Trae Young
In Need Of Highlights
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s October now so the NBA season will begin later this month.
There are typically about four teams that have legitimate chances to compete for a championship. Atlanta is normally not one of those teams.
Let’s take a look at the Hawks and what we should expect for the 2023-24 season.
Star point guard Trae Young is entering his sixth season in the league. He’s a two time NBA All-Star (2020, 2022) and he averaged 26.2 points per game and 10.2 assists per game last season.
The biggest struggle the franchise is having is adding another great player to the roster.
Atlanta is typically decent enough so they do not get a high draft pick. They consistently pick in the middle of the first round so they add role players. Also, they are not a free agent destination and I am surprised by that.
A couple of decades ago the franchise also had this problem with Dominique Wilkins. Hopefully history does not repeat itself and they don’t waste a star players prime years.
Last year they finished the season 41 – 41 and beat the Miami Heat in the Play-In tournament. Then they lost to the Boston Celtics (2 – 4) in the first round of the playoffs.
Head coach Nate McMillan was fired in February and he spent three seasons with the team. Quin Snyder was hired as the head coach a few days later.
The Hawks drafted guard Kobe Bufkin (Michigan) with the 15th pick in the draft. The sophomore earned Third-Team All-Big Ten honors. He’s a 6’5 left hander and hopefully he can become a solid scoring option.
In the second round they drafted 6’6 guard/forward Seth Lundy (Penn State). He’s a four year starter and as a senior he averaged 14.2 ppg and 6.3 rpg.
They also brought in two veterans in guards Patty Mills and Wesley Matthews. They will both contribute to leading the team and sharing their knowledge with the younger players.
The team emphasized how important it is to establish good habits.
“It’s about a day in day process about creating good and sustainable habits so that when you do reach those goals, you can continue to surpass them, because you’re leaning on the process of your work, rather than just ‘we’re doing anything we can to just achieve this specific goal,’” general manager Landry Fields said. “So that sort of paradigm of that mindset is really what we’re hopping on right now.”
Spacing the floor is also crucial to their success this season.
“I mentioned spacing a lot last year and spacing allows you to move the ball, it allows you to attack and even though you think it’s subtle, if you’re spaced properly sometimes that can be as simple as like you’re not in someone’s way when they get to go lay the ball in,” Snyder said. “So again, you’re doing something for someone else.”
Another goal entering the season is establishing an unselfish mindset.
“This season is about hard work,” Snyder said. “I would like for that to be characteristic of our system, us being a selfless team is huge and you can point to that in so many different areas, whether it’s taking the charge, making the extra pass, running back on defense, celebrating your teammates successes, all those different things.”
The season will begin at Charlotte on October 25 and is followed with a home game against the Knicks two days later.
I think they will finish the season slightly above .500 with an early playoff exit.
Hawks Flying To NBA Finals?
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Hawks are making an improbable playoff run.
They just beat the No.1 seed in the East, Philadelphia, in Game 7 of the East Semifinals to advance to the Conference Finals.
They overcame a subpar performance from the team’s star, Trae Young. He was 5 for 23 from the floor. Young did finish with 21 points and 10 assists.
“I knew I had to find a way,” Young said. “My shot was off. My right hand and shoulder were giving out. But my teammates showed up and made plays. I wanted to come through in the end and help them out.”
Shooting guard Kevin Huerter led the team with 27 points, making 10 of 18 shots (55%).
Danilo Gallinari had 17 points off the bench. John Collins had 14 points and 16 rebounds.
“This team is special, man,” Huerter said. “Everybody has counted us out all year. For us to make it this far and win in this building in Game 7, it’s huge for us.”
Lloyd Pierce was fired as the head coach and Nate McMillan was named interim head coach on March 1, 2021. The Hawks went 27 – 11 and won the Southeast division.
“I felt like they were built for this moment tonight to win this game,” Coach Nate McMillan said.
MVP runner up Joel Embiid had 31 points, 11 rebounds and 8 turnovers playing with a meniscus tear in his right knee.
The other star for the Sixers, Ben Simmons played poorly. He only had 5 points in the game and routinely passed up open shots. In the series he shot 33% from the free throw line, which is clearly terrible.
Atlanta had been 0-9 in Games 7s on the road. Now they are advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2015.
This marked only the second year since 1973 — when the NBA began seeding for the playoffs by conference — when neither No. 1 seed will make the conference finals. The Clippers eliminated West No. 1 seed Utah.
“We gave them life from Game 1,” 76ers forward Tobias Harris said. “It’s a young, hungry team.”
The next test waiting for Atlanta are the Milwaukee Bucks, the No. 3 seed in the East. The Bucks are led by superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, AKA the Greek Freak.
This season he averaged 28.1 ppg, 11 rpg and 5.9 apg. He makes 56.9% of his field goals but he plays close to the basket. He only shoots 30.3% from the three-point line. In Game 7 against the No. 2 seed Brooklyn Nets, he had 40 points and 13 rebounds.
The deciding factor in the series will come from the rest of the team. Giannis will play well, but he needs help from his teammates.
Small forward Kris Middleton averaged 20.4 ppg and 6 rpg this season. If he plays well consistently Milwaukee will be tough to beat.
Game 1 is Wednesday, 8:30 pm in Milwaukee. We will see if the Hawks can continue to be road warriors and steal the opening game.
I think the playoff run comes to an end for Atlanta. I expect the Bucks to win in 6 games.
True To Atlanta
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Wednesday night the Atlanta Hawks pulled off one of the greatest late-game comebacks in Hawks’ history.
The Hawks were losing by 24 with 2:10 left in the third quarter in a game where Atlanta seemed out of sorts from the beginning.
After being down by as many as 26 points in Wednesday night’s game 5, the Hawks would have to climb their way out of a hole that they dug early.
So, who would bet against the Hawks this time? The answer… almost everyone (including me), but fortunately most everyone was very wrong.
Throughout the first half of Game 5 in Philadelphia, the 76ers appeared to play their best basketball of the series. They were swinging the ball from wing to wing making the Hawks get set to play defense instead of leaking out in transition for easy buckets.
Philadelphia continued to shoot over 50% from the field. As they have throughout this series, it looked like the Hawks had no answer, especially for Embiid.
Joel Embiid began his night having his way with Clint Capela allowing him to taunt the crowd while playing very aggressive and physical. For a 76ers fan that is what you want, but then things began to turn in favor of Atlanta.
As many of the coaches and players on this resilient Hawks team have said before, ‘this team never quits’, and they don’t. As a fan of Atlanta sports, I must say that it is really nice being on the other side of an epic collapse throughout a game in which the 76ers should’ve won by 20, if not 30.
Throughout the first half of game 5 the Hawks could not buy a basket, nothing seemed to roll their way, until the 76ers seemed to take their foot off the gas then things changed.
After being down by 24 late in the third quarter, Atlanta quickly went on an 8-2 run to close out the third shifting the momentum in favor of the Hawks, which ultimately carried through the end of the game.
This Atlanta Hawks team has made it clear they have weapons; the trick is just finding what weapons are working on any given night.
Wednesday night those game-altering contributions came from the veterans Danilo Gallonari and the Atlanta native, Lou Williams. With each respectively adding 15 and 16 points while coupling with their veteran leadership in the playoffs is important for this young Hawks squad.
Along with the veteran contributions, it all begins with your star player and his approach. In this case, as we all know, that would be Trae Young.
Young’s ever-rising superstar status has been highlighted throughout this series and this playoff run.
Last night, Trae dropped a playoff career-high 39 points, while stealing game 5 from Philly in Philly giving Atlanta a 3-2 series lead with game 6 Friday in Atlanta.
Only one win separates the fifth seeded Atlanta Hawks from the Eastern Conference Finals.
Soaring Down South
By: Buck Blanz
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Hawks have devoted the last three seasons to growing and building their organization since parting ways with then head coach Mike Budenholzer in 2017.
However, this season looks different as the 2021 NBA regular season is underway.
Preparation for the 2021 season began early last February by making moves to bring former Houston Rockets Center Clint Capela to the city of Atlanta.
General Manager Travis Schlenk continued to work to add more talent through a lottery pick to catapult Atlanta to an NBA championship contender in the upcoming season.
This move landed names such as Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic, reigning NBA champion Rajon Rondo, Kris Dunn and sixth pick Onyeka Okongwu from University of Southern California, putting Atlanta in a position to be one of the eight-best teams in the Eastern conference.
Adding to the mix, the talented young superstar Trae Young, who is looking to achieve some milestones.
Young is a key component to the Hawks success this year and with his ability to showcase his talent, he is certain to receive a contract extension when his rookie contract ends in 2022.
Atlanta’s talent pool combined with the NBA’s new play-in format to get into the playoffs, Atlanta just has to be a top 10 Eastern Conference team to earn a position in a three-game series to determine the two final seeds.
Moving into the season, the Hawks strength is offense. Last season, the Hawks were fifth in the league in their offensive rating at 111.2 points per game, proving that they can score on anyone.
The Hawks entire offense, centered around Trae Young, accompanied by John Collins and Kevin Huerter, is modeled after Golden State’s offense using Young as Stephan Curry in Atlanta’s system.
With the addition of Bogdanovic and Gallinari, who are two solid role players that can put the ball in the hoop, the Hawks open up more scoring options for the team.
The Hawks offense will also be strengthened by allowing Trae Young to take on a leadership role on the floor, playing off the ball as well as allowing him to play freely within the system.
It is important to circle back around to the addition of two-time NBA Champion Rajon Rondo.
By acquiring Rondo, the Hawks balance the team with some much needed veteran leadership after the retirement of the long-time great Vince Carter.
Rondo is a great role-player. Throughout the Lakers Bubble appearance last season, Rondo averaged 8.9 points per game along with 6.6 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game.
The Hawks needed a key role-player that has been in the league long enough to know how to approach each day with a one-day-at-a-time mentality.
Even though there were many significant improvements made to the offense this offseason, Atlanta is sure to see struggles ahead in their already weak defense.
The additions of Bogdanovic and Galinari will provide entertainment to fans and they will put up a lot of points, but they do not provide much reprieve in the Hawks defense.
Young Hawks Learning To Fly
By: Kenneth Harrison
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The Atlanta Hawks are a young team. They are led by second year point guard Trae Young. Young was selected as a starter in the upcoming All-Star Game.
So far, he’s one of the few bright spots on the team. They are currently 12 – 35 and tied with Cleveland for last place in the East. They have the second worst record in the league behind Golden State.
The team got a rare win Sunday against Southeast division foe Washington, 152-133. Despite the W the league was in a very somber mood.
NBA legend Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash Sunday morning. There were nine people involved in the crash, along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna.
Young was mentored by Bryant and he knew Gianna, nicknamed Gigi. He was her favorite player.
She came to two Hawks games this season and met with Young. Their relationship began when Kobe Bryant asked Young, who trained him, and hired Alex Bazzell, to work with Gigi as well.
Young started the game wearing a # 8 jersey and taking an eight second violation.
Young had 45 points and 14 assists to lead the Hawks to victory.
“One of the last conversations we had, he was just telling me how much he’s seen my game progress and he’s just been happy for me,” Young said between pauses. “He said how proud he was of me and how he wants me to continue to be a role model for kids growing up and for Gigi and all the kids looking up to me to inspire these kids and continue to play my heart out.”
Atlanta had lost three of four going in to that game. They scored the most points in a game this season. Several other players stepped up and had big games. De’Andre Hunter finished with 25 points, Kevin Huerter had 18 and John Collins scored 16.
Bradley Beal scored 40 points for the Wizards, who dropped to 15 – 30.
“Trae, he’s a problem,” Washington coach Scott Brooks said. “He’s a handful. He’s an All-Star for all the right reasons. He’s a hard guy to guard. He was making his shots and getting guys involved.”
I was initially outspoken about wanting the Hawks to keep Luka Doncic instead of trading him to Dallas on draft night.
I was wrong about him because he has proven to be a great pick thus far. He has averaged 30 points per game, 9 assists per game and 5 rebounds.
Journeyman Jabari Parker has been a pleasant surprise. He has averaged 15 ppg and 6 rpg. The other power forward John Collins is averaging 19 ppg and 10 rpg.
The player they are counting on to be great is rookie small forward Cam Reddish. He was drafted tenth overall out of Duke. So far, he is only averaging 9 ppg. He has to develop into a star player, which is what we expect from players drafted that high.
The season could be a blessing down the road. This is a young team experiencing growing pains and learning how to play together. The best-case scenario is to continue at this pace and have one of the worst records in the league.
I hope that they can draft a player in the top five. If they can add a game changing player to pair with Young, they can become an instant playoff contender.
Bad Entertainment
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It’s been a rough few weeks for any fan that happens to pull for a team residing in the state of Georgia.
The Braves finished off what was a pleasant season with a memorable, for all the wrong reasons, playoff loss.
The Bulldogs find themselves on the outside of the college playoffs and even if certain things pan out the way they need them to, still may not be able to overcome their loss to South Carolina.
And as for the Falcons, I think the only way their season could get any worse is if they actually string together enough wins over the second half of the season that Dan Quinn keeps his job.
So, in the wake of these past few weeks I’m going to say something I never thought I would’ve said a month and a half ago, it’s time to start watching the Atlanta Hawks.
It’s not that I think the Hawks are title contenders, but they’ve got a great core of young talent that even in defeat they will be entertaining to watch- something I think will happen more often than not, despite their strong start to the season.
Of course, the excitement begins with Trae Young. Coaches like to refer to a player’s ability to shoot by saying they’re in range once the cross-half court. In most cases it’s just a figure of speech, but in Young’s case, it’s spot on.
Part of Young’s appeal is that he has more “What a dumb….holy hell that was a great play” possessions than a Harlem Globetrotter.
The other part of his appeal, and one that somewhat plays into the first part, is that he’s just as likely to commit ten turnovers as he is to rack up ten assists. You truly never know which guy you’re going to get on any given night, which makes things a bit interesting.
Surrounding the talented guard is a bevy of young players- John Collins, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish- all of whom are gifted enough to be potential All-Stars down the road.
The addition of Jabari Parker in the off-season seemed to increase the level of intrigue, at least on the offensive end.
Parker reminds you of that kid in middle school who could score on anyone, at any time, but tended to avoid playing defense like a child at a salad bar.
Parker’s just as likely to score thirty points as he is to give up thirty to the person he’s supposedly guarding.
And then there’s Vince Carter, one of the few North Carolina players this Duke fan roots for.
Obviously, the highlight reel plays don’t occur with the regularity they used to, but to see Carter still be able to perform some of athletic feats he’s capable of at his age (42) is nothing short of incredible.
There’s no doubt Atlanta has had better teams in the past, but even many of those years had a cloud of lethargy hanging over their heads due to the mundane, workmanlike feel to the games. They were exiting because the team was winning, not necessarily because of how the team played.
Not saying that’s a bad thing, but if the Hawks are still a year or two away from realistically making a playoff push, at least they’re giving you reasons to show up and watch.
If you’re going to be bad, might as well be entertaining; otherwise, you’re just the Falcons.
