Official Game Thread: Rockets at Hawks -- The Season Opener!

[Dnice]

Jay you got a Freshman already??

[JayBirdHawk]

4 minutes ago, Dnice said:

Jay you got a Freshman already??

Happened too fast.

[JayBirdHawk]

JC had all the moves last night and he didn't baptize anyone!

 

 

[cam1218]

5 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

JC had all the moves last night and he didn't baptize anyone!

 

 

I feel that JC is really underutilized at times throughout the year. It seems like we go through phases where he is just an afterthought on offense and we just start jacking up threes. Some of that might be due to his injuries and being in and out of the lineup, but I hope with the two ball handlers we see more offensive touches for him. You want somebody like him that is going to get open threes and is vocal on the court to remain engaged at all times. 

[Spud2nique]

18 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Happened too fast.

I don’t want my nephew to grow up sooooo fast wtheck

[RedDawg#8]

14 minutes ago, cam1218 said:

I feel that JC is really underutilized at times throughout the year. It seems like we go through phases where he is just an afterthought on offense and we just start jacking up threes. Some of that might be due to his injuries and being in and out of the lineup, but I hope with the two ball handlers we see more offensive touches for him. You want somebody like him that is going to get open threes and is vocal on the court to remain engaged at all times. 

Notice, we didn’t see a ton of 1-5 lobs to CC. Looks very intentional that we were getting JC and Dre involved.

People forget just how good JC was before Clint came and took away is touches. We may now be asking Clint to sacrifice for the team this season.

 

[bleachkit]

1 hour ago, Spud2nique said:

Each game is independent of another. 

True, but collectively they tell a story.

[cam1218]

5 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Notice, we didn’t see a ton of 1-5 lobs to CC. Looks very intentional that we were getting JC and Dre involved.

People forget just how good JC was before Clint came and took away is touches. We may now be asking Clint to sacrifice for the team this season.

 

Good point, small sample size so we will have to see how it plays out. That said, I think Clint would gladly sacrifice his offensive numbers if the guys he is sacrificing for are playing good defense. 

[bleachkit]

4 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Notice, we didn’t see a ton of 1-5 lobs to CC. Looks very intentional that we were getting JC and Dre involved.

People forget just how good JC was before Clint came and took away is touches. We may now be asking Clint to sacrifice for the team this season.

 

JC is a better finisher than CC. JC's talents were being wasted on the perimeter because CC can't do anything but dunk. It's about time JC got his touches back.

[JayBirdHawk]

13 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Notice, we didn’t see a ton of 1-5 lobs to CC. Looks very intentional that we were getting JC and Dre involved.

People forget just how good JC was before Clint came and took away is touches. We may now be asking Clint to sacrifice for the team this season.

Some of that is predicated on what the defense is doing.  If they are playing drop coverage to limit the lob, Trae will have a field day with the floater which he did last night but he just didn't convert as he normally would. If the big comes off the screen and trap Trae the lob would be there.

I think Clint's thumb might also be why the lobs weren't attempted as much either.

[kg01]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Happened too fast.

I got a fr and a so now. 

........ I'm old.

[kg01]

53 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

I don’t want my nephew to grow up sooooo fast wtheck

Somebody choppin onions in here, squd. 

[Gray Mule]

MY OBSERVATIONS:

I saw several lobs, dunks last night.  Problem was, it was Houston doing it.  They are mentioned, over and over, as being the worst team in the NBA.  I don't believe this.  If they are, the Atlanta Hawks are in a world of hurt this season.  Those old boys are pretty good.

Nate told us last season that 11 players were all that he could manage per game.  To prove to us that this was still so, he played 11 players last night.  The entire Hawk starting five played very bad to start the game.  Not just Trae, who stood out, but the entire starting five.

Always nice to see an ex Hawk do well.  Hope you have a great year Bruno.

The Rockets stayed in the game the entire night.  Someone sold them short.  Every time Atlanta tried to move away, Houston came right back at them.  They refused to give up.

Nice to have four starters with big scoring, assists and steals.  It will take several games for us to decide just how good ar bad we really are.  This was a good way to open the season!

Under construction!

GO ATL HAWKS

 

 

[Peoriabird]

2 minutes ago, Gray Mule said:

MY OBSERVATIONS:

 The entire Hawk starting five played very bad to start the game.  Not just Trae, who stood out, but the entire starting five.

 

I have to disagree with this statement. I thought that JC was carrying the team on his back in the 1st quarter.

 

[Gray Mule]

13 minutes ago, Peoriabird said:

I have to disagree with this statement. I thought that JC was carrying the team on his back in the 1st quarter.

 

Probably.  But, as a team, they played bad for a while before they straightened up and began to fly right.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

Quote

.......getting a spark from a third point guard: Aaron Holiday. When Holiday, his brother Justin, Jalen Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu entered midway through the first quarter to play with Trae, all five players upped the overall defensive intensity. 

"I'm just trying to come out and bring energy when I can and get the team jump-started pretty much," Aaron said.

With 3:49 left in the opening period, Aaron (5 points, 3 steals) got a steal in the backcourt for a layup. 

"You've got to time (the dribble) when it's on the way down because (the opposing ballhandler) can't control it when it's going down."

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

Quote

The Hawks have no interest in forcing shots from long range but instead want to make sure they’re attacking the basket. That is, they’re committed to attacking the basket until they fully get their legs under them.

“We do look at our analytics, and we do try to take advantage of that,” Hawks coach Nate McMillan said after Thursday’s practice. “But when it comes to a style of play, we’re not a full, all-out analytics team. You know, there’s some teams that, they want to get up 50 3s, and they won’t take a midrange shot. And we’re not that.”

........ the Hawks aren’t interested in doing what the analytics suggest they should. They are interested in refining what their players are succeeding with. As of now, that’s attacking the basket and sinking shots from midrange.

 

[sturt]

7 hours ago, AHF said:

It is my assumption.  I think  TS/LF traded for JH in large part to set the team up to go under the tax line and they traded for JH specifically because Nate has coached him in the past and trusts him to know what he is doing on the floor.

So, let me get this straight. You imagine that there were all these other deals on the table that would have rendered a #1 pick, and Schleilds took the SAC option because McM told them "take the deal where I get Justin Holiday."

I don't know how many other deals were on the table. I'm inclined to think, not many, but okay.

I do suspect that Nate trusts him, but as said already, that goes with having played well for Nate... his career best season.

I do not suspect that that puts blinders on Nate's eyes if three years later at 33 years old, Justin's performance no longer justifies said trust.

 

7 hours ago, AHF said:

Coaches generally seem to have trusted JH to play a big role in their rotation in recent years and the fact that we traded for him and then went out and signed his brother strengthen that conviction for me.

Have you studied whether "coaches" had any better options at the wing? Shouldn't that have come into your calculus? You keep talking about "trust" as-if there is no necessary connection between trust and performance. What's up with that? Dunno.

That they signed his brother... (1) at the minimum... (2) needing a 3rd PG who can be a reasonable fill-in for the first two... (3) who's proven to be a reliable 37% shot from the arc... and (4) has played for McM... I credit those factors. What the relevance might be to obtaining Justin? Dunno.

 

7 hours ago, AHF said:

So I see Nate as a coach who likes a low maintenance vet and JH fits that role to a T (even if he isn't a great player).

Absolutely. McM has spoken on occasion about how a roster has to have sufficient low maintenance players in order to deal with the outliers.

But. What is this scarcity for low maintenance players that you perceive, that you have to put up with a lagging performer in order to have low maintenance? Dunno.

 

I don't know if it's my fault that you've spun yourself into this vision of Nate's bromance with Justin... it does seem to happen sometimes that when I zag, others just have a tendency to zig... just some contrarian vibe out there that seems to arise on occasion.

 

If I were trying to make your argument for you, I would have cited maybe 3 posts before this about Nate's apparent bromance with Solomon Hill. And I really think that's the model... someone Nate's familiar with... not necessarily someone who is going to be some great productive asset, but someone who can play a couple of positions if not three if it became necessary, and be adequate... not a high ceiling, but not a low floor either... not a lotta highlight clips, but not a lotta major mistakes made... generally healthy and generally reliable... not necessarily a "rotation" guy so much as a "utility" guy, there when you need him if you need him, and just by the nature of the long season, it's not all that rare that you do.

 

Again. Again. Again. Again.

I'm fine with that from a guy with 2 players in front of him on the depth chart at whatever positions he played... ie, just as Solomon had (Hunter and Reddish @ SF, Huerter and BogBog @ SG, and Collins and Gallo @ PF).

I'm not fine with that guy as part of the planned rotation. No one should be.

 

If you're part of Hawks management, and you have no better choice, then you have no better choice... but you should absolutely be looking for a better choice... in this case, hoping that AJ Griffin is the real deal, and the issue gets solved internally.

 

7 hours ago, AHF said:

How about a bet on JDay.  If he finishes the season with #11-15 most minutes on the team, you get to control my avatar for 2 months (or an additional 2 months for when you win the JJ bet).  If he finishes the season with #10 or better in total minutes, I control your avatar for 2 weeks.

So now that I've learned that you don't know anything I don't know, I'm more open, but this doesn't fit the difference of opinion. If no better option arises than JDay, then no better option arises.

What I'm asserting is, we need a better option... and/but even if management agreed with that, and were pursuing other options, we'll never know about it unless it actually were to happen... a lot of trades we might propose, and a lot of trades others might propose, but if the deal never gets made, it's at-best just rumor if it even gets to that level.

And what I'm asserting is, if a better option emerges, JDay will sit down... he won't be kept in the rotation just because of some presumptive exclusive trust that Nate holds for him, which is what I hear you saying.

How do you put some metrics to that? Dunno. But if you come up with something, I'll listen.

 

[Peoriabird]

44 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

 

Music to my ears!!! Nate sounding like a keeper!!!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

3 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Notice, we didn’t see a ton of 1-5 lobs to CC. Looks very intentional that we were getting JC and Dre involved.

People forget just how good JC was before Clint came and took away is touches. We may now be asking Clint to sacrifice for the team this season.

 

Or  . . . since Bruno Fernando knows the Hawks pick and roll offense, it was he that stayed home on Capela, and prevented the lob threat.

Trae was like . . . "I'm not running pick and roll with Bruno in the middle".  That's why he was bombing away from 3.