Hawks (4-3) vs. Heat (5-3)

[ATL Boy]

Post Lebron, and the Heat have gotten off to a good start this season, with Bosh as their main focal point. The division is up for grabs this year without the Heat steamrolling through it, we have to win these types of home games against division rivals.
[tweet]https://twitter.com/SekouSmithNBA/status/533305468308168705[/tweet]
We need to take advantage of the point guard matchup. Chalmers and Napier won't be able to guard Teague if he stays aggressive, and they can't keep up with Dennis' speed, I'm predicting that our PGs feast tonight.

[Hawk Eye]

Was just getting ready to post a GT, appreciate you setting it up mate. Anyways, we definitely have a chance tonight considering wades out. This is a game where Teague needs to recognize that Chalmers, Napier, or Cole can't stay in front of him. He better come in with that killer instinct tonight.

[azuresou1]

Big divisional game for us. Didn't realize Wade is out - we'll need to really take advantage of that.

[Hawkeyes]

Have to take advantage of Wade being out and grab this win vs a division opponent

[Maroko]

Have a nice game guys, hope Millsap wont go beast mode against us

[Hero Antic]

D-Wade not playing

[SBM]

Teague, Teague, Teague, that is all you people want to talk about. Al Horford needs to raise his game and Sap needs to come through with more consistent performances. That is what I will look for tonight.

[Hero Antic]

Horford looking good in the early going, and Thabo finally coming thru!

[DirtybirdGA]

Not lookin so hot at the end of the 2nd...ran of of steam i guess.

[Jamaaliver]

Dennis with the sweet no look pass to JT0 on the break.

That's two straight assists and a steal for DS in a span of 35 seconds.

It's unforgivable that this kid spent so much time buried on the bench.

It's frightening how close we came to missing out on all of this. If he hadn't exploded like he did in 9 minutes against SAS, he might still be 3rd string stuck on the bench.

Now, he's suddenly a potential pillar of the franchise moving forward.

[Jamaaliver]

I really hate how much we depend on 3-pt shooting.

When we're hot, it's great. But when we aren't, we seem to force a lot of bad shots.

We need a consistent inside scorer to bridge us through bad shooting stretches.

[ATL Boy]

Dennis with the sweet no look pass to JT0 on the break.

That's two straight assists and a steal for DS in a span of 35 seconds.

It's unforgivable that this kid spent so much time buried on the bench.

It's frightening how close we came to missing out on all of this. If he hadn't exploded like he did in 9 minutes against SAS, he might still be 3rd string stuck on the bench.

Now, he's suddenly a potential pillar of the franchise moving forward.

The exact same thing happened with Teague. He would've rotted away had Hinrich not gotten hurt in that Orlando series.


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[Hawk Eye]

Just finished watching the game. What a great game from our squad.

Idk who that williams kid is kn the heat but man he can shoot. They should run him off of more screens to find open looks. Mack contributed great for us tonight going 5/5 from the field and two 3's. The ONLY thing that's not rusty from Horfords game is his jump shot. His inside post presence still needs a ton of work as well as his rebounding. I think he really needs to get the pump/head fake going when he's in the paint. This Miami team was holding opponents to an average 96ppg before tonight. We had tons of guys that scored in double figures tonight and it was just an overall solid team effort and a fun game to watch. It felt SO good to see Thabos first three fall to!

[ATL Boy]

8 players scored in double figures tonight. That's really great to see.

[atlantabbq99]

Good game for everybody.

It seem like the Hawks were just toying with the Heat throughout the whole game.

Great to finally see a good offensive game from Horford and Thabo

But of course Wade didn't play

[HMFFL]

Excellent game all around.

[Jamaaliver]

A couple of interesting points put forward by AJC Beat Writer C-Viv:

2. The Hawks struggled early on the boards but it’s clear the gang-rebounding message preached by coach Mike Budenholzer is making a difference. For the second straight game, the Hawks out-rebounded an opponent. Against the Heat, the edge was 36-32. It made a difference in the Hawks being able to run and get into its offense quicker.

4. There was plenty of praise in the Hawks’ postgame locker room for Dennis Schroder. The second-year point guard continued an impressive stretch. He finished with 10 points, six assists, two steals and zero turnovers.

“Dennis, his confidence seems to get bigger every game,” Horford said. “It’s a really good sign to see.”

5. Thabo Sefolosha has been impressive defensively this season. He has performed well in subbing for DeMarre Carroll in the starting lineup the past two games. Sefolosha finished with 12 points against the Heat. The best sign was that one of his four field goals was a 3-pointer – his first of the season after starting with eight straight misses.

[ATLHawksfan21]

That Thabo signing is proving to be huge for us. We were 1-8 in games without Demarre last year and are now 2-0. Hopefully, his 3 pt shot gets more consistent now that he finally made the first one.

I'm ready for a strong showing against the Cavs now. The only problem is we will likely have to beat them and the refs.

[Rip2137]

Dennis with the sweet no look pass to JT0 on the break.

That's two straight assists and a steal for DS in a span of 35 seconds.

It's unforgivable that this kid spent so much time buried on the bench.

It's frightening how close we came to missing out on all of this. If he hadn't exploded like he did in 9 minutes against SAS, he might still be 3rd string stuck on the bench.

Now, he's suddenly a potential pillar of the franchise moving forward.

The worse thing we could have done with Dennis would be to show him "you can be sloppy and unprofessional and you still wont have to earn your minutes over a young guy playing better than you". Demarre Carroll on commentary last night when they talked about Dennis said "He just had to learn to be a professional on AND off the court". This is the second time that Carroll has pointed out that it was Dennis's professionalism that was a problem last year. Try at said, those minutes of D-League and a little humbling have gone a long way towards having a serviceable player versus that near useless one last year.

[Jamaaliver]

The worse thing we could have done with Dennis would be to show him "you can be sloppy and unprofessional and you still wont have to earn your minutes over a young guy playing better than you". Demarre Carroll on commentary last night when they talked about Dennis said "He just had to learn to be a professional on AND off the court". This is the second time that Carroll has pointed out that it was Dennis's professionalism that was a problem last year. Try at said, those minutes of D-League and a little humbling have gone a long way towards having a serviceable player versus that near useless one last year.

This is absolutely a great point. Both by you and by Demarre. I have no doubt that, at his age, professionalism was a needed lesson for the young PG.

I would also mention that confidence is a key part of this as well. Both Dennis and Bud have mentioned a growing confidence in the young man. I mentioned as much over the summer when he was playing for the German National Team. Playing through mistakes, adjusting on the fly, has helped him immensely.

What I saw in those games was that...given the minutes, the opportunity, DS could adjust in-game and make a huge impact. So often last year, he'd make a poor play and immediately get yanked. And then wouldn't see the floor again for days at a time. While doing so may have taught him professionalism, I fear that it also hurt his confidence. When he would eventually make it back into a game, often he seemed hesitant and gun-shy.

Adnin said it very well back in February:

This is what I was thinking. Dennis had a great 4th quarter against the Pacers and even led the charge in our comeback, sure he had that one bad turnover near the end but what kind of a message does it send when one turnover potentially undoes a full quarter of good work. I don't want him to become paranoid and hesitant like how Teague was a few years ago.

The fact that Bud only played him sparingly in the first 3 games this season really hammers it home. Clearly Dennis has progressed since last season...but I fear we wouldn't even see him on the court today if Mack hadn't started out so poorly.