Official PLAY-IN Game Thread: Hornets at Hawks

[Spud2nique]

Trying to post in here…

meanwhile..

[NBASupes]

Just now, marco102 said:

No, I don't think I'm saying anything.  Cleveland has been on the downfall since Jared Allen went down.  He may come back and the Hawks have been a bad road team.  I like our chances, but again you acting like there's no way we can lose the game.  There are plenty of ways.

Just seems kind of strange that you have so much faith in a 35 win player now. Like aren't even considering the fact the Hawks can lose. 

You really don't listen to me at all. I've said time and time again, playoff Trae is a massive different player that I have no doubt is a legit superstar. 45-50 win player and with his improvements offensively, maybe 50-55 is possible. That's best player in the NBA status.

[marco102]

5 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

I'm pretty optimistic.  No Jarret Allen, no Sexton.  Garland is good but he's a scorer, not even close to Trae's level with the ball in his hands.  I lean with @NBASupes to be honest.  And it's not just Trae that turns it up in the playoffs -- Capela and Bogi feel like different players as well.  Hunter is playing well right now too.  We should be in good shape but I don't think it will be a blowout.  The team is gelling at the right time.

Yeah, but you won't be on here ranting and calling for everyone's head.  That's all I'm trying to avoid.  I like our chances against Cleveland. The team was well prepared yesterday and executed. I think they'll do that again and get the win.  I also know if they lose, I won't be posting about tearing it all down. 

I agree with @NBASupes that we should be favored, but when he does this he doesn't give himself an out and just goes ballistic if the results don't meet his expectations. 

Also, there's a chance Jarret Allen will play. 

Edited April 14, 2022 by marco102

[Spud2nique]

Make Okoro shoot.

Make Love drive.

Contain the 2 man game of Garland and Mobley.

MAKE RONDO A SCORER. Watching recent Cavs games he’s been really setting the table for others. Let’s see if he can still finish in the lane himself.

 

We do that, we should have a good chance at a W.

[Atlantaholic]

1 minute ago, JeffS17 said:

I'm pretty optimistic.  No Jarret Allen, no Sexton.  Garland is good but he's a scorer, not even close to Trae's level with the ball in his hands.  I lean with @NBASupes to be honest.  And it's not just Trae that turns it up in the playoffs -- Capela and Bogi feel like different players as well.  Hunter is playing well right now too.  We should be in good shape but I don't think it will be a blowout.  The team is gelling at the right time.

Garland has been balling really hard the last couple of months. He had a stinker against us so I think that may influence how Hawks fans view him but dude is averaging 25 - 10 since the all star break, so let's not sleep on Garland please. If we can hold him like we did last game it's a wrap, but if he has a big game it'll be anyone's game and I think that's very possible. Can't discount how playing at home is big for them, the crowd will be wild. Good thing is I don't think Trae has another terrible shooting game again like he just did against the Hornets.

[Spud2nique]

On the Cavs game.

Hawks started out -2 favorites..

Last night it was -2.5

This morning it’s Hawks -3

The public is pounding the Hawks.

[marco102]

Just now, Atlantaholic said:

Garland has been balling really hard the last couple of months. He had a stinker against us so I think that may influence how Hawks fans view him but dude is averaging 25 - 10 since the all star break, so let's not sleep on Garland please. If we can hold him like we did last game it's a wrap, but if he has a big game it'll be anyone's game and I think that's very possible. Can't discount how playing at home is big for them, the crowd will be wild. Good thing is I don't think Trae has another terrible shooting game again like he just did against the Hornets.

What scares me is if Cleveland gets a ton of offensive rebounds and they may render Capela almost completely ineffective. 

Garland has been playing well and was on a back to back against us in our last game.  I believe the Hawks will play much better defensively. 

They've been around the 12th best defensive lately.  That's really all they need with this offense.

[Diesel]

2 hours ago, kg01 said:

My only gripe with what you said is the bolded.  That game was over, that was just BKN taking their foot off the gas.

We definitely need to play a better game than last night.  Hornets got exposed mightily.  And the idea that Ball > Trae was shown to be a fallacy.  Trae's command of the game far exceeds Balls.

I watched that game closely.  When Cleveland pulled the game within 6.. then 5.. I saw a look on KDs face that said... Damn. these guys won't go away.   I just believe that these guys will have some fight in them.  They won't lay down and roll over the way that Charlotte did. 

 

[NBASupes]

As I've said, Trae at -20 on defense is a bitch for everyone. The wings go down two to three tiers. The bigs go down a tier. 

When Trae is a -5 on defense or at best a 0. Everyone can do their jobs and not have to protect Trae. Well, at least not like normal(RS).

Our defense performs at its level as if Trae wasn't playing. That's why playoff Trae is so massive. It's the defense. 

[NBASupes]

11 minutes ago, marco102 said:

Yeah, but you won't be on here ranting and calling for everyone's head.  That's all I'm trying to avoid.  I like our chances against Cleveland. The team was well prepared yesterday and executed. I think they'll do that again and get the win.  I also know if they lose, I won't be posting about tearing it all down. 

I agree with @NBASupes that we should be favored, but when he does this he doesn't give himself an out and just goes ballistic if the results don't meet his expectations. 

Also, there's a chance Jarret Allen will play. 

Allen playing unhealthy might do more bad than good. He's not exactly Giannis.

[kg01]

4 minutes ago, Diesel said:

I watched that game closely.  When Cleveland pulled the game within 6.. then 5.. I saw a look on KDs face that said... Damn. these guys won't go away.   I just believe that these guys will have some fight in them.  They won't lay down and roll over the way that Charlotte did. 

 

I agree, in general.  We'll have to beat them and they won't quit, which is to be expected.

Also, if you're looking for them to not lie down like CHA did, that's a pretty low bar.  CHA was more than in it at halftime, but already had the look of a team waiting for a soft place to lie down.

Whatever plan they had wasn't working so the frustration was mounting.

We'll have to approach Friday with an all-business mindset.  

[marco102]

5 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Allen playing unhealthy might do more bad than good. He's not exactly Giannis.

This sir is a valid point! 

[JayBirdHawk]

1 hour ago, swanlee said:

Wonder if this Hawks team is like the Reverse ATL team, we screw up in the regular season  then go lights out in the playoffs while other ATL team do well in the regular season and tend to choke in the spotlight.

Would be an interesting change of pace anyway to typical ATL sports, the Braves seem to be the only outlier at times.

Speak it into existence Son.

[macdaddy]

59 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

On the Cavs game.

Hawks started out -2 favorites..

Last night it was -2.5

This morning it’s Hawks -3

The public is pounding the Hawks.

[JayBirdHawk]

As long as Trae is in control...I'm not worried about the Cavs.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

Calm your nerves. 

[JayBirdHawk]

1 hour ago, marco102 said:

you are setting yourself up for 10 ranting threads if they lose. 

That would be glorious.

I'm with Supes here....not worried about the Cavs, I'm just not. Hopefully this holds true.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

They aren't a BIG obstacle. They aren't even the Knicks of last year. Ya'll dap fishing, Cleveland mid as hell, especially under pressure. The playoffs Hawks aren't the RS Hawks because the playoff Hawks care about possession by possession Basketball 

They were top 8 in the league when they had Jarrett Allen in the lineup.

If he plays, we need a monster game out of Trae and our shooters to be lights out.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

As I've said, Trae at -20 on defense is a bitch for everyone. The wings go down two to three tiers. The bigs go down a tier. 

When Trae is a -5 on defense or at best a 0. Everyone can do their jobs and not have to protect Trae. Well, at least not like normal(RS).

Our defense performs at its level as if Trae wasn't playing. That's why playoff Trae is so massive. It's the defense. 

Plot twist 

Trae's defensive rating is more affected by the defense of the wings....than the wings defensive rating be affected by Trae's defense.

Last night pretty much proved this.

[kg01]

34 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

That would be glorious.

I'm with Supes here....not worried about the Cavs, I'm just not. Hopefully this holds true.

I carry an appropriate amount of 'worry' because anything can happen, plus it's a road game.

Knowing the Cavs are probably gonna go with their primo defensive stoppah(sic), Okoro, on Trae eases that worry some.

Speaking of stoppah's, do the Martin twins have another brother?  I wouldn't mind having one of them on our team.  They aren't the best or highest IQ players but they play hard and have a decent general skillset.