Pumped for Trae

[Sothron]

Can Young dunk? I don't think I've ever seen him dunk.

[TheFuzz]

8 hours ago, aali34 said:

I've been really impressed with his touch around the rim. I don't know if it was cuz he was getting triple teamed, but I did not see that in college.  As long as Trae keeps improving as expected he's gonna be the complete package offensively. And I honestly think if he gets stronger he can be ok defensively too. Not great, but serviceable.

[aali34]

18 minutes ago, Sothron said:

Can Young dunk? I don't think I've ever seen him dunk.

 

[thecampster]

3 hours ago, Sothron said:

Can Young dunk? I don't think I've ever seen him dunk.

I want no part of that young man slamming his million dollar fingers against the rim. I'm alright with the layups.

[AHF]

12 hours ago, High5 said:

That is very impressive. But looking at previous seasons those numbers may come down for everyone involved. LeBron is the only player (with 10+ drives per game) that has been able to put anything close to 60% the last 2 seasons (60.1% and 58.5%) and even he was only 50% the season before that. Jrue Holiday had the next highest of those 3 seasons at 55.7%. Then again, the freedom of movement crap should help keep the percentages up. 

Either way, I didn't expect him to be so effective driving the ball this early. Even more reason to be excited for Collins to get back. Defenses are going to have to make a lot of tough decisions with those two. 

It is only logical that with the relatively small sample size this early in the season that the people at the top of the leaderboard in almost every stat would be people playing above their heads and at serious risk for regression.  It is still great to see him be effective, though, because in the summer it looked like breathing on him hard would result in a missed bunny.

[benhillboy]

9 hours ago, aali34 said:

 

I’m no jumping specialist but how easily he got off the floor with two hands and good rim clearance leads me to believe he’ll be dunking occasionally when he gets stronger.  Chris Paul is shorter and he yammed on Dwight.

[frosgrim]

Michael Cunnigham over the AJC has a nice opinion piece on Tre.  

https://www.myajc.com/blog/mike-check/hawks-rookie-trae-young-already-looks-like-the-real-deal/JaDZUSUuYooiBK7hDKWoZK/

Here are some highlights: 
"Young’s numbers already are impressive. He ranks first among qualified rookies in assists per game (7.9), second in points (19.1), seventh in field-goal percentage and fifth in 3-point percentage (32.1). "

"Young has been a high-usage player, which is a term used by stats heads (raises hand) use to say that he’s a big part of the Hawks’ offense. His usage rate is tops among rookies and 27th among all players, according to Cleaning the Glass. Most rookies, especially point guards, struggle when immediately taking a central role, but Young has been productive and efficient even as opponents frequently blitz and trap him to make him give up the ball." 

"Per Cleaning the Glass, Young ranks in the 65th percentile among point guards in points per shot attempt. He’s assisted on 41.3 percent of his team’s baskets, which ranks in the 90th percentile among all point guards. It’s notable that Young’s production as a passer has been outstanding without John Collins playing a game; when Collins returns from injury that tandem will be a pick-and-roll terror." 

"But those critics eager to declare Young an NBA bust right out of the gate are going to have to wait. I hope their wait never ends."

 

[mcleitsy]

2 hours ago, frosgrim said:

Michael Cunnigham over the AJC has a nice opinion piece on Tre.  

https://www.myajc.com/blog/mike-check/hawks-rookie-trae-young-already-looks-like-the-real-deal/JaDZUSUuYooiBK7hDKWoZK/

Here are some highlights: 
"Young’s numbers already are impressive. He ranks first among qualified rookies in assists per game (7.9), second in points (19.1), seventh in field-goal percentage and fifth in 3-point percentage (32.1). "

"Young has been a high-usage player, which is a term used by stats heads (raises hand) use to say that he’s a big part of the Hawks’ offense. His usage rate is tops among rookies and 27th among all players, according to Cleaning the Glass. Most rookies, especially point guards, struggle when immediately taking a central role, but Young has been productive and efficient even as opponents frequently blitz and trap him to make him give up the ball." 

"Per Cleaning the Glass, Young ranks in the 65th percentile among point guards in points per shot attempt. He’s assisted on 41.3 percent of his team’s baskets, which ranks in the 90th percentile among all point guards. It’s notable that Young’s production as a passer has been outstanding without John Collins playing a game; when Collins returns from injury that tandem will be a pick-and-roll terror." 

"But those critics eager to declare Young an NBA bust right out of the gate are going to have to wait. I hope their wait never ends."

 

Nice write up. I certainly expect Trae to get more and more focus as the season goes on (Not that they aren't already focusing on him). I'm worried that defenses start to shut down his passing lanes that he will struggle to convert at the basket. Also worried about durability. Even now he's at 31 mpg and taking a lot of shots. He spends more time on the ground than I would like.

[terrell]

4 hours ago, benhillboy said:

I’m no jumping specialist but how easily he got off the floor with two hands and good rim clearance leads me to believe he’ll be dunking occasionally when he gets stronger.  Chris Paul is shorter and he yammed on Dwight.

Yeah but its a lot easier to dunk like that, As opposed to having the ball in your hands. I dunked off alley oops, and throwing it off the backboard in the 9th grade. Couldnt dunk holding the ball until 11th...And its even harder for people with small hands....With that said, who cares...Just keep shooting and passing that rock.....

[aali34]

NBA players on Trae Young - 

 

[EazyRoc]

It feels so unreal that Atlanta may finally have a superstar caliber player. As long as he keeps working and doesn’t get hurt, he really could be a Top 3-5 PG in this league. The Hawks FO really struck gold on this one. This  will shorten our rebuild. If we hit on our two potential lottery picks, we will be in great shape for the next 10-15 years

[Atlantaholic]

On 5/11/2018 at 11:22 PM, TheFuzz said:

I've been really impressed with his touch around the rim. I don't know if it was cuz he was getting triple teamed, but I did not see that in college.  As long as Trae keeps improving as expected he's gonna be the complete package offensively. And I honestly think if he gets stronger he can be ok defensively too. Not great, but serviceable.

What's impressive is that his outside shot has not been going in yet. If he starts hitting 38%+ from 3 the amount of extra space that will give him to drive, create and finish is going to make him even deadlier. If we can pair an elite scorer on the wing with Trae and Trae becomes a consistent outside shooter... good god. MVP type of production is not out of the question for this kid. He's only 20!

[AHF]

3 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

What's impressive is that his outside shot has not been going in yet. If he starts hitting 38%+ from 3 the amount of extra space that will give him to drive, create and finish is going to make him even deadlier. If we can pair an elite scorer on the wing with Trae and Trae becomes a consistent outside shooter... good god. MVP type of production is not out of the question for this kid. He's only 20!

Improving his shot selection will help with that 3pt% for sure.  Unlikely that really deep 3 will ever be a good % shot.

[Atlantaholic]

Just now, AHF said:

Improving his shot selection will help with that 3pt% for sure.  Unlikely that really deep 3 will ever be a good % shot.

For sure... I think he does have that range, and if somehow that shot presents itself in rhythm of off ball movement I'm not opposed to him taking it. However, his contested pull up off rhythm from 40 ft out needs to be completely taken out of the options tree for him. If I was Pierce I would make him do push-ups like Willie Mays Hayes in Majore League for every one of those abominations he puts up. 

[bleachkit]

1-14 from three the last two games. Ice trae is Ice cold.

[Azodl]

2 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

1-14 from three the last two games. Ice trae is Ice cold.

Remember when he threw up a couple airballs in the first Summer League game and everyone (other than people like me who knew it was on purpose) were like "this kid is HORRIBLE and he's a bust ALREADY"?

It's all going to work out. Next game: 7 for 10 from three, watch.

[JayBirdHawk]

8 hours ago, bleachkit said:

1-14 from three the last two games. Ice trae is Ice cold.

That is Ice Cold!!!....but as long as teams are still defending him as a threat from 3, it'll open up different scoring opportunities for him and his teammates. 

When teams start backing off and daring him to shoot, then it'll be a real big problem.

[kg01]

9 hours ago, Azodl said:

Remember when he threw up a couple airballs in the first Summer League game and everyone (other than people like me who knew it was on purpose) were like "this kid is HORRIBLE and he's a bust ALREADY"?

It's all going to work out. Next game: 7 for 10 from three, watch.

I'm sorry, whut?

[Sothron]

40 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

That is Ice Cold!!!....but as long as teams are still defending him as a threat from 3, it'll open up different scoring opportunities for him and his teammates. 

When teams start backing off and daring him to shoot, then it'll be a real big problem.

As long as we don't get the smaller version of Josh Smith...

[Spud2nique]

52 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I'm sorry, whut?

Lmao ?