Atlanta Hawks soaring under Quin Snyder’s vision

Sitting at 12-11 and sixth in the Eastern Conference, the Hawks’ overall record may not scream dominance, but their current five-game win streak tells a different story. Quin Snyder is coaching a roster that GM Landry Fields strategically …

Sitting at 12-11 and sixth in the Eastern Conference, the Hawks’ overall record may not scream dominance, but their current five-game win streak tells a different story. Quin Snyder is coaching a roster that GM Landry Fields strategically overhauled. His coaching style emphasizes ball movement, offensive efficiency, and defensive hustle, all of which have unlocked career-best performances from players like Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and De’Andre Hunter. Atlanta is becoming more than just a playoff hopeful – they’re starting to look like a team that could make some noise in the postseason.

Behold the real source of ‘bald eagle’ cries in movies; video

Bald eagles are ferocious-looking, but their vocalizations are not the same sounds Hollywood uses in TV and movie soundtracks.

Last year we shared footage of bald eagles “showing off their vocalization skills” at the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka.

The vocalizations, while impressive, were nothing like the shrill cries dubbed into movie and TV soundtracks to make eagles sound as ferocious as they look.

“Did you know, Hollywood sound editors often dub over a Bald Eagle’s call with another bird’s vocalization?” the Alaska Raptor Center asked followers via X. “The piercing, earthy screams of a Red-tailed Hawk.”

On Monday the Alaska Raptor Center shared the accompanying footage of a red-tailed hawk named Jake delivering the “powerful, raspy scream that Hollywood likes to use.”

The Center added: “Whenever you hear a shrill raptor cry in movies or TV shows, it’s often a red-tailed hawk.”

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states on its website that red-tailed hawks are the most prevalent hawks in North America and provided confirmation of the Alaska Raptor Center’s declaration:

“The Red-tailed Hawk has a thrilling, raspy scream that sounds exactly like a raptor should sound. At least, that’s what Hollywood directors seem to think.

“Whenever a hawk or eagle appears onscreen, no matter what species, the shrill cry on the soundtrack is almost always a Red-tailed Hawk.”

–Red-tailed hawk image courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

NBA Twitter reacts to Trae Young struggling in play-in game vs. Bulls: ‘He’s a Spur’

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Trae Young’s performance against the Chicago Bulls in the play-in game.

Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks have been eliminated from the NBA’s playoff contention after losing to the Chicago Bulls 131-116 in the play-in game.

Despite finishing the game with a double-double (22 points, 10 assists), Trae Young struggled from the field, shooting 4/12, while he also turned the ball over six times.

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to Young and the Hawks missing out on the playoffs.

NBA Twitter reacts to Hawks trading John Collins to Utah: ‘Longest on the trade block guy of all-time’

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Hawks trading John Collins.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Hawks are finalizing a trade to send John Collins to the Jazz for Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick.

Atlanta’s largely unloading Collins’ three years, $78 million for some roster-building flexibility and alignment with looming changes to the salary cap.

Here are the best reactions on Twitter from fans following the latest move in the Association.

NBA News: Mike Brey has found his next coaching job

Mike Brey is taking his talents to the NBA!

At one point we thought [autotag]Mike Brey[/autotag] was headed to South Florida to be their basketball coach.  Then we thought 2023-24 would be a year of television for Notre Dame’s all-time winningest men’s basketball coach.  But reportedly it will be neither for Brey.

Instead, one of the more beloved coaching figures in recent college basketball history is taking his talents to the NBA.  According to Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune (and if anyone would know, it’d be him), Brey is set to join the Atlanta Hawks coaching staff where another former Duke assistant is currently the head coach, Quin Snyder.

Brey and Notre Dame went 483-280 from 2000-2023.  All the best in Atlanta, Mike.

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Trae Young destroyed the Heat and then rightfully called Jimmy Butler out for guaranteeing a win against the Hawks

Trae Young and the Hawks got the last laugh on this one.

They always say one of the most dangerous things you can do in sports is overlook the opponent that’s right in front of you.

That’s exactly what Jimmy Butler seemed to do ahead of the Heat’s play-in matchup against the Hawks. And, honestly it’s hard to blame him. The Heat are 10-3 against Atlanta dating back to the start of last season if you include last year’s playoff matchup. Miami has traditionally dominated that team.

That’s why Charles Barkley was so confident in his Miami pick. *cough* it’s why we were, too. But everyone was a little too confident — including Jimmy Butler, himself.

He told The Athletic the Heat were winning. Flat out.

“I’m gonna do whatever it takes for my team to win — night in and night out, and honestly, I couldn’t care less what anybody writes, if I’m a good basketball player or a bad basketball player…So as I take on tomorrow’s matchup, and we get that dub, we’ll worry about what goes on down the line. But I think I’m gonna be a decent basketball player at the end of the day.”

Obviously, Miami did not win. The Hawks got the last laugh in this one and it wasn’t particularly close. Atlanta had huge leads for most of the game. Miami cut the score to as low as 5 and only led once, but Atlanta dominated most of the way.

So, of course, after the game, Young called Butler out for what he said.

I was really focused on tonight and making sure we won. I know Jimmy guaranteed a dub so I was really focused on making sure that didn’t happen.” 

And he said it with the shades on, too. Whew. That’s how you send the trash-talk back the other way. The NBA needs a lot more of this, man.

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with Butler being confident enough in himself and his squad to guarantee a W. He should feel that way going into the game. Just know that, if it doesn’t happen, you’ll hear about it. And that’s exactly what happened here.

This is fun. This is how sports are supposed to be. Give me more, Plz.

John Collins tried to convince everyone that Trae Young is a better playmaker than Steph Curry and rightfully got roasted for it

John Collins was asking for this.

Listen. There are a lot of things we can definitively say about Trae Young. The dude is one of the best talents we have in the NBA today. Fairly easily.

He’s also a pretty incredible villain when it comes down to it, which makes for some extremely fun moments at times. His shot selection is also confounding, too, which can also lead to some fun (and sometimes miserable) moments for fans.

Personally, I like Trae Young. A lot. I think he’s actually underrated at this point.

But one thing we cannot say is that Trae Young is better than Steph Curry. At least when it comes to basketball. The two point guards are just…not really close. At all.

But you couldn’t tell John Collins that. Nope. In an interview with Bally Sports’ Brandon Robinson, Collins really made a case that Young was a better playmaker and isolation scorer than Curry. And he wasn’t kidding about it.

Listen, man. I get sticking up for your guys. That seems like what Collins was trying to do here. But, uh, there’s a line. The stuff actually has to be true. This isn’t, though.

Young ranks in the 57.5th percentile in isolation scoring among his peers. Curry is in the 77.6th. He’s better. By a pretty wide margin, it seems.

On the playmaking end, Young is a proficient pick-and-roll playmaker. He’s averaging 10.2 assists per game, which is incredible. I want to make that clear. There’s no downplaying that. But when you take into account the fact that Curry is the Warriors’ entire offense with and without the ball, things even out.

Again, Young is incredible. But he’s got a ways to go before he can be compared to Curry. I’d bet Collins probably knows that. But you’ve got to gin up your guy when you can, I guess, right?

Regardless, the Hawks’ forward took the L on this one. The internet roasted him.

How bald eagles really sound (it’s not like in the movies)

The Alaska Raptor Center has shared footage of bald eagles vocalizing, and their sounds are nothing like those you might be familiar with.

The Alaska Raptor Center on Saturday shared footage showing bald eagles vocalizing loudly while perched on a branch.

These are typical bald eagle sounds, almost chirpy, like laughter – not anything like the iconic screeches you hear from eagles portrayed in Hollywood.

The Alaska Raptor Center, a nonprofit hospital/rehabilitation facility for raptors, explained as much in the following video Tweet.

“Did you know, Hollywood sound editors often dub over a Bald Eagle’s call with another bird’s vocalization?” the Alaska Raptor Center informs. “The piercing, earthy screams of a Red-tailed Hawk.”

RELATED: It’s bald eagle nesting season, and those nests can be massive 

To hear more bald eagle vocalizations, open this link and click on the “listen” tab.

To hear red-tailed hawk vocalizations, click here and listen to their various calls.

The eagles in the video are named Sunset and Thor.

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John Collins’ game-winning tip-in saved Trae Young after the Hawks point guard took the most confounding shot

Trae Young has to be a better teammate, man.

The Atlanta Hawks have had one of the weirdest seasons ever. The dysfunction is just palpable.

You’ve got player and coach beef between Trae Young and Nate McMillan. You’ve got wild blown leads. You’ve even got the kid of the owner causing dismay throughout the organization.

So while it might just be me reading a little too deeply into things, it’s hard to not take all of this into account when seeing the shot that Trae Young took to try and end the Hawks’ game against the Pacers on Friday night.

Young essentially shot a half-court 3-point shot with more than a few ticks left on the clock. It was completely ridiculous.

John Collins saves the day here with that tip-in, but this could’ve ended so much worse than it actually did.

Not only did Young take a shot from the logo on what should’ve been the last possession of the game, but he took it with 5 seconds left while facing a double team.

There was more than enough time for the Hawks to make a move. They could’ve run some action and get a much better shot than this. Instead, this is what they came up with.

Tom Ziller, author of the NBA newsletter Good Morning It’s Basketball, summed it up perfectly here.

Young had gone 6-9 from deep before this. So, sure. A 3-pointer is probably a good shot for him. But this isn’t a normal 3-pointer.

Young shot that ball from 31 feet out. Currently, he’s shooting 31% on the year from between 30 and 34 feet away from the rim on the season. This is a makeable shot, sure. But it’s certainly not a good one.

If he makes it, great. He’s a hero and all is forgiven. Seeing him miss this, though, there can’t be too many folks happy with this shot. Luckily, Collins saves him in the end.

If not, we may have had another Hawks controversy on our hands.

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NBA Executives believe Trae Young might be the next star to request a trade, but it’s way too early for that

Trae Young isn’t going anywhere. Let’s stop the madness.

The NBA is a strange place. One day, you can be first in the Eastern Conference. The next day your team can be splintering with one of your three superstars requesting a trade.

That’s just the way the league works — at least over the last decade or so. Star player movement is the norm in the NBA.

But it’s still a bit shocking to hear that rival NBA executives think Trae Young might be the next star player to request a trade out of Atlanta. But that’s apparently a thing, according to reporting from Bleacher Report’s Chris Haynes.

This is coming from pure speculation by rival executives at the G League Winter Showcase.

“Rival executives in attendance at the NBA’s annual G League Winter Showcase are of the belief that Atlanta Hawks star point guard Trae Young could be the next player on a rookie max extension to request a trade if the team doesn’t make inroads come postseason time.”

To be completely honest, this just feels like unsubstantiated speculation here. There doesn’t really seem to be much to it.

It’s another rival executive anonymously cited here saying “watch that Trae Young situation in Atlanta” with nothing really backing it up aside from a reported rift between Nate McMillan and Trae Young.

There’s almost no chance that this actually happens. There are a few reasons why. Let’s dive into them.

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