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Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets

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Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#1 » by Jamaaliver » Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:24 pm

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The Atlanta Hawks will get the chance to end their 10-game losing streak Sunday against the same team that started it when they host the Charlotte Hornets at State Farm Arena.
The Hornets beat the Hawks 113-102 on Nov. 6. Atlanta (3-16) hasn't won since and its losing streak reached double figures on Friday when the Hawks dropped a 114-96 decision to the Boston Celtics.
Atlanta hasn't won since Nov. 3 and will try to conclude their four-game homestand with a victory.

Atlanta hopes that rookie point guard Trae Young is just experiencing a brief slump. Young has only scored in double figures one time in the last five games.
Young, who leads the team with six double-doubles, ranks third among rookies in scoring (15.6 points) and first in assists (7.8), but had only five points and two assists in his last start against Boston.
Jeremy Lin has picked up the scoring slack of late and has led the team seven times; he had a season-high 26 points on Wednesday against Toronto.
The veteran point guard is averaging 11.4 points and 3.2 assists but is averaging 16.8 points and 4.4 assists in the last five games.

The Hornets are a pretty fair offensive team, averaging 115.1 points -- nearly eight points per game better than Atlanta's average of 106.8. Charlotte has a big advantage on defense, allowing 110.2 points, compared with Atlanta's defensive average of 118.3.
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#2 » by lethalweapon3 » Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:35 pm

Yep, sure, our Atlanta Hawks are Bad. How Bad, though? Just dead-last-place, in this day and age, Bad. That’s not too Bad.
Our Hawks have another uphill climb to avoid losing 11-straight games and getting swept in their four-game holiday homestand at 1 State Farm Drive, this time at the hands of their division rival Charlotte Hornets (6:00 PM Eastern, Fox Sports Southeast, 92.9 FM in ATL).

The dysfunction is contained to the court, thankfully, but it’s quite elementary. If you can’t hit open shots (NBA-worst 31.4 3FG%), but you’re also an awful perimeter defensive team (NBA-worst 12.9 opponent 3FGs/game, 38.2 opponent 3FG%)? There are likely to be a few long nights.

Compound that with lots of unforced errors (17.4 player TOs/game, 2nd-most in NBA), excessive fouling (24.1 personal fouls per game, 5th-most in NBA), and the incapacity of taking advantage of gifts handed to you (23rd in FT%; minus-4.8 net PPG off TOs, 2nd-worst in NBA; NBA-worst minus-6.5 second-chance net PPG)? And then, insist on high-tempo affairs (NBA-high 106.8 Pace) where opponents’ exploitations can be multiplied? Katy isn’t even fast enough to bar the door.

Yet it’s still not all that Bad. These Hawks are not 13-69 in 2004-05 Bad. Even if the team’s ultimate record suggests as much, rest assured, they’re not Antoine Walker and Al Harrington Bad. Not Tom Gugliotta, Obinna Ekezie and Peja Drobnjak Bad. They’re not Danny Manning’s Deacons without John Collins Bad.

Lloyd Pierce knows Bad. The Hawks’ head honcho was there for the early phase of The Process, commanded by Sam Hinkie, when the Sixers came off a 19-63 season, handed the keys to rookie Nerlens Noel and sophomore Michael Carter-Williams, and skidded to an even worse 18-64 season in 2014-15.

Working for second-year head coach Brett Brown, Pierce was there for Luc Mbah a Moute, then a Sixers’ senior citizen at age 28, Hollis Thompson, and Henry Sims. He was there for K.J. McDaniels, JaKarr Sampson, Furkan Aldemir and Tony Wroten. Unlike that abomination of a team, these Hawks (3-16) are a small-b bad team, one with plenty of room, and time, to cut down on its flaws and get better.

These Hawks aren’t 7-59 Bobcats Bad. Just ask Kemba Walker. It took the 2011-12 Bobcats a month before allowing the collegiate star-turned-rookie to get his first NBA start in that lockout-shortened season. He won in his first start, scoring 23 points against Golden State. It wasn’t all his fault that the Bobkittens lost the next 16 games, but he wasn’t able to keep his spot with the first string. Paul Silas was fine letting him sit and allowing fourth-year pro D.J. Augustin show how it’s done.

Kemba turned out more than okay, though. Walker (career-high 28.6 PPG, 53.8 2FG% and 6.4 APG) could very well be one of the nominees for the MVP trophy on NBA Awards Night next June. All he must do is cement the Hornets (9-9) as the best team by default in a wretched Southeast Division, and ensure Charlotte wins enough outside the division to reach the playoffs for the first time in three years, just the third time in his eight seasons as a pro.

Insulating himself from calls to have him mercy-traded to a team perceived as a legitimate contender, only adds to his legacy in the Carolinas. The Hawks have a talented, youthful point guard who would do well to track the career arc of Kemba Walker.

Can we put some hands together for Marvin Williams? We know how things worked out, or didn’t, for Marv here in Atlanta. But here’s a few names from the fateful 2005 Draft – Martell Webster, Ike Diogu, Fran Vasquez, Yaroslav Korolev, Sean May, Rashad McCants. All of them were lottery picks. None of them came close to being Chris Paul, either, but none of them are even in the league today, 13 years later. Nevermind being in a starting lineup.

Marvin wasn’t here for 13-69, but he was around when the Hawks doubled up the prior campaign with a 26-56 season, still finishing next-to-last in the NBA East. He was here with Royal Ivey, Esteban Batista, John Edwards and Salim Stoudamire. Trying to earn minutes as a 19-year-old on a roster whose eldest statesman was a 28-year-old Tyronn Lue. Getting tutelage from Larry Drew and David Fizdale, the assistants toiling under Mike Woodson.

Williams (20 points, 8 rebounds in 113-102 win vs. ATL on Nov. 6) could have let fans’ disappointment with his inability, or reluctance, to develop into stardom eat away at him. Instead, he stayed pragmatic, got his body better-conditioned after moving on from Atlanta, and accentuated his commodities as a reliable frontcourt defender and corner-shooting role player. Borrego highly values the veteran for his “corporate knowledge”, as the coach told the Charlotte Observer, the team and its staff benefitting from the forward’s intelligence, experience and longevity.

Health willing, Marvin will be the first member of the 2005 class – not CP3, certainly not Deron Williams, or Andrew Bogut, or Ray Felton, or Charlie Villanueva or Channing Frye – to appear in his 1,000th NBA game this season. Not many would have foreseen that coming to pass. And while all eyes were on the Hawks’ Vince Carter crossing the 25K mark, on Friday Williams surpassed 10,000 career points himself.

Unlike many past-their-prime veterans, Marvin’s not exactly sitting on his hands as he collects his 14-15 million dollars’ worth of checks, this season and next year. His 59.2 2FG% is a career-best so far, as is his 7.0 turnover percentage, the Hornets allowing him to minimize touches on offensive possessions as often as ever before. But you can bet, when the call from Borrego comes, Marv will have zero problem handing over the starter baton to the most exciting young player to come through Charlotte in some time.

Even in Today’s NBA, Miles Bridges doesn’t have the size to manage the 4-spot full-time. But the 20-year-old rookie has shown off some of the best hops around the rim in the league, even among his peers, and displays no fear of taking shots from deep (40.5 3FG%, 5-for-9 3FGs last five games). As Bridges improves with his passing and at the free throw line, he will become a better option than Williams to play from the jump alongside Walker.

Bridges adds versatility to Borrego’s rotations. Coach JB can play Miles alongside either Williams or starting center Cody Zeller in the frontcourt. With Bridges’ ability to play at small forward, Borrego isn’t pressed into overplaying the shot-struggling Malik Monk, or the oft-struggling Nic Batum, at the wing.

There’s also no urgency to squeeze productive minutes out of disappointing first-rounders Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Frank Kaminsky. Using Marvin as a small-ball five-man behind Zeller renders both $17 million man Bismack Biyombo and Willy Hernangomez a luxury.

Charlotte was one of the last teams that struggled to put Atlanta to bed before the fourth quarter, the Hornets and Hawks going neck-and-neck up to a few minutes into the final frame back on November 6. Marvin, Batum, and Monk scored all the Hornets’ points as they widened a narrow 87-86 lead to 107-92 in under five minutes.

They would much prefer following the recipe of the Celtics, and many of Atlanta’s recent foes, the starters peppering the Hawks with poorly-contested threes off poorly-defended screens, and the reserves holding serve. With Tony Parker (bruised ribs) out momentarily, Borrego would love to rely on Monk and Draft Night trade recipient Devonte’ Graham to rest Kemba today. Their team returns home to meet the Greek Freak tomorrow and hosts a rematch with Atlanta on Wednesday.

Atlanta isn’t undefeated in much, but they still have that sterling 1-0 record in home division games going for them. To be around for a rare close finish, the Hawks cannot rely solely on Carolinians Kent Bazemore (4 blocks, 2 steals @ CHA; active, despite an ankle injury during the 114-96 washout versus Boston) and DeAndre’ Bembry (2 steals, 4 blocks vs. BOS) to make stops and create transition chances.

John Collins, Trae Young and Taurean Prince must make their presences felt around the perimeter, and cannot get overanxious and distracted with their offensive contributions or, in Young and Prince’s cases (combined 2-for-14 FGs vs. BOS), the lack thereof. Young's preoccupation with missing shots makes it simple for Pierce to sub, giving way to Jeremy Lin's preoccupation with making shots (last 5 games: 62.0 FG%, 54.5 3FG%, 16.8 PPG). To be fair, Lin hasn't been neglecting the defensive end, adding 5 D-Rebs and 3 steals to his double-double stat line against the Celts.

Jeremy was Lin-strumental in the last Hawks-Hornets contest as well, going 7-for-9 from the field, 4-for-4 from the line and adding a pair of steals in just 18 minutes. Without Dewayne Dedmon, Prince or Collins available a couple weeks ago, the Hawks competed for almost three-and-a-half quarters in Charlotte by staying even with a usually turnover-averse Hornets team (NBA-low 12.3 TOs/game; 21 player TOs to the Hawks’ 22 on Nov. 6). So, I'm saying, there's a chance!

“I was there, for Some Miniscule Number and A Much Bigger Number!”, Hawks fans will one day be able to crow to future bandwagon jumpers. Until then, we’ll fill into The Farm, enjoy the extra elbow room for as long as it lasts, and cheer on these Hawks, as our team strives to fend off the negative energy that turns small-b bad teams to Big-B Bad ones.

Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#3 » by Jamaaliver » Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:39 pm

lethalweapon3 wrote:HawkSquawk's out of action again, so I'll dump Sunday's pregame notes into the RealGM pregame thread once it's up.


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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#4 » by jayu70 » Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:53 pm

lethalweapon3 wrote:Yep, sure....
Let’s Go Hawks!
~lw3

Awesome read as always, lw3. :nod:
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#5 » by DirtybirdGA » Sun Nov 25, 2018 6:28 pm

Come hang out, squawkers, witness this crapshow..lol
Where the offseason has more buzz happens.
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#6 » by Jamaaliver » Sun Nov 25, 2018 7:17 pm

DirtybirdGA wrote:Come hang out, squawkers, witness this crapshow..lol


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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#7 » by Jamaaliver » Sun Nov 25, 2018 9:32 pm

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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#8 » by lethalweapon3 » Sun Nov 25, 2018 9:35 pm

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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#9 » by ducler » Sun Nov 25, 2018 9:36 pm

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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#10 » by jayu70 » Sun Nov 25, 2018 10:52 pm

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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#11 » by PG13 » Sun Nov 25, 2018 11:05 pm

Red mamba time! Let’s go!!
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#12 » by DirtybirdGA » Sun Nov 25, 2018 11:29 pm

Oh well back to the Pittsburgh v Denver game.
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#13 » by Jamaaliver » Sun Nov 25, 2018 11:40 pm

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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#14 » by Jamaaliver » Mon Nov 26, 2018 12:14 am

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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#15 » by PG13 » Mon Nov 26, 2018 12:23 am

Offence was good, but it was the defense that got them back in the game.
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#16 » by bws94 » Mon Nov 26, 2018 12:37 am

Trae looks comfortable and effective again. 3 ball falls and he's working it tonight.
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#17 » by Jamaaliver » Mon Nov 26, 2018 1:11 am

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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#18 » by Teddyb » Mon Nov 26, 2018 1:18 am

Trae should have never taken that 3 and then he missed a layup.....BAD!
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#19 » by bws94 » Mon Nov 26, 2018 1:24 am

Very exciting game and win. Great game for Baze, who almost wasn't available to play. Trae's shot comes back. Bembry solid. Lin solid. Collins very solid.
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Re: Game Thread: Hawks and Hornets 

Post#20 » by PG13 » Mon Nov 26, 2018 1:25 am

Welcome back John Collins!!

LP tried to throw the game away putting Trae and his ill-advised shots in back to close the game but the Hawks found a way to win it lol

What a game by Baze and Bembry.

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