GAME 26: ATL (11-13) @ DAL (12-14) | 118-117 win | 3 game win streak

[ItsGoTime]

With the game on the line, some players bet on themselves to make the game winner. Others bet on the refs to send them to the line. Trae is the latter, and his outburst afterwards only makes it worse. The dude got cooked by Brunson the entire 4th quarter, took himself out of the final play by flopping when it mattered most, and then cursed out the refs for not bailing him out. For such a talented player, that's an ugly way to lose a game.

Did you see Luka's face and reaction to Trae cussing out the ref? It was pretty priceless!

[ballsrchr]

Question is is it a 4 cylinder engine they're rolling out there or a Hemi?

I think it's a Hemi only hitting on 4 cylinders.  Every once in awhile they hit on 6...and rarely on 8.  I do think we have the potential to be better than we have shown lately.

[DanSchwartzgan]

 The dude...took himself out of the final play by flopping when it mattered most 

Another possibility is the final play wasn't called for him and he tried to make himself the hero by drawing the foul.  If so, kind of a douche move to not trust his teammate or the play call.  Of course, if i had worked, we'd be having different conversations right now.  WCS would't be the hero, he'd be the goat.  A brighter light would be shined on Brunson's missed 3 (why didn't Luka take that critical shot).  And we would have double the calls for trading KP.  It really is a game of inches.

[omahen]

A brighter light would be shined on Brunson's missed 3 (why didn't Luka take that critical shot).

Because Brunson was open and Luka wasn't  I thoutght Luka trusting his teammates is unanimously considered as the right play. 

https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?GameEventID=655&GameID=0022000384&Season=2020-21&flag=1&title=MISS%20Brunson%2024%27%203PT%20Jump%20Shot&sct=plot

[DanSchwartzgan]

Because Brunson was open and Luka wasn't  I thoutght Luka trusting his teammates is unanimously considered as the right play. 

https://www.nba.com/stats/events/?GameEventID=655&GameID=0022000384&Season=2020-21&flag=1&title=MISS%20Brunson%2024%27%203PT%20Jump%20Shot&sct=plot

Next time I'll put "sarcasm alert".  I've written in the last 3 recap threads how much I like the end of game diversity of attack we are suddenly seeing.

[Hypermav]

Did you see Luka's face and reaction to Trae cussing out the ref? It was pretty priceless!

Luka was watching closely. (I'd like to think he was saying to himself, wow, is that what I look like when I complain?)


I also liked the part where Trae's face is all mad glaring at the ref and then Luka hugs him and Trae changes expression immediately and gives him a big hey buddy grin.

[Hypermav]

I think the play was to free Collins for the lob.  Trae was supposed to "block" WCS from following Collins to the rim.  Part of the sales job to keep it from being amoving screen offensive foul is to fall down.  WCS didn't even see him and just ran over him.  Collins got enough separation for the lob pass if Huerter had tried it.  I doubt Collins would have missed.

[omahen]

I think the play was to free Collins for the lob.  Trae was supposed to "block" WCS from following Collins to the rim.  Part of the sales job to keep it from being amoving screen offensive foul is to fall down.  WCS didn't even see him and just ran over him.  Collins got enough separation for the lob pass if Huerter had tried it.  I doubt Collins would have missed.

It is explained in detail here. The main idea was to get the ball to Young. Of course lob to Collins is an option, but it is a risky play. If Young wouldn't be open, Gallo is a third option. Pretty good play, though. Luckily Trae was trucked over in a 50-50 situation, refs smartly stayed quiet and Gallo couldn't convert.

https://theathletic.com/2381250/2021/02/...mavericks/

https://twitter.com/JasonWalkerNBA/statu...wcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F2381250%2F2021%2F02%2F11%2Fhawks-blow-lead-against-mavericks%2F

[Hypermav]

The main idea was to get the ball to Young.

“It’s a play we’ve used a couple of times before,” Huerter said. “My first look was John on that back screen. When Trae got ran over, I didn’t think he had enough distance from Cauley-Stein, especially with (Tim Hardaway Jr.) on that backside. I wanted to make sure we got a shot. My next look after John would have been Trae. Trae is on the ground. My third option is Gallo and then (myself) coming back to the ball. Obviously, you look at the result and it’s not what we wanted. In hindsight, I probably could have looked at John. We have four seconds left. We still have time to get a shot. I didn’t feel like he got the separation. Obviously, you live with the results.

“I want to make sure we have a shot. I didn’t feel like he had the separation for me to throw it. It’s not the result we wanted, but you live and you learn.”

***
The way Trae set that screen in the video made me think Trae was not the first option.  He fully expected to be run over by the look on his face.  Huerter confirmed his choice progression with the above statement.

[mtrot]

To me, it looked like all WCS did was to try to turn around towards the basket and, in doing so, got into Trae a little bit, after which Trae flopped.  Good no call on that one.

[omahen]

The way Trae set that screen in the video made me think Trae was not the first option.  He fully expected to be run over by the look on his face.  Huerter confirmed his choice progression with the above statement.

Young quote from same piece:

Young said the play was for him to get the ball and take the final shot, but that didn’t happen because he was on the ground and, effectively, erased from the play. Young said, “I’m not gonna run away from the ball with four seconds left and we’re trying to win the game. I’m not gonna fall just to fall,” rejecting the notion that he was flopping to possibly get to the free-throw line.

---

Collins is of course the first look, but it is unlikely defense would give so much ground for an easy oop. Also the pass to him is difficult. As it can be seen on the photo, the pass to Trae would be wide open, if he wouldn't fall. From there he would have 4 seconds to create his final shot. I guess we would be looking at at least Gallo quality shot.

[KillerLeft]

https://twitter.com/JasonWalkerNBA/statu...wcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F2381250%2F2021%2F02%2F11%2Fhawks-blow-lead-against-mavericks%2F

My favorite part of that screen shot is that it seems clear that while WCS's man is temporarily free and running to the rim, WCS recognizes it and is shifting into overdrive to recover. His issues have always been between his ears, and he has shown more and more signs of improvement in that area this season, imo. Might be wishful thinking, but I'm taking it.