Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Atlanta Hawks

[Joshyjess]

They need a PG who actually knows what the word "Defense" means.

[Jamaaliver]

Hawks had the #2 offense in the league. So that has to count for something. But it was too often inconsistent and predictable. Defense needs improvement.

I'd replace Nate McMillan with Mike D'Antoni or Kenny Atkinson.

And trade Capela plus change for Gobert.

Draft Ochai Agbaji. And take the regular season seriously next year.

Mostly, the offense needs updating to put Trae off ball more often and include more off ball screens and movement in general.

[jbk1234]

Hawks had the #2 offense in the league. So that has to count for something. But it was too often inconsistent and predictable. Defense needs improvement.

I'd replace Nate McMillan with Mike D'Antoni or Kenny Atkinson.

And trade Capela plus change for Gobert.

Draft Ochai Agbaji. And take the regular season seriously next year.

Mostly, the offense needs updating to put Trae off ball more often and include more off ball screens and movement in general.

You might need to put your off-season on cheat mode to make all this happen.

[Jamaaliver]

You might need to put your off-season on cheat mode to make all this happen.

Hiring an unemployed coach and trading for an unwanted/underutilized player?

[dygaction]

Hawks had the #2 offense in the league. So that has to count for something. But it was too often inconsistent and predictable. Defense needs improvement.

I'd replace Nate McMillan with Mike D'Antoni or Kenny Atkinson.

And trade Capela plus change for Gobert.

Draft Ochai Agbaji. And take the regular season seriously next year.

Mostly, the offense needs updating to put Trae off ball more often and include more off ball screens and movement in general.

When you need defense hiring Mike Antoni does not sound like a good idea.

Hawks playmaking from other players are really limited. If they can pull off Bogdan + x for Brogdon, and John Collins + y for Miles Bridges s&t. Hawks may have to add values as Collins' value is all time low now.
Trae/Brogdon/Hunter/Miles Bridges/Capela and you can have two of Trae/Brogdon/Bridges on the court all the time to keep the offense going.

[Threezus]

I've got

keep the GM
Fire the coach maybe if we can find better
Performed worse than expected
Rising or Treadmill.

The last one i put both depending on what we do this offseason. If we find another star to pair with Trae then i will say rising team. If we stick with the same ole thing and run it back without adding a legit 2nd star then i think we will start treadmilling.

2nd star? whose the first one?

smh as usual people acting foolish over 1 series and a 6 game stretch. Anyone who has multiple all star appearances is top 5 in both ppg, apg, and per leads the league in the 1st 2 for overall total. While also getting votes to a all pro selection is and will be considered a star player. To say other wise is just ignorant and foolish from anyone. Me saying this would have nothing to do with Trae either any player that can say that i don't care if he was on a team i hated or not i would consider a star player as should anyone.

[jbk1234]

You might need to put your off-season on cheat mode to make all this happen.

Hiring an unemployed coach and trading for an unwanted/underutilized player?

I don't think Agjabi is on the board when the Hawks pick, and if the Jazz put Gobert on the trade block, they'll have plenty of interested suitors. An injured Capela and *change* won't get it done.

[Raps in 4]

The Hawks just aren't that good. Last year was a fluke run. They have Trae, a top-20 player, and a bunch of role players around him. Trae isn't good enough to carry that team. He needs at least one other star on the roster.

[TinmanZBoy]

Seriously I want MDA to coach this team

[Bruin]

Remember when Trae said the regular season is boring compared to the playoffs? Feel like this team needs more veteran presence. Trae needed this humbling imo

[God Squad]

Hawks got lucky last year IMO and had to crawl into the play-IN this year. I don't think Trae is as good as his regular season numbers suggest, particularly in the playoffs where everything tightens up and he can be targeted all game long lol.

That boy coudln't defend a shadow.

[Wolfgang630]

Trae is a star player. He’s not a superstar. You’ll need someone better than him on the team if you want to win a championship

[Exp0sed]

I've got

keep the GM
Fire the coach maybe if we can find better
Performed worse than expected
Rising or Treadmill.

The last one i put both depending on what we do this offseason. If we find another star to pair with Trae then i will say rising team. If we stick with the same ole thing and run it back without adding a legit 2nd star then i think we will start treadmilling.

2nd star? whose the first one?

smh as usual people acting foolish over 1 series and a 6 game stretch. Anyone who has multiple all star appearances is top 5 in both ppg, apg, and per leads the league in the 1st 2 for overall total. While also getting votes to a all pro selection is and will be considered a star player. To say other wise is just ignorant and foolish from anyone. Me saying this would have nothing to do with Trae either any player that can say that i don't care if he was on a team i hated or not i would consider a star player as should anyone.

let's suppose there are 500 guys around the world who are amazing shooters and have great handles and other basketball skills on an NBA level, only prob is those 500 guys are 5'5 or 5'7 or 5'9.

let's say they're also great passers, u could plug them on an NBA team and they'd be quicker (they're smaller after all) then most of their defenders, they could shoot well enough especially if they had the long long range in their arsenal (just taking 30 ft uncontested threes) and they could rack up assists. Prob is - they wouldn't be able to guard anyone, at all

that's why you don't see those guys in the NBA

now, I'm not saying that Trae is on that level..(he's 6'1 for starters which is considerably taller than those hypotethical guys)
and he's much better than them, he has a knack for gaming the refs and getting to the line very frequently where he converts at high clip and he has shown ability to be a good competitor last season

i'm saying that on a scale from those YMCA super talented 5'7 guys to a star two way NBA PG - He's a lot lower than many ppl here claim he is

in the rs he def has a solid impact, he gives as good as he gets and then some

but in the playoffs that impact is mitigated vs. some opponents and could be rendered utterly useless by other matchups (such as the series we just witnessed)

it's not just 'one series', his FG% has been quite bad in the Playoffs in general. it was only the absurd amount of phantom and fake calls he was getting last season, that got him to a respectable TS%

Vs. smart long teams that don't foul him and just double and contest - there is no way he can deliever 'star' impact on the offensive end and he's a complete liability in the Playofs on D

besides, that 'one' series raised a lot of red flags..
it wasn't just bad or ineffective, I mean dude when he only got to the line about 6.5 times per game and wasn't bailed out by the refs and actually targeted and game planned for by a team that has the tools to do it, he had 6 Assists on 6 TO a game...

Last year no1 really counted the Hawks, this year when they were taken seriously from day one and the game plan was Trae - he wasn't playable on either end

if that's ur idea of a star, that's fine. but it's not mine

obviously he will have better success in the future, but after what we've already seen (not just vs Miami) - i'd be very weary to build around him

all this talk of him developing an off ball game is indeed critical, cuz otherwise when he's smothered and his shot isn't falling - he's useless

I didn't think he was a top 20 player b4 this series and I certainly don't think that now

it's cool that was 1-2 in PPG\AST in the regular season. good for him. I don't think he can replicate that in the Postseason

Even last season when he supposedly had a great playoff run, he was only shooting 31% from 3 and 41% from the field
He played against Thibs and Doc who are both dumb and didn't take enough advantage but Trae can be exploited on defense, moreso than almost any other 'star' I can think of

that's just my opinion, I hope he continues to grows I have nothing against him he makes me laugh

srry but allstar spots aren't indicative of anything except his popularity, he can be amazing on offense and offense trumps defense - so his impact is there, he's a good player! but I just don't see his brand of Basketball getting the Hawks to contender status, not if he's the best player on that team

good player, fun to watch (sometimes) - not a star

[RatherUnique]

One of the worst ever series we’ve seen from a star player. Definitely in the conversation for worst ever.

He refused to hunt weaker Heat defenders (Herro/Strus) on the switch & then go iso with no screen like Luka, Harden, or Bron would’ve done over & over & over again. Instead he insisted on calling high PnR with Bam directly involved in the action. When that repeatedly failed he didn’t even want the ball anymore

It was maddening. If Bam was on the Jazz, Luka would just pick on Conley/Mitchell/Bojan/Clarkson instead.

Its quite amazing that he can make every single play if he’s playing out of high PnR against a drop coverage big, but he has absolutely no answers if your big man can switch.

He needs to develop that specific plan b. Watch (prime) Harden, Bron and yes watch Luka too Go entire games just iso’ing the other team’s worst defender repeatedly, no pick and roll. Accept the trap when it comes, instruct your teammates on how to beat it.

Some of this is coaching. You look at what the Clippers did to the Jazz last year, or what Dallas did to them before Luka returned. The coaching staff was driving the gameplan. Nate leaves a LOT to be desired in this regard & would be shown the door if not for that run last year….
Against a bunch of drop bigs

So unfortunately Atlanta will likely burn another year with Nate at the helm & get eliminated by a team that can switch that high PnR.

Hopefully for them, Nate/Trae will make the adjustments above to improve their luck against an elite switching defense.

[HumbleRen]

My picks

Fire The Coach.
Performed under my expectations.
Treadmill team.

I think they should move on from Collins, he can't be a #2.

[God Squad]

Hawks players on the the block for me

Collins
Galli
Huerter
Capela

Keep Huerter if the deals a weak. Collins needs to be moved asap. Fire McMillan and hire Kenny Atkinson.

[Hawkamanic81]

Trae is a piece of garbage. And I say this as someone who has watched the Hawks for long enough.

You can't play this badly and still be considered a superstar. Miami stole his soul. He might even be next years Ben Simmons. He is broken. But the Hawks basic have no choice but to continue to fool themselves about Trae's supposed greatness. His is fools gold at this point.

His play in this series will follow him for the rest of his career. As it should.

They don't have hardly anything going for them. They are poorly ran, they have a mediocre at best coach, almost none of their young players are panning out, they have lots of injury prone players and they have a terrible GM that doesn't know how to draft. Cap was also way worse this year than last year.

This team is back on the way down. Man, their rise surely didn't last very long, did it? But that's what happens when you have terrible ownership/management.

[DroseReturnChi]

trade collins he is a garbage men. i warned this everyone thought he was better than lauri smh.

[DroseReturnChi]

Hawks had the #2 offense in the league. So that has to count for something. But it was too often inconsistent and predictable. Defense needs improvement.

I'd replace Nate McMillan with Mike D'Antoni or Kenny Atkinson.

And trade Capela plus change for Gobert.

Draft Ochai Agbaji. And take the regular season seriously next year.

Mostly, the offense needs updating to put Trae off ball more often and include more off ball screens and movement in general.

they need to build around trae and hunter and add a 2nd reliable playmaker like irving.

[Branduil]

If I were the Hawks I would try to add 3&D guys around the core of Trae/Hunter/Capela. Use Collins and one of Huerter/Bogdan as the trade-bait to get those guys. Keep the other of Huerter/Bogdan as a 6th man. As long as Trae is on the team, they're going to need as many defenders as they can get, you're not gonna win anything with the 26th-ranked defense.