Game 53 Atlanta Hawks (25-26) vs Phoenix Suns (27-25)

[grumpysaddle]

I miss Frank.

Lastly, We could really use one of tour patented dancin' Frank gifs to lower the stress levels a bit man!

[grumpysaddle]

Where Kerrsed when you need him to make an animated gif?

This is the Suns and .500

I'm sorry because I know that this was a sad outcome but this Gif is just hilarious man!!! Not just because it is, but also because it illustrates how randomly inconsistent our team is night in to night out!

I wish I thought of it, but someone on the Wolves board made it and edited text and the Wolves logo on it before when they were just always looking like they'd finally break above .500 and then inevitably fall back under. It was this exact gif.

[AtheJ415]

I can't help but wonder what this team would play like under Willie Green instead of Monty. Monty has not been the same since he left. We put forth this type of effort consistently. Hell, Game 7 of the playoffs. And when people say we had COVID, supposedly that was coaches.

[AtheJ415]

This stuff happens way too often. In the playoffs. In virtually every national TV game where we are favored. That defensive scheme was abhorrent. We were down 3 at the end of the 1st and then Monty went with his all bench lineup completely refusing to stagger and sat there and watched the lead balloon to 20 points.

Monty is a big part of the problem. He is completely unable to adjust on the fly. We have a few guys who consistently defend and play hard. We could play them, press a bit, adjust tempo and energy. Instead we get 30+ minutes of Torey Craig chucking fast breaks out of bounds and taking momentum shifting quick 3s that he bricks over and over.

We need a trade, and we need Monty to start actually learning from this BS or getting through to the players because this is like the 7th time we have underperformed the spread by 40 POINTS this season. This problem is way more than just needing better bench scoring.

And I'll add we had this problem even with Booker and we are not untalented as is. Our bench includes the NBA's leading 3 point shooters and a super elite defender in Okogie. Saric is also not terrible. And Saben Lee has performed well for us. Nobody is forcing Monty to play 4-5 bench players at the same time, none of whom can playmake. He could very easily stagger Book, Mikal, CP3, Cam and Ayton into those units and play 2-3 bench players instead. He just doesn't do it.

Craig needs to go back to the bench.

He has the most insane turnovers and that one where he had a wide open streaking Cam and he just inexplicably throws it out of bounds not even close to Cam is just the absolute worst example of why you don't want him playing heavy minutes with his low BBIQ.

He wasn't the sole reason why we lost but that was one of the highlights of dumb basketball.

Torrey Craig has to have compromising photos of Monty because he gets triple the minutes he should. He plays hard, but is no better at anything than ish. Neither are better than Okogie. Lee leads the NBA in 3 point shooting. Saric I can say at least has better size than Torrey and is a very good passer for his position while being a higher IQ player. I just do not understand Craig playing more than some of our legitimate starters. Craig should be on the short leash Monty gives Ayton at times.

[Sunlight]

I expect more from our starting PF than 6/1.

[Saberestar]

[garrick]

This stuff happens way too often. In the playoffs. In virtually every national TV game where we are favored. That defensive scheme was abhorrent. We were down 3 at the end of the 1st and then Monty went with his all bench lineup completely refusing to stagger and sat there and watched the lead balloon to 20 points.

Monty is a big part of the problem. He is completely unable to adjust on the fly. We have a few guys who consistently defend and play hard. We could play them, press a bit, adjust tempo and energy. Instead we get 30+ minutes of Torey Craig chucking fast breaks out of bounds and taking momentum shifting quick 3s that he bricks over and over.

We need a trade, and we need Monty to start actually learning from this BS or getting through to the players because this is like the 7th time we have underperformed the spread by 40 POINTS this season. This problem is way more than just needing better bench scoring.

And I'll add we had this problem even with Booker and we are not untalented as is. Our bench includes the NBA's leading 3 point shooters and a super elite defender in Okogie. Saric is also not terrible. And Saben Lee has performed well for us. Nobody is forcing Monty to play 4-5 bench players at the same time, none of whom can playmake. He could very easily stagger Book, Mikal, CP3, Cam and Ayton into those units and play 2-3 bench players instead. He just doesn't do it.

Craig needs to go back to the bench.

He has the most insane turnovers and that one where he had a wide open streaking Cam and he just inexplicably throws it out of bounds not even close to Cam is just the absolute worst example of why you don't want him playing heavy minutes with his low BBIQ.

He wasn't the sole reason why we lost but that was one of the highlights of dumb basketball.

Torrey Craig has to have compromising photos of Monty because he gets triple the minutes he should. He plays hard, but is no better at anything than ish. Neither are better than Okogie. Lee leads the NBA in 3 point shooting. Saric I can say at least has better size than Torrey and is a very good passer for his position while being a higher IQ player. I just do not understand Craig playing more than some of our legitimate starters. Craig should be on the short leash Monty gives Ayton at times.

If only Saric were a little quicker and could jump a bit higher because his slow foot speed is a real liability sometimes.

Agreed Craig should be on a short leash but we just don't have anyone else with size, Okogie is fine defensively but at 6'4 he isn't a PF so JJ better be finding Jae's replacement asap.

[Saberestar]

I can't help but wonder what this team would play like under Willie Green instead of Monty. Monty has not been the same since he left. We put forth this type of effort consistently. Hell, Game 7 of the playoffs. And when people say we had COVID, supposedly that was coaches.

Are you referring to the HC from the Pelicans who has lost 9 consecutive games?

Yeah, he is adjusting on the fly...

[Djedefre]

Monty needs to walk. These types of disgraceful performances have become a norm.

[Calvin Klein]

holy ****. I'm so glad I went to bed early for this one.

[SkyBill40]

holy ****. I'm so glad I went to bed early for this one.

I knew I wouldn't be the only one.

Sent from my [Samsung Z4 Fold] using RealGM mobile app

[sunsfan1o1]

Craig had Cam wide open on the side instead proceeds to shoot and brick it.

I like his hustle but his basketball IQ is the worst.

He’s a scrub. Monty loves playing scrubs like him and Shamet 20+ minutes a night and Ayton less than 30. It’s all he knows. Monty was a scrub too so he must feel some type of connection to them.

[Frank Lee]

Atlanta has too many athletes… too much quickness. I didn’t watch but the first half. But it looked like they were GrandPaul hunting on most possessions. Has Paul regressed to a Nash-like liability on Defense? We try to hide him. Who can stay in front of a quick guard? May be Okogie? Bridges gets by with his chase down length, but I think Paul’s days as a good defender have passed. He’s sneaky with his hands and will get a steal now and then when players are careless, but I can’t get PBev’s ‘traffic cone’ label out my head.

[Qwigglez]

holy ****. I'm so glad I went to bed early for this one.

I knew I wouldn't be the only one.

Sent from my [Samsung Z4 Fold] using RealGM mobile app

Hey me too guys! I watched the first few minutes, the Hawks hit a barrage of 3s and then went to sleep.

[bwgood77]

Can't really take too much from this game. Any time a team shoots 57% from 3 and you shoot 14%, you're going to lose big time. It's an anomaly. Bad shooting games happen.

Didn't read this whole thread but did catch up on the main thread. Too many people in my opinion have too high of highs and low of lows after wins/losses. A game like this doesn't tell us how good we are. We are missing our best player and 3 of our top 4 guards. Cam struggling with shooting. Hopefully Payne gets healthy and it sounds like we will get Book back soon (fingers crossed he can stay healthy).

The only thing this game tells us for sure is that Ayton sucks, obviously, as usual.

[bwgood77]

Atlanta has too many athletes… too much quickness. I didn’t watch but the first half. But it looked like they were GrandPaul hunting on most possessions. Has Paul regressed to a Nash-like liability on Defense? We try to hide him. Who can stay in front of a quick guard? May be Okogie? Bridges gets by with his chase down length, but I think Paul’s days as a good defender have passed. He’s sneaky with his hands and will get a steal now and then when players are careless, but I can’t get PBev’s ‘traffic cone’ label out my head.

How about them going 19 of 33 from 3 (57.6%) and us going 4/28? Even if they shot 39.4% (making 13 of 33) and we shot 35.7%, that's a 34 pt swing.

That's them shooting 4% better, and for the year, we are actually 38.4% (4th in league, even without much of Cam, and Paul/Book missing a ton), among others, and for the year they are 35.1%, or 21st.

It's just a hot night from them and a cold night from us from deep. And on high volume for both teams.

That's the entire difference.

[Frank Lee]

No props for their D? No digs for ours? How about shot selection?

Its not always explained with stats. Sometimes there are reasons for those numbers.

Move on i guess, but it would be interesting to see how many times weve been down 20+, 25+, Etc compared to the rest?

[AtheJ415]

I can't help but wonder what this team would play like under Willie Green instead of Monty. Monty has not been the same since he left. We put forth this type of effort consistently. Hell, Game 7 of the playoffs. And when people say we had COVID, supposedly that was coaches.

Are you referring to the HC from the Pelicans who has lost 9 consecutive games?

Yeah, he is adjusting on the fly...

The one who kicked our ass with half his team injured in the playoffs? Yeah. That one. Let me ask you, how many times has he underperformed the spread by 40 points this season? Do you understand how monumentally insane it is that Monty ROUTINELY doesn't just lose games by a few points, but gets absolutely OBLITERATED with the better team? The gap in NBA Talent between teams is not that big. Teams shouldn't be losing to any other teams by more than 15 points very often. We are routinely losing by 30-40+ in favored games. It's insane.

[Saberestar]

I can't help but wonder what this team would play like under Willie Green instead of Monty. Monty has not been the same since he left. We put forth this type of effort consistently. Hell, Game 7 of the playoffs. And when people say we had COVID, supposedly that was coaches.

Are you referring to the HC from the Pelicans who has lost 9 consecutive games?

Yeah, he is adjusting on the fly...

The one who kicked our ass with half his team injured in the playoffs? Yeah. That one. Let me ask you, how many times has he underperformed the spread by 40 points this season? Do you understand how monumentally insane it is that Monty ROUTINELY doesn't just lose games by a few points, but gets absolutely OBLITERATED with the better team? The gap in NBA Talent between teams is not that big. Teams shouldn't be losing to any other teams by more than 15 points very often. We are routinely losing by 30-40+ in favored games. It's insane.

Come on, we won 4-2. They didn't have Zion and we didn’t have Book for some games.

And It took me 30 seconds to find that only two times we have lost by 30+ points.