"I’ve been saying that Trae Young is overrated; If you're a superstar, you gotta take it home" - Skip Bayless goes after Atlanta Hawks' headliner, calls him "little"

Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks during Game 1 against the Miami Heat
Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks during Game 1 against the Miami Heat

Sports analyst Skip Bayless criticized Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young for his poor performances in the first-round series against the Miami Heat. He believes Young is overrated and isn't a superstar yet.

He tweeted criticism of Young and mentioned that he should have closed out Game 4 at home. Bayless said:

"I’ve been saying that Trae Young is overrated. This game was in Atlanta, your game to win with (Clint) Capela back. And Miami didn’t have Kyle Lowry. If you're a superstar, you gotta take it home."

Young scored just nine points in Game 4, a 110-86 loss on Sunday, and the Heat defense has completely rattled him.

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The game was critical because the Atlanta Hawks could have tied the series at two games apiece and they also had the services of Clint Capela back. Instead, they got blown out by 24 points against a Kyle Lowry-less Miami team as the Heat took a 3-1 series lead. Game 5 is Tuesday in Miami.

Young has been abysmal all series. He is averaging 16.5 points, 6.0 assists and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting just 35.1%, including a pitiful 21.2% from 3-point range. (He averaged 28.4 ppg and 9.7 apg in the regular season.)

Moreover, he is leading the playoffs in turnovers at 6.0 per game and with 24 overall. The next player on that list has 18 (Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns). Young has an assist to turnover ratio of 1 and in the four games he has played, he is a combined -55.

Can Trae Young lead the Atlanta Hawks on a 3-1 comeback?

Bogdan Bogdanovic and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks
Bogdan Bogdanovic and Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks are down 3-1 to the first-seeded Miami Heat.

The Hawks have shown the potential to come back from deficits, but this season hasn't been their best. The role players aren't playing their best, and the burden of scoring and victory has fallen on Young. He has shown the clutch gene before and has been incredibly reliable on most occasions. If the Hawks want to make a historic 3-1 comeback, the rest of the players need to step up.

John Collins was expected to be the second-best option for the Hawks, but he has had an underwhelming season and playoff series. He hasn't averaged less than 17 points per game in his last three seasons but this year he dropped to 16.2 ppg while shooting a career-low 52.6%.

Collins averaged 13.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 0.6 blocks per game during last year's playoffs, when the Hawks made the 2021 Eastern Conference finals.This year, however, he is averaging 10.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 0.3 blocks per game in the playoffs.

Young is not performing at his best, and the role players aren't as well. For the Hawks to have any chance of a comeback, the whole team needs to be better and not just a handful of players.

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Edited by Joseph Schiefelbein
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