I'll take a shot at it........after starting 9-2 the Hawks are 1-9 and getting blown out of games.
And what has happened to the Clippers El Uno? Thoughts? They looked great out of the gates.
To be clear I don't think you blow them up and I think they can beat GS or the Spurs this season. Hell, I might bet on them on Wednesday.I mean dude. They're like 16-6. Outside of the Dubs and Cavs, that's a great record.
Simply, they are a well oiled machine. But they aren't on the Cavs or Warriors level. Nothing wrong with that, imo. That's why the failure talk, blow it up, etc has always been so stupid to me. I've had the chance to watch great basketball 6-7 months out of the year for the last 5 years. I'll take that over the wear a bag over the head days.
Long winded but that's where I stand.
Edit: forgot to add, I love how there big wins this year have been completely ignored but when they shit the bed it's time to break them up.
4. Dwight Howard is the losiest loser in the league.I'll take a shot at it........
1. They were never as good as their 9-2 start indicated and not nearly as bad as their recent 1-9 shows. They are 10-11 which is about where you'd expect them to be post-Teague and post-Horford.
2. They are offensively challenged with Millsap out the past few games (although the slide began when he was still playing).
3. The schedule heavily favored Atlanta early on. They won both games versus Philly. Beat Sacramento, Washington, and Milwaukee at home. During this 1-9 stretch over just 15 days the Hawks have played 8 of those 10 games on the road without any time to recover/practice. This also leads to my point above in #1.
The "struggles" of late aren't that concerning to me. They're pretty standard for a 303939 month NBA season. It's just when you do it in the shadow of the warriors, it looks bad. Especially when the warriors never lose games.To be clear I don't think you blow them up and I think they can beat GS or the Spurs this season. Hell, I might bet on them on Wednesday.
That said, I was just noting that after going 11-1 to start, they now appear to be up and down. On paper, this is one of their deepest squads I can remember and CP3 is off to a fantastic start. I just haven't had a chance to see them play much yet.
There is no way you blow them up, especially since you won't get equal value for any of their "tradeable" assets.
On the Doc hockey sub thing, I'm not a hardcore stats guy so I don't have the numbers but just watching games, it's insane how rarely he sends Blake or CP out with the second unit. So then it just makes the bench that more crucial because there are zero playmakers outside of Blake or CP on the team.Hmm, I feel like the Clips are already overloaded with "smallish offense-minded bigs who can't really guard the perimeter or the rim" in Griffin, Speights and Bass. What their frontcourt rotation could really use imho is either one more true rim protector for when DJ sits or gets hurt (Cole Aldrich, e.g.) or an athletic 3-4 who can switch defensively (Thad Young, e.g.) ZBo would only make their oldish and slowish core rotation older and slower.
I basically agree with El Uno's take. Their early success is based on the sublime talent and chemistry (built over 5-6 years now) of their Big 4. When those guys sit — particularly all of them during the "hockey substitutions" that I think Doc does way too much of — the drop-off is dramatic. Last night the Pacers with their core of young athletic wings obliterated them when the Big 4 were off the floor.
When the Big 4 are on the floor, they're clearly a "well-oiled machine" — but they're also a very familiar machine to teams like the Spurs and Warriors who have faced them 4-5 times a year over the past 5-6 years (with a couple of playoff series for good measure). I think it'd take a inspired feat of coaching genius to come up with enough new wrinkles in the way those four play to bother the Warriors in a 7-game series. Or failing that, a key injury or two, like the ones that felled the Clips last year v. Portland, the Cavs in the 2015 finals, or the Warriors in the 2016 Finals...
If I have one hope for the playoffs this year (beyond my fanboyish wish for the Ws to win it all) it's that all the contenders enter the playoffs at 100% health and stay that way throughout the playoffs.
Ahem...triple double!Westbrook six double doubles in a row. Beast
In three quarters. Wow. (and zero turnovers)Klay likely done for the night. 29 minutes, 60 points.
By "de-rail", I'm assuming you mean drop their win total to like 65 instead of 70. This team is even better than last year.Credit to Kerr and the staff for not pushing it either. Whether or not them going for 73 wins hurt them, it's only sensible to sit your starters up 40--a Curry ankle roll could derail their season.
This changes a long time ago when Draymond came out publicly and said he'd forego his role in the offense to focus on becoming Defensive Player of the Year.Anybody here still feel like Klay's not going to get enough touches in this offense and is going to demand a trade?
Curry has been giving up more shots than Draymond:This changes a long time ago when Draymond came out publicly and said he'd forego his role in the offense to focus on becoming Defensive Player of the Year.
Lol I know it sounds like I've been a Draymond apologist lately but truth is I'm really not a super fan of his. I just call it like I see it and his move here opened the door up for Klay.
They are averaging 120 points a game. Getting shots was never going to be a problem at the pace they play at.This changes a long time ago when Draymond came out publicly and said he'd forego his role in the offense to focus on becoming Defensive Player of the Year.
Lol I know it sounds like I've been a Draymond apologist lately but truth is I'm really not a super fan of his. I just call it like I see it and his move here opened the door up for Klay.
Where does he get traded and how soon??On the other side of Klay scoring 60 holding the ball for around a minute, John Wall scored 52 last night with all 18 of his field goals coming unassisted. He also outscored the entire Magic starting five and the Wiz still lost.
Hard to say, some think Sacramento although others believe that SAC will trade Boogie to DC. The goal seems to be to reunite them because they like each other from Kentucky. Idk if either team has the appropriate assets to get one of them.Where does he get traded and how soon??
That's not really fair to criticize Wall for a) scoring 52 efficiently to keep his team in the game and b) scoring unassisted since he's the guy with the ball in his hands. He's the face of the franchise, does a ton of community service in the DC area, and generally regarded as a good guy. I'd wager on Beal being the guy moved.Where does he get traded and how soon??
Denver seems like the most obvious destination. They can offer Mudiay plus a package of picks and/or young players.Where does he get traded and how soon??
Think that was more criticizing the team than Wall. Sorta like when is NO gonna trade Anthony Davis.That's not really fair to criticize Wall for a) scoring 52 efficiently to keep his team in the game and b) scoring unassisted since he's the guy with the ball in his hands. He's the face of the franchise, does a ton of community service in the DC area, and generally regarded as a good guy. I'd wager on Beal being the guy moved.
Or Sacramento Cousins. It makes no sense when the team is awful to trade your one young stud to set the team back even further. It's why these guys are extended in recent years and not traded.Think that was more criticizing the team than Wall. Sorta like when is NO gonna trade Anthony Davis.
To be fair, Harden has about a billion times more help on offense, Roberson's inability to hit wide-open threes really hurt OKC in this one.HOU-OKC was one of those games where the box score probably flatters Westbrook. He was really sloppy with the ball in the first half, turning it over repeatedly and providing some real gift points for Houston. And his decision making at key moments was poor (i.e. jacking up off balance contested 3-pointers rather than attacking the rim).