Official Game Thread: Warriors at Hawks

[Gray Mule]

How many wins in a row makes it a roll?  Hawks on a roll!  Golden State has no size and it cost them last night.

With each and every victory by the Hawks, the price to obtain Murray goes up.  It should be high enough now to stop any trade!

Nice to see #11, #12 & #13 on the floor for Atlanta.  Three good 'uns.  

Side note:  I noticed that Bey didn't miss one three-point shot from the wing last night.  Anyone else notice this?

I believe AJ Griffin should be playing major minutes - - - With the Skyhawks!

Did you know?  Atlanta Hawks winning % is better than that of Golden State?  

[benhillboy]

35 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Wiggins was in his contract year

Payton was tremendous 

Steph in his prime as well as Draymond. 

I’m a Payton fanatic as he’s a defensive metrics monster.  And you know there’s no bigger Steph proponent than me since day one.  I think the world of Draymond’s IQ sans the silly sh*t.  Still a miracle.

I’ll give them a pass on all the quality players (and it’s a whole f&@kin lot) they missed out on for Wiseman: he was a consensus blue chip as far as I know, I don’t watch college.  The draft is always a lot easier in hindsight.  But Moody over Sengun and Jacob Evans over Brunson set them back years after Draymond and Steph hang em up.  I can’t imagine any scenario out of college where those decisions were intelligent.  And I’m trading my pick if I have to take Poole and Patrick Baldwin Jr.  I thought Paschall was gonna be a solid bench guy under Draymond’s tutelage but it didn't happen.

Edited February 4 by benhillboy

[benhillboy]

The few times I’ve heard Bob Myers on ESPN he doesn’t sound like the sharpest basketball guy.  Something fishy with his tenure as a GM, I know Jerry West was there as an executive to kinda help guide him as the core came into their own.  He sounds just like a guy who would make the egregious draft mistakes above.

Edited February 4 by benhillboy

[kg01]

3 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

The few times I’ve heard Bob Myers on ESPN he doesn’t sound like the sharpest basketball guy.  Something fishy with his tenure as a GM, I know Jerry West was there as an executive to kinda help guide him as the core came into their own.  He sounds just like a guy who would make the egregious draft mistakes above.

Finally somebody else picks up on this!!!!!!

Larry Riley acquired all of the big 3 upon which his entire tenure was based.  All he had to do was draft well enough to keep things running and he was TERRIBLE at that.  It's comical how much of a pass he and Kerr get.  Glad Kerr is getting rightfully exposed.  Myers got out before the reaper. 

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, benhillboy said:

I’m a Payton fanatic as he’s a defensive metrics monster.  And you know there’s no bigger Steph proponent than me since day one.  I think the world of Draymond’s IQ sans the silly sh*t.  Still a miracle.

I’ll give them a pass on all the quality players (and it’s a whole f&@kin lot) they missed out on for Wiseman: he was a consensus blue chip as far as I know, I don’t watch college.  The draft is always a lot easier in hindsight.  But Moody over Sengun and Jacob Evans over Brunson set them back years after Draymond and Steph hang em up.  I can’t imagine any scenario out of college where those decisions were intelligent.  And I’m trading my pick if I have to take Poole and Patrick Baldwin Jr.  I thought Paschall was gonna be a solid bench guy under Draymond’s tutelage but it didn't happen.

Hindsight is not 20/20 man. They had a lot of depth that season too. 

[bird_dirt]

6 hours ago, benhillboy said:

I’m loving the way Trae is getting off the ball when the blitzes come.  He always made the right type of pass, but now the timing is a little sharper: both early when he notices a void on the weak side and late when his teammates are tardy coming to the ball.  He’s making great decisions on when to dribble through them too.  If the double isn’t solid it’s basically a set of cones to him.

I seen Trae play over 350 times.  First time last night where I seen him post up at the three point line .  It was only for a couple seconds but it was Brunson-like.  I think the Hawks scored on the possession so it worked.

Also loving JJ’s confidence in the short mid range area.  That boy got pushes and turn arounds for that ass.  I always vouch for OO, regardless of scheme this great 4 game stretch shouldn’t be followed by 4 lackluster ones.  And put that boy in the three point shooting contest but just the corners

Watching Trae working this out, often he’s giving it up to DJ. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHY WE GOT DJ HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE! 
It’s great to see it actually working out like I think they were thinking it would when they traded for DJ. The Hawks just didn’t have an answer for it against Miami, and now they do and they’re actually doing it! JJ’s emergence as a reliable ball handler/distributor has really helped significantly too. 

[benhillboy]

8 hours ago, bird_dirt said:

Watching Trae working this out, often he’s giving it up to DJ. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHY WE GOT DJ HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE! 
It’s great to see it actually working out like I think they were thinking it would when they traded for DJ. The Hawks just didn’t have an answer for it against Miami, and now they do and they’re actually doing it! JJ’s emergence as a reliable ball handler/distributor has really helped significantly too. 

Yup, JJ has definitely given Trae more confidence in getting off the ball. Bogi’s improvement making plays off two dribbles and contested shooting has as well.  DJ’s shooting up against the clock has been big too.

Trae will never be a screen and cut guy but he does pretty well in short movement and balancing the floor when he gets off.  And he wants the ball so bad you don’t have to worry about him hustling to the ball if someone’s in trouble.  You need an A+ long defender to really ball deny him with his quick feet, sneaky upper body strength, hand fighting, and foul selling.

Edited February 5 by benhillboy

[Diesel]

14 hours ago, benhillboy said:

The few times I’ve heard Bob Myers on ESPN he doesn’t sound like the sharpest basketball guy.  Something fishy with his tenure as a GM, I know Jerry West was there as an executive to kinda help guide him as the core came into their own.  He sounds just like a guy who would make the egregious draft mistakes above.

Some people are just good at using the talents of others and getting out of the way long enough to take credit.

 

[Diesel]

10 hours ago, bird_dirt said:

Watching Trae working this out, often he’s giving it up to DJ. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHY WE GOT DJ HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE! 
It’s great to see it actually working out like I think they were thinking it would when they traded for DJ. The Hawks just didn’t have an answer for it against Miami, and now they do and they’re actually doing it! JJ’s emergence as a reliable ball handler/distributor has really helped significantly too. 

People with their narratives is the cause of all this.   DJ was not brought here to be a defensive stalworth.   He was brought here to be a secondary ball handler who can run the offense and score.  People fail to realize how DJ takes a lot of the pressure off of Trae in that regard.  The people who cry about defense doesn't understand that defense is a team sport.  You can't pin the defense on one player but defense is about the whole 5 doing what it is supposed to do. 

The collaboration of Trae and DJ is starting to work.. because Both guys have showed a level of unselfishness and have started to find their fit in the offense.