Official Game Thread: Hornets at Hawks

[Sothron]

Capella cost us this game. There's no other way to say it. He blew at least six shots around the rim plus he consistently let them get offensive rebounds. This was a game he frankly should have dominated. The Hornets have no real center on the roster outside Mason Plumlee and he didn't even play.

[niremetal]

3 hours ago, Sothron said:

Capella cost us this game. There's no other way to say it. He blew at least six shots around the rim plus he consistently let them get offensive rebounds. This was a game he frankly should have dominated. The Hornets have no real center on the roster outside Mason Plumlee and he didn't even play.

I agree Capela stood out as a key reason we lost offensively.

But defensively I don't think he was the issue. Defensively it was, as almost always, our perimeter guys that I thought were the problem. Ish Smith is quick, but he's small and has no business getting into the lane as often as he did. There were 1-2 ORebs where Clint just seemed to be caught out of position. But otherwise, I think the ORebs were where Clint was switched, out of position because he was forced to cheat, or outnumbered.

Opposing teams have clearly figured out that our strategy when we have Trae and 1 or 2 other weak perimeter defenders at the same time is to try and funnel the driving player to Clint and then rely on rotations to recover. Because it seems like they are sending other guys at the basket as soon as our on-ball guy gets burned. There was at least 1 OReb I saw where Clint was literally the only Hawk within 10 feet of the basket and he was surrounded by 3-4 blue jerseys. In that situation, not even Dennis Rodman is coming away with the rebound unless it bounces right at him.

The fact that their 4s are really 3s actually hurt us in a sense because it meant JC was often out on the perimeter and couldn't recover to have Clint's back in time, which has saved us on a LOT of possessions this year.

Anyway, as long as our perimeter guys are getting consistently burned, leaving Clint alone near the basket to clean up the mess, opposing bigs are going to carve us up around the basket, both off passes and off rebounds. That's just what happens. I don't blame Clint for it. Yeah, he was more dominant as a help defender last year, and he's a step slower this year, and that means he can't make up for our other guys' flaws as easily. But I still feel like that's not "on" him, because I don't think any center in the league could do Clint's "job" well enough to make a meaningful difference in those situations.

Edited December 6, 2021 by niremetal

[Diesel]

6 hours ago, terrell said:

Lambieer, Mahorn,  definitely wouldnt put up with those shots... lol

 

And they hadnt won anything.. And it's telling that we have to go back this far in time........

 

You make it sound like Russell was Shaq?

Russell is one of the greatest player to ever play.. but what he was not is a #1 scoring option.   What he brought was Rebounds and Defense.  That's what made him a great player.  He got damn near 25 rpg when he got to Boston.  That makes a great difference.  It makes him one of their best players.  But The Best.....  Maybe.  Again though.. that's like saying Capella is the best player for the Hawks. 

 

[JTB]

4 hours ago, Sothron said:

Capella cost us this game. There's no other way to say it. He blew at least six shots around the rim plus he consistently let them get offensive rebounds. This was a game he frankly should have dominated. The Hornets have no real center on the roster outside Mason Plumlee and he didn't even play.

Y’all not seeing it but I’m telling everyone….capela is hurt! He never misses bunnies like this vs smaller players. He normally dunks it. When he starts missing bunnies a lot it’s normally due to centers a lot bigger than him like embiid, Davis, Lopez type but capela just isn’t dunking the ones he normally dunks ……even VC said it “we like when capela just dunk those”

 

capela is hurt ….not regressed….seriously hurt. The games he does play like himself from last season I think he just pushes harder through those games.

[terrell]

2 hours ago, Diesel said:

You make it sound like Russell was Shaq?

Russell is one of the greatest player to ever play.. but what he was not is a #1 scoring option.   What he brought was Rebounds and Defense.  That's what made him a great player.  He got damn near 25 rpg when he got to Boston.  That makes a great difference.  It makes him one of their best players.  But The Best.....  Maybe.  Again though.. that's like saying Capella is the best player for the Hawks. 

 

Please never use Bill Russel and Capela in the same sentence. lol

But like I said, your're kinda proving my point having to go back 70 years.....

 

 

[terrell]

7 hours ago, JTB said:

Something is wrong with capela. You don’t just regress like that overnight plus he’s still young.

 

I believe he’s playing hurt. The bunnies come from Achilles soreness were he doesn’t want to jump off it too aggressively…that’s my guess anyways

Hopefully he's the backup to Okongwu next season........Hed be a great backup going up against lesser competition nightly...... But not for the $ he's making....I Hope youre right though, and he picks it up.....because right now he looks like he's playing with ankle weights on..

Edited December 6, 2021 by terrell

[terrell]

4 hours ago, niremetal said:

I agree Capela stood out as a key reason we lost offensively.

But defensively I don't think he was the issue. Defensively it was, as almost always, our perimeter guys that I thought were the problem. Ish Smith is quick, but he's small and has no business getting into the lane as often as he did. There were 1-2 ORebs where Clint just seemed to be caught out of position. But otherwise, I think the ORebs were where Clint was switched, out of position because he was forced to cheat, or outnumbered.

Opposing teams have clearly figured out that our strategy when we have Trae and 1 or 2 other weak perimeter defenders at the same time is to try and funnel the driving player to Clint and then rely on rotations to recover. Because it seems like they are sending other guys at the basket as soon as our on-ball guy gets burned. There was at least 1 OReb I saw where Clint was literally the only Hawk within 10 feet of the basket and he was surrounded by 3-4 blue jerseys. In that situation, not even Dennis Rodman is coming away with the rebound unless it bounces right at him.

The fact that their 4s are really 3s actually hurt us in a sense because it meant JC was often out on the perimeter and couldn't recover to have Clint's back in time, which has saved us on a LOT of possessions this year.

Anyway, as long as our perimeter guys are getting consistently burned, leaving Clint alone near the basket to clean up the mess, opposing bigs are going to carve us up around the basket, both off passes and off rebounds. That's just what happens. I don't blame Clint for it. Yeah, he was more dominant as a help defender last year, and he's a step slower this year, and that means he can't make up for our other guys' flaws as easily. But I still feel like that's not "on" him, because I don't think any center in the league could do Clint's "job" well enough to make a meaningful difference in those situations.

Thats why if Capela isnt dominating defensively we're in trouble with the Trae /Huerter freeway on the perimeter...

[Gray Mule]

Georgia-UGA- lost.

Flacons - Lost..

Hawks - Lost...

Bad weekend around Atlanta.

Defense?  All three failed to do their job.  Also, Hawks missed four free throws.  Lost by three points.  These shots count!  Can we recover and play well tonight?  We can hope!

 

[terrell]

9 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Georgia-UGA- lost.

Flacons - Lost..

Hawks - Lost...

Bad weekend around Atlanta.

Defense?  All three failed to do their job.  Also, Hawks missed four free throws.  Lost by three points.  These shots count!  Can we recover and play well tonight?  We can hope!

 

Falcons defesne played better than the Hawks and UGA..

Their offense couldnt get out of their own way... smh. Stupid play calls,  Fumbles, sacks, penalties, you name it...

I already knew UGA wasnt beating Bama with Stetson Bennet..They have the best QB in the country, and UGA had cupcake schedule..So defense was overrated..

Edited December 6, 2021 by terrell

[Gray Mule]

Better Falcon defense?  Maybe, but still bad.  Falcons gave up at least four sacks.  Their defense didn't even come close to Bucs QB.  Hi light of the entire game?  That interception just before half time - Touchdown!

[terrell]

21 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Georgia-UGA- lost.

Flacons - Lost..

Hawks - Lost...

Bad weekend around Atlanta.

Defense?  All three failed to do their job.  Also, Hawks missed four free throws.  Lost by three points.  These shots count!  Can we recover and play well tonight?  We can hope!

 

Hawks lose tonight and I think we lose to Houston too sadly...Rockets have been playing well all of a sudden and they have scorers..And We cant stop teams from scoring.

Whos gonna guard Antman tonight?

And Naz Reid will probably have a career night with the way Capela has been playing...

Not to mention we're 1-4 on 2nd night of back to backs..And the 1 win was vs tanking Magic...

7 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

Better Falcon defense?  Maybe, but still bad.  Falcons gave up at least four sacks.  Their defense didn't even come close to Bucs QB.  Hi light of the entire game?  That interception just before half time - Touchdown!

They kept us in the game early on but the offense couldnt do anything...You cant give Brady that many chances or eventually itll catch up with you...

Edited December 6, 2021 by terrell

[JayBirdHawk]

Missed the game.

Going by boxscore only....we couldn't get a stop!

[terrell]

2 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Missed the game.

Going by boxscore only....we couldn't get a stop!

Pretty much....

Antman might go for 50 if we dont step it up defensively.

We better hope Towns is out....

Edited December 6, 2021 by terrell

[Atlantaholic]

4 hours ago, JTB said:

Y’all not seeing it but I’m telling everyone….capela is hurt! He never misses bunnies like this vs smaller players. He normally dunks it. When he starts missing bunnies a lot it’s normally due to centers a lot bigger than him like embiid, Davis, Lopez type but capela just isn’t dunking the ones he normally dunks ……even VC said it “we like when capela just dunk those”

 

capela is hurt ….not regressed….seriously hurt. The games he does play like himself from last season I think he just pushes harder through those games.

Capela has the achilles thing which is something he will have to play with for the rest of his career. 

[Atlantaholic]

2 hours ago, terrell said:

Falcons defesne played better than the Hawks and UGA..

Their offense couldnt get out of their own way... smh. Stupid play calls,  Fumbles, sacks, penalties, you name it...

I already knew UGA wasnt beating Bama with Stetson Bennet..They have the best QB in the country, and UGA had cupcake schedule..So defense was overrated..

The Gage fumble and that posession where we had a 1st and less then a yard to score a TD were the biggest moments there. Should have had at least 7 extra points and it would have been a one posession game. Not a fan of Arthur Smith so far. 

[Spud2nique]

Less than impressive. I’m usually pretty optimistic and still am but we can’t lose to the Hornets at home with them missing their starting backcourt. There is no way.

Capela needs to tighten the screws and play aggressive and smart. Our D needs to tighten up, our opposition shouldn’t score that much in our building.

The last 2 games we’ve played like we are going through the motions, it happens with an 82 game schedule but we need to be improving not going the other way. 
 

We need to get a spark somewhere like Brandon Goodwin provided for us last year, whether that’s Cook or Jalen Johnson. 
 

Ant man tonight. Minny is an on and off team but apparently so are we.

Go Hawks! 
 

ps These schedule makers suck! 

[Spud2nique]

One more thing about the schedule. I hate it when people say, “everyone plays everyone”..  That’s a heaping spoonful of crap. Schedule matters in the way that it’s scheduled..  Sure, every team plays every team but the way they stacked ours, it might have been the most difficult way to do it.

The NBA doesn’t like helping us. At all.

[Sothron]

Woke up still salty about last night's loss. We wasted such great nights from Collins and Red Velvet. Gallo was on off the bench as well. Trae didn't shoot great but was running the offense well with 15 assists. I just don't know why if Capela is still hurt which he clearly is why not reduce his minutes and let Dieng play. He's a good backup big. We know OO is soon to return as well which should help. 

[Spud2nique]

2 hours ago, Sothron said:

if Capela is still hurt

I keep asking this and people say he’s ok, then he shows out every few games like last year’s Capela. I’m confused as to his health but I can’t wait to get OO back. 
 

He is our future center, if he stays healthy sooner than folks think which makes Capela expendable.I love Clint when he goes hard but this bunny layup missing stuff stinks.

[Dynamo]

Is there a reason Capela is playing if he’s hurt ?