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
Astro Joe
June 23rd, 2009
3:55 pm
OB, Portland is both young and soft… not a good combination for post-season success. And we should no, we’re slightly less young and lsightly less soft but still not where we should be in those departments. I read that Portland would like to get their hands on Hinrich. Y’all know how I feel about Hinrich. But even beyond an upgrade at PG, I think they will need to do something in their front-court, because Aldridge is as intimidating as a Care Bear… in a dress… with pearls… and pony tails.. and, well, you get the point.
niremetal
June 23rd, 2009
4:00 pm
Did someone really just say that Zach Randolph is better than Lamar Odom? Well, I guess if you’re for stats over a guy who can help you win, I guess that’s true.
cp
June 23rd, 2009
4:13 pm
Fellas yahoo sports has video on almost every prospect in this years draft. If you have time go check it out. If I knew how to do the links I would. Maybe Ariose or somebody could do it. Much better than the clips I have seen on youtube…
James Johnson is a good player. Has handles, can score in the paint and the perimeter. His problem is his work ethic and conditioning. It has been reports that he has not shown he cares in some of his workouts. Phoenix brought him back because they didn’t like his first work out. I don’t know if him and Woody would mesh but if he could get his attitude right and his conditioning he would be a steal at 19.
As far as Sheldon, well I saw bust the whole time. I watched a lot of Duke games and it was obvious he wasn’t that good. He had bad footwork, terrible hands, could not guard the athletic pf’s and centers, and got a lot of “Duke” calls in his benefit, was slow, and was not athletic at all. Was a terrible pick from jump.
Melvin
June 23rd, 2009
4:26 pm
CP,
I think it speak volumes when a player is not in good condition (non injury related) during predraft workouts. If he is not mature enough or don’t care enough to make sure he’s at his best during workouts than what should you expect to see from him over a 6 month span while being paid big bucks… Not in shape, would be a major Red Flag for me….
Melvin
June 23rd, 2009
4:28 pm
CP,
James Johnson, can you say another Sean May possibly? You can find Sean May at all the night clubs in Charlotte on any given night….
jerrywest
June 23rd, 2009
4:38 pm
we need to help the Blazers steal Torkoglu out of Magic.
terrell barron
June 23rd, 2009
4:44 pm
Your’re right Astro. Looks like we just lost out on Sessions.
Astro Joe
June 23rd, 2009
4:49 pm
I remember when Marcus Williams (PG from UCONN) was going thru the pre-draft process. A lot of folk were high on him (including bloggers here on Sekou’s spot). I recall that he failed to finish one of his pre-draft workouts because he was in bad condition. He ultimately fell down to around #20 I think. Now dude had other issues and you can never tell how is right/wrong when it comes to Don Nelson (who ran off C-Webb, Al Harrington and imminently Jamal Crawford to name a few). But Williams did squat in NJ and the same in the Bay area and I think that he is looking for a team.
After watching the Hawks fail to compete in several playoff games, I just can’t get behind drafting a guy who can’t get himself together for job interviews.
Melvin
June 23rd, 2009
4:51 pm
TB,
If the Bucks select a PG, I think they may let Sessions go. I think that move they made was to make sure they were able to resign Charlie V. However, I would like to see the Hawks go after Channing Frye. Young big with skills that could play the 4/5.
Hoops
June 23rd, 2009
4:53 pm
My sources – Stephen A Smith and ESPN of course. Some of these rumors are from some people on this blog. I was just summarizing what has been already talked about. I doubt any will happen.
doc
June 23rd, 2009
4:54 pm
if johnson cant stay in shape for this moment forget about him. deron williams did the opposite and lost 20 pounds and has kept it off. it also says he isnt listening because his agent is whispering something strongly suggestive of “work out dude” in his ear.
Melvin
June 23rd, 2009
4:57 pm
It’s funny that the Bucks/Spurs made a trade today but there were no rumors prior to that trade happening….hmmmmmm
Astro Joe
June 23rd, 2009
5:07 pm
Melvin, you mean that trades happen without the blogosphere learning about it in advance? Say it ain’t so. GMs MUST discuss their plans and intentions with fans prior to making a move. How dare they conduct business in privacy. I’m sure Spurs and Bucks fans are irate right now.
Sekou Smith
June 23rd, 2009
5:12 pm
Great deal for the Spurs. I said it last week Melvin, the best deals are usually the ones you don’t see coming.
richbrave
June 23rd, 2009
5:44 pm
ESPN is sayin’ RICHARD JEFFERSON to the WIZ for — get this, ETAN THOMAS and MIKE JAMES. O.K. let’s do it. What seance did that reporter just emerge from?
Big Ray
June 23rd, 2009
5:53 pm
“I think they will need to do something in their front-court, because Aldridge is as intimidating as a Care Bear… in a dress… with pearls… and pony tails.. and, well, you get the point.”
Oh THAT guy. The one who dropped 24 points and 11 rebounds on us on February 20th, then had a paltry 19 and 6 against us on March 15th. Good thing he’s soft or he might have actually done some damage. Yessir, that was a very soft 20 points and 7/8 rebounds he had in the playoffs, too. We damn sure don’t need any softies like that, and the Blazers should be cursing themselves for having traded for his soft butt. Lord knows our frontcourt players have never been that soft…uh…um….
niremetal
June 23rd, 2009
6:02 pm
Bowen’s minutes took a nosedive this year, so you had to see this coming. I’ll tell you what, though – this was a win-win trade. Milwaukee was in desperate need of toughness and basketball IQ, and they got it in droves. They’ve been one of the worst teams in the league defensively for awhile. Any/all the Spurs players will bring them some savvy and intensity. My guess is that they keep Oberto and maybe Bowen, but cut Kurt Thomas.
In any case, smart move on both ends. Milwaukee saves some money and gets some veteran help in one fell swoop. And San Antonio gets someone to take more pressure of Duncan and Ginobili, which hopefully will lead to fewer injuries. Jefferson also fits right into their style of play on both ends. They probably have one more title left for Tim now.
Big Ray
June 23rd, 2009
6:02 pm
Melvin,
True that, man. I keep waiting for one of those awesome silent deals around here. I probably shouldn’t hold my breath, although some would have you believe that the defeaning silence we here is a good deal about to happen. Heh…
I’ll bet Bucks and Spurs fans are happy somebody is willing to do something either to meet an immediate need, or at least plan for something shortly down the road to get better. Or, Bucks fans may be irate about losing Jefferson. Who knows. I’m sure fans complain in every NBA city. Nah. That couldn’t be remotely possible.
Big Ray
June 23rd, 2009
6:04 pm
Nire,
Spurs are BACK in the West.
niremetal
June 23rd, 2009
6:09 pm
Aldridge definitely is soft. But I get the impression he’ll get tougher as he gets older. I also bet that he WOULD be tougher already if they didn’t have Przybilla and Oden around, which allows him to be rangier in his game.
Not saying I wouldn’t take him in a heartbeat. But he doesn’t exactly strike fear into the heart of anyone on defense.
niremetal
June 23rd, 2009
6:11 pm
Ray,
Most definitely. And remember I said that if the Spurs get rid of Bowen, they make take a crack at Mario? We’ll see…
Nookah
June 23rd, 2009
6:25 pm
The trade made by the Spurs is the perfect example of a team being proactive and doing the necessary things to strengthen it’s squad. Moves like this have a direct corelation with the savy of management. In our case……………..we’ll just react when the proverbial s$$t hits the fan!!!
Go Hawks anyway!!!!
ATL…the home of basketball mediocrity!!!!
j
June 23rd, 2009
6:25 pm
The Hawks NEED to get Rondo. No question about it, the Hawks should trade Josh Smith for Rondo or something like it. I cant believe the Celts are even shopping him
Publix
June 23rd, 2009
6:31 pm
We need to draft Ty Lawson, he will be amazing. If we can’t get him at 19, then trade up to get him. Let Bibby go. Resign the rest of the free agents.
Trade Joe and Acie to Golden State for Crawford and Biedrins.
Sign Villanueva and bring back Andersson.
Start:
PG Lawson
SG Crawford
SF Smith
PF Horford
C Biedrins
Second:
PG Murry
SG Evans
SF Williams
PF Andersson/Villanueva
C Jones
We are a contender if Woodson knows what to do with all of this. You have scorers, speed and enough defense with this team.
Nookah
June 23rd, 2009
6:33 pm
j, how could you ever think of a trade like that? With all due respect my brother we should be trying to catch those in front of us , e.g. Boston, Orlando and the Cavs, not give them motivation to kick our asses? Can you imagine Josh on a Boston team playing against us?
He’d drop a triple double at least 4 times per year.
Go Hawks anyway!!!
niremetal
June 23rd, 2009
6:48 pm
Rondo for Smoove makes no sense for them or for us. But I’ll laugh my butt off if some team mortgages the farm to get Rondo only to discover “Wow, when he doesn’t have 3 Hall of Famers to pass to and keep defenders from doubling him, he kinda sucks.” Not saying I know for a fact that’ll happen. But I’m not impressed by a PG who can’t shoot a lick (64% from the line is pathetic, although I’m sure doc’ll say it’s just because he has perpetually tired legs
) and who we’ve only seen while surrounded by Hall-of-Famers. He seems to get most of his points on layups that are semi-uncontested because he’s the last guy on the floor who’ll draw a double team.
I do like his defensive skills and activity level. But not nearly enough to make me covet him.
Najeh Davenpoop
June 23rd, 2009
7:37 pm
The Spurs-Bucks trade was win-win, but not so much because Bowen, Oberto and Thomas will provide Milwaukee with toughness as much as because they provide the Bucks with financial flexibility to re-sign younger players like Ramon Sessions. I’d be surprised if Bowen or Thomas were playing for the Bucks at the end of the 2009-2010 season.
Obviously it’s great for San Antonio in the short term — they desperately needed a boost in athleticism, and Bowen was becoming a shell of his former self at small forward anyway. I just wonder whether RJ’s monster contract, which expires in 2011, will make it tough for the Spurs to re-sign Ginobili when his contract expires after this upcoming season.
For those of y’all complaining that the Hawks should have done more to make a trade like this, the Hawks already used their share of expiring has-beens last year to acquire Bibby. Each team only has so many spare parts they can throw together to acquire a good player on a rebuilding team desperate for cap relief.
glw
June 23rd, 2009
7:41 pm
I think Rondo would play well with our other starters, but I dont see them trading him to us out of fear we might pass them in the standings. And no way would I give up Smoove or any of our core players.
darrell starks
June 23rd, 2009
7:42 pm
WOW santonio gave up nothing for jefferson why cant we make moves to improve the team O well look for the same old hawks.
GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!
ant banks
June 23rd, 2009
7:43 pm
any word on what the hawks will do with solo? even though i liked zaza, i think that solo can do just as well off the bench zaza will want 6mil per. solo can be had for cheaper and might develop with more minutes.
Najeh Davenpoop
June 23rd, 2009
7:46 pm
As for Rondo, I may be biased since he single-handedly carried my fantasy team to the playoffs, but I think the Celtics are certifiably insane if they are looking to trade him. Yeah, he’s surrounded by great players, but when KG was a non-factor in the second half of the season it was Rondo, not Allen or Pierce, who was carrying that team. Of course he still needs a jump shot, but even without it he’s a top 5 point guard in my book. Trading a guy like that at his age is insanity. I can’t really figure out what they think they will get in return that would actually make them better either.
Najeh Davenpoop
June 23rd, 2009
7:47 pm
In particular, if the rumors regarding Rip Hamilton and Rodney Stuckey are true, the Celtics’ brass has really lost its mind. Stuckey is quickly becoming one of the league’s most overrated players. I still haven’t seen him do a damn thing to justify the amount of praise and high regard he gets.
ant banks
June 23rd, 2009
7:51 pm
WIZARD HAVE TRADED THEIR 5TH PICK TO MINNESOTA. MINNESOTA HAS THE 5TH AND 6TH PICK!! WTF!!
come on hawksville!!!
Ariose
June 23rd, 2009
7:58 pm
RJ is not better than Marvin Anyway. If Jefferson was the FIFTH OPTION on THIS SQUAD like MARVIN, theres NO WAY you would get 15pts and 7 rebounds out of him. He hasn’t been the same since Kidd left Jersey. Guess he forgot how to score on his own…
Speedy=Mo+Cash for Kaman and their 31st pick. Draft Ellington(19th), Mills(31st), and Trade Down with our 49th pick and draft danny Green(32-44)
Cake….
Najeh Davenpoop
June 23rd, 2009
7:58 pm
Randy Foye and Mike Miller for the 5th pick and some spare parts. Pretty good trade for Minnesota as it gives them two top-6 picks and a lot of flexibility in the draft to possibly trade up or add two solid parts to their team, and I was never all that impressed with Foye anyway. Weird trade for Washington — from what I can see it just looks like a salary shedding trade combined with a huge vote of no-confidence in Gilbert Arenas. I don’t know how Washington plans to get through a whole season with only JaVale McGee and Brendan Haywood down low.
Ariose
June 23rd, 2009
7:59 pm
Typo:
Speedy+Mo Evans+Cash for Kaman and their 31st pick. Draft Ellington(19th), Mills(31st), and Trade Down with our 49th pick and draft danny Green(32-44)
Ariose
June 23rd, 2009
8:00 pm
Great that means Minnesota will be willing to gieve up their 24th pick. WE SHOULD GET THAT PICK FROM THEM!!!!!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
June 23rd, 2009
8:02 pm
And from the department of irrelevancy, the Bucks swung newly-acquired Fabricio Oberto to the Pistons for Amir Johnson. Oberto was bought out and is now a free agent.
My guess is they combine for about 200 total minutes of NBA playing time next year.
ant banks
June 23rd, 2009
8:03 pm
ARIOSE
what would you give up for the 24th pick? and you think that we are wrackin’ our brains about the 19th pick what will we do with a 24th pick?
who do you propose we get with that one ariose
doc
June 23rd, 2009
8:04 pm
najeh, thanks for saving me a couple of key strokes. folks wanting a trade dont realize trades are made for players with promise or contracts that end quickly that may be attractive to other teams down the stretch. we have speedy ad only four players that could even be considered desirable by other teams that could be traded and unless folks want to give up al or jj that narrows it even further.
A Tribe Called Quest
June 23rd, 2009
8:08 pm
I realized that my rant about Sund is unwarranted…
This is the city of Atlanta –
where the sports teams think half the teams they play are arival, but the opposing teams think Atlanta is a joke (Celtics, Yankees, etc)
-where no trades are made (Hawks)…Sund and BK wait for everyone else to get better and then claim they are keeping the core together.
When you guys see Amare get traded to some lucky team for a pile of horse manure and a high pick, you will thank me for pointing this out. BUt let’s buy into Sund’s plan of drafting 7″0 stiffs who score 1 ppg and then are in a European league 6 months later
Ariose
June 23rd, 2009
8:10 pm
Our startes led us to 47 wins. They must come back. Nothing wrong with them at all. The BENC is where we have a problem.
My Projected bench:
Flip/Acie/Mills
Wayne Ellington/Mario West
Danny Green/Gerald Green
Horford/Zaza/Solo/
Starters:
Mike/Joe/Marvin/Josh/Kaman
If you notice, Mo Evans is not there. He was traded away w/speedy to the clippers for Chris Kaman…..I Also Included Randiolph Morris in the deal…
Ariose
June 23rd, 2009
8:12 pm
24???…. PATRICK MILLS BABY!!!!! BEST PG IN THE DRAFT!!!!!!
Ariose
June 23rd, 2009
8:13 pm
OR WE COULD GO WITH JEFF TEAUGE IF HE’S STILL THERE.
Blast
June 23rd, 2009
8:13 pm
Good move by Spurs, though R Jefferson’s skill is slowly declining. Now they need to stay healthy, all the big four, but Manu in particular.
Ariose
June 23rd, 2009
8:14 pm
BUT HE’S MORE OF A PROJECT. MOST SCOUTS SAY HE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO WAKE FOREST. NOT GOOD AT MAKING PG DECISIONS YET…
Ariose
June 23rd, 2009
8:17 pm
MAN SAN ANTONIO IS EITHER REALLY SMART OR REALLY DUMB B/C NOW THEY DON’T HAVE A CENTER. HEY, IS DREW GOODEN STILL ON THEIR ROSTER? I THINK HE’S A FREE AGENT.
Astro Joe
June 23rd, 2009
8:19 pm
Ray, I won’t debate Aldridge. In my book, dude is soft. Doesn’t mean he’s useless, just means that he needs a Charles Oakley type to play next to him. That’s my opinion and a handful of box scores won’t change my mind. Wet toilet tissue soft.
Ariose
June 23rd, 2009
8:21 pm
IF ALDRIGE IS SOFT, THEN THAT MEANS CHANNING FRYE IS SCHOOLGIRL SOFT. PLEASE SAY NO TO CHANNING IN FREE AGENCY….
Blast
June 23rd, 2009
8:21 pm
Lakers coach Phil Jackson considering staying home during road games and allowing Kurt Rambis to coach the team. I guess when you win 10 rings, you can do whatever the hell you want to!