Hello everyone,
We just watched the worst lose of the season by the Atlanta Hawks as they Hawks had a 22 point lead at halftime. Things was looking great as the Hawks looked to coast for the 2nd half to win this game BUT SO WAS NOT THE CASE! The Hawks who scored 83 points in the 1st half only scored 35 points in the second half as not only did the hawks lose a 22 point lead, but they ended up losing the game by 8 points! Let's talk about the reasons we lost this game.
1. Trae Young sold this game for sure. He was horrible shooting the ball today, and in an effort to try to shoot his way out of the bad shooting night he was selling the game. Not valuing the ball and poor shot selection plagued Trae all game long! When we came out of the half Trae seemed determine to get his scoring going but it only got worst, and we looked up and the lead was down to 10 points going into the 4th qtr. This lost is on Trae Young period point blank but there's more room for blame to spread across the team.
2. Coach for not having the guts to yank Trae out of the game and keep him out the game if he is having a bad night. As a fan I was getting on Coach Nate for allowing a player that clearly doesn't have it during the game should be subbed in for a hotter player and AJ griffin was that hotter player this game. I know coach was brought here to evaluate the team in certain situations and maybe this was a learning tool for coach Quin to see what his starters will do when faced with adversity! I did see Coach Quin chew Trae out when he got the Tech in the 3rd qtr so that was a bonus! I do feel Coach Quin wasn't brought here to turn our season around. I believe Coach Quin was brought here to evaluate this roster and this game showed him we can fold like a folding chair when the going gets tough!
3. Dejounte Murray who had a great first half but a horrible second half as it was apparent from the tip off that the plan was to let Dejounte cook vs his old team. It worked in the first half but didn't in the second half. Defensively Dejounte was getting cooked also, but so was the entire team tbh. He did lead the team in scoring so that was a bright spot and probably the best game he has had in the past 5 games.
Great games by AJ Griffin, Okongwu, Capela, JC, and Bogi. AJ got some good playing time in the first half and only had 2 shots in the second half. I kinda wish we ran something for Bey also as he only had 2 shot attempts today.
The Hawks are a super mid team that doesn't value the basketball or games vs lesser teams in the NBA. We constantly play down to the competition and the question for me now is it beneficial for the Hawks to try to make the play in tournament? The reason why I ask is because as Atlanta sports fans we watched our Falcons win two meaningless games at the end of the season that moved us from a top 5 pick to a top 8 pick. Being the 5th pick in this draft would have given you a chance to move up in the draft, but at the 8th pick it would be too costly to move up in the draft.
Should the Hawks just tank and then in the off season have the hard evaluation of this squad? A 1% chance of getting Victor Wenbanyama is better than not having any chance tbh. Next season is going to be the start of giving the spurs our 1sr round picks and if we possibly can get lucky and land the best talented player since lebron to enter the draft then we really need to tank the rest of the season. It's not like we are going to pass the heat and NETS to get the 6th seed in the playoffs. What will an appearance in the "Play In" do for this Hawks team? Nothing tbh because a better draft pick is worth more than losing in the PLAY IN imo.
So what do you guys think? Should we tank? Should we trade Trae Young and start another rebuild. Do we need a new owner who isn't a meddler? Please leave your comments below..