Game Day: Hawks (19-18) @ Suns (16-19), Thurs 1/9/24

[Mori Chu]

I wouldn't call myself an expert prognosticator, but this kind of feels to me like a game where we are going to get absolutely blown out. Morale is low; we just had a rough loss; Beal and Nurk don't like their roles on the team; KD seems to be checking out; Book has struggled almost all season; some nagging injuries. And on the other side, ATL is a team that can score in bunches and also has some muscle and some lockdown defenders like Dyson and can probably thwart our shitty iso offense. I could imagine Trey going off and just burying us with a bunch of dagger 3s.

Hawks by 20; I'll call it now.

Yeah, you're a regular Nostradumbass.

You're welcome for the reverse jinx! My bad predictions have helped lead us to TWO one-game winning streaks this week.

[ShelC]

[Mori Chu]

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705088

What to make of this game? A few things jump out of the box score that I didn't notice while watching the game:

- Booker played 40 minutes. He also shot 0-8 from 3. Possibly Dyson Daniels bothered his shot.

- Beal played 33 minutes off the bench, scoring 25 on 11-16 shooting. We had another game with huge bench scoring, over 50 points!

- Grayson Allen had a crazy game with 23 points on 7/8 shooting including 5/6 from 3. Maybe his best game of the season? He's put together a good few weeks here. It's noteworthy that he and his wife welcomed a new baby a few months ago, and as a dad myself I can attest that it would be hard to be 100% performing at your job right after such a big life change. Maybe things are starting to stabilize (e.g. baby sleeping through the night) in a way that is helping him play better and be more well rested.

- I thought Tyus Jones also played well tonight, with 16 points in 29 minutes. Maybe he was able to get better angles because he was being guarded by Trey Young.

- We kept Trey Young mostly in check; he shot 6-15 for 21 points. Dunn and Okogie mostly did well on him despite a few fouls.

- I had never heard of Vit Krejci before tonight, but he played pretty well. 12 points (3/5 from 3) and 6 assists in 26 minutes.

- I really like Bogdan Bogdanovic. Wish we had kept him back in the day.

- Hated seeing ATL's bigs, or really anybody on their team, get easy lanes to the basket over and over, and get open shots over and over. Our defense is still really bad despite the various lineup changes.

[Kryptonic]

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705088

What to make of this game? A few things jump out of the box score that I didn't notice while watching the game:

- Booker played 40 minutes. He also shot 0-8 from 3. Possibly Dyson Daniels bothered his shot.

- Beal played 33 minutes off the bench, scoring 25 on 11-16 shooting. We had another game with huge bench scoring, over 50 points!

- Grayson Allen had a crazy game with 23 points on 7/8 shooting including 5/6 from 3. Maybe his best game of the season? He's put together a good few weeks here. It's noteworthy that he and his wife welcomed a new baby a few months ago, and as a dad myself I can attest that it would be hard to be 100% performing at your job right after such a big life change. Maybe things are starting to stabilize (e.g. baby sleeping through the night) in a way that is helping him play better and be more well rested.

- I thought Tyus Jones also played well tonight, with 16 points in 29 minutes. Maybe he was able to get better angles because he was being guarded by Trey Young.

- We kept Trey Young mostly in check; he shot 6-15 for 21 points. Dunn and Okogie mostly did well on him despite a few fouls.

- I had never heard of Vit Krejci before tonight, but he played pretty well. 12 points (3/5 from 3) and 6 assists in 26 minutes.

- I really like Bogdan Bogdanovic. Wish we had kept him back in the day.

- Hated seeing ATL's bigs, or really anybody on their team, get easy lanes to the basket over and over, and get open shots over and over. Our defense is still really bad despite the various lineup changes.

We're benching the wrong guy... Beal's proven he deserves it more than Booker lately.

[In2ition]

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705088

What to make of this game? A few things jump out of the box score that I didn't notice while watching the game:

- Booker played 40 minutes. He also shot 0-8 from 3. Possibly Dyson Daniels bothered his shot.

- Beal played 33 minutes off the bench, scoring 25 on 11-16 shooting. We had another game with huge bench scoring, over 50 points!

- Grayson Allen had a crazy game with 23 points on 7/8 shooting including 5/6 from 3. Maybe his best game of the season? He's put together a good few weeks here. It's noteworthy that he and his wife welcomed a new baby a few months ago, and as a dad myself I can attest that it would be hard to be 100% performing at your job right after such a big life change. Maybe things are starting to stabilize (e.g. baby sleeping through the night) in a way that is helping him play better and be more well rested.

- I thought Tyus Jones also played well tonight, with 16 points in 29 minutes. Maybe he was able to get better angles because he was being guarded by Trey Young.

- We kept Trey Young mostly in check; he shot 6-15 for 21 points. Dunn and Okogie mostly did well on him despite a few fouls.

- I had never heard of Vit Krejci before tonight, but he played pretty well. 12 points (3/5 from 3) and 6 assists in 26 minutes.

- I really like Bogdan Bogdanovic. Wish we had kept him back in the day.

- Hated seeing ATL's bigs, or really anybody on their team, get easy lanes to the basket over and over, and get open shots over and over. Our defense is still really bad despite the various lineup changes.

We're benching the wrong guy... Beal's proven he deserves it more than Booker lately.

Perhaps Beal is able to play more to his strengths coming off the bench. I agree that he's looked better than Booker lately, but the shackles come off when you are asked to be that scorer you've always been, coming off the bench.

[Mori Chu]

Good to see you, In2. I agree; just let Beal go out there and get buckets off the bench. A much more natural role for him, rather than having to worry about Book and KD getting theirs.