it unrealistic that Bud would have been benching Dennis purely because he thought Taylor's D gave us a better chance to win.

[Thomas]

57 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Bud purposely tanked this game, I guess, to prove a point to Dennis.  If he wanted to reward Taylor for playing defense, he could've played both he and Dennis together in the 4th quarter.

Off hand I would think any form of tanking is out of character for Bud but then maybe that is a non negotiable part of his job description now to remain onboard moving forward during Schlenk's reign. As others alluded to if it was an intended lesson for Dennis its unlikely anything positive will be gained from it on Dennis's end. 

[AHF]

22 minutes ago, Thomas said:

As others alluded to if it was an intended lesson for Dennis its unlikely anything positive will be gained from it on Dennis's end. 

What do you guys think is the right way to send the message to Dennis that he has to focus more on D?  I don't know that this is what Bud was doing but one of his biggest "to do" items for this season is getting Dennis to learn some lessons on D.