What's going on with Bruno?

[Wurider05]

Is he in the doghouse? 

[Final_quest]

Looks that way.  

[NBASupes]

Yeah, has to be

 Knight was ahead of him in the rotation. That said, he should be in College Park. He has to be better at impacting the game outside of quality screens. I feel like COVID has hurt his game.

[kg01]

I haven't seen much evidence that he's demonstrably better than Knight or OO.

[NBASupes]

16 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I haven't seen much evidence that he's demonstrably better than Knight or OO.

I've seen none so far. Okongwu is massively better on defense right now. Offensively, he's clearly learning the speed of the game. 

Knight isn't a center but he's showed more impact. Bruno has showed the least amount of impact. I still believe in Bruno. COVID has hurt some of our players who for sure needed more development with the coaches due to the NBA restrictions.

[kg01]

4 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

I've seen none so far. Okongwu is massively better on defense right now. Offensively, he's clearly learning the speed of the game. 

Knight isn't a center but he's showed more impact. Bruno has showed the least amount of impact. I still believe in Bruno. COVID has hurt some of our players who for sure needed more development with the coaches due to the NBA restrictions.

Agree on Okongwu defensively although, obviously, he needs to get stronger.

I imagine Bruno could get better but he's got his work cut out for him.

[JayBirdHawk]

Doghouse??? He just hasn't been good.

I had high hopes for Bruno to start the season figuring he would have the opportunity to cement himself as the backup while OO was out. 

Unfortunately, he hasn't done one memorable thing all season (and no, being a great screen setter isn't it North ). He doesn't have a presence when playing. Both Knight and OO came in and you felt and saw it. 

All I'm asking is for him to do something In whatever minutes he gets to make it difficult for LP to keep him off the court.

[High5]

I do feel Bruno has been underplayed in his career, particularly last season when we had nothing to lose, but at some point you have to make your presence felt. Knight only needed 8 minutes in the NBA to match Bruno's career high in points. And OO has already surpassed Bruno's career high in blocks twice in 4 games.

[Atlantaholic]

13 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Doghouse??? He just hasn't been good.

I had high hopes for Bruno to start the season figuring he would have the opportunity to cement himself as the backup while OO was out. 

Unfortunately, he hasn't done one memorable thing all season (and no, being a great screen setter isn't it North ). He doesn't have a presence when playing. Both Knight and OO came in and you felt and saw it. 

All I'm asking is for him to do something In whatever minutes he gets to make it difficult for LP to keep him off the court.

To me the killers are the passes he fumbles. There is nothing worse than a big man that can't handle passes consistently. Bruno plays like the doberman that thinks he's a chihuahua.

[gHost83]

He's a BUM. Been saying that for over a year. Way to hesitant and fumbles every single pass to him. Always takes a bounce before going up. Must jump off 2 feet and with the best lob thrower in the NBA, I can count on 1 hand how many lobs he caught.  Can't box out. He has an NBA body but a High School BBIQ.

Edited January 26, 2021 by gHost83

[Jdawgflow]

I am starting to think Bruno is earning the infamous Stiff label.

[terrell]

On 1/25/2021 at 8:55 AM, NBASupes said:

Yeah, has to be

 Knight was ahead of him in the rotation. That said, he should be in College Park. He has to be better at impacting the game outside of quality screens. I feel like COVID has hurt his game.

Yep..I said when Okungwu got healthy Bruno would be out of the rotation..I'm not shocked at all..

Edited January 26, 2021 by terrell

[Atlantaholic]

4 hours ago, terrell said:

Yep..I said when Okungwu got healthy Bruno would be out of the rotation..I'm not shocked at all..

The very fact we went with a big man at 6 instead of Haliburton should have told us all we need to know about what the FO feels about Bruno. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Bruno will be one of those guys that finds his niche, once he gets away from the Hawks. It wouldn't the first time a coach didn't maximize the skillset of a young player.

This team stays out of sync, simply because we don't play with balance. 

Imagine this team without Capela. 

LP would be forcing Colling to log most of his minutes at center, while Hunter starts at the 4, and Gallo playing the 4 and the 5 off the bench.

[TheTruth]

What's going on with Bruno, you say?

DNP - LP is what's going on.

And you know who I wish would rack those up with the quickness?

Solomon freakin Hill. Good Lord, make it happen!

[sturt]

People are to be excused for having fallen off any previous Bruno bandwagon that existed.

In the 31 games played so far in 2021, the 22 yr-old pride of Angola has gotten a single game of 20 minutes, four other games in double-digit minutes, ten games in single digit minutes, and... eighteen DNPs.

Me?

I'm here in the driver's seat on said bandwagon. The young man simply has been started-and-stopped over-and-over again in his truncated rookie season, and now in what I regard as a bonus addition to his rookie season... but still his rookie season.

Not giving up on him. And to the contrary, hoping that the new head coach perhaps has a plan for continuing to develop him, even though he most certainly will not occupy any key role in driving the team's 2020-21 success. Not giving up on those drafted ahead of him... not giving up, for that matter on any of this season's new additions, either.

Too early to make any final decisions about any of them. This time next year, perhaps. But to use Schlenk's phrase, can't skip any steps here. Keep developing these assets. We never were anticipating getting to anything more than the playoffs this season anyhow. We have time. Leave Bruno alone. Don't be prematurely dispatching him in any trade scenarios.

So says the driver of the Bruno bandwagon. 

 

[Spud2nique]

Stone hands? No he just can’t catch a ball. I think he’d be better at being like a hit man or bodyguard for a high profile athlete, that is if he can fight, if he fights like he plays basketball I’m worried .

[TheNorthCydeRises]

There was nothing wrong with Bruno at the start of the season.  But when Capela came back into the lineup, LP made the decision to reduce his minutes, while keeping Solomon HIll's minutes constant around 15 - 20 minutes per game.

The losing started as soon as he was taken out of the lineup, and we started playing small ball with the 2nd unit.  It's clear as day.

I told you guys all throughout last year, that LP always had a quick hook, when it came to Bruno.  He couldn't make a mistake while out on the floor.  If he made 1 mistake, Bruno was looking over at the bench.  If he made 2 mistakes, he'd start hanging his head down because he knew he was gone . . never to be seen again for the rest of the game. 

And in lieu of the revelations that have come out about LP, you can make the assumption that he indeed had little patience for Bruno to play through growing pains.  

What I want to see from Nate in the 2nd half, is how he handles Okongwu and Bruno.  I think Bruno only plays going forward, if people are in foul trouble.  But if people want to see Okongwu, he's going to have to make the decision to cut Solo's minutes.  As this team gets back to full strength, someone is going to be left out in the cold.  Multiple people, actually.

 

PG - Trae ( 34 ) - Rondo ( 14 )

G - ????????????????????????

F - Hunter ( 32 ) - ???????????

PF - Collins ( 26 ) - Gallinari ?? - ??

C - Capela ( 30 ) - Gallinari ?? -  Collins ?? - ??

 

At the wing, we have Huerter, Bogi, and Cam to divide up 64 minutes, if Hunter will continue to log 32 minutes per game.  Or do you reduce Rondo's minutes at the point, and play Huerter some at the 1?

And I haven't even mentioned Snell, who has DEFINITELY earned the right to get minutes on this team at the guard or forward position.

Then when you get to the bigs, we know that Collins, Capela, and Gallinari will play.  The question is . . where?  And where does Solo and Okongwu fit in all of this?

 

Nate is going to have to decide what the identity of the Hawks is. 

If we're going to try to outshoot everyone from the outside, you'll see less of guys like Okongwu, Rondo and possibly even Reddish. 

If we want to be balanced, Okongwu should play no less than 12 minutes a game.

 

 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

6 hours ago, Spud2nique said:

Stone hands? No he just can’t catch a ball. I think he’d be better at being like a hit man or bodyguard for a high profile athlete, that is if he can fight, if he fights like he plays basketball I’m worried .

 

He simply needs to be developed.  Like I said, once he gets away from Atlanta, and possibly gets some legit playing time, he'll be more than a serviceable big in this league.

 

 

[warcore]

I think @Spud2nique nailed it... his hands are just awful. Next offseason he needs to be in a dodgeball league.