Official Game Thread: Hawks at Trail Blazers

[bleachkit]

Trae is shooting .265 from three. Talk about a bricklayer, jeez.

[bleachkit]

We cant win with a defensively poor, woefully inefficient ball dominant guard as our best player. I'm not a Trae hater by any means, I'm just stating a basic well known basketball truism.

[bleachkit]

Once upon a time it was okay for high volume scorers to shoot sub .300 from three. Kobe and AI did so many seasons. But that's not the era we live in anymore. Teams have wised up, and now know that's not winning basketball. If shooting percentages don't matter, then go ahead and let Brandon Goodwin shoot 25 times a game. What's the difference?

Edited January 17, 2021 by bleachkit

[JayBirdHawk]

We went away from what worked in the 1st half - inside scoring where we had mismatches with our size. Moving the ball and creating good looks.

2nd half we went to launching 3s indiscriminately instead of working for a good shot, which in turn affected our ability to play sound defense.

The 4th quarter was just disastrous.

So frustrating.

[EazyRoc]

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

We went away from what worked in the 1st half - inside scoring where we had mismatches with our size. Moving the ball and creating good looks.

2nd half we went to launching 3s indiscriminately instead of working for a good shot, which in turn affected our ability to play sound defense.

The 4th quarter was just disastrous.

So frustrating.

Especially when attacking the basket was so easy all throughout the first half. Hell, we could’ve just attacked all day and limited 3pters on the other end and probably won.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

12 hours ago, terrell said:

If Huerter could just play avg defense.......I love his playmaking skills. 

I was thinking the same. 

[benhillboy]

10 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

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

Schlenk has a good idea on Trae’s makeup (I think/ hope).  I think he would’ve seen taking a PG as a slight, which doesn’t bode well for his makeup.  
 

I don’t think Teague ever recovered from being benched late in games whenever Bud saw fit.  Halliburton is the exact opposite of Trae so eating some of Trae’s minutes while “embarrassing” him (and Klutch Sports) would’ve been inevitable.  Schlenk didn’t want those problems so he went the safe route with guys in Dunn and Rondo whose minutes will be naturally capped with no designs on starting and whose late game minutes won’t be seen as a referendum on who’s the better fit for PG of the future.

I truly believe this thing will turn around if/ when Dunn is healthy and ready to go.  He does all the things Trae won’t do (defend like a cornerback, traffic rebound, screen, and finish in the halfcourt), Trae does everything he can’t (create plays, draw fouls, moderate 3 point shooting). The sizing is an issue of course but the styles match so seamlessly, it would just smooth out the rotations.  Trae also wouldn’t have looked like a deer in headlights against Utah’s pressing either had he been going against Dunn in practice.

Halliburton wouldn’t need or want to play alongside Trae as he combines their two profiles and instead would help kevin and Cam out much more than Trae does.   This fool shooting .663 eFG with a near 5:1 assist to turn for goodness sakes.  SMGDH.

Edited January 17, 2021 by benhillboy

[JayBirdHawk]

3 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Schlenk has a good idea on Trae’s makeup (I think/ hope).  I think he would’ve seen taking a PG as a slight, which doesn’t bode well for his makeup.  
 

I don’t think Teague ever recovered from being benched late in games whenever Bud saw fit.  Halliburton is the exact opposite of Trae so eating some of Trae’s minutes while “embarrassing” him (and Klutch Sports) would’ve been inevitable.  Schlenk didn’t want those problems so he went the safe route with guys in Dunn and Rondo whose minutes will be naturally capped with no designs on starting and whose late game minutes won’t be seen as a referendum on who’s the better fit for PG of the future.

I truly believe this thing will turn around if/ when Dunn is healthy and ready to go.  He does all the things Trae won’t do (defend like a cornerback, traffic rebound, screen, and finish in the halfcourt), Trae does everything he can’t (create plays, draw fouls, moderate 3 point shooting). The sizing is an issue of course but the styles match so seamlessly, it would just smooth out the rotations.  Trae wouldn’t have looked like a deer in headlights against Utah’s pressing either had he been going against Dunn in practice.

All last season and offseason the cry was we needed a player that can run the offense when Trae sits as well as play with him so he can do some work off ball - still waiting.

I'm not pinning my hopes on Dunn though.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

Then compound the issue going 1-15 from 3 in the 2nd half.

[JayBirdHawk]

Trae is feeling the weight.

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

24 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

Schlenk has a good idea on Trae’s makeup (I think/ hope).  I think he would’ve seen taking a PG as a slight, which doesn’t bode well for his makeup.  
 

I don’t think Teague ever recovered from being benched late in games whenever Bud saw fit.  Halliburton is the exact opposite of Trae so eating some of Trae’s minutes while “embarrassing” him (and Klutch Sports) would’ve been inevitable.  Schlenk didn’t want those problems so he went the safe route with guys in Dunn and Rondo whose minutes will be naturally capped with no designs on starting and whose late game minutes won’t be seen as a referendum on who’s the better fit for PG of the future.

I truly believe this thing will turn around if/ when Dunn is healthy and ready to go.  He does all the things Trae won’t do (defend like a cornerback, traffic rebound, screen, and finish in the halfcourt), Trae does everything he can’t (create plays, draw fouls, moderate 3 point shooting). The sizing is an issue of course but the styles match so seamlessly, it would just smooth out the rotations.  Trae also wouldn’t have looked like a deer in headlights against Utah’s pressing either had he been going against Dunn in practice.

Halliburton wouldn’t need or want to play alongside Trae as he combines their two profiles and instead would help kevin and Cam out much more than Trae does.   This fool shooting .663 eFG with a near 5:1 assist to turn for goodness sakes.  SMGDH.

Dunn also shoots meteorites.

The offensive woes will not be solved when he's activated.  It may get worse, because he's also not a playmaker.  People will then be wondering who should we play more?  Dunn or Goodwin?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

12 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Dunn also shoots meteorites.

The offensive woes will not be solved when he's activated.  It may get worse, because he's also not a playmaker.  People will then be wondering who should we play more?  Dunn or Goodwin?

Looking at his career numbers, he's a better playmaker than I though.  Definitely better at playmaking than Goodwin, but below Rondo, of course.

If Dunn plays the backup PG and gets spot minutes at the 2, who do you take minutes from?  Cam?  Huerter? Rondo?   Goodwin would probably be completely out, once Dunn comes back.

[bleachkit]

Should of taken Hali. We would have a supremely efficient, smart guard to back up/play alongside Trae. We need Trae insurance folks. He might not have make up to be a winning player.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Looking at his career numbers, he's a better playmaker than I though.  Definitely better at playmaking than Goodwin, but below Rondo, of course.

If Dunn plays the backup PG and gets spot minutes at the 2, who do you take minutes from?  Cam?  Huerter? Rondo?   Goodwin would probably be completely out, once Dunn comes back.

My guess it would be game situations, whose hot, whose not, do we need an offensive and defensive spark, foul trouble etc

I would love to see a fully healthy squad to see how LP handles the rotations though. We had such high hopes with all our depth. I can't imagine that it's easy for the players having to adjust game to game with guys in and out of the lineup.

[terrell]

11 hours ago, bleachkit said:

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

Ja is 20..Gallo is 32..Just sayin..lol

[terrell]

11 hours ago, Atlantaholic said:

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

 

 

Sit him again........

[bleachkit]

1 minute ago, terrell said:

Sit him again........

Pretty soon we will be getting the unhappy tweets from dad.

[terrell]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

I was thinking the same. 

Yep. Whats up with Schlenk and his love for non defenders? His 1st 4 draft picks(Collins,Dorsey,Trae/Huerter) couldn't defend a stop sign.. lol

[terrell]

1 hour ago, benhillboy said:

Schlenk has a good idea on Trae’s makeup (I think/ hope).  I think he would’ve seen taking a PG as a slight, which doesn’t bode well for his makeup.  
 

I don’t think Teague ever recovered from being benched late in games whenever Bud saw fit.  Halliburton is the exact opposite of Trae so eating some of Trae’s minutes while “embarrassing” him (and Klutch Sports) would’ve been inevitable.  Schlenk didn’t want those problems so he went the safe route with guys in Dunn and Rondo whose minutes will be naturally capped with no designs on starting and whose late game minutes won’t be seen as a referendum on who’s the better fit for PG of the future.

I truly believe this thing will turn around if/ when Dunn is healthy and ready to go.  He does all the things Trae won’t do (defend like a cornerback, traffic rebound, screen, and finish in the halfcourt), Trae does everything he can’t (create plays, draw fouls, moderate 3 point shooting). The sizing is an issue of course but the styles match so seamlessly, it would just smooth out the rotations.  Trae also wouldn’t have looked like a deer in headlights against Utah’s pressing either had he been going against Dunn in practice.

Halliburton wouldn’t need or want to play alongside Trae as he combines their two profiles and instead would help kevin and Cam out much more than Trae does.   This fool shooting .663 eFG with a near 5:1 assist to turn for goodness sakes.  SMGDH.

Schlenk shouldnt of drafted Trae then if thats the case. smh..