Official Game Thread: Wizards at Hawks (Manic Monday)

[RedDawg#8]

6 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Trae has to step up and play smarter.

He has worked on his defense to where he isn't just a liability. Well, all that hard work goes out the window with the live ball turnovers and missed deep shots that turn in to easy scoring opportunities

Most of those are unforced errors in which he was not under duress. 

We won, he had a great numbers game. But playoff basketball is about the mental side as much as anything else. You have to be tough physically AND mentally. You can not make silly mistakes and expect to win games.

I hope he is really taking this to heart. The surrounding cast have all risen their game. Kev and JC are playing 2 way basketball and with more intensity. Trae needs to tap in to that level of discipline and focus.

Leave it to the legend to completely disagree with my assessment lol

 

 

[bleachkit]

Trae, Bogi, Dre, JC, Capela. That's a rock solid starting five, at least on offense.

[JayBirdHawk]

Trae is still developing his game, he's gonna make mistakes, he will learn, for all his TOs ( he had 5 in the 1st half, 1 in the 2nd half) and missed shots etc, he's not above criticism when it is warranted, ........but  We almost lost this game because we gave up 45 point in the 4th quarter.  The bench almost lost this game within the first 4 minutes of the 4th quarter, from a 17 point lead to end the 3rd to a 4 point lead with 7:55 left in the 4th when Trae returned.

[DS5]

If Snell is out for Wednesday's game, I'd like to see Dunn getting Solo's minutes. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[kg01]

59 minutes ago, ATLHawks3 said:

Glad Nate is trying to hold his guys accountable. I'll take the win, but doesn't mean that it was a good one.

 

 

Love it 'cause it's true.  We flat deserved to lose tonite.

As a side note, can folks stop calling Westbrook a stat padder.  Dude's not padding stats, he's just playing hard.  Playing hard in a way everyone clamors for guys to play.  He's willing that team to wins now that he's healthy.

Still waiting to hear from the dudes that told us John wall was on his level, btw.

[capstone21]

We have one of the best perimeter defenders in the league ... unleash Dunn ... let him get game ready for the playoffs ... I like him out there more then Solo.

[JeffS17]

29 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Leave it to the legend to completely disagree with my assessment lol

 

 

Watching him talk like this praising trae on playing to win and not for numbers...in juxtaposition with Westbrook putting up a historic 182nd triple double in a loss is pretty rich

[TheNorthCydeRises]

29 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Trae has to step up and play smarter.

He has worked on his defense to where he isn't just a liability. Well, all that hard work goes out the window with the live ball turnovers and missed deep shots that turn in to easy scoring opportunities

Most of those are unforced errors in which he was not under duress. 

We won, he had a great numbers game. But playoff basketball is about the mental side as much as anything else. You have to be tough physically AND mentally. You can not make silly mistakes and expect to win games.

I hope he is really taking this to heart. The surrounding cast have all risen their game. Kev and JC are playing 2 way basketball and with more intensity. Trae needs to tap in to that level of discipline and focus.

 

Here's a hot take:   If Trae doesn't go for 36 points tonight, we may lose this game.

The guy shoots 50% FG . . made all 13 of his FTs . . only had ONE turnover in the 2nd half . . had 16 points in the 3rd quarter to break the game open . . added 10 points and 3 assists in the 4th to ice the game . . and was ( +18 ) for the game, which was a team high along with Kevin Huerter.

 

I don't get it.

 

He's our best player and most lethal scorer.   Bogi is our best shooter, but can't do all of the things that Trae does.  The long 3 ball has been part of his game since birth.  The excellent passing has been part of his game since birth.  He has to have those 2 things in his arsenal.  That is who he is.

There is NO WAY I want Trae to defer to Kevin and JC and even Bogi at the end of games.  I want the ball in his hands, with he making the decision to shoot it, or get it to the open man.  

Superstars win championships, not role players.  I want Trae being used to being "the man" at all times, with the rest of the guys following his lead.

[aali34]

34 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Leave it to the legend to completely disagree with my assessment lol

 

 

He was lowkey repeating the same point for a minute straight. Love some proper Trae press so I'm not complaining, but I was hoping for some point-guard insight and a little more elaboration.

[marco102]

Just a thought.  The one thing that we do not talk about enough is the Hawks have a GREAT half court offense and that should serve them well in the playoffs.   They just need to make sure the transition and half court defense is at a minimum mediocre. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by marco102

[bleachkit]

10 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Love it 'cause it's true.  We flat deserved to lose tonite.

As a side note, can folks stop calling Westbrook a stat padder.  Dude's not padding stats, he's just playing hard.  Playing hard in a way everyone clamors for guys to play.  He's willing that team to wins now that he's healthy.

Still waiting to hear from the dudes that told us John wall was on his level, btw.

Considering his teammates, it's hard to accuse him of stat padding, and Beal is obviously taking plenty of shots, so cant criticize him there either. He probably took too many shots during his Thunder days though, at least during the KD years. Props for going to bat for a non-Hawk player!

[bleachkit]

1 minute ago, aali34 said:

He was lowkey repeating the same point for a minute straight. Love some proper Trae press so I'm not complaining, but I was hoping for some point-guard insight and a little more elaboration.

IT is a cliche machine, his commentary is predictable and boring. 

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 minutes ago, aali34 said:

He was lowkey repeating the same point for a minute straight. Love some proper Trae press so I'm not complaining, but I was hoping for some point-guard insight and a little more elaboration.

Especially from HIM, seeing that Trae plays a lot like he did in his first few seasons in the league.

[marco102]

Just now, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Especially from HIM, seeing that Trae plays a lot like he did in his first few seasons in the league.

Probably because they've barely paid attention to Trae and the Hawks all season.  Trae wasn't stat padding last year. If he didn't score and facilitate the Hawks would be blown out.  

He is making better decisions with the ball and shot selection, but that's just maturation. 

[marco102]

I know a lot of my talk was about Trae, but this is the reason the game was even remotely close. 

Can't let that happen.  

[bleachkit]

5 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

Here's a hot take:   If Trae doesn't go for 36 points tonight, we may lose this game.

The guy shoots 50% FG . . made all 13 of his FTs . . only had ONE turnover in the 2nd half . . had 16 points in the 3rd quarter to break the game open . . added 10 points and 3 assists in the 4th to ice the game . . and was ( +18 ) for the game, which was a team high along with Kevin Huerter.

 

I don't get it.

 

He's our best player and most lethal scorer.   Bogi is our best shooter, but can't do all of the things that Trae does.  The long 3 ball has been part of his game since birth.  The excellent passing has been part of his game since birth.  He has to have those 2 things in his arsenal.  That is who he is.

There is NO WAY I want Trae to defer to Kevin and JC and even Bogi at the end of games.  I want the ball in his hands, with he making the decision to shoot it, or get it to the open man.  

Superstars win championships, not role players.  I want Trae being used to being "the man" at all times, with the rest of the guys following his lead.

I guess I somewhat disagree here. I like Trae a lot, how can you not like 26 and 9 every night? But I'm not into the whole exalting and insisting that since he is a "superstar", therefore he has to take over games and he has to be the "man." I prefer the team concept, where a secondary player can be the star of the night at times. if Trae drops 40, great. But if Trae only scores 15, but plays a great floor game and other guys picks up the scoring, that's great too.

[bleachkit]

9 minutes ago, marco102 said:

I know a lot of my talk was about Trae, but this is the reason the game was even remotely close. 

Can't let that happen.  

Lou started out hot for us after the trade, but lately he has been bad, 

[terrell]

26 minutes ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

Here's a hot take:   If Trae doesn't go for 36 points tonight, we may lose this game.

The guy shoots 50% FG . . made all 13 of his FTs . . only had ONE turnover in the 2nd half . . had 16 points in the 3rd quarter to break the game open . . added 10 points and 3 assists in the 4th to ice the game . . and was ( +18 ) for the game, which was a team high along with Kevin Huerter.

 

I don't get it.

 

He's our best player and most lethal scorer.   Bogi is our best shooter, but can't do all of the things that Trae does.  The long 3 ball has been part of his game since birth.  The excellent passing has been part of his game since birth.  He has to have those 2 things in his arsenal.  That is who he is.

There is NO WAY I want Trae to defer to Kevin and JC and even Bogi at the end of games.  I want the ball in his hands, with he making the decision to shoot it, or get it to the open man.  

Superstars win championships, not role players.  I want Trae being used to being "the man" at all times, with the rest of the guys following his lead.

He cleaned up the turnovers for sure in the 2nd half. Good to see...

11 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Lou started out hot for us after the trade, but lately he has been bad, 

Really bad..

[kg01]

30 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

Considering his teammates, it's hard to accuse him of stat padding, and Beal is obviously taking plenty of shots, so cant criticize him there either. He probably took too many shots during his Thunder days though, at least during the KD years. Props for going to bat for a non-Hawk player!

I would take it all back if I could.

28 minutes ago, bleachkit said:

IT is a cliche machine, his commentary is predictable and boring. 

I heard him interviewed a while back and it was the most insightful interview I'd heard in a long time.  Maybe the NBAtv or studio dynamic compels him to talk in sound bites rather than elaborate like he did in the interview I heard?