Everything from Trae Young after the Hawks' loss to the Knicks
It has been a rough first two games for Hawks point guard Trae Young.
He struggled shooting the basketball in the first game against the Hornets on Wednesday night and it continued on Friday night against the Knicks. Young shot 4-16 from the field and only hit two three-pointers in the six-point loss to New York.
Young spoke with the media after the game and here is everything that the Hawks point guard had to say.
1. On what the team can learn from the loss and take forward...
"Like last game, we had moments. They played physical, you have to match the physicality and they hit a lot of open shots and we were playing on top of the defense and shifting and we had to get out of it because they were hitting some threes and we have a lot of stuff to learn from and we will be better from it and I think what we learn from it will be good."
2. On the team's defensive efforts through the first two games...
"It was good. There is moments but its like... we are still learning this stuff and everything is new. It is tough. We played really good in the preseason in moments, but none of the starters played in any of the fourth quarters or anything. These are the first two fourth quarters we played and we are still trying to learn certain actions in certain moments, like when we need to use it, we have a lot of different things that we can do. Sometimes when guys are tired, you can forget things, your mind can go different places, we gotta learn how to play with certain movements and certain signals that we have, voice calling, there is a lot of things that we have. But it is just going to take time and reps and reps and reps of us doing it for it to be where it needs to be for us to win."
3. On how he would describe the first two games of the season...
"I would describe it not the way that we wanted it to start but I am trusting this process. I mean, every year... it's a long season, every year is different so I don't try to judge it on past years and how we started seasons, because we have started seasons off pretty good and ended up very mid at the end of the year so we have started off really bad and could end up really great this year so I am trying to keep that positive mindset and I am trying to do it and it is going to take more time and reps for us to get it going and like I said, I am not worried, we just have to get it going and we have to get our offense going back to what we are used to."
4. On the feeling of not being able to pull out the win, despite having chances against the Knicks...
"I mean, it is tough. Obviously, you want to win every game but if we had played better throughout the first three quarters, we would not have been in that position so you can't focus on the last couple of possessions because there are other possessions before that led up to that that put us in that position so you can't dwell on certain possessions late in the game or the last few possessions, obviously they are important and they are moments, but there are a lot of possessions that led up to that. Doing certain things, if we had done some things differently, then maybe we would not have been in that position. I don't get focused or caught up in the last few possessions. I feel like the whole game is important so we have to be taking care of every game and every quarter not just the last few minutes."
5. On the biggest room for improvement for him individually and the team...
"For me, I just have to continue to be better in every area, I have not started... I am getting assists but I mean I am turning the ball over and some of that is playing through contact and the refs not calling that and that is leading to bad shots that are going off the glass that I am getting fouled but not getting the call, I just have to play through that. I have to continue to get better in all areas not just one so I have to do that first and then the rest of the team, we are going to get better if we just listen to Quin and just continue to get these reps up and our offense I feel like... our offense is affecting our defense right now to be honest with you I think our defense has been really good but our offense maybe is... sometimes I will go up and I won't get the call and I will shoot a layup under the basket and then they are in a five on four that way so that has not been putting our team in good position so for me, I have to do better in those positions and I will and I will help my teammates out and we just have to continue to trust this process and we will be all right I believe."
6. On if the three-point focus on offense is something that he has had to get used to...
"I have not had a coach that preaches getting up threes and getting to the basket and getting layups, attacking the glass and shoot. It is a whole different scheme, every coach brings something new and something different. He has been one of the best coaches in the business since he came into our league so we believe in him and trust in what he has given us and we are going to get more reps under it and get our offense back to where it needs to be and where it should be, I believe it will happen."
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