Official Game Thread: Wizards at Hawks

[Spud2nique]

4 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Jalen so special- we sorely needed a big that could do what he can do. 

I know I been sayin that for a minute now (literally a minute it’s not a cool slang or anything my a$$ woke to Jalen just yesterday I ain’t gon front) 

[Spud2nique]

4 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Veeeeet is in!

Cue the music ….

uhuuuhhhhummm {throat clear}…
 

THE VEET IS ON (dundunchudundunchu) ON THE STREET NANANANA NANANANANA  

 

OOOOOOOO WOO OO OOOO AAAHHHH WOAAAHHHHH OOOH OHHHH..

[Spud2nique]

4 hours ago, hawkman said:

7th seed.

Been wanting the Celts for a few weeks, well, 40 years but whatever. Whose counting. 
 

 

[Spud2nique]

4 hours ago, LongTimeFan said:

Likely 4-2 series loss to either of them.

I think we can take the Celts in 7, the Bucks I see us going down in 5.

[benhillboy]

I couldn’t even pay attention after seeing what the Bullets trotted out there.  Is there anyone actually running the NBA?   How do you score 2 fast break points out of 116?  That Huff dude had a nice lil stroke for a Big tho.

Anyway good to see the garbage crew get some more run, Trae pad his lead on Jokic for total assists, and the team shoot 43% from the arc.

Edited April 6, 2023 by benhillboy

[TheNorthCydeRises]

42 minutes ago, hawkman said:

The Hawks will most likely have to play Miami at Miami in the Play In. I wouldn't have it any other way. They're going to have to face them head on and get past that psychological hurdle. Demolish them on their own court and TAKE the 7th seed.

 

To me, this is just like when the Highlight Factory team had to exercise those demons vs the Orlando team that had their number in 2010.  That was a 53 win team that got swept in the 2nd round by Orlando.  That series got Woody fired, despite improving the team's record each of his 5 years as a coach.

In 2011 under Larry Drew, the Hawks drew Orlando in the 1st round and was a 6 seed.  But this time, it was the Hawks that took care of business and beat them in 6 games.  That Orlando team was slightly different than the year before, with them losing Vince Carter and Rashad Lewis. But they still had Dwight and Jameer Nelson.

To me, the Heat have lost a lot of their punch without PJ Tucker and his defensive presence. And they've gone from a top 10 offense and top 5 defense last season, to a bottom 5 offense this season, while still maintaining a top 10 defense.

Miami, for some reason, normally shoot lights out against us from 3.  So if we can catch them on a night where they're not making a ton of 3s, I think we can get that team in a 1 and done scenario.  Bey may be the X-factor against them, with his ability to make the 3.  If our bench can more than hold their own against their weak bench, we'll take them out.

Just need to get 1 of these last 2 games in order to secure that 8th spot.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

6 hours ago, sturt said:

For a fleeting second there, I thought maybe just maybe Q finally gives Bruno some real minutes.

Broken record alert... not mine, ours... a common refrain of the last two playoffs among Squawkers has been that we really coulda used some legitimate low post meat. We are thin as it is.

Cue the Bob Seger.

 

*sigh*

 

Hopefully we can take care of business tomorrow night, so that the 3rd teamers get major run in Sunday's game.  I want to see Bruno for an extended stretch myself.  He looks much more active on defense when he was at Houston, and has shown flashes of great rim protection in his few appearances here.

Definitely ready to see Bruno, Vit, Matthews and Martin get extended PT in the final game.

[sturt]

11 hours ago, LongTimeFan said:

Philly has the tiebreaker against Cleveland already, so no one can catch anyone.

Thanks for pointing that out... my previous post had overlooked that CLE already has 30 losses, so they can't get to 53 wins.

 

[sturt]

12 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

We have won 3 games in a row.  We are more that 1 game from .500!!! Streak Busted.

I don't know what to do with myself!

I'm just gonna DANCE!!!

 

Right?

Hey Coach... right?!?

 

 

Q the party pooper.

[Spud2nique]

When did the Wizards sign Gigi Datome by the way?  Who was that clone last night? 

[sturt]

2 hours ago, TheNorthCydeRises said:

 

Hopefully we can take care of business tomorrow night, so that the 3rd teamers get major run in Sunday's game.  I want to see Bruno for an extended stretch myself.  He looks much more active on defense when he was at Houston, and has shown flashes of great rim protection in his few appearances here.

Definitely ready to see Bruno, Vit, Matthews and Martin get extended PT in the final game.

Observation...

Really needed to see Quin (one N) play Mathews (one T)...   ...with the rotation guys on the floor in order to understand accurately what he was/is capable of bringing to the floor in a real game for all the proverbial marbles.

So, same line of thinking goes into me desperately wanting to see Bruno not merely get minutes, but get minutes with those who will get playoff minutes.

Hear me Q? I'm serious.

 

[JeffS17]

36 minutes ago, sturt said:

Observation...

Really needed to see Quin (one N) play Mathews (one T)...   ...with the rotation guys on the floor in order to understand accurately what he was/is capable of bringing to the floor in a real game for all the proverbial marbles.

So, same line of thinking goes into me desperately wanting to see Bruno not merely get minutes, but get minutes with those who will get playoff minutes.

Hear me Q? I'm serious.

 

I'm not a believer in Mathews.  He really isn't engaged on or off the court and he plays frantically.  He doesn't inspire confidence at all imo

[sturt]

1 hour ago, JeffS17 said:

I'm not a believer in Mathews.

"Believer"... that's a high standard. So, neither am I.

That said, the last game where he actually got significant minutes? Certainly provided reason for intrigue, and more minutes.

He did some good things in WAS and even started, but turned out that there was some apparent regression in HOU.

1 hour ago, JeffS17 said:

He really isn't engaged on or off the court and he plays frantically.  He doesn't inspire confidence at all imo

This kinda makes my point.

Mathews has had 8 appearances, 5 of them minutes like last night.

In the other 3, all consecutive games, he got two 3-4 minute stints of competitive minutes in the first half vs. DET (and another 10 in garbage time)... two 5-6 minute stints competitive minutes (one in each half) in the loss to MIN (probably because it was the 2nd of a back-to-back)... and then the IND game where he got two 7 minute stints (one in each half).

So, the minutes he's played can be put in three boxes... relatively brief garbage minutes... getting-his-feet-wet competitive minutes... and impressive competitive minutes.

And there's likely about to be a fourth... extended garbage minutes.

Which of those is a really good measure of what you should be able to expect of Garrison Mathews going forward?

I don't pretend to know. But I'm certainly intrigued to find out if the asset that he presented himself to be vs. IND (14 pts, including 4/5 from arc, and overall +16 for the game) is the asset we would find that he is, more often than not.

(That he took that wild 3 pointer last night was evidence of someone really pressing to turn heads. Then again, if you've seen him play pre-ATL, he's actually made shots like that, too.)

 

What I believe is that it's hard to get a decent accurate reading on what a player can contribute if all of the player's tape is mop-up minutes... never with rotation-level guys.

So, I unapologetically bemoan that Q hasn't given Bruno competitive minutes at all. That's not to pretend I'm smarter than the head coach (as is the chronic condition of some, I might add). It's just that I wish things had went differently. I'm very tired of the (valid) complaint in post season that there are moments we coulda/shoulda had a beefy big to put on the floor for periods of time, but the decision had been made to not bother putting one on the roster. At least this time, we have one of those, but he's just so inexperienced still.

[Diesel]

I'm going to say it because nobody has said it...

When Hunter comes back, he has a lot to prove.   Bey/JJ and his contract is making him expendable. 

 

[JeffS17]

48 minutes ago, sturt said:

"Believer"... that's a high standard. So, neither am I.

That said, the last game where he actually got significant minutes? Certainly provided reason for intrigue, and more minutes.

He did some good things in WAS and even started, but turned out that there was some apparent regression in HOU.

This kinda makes my point.

Mathews has had 8 appearances, 5 of them minutes like last night.

In the other 3, all consecutive games, he got two 3-4 minute stints of competitive minutes in the first half vs. DET (and another 10 in garbage time)... two 5-6 minute stints competitive minutes (one in each half) in the loss to MIN (probably because it was the 2nd of a back-to-back)... and then the IND game where he got two 7 minute stints (one in each half).

So, the minutes he's played can be put in three boxes... relatively brief garbage minutes... getting-his-feet-wet competitive minutes... and impressive competitive minutes.

And there's likely about to be a fourth... extended garbage minutes.

Which of those is a really good measure of what you should be able to expect of Garrison Mathews going forward?

I don't pretend to know. But I'm certainly intrigued to find out if the asset that he presented himself to be vs. IND (14 pts, including 4/5 from arc, and overall +16 for the game) is the asset we would find that he is, more often than not.

(That he took that wild 3 pointer last night was evidence of someone really pressing to turn heads. Then again, if you've seen him play pre-ATL, he's actually made shots like that, too.)

 

What I believe is that it's hard to get a decent accurate reading on what a player can contribute if all of the player's tape is mop-up minutes... never with rotation-level guys.

So, I unapologetically bemoan that Q hasn't given Bruno competitive minutes at all. That's not to pretend I'm smarter than the head coach (as is the chronic condition of some, I might add). It's just that I wish things had went differently. I'm very tired of the (valid) complaint in post season that there are moments we coulda/shoulda had a beefy big to put on the floor for periods of time, but the decision had been made to not bother putting one on the roster. At least this time, we have one of those, but he's just so inexperienced still.

I think there's an off-court bar to clear before you're going to get trust from the coaching staff to get regular minutes.  I think you need to meet some minimum chemistry with the team, be engaged in practice, show that you want those minutes, you want to improve, you want to be a part of what we're building right now.  My belief is that Mathews has not showed any of that.  I go to most of the games and player watch, sometimes I sit in Player's Club, and of everyone on the team, Mathews has the least interaction with pretty much anyone -- fans, teammates, coaches, etc.  He just looks like he does not want to be in Atlanta at all.  You see it before the game, during the game, on the bench, etc.  He's like the antithesis of Collins, who is extremely engaged with fans, teammates, coaches, etc.

I'll add that I arrogantly believe I have pretty high emotional/social intelligence which is why I make claims like this -- but this is of course massive self-bias and may or may not be disputed by my wife

[Diesel]

I'll Say this because it's on nobody's agenda...

 

JC had a good game!  And CC has been playing very well!!

 

[sturt]

32 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

I think there's an off-court bar to clear before you're going to get trust from the coaching staff to get regular minutes.  I think you need to meet some minimum chemistry with the team, be engaged in practice, show that you want those minutes, you want to improve, you want to be a part of what we're building right now.  My belief is that Mathews has not showed any of that.  I go to most of the games and player watch, sometimes I sit in Player's Club, and of everyone on the team, Mathews has the least interaction with pretty much anyone -- fans, teammates, coaches, etc.  He just looks like he does not want to be in Atlanta at all.  You see it before the game, during the game, on the bench, etc.  He's like the antithesis of Collins, who is extremely engaged with fans, teammates, coaches, etc.

I'll add that I arrogantly believe I have pretty high emotional/social intelligence which is why I make claims like this -- but this is of course massive self-bias and may or may not be disputed by my wife

Let me repeat, I've only used Mathews as evidence of my larger point... ie, if all the minutes you're giving a player is garbage minutes, you might be missing out on what a given player is capable of doing b/c he's always surrounded by lower-regarded players when he ever gets to be on the court.

So, really, just asserting that we'd be in a better place if Q could see Bruno take some competitive minutes.

You hear that, Q?      (... I just love her... hehe.)

 

But turning to Mathews specifically...

Jeff, if you have that kind of Emotional IQ, then you probably have a great deal of empathy for how Mathews might be thinking at age 26, not so long ago on the up escalator, and/but feeling trapped these days.

Being the informed fan that I know you are (no sarcasm), you also know that Mathews spoke openly after the IND game, as did his head coach, about going to Q to ask how he can earn more minutes.

The guy's in a difficult situation. He went from being in WAS where there was room for a guy like him to get minutes to HOU where they wanted to give their high-ceiling young wings most of the minutes, and now to ATL that has established guys getting those minutes.

Worse, pretty much all of the minutes.

Worser still, ATL controls his rights for the next two seasons, so even if he were to somehow get the chance and ended up flourishing, he won't be able to benefit from that until he's 28 and a free agent again.

And I have to think he's in an especially bad mood... I think I would be anyhow... knowing the last time I got competitive minutes, everyone was patting me on the back and I had reason to feel I might be able to find a role here in ATL after all... only to find  in the six games since, I've gotten a grand total of six minutes, and all of them mopping up.

I'm not excusing him. I'm as able as anyone else to give him the "keep your chin up, kid" lecture. But I am suggesting it's not hard to understand the reasons that would lead a person in that situation to be really unsettled and feeling disregarded. He needs some reason to hope, and to feel like if he does something good, there's reason to believe more opportunity will be extended to him.

[JeffS17]

57 minutes ago, sturt said:

Let me repeat, I've only used Mathews as evidence of my larger point... ie, if all the minutes you're giving a player is garbage minutes, you might be missing out on what a given player is capable of doing b/c he's always surrounded by lower-regarded players when he ever gets to be on the court.

So, really, just asserting that we'd be in a better place if Q could see Bruno take some competitive minutes.

You hear that, Q?      (... I just love her... hehe.)

 

But turning to Mathews specifically...

Jeff, if you have that kind of Emotional IQ, then you probably have a great deal of empathy for how Mathews might be thinking at age 26, not so long ago on the up escalator, and/but feeling trapped these days.

Being the informed fan that I know you are (no sarcasm), you also know that Mathews spoke openly after the IND game, as did his head coach, about going to Q to ask how he can earn more minutes.

The guy's in a difficult situation. He went from being in WAS where there was room for a guy like him to get minutes to HOU where they wanted to give their high-ceiling young wings most of the minutes, and now to ATL that has established guys getting those minutes.

Worse, pretty much all of the minutes.

Worser still, ATL controls his rights for the next two seasons, so even if he were to somehow get the chance and ended up flourishing, he won't be able to benefit from that until he's 28 and a free agent again.

And I have to think he's in an especially bad mood... I think I would be anyhow... knowing the last time I got competitive minutes, everyone was patting me on the back and I had reason to feel I might be able to find a role here in ATL after all... only to find  in the six games since, I've gotten a grand total of six minutes, and all of them mopping up.

I'm not excusing him. I'm as able as anyone else to give him the "keep your chin up, kid" lecture. But I am suggesting it's not hard to understand the reasons that would lead a person in that situation to be really unsettled and feeling disregarded. He needs some reason to hope, and to feel like if he does something good, there's reason to believe more opportunity will be extended to him.

Agree with all your points on Mathews -- his situation is not desirable at all and IMO he is still in a big adjustment period.  I am hoping to see him come into next season with a renewed energy (assuming he doesn't get dealt again) and more of a role off the bench.  But right now we have a pretty big log jam at SG/SF that makes it tough for him to get any playing time.  I agree with you on Bruno as well -- a part of me almost wishes we were in worse standings (although i do want to see us in the playoffs) so we could get some of these guys more meaningful run.

[sturt]

 

 

[BrazilianHawk]

On 4/5/2023 at 8:24 PM, Spud2nique said:

He had 24 in 2K but on 10-26 shooting and 2-8 from downtown. Ehhhh he’s gonna get his but they ain’t going nowhere. Unicorn is working that contract year thing too but nah, Wiz stuck. We win tonight. 

not unless you go back to your usual BIG LETTERING IN RED!!! I miss that $hit Brazil!

That's playoff exclusive, here's hoping we go that far.