Season Opener Game 1: Hawks vs Knicks

[jayu70]

Why would Pierce pronounce him starter months ago?

You mean the way Ayton was named starter from the jump?
Or the way Luka was named starter from the jump?

According TO YOU, THERE WAS ONLY ONE QUESTION to be answered:

The only question should be 'is Trae young the best PG on this team today'

Answer: Yes.

If it was as simple as being the best PG on the team, he'd have been named starter weeks ago.
But he wasn't. Because there are waaaay more questions to consider.

Trae is now the starter. And I'll support that. But he isn't ready.

Not yet anyway.

I'm not sure why this is difficult. There was a competition. He proved to Pierce during training camp and preseason that he was the best PG on the team to start TODAY.

Just because he wasn't handed the role on draft day doesn't mean he didn't earn it over the course of SL, practice, training camp and preseason.

[Jamaaliver]

I'm not sure why this is difficult. There was a competition. He proved to Pierce during training camp and preseason that he was the best PG on the team to start TODAY.

Just because he wasn't handed the role on draft day doesn't mean he didn't earn it over the course of SL, practice, training camp and preseason.

We're no longer having the same argument.

Trae Young isn't ready to lead an NBA team. He's been named starter and I'll support that decision. But it's going to be a long, ugly road.

Because he is a long ways from being ready.

I feel he'd be better off starting on the bench as a rookie. A sentiment I've held for months now.

[kg01]

Heh, @jamallll you're always fist-fightin' somebody.

I won't argue with you on Rayford being ready/not-ready. I will say though that his "readiness" is impacted mightily by the players around him and, since they each appear to have some "readiness" concerns, he's impacted greatly.

I grade him on a curve due to that but that's just me.

See, I'm being more civil towards you.

[macd-gm]

He's ready to lead this team. I believe that wholeheartedly. All players will make mistakes their first few years. He will make plenty but I don't see the harm in him taking the reigns now.

[jayu70]

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[ChokeFasncists]

Missed game. What happened with Lin. Seemed like he had good Q1 - pulled after couple of made shots, a steal, a rebound in 4 minutes of play. Sat with about 2 minutes left on Q1 - only played three minutes in second quarter, and then four minutes in second half.

Yea, the Knicks announcers were wondering why they took him out right after he scored twice. I suspect it's some kinda scientific protocol. Kinda like how the Sixers brought Embiid along slowly after being out for two years.

[ChokeFasncists]

Vince speaks:

Vince Carter had a different view of the reason why the Hawks crumbled on defense in the second quarter. The Hawks’ shots weren’t falling. On teams he has been on in the past, when shots don’t go in, players sometimes tend to forget they have to play defense and don’t get back after an empty offensive possession. At halftime, Carter took it upon himself to tell the locker room that it’s natural to feel defeated if the ball isn’t going in the basket. But players have to move on and not let it bleed into defense.

“We have to understand that regardless of if we’re playing lights out offensively or laying an egg, we can still defend,” Carter said. “Our effort has to be there. That’s something we can’t allow. This is a blessing in disguise because we felt like we played well in the preseason. Now we can watch film and see what went wrong. We can’t fool ourselves because the film doesn’t lie. I think it’s good for us to see the painful truth. I think it’s how we grow. It’s tough when you win by 20 or 30 to grow because all you look at are the positives and see us just hitting shots. Now we can grow. This is how we can get better. We’ll see all of our faults and see what was asked of us and what we didn’t do. This is good.”

Yea, we're talking about the most points scored in a quarter in their franchise history. And they're a very young and clearly not a very good team right now, just streaky.

I can imagine LP being quite happy that he has this teaching material so soon.

[bws94]

I don't think Trae won the job through anything as Lin isn't physically ready to play at his normal level yet. To me, it isn't a point of who is the best PG but the one that can play the minutes now. And I don't think it matters which one starts though getting Trae to be the starter is the goal of the franchise and Lin is an expiring rental. What I want to know is eventually, will Trae and Lin play together? Because there's nothing wrong with going with 2 PGs if the matchups allow for it. That'll help both Trae and Lin. And Lin is a combo guard, anyway.

[atlantabbq99]

T.Y. needs to start, regardless of what ever Lin does. Trae needs to start for the same reason why Ryan and Chipper needed to start when they were rookies.

[Jamaaliver]

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The offense showed flashes of what it can be and was reasonably effective in putting up 107 points. Taurean Prince led the way with 21 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Trae Young and Kent Bazemore chipped in 14 points each.

The defense is where the majority of the issues lied. Atlanta let key players for New York like Tim Hardaway Jr. and Enes Kanter get going and they were supported by rookie Alonzo Trier, who surprised everyone coming off the bench to score 15 points in 26 minutes.

Here are three key takeaways from the 2018-19 season opener in New York:

The defense needs work

The defense was missing assignments and rotations, and that cost Atlanta dearly. This team is going to struggle to score with the better teams in the league, so its main focus should be defense when going up against more talented teams. it was easy to tell how much Atlanta misses John Collins. Look for an improved defensive effort and for the young guys to be more sure of their spots once they get a few more games under their belts.


Hawks place emphasis on small-ball

The Hawks’ starting lineup for opening night was:

1. Trae Young
   
2. Vince Carter
   
3. Kent Bazemore
   
4. Taurean Waller-Prince
   
5. Alex Len

Carter was likely the first choice to replace Collins in the starting 5 due to his leadership and court presence, but it was interesting to see Alex Poythress as the first player coach Pierce brought in off the bench. The NBA is trending in a way that we don’t really see traditional power forwards anymore. The small-ball game plan is in place for this team and even when John Collins comes back, expect to see him spend a good amount of time at the center position while being surrounded by shooters.


Passing is key for Trae Young

He looked more comfortable than expected when running the offense. Some of the burden was taken off of his shoulders in the playmaking aspect because Waller-Prince was tasked with much of it as well, leading the team with six dimes.

Young’s shot has always been what got him places, but now what his team needs from him more than ever is his facilitation abilities.

[jayu70]

Interesting stuff:
A breakdown of Turnovers: these types of plays should improve the more they play together. Lots of mistimed reads and wrong reads from other players and not neccessarily the ballhandler.

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[steady]

Geat article
I guess conclusion is that while never good to lose season opener if you’re going to lose doing so in huge fashion like Hawks did is at least great for film review study

[ChokeFasncists]

^
Yea, Prince is trying to be a playmaker, he said he watches his own films a lot, hope he gets it soon.

Spellman is too concern with spreading the floor it looks like.