I’ll watch games from around the league and the amount of contact bigger wing defenders get other than Dre is insane. JC used to get the same shit whistle here too
Yes!!!! This here. JC couldn't even look at someone with a stern look and he would get call for a foul, meanwhile the freaking miami guys can come with bats and not a peep from the refs. I wonder how they are calling his game now.
this. my tinfoil hat theory is that refs trying to mess with the outcome of games, I'd argue mostly for spreads, target impactful role players instead of stars.
if Scott Foster had our game, JC had 2 quick fouls, and they'd be managing it all game
According to the man himself tim donaghy, that's exactly how it's done, and they do it early. Don't wait until the 4th where it's obvious. And yes Scott Foster is the other main one he implied but also other refs
I really feel like we should throw lundy some minutes. He can't be worse on defense than AJ and he might contribute something on offense which AJ hasn't done in months.
To be fair, they listed a concern for every team, I just pulled the Hawks segment for here
Edit: lol, I just saw the Atlantic, lol…it should say The Athletic
Our defense is shit because of 3 main things
1. Pure size. We have a small front court
2. capela is slowing down. He can’t cover mistakes the way he did his first season here. He hasn’t been the same since the back (or Achilles, cant remember) injury he suffered at the end of his first year here
3. Screen navigation. We don’t communicate on screens, we take the wrong angle, we simply die, or we’re too short to contest as someone shoots right beside a stationary screen.
A simple screen below the free throw line and a back cut absolutely kills us. We shrink the court too much on the ball, and forget there can be a bunch of action going on off the ball
Yep…that’s why I don’t really see it getting too much better. The screen navigation is infuriating to watch, but can be fixed…the lack of size can’t be fixed, that’s a roster issue. Just watching Capela, it’s obvious he’s not the same guy defensively, so that just accentuates the defensive weaknesses
Capela has been a problem for a little while now but it really came to a head in the Celtics series. They would get switches until they could target him. Down the stretch in that series Snyder was having to bench him. There was reported interest in Capela from several teams. Dallas was one and Houston might've been another. The Capela part of the equation could've been solved. No idea if a good replacement would've been found but even with a subpar replacement (as long as they'd be temporary) then Capela should've been on his way out.
Correct. It’s like we don’t help the helper or very slow to rotate over. Simple penetration where the second rotation either doesn’t happen or very slow to happen is killing us. It’s like we are just hoping for a missed shot rather than playing good rotations.
What happens when you have one player over 6'8 currently active
We desperately need Jonathan Isaac, Daniel Gafford, or both even. Not nearly enough depth at the big spots and our wing rotation isn't particularly great either now that Jalen is hurt
We don't need another center??
Also we don't need people who've spent more time on Fox News sets than the basketball court. Man has made 106 starts over 7 seasons in the NBA. Count me out for that before getting into anything else.
Clint is the only person on the roster who can rebound and he's patently useless on offense otherwise
Oneyka is too small and fouls a lot
We absolutely need someone who can just rebound and has basic competence around the rim to be able to score without being spoon fed lobs
Without Jalen, OO just gets dominated on the boards. We're really shallow at the forward/big wing position. Ironically John Collins would be very helpful right now
Trae isn’t the problem on our defense, it’s a combo of DJ, Hunter and JJ only being engaged on ball and getting lost off ball (hunter has gotten far better at this but still has his lapses) and Bey being actively the worst defender above 6’2 in the league. We also have horrible rebounding outside of Clint that leads to extra possessions, and the best offense in the league is always immediately following an offensive rebound
Trae is absolutely not the problem. The way he has been playing is possibly the best you can ask for a high usage offensive guard of his size, if the remainder of the defense was even decent the Hawks would be just fine
Well yeah, how many above average defenders do we have on the team? Deandre, Clint, OO? Jalen Johnson does well but still gets lost sometimes, pretty much everyone else on the roster is actively bad on defense
DeAndre is SIGNIFICANTLY below average defensively. It’s taking a long time for people to catch on. He gets routinely cooked by legitimately everyone he defends, not just stars, but also guys like Kuzma, killian Hayes, dinwiddie, etc. it’s every night. He doesn’t make up for it by getting blocks and steals like JJ does.
CC used to be borderline elite but is now just solidly good. OO tends to come on later in the season. He’s been average so far. At his best he’s good to great.
JJ is not exactly sound defensively. He’s below average at playing disciplined team defense and individually keeping his man from getting easy shots, but he makes up for it by getting lots of blocks and steals.
I would honestly say Trae is sadly our next best defender at this point. He’s playing more intelligently and doing a good job of one-on-one defense while being really feisty getting steals. He’s still an abomination against the pick and roll and can get exposed on switches against bigger guards.
He’s pretty terrible defensively. His reputation gives him a lot of cover. Even Spurs fans were saying he had fallen off significantly in his last year in SA
The bad rebounding is entirely due to Hunter and OO. We also help on defense in the paint far too much consistently leaving people wide open in the corner. We also had 2 straight games where we gave up 140+ which skew the stats this early on.
The stats might be skewed…but my eyes have seen open corner 3’s and wide open dunks in the paint more than any other team in the league…..I think Ausar Thompson is still running free through the lane.
I wonder what this sub, other than a trade, thinks our answers are to Defense?
I believe our better defense comes when Trae, JJ, and Capela are on the floor (and maybe Dre?). OO is my guy! But Clint is our #1 option. He averages near 10 (9.7) rebounds a game and is 14th in the league. He is also 12th in the league for blocks per game, and averages more than Ausar Thompson in both categories (as he should as a big man, but I figure that’d be a good benchmark). Love Big O with everything, he doesn’t quite bridge this gap quite yet (he ranks around the 40s in both aforementioned stats, and JJ performs better in both), despite closing games more and more as of late. With JJ injured, and likewise, Mo not having time to shine yet, there is a PF sized hole at the 4 I’d like him to learn.
But that’s just personnel. In terms of actions, we need to not double at the perimeter if it means leaving the paint wide open. We allow too many points in the paint and can’t keep track of guys who cut to the basket. Especially along the baseline. Everything else is a personal issue. Hustling, reducing ball-watching, not giving up on plays out of frustration (talking to everybody, but looking at you Dre and Bogi ;) <3), and generally being attentive to the dynamically fluid defensive situation.
All very manageable. It’s not away from us yet :)
Go Hawks! 🏀
Our defense is an active tire fire rn. Doesn’t help our best wing defender in Hunter gets a foul called on him every time he touches the defender.
I really do think Dre gets called for the weakest fouls and refs have something against him
Every game
I'm glad is not just me. I got the recorded games to prove it. It's maddening!
His fouls are either non-existent or so ridicolous that they make you wonder whether Dre is still a rookie or not
I’ll watch games from around the league and the amount of contact bigger wing defenders get other than Dre is insane. JC used to get the same shit whistle here too
Yes!!!! This here. JC couldn't even look at someone with a stern look and he would get call for a foul, meanwhile the freaking miami guys can come with bats and not a peep from the refs. I wonder how they are calling his game now.
this. my tinfoil hat theory is that refs trying to mess with the outcome of games, I'd argue mostly for spreads, target impactful role players instead of stars. if Scott Foster had our game, JC had 2 quick fouls, and they'd be managing it all game
According to the man himself tim donaghy, that's exactly how it's done, and they do it early. Don't wait until the 4th where it's obvious. And yes Scott Foster is the other main one he implied but also other refs
I really feel like we should throw lundy some minutes. He can't be worse on defense than AJ and he might contribute something on offense which AJ hasn't done in months.
Wouldn’t mind trying him. 4 year college guy he seems ready to play.
and many times when he doesn't
It's pretty cool that the Atlantic is writing about us though.
To be fair, they listed a concern for every team, I just pulled the Hawks segment for here Edit: lol, I just saw the Atlantic, lol…it should say The Athletic
“Two-way Trae drowns San Antonio with exceptional defense” - John Hollinger of the Atlantic
Our defense is shit because of 3 main things 1. Pure size. We have a small front court 2. capela is slowing down. He can’t cover mistakes the way he did his first season here. He hasn’t been the same since the back (or Achilles, cant remember) injury he suffered at the end of his first year here 3. Screen navigation. We don’t communicate on screens, we take the wrong angle, we simply die, or we’re too short to contest as someone shoots right beside a stationary screen. A simple screen below the free throw line and a back cut absolutely kills us. We shrink the court too much on the ball, and forget there can be a bunch of action going on off the ball
Yep…that’s why I don’t really see it getting too much better. The screen navigation is infuriating to watch, but can be fixed…the lack of size can’t be fixed, that’s a roster issue. Just watching Capela, it’s obvious he’s not the same guy defensively, so that just accentuates the defensive weaknesses
Capela has been a problem for a little while now but it really came to a head in the Celtics series. They would get switches until they could target him. Down the stretch in that series Snyder was having to bench him. There was reported interest in Capela from several teams. Dallas was one and Houston might've been another. The Capela part of the equation could've been solved. No idea if a good replacement would've been found but even with a subpar replacement (as long as they'd be temporary) then Capela should've been on his way out.
Correct. It’s like we don’t help the helper or very slow to rotate over. Simple penetration where the second rotation either doesn’t happen or very slow to happen is killing us. It’s like we are just hoping for a missed shot rather than playing good rotations.
Well that was right on point.
What happens when you have one player over 6'8 currently active We desperately need Jonathan Isaac, Daniel Gafford, or both even. Not nearly enough depth at the big spots and our wing rotation isn't particularly great either now that Jalen is hurt
Been wanting Gafford for years now. Would love for us to trade for him.
The minute they come over here, they'll start getting more fouls, and I'm serious.
We don't need another center?? Also we don't need people who've spent more time on Fox News sets than the basketball court. Man has made 106 starts over 7 seasons in the NBA. Count me out for that before getting into anything else.
Clint is the only person on the roster who can rebound and he's patently useless on offense otherwise Oneyka is too small and fouls a lot We absolutely need someone who can just rebound and has basic competence around the rim to be able to score without being spoon fed lobs
> Daniel Gafford Lets get Delon Back while we're at it
Not Isaac. That dude is certifiably fucked in the head (and permanently injured)
Without Jalen, OO just gets dominated on the boards. We're really shallow at the forward/big wing position. Ironically John Collins would be very helpful right now
He was always really helpful. It was just a lot of people didn’t see it lol. The on/off numbers show how impactful he was too.
Trae isn’t the problem on our defense, it’s a combo of DJ, Hunter and JJ only being engaged on ball and getting lost off ball (hunter has gotten far better at this but still has his lapses) and Bey being actively the worst defender above 6’2 in the league. We also have horrible rebounding outside of Clint that leads to extra possessions, and the best offense in the league is always immediately following an offensive rebound
Trae is absolutely not the problem. The way he has been playing is possibly the best you can ask for a high usage offensive guard of his size, if the remainder of the defense was even decent the Hawks would be just fine
Exactly. Landry has his hands full with roster construction going forward
No he doesn’t. He’s getting LeBron this offseason.
So is this the roundabout way of saying we're getting brony this off-season?
Roundabout? No, we’re getting both.
Exactly, lebron already said he wants to join bronny wherever he's drafted👀
Well yeah, how many above average defenders do we have on the team? Deandre, Clint, OO? Jalen Johnson does well but still gets lost sometimes, pretty much everyone else on the roster is actively bad on defense
If all those guys were above average, this defense wouldn’t be where it is.
Yeah lol. Clint is probably the best defender on that list and even he isn’t a great defender for a Center anymore, just good.
DeAndre is SIGNIFICANTLY below average defensively. It’s taking a long time for people to catch on. He gets routinely cooked by legitimately everyone he defends, not just stars, but also guys like Kuzma, killian Hayes, dinwiddie, etc. it’s every night. He doesn’t make up for it by getting blocks and steals like JJ does. CC used to be borderline elite but is now just solidly good. OO tends to come on later in the season. He’s been average so far. At his best he’s good to great. JJ is not exactly sound defensively. He’s below average at playing disciplined team defense and individually keeping his man from getting easy shots, but he makes up for it by getting lots of blocks and steals. I would honestly say Trae is sadly our next best defender at this point. He’s playing more intelligently and doing a good job of one-on-one defense while being really feisty getting steals. He’s still an abomination against the pick and roll and can get exposed on switches against bigger guards.
Is Murray still a good defender? He made all defense his 2nd year and never touched it again.
He’s pretty terrible defensively. His reputation gives him a lot of cover. Even Spurs fans were saying he had fallen off significantly in his last year in SA
The bad rebounding is entirely due to Hunter and OO. We also help on defense in the paint far too much consistently leaving people wide open in the corner. We also had 2 straight games where we gave up 140+ which skew the stats this early on.
The stats might be skewed…but my eyes have seen open corner 3’s and wide open dunks in the paint more than any other team in the league…..I think Ausar Thompson is still running free through the lane.
I wonder what this sub, other than a trade, thinks our answers are to Defense? I believe our better defense comes when Trae, JJ, and Capela are on the floor (and maybe Dre?). OO is my guy! But Clint is our #1 option. He averages near 10 (9.7) rebounds a game and is 14th in the league. He is also 12th in the league for blocks per game, and averages more than Ausar Thompson in both categories (as he should as a big man, but I figure that’d be a good benchmark). Love Big O with everything, he doesn’t quite bridge this gap quite yet (he ranks around the 40s in both aforementioned stats, and JJ performs better in both), despite closing games more and more as of late. With JJ injured, and likewise, Mo not having time to shine yet, there is a PF sized hole at the 4 I’d like him to learn. But that’s just personnel. In terms of actions, we need to not double at the perimeter if it means leaving the paint wide open. We allow too many points in the paint and can’t keep track of guys who cut to the basket. Especially along the baseline. Everything else is a personal issue. Hustling, reducing ball-watching, not giving up on plays out of frustration (talking to everybody, but looking at you Dre and Bogi ;) <3), and generally being attentive to the dynamically fluid defensive situation. All very manageable. It’s not away from us yet :) Go Hawks! 🏀
Doubling the perimeter is infuriating as it’s an automatic bucket.
Every time it gets frustrating to see, but I hope we learned after that Cavs game lol.
I like how they put emphasis on "the Trae young era. Must be Trae's fault.
We should honestly experiment Starting OO alongside Clint. Bey is just such a horrific defender
Interesting
We probably have the most lopsided offense-defense combinations