Official Game Thread: Hawks at Trail Blazers

[JTB]

Way to go Trae for fessing up that you made bad decisions tonight! Now hopefully your coach takes some blame too on those awful ass rotations!

Edited January 17, 2021 by JTB

[bleachkit]

11 minutes ago, JTB said:

You used efficiency to make your point on if he makes difficult shots or not????

ok....

 

Trae is not an efficient player. I dont think he will ever be efficient. Being a 6ft guard that takes tough runners and long threes, it's impossible.

[TheTruth]

1 minute ago, bleachkit said:

If we lose Monday, it might be time to panic.

Not so sure. Mainly because:

1) It was always going to take some time for this team to gel with all the new players coming in. AND

2) So many guys have barely played as guys have been living on the trainer's table.

That said, that nice start to the season got us excited, but we need some better consistency and maturity from most of the players that have been able to play with us all year.

[bleachkit]

Ja Morant is already back from his ankle sprain. We need some tough guys like that, man.

[bleachkit]

2 minutes ago, TheTruth said:

Not so sure. Mainly because:

1) It was always going to take some time for this team to gel with all the new players coming in. AND

2) So many guys have barely played as guys have been living on the trainer's table.

That said, that nice start to the season got us excited, but we need some better consistency and maturity from most of the players that have been able to play with us all year.

Get 7 or 8 games below .500 and playoffs are gone. We really have to keep close to .500 to have any chance.

[JTB]

2 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Trae is not an efficient player. I dont think he will ever be efficient. Being a 6ft guard that takes tough runners and long threes, it's impossible.

I didn’t say he was but you can’t use efficiency to determine if a player makes difficult shots or not unless you’re speaking in specific to that particular type of shot. 41% is what Trae shoots from the field ...ok Dame and Westbrick doesn’t shoot well from the field either neither did Iverson ....you can’t use efficiency to determine who makes tough shots was my point .

https://twitter.com/chriskirschner/status/1350647644280877059?s=21

 

[JTB]

 

[klharper]

2 minutes ago, TheTruth said:

Not so sure. Mainly because:

1) It was always going to take some time for this team to gel with all the new players coming in. AND

2) So many guys have barely played as guys have been living on the trainer's table.

That said, that nice start to the season got us excited, but we need some better consistency and maturity from most of the players that have been able to play with us all year.

Good to be reminded of this.  
My initial thought before preseason was that 20-25 games in would be our action point if things aren’t going well, and I’m gonna stick with that.  

If we’re 10-15 (.400) or worse at that point, I think it’s Plan McMillan time.

[bleachkit]

3 minutes ago, JTB said:

I didn’t say he was but you can’t use efficiency to determine if a player makes difficult shots or not unless you’re speaking in specific to that particular type of shot. 41% is what Trae shoots from the field ...ok Dame and Westbrick doesn’t shoot well from the field either neither did Iverson ....you can’t use efficiency to determine who makes tough shots was my point .

Actually Dame is pretty efficient. His eFG% is excellent.

[benhillboy]

1 minute ago, bleachkit said:

Ja Morant is already back from his ankle sprain. We need some tough guys like that, man.

Catching crazy alley oops and sh*t (but 0 rebounds lol).

[bleachkit]

Just now, benhillboy said:

Catching crazy alley oops and sh*t (but 0 rebounds lol).

He's a strait dog. But he's efficient too. His eFG% is .573, outstanding.

[benhillboy]

44 minutes ago, terrell said:

Hali, Cam, and Hunter guarding the perimeter would be nice..Trae off the bench..lol. He just plays so much smarter than Trae..Maxey(who I also wanted) would be nice too..Not that I dont like Okungwu, but Just damn............

I know Schlenk selecting Halliburton was farfetched for many reasons but I still would’ve done it lol.  I wouldn’t have drafted Trae either though.

[Atlantaholic]

1 hour ago, TheTruth said:

I don't want to hear crap about a slump. Everybody goes into a slump. What Trae is doing is called bad basketball - and Pierce needs to knock Trae down a peg or two and sit his azz until he starts playing smart basketball. The 35 ft heaves, awful turnovers, poor floor leadership and bad shot selection need to be punished out of him.

What is LP supposed to do when any criticism of Trae results in him being offended and pouting the following game. 

 

 

[bleachkit]

1 minute ago, benhillboy said:

I know Schlenk selecting Halliburton was farfetched for many reasons but I still would’ve done it lol.  I wouldn’t have drafted Trae either though.

Hali would have given us a smart efficient guard that can run the point for us. Passing on OO would have been tough though, Hawks really liked him.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

8 minutes ago, TheTruth said:

Not so sure. Mainly because:

1) It was always going to take some time for this team to gel with all the new players coming in. AND

2) So many guys have barely played as guys have been living on the trainer's table.

That said, that nice start to the season got us excited, but we need some better consistency and maturity from most of the players that have been able to play with us all year.

Also . . all we have to do is win our division, or finish in the top 10, to get into the playoffs.

The Eastern Conference 6th seed at this moment, are the 6 -7 Orlando Magic.  We are at 5 - 7, the 9th seed

 

This has been a brutal past 2 weeks, but there is plenty of time to right this ship.  There's no need to panic, if the goal is to make the playoffs.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

4 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

I know Schlenk selecting Halliburton was farfetched for many reasons but I still would’ve done it lol.  I wouldn’t have drafted Trae either though.

I would've taken Haliburton because of the drop off we saw last year when Trae exited a game.

[benhillboy]

10 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

He's a strait dog. But he's efficient too. His eFG% is .573, outstanding.

I just looked at his stat page like “wtf,” then I realized he’s only played 4 games.

 

5 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Hali would have given us a smart efficient guard that can run the point for us. Passing on OO would have been tough though, Hawks really liked him.

True that.  It was my first time really seeing OO last night, he looks like he’ll grow to be some specimen.  Why his head look so small tho.  Beetlejuice head ass boy.

Edited January 17, 2021 by benhillboy

[TheTruth]

27 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Get 7 or 8 games below .500 and playoffs are gone. We really have to keep close to .500 to have any chance.

I'd agree that if we get into a hole that size, yeah, that's going to be really tough to climb out of.

[aali34]

If there was any time for Trae to struggle and the team to experience growing pains, now would be it. 

All the teams in the SE division are struggling right now. The Heat are the only team that I can see coming back strong. 

• The Magic have unfortunately lost multiple key players in Fultz, Issac, and Fournier and look like they are on the downswing. 
• The Heat have been really bad to start, losing 3 games in a row and the most recent being a 20 point loss to Detroit. Herro has been bad from three so far.
• The Hornet's are on a 3 game losing streak. I don't know if this team has more to offer than what it has shown so far.
• The Wizards have been really bad. That's all I can say. 

This doesn't include the Raptors struggles without Ibaka and Gasol, or the Bulls losing 4 straight. Indiana doesn't have Oladipo or Levert(get well soon); we'll see how they continue to play. 

Hopefully Gallo comes back and stays healthy. When Trae finds his mojo we can create some separation.

[Gray Mule]

This Hawk team is Trae Young's team.  Whether they rise or fall rests on him.

Second year slump where a player hits the wall?  Yep.  Timing for this is just a little bit off.  Trae has played a season and a half season.  This is, for him, just the second half of his season two.  Add to this all the down time between the Hawks sudden end of last season and the start of this one.

Remember how Trae's rookie season began.  Terrible summer and terrible opening of the regular season if I recall correctly.  Not making excuses for him.  As Joe Friday on Dragnet would say, "Just the facts Maam, just the facts."

This being Trae's team, it's in a big mess right now.  He's the biggest problem.  In the first season and a half, Hawks weren't really expected to win.  He could just relax and play.  Now, winning is expected and he's become tight as a G string on a banjo.  It's especially noticed late in any game.

Trae is not having fun right now.  He's hit the wall.  When his shooting is cold, hero ball will fail.  When he's tight, everything is just off enough to ruin everything.  With his tight nerves his leadership is blah!  Some how, as bad as it may hurt his feelings, he needs to sit out the final half of the 4th quarter.  When the team can't win, something should change.  This would be my suggestion.