The Hawks have a MAJOR Problem...

The battle was fierce. The fight was real. The Hawks had the heart, the will, the steel. Blows were traded. The game was tight, but small mistakes would block the light. Shot clock dwindles, chances fade, opportunities lost, a price they paid. Tonight the Knicks brought their best, no doubt, but this is the story of a team that truly beat themselves. Welcome back to Hawks Digest, everyone. I am Chris Tipton. Happy to see every last one of you again. leave take off your shoes leave on your socks we're about to dive into post game hawks versus nicks round four yes sir but before we do that i got to give you guys some love hey man if you're a part of that 13.3% we're in motion at hawks digest and we humbly appreciate you guys for coming through making us one of your first lists when you need hawks content and you want the hawks news you want the scoop you come right on over here to hawks digest we appreciate you the 86 percent that is still skeptical i promise you that you'll be doing yourself a good service if you come on over to hawks digest and be a part of the hawks digest family me and Walter Parlot we are doing our thing and it's all because of you guys without you guys we are nothing so we thank you humbly over here at hawks digest again man post game y'all let me know what your thoughts in the comments please you know us and be free about it um today we was playing the new york knickerbockers round four again and you really want to get this win again coming into the game the knicks last time we played them we was on a three game win streak and the knicks were able to take away our three game win streak and then we would go slipping and sliding down the slopes because we would be on a seven game losing streak after losing to the Knickerbockers tonight it started off real slow for the Atlanta Hawks and there are no more victories i get it there are no more victories but i'm gonna try to see if i can for the fans that are still optimistic and for the fans who even believe that we didn't play anybody i'm gonna try to cater to both sides now the hawks started off this game in traditional hawks fashion pretty slow right 36 percent from the field first quarter missing a lot around the rim it was very uncharacteristic seeing the hawks just missed so many you've seen trey miss some uh dyson missing layup or Conwood missing putbacks it was a point in time in the first half to where you've seen the hawks had six offensive rebounds because everyone was missing that was just very uncharacteristic for the atlanta hawks it played apart in the first half just being what I would call dismal, very dismal first half, first quarter first half completely. You're giving up 68 points that's pretty high even though you're on the road regardless. By the way this was the Hawks 31st road game, the most in the NBA. Take that in consideration and perspective, perspective. But in this game man, again the hawks the hawks really did themselves a service at the end of the half when we was able to go on that run the hawks were able to go on a 12 to 2 run to end this first half to keep the minute the hawks were being very scrappy very scrappy man it was a collaborative effort i'm gonna get into individual performances in a second here but i got to talk about the atlanta hawks and their fight even though when you look at it um the hawks you know i'm saying like they played a decent game overall they hung around they hung around if you look at the turnover margin you thought it was going to be a crazy turnover night i know i did at first because it was just too much happening for the atlanta hawks too many turnovers atlanta hawks they had a total of 12 turnovers in the game but and the way that the game was starting off it seemed like it was like come on i already You know, a lot of people was yelling at the TV, at Trey. I was looking at Trey, even like, come on, man, let's get into the game, let's get into the game. Hawks would win the points in the paint battle, though, 78-72, even though they missed a lot around the rim. So, like, take that in perspective as well. The Hawks could have had more points. I believe the Hawks, again, missed out on an opportunity in this game to really just seize an opportunity for a four-game win streak. They beat themselves in a lot of different aspects, and I will continue. Again, points off turnovers, you still was able to win that battle because that was 30-18 in favor of our ATL Hawks. Battling back from a big lead, they were down 18 points at one point in time, continuously to battle, continuously to battle. The Knicks tried everything they could in this game to pull away from the Atlanta Hawks, and the Atlanta Hawks just was like, nada, we're not going to have that. Hawks were able to get out in pace in this particular game, too Because you look at the bit of the fast break points was in favor by a nice margin 24 to 11 in favor of our ATL Hawks So the Hawks had did a lot of good things But it was just little minor mistakes little little things here and there that would that would really hinder the Atlanta Hawks in this game right here foul trouble again missing around the around the rim turnovers but the turnovers again they were big but they wasn't the telltale in this game at all like not as much as i thought they were going to be because again we only had 12 now trey i understand he had quite a bit tonight he had uh eight tonight i honestly and like i said i'm gonna get to individual performances in a second here but i gotta backtrack just a little bit start giving everybody their credit where it's due and I'm going to start with George Niang. I'm going to start with George Niang, man. Okay, so first and foremost, before I get to Niang, I got to build the story just a little bit, okay? So mind you, the Hawks were down, okay? It was 10 seconds left. The Knicks had a six-point lead with 10 seconds left. And then the Hawks were able to score and tie the game. Trey Young. Dyson Daniels, George Niang, Dyson Daniels with a key steal. I'm talking about he was just being that great barrier thief at key moments tonight. I understand what happened at the end of the game, which I'll get to that too. But to go to overtime, to be down the way you were 10 seconds, and to be able to really score, you was able to get free throw. First of all, you was able to get a three from this gentleman, George Niang. George Niang, he was big in this game right here, man. I got to give him his flowers. George Niang, 33 minutes, 50% from the field, 40% from three. Ah, gosh, you wish you just could have been 50%. But at the end of the day, off the bench, man, huge bench points for the Atlanta Hawks. He was big off the bench, 21 points for George Niang. Also playing some defense, giving you some assists, gave you three assists, gave you four rebounds. And he played some defense as well. So, key defensive play, knocking the ball out of the hands of Precious Achiuwa and just being just a focal point, being able to be that sniper, man. You know, George Niang, he was able to knock down a few key three-pointers. Yes, he missed some. He was 4 of 10. But the ones that he hit was big. You just hate that at the end of the game, George Niang just came up just short, y'all. It was just short. We had the New York Knicks, you know what I'm saying, by the cojones, you know what I'm saying. We had them. We was right there. You really feel like the Hawks let them off the hook, you know. But we battled. At the end of the day, we battled. The Knicks were worried. Those Knicks fans were sweating bullets. George Niang makes that shot. Guess what? The Hawks win the game. Regardless, we had the opportunity to win the game, and a shooter had the ball. That's all you really can ask for. at the end of the game now backing up before we before Niang even took the shot Trey Young on the drive um Mikal Bridges hey he did his job he locked Trey up on that one and Onyeka Okongwu was able to get the rebound get the ball to George Niang for an open shot hey that's all you can ask for guys that's all you can ask for is an opportunity so George Niang hey man I salute to you ah you just wish that you were five for ten instead of four for ten but you can't jump on him too bad he had a great game off the bench gave him very quality minutes for our Atlanta Hawks i really do see the motion for George Niang to be a focal point moving forward for our Atlanta Hawks man shout out to george um now let me go to my guy moji moji i ain't gonna lie i'm still on your bandwagon moji but today was a terrible game for moji on the offensive end he still battled on the defensive end for you um he gave you three rebounds one assist one steal also only gave you two points again and those two points were from the foul line so he gave you over from the field oh for six over for the three-point line even airballing a few of them they like they they were bad too because it looked like, you know, they were from the corner, so it kind of looked even worse. Moji, again, first bad game. Don't want to jump on the young fella too much. He's working his way in. Everybody has bad games, okay? Everybody. So I'm not going to jump on his bandwagon too much as far as, like, excuse me, should I say jumping off his bandwagon. I'm still on Moji. I'm glad Moji is up here getting quality minutes because guess what? We already had other guys that's in our lineup that we drafted that were having tough times. And when I say that, I insert my man Zachary Richache, who I'm glad he at least got a little bit more run. But let's just be honest. He got more run because it was overtime. But Zachary Richache was 6-11, another 54.6 game, another 50% from the field, from the 3, should I say, excuse me, 2-4 from the 3-point line. So 50% from the 3-point line, 54.5% from the field, 6-11. Okay, just wanted to, didn't want to confuse anyone. 16 points for Zachary Richache, 2 rebounds for this young man. got you an assist, got you a steal, got you a block, played quality minutes, you know I feel like he played quality minutes, um again you want, I hate, I really hate the leash that we have on Zachary Richache again, I know Wimby he had to go through the same thing but it's really bad I really hate it sometimes when Zach gets going or it seems like he's he's in the flow of the game and then we've got to snatch him out. You know, I really hate that, but it is what it is. You know, so I believe that moving forward, at least next season, if it doesn't happen for this season, at least next season we can look at it and be like, okay, Zach, he still played quality minutes. His minutes are going to go up. You know, so we've got something to look forward to. But, Zach, another game in double digits, another 16-point game. You take that. And he likes playing against the Knicks, I think, too, man. You think he missed that last game and if we could give him some more quality minutes It'd be great but great game for Zachary Richache and remember we was on his case before so again That's why I say don't just jump on Mo G too much because you know everyone has bad games everyone Next guy I have to move on to is double o double O Double O Double O Double O, Onyeka Okongwu man And, hey, say what you want about Onyeka Okongwu. But real quick, we have been a better defensive team overall since Onyeka Okongwu has been in the starting lineup. I know it hasn't resulted in a lot of wins. It really hasn't. It really hasn't. But at the same time, he's giving you quality minutes. He gave you quality minutes tonight. The man was almost 100% from the field. He was 9 of 10 in 40 minutes. by the way the only shot he missed was from the three-point line okay now on Onyeka the thing that i'm on on Onyeka about is my goodness those free throws Onyeka Okongwu was three of eight from the foul line the hawks were 24 of 35 total from the foul line that's 68.8 percent No, that just cannot happen. Look at all those points that were left on the board and look at the ending of the game. 149 to 148. Man, if you just make some free throws. If you make some free throws, guys. If you make more around the rim, guys. The Atlanta Hawks are on a four-game win streak. I don't care what the Knicks did at the end of the game with Jalen Bronson. And I give Jalen Brunson his credit because he had a, he started out on fire, you know, 16 points, you know, to start the game. The man, the man, well, I think what a shift for him when he started was able to get back to scoring was when Dyson Daniels went out of the game. Terrence Mann had to come in and then it was some switching going on around and Jalen Brunson took advantage of it. By the time Dyson Daniels came back in, I really believed that Bronson was already on a heater, and it was tough to stop him. But Onyeka Okongwu, this story is about him, because at the end of the day, Onyeka Okongwu still gave you 21 points and 14 rebounds tonight. So he did his job as well. Five assists, he even got you some assists and got you two steals, three blocks. at the end of the day win or lose you take those stats from somebody who's 6'8 you know Cat had a big game tonight Cat had back-to-back 40 point games Jalen Bronson had 36 right but at the end of the day they still only won by one point and the Hawks left plenty of points on the board so I'm just they gave us everything that we had and we didn't and we still let them off the hook is it's almost like Dennis Green the old football coach they are who we thought they were and we let them off the hook next i want to go to a guy that i just mentioned look rap D Dyson Daniels Dyson Daniels had a decent game tonight um i mean offensively he was great um five fouls so he did not foul out Dyson Daniels had key critical steals at the end of the game it's crazy because he was able to get more steals even with five fouls and he was able to get not only over his season average of three steals a game the man was also able to get four steals and he has the most games with four steals or more this season being the leader in steals that he is being the great barrier thief and he's still giving you points 23 points he was one of my X-Factors tonight along with Zachary Richachet who gave you 16 and gave you 50% from the field and from three Dyson Daniels was another one of my X-Factors and he gave you 23 points four steals four assists four rebounds come on now 10 for 15 that's 66% from the field two of three from the three point line that's 66.7 percent from three this is coming from a guy who everybody was saying oh he just stands in the corner he doesn't score four points per game i don't even care about none of that because at the end of the day he's producing talk to me talk to me about what he's doing in the production level on both ends of the floor there's a lot of times you're not even in the game if he doesn't make the play that he's making come on now Dyson Daniels was definitely on one tonight gotta get into my next X Factor who honestly was very quiet Terrence Mann Terrence Mann was very quiet tonight um you can say this is his worst game as a hawk came off of a perfect game the night before um then next thing you know here he's dropping one point he uh had four fouls again trying to stay with Bronson trying to stay with other guys as well and got himself into foul trouble too I honestly believe that tonight uh Jalen Bronson was able to take advantage of different mismatches and when Terrence Mann was out there more so than Dyson Daniels I think that's when he really gained his rhythm uh to score those uh extra 20 points I know some came from the foul line as well too but yeah Terrence Mann was very quiet tonight He was 0 for tonight as well in 16 minutes, and he only played 16 minutes because other guys were being focal points tonight, were being contributing in the offensive end, you know, as well as the defensive end. So tonight was one of those nights, you know, off night for Terrence Mann, not even mad at it. Again, he was 0 for 4. He didn't take any three-point attempts, and he was 50% from the foul line. And, again, Hawks 24 of 35 from the foul line. That's 11 points that the Hawks left on the board just at the foul line. So, that's tough right there, guys. That's tough to win games when you're just leaving 11 points out there and you lose by one. Oh, boy, that's tough. But, yeah, again, Terrence Mann, off night tonight for him. Can't really jump on him too bad, though. He's just getting here. i want to move on to my next guy and then i'm gonna get into my player of the game okay so Trae Young, Trae started off this game absolutely terrible okay turnovers and the end of the first half it was a 2 of 11 from the field just decision making shot selection overall in this game was questionable i would say that questionable but take this with a grain of salt, Trae Young started off the game 2 of 11, right? And even though he finished the game 11 of 29, which is only a merely 37.9%, and being 4 of 11 from the three-point line, which is 36.4%, he still was able to hit 12 out of 14 free throws, 19 assists, 38 points. yeah even with those eight turnovers that he had again i've jumped on Trae about those high turnover games again we cannot have them i mean maybe a turnover or less maybe you maybe things happen but again grain of salt even though he was 11 for 29 at the end of the day in the second half he was 50 he was 9 of 18 in the second half so without him in the second half hawks are not in this game he hit a lot of big shots he made a lot of big plays he uh set guys up to make play to to score to to feed the ball it was good ball movement around as well so the Atlanta Hawks they were able to still give themselves plenty of opportunities because of Trae Young in that second half absolutely you know and dominated um these guys the Knicks 43 to 28 in assists You know, we also, of course, won the rebounding battle. Some people would say, hey, we got those six rebounds on that offensive, and it kind of ballooned it a little bit. But we still took care of business on that end as well. The Hawks were just resilient and fighting. And Trey Young, in this game, you just want him to cut down the turnovers. If he started off the game, the first half was terrible. Shot selection, turnovers, missing around the rim. it was just everything that could have went wrong in that first half really did but the hawks was able to weather the storm third quarter that used to be death quarter is actually turning into a strength for the atlanta hawks when they're on their comeback trail or if they're trying to um if they're in a tight game and they're trying to increase a lead everything like that the third quarter is slightly slightly starting to become more of a strength for the atlanta hawks and the second half man you can't really just count these hawks out of it at the end of the day no more victories at all you want that dub no no doubt about it you want that dub but you can't just jump on the hawks too too bad because they could have got blown out in this game and that were that's the trajectory we was headed beforehand last guy i gotta get into and this is my player of the game actually Caris LeVert being able to create his own shot being able to handle the ball take take guys off the dribble get to the rack play defense hit timely shots you know even though he missed those two free throws that i'm not gonna lie to you i was i was like this i was like no lavert no you having such a great game and you missed both of the free throws again Atlanta Hawks was 24 for 35 and just i keep hammering that in because that's 11 points you left on the court and you cannot do that against a team like the Knicks I mean I bad mouth them I talk I talk smack about them at the end of the day they are the third seed they're a good team okay you can't give them opportunities they having guys having like cat having a big game and their x factor for me was Precious Achiuwa Precious Achiuwa had so many points where I'm just like bro why in the world is this man scoring and Precious Achiuwa dropped 26 points on us, 8 rebounds, come on now, like, he was 12 for 16, that's 75% from the field, Precious Achiuwa, outside of Onyeka Okongwu, had the highest percentage on the field, from the field tonight, so, hey man, Precious Achiuwa was definitely their X-Factor, and this guy, he wasn't an X-Factor for me, but I knew he could be a focal point in this game, and he was absolutely in the second quarter and part of the third quarter as well really the entire game without Caris LeVert and his effort the Hawks are not in this game while Trey Young was still trying to warm up 35 minutes from LeVert off the bench 8 for 13 61 percent 50 percent from three hitting some big shots come on now now again you wish he had those free throws back again that's It was just a telltale of the game, though. But he did give you 20 and 10. He gave you 20 and 10. Said before, we sent two guys out in Bogey and Dejounte Hunter. We brought three guys in that I believe can make up those 32 points that we lost. And I'm really being generous because Bogey only averaged about nine points. So I really want to say about an even 30 points that they can make up in two, three games. These guys have been doing that. Yes, Terrence Mann had a bad game tonight, but he gave you 12 points in the last game. Le'Ain gave you 16 in his first game, gave you 21 tonight. Kyrie Levert, back-to-back games, we know some with high numbers, 20 and 18. Last time I checked and last time I counted, those points are getting made up. We just have to have better execution, better shot selection, cut down on the turnovers, Cut down on missing around the rim Which is something everybody just about did So that's on everybody Free throws Just about everybody missed a free throw Except for George Niang And that was it Everyone missed at least one free throw tonight That took some Ayeke Akambu missed five Trey missed two Levert missed two Terrence Mann, he was one for two Dyson Daniels, he was one for two The only guys who were perfect Richa Shea, two for two. Moji, two for two. So, again, this is the story of a team that, hey, the Knicks brought it, but they really beat themselves. And as before I get ready to get out of here, Clint Capella should be back for the Atlanta Hawks after the All-Star break. And that's a guy that I feel like we missed in this game too, just having that size and that length to go against, you know, Precious Achiuwa, possibly, you know what I'm saying, And Cat gave other guys, you know, a little breather in that aspect. You missed him in that regard. Also, you missed Larry Nance. You missed his shooting. You missed Vít Krejčí. You missed his length. And him just being out there to possibly help facilitate the offense and, you know, keep things going. I'm pretty sure he would have got some wide-open shots tonight if he was able to play. But they were not there. And the guys who were there, they did step up. Hawks lose this one. and the highest NBA scoring game of this year so far. Hawks lose this one. We go into the All-Star break on a losing end. But I'm ready to see what the Hawks are going to do and if they can bounce back after this loss to the New York Knicks because you remember what happened last time. But guys, thank you so much for tuning in. If you guys are still with me, I humbly thank you so much. I really just had to dive in just a little bit deeper into this game, and I really had some more to say. But until next time, until next time, thank you all for subscribing. Thank you all for tuning in. This show is nothing without you guys because this is your show, Hawks Digest. I am Chris Tiltmore. Peace and blessings to you all. Let's bounce back after the All-Star break. I'll see you guys after the All-Star game.