Assessing Expectations for Trae in Year 2

[Jamaaliver]

I just want everyone to know that @Cleo-liver is abusing his mod powers. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, @Cleo.

Free the proletariat!!

As amusing as you occasionally are, I think this might actually be a pretty serious accusation.

If this is a legit concern, I recommend you contact HMFFL.

Spoiler:

FTR, I couldn't find a better place for this new picture of Trae and Kobe...so I placed it in an old post of mine about Trae and Kobe.



That's not a mod power, though. I add links and tweets occasionally when they are relevant to a conversation but not worth a new thread or post.

NOTE: I NEVER change the content/tone of anyone's post. Ever.

Not my own. Not anyone else's.

I'm not Chad Ford.

-JamaaL

[Jamaaliver]

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[kg01]

I just want everyone to know that @Cleo-liver is abusing his mod powers. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, @Cleo.

Free the proletariat!!

As amusing as you occasionally are, I think this might actually be a pretty serious accusation.

If this is a legit concern, I recommend you contact HMFFL.

Spoiler:

FTR, I couldn't find a better place for this new picture of Trae and Kobe...so I placed it in an old post of mine about Trae and Kobe.



That's not a mod power, though. I add links and tweets occasionally when they are relevant to a conversation but not worth a new thread or post.

NOTE: I NEVER change the content/tone of anyone's post. Ever.

Not my own. Not anyone else's.

I'm not Chad Ford.

-JamaaL

Who TF Is Chad Ford?

That's all I got for you.

Actually, I'll add that they were talking about the Kobe-Trae thing on NBARadio this morning. Apparently, in addition to the fact that Kobe is a fan of Trae, Kobe's daughter's favorite player wears #11 for the Hawks.

So, despite Lebron tryna make it about him, Kobe was at the game last night to let his daughter meet Trae.

Pretty cool.

[Jamaaliver]

Who TF Is Chad Ford?

That's all I got for you.

Actually, I'll add that they were talking about the Kobe-Trae thing on NBARadio this morning. Apparently, in addition to the fact that Kobe is a fan of Trae, Kobe's daughter's favorite player wears #11 for the Hawks.

So, despite Lebron tryna make it about him, Kobe was at the game last night to let his daughter meet Trae.

Pretty cool.

Apropos of that:

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[kg01]

Who TF Is Chad Ford?

That's all I got for you.

Actually, I'll add that they were talking about the Kobe-Trae thing on NBARadio this morning. Apparently, in addition to the fact that Kobe is a fan of Trae, Kobe's daughter's favorite player wears #11 for the Hawks.

So, despite Lebron tryna make it about him, Kobe was at the game last night to let his daughter meet Trae.

Pretty cool.

Apropos of that:

Read on Twitter

The real question is who TF is Chad Ford?

I'm kidding. In my defense, I'm a little ornery due to lack of sleep the past 2 nights.

[Jamaaliver]

In my defense, I'm a little ornery due to lack of sleep the past 2 nights.

I need you to NOT wink at me when you say stuff like that...

[kg01]

In my defense, I'm a little ornery due to lack of sleep the past 2 nights.

I need you to NOT wink at me when you say stuff like that...

Yeah, that came across all the way wrong. I don't want folks to think we're hiding our relationship or something.

Wait, that came out wrong too.

[jayu70]

In my defense, I'm a little ornery due to lack of sleep the past 2 nights.

I need you to NOT wink at me when you say stuff like that...

Yeah, that came across all the way wrong. I don't want folks to think we're hiding our relationship or something.

Wait, that came out wrong too.

Tell me more.

[kg01]

Tell me more.

Haha, j'mal is probably beside himself right now.

[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

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Young isn’t just succeeding in spite of his small frame, he’s using it to his advantage. Without wingspan, height, or much muscle, he’s learned to stretch his shot and his body. Taking unthinkably deep 3s means Young doesn’t have to attempt to shoot over defenders, and those 3s are powered by his low release. Young’s floaters fly above bigs. His preferred passes (behind-the-back, wraparound, handoffs, and bounce passes) are ones best thrown with both feet on the ground.

The Hawks aren’t very good, but Young’s averaging 26.8 points on 36.1 percent 3-point shooting, 8.6 assists, 3.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 7.9 free throw attempts, and … 4.8 turnovers. (We’ll get to that later.) Here are five plays that explain how an undersized guard like Young has become a sensation:

[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

Trae Young Is Making the Leap, As a Player and a Leader for the Hawks

In just one and a half seasons, Young has gone from being known as “not Luka Doncic” to a star in his own right. Now he’s trying to become the fully formed franchise player Atlanta needs him to be



Young has been constructing a chip on his shoulder throughout his entire basketball career, ever since he was the smaller kid who didn’t seem to fit in on the court. That chip only grew in size last season, when, as Young puts it, “people didn’t think I was going to be able to do what I’ve been doing.” A couple of weeks ago, he even sent a tweet asking for an apology from those people who disrespected him during his rookie year.

After a stellar finish to last season that catapulted him to runner-up in the Rookie of the Year race, Young hasn’t just picked up where he left off; he’s leveled up. In 16 games this season, he’s averaging 26.6 points, 8.7 assists, and 4.5 rebounds with a true-shooting rate of 57 percent—all of which are higher than last season. Games where he drops 30 points and 10 assists are already becoming customary. And now he’s focused on new challenges, like improving his effort on defense, rounding out his offensive game, and becoming the leader of the Hawks in just his second season. Sometimes the future arrives faster than expected.

Spoiler:

“I’m more comfortable. I know what to expect more going into games,” Young said. “I feel like it’s showtime every night.”

The logo is uncharted territory for all but a few daring shooters. Young has been working on his deep ball since grade school, and now he’s using it to stretch opposing defenses to their breaking points. He’s already made the same amount of 3s from 35 to 39 feet this season (two) as he did all of last season, and he’s currently on pace to take 128 shots from beyond 30 feet, which would be 57 more than he took in 2018-19.

But not every shot can be a 3, and for a player like Young, whose size disadvantage is all but eliminated behind the arc, the midrange is where things can get chaotic. While that space on the court is often maligned from an analytics perspective, Young knew that improving in that area would be essential for his growth in Year 2. So for four weeks this past offseason, he and his trainer Alex Bazzell hunkered down at a high school gym in the San Fernando Valley and prioritized the midrange. Fifty percent of their workouts focused on pull-ups, floaters, and fadeaways from that part of the floor, while the other 50 percent was split between 3-pointers and finishing at the rim.

“The midrange shot is completely different from your 3-point shot,” Bazzell said. “In the midrange, you have to be able to raise up and shoot at the top of your jump, otherwise it’s going to be hard to get it over those defenders. Especially for Trae—he’s coming off a lot of ball screens, and they put a lot of longer, taller defenders on him.”

To help Young maximize his effectiveness in midrange situations, Bazzell sent him clips of Clippers guard Lou Williams—a known midrange maestro—to study over the summer. Williams is an expert at using his body and his dribble to create space, and given that Young runs some of the same actions with the Hawks as Williams does with the Clippers, Bazzell wanted Young to duplicate the balance and high arc Williams maintains on his shot while fading away from defenders.

So far, those tactics have been paying dividends. From 10 feet out to the 3-point line, Young is shooting more than 5 percentage points better this season than he did his rookie year. And for a player who already has a top-five usage rate in the league (33.4), any kind of improvement in efficiency goes a long way.

Young’s foundation as a play-maker—from shooting to passing to finishing at the rim—is already so advanced that his teammates trust him to lead their efforts on the floor.

”For him it’s always more about learning about personnel and what the teams throw at him,” Hawks teammate Alex Len said. “When he sees the trap coming, he splits it or gets around his player so quick and then makes a decision, whether it’s to score, or going to be the big on the roll or the long pass—he reads it so quick. There’s only a few players who can do it like that—Rubio, LeBron—players who have that level of vision.”

In a lot of ways, Young’s rapid improvement contrasts with where the Hawks are as a franchise; while the rest of the basketball world has caught on to how good Young is already, Atlanta is 4-13 and going through the growing pains of a young team. But both the Hawks’ coaching staff and their front office have the same long-term goal—to build a contender around Young. Even if it requires time, there is no greater value in the NBA than having both a plan and a star. The Hawks continue to look like they have both.

The Ringer

[shakes0]

Trae Young Is Making the Leap, As a Player and a Leader for the Hawks

In just one and a half seasons, Young has gone from being known as “not Luka Doncic” to a star in his own right. Now he’s trying to become the fully formed franchise player Atlanta needs him to be



Young has been constructing a chip on his shoulder throughout his entire basketball career, ever since he was the smaller kid who didn’t seem to fit in on the court. That chip only grew in size last season, when, as Young puts it, “people didn’t think I was going to be able to do what I’ve been doing.” A couple of weeks ago, he even sent a tweet asking for an apology from those people who disrespected him during his rookie year.

After a stellar finish to last season that catapulted him to runner-up in the Rookie of the Year race, Young hasn’t just picked up where he left off; he’s leveled up. In 16 games this season, he’s averaging 26.6 points, 8.7 assists, and 4.5 rebounds with a true-shooting rate of 57 percent—all of which are higher than last season. Games where he drops 30 points and 10 assists are already becoming customary. And now he’s focused on new challenges, like improving his effort on defense, rounding out his offensive game, and becoming the leader of the Hawks in just his second season. Sometimes the future arrives faster than expected.

Spoiler:

“I’m more comfortable. I know what to expect more going into games,” Young said. “I feel like it’s showtime every night.”

The logo is uncharted territory for all but a few daring shooters. Young has been working on his deep ball since grade school, and now he’s using it to stretch opposing defenses to their breaking points. He’s already made the same amount of 3s from 35 to 39 feet this season (two) as he did all of last season, and he’s currently on pace to take 128 shots from beyond 30 feet, which would be 57 more than he took in 2018-19.

But not every shot can be a 3, and for a player like Young, whose size disadvantage is all but eliminated behind the arc, the midrange is where things can get chaotic. While that space on the court is often maligned from an analytics perspective, Young knew that improving in that area would be essential for his growth in Year 2. So for four weeks this past offseason, he and his trainer Alex Bazzell hunkered down at a high school gym in the San Fernando Valley and prioritized the midrange. Fifty percent of their workouts focused on pull-ups, floaters, and fadeaways from that part of the floor, while the other 50 percent was split between 3-pointers and finishing at the rim.

“The midrange shot is completely different from your 3-point shot,” Bazzell said. “In the midrange, you have to be able to raise up and shoot at the top of your jump, otherwise it’s going to be hard to get it over those defenders. Especially for Trae—he’s coming off a lot of ball screens, and they put a lot of longer, taller defenders on him.”

To help Young maximize his effectiveness in midrange situations, Bazzell sent him clips of Clippers guard Lou Williams—a known midrange maestro—to study over the summer. Williams is an expert at using his body and his dribble to create space, and given that Young runs some of the same actions with the Hawks as Williams does with the Clippers, Bazzell wanted Young to duplicate the balance and high arc Williams maintains on his shot while fading away from defenders.

So far, those tactics have been paying dividends. From 10 feet out to the 3-point line, Young is shooting more than 5 percentage points better this season than he did his rookie year. And for a player who already has a top-five usage rate in the league (33.4), any kind of improvement in efficiency goes a long way.

Young’s foundation as a play-maker—from shooting to passing to finishing at the rim—is already so advanced that his teammates trust him to lead their efforts on the floor.

”For him it’s always more about learning about personnel and what the teams throw at him,” Hawks teammate Alex Len said. “When he sees the trap coming, he splits it or gets around his player so quick and then makes a decision, whether it’s to score, or going to be the big on the roll or the long pass—he reads it so quick. There’s only a few players who can do it like that—Rubio, LeBron—players who have that level of vision.”

In a lot of ways, Young’s rapid improvement contrasts with where the Hawks are as a franchise; while the rest of the basketball world has caught on to how good Young is already, Atlanta is 4-13 and going through the growing pains of a young team. But both the Hawks’ coaching staff and their front office have the same long-term goal—to build a contender around Young. Even if it requires time, there is no greater value in the NBA than having both a plan and a star. The Hawks continue to look like they have both.

The Ringer

watching the games its' been easy to see. He's definitely stepped up as the leader of the team on the court. The only thing that worries me is I've seen him start to get frustrating with some of his teammates, particularly our stable of incompetent centers. When they do something stupid Trae will sometimes respond by clapping really fast and hard at the player and pleading with him to be better. The other night he really gave it to Fernando when Fernando didn't hustle after a long rebound and let the smaller player from Minnesota grab it instead. Trae got in his face and let him know.

I just hope his teammates have some thick skin and can appreciate that Trae is right when he's giving them a hard time and respond by attempting to be better.

[Jamaaliver]

The only thing that worries me is I've seen him start to get frustrating with some of his teammates, particularly our stable of incompetent centers. When they do something stupid Trae will sometimes respond by clapping really fast and hard at the player and pleading with him to be better. The other night he really gave it to Fernando when Fernando didn't hustle after a long rebound and let the smaller player from Minnesota grab it instead....

I just hope his teammates have some thick skin and can appreciate that Trae is right when he's giving them a hard time and respond by attempting to be better.

YES!!!

This is something I've noticed as well. Early on he was showing visible frustration with Cam. It definitely has started to show with the underwhelming bigs.

I hope Vince has words with him about it.

First rule of leadership: Praise in public. Criticize in private.

[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

Trae's 100th career game:

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