Re: 11/8 - 11/20 Games Discussion Thread
I've always given Trae somewhat of a pass because he takes/makes enough threes and enough free-throws to still be a slight positive in the efficient column (in terms of TS%).. He was above league average in '20, '21, and '22, and honestly just the way he plays makes defenses treat him as a threat and I felt like that opened up his ability to get to the line, create passing angles, and hit the rim-runners at the rim which of course an open dunk/lay-up is the most efficient shot in basketball, followed by free-throws, followed by open threes, and as much as people hate the "mathy" part of today's game getting those looks over and over made Atlanta a playoff team these past few years.
But he's a pretty rough negative this year, after being a slight negative last year as well. I think adding Murray, and Capela being on the decline, play a role in that, but the hope was always as you add more talent around him that the efficiency would improve not decline. And maybe it would with the right mix of guys, but it's not pretty to have a guy taking 20 shots a night and him being well under league average in terms of efficiency.
It's still tough though.. Because despite all that Atlanta still ranks in the upper half of the league offensively. Makes you question if you need Trae to drastically change the way he plays or just make a bit more of his shots and not be shooting THAT poorly.. Will be more telling as we get deeper into the season, these first couple of weeks are prone to hot/cold starts and even though percentage wise he's never looked like a great shooter he's also never been this bad either.
Personally I've never really cared much about his ppg, but more so the way he opens up the floor. Going full analytics here I'd love to see the amount of opens threes (excluding Trae) Atlanta gets relative to league average, and how many of those lobs, rim-runs, etc they get relative to league average as well. Because that's always been my justification for not caring as much about his efficiency, but I'm largely basing that on just an "eye test".
I haven't watched more than a few minutes of them this year, but just looking at his shooting stats it looks like he's not hitting that close mid-range shot this year nearly as well. that as been huge for them the past few years because when that little running floater shot was falling defenses really couldn't do much. Run him off the three, cover the lob, and stick the corners, he was just walking into those and if help came late he turned them into lob passes.
I've always given Trae somewhat of a pass because he takes/makes enough threes and enough free-throws to still be a slight positive in the efficient column (in terms of TS%).. He was above league average in '20, '21, and '22, and honestly just the way he plays makes defenses treat him as a threat and I felt like that opened up his ability to get to the line, create passing angles, and hit the rim-runners at the rim which of course an open dunk/lay-up is the most efficient shot in basketball, followed by free-throws, followed by open threes, and as much as people hate the "mathy" part of today's game getting those looks over and over made Atlanta a playoff team these past few years.
But he's a pretty rough negative this year, after being a slight negative last year as well. I think adding Murray, and Capela being on the decline, play a role in that, but the hope was always as you add more talent around him that the efficiency would improve not decline. And maybe it would with the right mix of guys, but it's not pretty to have a guy taking 20 shots a night and him being well under league average in terms of efficiency.
It's still tough though.. Because despite all that Atlanta still ranks in the upper half of the league offensively. Makes you question if you need Trae to drastically change the way he plays or just make a bit more of his shots and not be shooting THAT poorly.. Will be more telling as we get deeper into the season, these first couple of weeks are prone to hot/cold starts and even though percentage wise he's never looked like a great shooter he's also never been this bad either.
Personally I've never really cared much about his ppg, but more so the way he opens up the floor. Going full analytics here I'd love to see the amount of opens threes (excluding Trae) Atlanta gets relative to league average, and how many of those lobs, rim-runs, etc they get relative to league average as well. Because that's always been my justification for not caring as much about his efficiency, but I'm largely basing that on just an "eye test".
I haven't watched more than a few minutes of them this year, but just looking at his shooting stats it looks like he's not hitting that close mid-range shot this year nearly as well. that as been huge for them the past few years because when that little running floater shot was falling defenses really couldn't do much. Run him off the three, cover the lob, and stick the corners, he was just walking into those and if help came late he turned them into lob passes.
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