Tag: trae young

Trae Young receives ‘overrated’ chant after NBA players voted him as league’s most overrated player

The Athletic surveyed more than 100 players around the league.

Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young was shooting at the free-throw line when he heard an unmistakable roar coming from the crowd.

Young, who was playing against the Celtics at the TD Garden in Boston, received thunderous chants from unified fans all calling him “overrated” over and over again. The chants were “raining down” as Young tried to attempt his shots at the charity stripe.

According to Young, however, it was not a particularly big deal. He said the crowd was “very loud” and “rowdy” but that unlike in New York during his games against the Knicks, fans did not chant “[expletive] you!” as early as the first quarter.

The two-time All-Star proceeded to connect on both of the free throws and then record a quick steal that led to a layup in transition for the Hawks.

Perhaps the chanted words provided some extra motivation for Young.

The Athletic recently surveyed over 100 players around the league, and one of the questions asked them to name the most overrated player.

Young received the most votes of anyone in the league, and the story was published the same day as the game against the Celtics.

Young recorded 26.2 points and 10.2 assists per game, averaging a double-double for the first time in his professional career. He did, however, average the fewest 3-pointers and the lowest 3-point percentage since his rookie year in 2018-19.

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Social Media Reacts: Austin Reaves pours in 23 points, Lakers upset Grizzlies to start NBA playoffs

Austin Reaves helps lead Los Angeles Lakers to a pivotal road Game 1 win versus the Memphis Grizzlies after scoring 23 points. Social Media was loving it!

Austin Reaves is transforming into a household name in front of our very eyes. Sunday’s performance for the Lakers in the first round of the NBA playoffs in front of a national audience is starting to cement his place in the league.

The Los Angeles Lakers fought back from a horrid 2-10 start to make the NBA play-in tournament. They defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, lock themselves into the No. 7 seed, and face the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.

Despite having two top-25 players in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers are the underdogs in the series. On Sunday, they didn’t look the part as the Lake Show reeled off a 128-112 victory on the Grizzlies’ home court.

Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura shined so bright for the Lakers.

Reaves was magnificent in the fourth quarter, ending the night with 23 points in his 31 minutes of action. He did so on a perfect 5 of 5 shooting from the field with two 3-pointers and two free throws for 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Reaves’ performance was impressive because it was his first playoff game on the road against the team in the NBA with the best home record during the regular season.

The fourth quarter was highly contested until the last two minutes when the Lakers blitzed the Grizzlies after going up 108-101 with under 4 minutes left. Reaves was given the keys to the offensive operation by LeBron and Anthony Davis and delivered as they let the offense run through the former Sooner in crunch time.

Here’s a look at some of the best reactions on Twitter to Austin Reaves’ performance.

Marcus Smart shares strategy to contain Trae Young in playoffs

USA TODAY Sports sits down with the Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart before their matchup against the Trae Young led Atlanta Hawks.

When Marcus Smart and the Celtics match up against the Hawks in the playoffs, the 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year will be locked in on containing Atlanta’s sharpshooter Trae Young in multiple ways. 

He will not only look to prevent Young, who Smart concedes “is a great player,” from scoring, but he will also look to match the notoriously vocal guard when it comes to trash talking. 

The two have a history of jawing at one another on the court, and when asked about that aspect of their first-round matchup, Smart told USA Today Sports’ Mackenzie Salmon, “I talk smack, too.”

To hear more candid conversation from Smart, check out Mackenzie’s entire interview by clicking above. 

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.

Sixers’ Jaden Springer discusses facing Trae Young in win over Hawks

Philadelphia 76ers guard Jaden Springer discusses facing Trae Young after the OT win over the Atlanta Hawks.

The Philadelphia 76ers threw their younger players into different roles when they took on the Atlanta Hawks on Friday on the road. The Sixers rested their entire starting lineup and their sixth man in the matchup to prepare for the playoffs.

Second-year guard Jaden Springer was one of those who took on much more responsibility in his first career start. He had a career-high 19 points and he played excellent defense on Hawks star Trae Young late in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

Springer, who has been billed as one of the better young defenders out on the perimeter, made some big plays against Young with the game on the line in the fourth. He eventually fouled out in overtime, but his defense was a big help in the 136-131 OT win over the Hawks.

“It was great,” Springer told reporters of the matchup with Young. “It was fun. That was my first time really competing against one of the top guards in his league. I had fun doing that and hopefully, I get more chances like that going forward.”

Overall, Springer really impressed. There were a lot of great moments for the 20-year-old out of Tennessee, and it is something that he can really take with him as he moves forward with his career.

“It was good,” Springer added. “Going into the game, I didn’t know what to expect. I just knew I was gonna try and go out there go hard and compete. The results came out like I wanted it to so when we got the dub, and that’s all that really matters.”

Springer will get another chance to impress on Sunday when they take on the Brooklyn Nets in the season finale.

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Trae Young looked flabbergasted after chucking a ball at a referee led to his quick ejection

You definitely cannot do this

Trae Young is a very gifted, and for the most part, very smart basketball player. His control of the game in the backcourt has been mystifying defenses since his college days at Oklahoma.

Of course he can shoot the ball from anywhere on the floor and make it look easy, but he’s a master of the fundamentals, as well.

Just check out this sick chest pass he threw at an unassuming referee on Saturday against the Pacers. Oh wait. You’re actually not supposed to throw fastballs at the guys with the whistles.

This might not be news to most players, but it sure was to Young, who threw the ball at a ref after picking up a technical foul and looked absolutely befuddled when the ref immediately ejected him.

Ah, Trae. That’s a bad look, man.

Frustration is understandable, but you just simply cannot do that. And you especially can’t look surprised that your actions had consequences.

Hawks coach Quinn Snyder had a talk with Young after the game pretty much telling him the same thing. Snyder told reporters that’s a situation you just cannot put yourself in no matter what.

Fortunately, Atlanta was facing a Pacers team that gives away wins like candy on Halloween, so the Hawks still managed to win 143-130, despite losing Young midway through the third quarter.

The league might have something to say about this one, however.

 

PHOTOS: Trae Young’s shoes this season

Hawks star Trae Young debuted his second signature sneaker, the Trae Young 2, this season. This surely stands out as a personal high point in a somewhat underwhelming year in which he failed to make the All-Star Game and Atlanta is playing .500 basketball.

You can check out the array of sneakers Young has sported throughout this season in the images below.

Sophomore guard C.J. Noland enters transfer portal

After a frustrating season, Sooners sophomore guard C.J. Noland enters the transfer portal.

Oklahoma had a frustrating season, and hard decisions will come in the offseason. The Sooners will experience that firsthand this offseason. Sophomore guard C.J. Noland was the first to enter the transfer portal Tuesday afternoon.

Noland came to Oklahoma as a heralded consensus top 100 prospect out of Waxahachie, Texas. He appeared in 33 games as a freshman and was selected to the Big 12 All-Freshman team. He averaged 3.9 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.7 assists per game.

He didn’t take much of a step forward this season, averaging 3.2 points per game. He started the first eight games but couldn’t hold on to the starting role. He averaged 14.2 minutes per game this season. He eventually lost his spot in the rotation to freshman Milos Uzan.

The focus on the development of guards Otega Oweh, Bijan Cortes, and Uzan put Noland in a bind going forward. All three were playing more meaningful minutes down the stretch to end this season.

That doesn’t consider that the Sooners will also welcome its highest-rated recruit since Trae Young in small forward Kaden Cooper. Cooper, at 6-foot-5, also figures to play on the ball and initiate the offense, thus pushing Noland down the depth chart even farther.

Noland was recruited by SMU, Texas A&M, and Big 12 rival Oklahoma State out and may look into revisiting one of those places for his next destination.

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Oklahoma men’s basketball all-time roster: Sooner Legends

With March Madness here, we look at Oklahoma’s all-time basketball team led by Coach Billy Tubbs and players like Wayman Tisdale.

We are on the cusp of an exhilarating time of the year for most sports fans nationwide, as March Madness is very near. The electricity generated by conference tournaments and the following NCAA Tournaments is an experience no collegiate sport can replicate. Selection Sunday is Mar.12.

Porter Moser’s team has had an incredibly perplexing season. They beat multiple ranked teams and played tough in some other games. However, the Sooners look like the odd team out when deciding which Big 12 teams make it into the field of 68.

Oklahoma was a mainstay in the tournament during the 2010s, as they made it six times. Their most recent berth was in 2021. The Sooners’ most recent Final Four appearance was in 2016, spearheaded by Oklahoma basketball legend Buddy Hield. With a reasonably steady program despite no national championships, what would an all-time Sooners basketball team look like? Sooners Wire chose one head coach, two assistants, and ten players to make up the all-time roster.