Official Game Thread: 76ers at Hawks -- GAME 3

[lethalweapon3]

Planking. The Choice of an Old Generation.

 

Down by a point midway through the third quarter in Atlanta, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player found himself confounded by the Hawks’ defensive positioning. For Golden State’s Stephen Curry, this was in a good way.

The ball made its way to him on the left corner, right near Dennis Schröder and Dwight Howard, the tent-poles for the regurgitating Atlanta Basketball Club under former Coach of the Year Mike Budenholzer’s watch. Standing around fussing about his careless turnover while trying to get the ball up the court, Howard got into a see-wut-happened-wuz squabble with Dennis, about how the play should have been run, not far from their own basket.

Kent Bazemore was guarding the inbounder, but soon found himself scrambling in vain as Schröder, bickering with Howard but not minding Curry, left him alone in the far corner for one of the most open three-point shots of Steph’s famed career.

Splash. Oh, Brother. Los Warriors take the lead. Time out, Los Hawks.

“And I heard a big cheer,” said an unfamilar color analyst for the visiting Warriors, “from… you would think, a partisan crowd.” Ya think?

Steph is giggling uncontrollably, drawing hand slaps with coaches and teammates as he skips to the sideline for a quick Shasta break. Coach Bud is beside himself, too. But in his case, there is no joy in Hawkville.

“I don’t understand Coach’s decision,” groused Schröder after that pivotal game, a 119-111 loss that still had the Hawks, losers of three straight, with a respectable 34-29 record. Benching Dennis, Bud had elected to roll with Junior Hardaway and Malcom Delaney the rest of the way. “Maybe I’m too competitive, I don’t know.” Indeed, the Hawks’ marquee point guard did not know. This, on the heels of a missed game and suspension after the All-Star Break due to a visa snafu, didn’t help matters.

Dwight wouldn’t play much longer in that game after the defensive flub, either. Ersan Ilyasova consumed the lion’s share of what would have been Howard’s residual floor time, as Zaza Pachulia’s Dubs sat him and went small-ball. Perhaps it wasn’t so much the outcome of the game that was crucial for the evolution of the Hawks franchise, but that one, egregiously neglectful play.

We will never know the precise moment, maybe in the ensuing spring of 2017, when Budenholzer marched over to incoming GM Travis Schlenk’s office and said, “Look, small-b bud, please, I’m trying to get the Dellavedova out of here!” But it couldn’t have been terribly long after.

Up to a certain point, Schlenk was assuring the public upon his arrival that, no, the Hawks were disinterested in conducting a full-on rebuild, that somehow it was possible to fine-tune using the remnants of a core that, just two years before, held the top record in the NBA Leastern Conference. And Dennis, and Baze, and Dwight. “Being Competitive, and increasing our Flexibility, that’s still where we are,” Schlenk would emphasize. But then, Schlenk looked closely at what he had to work with on the floor, and what passed for veteran leadership.

He figured he maybe had more hangtime with Schröder. But in the ensuing season, Atlanta eroded to a 24-58 mark with Bud angling for an exit hatch and a soft landing. As Dennis was adding hookah-bar rap sheets and noise ordinances to his resume, shooting sub-30 percent on threes all the while, Travis understood the dream of grooming a responsible All-Star-caliber point guard out of this guy, a first-rounder from the prior regime, had run its course. Further, that tethering the point guard’s “maturation” to him any further ran the risk of managerial malpractice.

Still, the decision on Dennis would be over a year away. As he unpacked his boxes in his new, spatial Marietta Street corner office, Travis already understood… he had no time to waste with Dwight.

Atlanta’s Own (the other one) thought he had finally aligned his NBA home with his old home. Mimicking Bazemore’s tears at their Summer 2016 Free Agency press conference (someone, PLEASE, make a 30 For 30 about Summer 2016, and hurry), Dwight was self-assured that the Hawks would be his Final Destination. Moved all his snakes over here from Houston into another palatial mansion, and everything. Much like Final Destination the movie, his tenure began and ended disastrously alongside Schröder and Baze, the Curry wide-open three-pointer serving as the piano slipping perilously from above. Atlanta, Watch Yer Head!

In June 2017, Schlenk made the Dwight trade to Charlotte his first official maneuver as GM, making the final two years of what was to be a three-year, $71 million deal the Hornets’ problem to wrestle with. In turn, Atlanta got a test-drive of Marco Belinelli and Miles Plumlee’s contracts, a nice Summer League run with Alpha Kaba, and a cup of tea with Tyler Dorsey as Schlenk traded down in the second-round with Charlotte (maybe coulda had Thomas Bryant instead of Dorsey, but that’s pure Draft Snobbery on my part. The good pick came with Johnny Bap in the first round).

Howard would get the ring he long sought by returning to Los Angeles and clinging to LeBron and AD in the 2020 Bubble, although not before getting passed around from Atlanta, to Charlotte, to Washington, getting waived by Brooklyn and Memphis along the way. Now 100.1% assured of a Hall of Fame induction, Dwight gets to be a pseudo-Thanos of sorts, collecting gems on his fingers by coming off the bench behind all-world talents like Joel Embiid.

He’d love nothing more than to have a role in making the once low-key Hawks his personal Loki, especially as this series has ventured into Dwight’s hometown (7:30 PM Eastern, ESPN, 92.9 FM in ATL, Postgame coverage on Bally Sports Southeast) for what the Hawks (13 straight home wins; 21-2 at State Farm Arena since February 13) hope will be another successful two-game homestand. But as the crew collected by Schlenk following Dwight’s 2017 departure from ATL comprehends, Clint Capela doesn’t need to fare better than Captain America, versus Joel (39.5 PPG, 11.0 RPG in 1^st two games of series) and Dwight, for the Hawks to come out on top in Game 3.

Travis was in Golden State’s War Room in 2009 when handlers for Curry pleaded with Monta Ellis’ club to let the Davidson star slip down to the Knicks, who were holding the next pick. Schlenk and the Warriors graciously denied the request, and that longtime, downtrodden franchise has been laughing its way to the bank ever since. (“Welcome to New York, Jordan Hill!”)

He knows the value of homegrown point-god talent, done right, mentored right, developed right. As Schröder, unshackled from the tutelage of Westbrook and CP3, resorts to old bad habits and drawing the ire of Earvin in L.A., Schlenk is recouping the benefits of moving on, on the fly, as Trae Young grows out from his Sorcerer’s Apprentice cocoon to reveal something truly magical.

The Sixers in 2018 were pleased as punch with the burgeoning promise of 2016’s first-overall pick, Ben Simmons (hey there, “Gameboy.” We ain’t forgot about you; 4 points, 7 assists, 2 steals over 34.5 minutes in Game 2). So much so, that they had no interest in trading up with their lottery pick like Dallas would. We have The Prototypical Point God of The Future already, Philly said, thank you very much. Oh, and he’s 6-foot-11!

Instead, they took hometown product Mikal Bridges, had his mom who WORKED FOR THEM singing their praises on television, only to swiftly trade down with Phoenix and acquire Zhaire Smith instead. They got Miami’s first-rounder this year, but even that didn’t last long, coughed up in the deal that brought Tobias Harris and our old friend Mike Scott over from LA. Bridges, riding a rookie deal on this Sixers team, would look pretty darn good right now. Zhaire, at right about this moment, might be at a Memphis-area Whataburger. As a customer, that is to say.

The prior Sixers’ regime’s error became Daryl Morey’s gain, as the Rockets GM escaped H-Town just in time to take over in 2020. The inherited successes are to Morey’s gain as well. Harris (21.0 PPG, 59.4 FG% this series) would be a strong contender for Playoffs MVP, although, please, nobody advise Embiid until this series ends. Joel and Ben were already under maximum-extended contracts. Also locked down were developmental rotation guards Matisse Thybulle, a dogged defender, and Shake Milton (13.0 PPG and 35.0 3FG% in regular-season), whose Pop-A-Shot performance late in Game 2’s 118-102 home win for the Sixers should not have been such a surprise.

Morey’s grandest offseason stroke wasn’t signing Dwight to a one-year rental, or ditching Al Horford and a protected future pick for the expiring deal of Danny Green (8 assists, 0 turnovers in Game 2). It was the heist of marksman Seth Curry (5-for-6 3FGs in Game 2) from Dallas.

Having Curry and last season’s 3FG% leader, George Hill (54.5 Playoff 3FG%), plus Embiid and Harris sharing the floor has alleviated Simmons (DPOY runner-up) from the pressure to expand his floor game to include a perimeter threat, although there’s nothing keeping Ben from avoiding Dwight-level free throw accuracy (3-for-15 FTs in series). His teammates coming through early and often to withstand Atlanta’s runs in Game 2 granted Ben a reprieve from an onslaught of media and fan scrutiny.

“The Simmons narrative is tired, to be sure. But it’s not without merit,” wrote Brad Botkin of CBS Sports yesterday. “A team that is aiming to win a championship with a lead ball-handler who can’t, or won’t, shoot the ball is an obstacle in perpetuity.” Botkin notes that his defensive effort on Trae (“only” 21 points and 11 assists in Game 2; 5-for-18 3FGs in series) works as an excuse for his shortcomings only so long as his teammates are able to compensate.

In the march toward postseason prominence, Young would love to have waged this campaign with the young complements of Cam Reddish and now De’Andre Hunter all season long. In the absences of those Philly-raised products, the Hawks have turned to more seasoned veterans to help sustain their competitive edge. Try as he might, Solomon “Mack” Hill has proven inadequate with the starting lineup at the starts of halves, likely leading Hawks coach Nate McMillan to turn to one of Danilo Gallinari or Tony Snell.

Filling in as a starter for the injured Reddish in late February, Snell’s efficiency was key to igniting the turnaround of Atlanta’s season, a wing role lessened by the full recovery of Bogdan Bogdanovic. As per basketball-reference, the Hawks’ most utilized 5-Man regular-season lineup of Young/Kevin Huerter/Reddish/John Collins/Capela was a net-minus 6.0 points per 100 possessions (195 minutes). The second-most, substituting Tony for Cam, finished the season with a net-plus 11.6 points per-100 (184 minutes).

Gallinari was an offensive conundrum for the Sixers in Game 2, and nearly had Embiid on the precipice of a premature exit. Uncoupling Gallo’s minutes with fellow sixth-man Lou Williams’ could lead to better-balanced rotations. Limiting turnover production is vital to McMillan, and one could do worse than upping the offensive roles for Gallo (team-low 7.2 regular-season TO%, as per bball-ref) or Snell (team-low regular-season 0.8 TOs per 36 minutes).

McMillan will likely choose a starting replacement for Hill based on how effective they’ll be in helping with Embiid and Harris in the halfcourt and keeping Collins and Capela (11 combined PFs in Game 2) from soaking up fouls, how capable they are in thwarting Philly’s transition offense, and how helpful they can be in springing Young free to create offense for the Hawks.

“I didn’t think we did a good job of setting screens in that game,” Nate Mac said while reflecting on things to improve upon from Game 2. Nate game-planning for these Sixers, though, is nothing compared to Bud making chicken salad out of Dwight, Dennis and Baze against the league’s top-flight, star-studded teams.

Ensuring a capacity crowd in Atlanta a few years ago was dependent on drawing opposing NBA fans. But this year’s edition has shown and proven enough over the past several months to get local sports fans to Believe Atlanta, and they’re showing it with their presence and their pocketbooks. Trae and his team’s infectious play have drawn more fans to represent for The ATL than the jolly giant with the cheesy grin ever could during the abbreviated stay in his hometown.

Two or three more Hawks victories here at State Farm Arena would surely bring many more new tag-alongs, although room for the bandwagons may soon have to spill beyond the arena to Centennial Olympic Park. Here’s hoping for a decidedly partisan crowd, today and Monday, rooting for a team that has evolved in just over four years to one eliciting big cheers, instead of audible groans.

 

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[NBASupes]

Game 3, this is where champions are born

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

So I need Solo to be more like 

 

instead of 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

Quote

One of the ways the Hawks could look to combat Philly using its longer defenders on him is perhaps getting as many ballhandlers on the floor as possible with Young. A quick fix would be starting Kevin Huerter at the three in place of Solomon Hill, who isn’t offering the Hawks much anyways. Having Huerter on the floor gives the Hawks three capable perimeter players in Young, Huerter and Bogdan Bogdanovic who can dribble, pass and create looks for themselves and everyone else on the floor. A Young-Bogdanovic-Huerter-Collins-Clint Capela lineup is devastating offensively, and it also held up defensively in the regular season, too. 

 

I said we did not attack and weren't aggressive enough in Game 2.  Get Trae going downhill.

Quote

“There are times when he does come up higher in their pick-and-roll defense,” McMillan said of Embiid’s role in Philly’s defense. “They make adjustments as far as where he is at defensively. He is up higher at times, but there are times where he’s playing lower. I think it was more us, though. We need to be more aggressive in our attack.”

 

[RedDawg#8]

6 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

So I need Solo to be more like 

 

instead of 

With Dre out for good, it's time to re organize and re strategize whats best for the team success going forward.

Solo is right. Dre was a huge factor in us winning the last series.

Who is left that can best replicate the impact that Dre provided? None other than Red Velvet himself.

Kev is clearly a different player than Dre, but he has the best 2-Way impact potential of anyone to step in for Dre. Solo is a rabid defender, but his lack of offensive prowess allows Philly to hone in more on Trae.

Trae, flanked by Kev and Bogi gives us two release valves to drain open shots, dribble up the court, run pick and roll and attack the basket. It allows the starters to be a lot more dynamic when the pressure ramps up against the ball handlers.

Defensively, we have 3 guys to worry about. Embiid, Harris, Curry. Im not worried about losing Solo's defense because Simmons is just that much of a non factor. Plus, Kev has proven his mettle on the defensive end this season. He deserves to step in with the starters and show it.

Put Kev in with the starters and allow Snell and Solo to be the bench wings. Keep 2 of Trae, Bogi and Kev on the court at all times.

The name of the game is win. 1 game at a time, one series at a time. We have to survive without Dre by any means necessary.

 

 

[Spud2nique]

3 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

I’m trying to get the Dellavedova out of here!”

It continues to live.. 

 

3 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

maybe coulda had Thomas Bryant instead of Dorsey,

Ouch 

 

3 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Travis was in Golden State’s War Room in 2009 when handlers for Curry pleaded with Monta Ellis’ club to let the Davidson star slip down to the Knicks, who were holding the next pick. Schlenk and the Warriors graciously denied the request, and that longtime, downtrodden franchise has been laughing its way to the bank ever since. (“Welcome to New York, Jordan Hill!”)

Also believe Warriors got last second offers from the Suns for a package surrounding Amare, although I’m not sure. Suns and Knicks wanted Curry I recall.

 

3 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Schlenk is recouping the benefits of moving on, on the fly, as Trae Young grows out from his Sorcerer’s Apprentice cocoon to reveal something truly magical.

I remember Schlenk saying he recalls envisioning kids wearing Young jersey’s as  they had Curry in the yay. Right on Schlenk.

 

3 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Bud making chicken salad out of Dwight, Dennis and Baze against the league’s top-flight, star-studded teams.

 

Awesome stuff as usual. 
 

Go Hawks! 

[Spud2nique]

2 hours ago, NBASupes said:

Game 3, this is where champions are born

Could I use this again in game 5 Supes? 

[Spud2nique]

Side note : Wouldn’t be surprised if Lou came out and gave us a Shake Milton special tonight. Hoping he does against one of his old teams. Go unc Lou!

[RedDawg#8]

This will be the first game of the series I get to watch. I was driving up to Charleston during game 1 and out to dinner with the entire family during game 2.

Daddy's back home now and ready for the action tonight, hopefully we protect home court. I love Bogi's attitude that every game get's treated like an elimination game from here on out.

Keep that energy. Never say die

[sturt]

Sarah and Brad having pregame dialogue...

https://www.facebook.com/AtlantaHawksNewsNow/videos/150247410379854/

[sturt]

 

[lethalweapon3]

ZZ Top runs the show for the officials tonight. "Gimme all your whistles, all your techs and Flagrant 2s!"

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Usual suspects as we already know on the 5:30 Boo-Boo Report. Cam, D'AH and Goody out. Embiid gets Ye Olde Game Time Decision, but it would again be stunning if the knee couldn't go off a couple days' rest.

 

~lw3

[warcore]

11 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

ZZ Top runs the show for the officials tonight. "Gimme all your whistles, all your techs and Flagrant 2s!"

~lw3

So what the hell happened in game 3? 

[bleachkit]

 

[DieHardHAWK]

Let's EFFIN go!!!! 

[lethalweapon3]

It's a little diggy diggy from Doc, y'all.

~lw3

[LucastheThird]

Anybody else going tonight?

[Dnice]