Trae Young - The Man, The Viper, and The Prosecution aka The MVP aka Ice Trae

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[marco102]

When Trae gets his three going...the league f....

Edited December 29, 2020 by marco102

[kg01]

16 hours ago, marco102 said:

When Trae gets his three going...the league f....

The league tryna defend the Hawks once Trae gets the 3 going and after they figure how to incorporate Collins and Bodg and after the bench gets rollin and after the monster Donkey OKongwu is unleashed ...

[NBASupes]

Kg01, cut that shit out.

[kg01]

12 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Kg01, cut that shit out.

What are you talking about?

[Jdawgflow]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

What are you talking about?

I am also confused.

[REHawksFan]

https://uproxx.com/dimemag/trae-young-atlanta-hawks-grift-free-throws-foul-drawing-harden-video/

Trae Young Is On His Way To Being One Of The NBA’s Great Villains

ROBBY KALLANDTWITTERSENIOR SPORTS WRITER

DECEMBER 29, 2020

 

 

The Atlanta Hawks are off to a strong 3-0 start to the season, thanks mostly to having the league’s best offense through the first week of the regular season.

Atlanta spent their offseason spending considerably to upgrade its roster, splurging on Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Rajon Rondo, as it made clear its intentions not just to take a leap into being a playoff contender, but also to prove to Trae Young that the organization is committed to getting him the help he’s craved. Through three games, the Hawks are averaging 123.7 points per 100 possessions, the most in the league by a full four points over the Lakers, and are second to L.A. in effective field goal percentage as a team at 59.1 percent, per Cleaning the Glass.

Young is the driving force behind this offensive explosion, as he has been fully unleashed by the newfound spacing of the Hawks offense. The third-year star is averaging 34 points and 7.3 assists per game on mind-numbing efficiency, hitting 53 percent of his shots (42.1 percent from three). Most staggering is the way he’s getting to the free throw line. Young has steadily emerged as one of the NBA’s great grifters in the same vein as James Harden and the man he’s forever tied to in his draft class, Luka Doncic. A year ago, Young got to the line 9.3 times per game, with a free throw rate of .443, while Harden’s free throw rate was .528.

Through three games this season, Young has taken the art of drawing fouls to a completely new level, one that would even make the Beard blush, as his free throw rate is an astronomical .939. He’s gone to the line 46 times while taking just 49 field goal attempts so far this season. Once at the stripe, he’s hit 42 of those 46 attempts, good for 91 percent, and has controlled every game he’s been in with his ability to change speed, embrace contact, and manipulate his way to the charity stripe.

Take this play on Monday night against the Pistons for instance and tell me it doesn’t remind you of Harden. Young rejects the screen and slithers his way past his man, sweeping his arms across his body as he recognizes the reach is on its way from the help side so he can gather, get the contact, and put up the runner off the glass for an and-1.

 

He’s not just learned the dark arts of finding and finishing through contact in the paint, but is finding his way to the line from the perimeter as well. Watch as he toys with Jonas Valanciunas, creating just enough space to get off a shot but also keeping the big man close enough that he goes for the aggressive closeout where Young can catch some contact down low with the subtle kickout and get himself an and-1 opportunity.

 

What separates the greats in the art of getting to the foul line is being able to do so in a natural way that doesn’t impede your ability to score when the fouls aren’t there, and that’s something you can see in Young. Even when he doesn’t draw the contact, you can see how it’s just become a natural part of his game when he drives. Look at the way he sweeps the arms through quickly from left to right on this floater, knowing the reach is coming from behind on his right, and even though he doesn’t get the contact, he just goes about his business and knocks down the floater.

 

That’s the mark of the elite grifters, the ones who transform buckets into and-1s, and missed calls (or efforts to draw contact that come up empty) into buckets. Young came into the league tabbed as the next Stephen Curry because of his smaller stature and ability to shoot from anywhere on the floor, but “short Harden” is maybe a more apt comparison for the way his offensive game has developed, which is honestly a rather incredible development.

When Young was coming into the league, one of the questions he faced was how he’d do as a finisher. In college, he wasn’t the best at the rim, didn’t seem to always embrace contact, and doesn’t have the elite athleticism to blow by defenders to create significant space to get off easy layups. Fast forward to the start of his third season and he not only accepts contact but actively seeks it out, and has developed one of the best in-between games in the league. He can get a step on a defender and, if the opportunity presents itself, he’ll just stride to the rim, but more often than not he uses an off-rhythm cadence to frustrate defenses.

He loves stopping just shy of the restricted area to pop off a floater over a closing big man and changes speed and tempo like the very best to get a defender on his hip and then create contact to get himself to the line for either a pair of free throws or an and-1 opportunity. Young has become a fan favorite for his quick trigger on three pointers and willingness to fire from anywhere on the court, but as the Hawks grow in stature and become featured on national TV more, I expect him to become one of the NBA’s great villains.

Young has the demeanor and mannerisms for it, flexing after and-1s and giving his shivering taunt after a big made three, and the game to back it all up. He is as gifted a scorer as there is in the game and has embraced the benefits that grifting your way to free points provide so shamelessly that when people begin watching more of him than the highlights, he’s destined to become a polarizing, Harden-esque figure.

This is far from a bad thing, as it should only be a compliment to be considered on that stature of offensive player, but it’s something Hawks fans (and Young) should be prepared for as the team gets better and gains more attention on a national scale. It isn’t a 1-to-1 comparison, if for no other reason than Young is a much smaller player than Harden, but the mannerisms and the way they go about creating and drawing contact so naturally within their shooting motion is uncanny. For Hawks fans, it’s something to embrace and enjoy, because it will make your team incredibly competitive, because even on nights where shots aren’t falling, when your star can march himself to the free throw line for cheap points, it can help you steal games you might otherwise lose.

For everyone else, it’s going to become an annoyance, as Young preens after his third and-1 basket of the game, offering that knowing smirk that he can, and will, do this all day.

[REHawksFan]

Also from ESPN...

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/30613053/nba-real-not-trae-young-mvp-warriors-woes-james-harden-trade

Real or not: Trae Young is a legitimate top-five MVP candidate

Andre Snellings: Not quite real ... yet.

Recent top-five MVP finishers have some clear commonalities: They put up eye-popping box score stats, they have a dominant on-court impact and their teams are very good to great.

Young showed as a sophomore he was capable of delivering on the first item, finishing fourth in the league with 29.6 points per game and second with 9.3 assists per game. All-in-one stats bear out Young's huge footprint ... on offense. But the game is played at both ends of the court, and defensively, Young has a history of giving back almost as much as he generates. Young finished second in the NBA in ESPN's offensive real plus-minus (ORPM) last season but last in defensive RPM, leaving him tied for 98th in overall RPM. No top-five MVP finisher in the past three seasons has measured out worse than 31st in RPM, with 14 of the 15 finishing in the top 20.

That brings us to team performance. The top-five MVP finishers for the past three seasons have come from teams with an average playoff seed of 3.1. Young has led the Hawks to a 3-0 start with a plus-12.2 net rating this season, but Atlanta also started off strong in 2019-20, before falling deep into the lottery. There is a lot of basketball still left to be played, and the Hawks still have a lot to prove.

Young has the tools and an encouraging improvement trajectory, and his team looks much improved. But it's too early to put him in this group right now.

[kg01]

42 minutes ago, Jdawgflow said:

I am also confused.

I'm thinking he read or inferred something that wasn't intended by me?

[marco102]

3 hours ago, REHawksFan said:

Also from ESPN...

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/30613053/nba-real-not-trae-young-mvp-warriors-woes-james-harden-trade

Real or not: Trae Young is a legitimate top-five MVP candidate

Andre Snellings: Not quite real ... yet.

Recent top-five MVP finishers have some clear commonalities: They put up eye-popping box score stats, they have a dominant on-court impact and their teams are very good to great.

Young showed as a sophomore he was capable of delivering on the first item, finishing fourth in the league with 29.6 points per game and second with 9.3 assists per game. All-in-one stats bear out Young's huge footprint ... on offense. But the game is played at both ends of the court, and defensively, Young has a history of giving back almost as much as he generates. Young finished second in the NBA in ESPN's offensive real plus-minus (ORPM) last season but last in defensive RPM, leaving him tied for 98th in overall RPM. No top-five MVP finisher in the past three seasons has measured out worse than 31st in RPM, with 14 of the 15 finishing in the top 20.

That brings us to team performance. The top-five MVP finishers for the past three seasons have come from teams with an average playoff seed of 3.1. Young has led the Hawks to a 3-0 start with a plus-12.2 net rating this season, but Atlanta also started off strong in 2019-20, before falling deep into the lottery. There is a lot of basketball still left to be played, and the Hawks still have a lot to prove.

Young has the tools and an encouraging improvement trajectory, and his team looks much improved. But it's too early to put him in this group right now.

You know, this would be an entirely reasonable article if they hadn't just voted Luka 4th with his team finishing 7th and he was no where near top 30 in defensive ratings.  But let's hold Trae to a higher standard and harp on his defense on a bad defensive team.

Trae's defensive rating is about 106.4 pts.  It's not even the worst on the Hawks and is above league average.

Edited December 30, 2020 by marco102

[Gray Mule]

Notice the last sentence, first word: BUT.  Meaning, that's the facts BUT we don't really expect it to last.  there are so many great players that we love.  And then, there is Trae Young.

Oh my, how it hurt to admit that these facts stand out.  

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[warcore]

18 hours ago, kg01 said:

What are you talking about?

Just STOP, OK?

[kg01]

37 minutes ago, warcore said:

Just STOP, OK?

I'm Gilmore Girls'n this one ...

[REHawksFan]

From Zach Lowe on ESPN....

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/30623323/ten-nba-things-like-including-weirdness-trae-young

2. Trae Young is a magician

I mean, come on:

That's mean.

Atlanta's offense is laying waste to the league. It appears legitimate. Atlanta won't finish as the most potent offense ever -- it would be as of today -- but the Hawks are a problem.

It starts with Young, who is impossible to grasp. He moves in strange, unpredictable ways. He has nasty hesitation dribbles with either hand, and changes pace and direction at the same time; he might meander north-south in one dribble, and then accelerate east-west the next. He whips one-handed passes lefty and righty, at every angle imaginable. He launches righty floaters while fading left. And Young remains the king of rejecting picks, bolting the moment he sees his defender -- panicking at the thought of Young getting any daylight -- leaning toward an oncoming screen.

Young is an unusual mix of incredible athleticism and straight-up weirdness.

Defenders lose their way trying to navigate his maze of jagged twists. Sometimes, they lose their balance and tumble into him. And when all else fails, Young jumps, sticks his butt out, and draws (bogus) fouls.

 

AP Photo/Brandon Dill

Atlanta surrounds Young with more shooting and veteran savvy. The Hawks can play big, small, or even super-small with Danilo Gallinari at center. Cam Reddish and De'Andre Hunter are jacking with audacity; they might make more pull-up 3s in the first 25 games than they did all of last season.

Young is running fewer pick-and-rolls as the Hawks (slightly) democratize their offense, but he's shooting more often out of them, per Second Spectrum. (He still needs to move more off the ball, but perhaps that will come.)

Young has drawn fouls on 12.5% of pick-and-rolls that have ended possessions, a mark that would have led the league by a mile last season. The Hawks have scored 1.16 points per possession anytime Young shoots out of a pick-and-roll, or passes to a teammate who launches -- a mark that (again) would have led the league.

That number balloons to absurd highs when Collins is Young's screener, and higher yet when Collins slips early out of picks -- something he has done over the past two seasons more than everyone but Rudy Gobert and Jarrett Allen, per an ESPN Stats & Information analysis of Second Spectrum data.

You can see Atlanta finally developing an identity on offense when Young rests -- sets heavy on Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevin Huerter popping off picks and setting them.

The next big question is how the Collins-Clint Capela frontcourt functions on offense. It's clear the Hawks need Capela to have any chance defending anyone, but the double-big setup requires adjustments. Young and the Hawks appear up for that problem solving.

[HawkingAwesome]

i've never understood the media dislike of atlanta all the articles read bitter and salty, having to give atlanta credit for anything to them is eating a lemon sprinkled with citric acid.

[Gray Mule]

  Poor Trae.  He had a terrible, off game last night.

Look at his #'s.

3 of 8 three's - - 4-4 free throws - - 7 assists - - 21 points.

And yet, in spite of his night, his team won the game.  Guess his poor night just shows everyone that he's not the only player on the Atlanta roster.

Tonight, all ready, we play again.  Hoping for another win in our future.

[hawkzlova123]

I loved how Goodwin handled the backup job yesterday. 

[terrell]

 

[kg01]

42 minutes ago, terrell said:

 

The keeps commercial was the best part of that vid.