PG (Atl): Raps take Hawk Two-Ah in Toronto (25/26 edition)

[YogurtProducer]

Lmao i dont think this fanbase will ever be satisfied with a PG tbh. IQ had 16 points on 62 TS% and was +8 far from a bad game. He had 0 assists but he was working off ball a lot and we had 34 assists as a team anyways.

Because there are many possessions both offensively and defensively IQ ruins. There was a reason he got benched for a 2nd rounder who wasn't even playing that well.

I swear, it feels like some people dont watch any of the games and just go to the box score lol.

I watch the game lmao he had some rough possesions but was shooting pretty well and we won his minutes by like 2 less points than Sheads. In general we do pretty well with IQ on the floor EPM isnt the be all end all but on the season hes at a +1.7 which is one of the higher on team. People overreact to 2-3 possesions a game. Hes not a perfect player and a bit overpaid but hes doing more good than bad most of the time.

Yep.

Shead has a lot of flaws to. Go rematch the last 4 minutes and look how he got defended and how it honestly took some amazing shot making by BI and our other guys. Then go watch IQs minutes and look at the vast difference in spacing.

Defensively, Shead is better and also can give 110% on D be cause he plays half as many minutes. It’s the classic trap fans fall into. Starters can’t be giving that same effort for an entire game that bench guys do. Especially when they’re also a key offensive cog. And that’s fine. That’s why you have Sheads on your bench.

[Clay Davis]

Hawk tuah!! We gave em the Hawk tuah twice in a row! Rizz rizz.

[YogurtProducer]

I hadn't really noticed it before tbh. But that play with 5 minutes left when IQ got kinda shoved out of bounds under the net and turned the ball over.....scott was near center court with his hands turned out the whole time and then motioned for IQ to have used his screen earlier in the play going up the court.

Shead subbed in around 30 seconds later. But it's also easy to read too much into this stuff.

id like to see the play again. I remember watching it thinking whoever was the close corner didn’t help the situation at all by not moving or cutting.

IQ kept his dribble alive but got kind of trapped due to that. But like I said, I haven’t been able to see a replay so I could be wrong

I just watched it again. It was Jakobe and yes, he could've done more to provide an outlet rather than standing still. He kinda flinched in the outlet direction and Risarcher read it well.

It was actually just a really good defensive play by Daniels to be honest. But Barnes reaction was definitely directed at IQ and from what i can tell....his point was "why didnt you use my screen and attack from the other side of the court". Wish i could hear what Barnes was saying but he simulates a screen and motions behind himself.

Where’d you see the clip? Can you link it?

[PushDaRock]

you want to pay the tax for trae?

It's not my money, so why not?

There's probably still a move or 2 to get below the tax anyways if they really prioritized doing it.

We would have to trade one of the starters to get under the tax in your scenario

I don't think they would prioritize ducking the tax anymore if they traded for him, I'm just saying it's probably still possible if they absolutely had to.

[bape_lovers]

The replaceable starter.

We're among the worst offenses in the league without RJ and among the best with him

[LoveMyRaps]

lol and then you’ll go back to complaining we don’t have a 5.

When did I say trade Poeltl for Trae?

I was responding to the poster that said Poeltl is better than Trae.

Please consider the full context next time.

Full context was discussing a Poeltl for Trae trade. Maybe YOU need to consider the full context next time

I’m not sure why you’re tryna be a smart ass.

The poster I responded to said Poeltl would be the best player in a potential IQ-Poeltl-Trae trade. I disagreed and stated Trae is a better player.

And that was that.

Then you came along, started shifting the goalposts, and taking things out of context.

Anyways, this isn’t gonna anywhere. I don’t want to engage in this petty back and forth, so have a good night.

[bape_lovers]

I was ready to pop Champagne, but **** refs ruined it

dammit, I wish we won that Denver game. Would've been a great 5 game stretch for us.

Should've went to OT the fukin zebras want to celebrate New Years early, facts.

[PushDaRock]

If Jak manages to regain his form when he comes back, we might actually have one of the better front court situations in the league. Jak, Scottie, Mamu and CMB is formidable. I think we would see some more jumbo lineups out there too with Scottie or CMB at the 3 with everyone available.

[Tor_Raps]

you want to pay the tax for trae?

It's not my money, so why not?

There's probably still a move or 2 to get below the tax anyways if they really prioritized doing it.

We would have to trade one of the starters to get under the tax in your scenario

Almost half of the league pays the luxury tax man, stop treating it like something so extreme lol

[DreamTeam09]

a lot posters thought we weren't going to be good this year, a lot of posters thought RJ wasn't a good player & wasn't good for our team....a lot of posters didn't think Barnes could take a leap

[mihaic]

In other news:
The Hornets blew out the Thunder in Oklahoma.
Undermanned Nuggets beat Philly in OT.

[Madvillainy2004]

Because there are many possessions both offensively and defensively IQ ruins. There was a reason he got benched for a 2nd rounder who wasn't even playing that well.

I swear, it feels like some people dont watch any of the games and just go to the box score lol.

I watch the game lmao he had some rough possesions but was shooting pretty well and we won his minutes by like 2 less points than Sheads. In general we do pretty well with IQ on the floor EPM isnt the be all end all but on the season hes at a +1.7 which is one of the higher on team. People overreact to 2-3 possesions a game. Hes not a perfect player and a bit overpaid but hes doing more good than bad most of the time.

Yep.

Shead has a lot of flaws to. Go rematch the last 4 minutes and look how he got defended and how it honestly took some amazing shot making by BI and our other guys. Then go watch IQs minutes and look at the vast difference in spacing.

Defensively, Shead is better and also can give 110% on D be cause he plays half as many minutes. It’s the classic trap fans fall into. Starters can’t be giving that same effort for an entire game that bench guys do. Especially when they’re also a key offensive cog. And that’s fine. That’s why you have Sheads on your bench.

At the end of the day Shead cant score at an NBA level, he has a sub 49 TS% and is a below average shooter. He is deployed exactly as he should be and theres no reason to overexpose him. Also he got subbed with like 4:38 left and we turned it over immediately after he got put in lol

IQ isnt really in a role to get lots of assists we have like 5 solid passers in our starting 5 tonight, especially with RJ back. We had 34 assists as a team the NBA record for assist per game as a team is 31. Wed literally be the best passing team of all time if we passed like we did tonight every game lmao

[mdenny]

Ingram keeps gettimg better and better. There was definitely some risk when we got him but as the season goes on....we are benefitting from that decision more and more. This team was desperate for an offensive star and we got one.

CMB - we knew he was gonna be a gritty hustling post guy with great defense. What we didn't know for sure is how other parts of his game would translate. The thing that sticks out to me even when he hasnt had a big game.....is his PASSING. That is what has me more excited about him than anything else.

The second buggesr development of this season (second to BI) is the bench. Having Mamu, Shead and CMB bodes well. Then we can alternate between Dick and walter based on what's needed for the ninth spot in the playoff rotation.

Another game where IQ sits during crunchtime in addition to some curious body language between him and Darko/scotty in places. It could end up just being a temporary thing while he's struggling. But if there's a 3rd and 4th time....i wonder if that hints towards a trade.

I kinda feel bad for IQ. My impression was that he wasn't gonna be expected to run the offense as a traditional PG. And now he's getting benched for not flourishing in that role because they changed their minds about Barnes doing it. Barnes was visibly NOT pleased with IQ's play a couple times.

Just an observation but I just don't think the chemistry is there between IQ & Scottie. There's been multiple times throughout the season where you see Scottie visibly frustrated with IQ's decision making as a PG.

wait til he plays with Trae Young, he might just ask for a trade

Well that's the big question imo. Does Barnes want to play with a ball dominant pg or not?

If the answer is no.....then IQ was SUPPOSED to be a great fit. But then Barnes ends up deferring so much this season that it often looks like we NEED a traditional pg and IQ is tasked with alot of creation.

If the answer is yes....than maybe we should consider trading for one.

FWIW...it looks like they're making a conscious effort to unburden IQ with doing as much creation the past 4 games. But that means Barnes can't just pick and choose when he wants to initiate. He seems only eager to initiate when there is a clear play to be made. Running the offense also means generating chances when there's not a clear play.

[YogurtProducer]

I watch the game lmao he had some rough possesions but was shooting pretty well and we won his minutes by like 2 less points than Sheads. In general we do pretty well with IQ on the floor EPM isnt the be all end all but on the season hes at a +1.7 which is one of the higher on team. People overreact to 2-3 possesions a game. Hes not a perfect player and a bit overpaid but hes doing more good than bad most of the time.

Yep.

Shead has a lot of flaws to. Go rematch the last 4 minutes and look how he got defended and how it honestly took some amazing shot making by BI and our other guys. Then go watch IQs minutes and look at the vast difference in spacing.

Defensively, Shead is better and also can give 110% on D be cause he plays half as many minutes. It’s the classic trap fans fall into. Starters can’t be giving that same effort for an entire game that bench guys do. Especially when they’re also a key offensive cog. And that’s fine. That’s why you have Sheads on your bench.

At the end of the day Shead cant score at an NBA level, he has a sub 49 TS% and is a below average shooter. He is deployed exactly as he should be and theres no reason to overexpose him. Also he got subbed with like 4:38 left and we turned it over immediately after he got put in lol

IQ isnt really in a role to get lots of assists we have like 5 solid passers in our starting 5 tonight, especially with RJ back. We had 34 assists as a team the NBA record for assist per game as a team is 31. Wed literally be the best passing team of all time if we passed like we did tonight every game lmao

Yep. I like Shead a lot. But the guy is clearly capped as a backup and is inferior to IQ.

I liked IQs game tonight. I’ll take 16ppg on 62TS% any night when the offence was just being spread around all over the place.

But people will say “IQ ruins the offence” despite as you said, us finishing with 34 assists. It’s pretty crazy how well our offence can run with a guy ruining it

[Los_29]

Yep.

Shead has a lot of flaws to. Go rematch the last 4 minutes and look how he got defended and how it honestly took some amazing shot making by BI and our other guys. Then go watch IQs minutes and look at the vast difference in spacing.

Defensively, Shead is better and also can give 110% on D be cause he plays half as many minutes. It’s the classic trap fans fall into. Starters can’t be giving that same effort for an entire game that bench guys do. Especially when they’re also a key offensive cog. And that’s fine. That’s why you have Sheads on your bench.

At the end of the day Shead cant score at an NBA level, he has a sub 49 TS% and is a below average shooter. He is deployed exactly as he should be and theres no reason to overexpose him. Also he got subbed with like 4:38 left and we turned it over immediately after he got put in lol

IQ isnt really in a role to get lots of assists we have like 5 solid passers in our starting 5 tonight, especially with RJ back. We had 34 assists as a team the NBA record for assist per game as a team is 31. Wed literally be the best passing team of all time if we passed like we did tonight every game lmao

Yep. I like Shead a lot. But the guy is clearly capped as a backup and is inferior to IQ.

I liked IQs game tonight. I’ll take 16ppg on 62TS% any night when the offence was just being spread around all over the place.

But people will say “IQ ruins the offence” despite as you said, us finishing with 34 assists. It’s pretty crazy how well our offence can run with a guy ruining it

118 points, 34 assists, 52% from the field. IQ completely destroyed our offense tonight. Ruined everything.

[PushDaRock]

Yep.

Shead has a lot of flaws to. Go rematch the last 4 minutes and look how he got defended and how it honestly took some amazing shot making by BI and our other guys. Then go watch IQs minutes and look at the vast difference in spacing.

Defensively, Shead is better and also can give 110% on D be cause he plays half as many minutes. It’s the classic trap fans fall into. Starters can’t be giving that same effort for an entire game that bench guys do. Especially when they’re also a key offensive cog. And that’s fine. That’s why you have Sheads on your bench.

At the end of the day Shead cant score at an NBA level, he has a sub 49 TS% and is a below average shooter. He is deployed exactly as he should be and theres no reason to overexpose him. Also he got subbed with like 4:38 left and we turned it over immediately after he got put in lol

IQ isnt really in a role to get lots of assists we have like 5 solid passers in our starting 5 tonight, especially with RJ back. We had 34 assists as a team the NBA record for assist per game as a team is 31. Wed literally be the best passing team of all time if we passed like we did tonight every game lmao

Yep. I like Shead a lot. But the guy is clearly capped as a backup and is inferior to IQ.

I liked IQs game tonight. I’ll take 16ppg on 62TS% any night when the offence was just being spread around all over the place.

But people will say “IQ ruins the offence” despite as you said, us finishing with 34 assists. It’s pretty crazy how well our offence can run with a guy ruining it

I don't buy into the not a PG and bad defender stuff, but I do think he needs to be more efficient if he's not going to be a high volume scorer for us. He needs to take more catch and shoot 3's and make a lot of them if that's going to be his primary job.

[Tripod]

This is why +/- is useless.

Walter is good defensively and shoots the 3 alright. He’s far from a negative in his role.

Is it useless when it's a trend?

So just a fluke that Walter is -93 worse than our next worse guy? Come on.

Eye test buddy, use it once in a while instead of just being a stats nerd. Watch some games and look at how good walter defence can be most of the time. Gradey being a +73 and him being 4th best on the team defintely in no way does that mean hes our 4th best player

I watch every game and am far from a stats nerd.

But Walter is clearly an outlier to losing his minutes way more than every other player. You are not -103 by fluke.

[mihaic]

Is it useless when it's a trend?

So just a fluke that Walter is -93 worse than our next worse guy? Come on.

Eye test buddy, use it once in a while instead of just being a stats nerd. Watch some games and look at how good walter defence can be most of the time. Gradey being a +73 and him being 4th best on the team defintely in no way does that mean hes our 4th best player

I watch ever game and am far from a stats nerd.

But Walter is clearly an outlier to losing his minutes way more than every other player. You are not -103 by fluke.

I think they are playing both Dick and Walter as they want to trade one of them. They can claim both are rotation guys. We'll see.

[Tripod]

I think with IQ it's that it would ge nice to have a PG beat his man once and awhile to give others easier looks. After all, lots beat him off the dribble and we have to cover for him.

Then add in that he is supposed to ge our best shooter yet Mamu, CMB, Barnes and RJ all are shooting g better % from 3 right now.

We NEED his 3pt shooting...BI's too. Hopefully he goes on a heater as he has shot 30.5% from 3 his last 13 games. Tonight was a good start.

[Spates]

CMB has tremendous court awareness. I'll say it again and again, he delivers marvelous passes. Delivery is what separates good and great passers. It's an ability that should be utilized more.