Jaylen Brown said if the Hawks played like that all season they would have been a top-5 team in the East. Just another sign the Celtics left that series with plenty of respect for Atlanta.
Jaylen Brown said if the Hawks played like that all season they would have been a top-5 team in the East. Just another sign the Celtics left that series with plenty of respect for Atlanta.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) April 30, 2023
by horseshoeoverlook
12 Comments
Imo they’d be top 3
I think they’re a different team with quin snyder. We’ll see but I think next year they’ll be in the playoffs without needing to go through the play in
Coming into the season they were fully expected to be in that 4-6 range. They played their asses off. Everyone that sucked ass in early games eventually showed out in other games. Their roster construction is still a little weird but the talent is all there.
Definitely think Quinn Snyder had a lot to do with it. He gave them more of an identity at least as a hustling team who crashes the boards and plays at a faster pace.
I know people talk about Trae being overrated, but Collins and Hunter are so hit or miss, it totally changes the dynamic of that team when they struggle.
Both shot well the last few games against the C’s, which really opened up the offense for Trae compared to when they’re both bricking shots from the perimeter.
If they actually add some interior defense and flip John Collins for some better fitting pieces around Trae and Murray they will easily be competing in the top 3. People don’t understand that the Hawks already have a pretty great roster and offense they just severely underperformed this season
Also, jaylen continuing to talk nice about the hawks makes me a bit nervous ngl
They definitely surprised me with how formidable they were. Going in to the series as well as after game 1 I was 100% thinking sweep. Good for them taking us to 6 hard fought games (well, 5 hard fought games and 1 blowout in G1)
They are missing 1 super star away to be a top4 tbh.
Quin Snyder can make it happen.
I think the Celtics defense underperformed expectations more than anything. Last year the Hawks had a 116.5 offensive rating. Heat held it to 97.4 in the playoffs. This year Hawks had a 116.6 offensive rating, and the Celtics held it to 115.8.
Our defense wasn’t the best in that series but their offense got hot. It was borderline infuriating watching Boston/ATL games where nobody could miss and then tuning into bricklaying competitions like Knicks/Cavs or 76ers/Nets. All while 76ers fan are beating their chests over sweeping a glorified lottery team.
They definitely have the potential to be a top 4 seed IMO next season
This isn’t even a huge stretch. Brooklyn was clearly worse after the trades so by default that would put Atlanta and 6 or 7 depending on where you put the Heat. If Atlanta played like that, could we say they’re better than the Cavs or Knicks? Not that crazy to imagine.