Hawks Daily

ZUBY JAM OVER 2 PEOPLE 😳

I'm here to end this narrative before it begins, I'm so sick of this from our fanbase. There is absolutely NO correlation that the Atlanta Hawks are better without Trae Young. (LONG TWEET ALERT). Some people use the Celtics example from last year - okay fine, let's talk about last year. Last year, Trae Young missed 6 games. Hawks w/Trae: 118.6 PPG Hawks w/o Trae: 113.3 PPG The Hawks went 4-2 without Trae, the games: W @ 9-2 BOS L vs 20-8 MEM W @ 18-22 CHI L @ 25-20 MIN W vs 22-41 PHI W vs 41-40 ORL (bench game) Besides the Boston game (which was an early-season, NBA Cup game), there's no quality wins without Trae. The offense was worse, and they won against lesser opponents. This argument is null. Okay - well what about this game against Indiana? You see how much better the defense looked? No, the defense was not any "better" this game than others. The Hawks played to their usual Defensive Rating (around 115.8) - the difference? The Hawks dominated the defensive glass, which has been a glaring issue all year long - note: this issue is not Trae Young-related. Not just that - but the Hawks also hit their open shots at a much more frequent clip. 59.6% eFG as compared to the regular season 53.6%. And, of course, the Indiana Pacers have not beaten ANY team this year. Unlike last year, the Hawks team is built to survive without Trae (hence why they aren't desperate to sign him to an extension), but to act like this team is any BETTER without him is just ignorance. I would not be shocked if the Hawks beat some good teams without Trae, in fact, they SHOULD do that. The Thunder are surviving without J-Dub because they are a well-built team, if the Hawks want to prove they belong in that conversation - THEY have to do the same. Don't knock Trae because the team wins, celebrate the growth of our other guys. Please. This fanbase really ticks me off. Repost if you feel the same way, if you read this far - consider dropping me a follow. Real, statistically-backed Atlanta sports takes here.

The Wizards defense is currently: #1 in opp eFG% — 48.1% #2 in DFG% — 41.7% #3 in opp FTA rate — .218 #8 in contested shots per game — 40.8 …all while Trae Young plays 36.3 min/game

Darius Acuff is the poster child for empty calories scoring. He's taking everything I've disliked about guys like Anfernee Simons, Cam Thomas and Keyonte George, but stretching it to its absolute extreme. Maybe one day he'll be good. Maybe one day he'll find the difference between a good and bad shot. Maybe one day, far into the future he'll actually guard someone...anyone. The Sacramento Kings are 0-11 between preseason and regular season. Keagan Murray and Malik Monk are playing the worst basketball of their lives. Domas looks frustrated. If they replaced Acuff with even a league average PG like Quickley they'd be 2-4 or 3-3. That's how actively bad he's been at controlling tempo, defending and doing virtually anything that contributes to winning other than aura farming for his own stats. Yes, the league should call. And they should literally rescue his teammates from him. Build out a team of only offensive rebounders, screeners and defenders. Guys who will catch his grenades, rebound his misses and sing at his alter of self-focussed basketball. Darius Acuff Jr represents an archetype of everything I despise about AAU basketball, and everything I despise about Vivek Ranadive. Years from now, they'll make a documentary about what this year was like for his teammates. And then you'll see how many careers had to be ruined for this undersized Iverson wannabe to chase Rookie of the Year. It's disgusting basketball. And if you're cheering for it, you're insane.