- 1 day ago
The Hawks lost an ugly one to the Knicks last Thursday, but that game -- and the the two before that -- were a clear indication that this team has some obvious needs. Dukes & Bell discussed how they are primed to improve quickly this offseason.
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00:00Let's talk about our Hawks real quick, because, again, let Thursday go.
00:06Now we've got to focus on where this team's going to go.
00:08And our buddy Sam Mitchell, who does SiriusXM and calls games for the NBA,
00:13he was former coach of the year as well, stopped by last week.
00:16And I just want you to hear a couple of things he said.
00:18We asked him specifically, I think Mike did, about Jalen Johnson being the leader
00:22and him stepping up.
00:24Now, this was obviously prior to the game,
00:26but this is just one of those general conversations we were having about the outlook of the team
00:31and the leadership and Jalen.
00:33Here's Sam Mitchell.
00:34As a coach, you're trying to get guys to maximize their talent, who and what they are.
00:39But there's a limit to what you can do.
00:42And there's a point to where you can push so hard to where it can have the reverse effect.
00:47Jalen Johnson is an unbelievable player.
00:50But, guys, he may not have that gene in him to make him the Kobe Bryant.
00:56Or to my member now, LeBron James, who a lot of people think is the greatest player of all time,
01:02at the end of games, he deferred.
01:05Right.
01:05And, you know, we give him, we cut him slack because we say he made the right play.
01:09Well, sometimes I want my best player, forget it, what's the right play.
01:13I want to go to sleep knowing that I live or die with you.
01:18Not some other guy necessarily the right play.
01:20But, guys, look, he's a great player.
01:23Sure, he's a max player.
01:25But he may not be that guy that wants to take the game over the last.
01:29Listen, that's okay.
01:31Go find somebody that wants to do that.
01:35Problem is, we, you know, when you move on from Trey, you know, I expect him to be the alpha.
01:39You know, we used the phrase so much last week, lead up to game six, alpha.
01:42So, you know, Sam's saying, look, some guys, it's just not in them.
01:45You know, we just talked about Tatum with the Celtics.
01:48I mean, like, I know he won the ring and he makes more money.
01:51But to me, Jalen Brown's the heart and soul of that team.
01:53You know, and the fact that he didn't play, and we talked about that earlier with the Sixers.
01:56It's game seven, man.
01:58You know, season's on the line.
01:59But in the case of our guy, how does Quinn Snyder, by the way, they're not going to fire Quinn
02:04Snyder.
02:04Like, I'm not ranting and raving about it because they're just not going to fire him, so there's no point.
02:08You know, I think, you know, if I owned a team, I'd have a hell of a hard conversation with
02:12him about how the hell you're so lifeless.
02:14You know, I know there's limitations, Carl, in this series, things that the Knicks are better at than we are.
02:19You can't coach size.
02:20We don't have any.
02:21But I just don't know how you come out in an elimination game and be that bad.
02:25And look so just completely flaccid.
02:30Listless.
02:31Lifeless.
02:32Yeah.
02:33You know, but again, that's something that Quinn needs to have a conversation with Jalen about.
02:38And I'd say it's got to be in this conversation, too, because, you know, we may have to go find
02:42another guy.
02:43That's going to be expensive.
02:44It is.
02:45And disappointing.
02:46Here is Sam Mitchell talking about our needs.
02:49And again, this was Sam on the show before the loss, talking about these are the things we should be
02:54thinking about heading into the offseason.
02:56None against him.
02:57I love Okungu.
02:58Love him.
02:59Coast him.
03:00But go get you a 7'1", 270-pound guy.
03:04Look, man, just take a look.
03:05Look at what's the backup center for the Knicks?
03:08I forget his name.
03:09Mitchell.
03:10Mitchell Robinson.
03:10Mitchell Robinson.
03:12Dude, not skilled.
03:13But when he's on the floor, look what he does, man, with that big body.
03:17You've got to account for him.
03:19He can beat you just getting offensive rebounds.
03:21So, you need a big, legit, and there's times, if you go get you a legit center, you can play
03:28at Congo at the Power 4 or something.
03:30Then you can, and Jalen Johnson at the 3.
03:32You can be really big.
03:34You can be really big.
03:36Imagine that.
03:37That's what we need.
03:38Imagine going to that lineup when needed.
03:40It's not your lineup all the time, but when needed.
03:42There was a time, I think, on the floor on Thursday night, and the Knicks are up forever, right?
03:48And they go big.
03:49And I'm looking at the lineup, and I'm like, damn, we got nobody to match up.
03:52They had Mitchell and Towns.
03:54They had all their bigs on the floor at one time.
03:56I'm like, oh, it's ugly.
03:57And Mo Gay, I mean, I like Mo, but Mo looks like Urkel out there compared to them.
04:01I know he's 7 feet, but he's so skinny.
04:03And I think we also forget that when you're big like that, one of the things that, for the Knicks,
04:08because of their size,
04:10defensively it helps you because you can take away passing lanes.
04:12Yep.
04:13And that killed us in those last two games.
04:16Oh, I mean, the way that game started, fumbling and bumbling, all those crazy turnovers.
04:19You look at guys like they've never played the game before as a team, you know?
04:22So that's why, I mean, I don't think Quinn Snyder gets a pass on this.
04:26I think, you know, if I'm Tony Rester, I'd like to have him, I'd like to have a little end
04:29-of-season conversation, you know,
04:31about what the hell just happened here.
04:33But I know that if we ever fired him, they'd hire him in Orlando in a New York minute.
04:37But I just, I'm so disappointed.
04:40There are excuses you can make about everything we just talked about, things we don't have.
04:44The Knicks are better.
04:45When they finally get their game dialed in and Mike Brown had them focused, they beat us, you know, probably
04:49in four games.
04:50We stole two.
04:51But I can never truck with that idea that you come out and, like, well, I guess I'm ready for
04:57the Bahamas or whatever.
04:58It just, it looks, it just, where, I mean, I hate to say it as a cliche, but where was
05:01the pride?
05:02No, look, Orlando, for those who missed it, almost didn't make a shot for an entire quarter the other night.
05:10Okay?
05:11Detroit came back and beat them in game six and then obviously won in game seven.
05:15But, I mean, it was, like, one of the most horrible shooting efforts you will ever see in an NBA
05:20game.
05:21You have moments like this.
05:23It happens.
05:25It just so happened in a big moment at home with us.
05:28And they're a terrible perimeter shooting team.
05:29Yes, yes.
05:30But, you know, like, when you say, like, I've never seen that.
05:32I've never seen Orlando.
05:33I think they hit one shot in the quarter.
05:36So those things are weird, man, and they're anomalies.
05:40But, Mike, you're right.
05:40I mean, at the end of the day, and this is what I got Friday from a lot of guys,
05:43is, like, it's not just game six.
05:45And, by the way, I told you, they're not firing him because there was no expectation.
05:48Okay?
05:49There was expectation with Orlando.
05:51They had been in the playoffs the last three years.
05:53They had expectation.
05:56That's why Jamal Mosley's fired.
05:58Right.
05:58Your team changed four different times during the season and you traded your star.
06:02There was no expectation.
06:04So, no, you're not firing Quinn Snyder.
06:07But Quinn Snyder and his staff have to do a better job with the new personnel that's going to come
06:11in.
06:12And this team has to take the next step.
06:13That's going to be – now we have an expectation.
06:15We can't just be a first-round playoff team moving forward.
06:18With that said, I think, Mike, when you talk about, like, you know, the makeup of this team, yeah, I
06:25don't know.
06:26Can one offseason – can we fill all the needs in one offseason?
06:29There's a way you can do this.
06:30Spend the money.
06:31You know, you can get into – and we're not going to spend, like, drunken sailors like Steve Ballmer did.
06:36And look what he got for his money in L.A. with the Clippers.
06:39He spit wrongly.
06:40Orrin also mentioned there, and Magic gave a bunch of picks for Bain.
06:43Bain was a piece of – they sure did.
06:45They put him over the top.
06:45They sure did.
06:45But as far as the Hawks, well, we need a rim protector.
06:49Mitchell Robinson is a free agent.
06:50You can look it up.
06:51There's other guys out there.
06:52We talk about Walker Kessler.
06:53If you want some size, there's guys.
06:55Okay?
06:56And some teams are going to retain their guys.
06:57Other guys will be out there.
06:59But we've got – to me, it's – this is now the time to spend some money.
07:02To get in there.
07:03And we always hear about these stupid aprons that no one understands unless you're the NBA capologist, which makes –
07:08let's be honest – makes the NFL cap look like playing tic-tac-toe.
07:11Yeah, it does.
07:12You know, and there's so many levels to it.
07:13But I just – as fans, now you've got to – you've primed the pump.
07:17You've got people fired up again.
07:19There was juice.
07:20You know, anybody like Day Day and I were there for that game three was amazing.
07:24You'll never forget that one.
07:25But now you're left with the bad taste of just how awful –
07:33The Hawks is they traded Dominique to the Clippers.
07:35Bad taste in your mouth.
07:36Right.
07:37But again, free agency and we've got the draft.
07:40And ironically, the draft comes then – it's not like the NFL does it the right way.
07:43You're free agency, then you draft.
07:44For whatever reason, the NBA doesn't invert it.
07:46While we're talking about the NBA, big news just coming down.
07:49Ant-Man apparently is going to play in game one.
07:51It's been nine days since that awkward knee injury that he got.
07:55People were saying – it was like with Luka and Austin Reeves.
07:58He may or may not play in this series.
08:00He is attempting to play game one against the Spurs.
08:04So that news coming down.
08:05While we're talking about the playoffs, it's Dukes and Bell.
08:07Coming up, we'll find out what's on Day Day's mind.
08:08Let me hear the comment everybody else is talking about.
08:11This is Jalen Brown on Joel Embiid flopping.
08:15This is my personal opinion on basketball.
08:17Some of y'all might disagree, but argue with your grandma.
08:20Flopping has ruined our game.
08:22Joel Embiid is a great player.
08:24One of the best bigs in basketball history.
08:27Flops.
08:28He know it.
08:28This ain't breaking news.
08:30It is what it is.
08:31Y'all can clip it up.
08:32Like I said, y'all can post it on these paid accounts that y'all bought.
08:37Whatever.
08:38That's Jalen Brown.
08:39And by the way, Embiid, being healthy for the first time in a long time,
08:43he was a force.
08:44I mean, a big man that can hit the three like that and can just put guys –
08:47and also he was throwing guys around.
08:48You know, you got to – technically he's lucky he didn't get kicked out again.
08:50But he did everything, including the unmanly side of it, the flop.
08:55Now you say – would you fire Joe Mazzoula?
08:58Yes.
08:59Okay.
08:59I would have fired him.
09:01Even if he won the championship, I'd still fire him because he makes dumb decisions.
09:04No, Mazzoula is out of his mind.
09:05Emi Yudoka is the guy that got more out of – I still believe that they'd have two more championships
09:10if Yudoka was still running the team.
09:12Yeah, I think he blew this series.
09:14And I think his stubbornness in the way that he approached, you know, the rotations, everything.
09:19To your point, and even pressing a star player in Tatum, as Mike has said,
09:23here's what Mazzoula said when they asked him,
09:25what changed in this series?
09:26Boston was up, guys.
09:27Right.
09:283-1.
09:29Here's Mazzoula.
09:30What changed in the series was Jalen Embiid came back.
09:32And they're a completely different team.
09:34And that's what changed in the series.
09:36And as far as the regular season in the playoffs, nothing changed.
09:38I had no answers.
09:40I had no scheme.
09:41How about his rotations?
09:42I couldn't devise anything.
09:44Did you see those rotations?
09:45That's terrible.
09:45Like, wow.
09:46Like, those guys are on the floor.
09:47Yeah.
09:48But we said earlier, one of the things is beyond his control.
09:50We were talking a lot today about leadership.
09:52We played the soundbite from Pablo Benchero earlier.
09:55You get guys – you know, you're measured by the big moments.
09:58Jason Tatum tapping out of a game seven.
10:01At least give it a go.
10:02Yep.
10:02I mean, in – I don't know.
10:04I know in Boston, where they expect you to play, that's not going to play well.
10:08Bird would have played.
10:10Mikael would have played.
10:11Parrish would have played.
10:12Absolutely.
10:12DJ would have played.
10:13Look at Ant-Man.
10:14Ant-Man's giving it a go.
10:16That's it.
10:16That's what we're talking about.
10:17Now, I expect – now, Durant – are they giving Durant heat in Houston?
10:21Yes.
10:22So, for those who don't know, real quick, you know he's got his burner accounts, right?
10:28Allegedly, he took some shots at teammates.
10:32Unbelievable.
10:33No.
10:33And then he didn't sit well with guys, which it wouldn't.
10:37And then he didn't play in this entire series.
10:40So, the Durant experiment is a bust.
10:43Yeah.
10:44It's a bust.
10:44It's amazing that those guys all played together.
10:47You know, Harden, Westbrook back in the day.
10:50Because individually by themselves, they're so freaking toxic.
10:53You know, it's just insane.
10:55You know, just – I mean, just awful, just awful stuff.
10:58You know, and all three of those guys at one time on the same team at OKC.
11:02And they're all going to home.
11:04Yeah.
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