Psycho-T brings the pain
Tyler Hansbrough didn't leave anything on the floor after his workout with the Hawks Sunday morning at Philips Arena. The rugged North Carolina forward is a a player to keep an eye on this week with the Hawks drafting 19th in Thursday's NBA draft.
HAWKSVILLE - The reviews were unanimous.
On 10-point scale, Tyler Hansbrough’s Sunday morning workout for the Hawks at Philips Arena ranks at the very top of anything conducted in the past five days.
It wasn’t any one thing in particular that had the Hawks’ coaches buzzing. It was everything. Hansbrough’s energy, effort and obviously better-than-advertised shooting and athleticism caught more than a few folks in attendance by surprise.
“He kicked the meter up. It was off the Richter Scale,” said Hawks assistant coach Larry Drew, who ran the team’s workouts all week. “That was one of those 8.0s, one of those quick, hard earthquakes. Because his energy is at another level. You just don’t see many players capable of playing with that type of energy and effort and can sustain it through a game, or even a workout. He plays at a totally different level than some of these young guys out here.”
I felt like I needed an ice bath after watching his 90-minute workout. But Hansbrough proved a theory that a wise Eastern Conference executive reiterated to me Sunday night, “effort is a skill in the NBA.” And Hansbrough has it in reserve.
Alade Aminu (Stephenson High and Georgia Tech) and Shawn Taggart (Memphis) were the other bigs on hand Sunday. And they were also impressive in the individual drills and two-on-two work that was done. But Hansbrough’s refusal to go at anything but full bore during the entire workout had everyone buzzing afterwards.
Love him or hate him, and Hansbrough laughed about the fact that he’s inspired the masses to do either one or the other and sometimes both, he’s going to do it his way. And the truth is the Hawks could do a lot worse with the 19th pick. But they probably won’t have to worry about Hansbrough there, as I haven’t spoken to anyone anywhere that believes he’ll still be on the board when the Hawks are on the clock Thursday night.
“If this kid is still there at 19, the Hawks better not hesitate,” another Eastern Conference executive told me Sunday afternoon. “The kid’s a dream for coaches in our league, because he’s going to come in and crank things up automatically. He’s just wired differently than most of these other guys.”
That’s the real problem with a pick that late. You can project who you think might be there and evaluate accordingly, but there’s no way of knowing who will be around by then on draft night. One glitch on the draft board in the early lottery can swing the draft in a totally different direction than projected.
The Hawks sent things sideways in 2004 when they took Josh Childress ahead of Luol Deng and Andre Iguodala – defying most mock drafts that had those other two guys going ahead of Childress.
And anytime one player rises and is picked ahead of projection, someone else falls and lands in the lap of an unsuspecting team like the Hawks (who have no doubt done their due diligence throughout this process by examining all the possibilities).
DaJuan Summers is my sleeper pick for the draft. Too bad he didn't get a chance to workout for the Hawks while he was in town last week (a sprained ankle sidelined him).
Check any mock draft you want and go over the list of names where the Hawks are picking and there are either guys you draft on potential (Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague, who acquitted himself well in his workout Saturday, or Ohio State’s BJ Mullens, who did the same a day earlier) or seasoned college guys that will be needle pushers as rookies (guys like Hansbrough, Pitt’s Sam Young, Louisville’s Terrence Williams and Georgetown’s DaJuan Summers, all of whom the Hawks have had face time with throughout the process).
The usual anxiety surrounding the Hawks at draft time doesn’t really seem necessary this year, at least the way I see it. The Hawks’ heavy lifting is going to come in free agency – and that’s where Hansbrough and all the bigger guys on the short list I’ve detailed above come in handy. Follow me now. When the Hawks lost Josh Childress to Greece last summer, they didn’t have a ready replacement for a 6-8 guy with his skills and seasoning, mostly because they didn’t have a draft pick to use on a player of that ilk. Say, for the sake of my theory, that the Hawks are unable to keep all their free agents. Don’t you think another cat with size and versatility might come in handy next season, even if he’s just a situational rotation player as a rookie?
While I didn’t agree with the notion that drafting 6-8 to 6-9 players ever year now matter what would lead a team from 13-win seasons to the playoffs, I can see the wisdom in taking players that fit that mold if you’re in the best-player-available mode on draft night and picking outside of the lottery. It’s just wise to have your roster well-stocked with a couple Trevor Ariza/Mickael Pietrus/Linas Kleiza types. I think the entire league realizes that now after the playoffs.
FROM THE DO YOUR HOMEWORK FILES …
A quick aside from the Hawks-themed portion of the program requires us to look across the pond fro a moment.
Flooding Europe with scouts from every NBA team has finally caught up to the league and to the crop of talent. The Euro harvest is expected to be extremely thin Thursday night.
Jonathan Abrams of the New York Times had a staggering statistic in his story about the sudden change in philosophy regarding drafting European (and really international) prospects:
“Teams appear to be straying from the recent trend of drafting overseas players because many of them have not lived up to expectations. Of the 39 international players selected in the first round since 2002 with no prior experience playing in the United States, only Yao Ming has surfaced as an All-Star. In that same time, 14 of 171 American players drafted in the first round made at least one All-Star team.”
Math was never my best subject in school, but I know crazy numbers when I see them. And that’s craziness.
OTHER LASTING IMPRESSIONS WERE MADE DURING WORKOUT WEEK, including a stellar showing by a guy not getting any first round buzz. Keep LSU combo guard Garrett Temple in mind in the second round. He’s going to make someone a nice player wherever he is drafted (provided he is drafted, and if not, he’ll be a good free agent pick up for some team). I remember watching him shut J.J. Redick down at the Georgia Dome during LSU’s run to the Final Four a few years back. He’s got NBA height for his position but his frame is need of some bulk to stand up the type of pounding he could endure at the pro level. But he’s got every tool you want in a player and he’ll compete with anyone.
Another guy the Hawks had in that made an impression me was Lester Hudson, a 6-3, 200-pound bull from Tennessee-Martin that refused to let anyone slow him down in his workout. He’s the kind of feisty guard that NBA teams love to have coming off their bench to wreak havoc on opposing defenses and to harass opposing point guards. And you talk about a guy breaking down walls to reach his goals, tell me Hudson hasn’t done exactly that after reading this from my man Chris Low from ESPN.com.
Fearless seems like an appropriate description of Lester Hudson's game.
Jonesboro’s Toney Douglas (Florida State) was by far the most tenacious defender in attendance all week. He didn’t miss an opportunity to mix it up in the drills I watched. I can see why folks have been gushing about him as a potential, Ben Gordon-like combo guard. But he’s a defender like Gordon wishes he was (granted, few guards this size on the planet can score from the distance and in the variety of ways Gordon does). Still, whatever team nabs Douglas on draft night will have happy coaches and fans that will appreciate his in-your-face style.
Summers is my sleeper pick for the draft. I got into a heated debate with my man JB “Beans” Beckett Sunday about Summer and Young. After watching some film clips of both, including some of their head-to-head matchup from the season, we agreed that we were both right and that Summer and Young have a chance to contribute as rookies wherever they go. Now if we could just convince someone to let us draft for them Thursday night.
All joking aside, I have no earthly idea what happens Thursday night. Who does?
Too much can swing things on draft night. And we didn’t even get into the all the crazy scenarios that could happen if the Hawks were to find the right package to move the pick (and whatever else necessary) to shore up their depth issues at certain positions.
Nothing is outside of the realm of possibility right now, my friends. Nothing at all.
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803 comments Add your comment
Big Ray
June 22nd, 2009
8:14 pm
Ariose,
To continue, Josh needs to learn to set solid picks, which he DOES NOT DO. Guess what, nobody else does either, other than Bibby (every chance he gets) and Horford (less so, but does it when called upon).
I see Josh slipping the pick with guys who don’t give him the ball enough in that situation (like JJ and Flip). The problem is, he’s still doing what he thinks he should, as it creates a scoring opportunity for either himself, or the ball-handler. Other teams recognize that Bibby presents the threat, but JJ and Flip DO NOT.
So what do they do? They “stay at home”, trapping Joe, or funneling Flip in towards a defense, and drawing a charge on him. Seen it too many times. Of course, while this play is NOT happening, whoever is not involved in the play tends to be standing around. Nice.
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
8:16 pm
“(but they’ll damn sure heave it to him when he’s hanging around the arc, won’t they”
Lol, Ray I see what you’re sayin’. I speed read sometimes lol. Joe is the biggest offender of bad decision making beleive it or not. TRhey aren’t BIG mistakes(typicla JJ mistakes that don’t mean much) but over time they get really annyoing. Like his penchant for probing until there’s 3 second left on the shot-clock and then opassing it to smoove. He defenetly needs to give the ball up more.
That why I think Having Danny Green+ Ellington will help. They’re that good so he’ll have to pass, and they make plays on their own.
I agree that Ellington has a Slow releas. Pure, but slow. In the championchip game, if his defender had gotten to him a fraction of a ssecond sooner ON EVERY PLAY, wayne would’ve been in trouble…..but what do I know. Maybe there’s a method to his (march)madness? If we draft him we’ll just have to pray it’s not a problem…..even Salims quick trigger got blocked a few times…..
Big Ray
June 22nd, 2009
8:18 pm
Newkid,
I think there is some interest in Ellington. You can’t ignore a pure shooter like that. Then again, I thought you couldn’t ignore a pure pg when you really needed one, but I was wrong there…
As for having him in for an interview, you know what they call that: due dilligence. It’s possible that he and other talented guys drop to us. And it would be awfully foolish to see that happen, and then be thinking, “Hey, this guy is available! Do we want him or not? Gee, I don’t know, we don’t know a single thing about the guy other than watching him at combines and in NCAA games. Huh. I don’t know what we should do.”
Happens though, especially if you leave it up to these guys’ agents. Agents seem to think they know more about where the player will be picked than anybody else does. Stupid agents….
Big Ray
June 22nd, 2009
8:22 pm
Ariose,
Ain’t no thang, brotha. I speed read myself sometimes. And sometimes I hit the trigger too quickly and hit “submit comment” before I’ve done my due dilligence. Hate when that happens, but I only have myself to blame, lol!
I’m not worried about Ellington’s release at all. His mechanics are great, and he can learn to get that shot off quicker. The timing, getting to where you want to (your best spot on the floor) is the thing. Ellington seems to know how to do that. His fundamentals seem just fine. Many small things can be coached up.
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
8:24 pm
Ray, I find it funny. Have you noticed that Smoove ALWAYS FINDS JJ? Weather it’s crunch time with three seconds left and you don’t think he can see over the defense, or when he’s barrekling down the lane and you think he MIGT just be out of control. He ALWAYS KNOWS WHERE JOE IS. We need to give that man his credit.
Conversely, Joe couldn’t find smoove/horford if they had bulleseye’s on their backs. WE KNOW when he needs to pass(screamed at the T.V plenty of times) but he doesn’t seem to realize. I don’t whow what he’s staring at lol….and woody doesn’t say a word. “that’s allright Joe get em next time”. Honestly you hear about Kobe and LBJ watching tons of film. I don’t think Joe does that. If he did, I think he would have eliminated some of these glaring issues already.
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
8:26 pm
Agents seem to think they know more about where the player will be picked than anybody else does. Stupid agents….
Yup. Agents are the folks who told Brandon Jennings “Screw college ball. Go to Europe for a year. It’ll be a great learning experience for you. And you’ll make some money. You won’t drop from the presumptive #1 pick to late lottery, I promise. Trust me – it makes sense despite the fact that your game has no carryover to the European game.”
Most agents are lawyers. And take my word for it – never trust a lawyer when he says “Trust me” or “I only have your interests in mind” when there’s a fee in it for him.
Clyde
June 22nd, 2009
8:39 pm
Pretty soon I might have to say Fire Sund and Woody if we mess up this years draft
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
8:47 pm
OK, guys I want you to watch the first fer seconds of the new J-Smoove mix. Right Around thirteen seconds woody says somthing to smoove. I’ve been trying to lip read it. I’m pretty sure he said “All I want you to do is rebound, pass and ,block shots”. Now remember, this was the home game RIGHT AFTER the charlotte game where Smoove got benched for whateveer reason.
That’s kinda cutthroaght of woodson don’t ya think? If i’m Smoove, i’m thinking: “do you even want me on the floor during offense?” I see why Jon Barry, Ty Lue, Anthony Johnson, Boris Diaw, Salim, Acie Law, Smoove, Childress, and Marvin have all been in heated arguments with Woody before. Hee can be vicious when he wants too…..and the day after smoove cussed you out.
I guess Smoove is one of the few players who can just ignore him and still have confidense in himself and his game…alsong ith salim& the rest of those vets I mentioned). The only difference is Smoove is indespensable and a key cog in Woodys “success”….everyone else has pretty much been shipped away.
Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY3y7d8-fdU
Astro Joe
June 22nd, 2009
8:55 pm
Sautee, I would not draft based on Joe’s impending free agency. If he walks, we would have a decent chunk of change to find a suitable replacement.
doc, I think Horford is eligible for an extension next season but doesn’t become a RFA until the summer of 2011. Ideally, he will sign an extension next summer so that he never hits RFA.
If we re-sign Flip and keep Mo and have Joe and draft Ellington, how many of you will rip Woody when he can’t find time for the rookie to play SG behind Joe, Flip and Mo?
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
8:56 pm
Clyde,
Until you admit that we made the right move by drafting Horford, I don’t think anyone will much care of your opinion on draft picks.
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
8:57 pm
Doc, How was my 7:16pm post for a response? Hehehehehe……
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
9:04 pm
AJ, If i’m sund, thats not my goal. My goal would be to evaluate how woody performs with the talent i’ve surrounded him with. If sund gets us Ellington & Green in the draft, and gats Kaman through a trade. WOODY HAS RUN OUT OF LAME AZZ EXCUSES. NO MATTER WHO HE PLAYS OR WHAT DUMB AZZ SETS HE RUNS HE BETTER WIN 55+ GAMES OR HE’S GETTING HIS BUTT SHIPPED OUTTA HERE ON THE FIRST CHARTER FLIGHT BACK TO INDIANA. SUND HAS TO PUT THE PRESSURE ON HIM THIS SEASON BY GIVING HIM A LOADED ROSTER. IT’S PUT UP OR SHUT UP TIME FOR THE WOODMAN….
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
9:07 pm
Wait, let me save everyone some time and give you the rest of the conversation between Clyde and me:
Clyde: But LeBron and Wade tore us apart in the playoffs. So Horford sucks.
niremetal: LeBron averaged almost 40ppg in the East Finals against the Magic. Wade torched the Magic for 42 and 50 in their last two meetings of the year. So I guess Dwight Howard must suck too.
Clyde: But Sean Williams is better. He gets more blocks. So Horford sucks.
niremetal: Manute Bol had a higher blocks-per-game average than Hakeem and Dikembe. Was he a better defender?
Clyde: But Horford is short. So Horford sucks.
niremetal: If you think height is the end-all, be all, see last and remember Priest Lauderdale. Besides, Horford is only an inch shorter than D-12.
Clyde: Horford still sucks.
niremetal: Whatevs.
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
9:10 pm
Sorry for the missed formatting. I was trying to make my “first response” in that look particularly important.
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
9:11 pm
*wasn’t. Yeesh.
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
9:14 pm
lol
chuckw/deadjournalist
June 22nd, 2009
9:15 pm
if you haven’t seen it already, stephen a. smith sent out twitter:
The Hawks won’t do any better than they did this year unless they get who they want: Amare Stoudamire. They’re after him.
Sautee
June 22nd, 2009
9:16 pm
AJ,
I hear what you’re saying BUT, if Joe DOES leave, could we actually use that money to get a suitable replacement that would want to come here?
Remember what it was like BEFORE Joe?
Decent free agents shunned us left and right. All our precious cap space was totally wasted.
I’m thinking we NEED some insurance, but it COULD be next year.
The advantage of THIS year would be that the talent level seems so even from “#2-#30″ as Sekou’s friend put it.
Hoops
June 22nd, 2009
9:17 pm
niremetal,
Go back to studying for the bar. You have too much time on your hands! Ha!
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
9:20 pm
Stephen A. is full of it, and i’ll roast his azz like a mashmellow on twitter as soon as Sekou confirms that it’s false. I’m tired of these big media buffs direspecting our franchise with thier factually incorrect speculations…
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
9:21 pm
They better be trading him for speedy’s expiring contract+Randolph Morris+our two draft picks…..smoove is better…
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
9:23 pm
I KNOW thats who they want….isn’t Amare 27 going on 28 this year? One year left on his deal. Microfracture knees and a bum eye……HELL NO!!!! not for 23 yr old smoove!!!
Clyde
June 22nd, 2009
9:24 pm
niremetal if we made the right pick by drafting Horford why do we still need a center?
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
9:24 pm
At least Smoove plays defense….Horford too…..it BETTER not be for Horford….
I.MUS WRITE
June 22nd, 2009
9:25 pm
I smell bacon frying……………………………..
newkid
June 22nd, 2009
9:27 pm
Flash, aren’t you a DC area resident? Hope you and yours not involved in this afternoon’s Metro mishap. Looks ugly.
Astro Joe
June 22nd, 2009
9:38 pm
Sautee, I’m not saying that we would need to replace Joe with another All-Star. I do think (and have said repeatedly) that we need to re-sign Marvin because of Joe’s impending free agency. I think that if Joe bolts, we should be able to run more offense through our front court players. Add a complementary SG (like Mike Miller or Rasual Butler) and play ball. And presumably, we’ll be signing Flip to a multi-year contract and e could conceivably get more touches as well. But again, in my opinion, the ocntingency plan for life without Joe needs to revolve around keeping our starting front-court in tact.
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
9:40 pm
From Wayne Ellington on Twitter:
KINDA LIKE ATL….. CAN’T WAIT TIL THURSDAY! I KNOW I AINT GONNA BE ABLE TO SLEEP…. YALL JUST DON’T EVEN KNOW…:)
newkid
June 22nd, 2009
9:47 pm
Sekou, just read your Sunday article on Ellington, and the most recent item on Mullens. Good stuff my man. Didn’t know about Mullens’ meager beginnings. I’ll be cheering for the kid (and his family) wherever he goes.
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
9:47 pm
Up until a month ago, I lived 1 Metro stop away from the DC mishap. Yeah, scary stuff.
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
9:49 pm
Stephen A. Smith said the same thing last year. That the Hawks had peaked. Whoops.
Astro Joe
June 22nd, 2009
9:52 pm
nire, my sister takes the Metro every weekday but is out of the country on vacation. Like you said, scary stuff.
doc
June 22nd, 2009
9:58 pm
A man, this blog sucks when you have got your nose in the books. it got a sincere rofl. too good dude. candy is good. couldnt comment when i first read it as i was heading out the door.
now where is the draft party?
aj i thought al was drafted the year after marvin but i guess that was shels year. my bad, at least we dont have to worry about that this year on top of the other issues. heh heh, so we have acie for to more years as well huh? basg plan ahead with al for an extension and spend unnecessarily? yeah right!
I.MUS WRITE
June 22nd, 2009
9:58 pm
LOL at AB, ya think….Ariose what did Stephen A say? Hoops Aa S&T for Rudy Gay would be an early x-mas present. Marcus Camby will be 36 next season, there are better options- Birdman,Gortat etc….. Preference= Hate.
Melvin
June 22nd, 2009
10:32 pm
Ariose,
Obviously, you need a refresher. Forget all this Toney Douglas talk….
Here’s our 2nd round pick if we don’t choose a PG in the 1st…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9anGAmF9sg&feature=PlayList&p=6B44A13472074985&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=21
Simpdawg
June 22nd, 2009
11:04 pm
I still think the Hawks should try to trade the 19th pick to Portland for their 24th and 33rd picks, then the Hawks should select Toney Douglas at 24, Jodie Meeks at 33rd and either Robert Dozier, Jeff Pendergraph, or Josh Heytvelt at 49th (who’s ever available).
G-Man
June 22nd, 2009
11:07 pm
Melvin
you need to do some research on Lester Hudson. That kid is amazing. He has posted a Quadruple double.
Reggie
June 22nd, 2009
11:12 pm
Sekou
Stephen A Smith is reported on his Twitter Page that the hawks are interested in Amare Stoudamire. What do you know about this? Is this true?
Reggie
June 22nd, 2009
11:13 pm
Sekou
Stephen A Smith reported on his Twitter Page that the hawks are interested in Amare Stoudamire. What do you know about this? Is this true?
Ariose
June 22nd, 2009
11:14 pm
I.Mus, LOL @ Bacon comment. Stephen A. Hasn’t responded yet. He probably packed it in for the night.
Melvin, Ha! I haven’t forgotten about you boi.
Mike is back
June 22nd, 2009
11:15 pm
Astro Joe, All this Hansbrough chatter is making me nervous as a rat trap in shoebox!!! New GM, but same coach…like others…I hope I’m wrong.
I can see it now…we take Hansbrough…give Acie away for a bag of chips and a coke…we get no smile. Acie goes to a team and get consistent minutes and starts to flourish…our new found PG struggle like heck trying to fit into Woody’s system…what a system…dam my bad.
Anyway, Hansbrough is exposed as a weak defender in the Post…and so its only a few teams Woody can use him at the center or PF…and everyone on the blog is got memories Sheldon standing around like a ghost…dancing around to a sad slow tune. Heh heh
It’s interesting…I was so deperate for BBall I was watching the Memphis Grizzle discussing their team and goals on Sport South. They was letting LHollins breakdown his players…and they interview the players too. When they got to Mike Conley his remarks made me think of Acie. He said the PG is an extension of the coach. Before Hollins got there he was never told go out and take charge or lead the team. He had to operate within curtain parameters.
He said once Hollins came in all that changed…He felt like Hollins really believe him…his confidence and his swagger skyrocked…then his level of play started to surge. They are Taking Thabeet by the way…and they are doing it for Shot blocking, Rebounding and interior defense…hmmmm sound familiar anyone…of course the Hawks do not need anyone like that…heck they can draft another undersized PF…Go Figure!!!!
Sorry this blog is very verbiage…I had to split it up.
Mike is back
June 22nd, 2009
11:18 pm
I wonder if Woody has thought about his approach to his young players…are they on the floor thinking about making plays…or are they on the floor worrying about screwing up. When you look at Woody’s offensive scheme its clear that only a select few guys have the freedom to make plays…that’s why the team can look so flat and lethargic at times. If his select few are struggling look out…here come a blowout…especially on the road.
We know that Sund has better PR skills than BK…but that’s about it when you look a their draft history. Sund said he didn’t draft Acie…to my knowledge he didn’t draft any of the players on the current roster…so why single out Acie…we all know the answer to that question. You got a PG now that came from a deeper draft class at a higher pick. Is anyone at 19th that much better than Acie…we don’t know. Give him the keys and let him drive around the block and kick the tires some…surely no one is judging Acie talent on his reduce role of giving the ball to JJ, Bibby, and Flip and go standing in the opposite corner till the play is over, or his lack of confidence and looking over his back at Woody. That ain’t the Acie that the Hawks drafted…that’s a struggling player trying to figure out his role on the team.
Solo refuse to keep playing that way…I think Acie will do the same…who ever he ends up playing for next season.
Doc, you are assuming Ellington is one-dimensional…remember at UNC everyone is a star…you have to play your role…I haven’t seen Ellington much…but the times I seen him I notice he doesn’t need to dominate the ball to be effective. That should easily make him a friend of JJ.lol
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
11:24 pm
Sund said he didn’t draft Acie…to my knowledge he didn’t draft any of the players on the current roster…so why single out Acie…we all know the answer to that question.
Uh…yeah. We do know the answer to that question. The answer to that question is BECAUSE MARK BRADLEY ASKED HIM “WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ACIE LAW?” How is it “singling out” Player X someone when you’re asked point blank “What do you think of Player X?” My god, people. CONTEXT.
A Tribe Called Quest
June 22nd, 2009
11:29 pm
A few days ago, I went on a rant about our brilliant GM Rick Sund.
Let me expand this argument:
He chose Robert Swift in 2004
He chose Petro in 2005
He chose Sene in 2006.
In other words, 3 years in a row he chose 3 players the EXACT same size (6″11-7″1 = 7″0) and all 3 of these picks were egregious mistakes. Sund corrected a mistake the previous year by making the SAME mistake the next — all 3 players stink, are not healthy and are / will be out of the NBA.
That is our GM.
And as Astro Joe said in Mark Bradley’s blog, he tries to sound smart by making these outlandish formulas for winning, such as the 4 (5?) step process of maturity for a player.
Lord Help Us
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
11:31 pm
In case anyone was wondering, here was the CONTEXT. Bradley was the one who prompted the discussion of Acie, and Sund said that he liked Acie and thought Acie was a good pick:
MB: Have you targeted any position in the draft?
RS: We’re just getting started into it. We have to zero in on it – what’s the best player and in what area do we need help most – and then you compare the two and you come up with a decision. I pretty much lean, when you’re picking 19th, to take the best player with the most potential. Particularly at 19.
MB: You liked Acie Law …
RS: I liked him. I didn’t draft him – I inherited him – but I thought it was a pretty solid draft pick, and I liked him when I saw him in college. Like most rookies, he didn’t get a lot of playing time. We knew when we brought in Flip that [Law’s] minutes were going to be suspect if Flip was a good fit, which he was. So he ended up being the ninth man, which is typical of a lot of guys in their second year. And I really thought the first half of the season he was contributing in that ninth-man role. Then he got hurt. And then, as the season progressed – and this is typical – [Woodson] tightened the rotation. That’s what you do because you want to get into the playoffs.
Now of course, I don’t agree with his assessment that shortening your rotation is “what you do” to get in the playoffs, but that’s not the point of this little morality play. I just wanted to paste this because people here seem to be reeeeeeaaaallly fond recently of jumping on one quote and going off on it without looking at the quote’s context.
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
11:32 pm
Hah. Here’s the real link: http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2009/05/20/hawks-gm-rick-sund-answers-questions-including-yours/
Mike is back
June 22nd, 2009
11:33 pm
Niremetal, thanks for the love broooooooooooooooo. Man you are smart…u must be a lawyer or something.lol
Melvin
June 22nd, 2009
11:34 pm
G-Man,
I just watch hightlights of Hudson. He look like a combo guard that could flat out score. Reminds me of Ben Gordon. However, I like Curtis Jerrells a little better b/c he’s more of a PG than combo guard.
niremetal
June 22nd, 2009
11:35 pm
Sorry, Mike. You didn’t deserve to get stuck with the bill for that rant. But this is silly season in blog world, and people have been going all week, finding one quote (usually it’s a Sund quote because it’s his time of year, but it’s also been Sekou, ESPN folks, etc), and writing diatribes based around that quote without ever bothering to see if there is additional context. Your thing was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. No offense intended.
Mike is back
June 22nd, 2009
11:37 pm
Niremetal, my bad dawg…I forgot to mention Josh. Heh heh