Can anyone pinpoint why this team is so much better?

[benhillboy]

5 hours ago, Atlantaholic said:

But... Lemon Pepper is awful

Damn, you’re right.  I didn’t realize he was shooting as poorly as a .444 eFG.  Still, he virtually won us a game, much more than I can say for Rondy.  And I always gotta give respect for a 2:1 assist to turn for a 2 guard.

Edited May 12, 2021 by benhillboy

[benhillboy]

I feel like we’ve considerably cut the turnovers as a team under Nate Dogg if anyone can confirm I appreciate it.

[JayBirdHawk]

43 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

Lou is a great scorer but I don't like him as our playmaker ... I wish Dunn had been healthy or we had another point guard that could pick that role up and let Lou just roam and score.

I want to see Lou come in with a scorer's mindset and make passes out of that, he'sbeyter when he does that. It's a struggle when he's forced to do the opposite and be a playmaker and trying to run the offense 1st. That's where Huerter helps the second unit as the playmaker while Lou plays offball and focus on scoring.

[benhillboy]

2 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I want to see Lou come in with a scorer's mindset and make passes out of that, he'sbeyter when he does that. It's a struggle when he's forced to do the opposite and be a playmaker and trying to run the offense 1st. That's where Huerter helps the second unit as the playmaker while Lou plays offball and focus on scoring.

Solo AKA Mouthpiece of The Hawks was on the radio saying how Lou has helped damn near everyone, even front court guys like Young Yek and Dre Day.  If awesome intangibles come with his poor shooting I’ll take it.

[JayBirdHawk]

9 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

olo AKA Mouthpiece of The Hawks 

[Watchman]

3 hours ago, capstone21 said:

Lou is a great scorer but I don't like him as our playmaker ... I wish Dunn had been healthy or we had another point guard that could pick that role up and let Lou just roam and score.

Did Dunn insult Nate's mother or something?  He hasn't played much after his first two or three games back.  There were times we could have really used a defense oriented guard, but Dunn never made it onto the floor.  It seemed like Dunn was behaving like a hot-head, and maybe Nate  doesn't like that(?)

[JayBirdHawk]

2 minutes ago, Watchman said:

Did Dunn insult Nate's mother or something?  He hasn't played much after his first two or three games back.  There were times we could have really used a defense oriented guard, but Dunn never made it onto the floor.  It seemed like Dunn was behaving like a hot-head, and maybe Nate  doesn't like that(?)

 

 

[Watchman]

Just now, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

I read Nate's comment on that earlier, but it sounded like a lot of $#&% to me.  If you need a defensive PG, Lou is not what you need at that point in the game.

[NBASupes]

On 5/9/2021 at 2:26 PM, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Bogi and Lou provide the scoring punch that was sometimes lacking when Trae wasn't playing like a top 10 player in the league.

Lou has been inconsistent as a Hawk ( 39% FG ), but he has shown the ability to make the long ball ( 44% from 3 ) and get to the line and make his FTs.

Bogi has just been fantastic since his return ( 17.5 ppg on 48% FG and 45% 3FG . . making over 3 threes per game ).  That was the kind of support Trae needed in a backcourt mate.  Now teams just can't automatically trap Trae, and make other people beat them, because a wide open Bogi will make them PAY. 

This kind of play just couldn't be provided by our younger guys who were and are still learning the game.  Hunter was starting to become more consistent, but he wasn't a guy who could take over a game in a 5 minute stretch with his scoring.   Huerter is a little better under Nate, especially defensively. Under LP, he was inconsistent on both ends of the floor.

And unfortunately, Cam Reddish was still a very negative player on offense, only shooting 35% FG and 20% from 3 point range in his final 15 games played.  You just can't have that kind of offensive ineptitude from a player who is getting heavy minutes, and logging 29 minutes per game. 

Hopefully under Nate next season, Cam can find his niche as an offensive player. Maybe this is a mechanics issue with him that can be fixed, much like how Lonzo Ball fixed his shot and became much better.

 

Cam was so bad yet had the 5th highest WAR till LP got fired. There was a lot wrong when LP was here and I can point to EVERYONE as the reason why.

[NBASupes]

Everyone had a role in our ineptitude while LP was here, especially LP.

[Atlantaholic]

6 hours ago, AHF said:

Rondo was for us too, unfortunately.

He's been pretty great for the Clips... *sigh. I think he just didn't want to be here.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Hawks just went zone.  Westbrook shoots an air ball.

Let's see if they stay in it.

[Thomas]

25 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

He's been pretty great for the Clips... *sigh. I think he just didn't want to be here.

And yet the jerk did not turn his nose up at 15 million. Try honoring a nice contract maybe.

[capstone21]

2 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

I would give him Solo’s minutes ... 

[MarylandHawk]

21 minutes ago, capstone21 said:

I would give him Solo’s minutes ... 

lol. We have been trying to give away Solo’s minutes all season long. He is not having it!  

[Diesel]

Nate was a high level Point Guard. 

[Gray Mule]

"As a man believeth in his heart, so is he."

Why are we better?  Because the Atlanta Hawks are now a team and they believe in themselves.

[NBASupes]

The biggest difference is how the guys are used and what Nate sees as good Basketball. 

LP even with the win would have thought we played perfect. He would have said we got a lot of good shots, we just missed a lot. Nate was like, we are settling too much. Run the offense. Nate sees the game differently. LP likes when we jack up a lot of threes. Hell, he even like Cam doing it when it clearly wasn't working. 

Nate wants guys to play smarter and to their strengths. Bogi was a -1.1 WAR player for us and looking like a scrub under LP. Under Nate, he plays like he did at Sacramento but better because we got better players. That's a fact. LP used him to be Klay Jr. Nate wants him to play his game. Bogi has to be in rhythm. He's not a low touches player which he was under LP. 

Cam was another one used like shit and to be the next Klay Jr. Under LP. In the two games with Nate for Cam, his Boston game was his best I've seen. He was used to be a rich man's Chandler Hutchinson. Cutting, attacking off overplay, not force into creating from the PnR but to score off of it and be versatile. He was threatening and he had both Tatum and Brown guarding him doing this work. It was a work of art. 

Trae played like Zeke at times and like Marbury most of the time under LP but under Nate, he's been Zeke Jr. Nate wanted him to mix new school with the old school and he looks tremendous. 

Kevin was a -0.6 WAR player under LP and hasn't had a positive WAR with the Trae pairing in his entiring career. But Nate has figured out how to use Kevin with Trae and the results have been better than average. Not great but much better than it was under LP. 

Capela been more effective with Nate on offense. Defensively, he's been the same. 

JC been more effective on defense with Nate, offensively, slightly worse. 

Hunter is the only one I haven't seen improvement under Nate but he's been hurt for 99% of Nate's time as the temp or interim. He played like 4 games with Nate at most. 

LP wasn't trash but how he saw the game is massively different than how Nate sees it. He also understands HC a lot better as he is one of the best in the NBA and LP was new and more creative. LP clearly taught something's to Nate because Nate is playing LP ball with Nate adjustment and tendencies. We aren't playing pure Nate ball but Nate plays to his team's strengths. The first three point shooting squad we all knew of in the NBA was Seattle squad with Allen, Rasho, and Rashard Lewis, who would shoot you off the court in NBA Live 2005.

[macdaddy]

Makes me excited to see what Cam is like playing for Nate. 

[AHF]

16 hours ago, Atlantaholic said:

He's been pretty great for the Clips... *sigh. I think he just didn't want to be here.

He has been better but other than the shooting % I'm not seeing a world of difference in his per minute numbers:

Biggest difference seems to be on his 2pt fg%.