De'Andre Hunter: The Steady Eddy

[terrell]

3 minutes ago, marco102 said:

Well he won't be. 

They "were" hoping....lol.....

[RedDawg#8]

I need us to show up on National TV.

We do fine on NBA TV which barely counts, but ESPN, TNT, etc..., we always look off.

We are 5-4 overall on Natty television

4-2 on NBA TV

1-1 on ESPN

0-1 on TNT

I need us to wake some people up ahead of the postseason.

[JayBirdHawk]

What we missed while The Steady Edy was away.  Here's to hoping he can get some of this back against the Knicks.

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[aali34]

20 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Nate must have really worked on his criticisms because one thing I heard was that he was all work and didn't have a relationship with his players outside of basketball.

Now I'm half expecting a clean sweep just to top it all off.

[MarylandHawk]

20 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

Interesting. He doesn’t seem like a talker. It is good that he is being more vocal. I know that was one of his goals this season. Seems like he is still communicating even though he missed a lot of time on the floor.  

[JayBirdHawk]

Can someone post the synopsis.

 

 

[NBASupes]

In his second NBA season, De’Andre Hunter has become an integral part of the Hawks’ roster.

Hunter’s ability to find his own shot and score on offense - while essentially guarding positions one through four on defense - has been quite noticeable in the year since the former Virginia star was selected fourth overall in the 2019 NBA draft. And although he missed 49 games this season with a knee injury and is still ramping back up his activity, the Hawks know having him back for their first-round playoff series against the Knicks could give them a boost at the right time.

“Having Dre just changes our whole dynamic defensively,” power forward John Collins said. “As well as offensively. So we’re just looking for him to knock all the rust that he has off, that he possibly has, off him, and have him ship-shape and ready to go because he’s a big part of our team.”

Interim coach Nate McMillan said Tuesday he assumes the minute restriction on Hunter, who played 24 minutes in last Sunday’s win over the Rockets, will increase by this weekend - though it might not get to the point where his restriction goes away altogether. The return of Hunter, who was averaging 17.2 points and 5.4 rebounds in 32.2 minutes per game before he got hurt, means the Hawks are finally getting healthier after an injury-plagued season.

Under McMillan, they went season 27-11 from March 1 to the end of the regular season, having started 14-20 under Lloyd Pierce. Although they finished strong, they could have used Hunter’s physicality and shooting at several points.

 

On both ends of the floor, that will certainly be the case against the Knicks, as the Hawks will need another weapon against one of the best defenses in the NBA (New York holds opponents to 104.7 points, the fewest in the league) and another guy capable of guarding Julius Randle (who averaged 37.3 points in New York’s regular-season sweep of the Hawks).

“I think he gives us another ballhandler, another option out on the floor, another defender that can defend multiple positions, basically one through four, possibly some fives,” McMillan said. “It gives us a lot of versatility with him being out on the floor, both offensively and defensively. We can put the ball in his hands and allow him to play with the ball. Putting him in the starting lineup, which we did last game, it gives you another option. Now that you have (wing Bogdan Bogdanovic), who’s doing some really good things for us, you can put the ball in De’Andre’s hands and allow him to play with the ball. It gives us another option defensively, it gives us versatility where we can match him up one through four.”

As is often the case, Hunter has understandably had to slowly ramp back up after returning from injury. He played 14 minutes in the win vs. Washington May 10, 15 minutes in the win vs. Orlando May 13 and got up to 24 minutes in the win vs. Houston May 16. The game against the Rockets was the first time he started to look like his old self, finishing with 14 points and two rebounds, though he’s still trying to find a shooting rhythm again (4-11 FG, 0-3 from 3-point range, 6-8 FT). He hasn’t hit a 3-pointer since returning.

Even when he’s not at full force, Hunter’s presence was noticeable on defense against the Rockets.

“I felt good,” Hunter said of Sunday’s win. “My knee, it didn’t really bother me. Just trying to get my wind back up, get my rhythm back up… Just trying to get my rhythm back, get some shots to fall. Practice is a little different than games, so you’ve just got to, you know you’re going to have your bad games coming off injury, so you’ve just got to get used to it and I’ll be ready for the playoffs, for sure.”

Hunter started Sunday, along with Trae Young, Solomon Hill, John Collins and Onyeka Okongwu. Since playoff seeding had already been determined, the Hawks rested several of their go-to guys, including starters Bogdanovic and center Clint Capela.

It stands to reason Young, Bogdanovic, Hunter, Collins and Capela will start for the playoffs, with wing Kevin Huerter able to slide in if necessary. Because of long-term injuries to Hunter and Bogdanovic (who missed most of January and February with an avulsion fracture in his right knee), that group has only played 16 minutes together all season, across five games.

That’s certainly not ideal, but to help drum up some chemistry, McMillan played Young, Collins and Hunter together for the first half of Sunday’s blowout win.

“I wanted that combination of players to play together, so they got an opportunity to play the first half... I just really wanted to take a look at that, so it was good to see (Hunter) out there,” McMillan said after the win.

[JayBirdHawk]

Goosebumps!  I'm so glad he made it back for the playoffs!

Hunter was the queen of the chess board, the most versatile defensive piece. At times, he guarded every position from point guard to center and did it well. When the Hawks struggled to contain Derrick Rose, that job was given to him. Rose just scored 6 points in Game 5 after nagging the Hawks in all of the previous games. 

Hunter's defense at the point of attack on Randle was clean, too. He was too quick to get blown by, too strong to get overwhelmed by physical contact, and he did an excellent job forcing the left-handed Randle into situations where he couldn't use his dominant hand.

"He really did a solid job of making (Randle and Rose) work," Head Coach Nate McMillsan said, "keeping them in front and not giving them anything easy. It really started with him."

 

[Spud2nique]

My second fav Hawk after Trae. This kid is legit. He can do pretty much everything well.

[benhillboy]

I expect him to be better offensively in the next series.  He had a offensive rating of 95 in the series (only Gallo was lower at 93).  His 107 defensive rating wasn’t notable either (Bogi, Kevin, and Gallo all slightly higher) but that’s clearly a function of how many positions he guards.  His assist to turn (3 to 7) and his poor shooting (40%) luckily didn’t hurt us.  John killed it at 130 to 104 off the strength of a .665 TS%, only 2 turnovers, and bottling up Randle.

I like Luka no question but for all the fanfare he’s getting Trae (120 to 110) is killing his first round ratings (111 to 120) on lower usage.  If you dig into the numbers Kleber, Brunson, and Porzingis are making the difference while Luka does the heavy lifting and anchoring.  You’re splitting hairs as to who’s running the PNR better they're both virtually flawless.

Edited June 5, 2021 by benhillboy

[MarylandHawk]

2 hours ago, benhillboy said:

I expect him to be better offensively in the next series.  He had a offensive rating of 95 in the series (only Gallo was lower at 93).  His 107 defensive rating wasn’t notable either (Bogi, Kevin, and Gallo all slightly higher) but that’s clearly a function of how many positions he guards.  His assist to turn (3 to 7) and his poor shooting (40%) luckily didn’t hurt us.  John killed it at 130 to 104 off the strength of a .665 TS%, only 2 turnovers, and bottling up Randle.

I like Luka no question but for all the fanfare he’s getting Trae (120 to 110) is killing his first round ratings (111 to 120) on lower usage.  If you dig into the numbers Kleber, Brunson, and Porzingis are making the difference while Luka does the heavy lifting and anchoring.  You’re splitting hairs as to who’s running the PNR better they're both virtually flawless.

I believe Deandre Hunter will have a good series against philly. Just matches up well. 

[NBASupes]

4 hours ago, benhillboy said:

I expect him to be better offensively in the next series.  He had a offensive rating of 95 in the series (only Gallo was lower at 93).  His 107 defensive rating wasn’t notable either (Bogi, Kevin, and Gallo all slightly higher) but that’s clearly a function of how many positions he guards.  His assist to turn (3 to 7) and his poor shooting (40%) luckily didn’t hurt us.  John killed it at 130 to 104 off the strength of a .665 TS%, only 2 turnovers, and bottling up Randle.

I like Luka no question but for all the fanfare he’s getting Trae (120 to 110) is killing his first round ratings (111 to 120) on lower usage.  If you dig into the numbers Kleber, Brunson, and Porzingis are making the difference while Luka does the heavy lifting and anchoring.  You’re splitting hairs as to who’s running the PNR better they're both virtually flawless.

His first game in the series was his 4th game back. He needed time gametime to adjust. It's not like he's in a limited role playing just 10-15 mins. He clearly needs to put himself into the offense. His best game was game 5 which we needed him the most. Game 2, he abused Rose but he burned out by the 4th QT. 

[MarylandHawk]

6 hours ago, NBASupes said:

His first game in the series was his 4th game back. He needed time gametime to adjust. It's not like he's in a limited role playing just 10-15 mins. He clearly needs to put himself into the offense. His best game was game 5 which we needed him the most. Game 2, he abused Rose but he burned out by the 4th QT. 

Yeah he seems to be getting more comfortable. I was watching his body language late in game 5 and he was bouncing around and had a great attitude.  Aside from John Collins, he got beat up the most by the Knicks “physical” play and he walked out of there healthy and confident. 

Edited June 5, 2021 by MarylandHawk

[Dejay]

One of the few draft picks I called right, lol. And seeing him play well before his injury was the reason why I wanted the Hawks to pick him over Culver or Hayes.

I really didn't pay much attention to his numbers in the Knicks' series, as I was more focused on his health and his defense. And he pretty much aced that test and started to really get his sealegs under him in the clincher.

His play against Philly will go a long way in determining how far they push the Sixers, much less beat them. Having him around to help prevent Harris or Maxey from getting hot and keep Simmons out of the lane in crunch moments is a luxury that a lot of other teams do not have...

[lethalweapon3]

Nate must've realized the best way to bond with his young players is to watch a lot more Nickelodeon.

~lw3

[Spud2nique]

1 minute ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Nate must've realized the best way to bond with his young players is to watch a lot more Nickelodeon.

~lw3

All I had was watching the muppets mom’s colorful socks  

Must be nice...

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

Quote

The luxury of having someone like De’Andre Hunter on the Hawks’ roster is the versatility he offers. That versatility puts every player who shares the floor with him in a better position, and it makes coach Nate McMillan’s job a bit easier.

Hunter showed early in the season he has the lateral quickness to guard someone such as Kyrie Irving and the physicality to limit Julius Randle, which he did in the Hawks’ first-round series against the Knicks.

Without him through two games against Philadelphia, the Hawks are missing his presence. They do not have the defensive talent to guard someone such as Joel Embiid, who’s been otherworldly for the Sixers in both games while doing this on a slightly torn meniscus, and Tobias Harris, Seth Curry and Ben Simmons.

What hurts about not having Hunter, who’s missed both games with right knee soreness, is he can guard any of those players one-on-one, save for Embiid. That potentially limits one of Philly’s scoring options while letting the four other Hawks focus more on their individual matchups. The Hawks haven’t played well defensively in both games. Part of that is because they’ve turned the ball over far too often, and against this Sixers team, those turnovers will haunt them.

Hunter would also be a massive upgrade over Solomon Hill, who’s started both games at small forward in place of him. Hill’s defense is spotty at best, and he doesn’t offer anything on the other end of the floor. If Hunter continues to miss time, it might behoove the Hawks to place Kevin Huerter in the starting lineup as he’s shown consistency all postseason and gives them a good defender and shooter on the floor. McMillan suggested after Game 2 that he prefers Huerter with the second unit, though.

In this series, the Hawks lack the individual defenders needed to slow down the Sixers. Bogdan Bogdanovic can’t effectively guard Harris or Curry. Hill hasn’t slowed down Harris. John Collins isn’t strong enough to offer Capela help on Embiid. It’s a tall ask for the Hawks to offer resistance on that end of the floor without Hunter, and it’s showed in both games, despite them winning Game 1.

“We miss him a lot,” Trae Young said of Hunter. “You definitely miss his presence, especially on the defensive end. He’s a great on-ball defender and a help-side defender. He’s really good at reading defenses. At the same time, he can score on the other end, too. We’re definitely missing a big piece of our offense and our defense with ‘Dre being out, but no one feels sorry for us. We still have to find a way to win.”

“That’s something Philly has. They have a lot of big bodies,” Huerter said. “It would be another guy for us who’s a help defender. A lot of times he’d (be) a primary defender on Tobias or Ben. You saw that in the last series. He was able to guard Julius a little bit. It would be great to have him.”

The Hawks certainly could beat the Sixers and advance to the Eastern Conference finals. They have the shooters and a variety of perimeter playmakers to carry them past Philly. It’s just a harder task to complete when one of the most important players is watching from the bench.

“We absolutely miss him. … We’re a better ballclub when he’s out on the floor with us,” McMillan said.

We really miss this guy.

[bleachkit]

36 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

We really miss this guy.

Man do we. Replacing Dre with Solo/Snell, enormous downgrade. 

[ATLHawks3]

This sucks. Get better Dre.