Nick Ressler is likely to ruin the Hawks

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 hours ago, macdaddy said:

I'm always excited for the Hawks but y'all are having VERY recency bias.  But the reason i asked for a scenario is not because it can't happen but because we're counting on opponents to fail.  Phlly to play poorly (which i can see this one), Middleton still not being himself.  

Could it happen.   Definitely.   But it'd be nice to be the better team rather than pinning hopes on opponents mental lapses and injuries.  

Once again, the trend for this team the past 2 years, is to be playing at a very high level in the 2nd half of the season.

Because regardless of what the overall regular season record was, we were playing at top 5 level at the end of the past 2 seasons. Even last year, the Hawks closed the season winning 7 out of 9, and had a 12 - 5 record in their last 17 games.

So while the scenario of the Hawks reaching the EC Finals seems implausible right now, recent history shows that the Hawks turn it on in the 2nd half of the season.  And they seem to be trending toward that again.

[RedDawg#8]

Trae has a better body to stay healthier during his career than Luka, but his lack of size will hurt him once his speed starts to fade, whereas taller guys like Luka can play up a position as they age and slow down. 

Guys like JJ, TMac and Vince end up playing the 4 in the twilight of their careers which is likely what happens with Luka, whereas Trae won’t be able to realistically move to any other position. He will likely end up like a Hawks-era Bibby. 

[nathan2331]

Just now, RedDawg#8 said:

Trae has a better body to stay healthier during his career than Luka, but his lack of size will hurt him once his speed starts to fade, whereas taller guys like Luka can play up a position as they age and slow down. 

Guys like JJ, TMac and Vince end up playing the 4 in the twilight of their careers which is likely what happens with Luka, whereas Trae won’t be able to realistically move to any other position. He will likely end up like a Hawks-era Bibby. 

Trae will likely age like Chris Paul. He'll adapt his game and become more of a facilitator. So long as he can shoot he'll be a scoring threat, just at a lower volume.

[Diesel]

1 hour ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

Once again, the trend for this team the past 2 years, is to be playing at a very high level in the 2nd half of the season.

Because regardless of what the overall regular season record was, we were playing at top 5 level at the end of the past 2 seasons. Even last year, the Hawks closed the season winning 7 out of 9, and had a 12 - 5 record in their last 17 games.

So while the scenario of the Hawks reaching the EC Finals seems implausible right now, recent history shows that the Hawks turn it on in the 2nd half of the season.  And they seem to be trending toward that again.

Instead of leaving it to the season,   I would just say that once we are healthy and have gotten over our slumps (from not playing) we are a top team. 

[Diesel]

1 hour ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Trae has a better body to stay healthier during his career than Luka, but his lack of size will hurt him once his speed starts to fade, whereas taller guys like Luka can play up a position as they age and slow down. 

Guys like JJ, TMac and Vince end up playing the 4 in the twilight of their careers which is likely what happens with Luka, whereas Trae won’t be able to realistically move to any other position. He will likely end up like a Hawks-era Bibby. 

The only thing is that Trae's game is not based on speed.   There are times that he shows that he can use speed to get to the bucket.. but his game is based on pinpoint passing, great shooting, and a high BBIQ.  In a lot of ways he share the same traits with Magic. 

 

[AHF]

I'll buck the trend slightly and say I think both Trae and Luka look well suited to continue as productive pros into their mid and possibly late 30's.  Both have rare skills and rare basketball IQ that bodes well for them continuing to be productive.

Ja is the one who I think has the biggest risk of falling off dramatically once his athleticism wanes.

[JayBirdHawk]

22 minutes ago, Diesel said:

The only thing is that Trae's game is not based on speed.   There are times that he shows that he can use speed to get to the bucket.. but his game is based on pinpoint passing, great shooting, and a high BBIQ.  In a lot of ways he share the same traits with Magic. 

 

Trae's change of speed or pace and ability to start/stop is the one thing that is impressive.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

2 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

Trae has a better body to stay healthier during his career than Luka, but his lack of size will hurt him once his speed starts to fade, whereas taller guys like Luka can play up a position as they age and slow down. 

Guys like JJ, TMac and Vince end up playing the 4 in the twilight of their careers which is likely what happens with Luka, whereas Trae won’t be able to realistically move to any other position. He will likely end up like a Hawks-era Bibby. 

Barring injury, Trae isn't going to lose any speed until at least his early 30s. And even then, Trae will still be an elite passer. 

If anything, he turns into a Chris Paul / Steve Nash high assist, mid level scoring PG.

[terrell]

[Plainview1981]

On 1/19/2023 at 11:56 AM, Final_quest said:

OK, so there were about 75 lottery picks the past few years and we got a top 3 guy out of those picks.  That is winning the draft.  Luka is clouding people's judgement.  BTW Dejounte Murray doesn't want to get traded here without Trae, so in a sense picking Trae also landed us Murray.  

You can't win in the NBA without a pick like Trae, he is worth multiple draft picks.  Hunter, Collins, Okongwu, Huerter, and AJ are all starters or rotation players of significance.  The only big miss was Cam and we made the fortunate move of trading him for an asset before his value went down to zero.  

TS did not have a perfect track record, but nothing close to an abysmal failure.  

Hunter and OO are role players.AJ might be ok, but he also may never be much more than a good shooter.

The Hawks have not established any long term success with Trae.

Schlenk is a joke. Now the team has almost no way to go. Strapped and mediocre at best.

[Final_quest]

11 hours ago, Plainview1981 said:

Hunter and OO are role players.AJ might be ok, but he also may never be much more than a good shooter.

The Hawks have not established any long term success with Trae.

Schlenk is a joke. Now the team has almost no way to go. Strapped and mediocre at best.

Name all of the players drafted since Trae that are achieving the long term success that you think we should have drafted instead.

It's a lot easier to criticize than get actual results.  Trae has showed more than nearly everyone you could come up with.  

Most teams that were built on lottery picks since Trae was drafter are not even in playoff contention.  

[Hawkmoor]

On 1/19/2023 at 1:39 PM, RedDawg#8 said:

Trae has a better body to stay healthier during his career than Luka, but his lack of size will hurt him once his speed starts to fade, whereas taller guys like Luka can play up a position as they age and slow down. 

Guys like JJ, TMac and Vince end up playing the 4 in the twilight of their careers which is likely what happens with Luka, whereas Trae won’t be able to realistically move to any other position. He will likely end up like a Hawks-era Bibby. 

Any chance he ends up as a post era Bibby? lmao

Edited January 24, 2023 by Hawkmoor

[macdaddy]

1 hour ago, Hawkmoor said:

Any chance he ends up as a post era Bibby? lmao

I'm not trying to cast aspersions on anyone but Bibby and Joe started looking like this post NBA likely because they aren't subject to drug testing.  

[bleachkit]

On 1/19/2023 at 2:53 PM, Diesel said:

The only thing is that Trae's game is not based on speed.   There are times that he shows that he can use speed to get to the bucket.. but his game is based on pinpoint passing, great shooting, and a high BBIQ.  In a lot of ways he share the same traits with Magic. 

 

Great shooting? Are you sure about that one? He's not a great shooter. He just isn't. Unless you mean great free throw shooter. 

[Diesel]

1 minute ago, bleachkit said:

Great shooting? Are you sure about that one? He's not a great shooter. He just isn't. Unless you mean great free throw shooter. 

This year his shot has been off.  Mind you, I am not focused on his three point shooting because there he's middy.  But if there are places on the court that Trae is automatic.   Moreover, I believe he has the best FLOATER in the History of the game.   I stand waiting for challenges on that. 

 

[Final_quest]

18 minutes ago, Diesel said:

This year his shot has been off.  Mind you, I am not focused on his three point shooting because there he's middy.  But if there are places on the court that Trae is automatic.   Moreover, I believe he has the best FLOATER in the History of the game.   I stand waiting for challenges on that. 

 

He shot nearly 50/40/90 last year while being a top 5 scorer.  He's definitely off this year.  Will see if he can regain form.  But last year he showed he CAN be a great shooter.  Especially when you think of the difficulty of his shots.  

[bleachkit]

25 minutes ago, Diesel said:

This year his shot has been off.  Mind you, I am not focused on his three point shooting because there he's middy.  But if there are places on the court that Trae is automatic.   Moreover, I believe he has the best FLOATER in the History of the game.   I stand waiting for challenges on that. 

 

Greatest floater in history? He's a career .493 from 2.

[AHF]

The 3 point shot is just painful this year.  This is noticably worse than his rookie season.  When is he going to turn that 3pt shot around?  Ugh.

[Diesel]

3 hours ago, bleachkit said:

Greatest floater in history? He's a career .493 from 2.

GREATEST FLOATER IN HISTORY....

If all his 2s were floaters, you might have a point...

 

[Diesel]

49 minutes ago, AHF said:

The 3 point shot is just painful this year.  This is noticably worse than his rookie season.  When is he going to turn that 3pt shot around?  Ugh.

Well, now that Korver has moved up into the administrative offices......