Hawks v. Grizzlies

[NBASupes]

Supes notes on Memphis:

I've been watching both preseason games. 

Morant looks like he could be a MVP candidate. He is impossible to stay in front of and they run that same system as coach Bud with mass player and ball movement. What's special about Morant is he's constantly moving within the motion of the offense. He's special special.

Big Val is their 2nd best player. Good overall player who can do it all offensively outside of playmake. Strong, skilled, he's what we thought Bryant Reeves would be in the NBA. 

I like Anderson more than Brooks. Excellent team player who can play on or off the ball, great decision maker, excellent playmaker, high BBIQ player on both ends and while he's limited athletically, his defensive instincts are impressive. 

Brooks is an solid role player in the scorer/shooter prototype. He really is an excellent fit with Memphis and this system because it allows him to play his game without too many mouths to feed.

Melton is another player I like. He's kinda like a young Avery Bradley but not as good overall but elite on defense and he's improving as a spot up shooter from what I am watching the in preseason. He's a tremendous off Ball player even at this stage. 

They have very good depth, not the elite depth they had last year before the trades.

They are a better matchup than Orlando which was a good measuring stick because I think we could be on their level sooner than later and likely will surpass it due to our talent level. 

They aren't playing JJJ due to injuries but he's not that impactful yet anyway. Maybe that changes this year but we will see.

Edited December 15, 2020 by NBASupes

[terrell]

27 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Supes notes on Memphis:

I've been watching both preseason games. 

Morant looks like he could be a MVP candidate. He is impossible to stay in front of and they run that same system as coach Bud with mass player and ball movement. What's special about Morant is he's constantly moving within the motion of the offense. He's special special.

Big Val is their 2nd best player. Good overall player who can do it all offensively outside of playmake. Strong, skilled, he's what we thought Bryant Reeves would be in the NBA. 

I like Anderson more than Brooks. Excellent team player who can play on or off the ball, great decision maker, excellent playmaker, high BBIQ player on both ends and while he's limited athletically, his defensive instincts are impressive. 

Brooks is an solid role player in the scorer/shooter prototype. He really is an excellent fit with Memphis and this system because it allows him to play his game without too many mouths to feed.

Melton is another player I like. He's kinda like a young Avery Bradley but not as good overall but elite on defense and he's improving as a spot up shooter from what I am watching the in preseason. He's a tremendous off Ball player even at this stage. 

They have very good depth, not the elite depth they had last year before the trades.

They are a better matchup than Orlando which was a good measuring stick because I think we could be on their level sooner than later and likely will surpass it due to our talent level. 

They aren't playing JJJ due to injuries but he's not that impactful yet anyway. Maybe that changes this year but we will see.

Yep. Ja is a beast..Who's gonna try to guard him Thursday?

Edited December 15, 2020 by terrell

[NBASupes]

6 minutes ago, terrell said:

Yep. Ja is a beast..Who's gonna try to guard him Thursday?

That might be the game where you start Cam. Trae can guard Melton and Bogi can obviously guard Brooks. 

[kg01]

30 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Supes notes on Memphis:

I've been watching both preseason games. 

Morant looks like he could be a MVP candidate. He is impossible to stay in front of and they run that same system as coach Bud with mass player and ball movement. What's special about Morant is he's constantly moving within the motion of the offense. He's special special.

Big Val is their 2nd best player. Good overall player who can do it all offensively outside of playmake. Strong, skilled, he's what we thought Bryant Reeves would be in the NBA. 

I like Anderson more than Brooks. Excellent team player who can play on or off the ball, great decision maker, excellent playmaker, high BBIQ player on both ends and while he's limited athletically, his defensive instincts are impressive. 

Brooks is an solid role player in the scorer/shooter prototype. He really is an excellent fit with Memphis and this system because it allows him to play his game without too many mouths to feed.

Melton is another player I like. He's kinda like a young Avery Bradley but not as good overall but elite on defense and he's improving as a spot up shooter from what I am watching the in preseason. He's a tremendous off Ball player even at this stage. 

They have very good depth, not the elite depth they had last year before the trades.

They are a better matchup than Orlando which was a good measuring stick because I think we could be on their level sooner than later and likely will surpass it due to our talent level. 

They aren't playing JJJ due to injuries but he's not that impactful yet anyway. Maybe that changes this year but we will see.

Oooh this is nice.  Kg and supes in lockstep for once.

I think I pretty much agree with all this.  I'd only add that we maybe shld consider the opponent a bit as we assess MEM's 2 games.

The JJJ opinion will get pushback but it's not wrong.  He's more of a beneficiary than a cause (if that makes sense).

[marco102]

I'd like to see how the Hawks matchup against Memphis this season.  They destroyed the Hawks last year and shut Trae down. 

I wouldn't say Morant is an MVP candidate, I don't think Memphis will have the wins, but he will def be an Allstar. He's so damn efficient and plays the right way.

[High5]

This is a matchup where Capela can really earn his money. Valanciunas bullied the hell out us last season.

[hawkzlova123]

I dislike the idea that ja mordant will phenomenally be better than Trae 

[hawkzlova123]

8 hours ago, High5 said:

This is a matchup where Capela can really earn his money. Valanciunas bullied the hell out us last season.

Also, excited capela took care of the other V while playing the magic

[NBASupes]

44 minutes ago, hawkzlova123 said:

I dislike the idea that ja mordant will phenomenally be better than Trae 

Who said that? 

[macdaddy]

Waiting until Thursday is starting to feel like a month.

[macdaddy]

How did Edwards look for the twolves?  I see that his shooting was awful but looks like he got to the line, rebounded, had some assists.   I think he'll have a Trae-like path where he struggles pretty hard at first.

[bleachkit]

25 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

How did Edwards look for the twolves?  I see that his shooting was awful but looks like he got to the line, rebounded, had some assists.   I think he'll have a Trae-like path where he struggles pretty hard at first.

He's gonna struggle with efficiency, but he can get crazy hot when he's on.

[NBASupes]

22 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

How did Edwards look for the twolves?  I see that his shooting was awful but looks like he got to the line, rebounded, had some assists.   I think he'll have a Trae-like path where he struggles pretty hard at first.

Extremely raw as expected. He's not really playable at this time on either end but he is extremely talent on both ends. He just don't know how to play NBA basketball. He looks like Cam last year but he has tools he can use right now to be effective offensively moreso than Cam. He has less flaws, fyi. Him and Melo Ball have been extremely raw but Melo does things that's elite like passing and rebounding even right now. Ant is one of those kids who we will see in a different light, night and day from where he is today in April. Melo might need a year at least to adjust. He struggles with tight defense is also what I've noticed even though he has excellent in the box ball handling ability. 

[BangHolman]

13 hours ago, NBASupes said:

That might be the game where you start Cam. Trae can guard Melton and Bogi can obviously guard Brooks. 

He should. This is one of the team match-ups that our depth and multi-positional line-ups should excel in. Offensively, it's your usual 1-5 line-up, but defensively, we can hide Trae on the weakest off-ball player and put Cam on ball.

Morant vs Cam

Melton vs Trae

Brooks vs Bogi/Hunter

Anderson vs Collins

Val vs Capela

*Used their starting line-up from their last game box score.

[Gray Mule]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

Waiting until Thursday is starting to feel like a month.

Yes, it does.  This is some great time for the Hawks to study film and prepare for the soon to be open season game at Chicago.  We've waited 9 months.  Hawks have new players that we have as yet to see on the floor.  "Lord, give us patience and give it to us now!"  

Maybe someone will find us some film from practice - - Anything to get us pacified until next game!!

[JeffS17]

23 minutes ago, BangHolman said:

He should. This is one of the team match-ups that our depth and multi-positional line-ups should excel in. Offensively, it's your usual 1-5 line-up, but defensively, we can hide Trae on the weakest off-ball player and put Cam on ball.

Morant vs Cam

Melton vs Trae

Brooks vs Bogi/Hunter

Anderson vs Collins

Val vs Capela

*Used their starting line-up from their last game box score.

As long as we don't switch Capela/Gallinari/JC onto Morant, I don't think he's a problem.  Cam needs to go under the screens and make him shoot -- easier to live with than him saucing our bigs and collapsing the defense

 

Looking forward to seeing Capela in this game though, I went to the Memphis game last year and Valancuinas did us dirty

[BangHolman]

2 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

As long as we don't switch Capela/Gallinari/JC onto Morant, I don't think he's a problem.  Cam needs to go under the screens and make him shoot -- easier to live with than him saucing our bigs and collapsing the defense

I don't mind Cam fighting over the top screen and dropping the big back to protect the rim either, just don't want a big meeting Ja in 1 on 1 at the 3pt line.

[JeffS17]

1 minute ago, BangHolman said:

I don't mind Cam fighting over the top screen and dropping the big back to protect the rim either, just don't want a big meeting Ja in 1 on 1 at the 3pt line.

Yeah, I guess Morant isn't a bad shooter, although I have that perception of him for whatever reason -- probably because his game/athleticism feels a lot like Westbrook

[RedDawg#8]

9 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

Yeah, I guess Morant isn't a bad shooter, although I have that perception of him for whatever reason -- probably because his game/athleticism feels a lot like Westbrook

Exactly, the Westbrook comps sell him short as a shooter. He is actually more comparable to Dame Lillard when you compare their rookie numbers, especially the shooting efficiency. Morant is a bit bigger and explosive, Dame has longer range, but they are very comparable from a numbers standpoint.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/lillada01.html

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/moranja01.html

 

[bleachkit]

Ja is the real deal. Would have taken him last year even with Trae already on the roster.