Atlanta Hawks: Summer spotlight singes Teague
Not time to panic about 'Rook. (AP Photo)
Las Vegas–One bad Summer League game, one quote about deferring to J.J. and Co., and suddenly it seems like Teague has gone from savior to suspect in the eyes of some Hawks fans.
He apparently took so much guff from fans on Twitter it prompted him to tweet: dont you hate people who cant play at all but have so much 2 say smh.” That came a couple hours after he had tweeted after he tweeted: “my bad yesterday didnt have a good one”
I guess his fans agreed with him in terms that were a little too strong for his taste. Note to Teague: If you don’t like to hear mess from fans, probably best to leave Twitter alone.
It’s only two games into summer league. No doubt Teague had a bad game Wednesday but it’s tough to judge him when he’s playing with this group, just like it was tough to judge him when he was playing sporadic minutes under Woody. Shouldn’t we hold off on making strong declarations either way?
Earlier in the week Teague said: “I am kind of looking at this like I’m a rookie.” I know what he meant but he’s not a rookie and circumstances outside of his control dictate that he and the Hawks can’t look it that way. They have to find out what they have with Teague, and fast.
“We have to,” L.D. said.
Nevertheless, the inescapable reality is that Teague is still a young player finding his way. Figuring out how he can best use his skills on a team full of guys who want the ball and how to be assertive when he’s the least accomplished Hawks starter will be a process. L.D. likened it to what Rondo went through in Boston when he was suddenly expected to run point for a veteran team looking to contend.
“I told him Rondo went through a similar situation,” Drew said. “Rondo was not a rah-rah guy. He went through a rookie period and then he had all these veterans thrown at him. Then he stepped out of the box, which is what I want [Teague] to do.”
Obviously there’s no need to panic about Teague after just a couple Vegas games. But there does seem to be a bit of a gap this week between what L.D. and Lester Conner are saying and what Teague is saying.
The coaches say this is a big week for Teague to show how he can lead the team; Teague downplays the games because he’s playing with NBA hopefuls instead of Atlanta’s vets. The coaches want Teague to direct traffic, with Conner going to far as to allow Teague to call his own plays at times; Teague said he might give the ball up to others and let them initiate the offense.
Part of the disconnect probably has to do with Teague’s personality, which Conner described as a “laid-back, cool mentality.” There were times when Teague’s relaxed approach riled Woody, who wanted him to be more serious.
L.D. wants the same. He said he’s on top of it.
“We change the environment, it will change him,” L.D. said. “That’s how I feel. That’s my job.”
It’s only July. Maybe if Teague looks good against Milwaukee tonight–he said he can’t wait to redeem himself–he will feel the love again.
MC
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229 comments Add your comment
rusty
July 15th, 2010
9:02 pm
give teague a break. he really played good in the first game & played good in the second half of the second game. this kid is good ,he penetrates great & will give the hawks a lot of easy baskets passing off. we will not need a switching defense as he will hold his own on defense. i love his quickness. we will just have to give him some time. as for crawford 2 this kid will be a tremendous player i already see him as being a hell of an explosive player,why the heck did we resign jj when we had the 2 crawfords we wouldnt have missed a beat as both of them are better suited to uptemo basketball than joe
Big Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:04 pm
Oh dang….sweet pass by Crawford, but they couldn’t finish.
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:05 pm
Big Ray and OK, these guys are executing a lot better today.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:05 pm
Sweet passes from the backcourt and bad finishes by the frontcourt has been the story of the summer league so far for the Hawks.
Big Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:05 pm
Nice defense by the Hawks summer leaguers…they are hard at it tonight.
OK
July 15th, 2010
9:06 pm
GOOOOOO LUKE!!! lol
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:06 pm
Here comes RandMo.
OK
July 15th, 2010
9:07 pm
Nooooo! Randolph BACK! BACKT OT THE BENCH! GET BACK! DOWN BOY! HEAL! HEAL!!!!
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:07 pm
Not bad. RandMo battles for the offensive rebound and draws the foul. Good start for him.
Big Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:07 pm
Ok. RandMo just got swatted (and fouled) by a no name summer league hopeful, who looks to be SF size….get him the F out of there..
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:08 pm
I don’t know who that white dude is on the Bucks, but he’s gotta be one of the biggest players in the league.
Big Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:10 pm
LMBBAO @ RandMo…
OK
July 15th, 2010
9:10 pm
Randolph just got knocked off the block by a scrub smh.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:11 pm
Kinda weird coincidence that the Braves and Hawks are both playing Milwaukee today.
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:11 pm
No more RandyMo
Big Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:11 pm
CP ,
I agree. Better poise and execution tonight for the most part. We’ll see how this continues. Larry Sanders has some skills…
SWAT Native
July 15th, 2010
9:12 pm
Just as an aside, Jevele McGhee looks nice on the Wizards game playing with Wall. I wish that trade for Chills actually happened.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:12 pm
RandMo has at least 40 pounds on Larry Sanders, the guy that pushed him out of the post. That is pretty sad.
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:13 pm
Damn we have some of the worst finishing bigs ever
Real Talk
July 15th, 2010
9:14 pm
@ CP I would rather watch John Wall a real PG on prime time than watch Teague try to develop. Jordan Crawford has already surpass him in development and will eventfully pass him in minutes.
Big Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:15 pm
Only thing wrong with that pass from Teague was that he threw it to RandMo…..epic FAIL
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:15 pm
I like Sanders and I dislike RandyMo. He cant rebound , is getting pushed off the block, and now fumbling passes that hit him in the hand
Big Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:16 pm
Real Talk ,
In that case, become a Wizards fan.
rusty
July 15th, 2010
9:16 pm
where is this game being shown
Sports Review
July 15th, 2010
9:17 pm
[...] Atlanta Hawks: Summer spotlight singes TeagueAtlanta Journal Constitution (blog)all 6 news articles » [...]
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:17 pm
Real Talk just stop posting. Trying to debate on a subject where you didnt witness any live footage was bad enough but you just keep coming back for more. Just log off and take a nap
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:18 pm
rusty its about 4 links to the game on the first page near the bottom. but here you go http://atdhe.net/
Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:19 pm
@Real Talk how could JC2 surpass Teague when he’s only played in 2 now 3 summer league games that doesn’t make much sense.
The guy hasn’t even played one NBA Regular Season game let alone played in the Summer Camp or Pre-season.
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:22 pm
Hendrix and Aminu look worthy of a camp invite. The way this summer is going they might end up making the team.
Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:22 pm
From what most of you guys are saying on this blog I’m on the Bandwagon that wants RandyMo out of ATL.
Mike is back
July 15th, 2010
9:24 pm
Najeh, you must have read my mind…these games are killing me…no shot blocking, no rebounds, and somebody please finish strong going to the rack.
I’m out folks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Real Talk
July 15th, 2010
9:24 pm
@ Cp Teague just turned the ball over before the half which lead to a Bucks Layup SMDH @ Ray Crawford is a Rookie and already playing like a real pro. @ Big Ray just might take that into consideration cause it seems like everybody else in the east is making changes except Home team.
OK
July 15th, 2010
9:26 pm
I wasnt sure about RandMo after last season because he STILL didn’t get any PT, but this summer league has left NO DOUBT in my mind. Randolph has just been demoted to EXTRA scrub status.
HoosierHawk
July 15th, 2010
9:27 pm
Interesting side story….. Kelvin Samspon is coaching the Bucks tonight, and was Crawford’s coach his freshman year at IU. Coincidence why he isn’t scoring? Maybe, maybe not.
Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:31 pm
@Real Talk there are many people that went through the summer league and played like real pro’s that turned out to be a bust big time.
dstdeelite
July 15th, 2010
9:32 pm
I’m confused. Why are we posting up Augustine?
Side note: Crawford has a silky smooth jumper.
ICECOLD
July 15th, 2010
9:33 pm
i like bibby… he is one of my favorite players ever.. and i think that he should start this year coming up.. because jeff teague should wait one more year to start..but jordan crawford needs to start at the two, and joe johnson needs to start at the three… can you imagine the fire power in the offense that larry drew is running with two pure scorers in it!!! do it..\
fire woody!!!
Real Talk
July 15th, 2010
9:33 pm
@ Ray Name me 1 if you can
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:33 pm
Nice play Teague
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:33 pm
Nice and-1 by Teague.
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:34 pm
Nice airball by Sean Williams.
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:35 pm
Once again Teague breakign ankles
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:35 pm
Say what you want about Teague’s ability to run an offense (which still needs a lot of work), his jump shot (which needs work), or his confidence (which sounds like it needs work based on the comments he made), but there is no denying the man can get to the rim at will, and that’s something nobody else on the Hawks can really do.
Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:35 pm
@ Real Talk can’t name one off the top of my head I’ll be honest, but I’m almost certain that there have been players like that all the time.
Big Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:35 pm
Teague with the speed an elusiveness. A little more aggression never hurts…
HoosierHawk
July 15th, 2010
9:36 pm
I’d take Hendrix over Morris any day. Only thing i haven’t liked out of him so far is he coulda tried a little harder when he was the only one back on that fast break. he quit.
cp
July 15th, 2010
9:38 pm
Damn nice pass by Teague
HoosierHawk
July 15th, 2010
9:41 pm
As weary as I have been about the PG situation, Teague and Bibby can each bring something different to the table, which I like. Teague has shown me he can drive and create, which we havent had. Bibby makes less mistakes and can shoot the 3.
Ray
July 15th, 2010
9:41 pm
Damn The Galdyr Boy My god nice shot wow!
Najeh Davenpoop
July 15th, 2010
9:41 pm
Gladyr just made the luckiest shot of his life.