Feb. 23rd Raps at Hawks 7:30 Eastern

[planetmars]

Another fun one! Anyone else feel like a last second Hawks win? Kelly getting it to Brown for that layup to go up 2 possessions iced that nonsense. And Murray stepping out of bounds helped (although I'm curious why the Hawks didn't challenge that). But yeah fun game. IQ was really aggressive early. He was getting to the rim, shooting from outside. We got a fast early lead because of that and some good defense. That second quarter was pretty rough though. Gave up 42 points and then the lead as well eventually. But they hung in there.

Scottie and IQ were great.. but I thought Dick and Ochai were awesome. Dick has just become a much better player than he was early in his career. He's knocking down big shots. He's running around tiring out defenses. Getting hit on some really great cuts. The one from Scottie was really great. His defense still needs some work. And he was a -7 last night but he's still a rookie.

And Ochai was just playing excellent defense on Trae. Even hit some 3's finally. Was a team high +13. I feel like Darko is trying to split his and Nwora's minutes. Personally I'd just move Ochai up the pecking order and start splitting Nwora's minutes with Gary instead. But it's early and maybe that just happens organically if Gary leaves next season. Nwora had no points but I thought he defended well. I think we used him as a starter to keep the same rotation going. He was a +7 in his minutes. One of only 4 Raptors that were positive (Scottie, Jak and Ochai were the others).

I thought we were pretty bad on the boards. Jak got 13, but we just bobbled the ball too many times, and the ball would end up with the Hawks again. Brown was especially bad at that. Hawks ended up with 20 offensive rebounds. That's way too many. Good thing we only had 11 turnovers. But it's also why the game was so close. I like Kelly but he's so soft under the basket too. I guess that's what happens when we trade a lot of our size for smaller players. Need to get more size back on the roster.

But yeah.. good win for the team on a B2B. They look like they are having fun. Something that we hadn't really seen for a few years now.

[JawsGT]

Really nice to have some solid shooting off the bench. Gradey was awesome. He moves so well and his shot is looking wet. Can score all over the floor. He's already better than Trent IMO. Would love to see him start. Ochai with a great game as well. Fantastic D and nice to see those corner 3s drop.

[Primer]

Really nice to have some solid shooting off the bench. Gradey was awesome. He moves so well and his shot is looking wet. Can score all over the floor. He's already better than Trent IMO. Would love to see him start. Ochai with a great game as well. Fantastic D and nice to see those corner 3s drop.

Yeah the 28th pick for Ochai is starting to look pretty damn good. We needed a freak athlete. His defense and corner 3s are as advertised.

I'd love to see either Gradey or Ochai get Gary's starting spot. The whole "Gary plays better as a starter" narrative has proven false. He's an up and down player regardless of starting or coming off the bench.

[JawsGT]

Yeah the 28th pick for Ochai is starting to look pretty damn good. We needed a freak athlete. His defense and corner 3s are as advertised.

I'd love to see either Gradey or Ochai get Gary's starting spot. The whole "Gary plays better as a starter" narrative has proven false. He's an up and down player regardless of starting or coming off the bench.

Gary has seemed more engaged and interested lately. That version of Gary (at a reasonable price) has a place on my team. Even so, I like Gradey much more, and regardless of how the rest of the season goes, I won't lose any sleep if Trent is on another team next season. And yes, Otto, Young, Kira and a late 1st for Kelly and Ochai is looking more and more like a very good trade for this franchise. I admit, I was skeptical, but with the team actually trying hard and both Kelly and Ochai settling in and looking like positive contributors, well, its a no brainer good trade.

[Shredder]

Gary has seemed more engaged and interested lately. That version of Gary (at a reasonable price) has a place on my team. Even so, I like Gradey much more, and regardless of how the rest of the season goes, I won't lose any sleep if Trent is on another team next season. And yes, Otto, Young, Kira and a late 1st for Kelly and Ochai is looking more and more like a very good trade for this franchise. I admit, I was skeptical, but with the team actually trying hard and both Kelly and Ochai settling in and looking like positive contributors, well, its a no brainer good trade.

I think this is the statement of the season. It's not that we didn't want to keep OG. We didn't at 40M plus. We didn't want to Pascal to leave. We didn't want to play him 50M.

Gary fits fine here. I like him better off the bench; I don't think he is a starter long term with BBQ Dick on the roster. So if he stays; he will be paid for what he is; a bench player.

I'm impartial to if he stays or goes. Like Bobby said in his press conference; he is a 25 year who shoots 40% from 3. That is something in this league.

If someone wants to pay him as a starter; Thanks Gary, godspeed.
If he wants to sign for less than his current salary; welcome back, we think you could contend for the 6Man award if you buy in.

[JawsGT]

I think this is the statement of the season. It's not that we didn't want to keep OG. We didn't at 40M plus. We didn't want to Pascal to leave. We didn't want to play him 50M.

Gary fits fine here. I like him better off the bench; I don't think he is a starter long term with BBQ Dick on the roster. So if he stays; he will be paid for what he is; a bench player.

I'm impartial to if he stays or goes. Like Bobby said in his press conference; he is a 25 year who shoots 40% from 3. That is something in this league.

If someone wants to pay him as a starter; Thanks Gary, godspeed.
If he wants to sign for less than his current salary; welcome back, we think you could contend for the 6Man award if you buy in.

Yeah, I really think that Gradey may ultimately be a starter on this team. Maybe that's not next season though. I don't know. If not next season then maybe resign Gary to that reasonable deal if possible and then trade him later if starting Gradey is the future.

[A.I]

Yeah, I really think that Gradey may ultimately be a starter on this team. Maybe that's not next season though. I don't know. If not next season then maybe resign Gary to that reasonable deal if possible and then trade him later if starting Gradey is the future.

I think Gradey starting will depend on his strength and conditioning since that was the emphasis for him earlier this season. If he can handle playing 30 mins a game every game, then he should be a starter next season.

He does a lot of things well which I didn't expect when he drafted him. Last game, there was a play where Kelly got stuck and Gradey cuts to the rim out of nowhere and Kelly finds him for a layup. Stuff like that along with his shooting opens a lot of things up for his teammates.

[JawsGT]

I think Gradey starting will depend on his strength and conditioning since that was the emphasis for him earlier this season. If he can handle playing 30 mins a game every game, then he should be a starter next season.

He does a lot of things well which I didn't expect when he drafted him. Last game, there was a play where Kelly got stuck and Gradey cuts to the rim out of nowhere and Kelly finds him for a layup. Stuff like that along with his shooting opens a lot of things up for his teammates.

Yeah for sure, his conditioning isn't where it needs to be to handle large minute loads. That was more evident earlier in the season so its great that he's made progress there in such a short time. He is a very good cutter and moves so well without the ball. He's smart, understands the game and knows how to move to help the team. I'm very excited about Gradey.

[Primer]

Yeah, I really think that Gradey may ultimately be a starter on this team. Maybe that's not next season though. I don't know. If not next season then maybe resign Gary to that reasonable deal if possible and then trade him later if starting Gradey is the future.

Gradey is already much better than Gary. The only way I'm keeping Gary is at the MLE for 20 minutes off the bench. He's a good 3pt shooter but not good everywhere else. If all he did was shoot 3s fine but he tries to do a lot more and sucks at it. He went 4-14 FG yesterday that's shit and he provides no defense or playmaking.

Give those minutes to Gradey, Ochai, and whoever we draft this year.

We only have so many wing minutes to go around and I think we have better options than Gary and should aim higher than good 3pt shooter that hurts you everywhere else.

[MixxAOR]

[DanH]

Really good stretch of wins (using this thread since the forum was dead for last game). Ochai is being used as the corner merchant he is and his game is popping because of it (first few games he was living above the break and it was a disaster as expected). Gradey continues to kill it. Scottie's star turn is in full effect. And IQ is finally pulling the trigger on the aggression from three, which is nice. Jak has been really good, and Kelly is starting to look more effective than he did at first, thankfully in time for the end of last game when Jak got hurt.

Good sign for next year that they are stringing some good basketball together here.

[Primer]

Really good stretch of wins (using this thread since the forum was dead for last game). Ochai is being used as the corner merchant he is and his game is popping because of it (first few games he was living above the break and it was a disaster as expected). Gradey continues to kill it. Scottie's star turn is in full effect. And IQ is finally pulling the trigger on the aggression from three, which is nice. Jak has been really good, and Kelly is starting to look more effective than he did at first, thankfully in time for the end of last game when Jak got hurt.

Good sign for next year that they are stringing some good basketball together here.

I think we make the play in. We're tied with the Nets so we pass them easily, and we're 4 back of the Hawks who are now missing Trae for at least a month. I could see the Hawks eventually decide to improve their draft pick and start to lose on purpose as well.

We don't have our pick so you know management is gonna push for wins the rest of the season. I like our chances.

[golden]

I think we make the play in. We're tied with the Nets so we pass them easily, and we're 4 back of the Hawks who are now missing Trae for at least a month. I could see the Hawks eventually decide to improve their draft pick and start to lose on purpose as well.

We don't have our pick so you know management is gonna push for wins the rest of the season. I like our chances.

Atlanta's defense has improved dramatically since Trae got hurt... no surprise there. Ultra-small sample size, but that could end up being a Ewing Effect and helping the Hawks.

[Primer]

Atlanta's defense has improved dramatically since Trae got hurt... no surprise there. Ultra-small sample size, but that could end up being a Ewing Effect and helping the Hawks.

It could, but I'm not betting on Trae not playing being a long term positive for the Hawks. Orlando win was nice but Utah is tanking hard now. Nets game honestly isn't a great test either. March will be interesting.