Did we hit a Gold Mine? Kevin Knox in Atlanta.

[Diesel]

I grew up with the six million dollar man.  I know some of you young heads know nothing so watch the short clip:

 

Those words are etched into my memory.. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him... We have the technology. 

 

But I hear Travis saying those words about Knox.  We didn't move Knox.  I don't even know if Knox knows our plays but I see Knox working.   After picking up Knox, I watched the following video from earlier this season:

 

It's damning of course.   But I recognized that the same potential that made some call him a future all star is still there.   That and I have seen him working hard.   The one thing about NY is that aside from Rose, NY hasn't really had a great PG to play with Knox.  And Thibbs is not the type of coach to put any time into developing a player.  But now that we have Knox..

Knox gets to play on our 2nd team for now.  It looks like he has found a home and a family.  The question is can we SixMillionDollarMan Knox?  We do have the technology. 

 

The things that I notice about Knox is that he does have a good shooting stroke.  He looks like another guy that could be money from outside.  Even though on the floor his numbers have sucked for us... he's a guy who hangs around the 38% area.  I think that playing with Trae is something that will make him better.  Just like the other day, Trae is going to tell him where to be.  He's going to develop chemistry with him and he's going to get him involved. 

We have the Technology. 

 

 

[Diesel]

I was going to start another topic for this but I'm being economic with the posts. 

I have noticed recently that Trae is developing our younger players.   I spoke of Trae barking at Knox.. but I have also noticed Trae working with OO.  Over the years both Clint and JC has become adept at the recognition of the PNR when playing with Trae.   Clint just rolls into it by second nature.   OO on the other hand doesn't have the recognition yet.   It's funny because sometimes you watch and OO is in the right place and Trae will just drop a pass right in his lap and it's evident that OO had no clue that the pass was coming. 

The one thing that we don't credit CC with enough is his court awareness.  yes.. he misses bunnies and it makes you mad.. But this dude almost sees everything.  Offensively and Defensively CC sees plays developing.  Sees when he needs to run in to get rebounds.  Sees when Trae needs a screen.   Sees when he needs to make a rim run.    IF OO had that type of awareness, he'd be allstar material.  BUt no worries, he will get there. 

Point is that it's cool to see Trae leading and developing these guys. 

[RedDawg#8]

20 minutes ago, Diesel said:

I was going to start another topic for this but I'm being economic with the posts. 

I have noticed recently that Trae is developing our younger players.   I spoke of Trae barking at Knox.. but I have also noticed Trae working with OO.  Over the years both Clint and JC has become adept at the recognition of the PNR when playing with Trae.   Clint just rolls into it by second nature.   OO on the other hand doesn't have the recognition yet.   It's funny because sometimes you watch and OO is in the right place and Trae will just drop a pass right in his lap and it's evident that OO had no clue that the pass was coming. 

The one thing that we don't credit CC with enough is his court awareness.  yes.. he misses bunnies and it makes you mad.. But this dude almost sees everything.  Offensively and Defensively CC sees plays developing.  Sees when he needs to run in to get rebounds.  Sees when Trae needs a screen.   Sees when he needs to make a rim run.    IF OO had that type of awareness, he'd be allstar material.  BUt no worries, he will get there. 

Point is that it's cool to see Trae leading and developing these guys. 

Just more proof that executing the pick and roll is more than just Trae throwing dimes to our bigs. The ability to create space to get open, have great hands and the skill to finish either in flight or down low in traffic, is an actual skillset.

Not every big man can do their part of the pick and roll as well as JC and Clint. And I'm talking about against a multitude of defensive schemes designed specifically to eliminate the PNR from our gameplan. Anybody can do it and catch teams slipping. Teams are gameplanning against it and we still find good looks, all because Trae and the Bigs are sharing a brain on the court. They are able to read space and time in unison.

 

 

[RedDawg#8]

37 minutes ago, Diesel said:

I grew up with the six million dollar man.  I know some of you young heads know nothing so watch the short clip:

 

Those words are etched into my memory.. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him... We have the technology. 

 

But I hear Travis saying those words about Knox.  We didn't move Knox.  I don't even know if Knox knows our plays but I see Knox working.   After picking up Knox, I watched the following video from earlier this season:

 

It's damning of course.   But I recognized that the same potential that made some call him a future all star is still there.   That and I have seen him working hard.   The one thing about NY is that aside from Rose, NY hasn't really had a great PG to play with Knox.  And Thibbs is not the type of coach to put any time into developing a player.  But now that we have Knox..

Knox gets to play on our 2nd team for now.  It looks like he has found a home and a family.  The question is can we SixMillionDollarMan Knox?  We do have the technology. 

 

The things that I notice about Knox is that he does have a good shooting stroke.  He looks like another guy that could be money from outside.  Even though on the floor his numbers have sucked for us... he's a guy who hangs around the 38% area.  I think that playing with Trae is something that will make him better.  Just like the other day, Trae is going to tell him where to be.  He's going to develop chemistry with him and he's going to get him involved. 

We have the Technology. 

 

 

I am satisfied with our team results since Know got here. However, the kid shoots worse than TLC. Much worse.

I'm glad he has the balls to keep firing, but right now his misses are for real bricks. 

It goes without saying that he has to get better from the outside or he could  be in jeopardy to lose his spot down the road. Hard worker and all

[NBASupes]

22 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

I am satisfied with our team results since Know got here. However, the kid shoots worse than TLC. Much worse.

I'm glad he has the balls to keep firing, but right now his misses are for real bricks. 

It goes without saying that he has to get better from the outside or he could  be in jeopardy to lose his spot down the road. Hard worker and all

I can't help but think this thread was creating in gist. Knox hasn't been a difference maker at all for us since he's been here. If anything, he's is replacing Solo production in his own way

Edited January 24, 2022 by NBASupes

[sturt]

4 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

he's is replacing Solo production in his own way

And serves as testimony to just how badly McM needs to have someone else in the Solo role.

 

Wish I could see more options than just this, but it seems it's either Kenrich Williams in trade or taking a risk that Thad Young could be had on the buyout market.

[Gray Mule]

I've said all along, "Wright is all right."  People have noticed him now and believe.

I'm taking the same attitude with Kevin Knox.  He had the potential to be a very good player when he was drafted.  He had natural talent then.  He hasn't developed as rapidly as expected.  I must believe that the same talent that got him drafted is still there.

He's stated that he's very happy to be a Hawk and is looking forward to playing here.  Atlanta is different and the difference may be just what he needs.  We hope so.

[NBASupes]

19 minutes ago, sturt said:

And serves as testimony to just how badly McM needs to have someone else in the Solo role.

 

Wish I could see more options than just this, but it seems it's either Kenrich Williams in trade or taking a risk that Thad Young could be had on the buyout market.

Kenrich Williams is so damn good. I doubt we can land him without an asset. 

[sturt]

Me, I'm not sold on Kenrich Williams so much as I love his contract, love his age, and if one can be certain he would perform in ATL as he has in OKC, he's about as perfect a match for a role on a team as you could ask for.

I'm just not certain. I think it's a whole lot easier to look good on a team like OKC than it is on a team that's actually playing for something.

And, agreed, have no clue how you make a reasonable trade, given the likelihood of a sellers' market for wings this time around.

 

Given that, I'm more interested in Thad Young. But the problem there will be "is he interested in us?" Not without a serious run over the next several games that make us more attractive.

[JayBirdHawk]

Gold mine? No.

[bleachkit]

By the looks of it, he's still throwing up bricks. 

[shakes]

3 hours ago, Gray Mule said:

I've said all along, "Wright is all right."  People have noticed him now and believe.

I'm taking the same attitude with Kevin Knox.  He had the potential to be a very good player when he was drafted.  He had natural talent then.  He hasn't developed as rapidly as expected.  I must believe that the same talent that got him drafted is still there.

He's stated that he's very happy to be a Hawk and is looking forward to playing here.  Atlanta is different and the difference may be just what he needs.  We hope so.

Cmon Mule, give it up.   You don't want to tie yourself to the Knox wagon.  The guy is [not a good player].  He's always [struggled to make any kind of positive impact and he still struggles to make any kind of positive impact].    He's been garbage every time he's been in a game for us.  He puts forth no effort which has been noticeable on several possessions.   He has no idea where to go on the court or even worse, he just doesn't care to be in the right spots.   he has had several airballs that weren't within 5 feet of the basket.  The guy even fell down the second he got the ball on one possession.

 

He's [unlikely to ever contribute to this team].  He wont the genetic lottery and rather than putting in some work he decided to play video games all day and try and get by on his resume.

 

[AHF - Come on @shakes.  No need to talk about any Hawk like that.]

 

 

[macdaddy]

4 hours ago, shakes said:

Cmon Mule, give it up.   You don't want to tie yourself to the Knox wagon.  The guy is [not a good player].  He's always [struggled to make any kind of positive impact and he still struggles to make any kind of positive impact].    He's been garbage every time he's been in a game for us.  He puts forth no effort which has been noticeable on several possessions.   He has no idea where to go on the court or even worse, he just doesn't care to be in the right spots.   he has had several airballs that weren't within 5 feet of the basket.  The guy even fell down the second he got the ball on one possession.

 

He's [unlikely to ever contribute to this team].  He wont the genetic lottery and rather than putting in some work he decided to play video games all day and try and get by on his resume.

 

[AHF - Come on @shakes.  No need to talk about any Hawk like that.]

 

 

I mean...do you think this might be a little over the top?

[AHF - Note that the post to which mac responded was edited]

[Diesel]

3 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Just more proof that executing the pick and roll is more than just Trae throwing dimes to our bigs. The ability to create space to get open, have great hands and the skill to finish either in flight or down low in traffic, is an actual skillset.

Not every big man can do their part of the pick and roll as well as JC and Clint. And I'm talking about against a multitude of defensive schemes designed specifically to eliminate the PNR from our gameplan. Anybody can do it and catch teams slipping. Teams are gameplanning against it and we still find good looks, all because Trae and the Bigs are sharing a brain on the court. They are able to read space and time in unison.

 

 

To your point.  NY specialized in stopping the pick and roll last season.  Thibbs runs his patented ICE defense where he cut off the corner threes and he stops the PNR.  Well....  We Blugended NY to death with that PNR.  I mean the ICE has it's strength in that it forces the pick and roll team into a lower percentage shot.   From Game 1 to the final game, we beat the hell out of NY with those low percentage shots that they were forcing us into. 

The sad part is that NY's resurgence last year was all about their defense.   At one point, they were holding opposing teams to 43/31 in their shooting percentages and they had picked up their number of steals.   I wasn't lying or joking last year when I said Thibbs should have mailed Nate the COY trophy with a heartfelt apology. 

Well, below, you can see the basis of the ICE defense and think about what we did to them. 

 

[Diesel]

3 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

I am satisfied with our team results since Know got here. However, the kid shoots worse than TLC. Much worse.

I'm glad he has the balls to keep firing, but right now his misses are for real bricks. 

It goes without saying that he has to get better from the outside or he could  be in jeopardy to lose his spot down the road. Hard worker and all

He got to find his comfort zone.  Do you know last year he shot 38% from three and 51% on the corner three?

He has good mechanics on his shot and in our offense, he will get opportunities.   He just got to get comfortable. 

[Dnice]

I had to chuckle at him , only cause the game was won, shooting a 3 with 18 seconds left, "hold the ball? eff that!"

[Diesel]

3 hours ago, sturt said:

And serves as testimony to just how badly McM needs to have someone else in the Solo role.

 

Wish I could see more options than just this, but it seems it's either Kenrich Williams in trade or taking a risk that Thad Young could be had on the buyout market.

Sturt...

Everytime you mention Thad Young, In my Mind I say...   "Didn't he play with Iverson??"

 

[sturt]

14 minutes ago, Diesel said:

Sturt...

Everytime you mention Thad Young, In my Mind I say...   "Didn't he play with Iverson??"

 

Evidently missed him by just one year... but it is interesting to see who was on his rookie year roster nonetheless...

 

[AHF]

I've got no real hopes for Knox here but I'll certainly root for him to improve as long as he wears a Hawks uniform.  He was underwhelming at UK with his inefficiency and that clearly carried over into the NBA.  For some players, it takes some time for them to mature (in every way) and the best  thing Knox has going for him is that he is only 22.  My guess is he won't be here long enough to make an impact even if he does ultimately turn the corner but, like I said, I'll root for him to take those next steps as long as he is here.

As far as his play in his 30 minutes here, it has been worse than his career numbers to date which means there is nothing really positive to offer on it but 30 minutes is really pretty meaningless for sample size.  So we'll see if he can improve as a Hawk at all going forward.  But I'm not expecting or counting on anything.

[Diesel]

14 minutes ago, sturt said:

Evidently missed him by just one year... but it is interesting to see who was on his rookie year roster nonetheless...

 

Sadly...

There's only two other guys on that list in the league.