Hawks

By khao$

October 12, 2005 04:16 PM | Link to this

Easy SS. Donta Smith, Royal Ivey and maybe Esteban Bautista. Talent wise, the first two don’t have enough skills, I believe, to compete on the NBA level. Neither will ever be starters. Josh Smith and Marvin Williams might be raw, but they have enough natural talent to compensate for what they don’t know at this stage. Josh and Marvin need to go against pro level talent, whereas the other two need to become more fundamentally sound to offset what they don’t have talent wise. Bautisa needs to learn about the American game in general. The developemental league will give him that option. But who are we kidding? The NBDL will only be used to help teams shorten the roster to 12!That’s the real! After last nights game, Harrington might need to go…

By ray

October 12, 2005 04:51 PM | Link to this

I’m not so sure. Ivey and Smith may both be better than what we think we see. After all, they both get limited minutes, so who knows what they’re really capable of. Seems to me that Ivey is a capable defender, although not a shooter, scorer, or phenomenal passer. But, due to Stoudamire’s skills in shooting, this may force either or both to the NBDL. As far as Batista, I’d have to seem him play to see how long the adjustment will be. If he’s good enough in the “dirty work” I say let him play. You may not get that from Edwards. But Khao may be right, the first three may be the ones to go.

By shock

October 12, 2005 04:51 PM | Link to this

I agree that the NBDL will be used as a place to put players who wont fit into the 12 man roster. But, I disagree that Ivey needs to be there. In my opinion. he was one of our best defensive players last year, he attacks the basket, and generally plays smart. He is also 6’3”, and can dribble well under NBA pressure. To me, Ivey is just the odd man out. With JJ, Lue, and Delk manning the point, there just isnt any room.

By Khao$

October 12, 2005 05:11 PM | Link to this

I’m sorry if it sounded like I slighted Ivey’s defensive presence. He did play some solid d at times. However, his overrall game and lack of upside makes him a likely candidate. They have too much money invested in Salim (who signed a better contract than most rookie 2nd rounders) and Marvin (2nd pick) to send them there. It’s all economics baby. Perhaps they might send John Edwards. Like Shock said, with JJ, Lue and Delk, Ivey looks to be the odd man out. With JSmoove, Marvin, J Chill, and Harrington, Donta Smith is the odd man out. Bautisa is a question mark. Barring a trade, I see the top 12 being like this: 1)Joe Johnson, 2)Josh Childress 3) Josh Smith 4)Al Harrington 5)Zaza Pachulia 6)Jason Collier 7)Tyrone Lue 8) Tony Delk 9)Marvin Williams 10) Salim Stoudimire 11)John Edwards (big man) and 12) Esteban Bautista. Bautista will win out because he’s a big man (something we lack), he has a mean streak, and he’s nasty (so I heard).

By Khao$

October 12, 2005 05:36 PM | Link to this

On the real…can we send Jason Collier and teach him that a seven footer is supposed to get his share of rebounds? Just pipe dreamin’ baby!

By Tom

October 12, 2005 06:56 PM | Link to this

Listening to the game last night, the Orlando radio guys thought Marvin Williams looked lost. They used the deer in headlights quote about him. If your were at the game what do you think?

By reese

October 12, 2005 07:27 PM | Link to this

It’s a shame that Mike Woodson is forced to play individuals in positions that is not their natural position. Both Royal Ivey and Donta Smith are better than SS and Marvin Williams at this stage of their careers. However, SS and JJ are being forced to play point guard and therefore will probably force Royal to D league. Donta Smith is really a small forward, but is being played in the power forward spot. He is not a power forward and at this stage he dribbles better than Josh Smith. But Josh needs to play the position. I also envision times where joe johnson and Josh Childress will play the 3 spot while the other is on the court at the 2 spot. My recommendation would be to put SS and Marvin in the D - league and bring them up when injuries occur.

By Lamont

October 13, 2005 06:51 AM | Link to this

I think Marvin and SS will have a much faster improvement if they play in the NBA. They both have talent, they need to adjust their games to the NBA level and it’s easier to do that playing with the best players. I guess T. Delk will be traded anytime this season, that leaves another spot for the young guys. I wish we could send Collier not just to the D-league but anywhere far away from ATL. He cant do nothing. We need to develop Edwards and Batista as our backup centers…

By AaronB

October 13, 2005 07:25 AM | Link to this

Well I listened to the Bobcats game last night… and I was more relieved. Al stepped it up, which had me a feeling a little better. He finished with 25 points. Batista got some playing time and put up a good 15 points. The two rookies did about the same, so nothing new there. JJ carried the team as expected. Collier is as bad as he always was. Zaza did good but had two early fouls and got benched. Which led to Batista getting his first showing. Childress did well enough to score 16 points and do his part. So in the over all I say it was a good night for Atlanta. Josh Smith was sitting out with a sprained ankle. But could have played that game, due to it’s lack of severity.

By Astro Joe

October 13, 2005 09:26 AM | Link to this

Ivey could develop into a very dependable back-up PG. There is no reason why he can’t become an Anthony Johnson type player, with a 10 year career. Send him to the NBDL and let him develop his game. Donta Smith could be a George Lynch/Eric Williams type player with more development.

Neither of these guys will likely make contributions to the Hawks even after a productive trip to the NBDL (other than to replace injured players). But with solid development, they may be used as filler in a trade at some point.

While I haven’t seen John Edwards, we know that big men in general take longer to develop, so he would be a possibility as well. I would consider signing Kevin Willis to be our 12th man and part-time assistant coach. The center position will likely belong to Zaza & Collier. Center #3 will probably play every 4th game, and that is not a good development plan for a young guy (like Edwards). Have Willis play that role while he teaches Zaza & Batista how to bang in the league. And let Edwards get 20-28 minutes a night in the NBDL.

By Guy from Uruguay

October 13, 2005 01:08 PM | Link to this

Well, I see Batista played his first game with the team, made 15 in 17 minutes, got 4 rebounds and went 11 for 11 from the free throw line. That sounds good to me.

OTOH, there are several players :

Roderick Riley, C
Anthony Grundy, G
Anthony Wilkins, G
Ajani Williams, IR

(I think they are those invited to camp)

that haven’t seen action in 2 games. Maybe some of those could do with some DL

By ray

October 13, 2005 07:34 PM | Link to this

Ivey is also a decent penetrator, I forgot to mention that. If he is to be sent to the NBDL, it would be to hone his game and to be brought back due to injuries or trades. I wouldn’t want to keep Delk, he doesn’t help much and eats into minutes at the guard position that just aren’t productive. So yeah, I can see him being traded yet again. Bautista showed a little something against Charlotte. If he can show some consistency (of course, he does have to get the minutes to do so), he’d be better served playing for the Hawks and not the NBDL team. I’m somewhat sick of Collier too, but until someone steps up firmly, we don’t have very many options. I agree with the idea of signing on Willis to play or at least as a coach to Pachulia, Edwards, and Bautista. Although Pachulia seems to have some game about him. I like the way he’s cleaning the glass.

By strtballr

October 21, 2005 02:40 AM | Link to this

I DIDNT THINK THEY WOULD WAIVE F/G ANTHONY WILKINS I SEEN HIM PLAY IN A COUPLE SUMMER LEAGUE GAMES. QUICK/GREAT D/ NICE JUMP SHOT I THINK HE IS NBA MATERIAL.