It's amazing how easy I can rile up these clowns. Just say the name Trae and it's the boogeyman to the NBA thread nerds.
Spoiler John Collins didn’t finish the sentence, but I knew what he was going to say without him actually saying it. I asked him what the vibe was around this team when he talked to other players around the league and if he felt like the Hawks had some respect now. Collins said in his first and second seasons, he would talk to various players and the reactions would normally be, “Yeah, you’re cool and this guy is all right, but y’all are kinda …” “Trash” is likely what Collins was going to say. The conversations this summer have been much different. He feels awareness that he hadn’t felt in his first two seasons. “Now when I’m talking and bring up myself and Trae (Young) — I don’t see them getting scared, but I feel the respect now,” Collins said at the team’s media day Monday. “They see the young guys coming up. We’re not going to lie down to anyone, and I feel like more people are aware of our presence. We’re not BS’ing. We’re coming to play. They feel like we’re rising stars in the league, and we’re coming.” I asked Young the same question. He had a similar answer. “You definitely hear the excitement,” Young said. “Guys will talk to me all of the time, whether I was in the runs in L.A. or in New York, about how they’re excited to see us play this year. We are one of the toughest teams to guard in the NBA. It’s really cool hearing from guys you look up to and respect say that about your team. I know they’re excited to see us play — I don’t know if they’re excited to see us play, but they definitely have good words to say.” Atlanta only won 29 games last season, but the optimism surrounding this franchise — ranging from Hawks fans to those who just watch the NBA — is clearly there and might be the highest it has been in several years. The Hawks have a clear plan in place and a stockpile of young and promising players. It’s now just a matter of how long it’s going to take this group to grow together and become a contender in the Eastern Conference. It’s a question that gets asked countless times at media days across sports (but one I can’t stand): Is this a playoff team/is this a team that can win a championship? It’s a pointless question because like Young told another reporter: “Am I going to say no?” But you can just tell that the players who are returning to the team this season have an extra level of confidence going into the season. “I’ve always had extreme confidence, but coming into my second year and going through this process for a year, I definitely have a little more confidence,” Young said. “I’m excited about this season, and I know my team is. I just can’t wait to start going again.” Training camp for the Hawks opens Tuesday, but before we get to the on-court stuff, here’s a breakdown of everything we learned at media day on Monday. Injuries, injuries and more injuries The Hawks sent out a pre-training camp injury update Friday, and it seemed like every single player on the roster was battling something, which, normally, freaked out a lot of people on Twitter. Cam Reddish has missed all of the on-court pick-up games that the team has run through this summer as he has worked his way back from core muscle surgery. Reddish said there are no restrictions with his workouts in the weight room, and he has been cleared for on-court work as training camp opens. The team is going to monitor him closely before the start of the season, but it doesn’t sound like there is any sort of long-term concern with his recovery process. Collins is dealing with a right hip strain, but he said he has been active on the court and participating in all of the work the team is doing and should be ready to go by the season opener against Detroit. How much he actually plays in the preseason is to be determined, but again, this is a minor injury. After Collins missed 15 games to open last year, the Hawks are going to be ultra-cautious with him. Kevin Huerter has been dealing with knee discomfort for a couple of weeks now. He told me that it’s not tendinitis or jumper’s knee, and nothing is structurally wrong. He, too, says he should be ready to go for the opener, but the plan is to manage his workload throughout training camp. Alex Len is dealing with an ankle sprain and lower back pain. He said that he started jogging Monday and is going to be monitored the next few weeks. He’s trying to be ready to go for the preseason opener Oct. 7, but it sounds like he won’t be ready for that game. Len said, at worse, he’ll play at some point in the preseason and isn’t worried about missing the opener because of this. Chandler Parsons told me the team is going to hold him out of the preseason opener as the Hawks manage his workload. Allen Crabbe is recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery and is expected to miss all of the preseason. Crabbe stressed that he wants to take it slowly after dealing with setbacks with his knee last season. Hunter love Lots of eyes are going to be on De’Andre Hunter this season after the Hawks’ trade haul on draft night netted him in return. After talking to several of the players at media day, it sounds like Hunter has made the biggest impression. Len went as far to say he’s, “Baby Kawhi,” which is obviously enormous praise considering an argument can be made that Kawhi Leonard is currently the best player in the league. “I call him — and not to hype him — but I call him ‘Baby Kawhi,'” Len said. “He’s got a strong body and can play defense. He’s also really poised on offense. He might struggle in the beginning, but once he figures it out, he’s going to be really good.” Evan Turner, unprompted, also had praise for Hunter. “I’ve been really impressed with De’Andre Hunter,” he said. “I think he’s going to be phenomenal.” Hunter was asked about the pressure on him to perform after being the No. 4 pick in the draft and the amount of capital the team gave up to select him, and he shot down that question quite eloquently. “I don’t really like the word pressure,” Hunter said. “I feel like you create pressure on your own. It doesn’t come from other people. I feel like if you know what you want to do and know what you have to get better at, then you’re fine with your own expectations, and you’re not worried about what other people expect. I just try to have high expectations for myself and don’t listen to what other people say. I’m not really a believer in pressure, necessarily.” De’Andre Hunter (12) and Cam Reddish (22) were drafted in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks this summer. (Dale Zanine / USA Today) What the players have noticed in Hunter so far in the pick-up runs they’ve put together so far this summer is his defense has been as good as advertised. It’s expected that there’s still going to be an adjustment period when he’s not guarding his teammates, but the skills are there. Hunter said, by season’s end, he wants to guard the other team’s best player. He said defense is so important to him and always has been because he personally hates when people score on him. It’s the worst part of basketball, he said. He’s also excited to show offensive versatility to the public this season. He’s aware that people believe he’s limited on that end of the floor and just view him as someone who can spot up for 3s, but he says that’s just not the case. The only time he has played in an offense where the time of possession was so critical to the game plan was during his two seasons at Virginia. He’s still getting used to the pace the Hawks like to play with, but it’s similar to what he played in high school and in AAU. “It’s been different,” Hunter said. “I haven’t gotten to go in the open court like that in a while, but it’s been fun to just play freely and not have to worry about the shot clock. Getting a great shot is what you want, but every time down the court is different than what it was in college. It’s been a different adjustment for me, but it’s been fun. It’ll definitely be fun, especially playing with other great players like Trae Young and Kevin Huerter, who can really shoot, John Collins at the 4 or 5 position who can really shoot and space the floor, I feel like our offense can really be fun.” The continued growth to watch for In November of last season, Collins mentioned to me how he felt like last year’s team “actually wanted to hang out with each other,” unlike his rookie season. That camaraderie only has gotten stronger this summer. “I feel like we have a group of guys who want to be in the locker room with each other and want to play with each other and want to spend time with each other,” Collins said. “I feel like you are going to see that translate on the court. If guys want to play with each other and have each other’s back, it makes life out here so much easier.” That chemistry with Young is obvious and apparent. I asked him why he felt it was such a natural connection immediately between the two of them last season. “I feel like if you watch our games and see what we’re good at, it’s like opposites attract,” Collins said. “Trae is a really good playmaker, creator and passer. I have great hands, athletic and am a lob catcher. What he is really good at and what I’m truly good at — they’re opposites, and opposites always attract. When you put them together, it’s like, ‘Oh wow. Those two guys have really good chemistry.’ Once Trae was like, ‘Oh, man, this guy will catch everything,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, man, this guy will get me a pass anywhere,’ I feel like that’s when our confidence skyrocketed. It’s nothing you can do after that.” Other notes • Vince Carter said he had other teams call him in free agency, but a lot of the trades that happened throughout the league ended some of the opportunities that were presented to him. “There were a lot of highs and lows, like, ‘Oh, OK, here’s this opportunity,’ and then it was this opportunity is gone because of trades and other movement,” Carter said. “I just had to be patient and wait and try not to get too excited about opportunities because nothing was etched in stone until it was actually etched in stone. I was all over the country this summer as to where I could end up, but I ended up right back here.” • Bruno Fernando said progress with his jump shot is coming along nicely with the help of the coaching staff. The staff has gotten on him a couple of times this summer when the team has played pick-up basketball because Fernando has passed on open shots. The coaching staff has made it clear that it wants him to take those shots in games because of the way the Hawks play and the spacing it creates if he can shoot it. “The biggest thing for me was just getting the reps because I didn’t get many in college,” Fernando said. “I think I took like 10 3s in two years (at Maryland), and then I come here, and the coaches have put that confidence in me right away and have told me that I’m going to have to shoot the ball. Sometimes in pick-up games when I don’t take a shot, they tell me to take those shots next time. That confidence, as a player, is important because I know they trust me to do it. They drafted me to help them win games, and if that’s going to help then I’m going to do that.” • Huerter said the two biggest things he worked on this offseason were getting stronger in the weight room and finishing at the rim. He feels like he has the confidence and mindset now to make that a strength of his game this season. • Young acknowledged that he needs to get better on defense. He feels like his effort was there (lots of times it wasn’t), but understanding concepts more is the area he feels like he needs to improve on. Perhaps when head coach Lloyd Pierce fully installs his defense, Young will have a better idea of what is asked of him on defense. Related to that, he was asked if he still has that chip on his shoulder he spoke so much of last season and how he wanted to prove his doubters wrong. “That will always be there,” he said. “It’s never going to be 100 percent of the people who are on my side, and that’s OK. That drives me to be the best I can be. That chip of proving people wrong will always be there. I’ll never forget certain things. There’s always stuff I can prove.” • Finally, a reporter asked Collins for his thoughts on those in Atlanta who don’t watch or pay attention to the Hawks until football season is over. Perhaps that won’t be a problem for those who root for the 1-3 Falcons. “They’re missing, in my opinion, the best show in Atlanta,” he said. “I know we’re in the South. It’s home-grown football. The South is just a football region. I’m from Florida and went to school in North Carolina, so I get it. But I feel like we’ve made enough buzz. Tony (Ressler) is putting is heart and soul into making the Hawks the future franchise of this city. I feel like he’s shown it with this building right here (Emory Sports Medicine Complex) and the arena and what he’s doing down there. I feel like it’s our job to get it done on the court to bring those fans out, and I feel like we have. I feel like when we start winning, the fans will be right where they need to be. It’s a process. It takes time. I know we have to prove it to them first.” on mobile so formatting might be awful
I don’t know why but never occurred to me how polar opposite we are from what Virginia does. Will be a learning curve.
38 wins good for you all this year? I’d love to be fighting for the 8th seed the last 15 games of the season. Trae and John continue to coalesce, Huerter gets better at finishing and defending and Reddish and Hunter learn the ropes. If we are playing for the 8th seed the last 15 games of the season, it’s a success imo. Len is a downgrade to Dedmon and our whole bench feels weird outside of the rookies. I love the potential of our closing lineup.
Playoffs and Len was pretty awesome last season when he got to start and play with Trae. Jabari Parker should be fun.
Spoiler This Hawks team is going to require patience from fans, but the promise is apparent By Chris Kirschner 28m ago Before Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce even sat down at the podium for his postgame news conference after the Hawks were blown out by the New Orleans Pelicans 133-109 in their preseason opener, he said what we all should have thought going into Monday night’s game. “It was everything I expected,” Pierce said. “I don’t know about you guys, but that was everything I expected — sloppy, a lot of turnovers, high scoring, not very good defense by both sides, a lot of fouls. Preseason.” We should have expected it when Pierce said the team had 23 turnovers after the team’s first scrimmage of training camp Saturday. We also should have expected it with the Hawks playing eight players who were not on the roster last season. And we should have expected it because this team is still one of the youngest teams in the NBA in both age and experience, especially if you take Vince Carter out as the clear outlier. Preseason basketball is mostly meaningless because teams aren’t heavily scouting their opponents like they would during the regular season. Before the game, Pierce said he had no idea what New Orleans was going to run and that it, essentially, really didn’t matter. Monday night was just about getting the first game out of the way and getting some film in an actual game setting instead of practice. For example, once the Pelicans started running plays for JJ Redick in dribble handoffs and the Hawks had to chase him around screens, they, naturally, looked bad. But Monday night wasn’t about the final score of the game nor should it have been. This is a process, and this process is going to require patience and perhaps a lot of it. “After one game, it’s not fair to try to assess,” Carter said of the young Hawks. “I’d rather assess them after the preseason is over. They’ll get a couple of games seeing different scenarios for them to figure it out. I think they’re going to be great basketball players because they have a great basketball IQ already. They have a special feel for the game. There are going to be moments throughout the season where they’re going to look rushed and hurried, but at the same time, they look seasoned already for them to be rookies. “The willingness to learn is No. 1. That’s what I enjoy about them. These guys have come in and have asked questions. They allow you to come in and critique what we’ve seen so they can get better. They want to be elite players, and they’re on their way if they continue that.” It’s hard to not be encouraged with what we saw out of several of the Hawks on Monday. After the first practice of training camp last week, Pierce couldn’t contain his excitement for De’Andre Hunter, and Hunter looked like he belonged Monday night. His first bucket of the game came on a shot fake to a two-dribble pull-up jumper. Atlanta Hawks ✔@ATLHawks And we back! Work out De'Andre 442 7:45 PM - Oct 7, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 84 people are talking about this He finished 4-of-6 from the field and made two 3s. And we saw him create looks for others, like this two dribble-drive and kick out to Cam Reddish for his first 3-pointer with the Hawks. FOX Sports: Hawks ✔@HawksOnFSSE Cam Reddish's first three was set up by ... De'Andre Hunter. A combo with many years ahead of them. 149 8:19 PM - Oct 7, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 41 people are talking about this Pierce has mentioned a couple of times now in camp that he wants to see more creation out of Hunter because he believes in Hunter’s passing abilities. “One of his development areas will be using the basketball and playing in pick-and-roll and facilitating,” Pierce said of Hunter. “I think he’s used to one or two dribbles and then getting rid of the basketball, but I think he has more to offer. That’s just something over time that he’s going to grow in. In catch-and-shoot, he’s pretty good. Guys are closing out on him, and he’s able to put the ball on the floor and make plays. He was great in his rhythm 3s, make or miss, he looked good doing them.” It’s only one preseason game, but with Hunter coming out of Virginia, there were some across the league who thought he would be nothing more than someone who could knock down some 3s off the catch and post up smaller wings, but that was not what he showed on Monday. And if that’s the case, this Hunter pick could turn out better than what we anticipated because his defense, for a rookie, was quite good. He did pick up two fouls in the first quarter and missed some rotations, but that’s to be expected. What he did show was that he is able to keep players in front of him and force difficult shots. In this clip, Zion Williamson sets a screen on Hunter at the top of the key, but Hunter works through it and slides his feet to stay in front of Brandon Ingram. Ingram hits Hunter with a tough crossover dribble, but the rookie regains his stance and forces a long two. This is what you want and what you hope continues throughout the season. FOX Sports: Hawks ✔@HawksOnFSSE De'Fense 45 8:34 PM - Oct 7, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy See FOX Sports: Hawks's other Tweets Reddish started off poorly, which shouldn’t be too surprising considering he just got cleared for 5-on-5 basketball at the start of training camp. His first three possessions resulted in a turnover and both of his shots getting blocked. He looked like someone who hadn’t played basketball all summer, but he settled in nicely after that. “After that, I thought he played a beautiful game,” Pierce said. “He was in rhythm on his jump shots. He was efficient moving. It was good to see that. I didn’t know what to expect of him after that first stint, but I thought he came in and was very efficient.” Reddish noted that the spacing he now has to operate with the Hawks as compared to Duke is more open, and he feels more comfortable to make more plays. He finished 4-of-7 from the field and made 3-of-4 3-point attempts. I asked Reddish after the game how he felt health-wise because of the injuries he battled most of last season at Duke, and he said for the first time that he could remember, he didn’t feel any pain while he played. “It was a little bit weird, well, not weird, but it was different,” Reddish said. “All last year I was getting treatment. I was finally able to go out there and not feel anything. That definitely was a plus.” We may not know how the degree to which Reddish’s injuries at Duke limited him, but he once again reiterated after the game that if he can stay healthy this season, he knows that he’s going to be able to show everyone the kind of player he wants to be. We saw some of that against the Pelicans. Reddish was known as an above-average facilitator in high school and prefers to be in that role. Here, Reddish finds Alex Len for a dunk plus the foul with this nicely executed in-and-out dribble move. FOX Sports: Hawks ✔@HawksOnFSSE Cam Reddish in-and-out dribble. Pass. Alex Len dunk. 187 7:56 PM - Oct 7, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 51 people are talking about this Reddish entered the game in place of DeAndre’ Bembry at shooting guard. Where Reddish actually plays long-term is still to be determined, and just how much we can expect to see of him in this kind of playmaking role is still unknown. “We’ll figure out what he can do just by watching him,” Pierce said. “I think one of the things we saw is we can get him in rhythm with some kick-outs, and eventually we’ll see him get downhill. I think he had a couple of nice drives downhill. It didn’t result in much, but he was able to get downhill. I don’t know how we’ll do it. I don’t know if it’s him initiating or playing on the second side. We’ll have to learn how he is initiating the offense, at some point.” Bruno Fernando is going to need time to make a meaningful impact for the Hawks this season. Pierce said he thought Fernando struggled, and Fernando uncharacteristically was not talking on the court. The nerves were very apparent for him. He had four turnovers in eight minutes and did a poor job of attacking the glass when the Pelicans attempted shots. There were too many occasions when Fernando looked anchored to the court while a Pelicans player flew over him for a rebound. He played much better to close the game and finished with three blocks, but I would be surprised if he doesn’t play for the College Park Skyhawks for a few games this year. Outside of the rookies making their debuts, I was interested to see how Trae Young was going to look playing alongside almost an entirely new roster, and well, he still looks like Trae Young. Yes, he had eight turnovers. I think we can chalk that up to playing with these teammates for the first time and playing alongside several rookies because he looked to be in total control of the offense. His passing ability remains unreal. Early in the game, the Pelicans double-teamed him in the corner, and he somehow worked his way through it and maneuvered his body around to whip it to Damian Jones for the bucket plus the foul. Young then followed it up a minute later with a left-handed bounce pass that split the Pelicans for an easy slam for John Collins. I don’t know what more we can say about Young’s offensive abilities, but he already has established himself as one of the best playmakers in the game, regardless of age. Just look at this. FOX Sports: Hawks ✔@HawksOnFSSE Trae Young is mean to JJ Redick 237 8:16 PM - Oct 7, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy 108 people are talking about this We also saw him put some effort in on the defensive end of the floor and work through screens and not give up, unlike last year. Again, for the Hawks to reach their full potential, they’re going to have to have some effort from Young on defense, and he showed that Monday. He wasn’t close to being the best defender on the floor, but the effort was apparent. Len led the Hawks in 3-point shooting after the All-Star break last season, and he made a couple of 3s. I think it’s safe to say that last season shooting the ball was not a fluke for him. DeAndre’ Bembry played very well as the starting shooting guard in place of Kevin Huerter, who sat out. Pierce didn’t want to play Huerter because he would’ve had to play on a minutes restriction. But Bembry looked very in control, which can sometimes be an issue for him. If he can look this way in the regular season, Pierce is going to have to find a defined role for him. Bembry finished 6-of-11 shooting, 1-of-2 from 3 with three rebounds, three assists, two blocks, two steals and two turnovers in 20 minutes. He also played backup point guard and led the team in usage rate. “It’s tough,” Pierce said in referencing Bembry’s role. “He’s been great for us all through training camp. Evan Turner is out, and Brandon Goodwin is out. I say, ‘You’re going to start at the 2 and then play the rest of the game at the 1.’ We’re putting him in a spot — I wish we could just play him at the one and let him focus there. Dre is always going to compete and always get downhill. He had a couple of errant passes, but that’s just timing for all of our guys. We’re not all on the same page just yet.” Jabari Parker is likely going to lead the Hawks in scoring off the bench, and once he gets accustomed to the system they want to play, he has the potential to be a deadly scorer. He also played defense Monday and looked pretty solid doing it! Collins was Collins. It was a quiet night, but he still finished with 13 points and five rebounds. I did overhear one Pelicans staffer tell Williamson during warm-ups that the paint was going to be open all night for him in reference to the Hawks’ frontcourt defense. All in all, Monday was encouraging for the Hawks despite losing by 24 points. It’s going to take patience from Hawks fans, but this team showed flashes that once it figures it out, it should be able to compete with anyone on any night. “Chemistry is all about playing games and playing together,” Young said. “I don’t know how many rookies we had out there, but they’ve never played an NBA game. It’s fine. It’s a preseason game. We’re going to be fine. I’m excited about this team. The talent we have, we just have a lot to learn and a lot to get better at, including myself. “We’ll be fine. Trust me.”
As both a Virginia and Hawks fan, anyone who was saying this did not watch Virginia at all. I feel like eventually people will figure out that playing in a structured offensive system doesn't mean you're a limited offensive player.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bendow...unding-engine-is-now-untethered/#1a7d9fa61fb4 Adams numbers are going to look VERY different than the last several years. Nice article showing the analytics about how he basically boxed out for Russ for years. Running a true PnR with CP3 and being allowed to get on the glass, a lot of folks are anticipating a career year for Adams. His trade value is going to look very different, and that's why we held him.
Favorite thing about Hunter is he how under control he plays. It looks like he is playing in slow motion while going full speed.
Love his offensive game and think he’s going to be a Paul George level defender. Still think we are a 35-39 win team. Need to upgrade Len. If we are playing meaningful games down the stretch, it’s been a successful year.
Whenever Vince Carter checks into his first game during the regular season, he will become the NBA’s record holder for seasons played with 22. He has played for eight teams. His career is older than Trae Young, Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, Bruno Fernando and Kevin Huerter and the same age as John Collins. Carter is older than Young’s father, and he’s 12 years older than the second-oldest players on the roster (Evan Turner and Chandler Parsons are 30). In January, he’ll become the first player to ever play in four different decades. In summation, Carter has been around the block and has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the game, and it’s one of the main reasons why the Hawks wanted him on the roster this season. Atlanta saved him a roster spot because the organization felt what he brings off the court in terms of leadership is beneficial for this young roster as it navigates the challenges of an NBA season. Before the season tips off in Detroit on Thursday, The Athletic spoke with Carter to get his thoughts on the upcoming season and his honest assessment of the Hawks. Here’s our conversation. Last year, as the rookies got adjusted to the league, this team struggled. You guys started 6-23 going into mid-December. What do you think are the challenges for this team to avoid starting off like that this year? It’ll either happen, or it won’t, to be honest with you. Right now, we can’t worry about the actual number of wins and losses. Before you go on, why? Because we have so many young guys on this roster. When you get caught up with that, you forget about the most important part, and that’s learning how to play the right way. Then you go back to playing undisciplined basketball, which we’re trying to get out of. So are you saying when you worry about wins and losses, especially with a young team like this, the undisciplined basketball tends to show itself? Well, the bad habits that you are trying to break tend to come back, and you start playing desperation basketball. We don’t want to have to play desperation basketball where every player feels like they have to do more and play out of character 25 games into the season. At the same time, our expectations are to come out and win. It’s a learning curve, though, and that’s just the reality of what we have here. You’re putting a lot of young guys in a position where they’re playing a lot of minutes, and it takes a while to gel. That’s our situation, and it’s understood, and it helps that John, Trae and Kevin are going into another year. Those guys are going to play a lot of minutes, and they should feel more comfortable out there on the court because they’ve seen different situations now. I think every rookie in the history of the game would say that playing college basketball then learning the game the first month of the season was an adjustment period. It’s tough. You’ve been on several different teams and obviously for 21 seasons now. Have you noticed if there’s a pattern on how long it usually takes for rookies, on average, to get adjusted? Or is it really just a case-by-case basis? Everyone is different. It could be a year where you’re just putting one guy into that situation or three guys into that situation like we had last year. It just all depends. Some guys learn and catch on at a faster rate. Let me rephrase that, actually. Some guys, the game slows down faster than it does for other guys. The game may slow down faster for De’Andre because he has more years of college basketball experience than Cam. You never know until you throw those guys out there. Speaking of Cam, there were a lot of negative comments about him at Duke last year, whether it was on his inefficiency or some questioning his love of basketball. He went to Duke actually higher rated than Zion Williamson in the recruiting rankings, and a lot of people just felt he didn’t live up to expectations. How hard is it for a young guy to actually put that in the past and not have that in your mind, especially when you might struggle? What I would tell him is regardless of what was said, where was he drafted? He was 10th. See, that’s a lottery pick. I mean (laughs), he was a lottery pick. For all what was said, he was a lottery pick. We all have our opinions about players and the expectations we might have for them. Yeah, he and others might have felt that he had a disappointing season, but the picture of it is someone felt that he was pretty darn good regardless of that OK season. When you’re playing with superstars like that, those things tend to happen. Your game takes a hit. You have to take a seat in the back to allow it all to work. Let’s say RJ (Barrett) and Cam decided they should be the guys, and they decided they should have been the ones to take all of the shots, Duke isn’t what they are. It looks different. His role on that team was still important. NBA scouts could still see his potential, and I’m telling you, he has unreal upside. For his height, his ability to move, his ability to shoot the ball and his feel for the game — he’s still young and has a lot to learn, but he listens, wants to learn and wants to get better. I think, deep down, he wants to prove that. I sit with him, and I’m not going to allow him to worry about the past. The first thing I would say to him if he does get those doubts is what I said at the beginning of this, “What pick were you? If they said you were disappointing and not that good, you probably wouldn’t be a lottery pick, but you are. You’re in the top 10, and it’s a dream for a lot of guys coming in.” You can’t take away being a lottery pick from anyone. From here, he now has to live up to that. You’re always going to have live up to something. I’m probably the wrong guy to talk to about this because I’m not going to let him get caught up with that. I see the potential he has. The future is bright for him, if he wants it to be. Vince Carter, right, is entering his 22nd NBA season and his second with the Atlanta Hawks. (Adam Hunger / USA Today) Lloyd Pierce has said throughout preseason how advanced he thinks De’Andre is and how far along he thinks his game is. How many years of college did he do? He played two seasons and redshirted one year. When you redshirt, you get to see everything. You should also know that when he came out of high school, his coach told me he was around 180 pounds, and he left Virginia around 220, so he obviously put in a ton of work to get to this point. Wow. I mean, you can tell that he put in a lot of work. He has a great feel for the game already. He’s seasoned for his age. He’s another guy who just wants to be good, and he’s going to get there. It’s a different situation for him. De’Andre didn’t have superstars around him. Their style of play and culture is a little different. He was college basketball’s best defender last year, but I’m not sure if many people realized his offensive skill set just because of the system Virginia runs. They’re not running up and down the floor like you guys. Have you been impressed with what he’s shown so far on that end? He has an NBA body already, and what I didn’t know coming into this is where his ability was to put the ball on the floor. I got here the first week, and I was watching him, well, watching them all really, and what I noticed with De’Andre is he shoots the ball well, can put the ball on the floor and uses his body really well. That’s very impressive because a lot of young guys rely on their athleticism more than the technique. He actually knows how to position his body and protect the ball. He’s ahead of the curve, I’ll tell you that. I might as well ask you about the final rookie. Bruno looks raw, in my opinion, and I don’t know if he’s actually ready to contribute right away. Do you agree with that? Bruno is a guy who I think is very passionate. He’s very passionate. He might be the loudest guy on the court. Right. He has a big personality, but he’s also a quiet person. He wants to be a very good player, and it sometimes gets in his way because of the perfection he’s trying to have on this court. He loves this game and loves to work at it. I think he has an opportunity to be good. He’s one of those guys that really should take his time, but he’s one of those guys who just wants it now. It’s like, “I worked for this. I worked so hard. I want this.” Sometimes he just needs to take a step back. But he’s like, “I’m ready for this. I’m ready for this and whatever I need to do, I will just figure it out.” It doesn’t work like that. You have to take a step back, figure it out first, so when you do step on the court, it’s easy for you. Those are the things that he needs to work on. Yes, he’s definitely raw, but with that being said, I think it’s easy to mold him into the player that the organization thinks he can be because he shoots the ball well and has a nice stroke. He has an NBA body and is physical as hell. I think his thing, right now, is to focus on the tangible things he does well right now and then let everything else come together in time. The quicker he buys into that, the better he’ll be early on. He’s a unique case because he’s not shy at all, and rookies are usually shy. He’s different. I wasn’t here Day 1, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he walked in here and said, “OK, I’m in the starting five. Who else is?” I like that, but that comes with responsibility, and he needs to understand that, and when he does, he’ll be fine. I wanted to ask you about the second unit. With the way it’s constructed right now, you have Evan and Jabari Parker, two guys who haven’t been the best shooters in their career. DeAndre’ Bembry has struggled with his shot. Damian Jones and Bruno haven’t been shooters. With how it is constructed, one would think that the spacing is going to be an issue for that unit and points might be hard to come by. Do you look at that as concerning? It’s a veteran crew, and they all understand how to play. I think Coach has done a good job with our second unit in the five games we played to figure out how to win our time on the court. We know Jabari can put the ball in the basket. Yes, he’s a streaky shooter, but when you feel comfortable and when you figure out how to play together, good things can happen. I look at Evan as a gamer. When he needs to knock down shots or knock down a 3, we’ve seen him do it in his career. The numbers don’t say it, but he does it. He’s a gamer. Dre’ is getting better at it. He feels comfortable. I look at it as guys are shooting the ball with confidence and aren’t hesitant, regardless of what the numbers say. If you’re open, just catch it and fire away. I feel like his numbers will go up. We’re going to be doing a lot of shooting and have prepared guys for their situations. We do a lot of situational shooting, and I think that’s the best way to prepare instead of guys just shooting random 3-point shots in games in areas where they don’t shoot in practice. Watching DeAndre’ in preseason, I see added confidence with him. He made some 3s with distance. It’s just all about timing and being comfortable. It’s not a surprise, but a lot of Hawks fans, and some analysts, think this team can sneak into the playoffs and possibly be the eighth seed. Do you realistically think it’s a possibility? That’s our goal. Right. But the lack of experience this roster has, the turnover of this roster, the reliance on rookies. I mean, there are certainly a lot of question marks going into the season. I’ll say this, why would we go into the season thinking we couldn’t make it? If we don’t believe it now before the games are played, we have no shot once we go through that first time where we’re up and down and have those inconsistencies. We have to believe right now. You have to work and build that mentality right now. Yes, our inexperience and youth is a question mark. I get it. Our approach can sometimes fool our minds sometimes, but what we’re trying to do right now is come out here and prepare that we are destined for the playoffs. Maybe the numbers say differently. Maybe some analysts say differently. But if we don’t come out here and work that way then it’s not going to happen. I think we have an opportunity to come in. The first month-and-a-half is important for us, and that’s with our approach, more than anything. Obviously, we can make a final push at the end of the year and a big push at the All-Star break, but that first month is so important. Yes, we want to get as many wins as we can, but hopefully, we come out and play the right way in the beginning. If we’re not playing well, hopefully we’re still playing the right way so we can turn it around. We have to have that playoff mentality if we’re 0-6 or 6-0. It can’t change. That’s the process. We have to be consistent with how we work. We don’t have to gauge our wins and losses with how we prepare. If we can make that a mentality right now, it can happen and it wouldn’t be a surprise.
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Hunter looks smooth on offense we can’t defend 5s, just need to go small and run them off the floor when Huerter gets back