Glutton for punishment Hawks @ Wolves GDT

[AbeVigodaLive]

Well, there was a legit fight... followed by a petty lil feud.

CJ McCollum was lowkey going at it with a couple of Wolves players late.

Right after Gobert's airball, you could see McCollum ducking for cover. And you could see Gobert staring at him for a few seconds.

Then, someone challenged Rudy on the other end only to get blocked which triggered the break which lead to McDaniels dunking over McCollum.

And then McCollum went at Gobert for several straight possessions. He made a three, drew a few fouls and missed a couple of shots and turned it over a bit. Meanwhile, the Wolves let Edwards pad his stats at the end of the game by taking McCollum off the dribble every time.

It was all in good, but highly competitive, fun... the kind of stuff these very talented players do to keep things going in an easy 20+ point win for the better team.

[KiwiMatt]

I’m low key excited about this 2nd unit, up tempo lineup:

Hyland, Ayo, TSJ, Naz, Beringer

Well offensively anyways.

[KiwiMatt]

Randle must be the most bi-polar player in the association. On the court that is.

The effort he put in tonight was exceptional, even on the defensive end. Let’s hope he can keep it up, at least more often than not!

The recipe for success for this team going forward with Randle is him embracing the point forward role. Him playing top of the key like we used to run Slo Mo as a zone breaker.

[Lipoli390]

Randle must be the most bi-polar player in the association. On the court that is.

The effort he put in tonight was exceptional, even on the defensive end. Let’s hope he can keep it up, at least more often than not!

The recipe for success for this team going forward with Randle is him embracing the point forward role. Him playing top of the key like we used to run Slo Mo as a zone breaker.

I think we have a pretty bi-polar team, Matt. . Seriously, tonight’s game like many others this season illustrated that this team has the talent to contend for a title this season and I think the team’s chances were enhanced by the Ayo deal. But the necessary mentality is absent far too often as we saw recently against the Pelicans and Clippers. If this team can at least play consistently at a level equal to the sum of its parts, they’ll have a decent chance at a title this year. If they can somehow dig deep enough to slightly overachieve, they’ll have a terrific chance. Let’s see if this team can continue going forward to play at the level they played tonight.

[FNG]

I decided to skip this one after hearing Atlanta would be missing Johnson and Dyson...also still had a hangover from Sunday's disaster. But it was good to check the results this morning to see we took care of business. Also nice to see a very good line from our new guy Ayo and a triple dub from Ju. We needed this one, boys, so thanks for taking care of business in my absence.

[AussieWolf3]

Randle must be the most bi-polar player in the association. On the court that is.

The effort he put in tonight was exceptional, even on the defensive end. Let’s hope he can keep it up, at least more often than not!

The recipe for success for this team going forward with Randle is him embracing the point forward role. Him playing top of the key like we used to run Slo Mo as a zone breaker.

I think we have a pretty bi-polar team, Matt. . Seriously, tonight’s game like many others this season illustrated that this team has the talent to contend for a title this season and I think the team’s chances were enhanced by the Ayo deal. But the necessary mentality is absent far too often as we saw recently against the Pelicans and Clippers. If this team can at least play consistently at a level equal to the sum of its parts, they’ll have a decent chance at a title this year. If they can somehow dig deep enough to slightly overachieve, they’ll have a terrific chance. Let’s see if this team can continue going forward to play at the level they played tonight.

That's really the crux of it Lip- either they find it within themselves to play like a championship team or they don't.
With the Ayo deal- as well as the subtractions of Dilly and Conely- the talent is clearly there. They just need to find it on a consistent basis.

They simply can't keep losing four games in a row, while telling themselves they'll figure it out. The subsequent winning streaks are nice, but four loses in row sends you home in the playoffs.

They need to find what the 23-24 team found that never lost more than two games in a row. That team had it's own issues but the internal leadership that was able to consistently right the ship was incredibly impressive.

We'll see if this season's characters can become those type of leaders, because if they do they'll realize that they have a really great opportunity to win a championship this year.

Its really a bummer that I don't find more to celebrate after last night's win, as impressive as it was, cause I already knew they could play that way. Way I see it, I need to see that level in 8 out 10 games. If you have to a set back, it's a minor one and your back on course for another 8 out of 10. To be clear I'm not saying they have a .800 win percentage, but that they play their best basketball in 80% of the games.

Fairly minor ask imo for a team with championship aspirations

[Q-is-here]

Super nice minutes from Ayo! Team is playing well.

How's his plus-minus?

Well fellas, you'll be happy to know that Ayo has now improved his net rating with the Wolves to -18.6 after last night's game.

But unfortunately since the team did better with him off versus on the court, his net On/Off also remains negative at -23.2.

Thank God we have Julius, who led the team with a +25!

[FNG]

Super nice minutes from Ayo! Team is playing well.

How's his plus-minus?

Well fellas, you'll be happy to know that Ayo has now improved his net rating with the Wolves to -18.6 after last night's game.

But unfortunately since the team did better with him off versus on the court, his net On/Off also remains negative at -23.2.

Thank God we have Julius, who led the team with a +25!

Makes sense though, huh, with an efficient, strong triple double and reports in the GDT that he looked active on defense...you should be the team leader with those two factors!

[jscott]

Glad we got the W. Really need to string a good run together.

[kekgeek]

I decided to skip this one after hearing Atlanta would be missing Johnson and Dyson...also still had a hangover from Sunday's disaster. But it was good to check the results this morning to see we took care of business. Also nice to see a very good line from our new guy Ayo and a triple dub from Ju. We needed this one, boys, so thanks for taking care of business in my absence.

Get well FNG. Haha