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June 2006
Whom should the Hawks draft?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You’ve read Sekou Smith’s layout of the first round of the NBA draft, and his reasons for the Hawks taking Shelden Williams of Duke.
What’s your take? Which player would you pick first, and why?
No matter whom the Hawks end up drafting, do you think it will make much of a difference?
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Sekou Smith’s NBA Mock Draft
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1. Toronto: LaMarcus Aldridge, 6-11, PF/C, Texas — Raptors opt for player with unlimited upside.
2. Chicago: Tyrus Thomas, 6-9, PF, LSU — High-energy player fits Scott Skiles mold.
3. Charlotte: Rudy Gay, 6-9, SF, Connecticut — Michael Jordan goes for elite athlete.
4. Portland: Adam Morrison, 6-8, SF, Gonzaga — Blazers get the guy they wanted all along.
5. Atlanta: Shelden Williams, 6-9, PF, Duke — Hawks take production over promise.
6. Minnesota: Brandon Roy, 6-6, SG, Washington — KG finally gets a quality running mate.
7. Boston: Andrea Bargnani, 7-0, PF, Italy — Italian big man fits in well in Beantown.
8. Houston: Marcus Williams, 6-3, PG, Connecticut — Draft’s best point guard drops in Rockets’ lap.
9. Golden State: Patrick O’Bryant, 7-0, C, Bradley — Warriors will have to wait for O’Bryant to blossom.
10. Seattle: Ronnie Brewer, 6-7, SG, Arkansas— Sonics can part with Rashard Lewis with Brewer in fold.
11. Orlando: Randy Foye, 6-3, SG, Villanova — Combo-guard could be steal of the draft.
12. New Orleans: J.J. Redick, 6-5, SG, Duke — All-ACC backcourt with Redick and Chris Paul.
13. Philadelphia: Cedric Simmons, 6-10, PF, N.C. State — Chris Webber isn’t getting any younger.
14. Utah: Rodney Carney, 6-7, SF, Memphis — Carney’s as explosive as any player in draft.
15. New Orleans: Hilton Armstrong, 6-11, C, Connecticut — Hornets fill another need with rugged shot blocker.
16. Chicago: Maurice Ager, 6-5, SG, Michigan State — Underrated Ager is perfect fit for Bulls.
17. Indiana: Jordan Farmar, 6-2, PG, UCLA — The Jamaal Tinsley experiment comes to an end.
18. Washington: Saer Sene, 7-0, C, Senegal — Shot-blocking whiz boosts Wizards inside game.
19. Sacramento: Rajon Rondo, 6-2, PG, Kentucky — Rondo learns the way behind veteran Mike Bibby.
20. New York: Alexander Johnson, 6-10, PF, Florida State — Knicks need an infusion of talent in frontcourt.
21. Phoenix: Shannon Brown, 6-3, SG, Michigan State — Brown hits the lottery by going to up-tempo Suns.
22. New Jersey: Oleksiy Pecherov, 6-10, PF, Ukraine — Nets have fared well with foreign bigs (Nenad Krstic).
23. New Jersey: Kyle Lowry, 6-0, PG, Villanova — Tenacious Lowry is an upgrade from Jacque Vaughn.
24. Memphis: Thabo Sefolosha, 6-6, SG, Italy — Grizz get steal of international crop.
25. Cleveland: Daniel Gibson, 6-2, PG, Texas — Cavaliers see something that the rest of us missed.
26. LA Lakers: Guillermo Diaz, 6-2, PG, Miami — Dynamic Diaz boosts Lakers backcourt immediately.
27. Phoenix: Marcus Vinicius, 6-10, SF, Brazil — Suns need insurance for Amare Stoudemire.
28. Dallas: Sergio Rodriguez, 6-3, PG, Spain — A Devin Harris clone and a game changer.
29. New York: Shawne Williams, 6-9, SF, Memphis — Has as much potential as any player in draft.
30. Portland: Paul Davis, 6-11, PF, Michigan State — Blazers need talent and character with every pick.
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Hawks will stick with the fifth
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The debate will rage until Wednesday night as to which player should be the top pick in the NBA draft.
Who would you take? Aldridge, Bargnani, Morrison.
Bargnani is making a last minute impression on representatives from the top five teams, and yes, that includes the Hawks, today in New York.
His agent, Leon Rose, has set up a fresh presser for brass from the top five so they can take one last look at the player who helped his team to an Italian League title over the weekend.
I’m not sure what they’ll see today to sway their opinions one way or another. But you can bet representatives from all five teams will flock to the city to see Bargnani one more time in person.
The last minute nature of the event is far from clandestine, teams love to set up last-minute sessions like these to see if they’ve missed some minutiae in previous workouts or viewings. But the fact that Bargnani’s agent set it up makes me wonder if Team Bargnani is trying to solidify his status as the No. 1 pick. There have been rumblings in recent days suggesting that Bargnani isn’t the slam-dunk for the top pick many mock drafts would have you believe.
I wish I would have been invited to see this guy in person, because there have been so many scouting reports that leave you wondering what the guy is really like. Watching him on tape is one thing, seeing him in person (mostly so you can see exactly how tall he is and how he works out against a banger in one-on-ones) is another.
I’ll be pressing my spies for a full report later Monday night.
More rumblings:
— I know I’ve championed the idea of taking a point guard in this draft. But I’ve talked to some people in recent days that have forced me to rethink my position a bit. If the Hawks have their designs on a veteran PG in free agency or via trade, I can see passing up the PGs in this draft.
— I’ve seen lots of yapping about the Hawks trading down in the draft and hoping to acquire a veteran player in exchange for their pick. But something tells me the Hawks stand firm at No. 5 and gamble that the guy they want or another guy just as good is there for the taking.
— Keep an eye on the draft night moves by teams pressing to get into the top five. The Hawks are in the pivotal position because their pick, were they to follow through Wednesday night without a trade, sets the rest of the draft. If they go as projected everyone wins. If not, well, we’ll all need to buckle up.
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Guard hopefuls impress Hawks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I may not be in Atlanta but that doesn’t mean I’m not in the mix of the pre-draft workouts that are going on. And one of my spies was in the gym today and relayed some of the goings on. All three guards who were in town this morning - Marcus Williams, Rajon Rondo and Randy Foye - were reportedly impressive. In fact, my spy went on to say that all three were “extremely” impressive.
The funny thing, he said, is that all three are so dramatically different that having them in a combined workout actually accentuated each of their finer qualities.
Marcus Williams shot the ball well and showed off what the Hawks had already seen on film, he’s a straight line PG in the “Jason Kidd” mold in terms of he doesn’t beat you with a bunch of fancy tricks. He’s great on the screen and roll and he’s going to make the other guys around him flourish because he’s such a good up the floor passer (meaning he knows how to find guys on the break and can turn the corner in the halfcourt and either get a shot or create one for someone else). As we all have read or heard before, his measurables aren’t what jump out at you. But his savvy and natural PG abilities are what set him apart.
Rajon Rondo was probably even more impressive than initially expected. He was a “terror” in the defensive drills and a guy that those who observed the workout believe can someday be an All-Defensive type of player. He’ was certainly the athlete he’s been advertised to be and is a physical specimen, perhaps without peer at his position in this draft. While his shot (the form) is in need of some tweaking, there’s nothing else in his repertoire that needs major work. According to my spy, he left everyone thinking that the unquestioned two best point guard prospects in this draft were on the floor Monday morning.
Randy Foye showed off his physical prowess in the workout and reportedly shot the ball well from deep. The most interesting comparison made of him was “a taller Ben Gordon,” thus ending the foolishness of him being compared to Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade. No offense to Foye, but after watching Wade in person for the Eastern Conference finals and now the NBA Finals, he’s one of those guys that is in a league of his own right now. Back to Foye. My spy tells me that he didn’t appear to have a PGs mentality or specified skill set, but he’s certainly a talent and a guy that can come in and contribute immediately, which is what any team trying to make the playoffs needs.
Again, the interesting thing is that because of their distinctly different strengths, the workout was less about these guys going at each other and more about the Hawks getting an extensive look at a group of players that could come into play were the Hawks to entertain offers to move out of the No. 5 spot next week and down the draft board. Stay tuned.
Steve Hummer’s Game 2 analysis
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dallas — All the public goodwill built up during the preliminary phases of these NBA playoffs is in danger of evaporating like the morning dew here in the last act.
That clicking you hear is the sound of a nation in search of more compelling television. We understand they’re doing some wicked kitchen redesigns on HGTV.
The NBA has taken its reading program to a rather ridiculous extreme, encouraging its fans to turn off the game and the television altogether and pick up a good book before bedtime.
So, this is the new-look league, where the offense flows like beer at a fraternity mixer? Then how to explain that first quarter of Sunday’s Game 2 in which combined turnovers outnumbered the assists 10-6? What about the Miami Heat offense, which has been completely dumbfounded by Dallas’ use of rudimentary zone techniques.
Sunday, the Mavs managed to make Dwyane Wade look almost clumsy. He was throwing up the frustrated shots of an aging Y player, even getting called a couple times for traveling, the NBA’s forgotten rule.
And what of the Incredible Shrinking Shaquille O’Neal? His output Sunday — a playoff career-low 5 points while apparently hidden away in the witness protection program during the fourth quarter — was a slap in the face of the league’s star system.
So, these are the playoffs of games closer than maternal twins? Your final Sunday, for all those who turned off the game: Dallas 99, Miami 85. The game was nowhere near that competitive. While it appeared they were being run out of town on a rail, the Heat still used air travel to return to the sanctuary of home.
About the only intrigue Sunday swirled around the monolithic O’Neal, whose absence from the stat sheet and the fourth quarter was a development that will set the drive-time sports talk shows buzzing in South Florida.
No one loves Goliath, Wilt Chamberlain taught us. Conversely, the public will draw a perverse satisfaction watching the giant cut down to size. Witnessing O’Neal shoot free throws — 2-for-16 in these two games — has become the comic relief to the drudgery of the Finals. It is just that kind of video that made Bob Saget a star. All that’s missing is O’Neal stepping up to the free throw line and throwing the ball off Pat Riley’s groin.
Miami had made all kinds of noise about getting O’Neal more involved in Game 2. Watch out for the Big Aristotle, they warned. Instead, he seemed philosophically opposed to making any kind of difference. He got off only five shots before vanishing in the final quarter. His replacement, Alonzo Mourning, playing with one kidney tied behind his back, outscored him 11-5.
The argument could be made that Miami was a markedly better team with O’Neal inert at the end. It is risky to rush to that judgment given that there was so much garbage time involved, but that won’t stop the snowball of opinion from rolling over him.
As if to make a point, Miami went to O’Neal the first possession, and he immediately scored and drew a foul. His free throw, of course, strayed. And it was all a free fall from there.
O’Neal certainly isn’t immune from the march of time, but as much as his age, the changing rules have conspired against him. He can’t just bowl over one poor mortal and dunk the ball against a team capable of surrounding him with defenders. And the Mavs swarmed Shaq like angry Lilliputians. Dallas denied and double-teamed and drowned O’Neal in a sea of arms.
After a dreadful first quarter, “won” by Dallas 18-17, Game 2 of the NBA Finals came down to a question of who would stop stinking first. The Mavericks decided it would be them.
And for the Heat: “We have to play the game a hell of a lot better than we did in Dallas,” said Riley, looking forward to a home game Tuesday. The league echoes his sentiment, for the sake of all those viewers on the fence about the pro game.
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Giving Shaq his props
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shaquille O’Neal is the most underappreciated player in the history of professional team sports.
Now I realize Kobe Bryant, Jerry Buss, the Los Angeles Lakers PR staff and the rest of the world’s giant-hating contingent might disagree. But I have no reservations in making this proclamation.
Shaq gets no love.
Dude is the single-most disrespected superstar in the history of sport. Certainly no other player in NBA history guaranteed his team a shot at playing for a title by merely slapping on a uniform – an aging Jordan returned to the Washington Wizards for one more go ‘round and they were a spectacle no doubt, but they weren’t even guaranteed to make the playoffs, let alone compete for a championship.
Take for instance the immediate reaction after O’Neal led the Miami Heat past the Detroit Pistons in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Big Fella was an afterthought to not only Dwyane Wade, who fell ill in a Jordanesque manner the night before the game, and even Jason Williams, the Heat’s scrappy point guard who came out of hiding to stick the Pistons for 21 points on 10-for-12 shooting. It was Shaq who set the tone from the start, cashed in with 19 points, nine rebounds and three blocks by halftime and then carried the Heat until late in the third quarter when the rest of the crew could get going.
But that instance underscores an even larger point for me. At every stop of his NBA career O’Neal has been marginalized at some point because of everyone’s infatuation with his younger, flashier sidekick.
It happened in Orlando with Penny (and lil’ Penny) Hardaway. And again in LA, where after eight seasons, three titles and four trips to the NBA Finals, Buss chose Kobe over Shaq. And now in Miami, where the promise of a title run became a reality when Pat Riley traded for O’Neal yet the hopes and dreams of NBA fans in South Florida rest on the shoulders of Wade, who if my math is right is in just his third fourth year as a pro.
The Heat is in the best position to end this foolish trend – mostly because the end is clearly in sight for O’Neal and he seems inclined to walk away with his legacy in tact rather than chase the past the way self professed G.O.A.T.S. (Greatest of All Times) like Ali, Sugar Ray, Bill Parcells, MJ and others have, and always in vain.
If you don’t like Shaq, fine, not everyone is going to universally loved. And given sports fans’ penchant for pulling against the underdog as opposed to rooting for the Big Bad Wolf, I can understand the reluctance of many to embrace O’Neal and all that comes along with him (Kazam, the rapping and all his other non-basketball endeavors).
Besides, nobody likes a bully. And my man has mercilessly plowed over many a man during his career.
Me, I’m giving credit where it’s due.
NBA must innovate or grow stale
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s time for a change in the NBA. And I don’t mean a wholesale change of the league’s officials, though I wouldn’t oppose such a move, or a seismic shift in the start times, if every game began at 2 p.m. I’d always make deadline.
I’m talking about something much bigger than that. I’m talking about a change in the entire culture of the game, something that hasn’t happened in years -– try never.
But in watching these splendid NBA playoffs reach a crescendo in the NBA Finals next week, I’ve had plenty of time and conversations with people who make their living observing and chronicling this game from coast to coast and around the world.
And it’s clear to many of us that the style of play has to change. No longer can teams be slaves to the constraints of conventional wisdom or the basketball coaching trees that have defined the game here for decades. It’s time for innovation in the game much like the West Coast offense changed football from the NFL down.
Blame Mike D’Antoni and the Phoenix Suns. Because anytime guys who’ve done next nothing previously go to a system that allows all of their natural abilities to flow and blossom, there has to be something there. I’m not advocating teams copy the Suns’ system and try and do exactly what they do (impossible since there is only one Steve Nash). But that rules-free approach to the game can be adopted everywhere.
Too many times coaches are so faithful to the game they’ve learned and they’re not receptive to the growth the game has experienced the past 25 to 30 years. And that doesn’t mean that defensive-minded coaches have to change their personalities. It just means that when a guy like Jerry Tarkanian created something as unique and effective as the Amoeba defense he used to guide UNLV to a national title back in 1990, it’s not looked at as a gimmick but as an innovation.
Radical change requires a level of acceptance that few NBA franchises have embraced over the years (Dallas comes to mind in their willingness to allow a 7-foot shooter named Dirk Nowitzki be exactly who he is as opposed to trying to make him a low-post player). But I feel bad now for guys like Ralph Sampson, who was panned for not being the low-post dominator his size suggested he should be. I realize now he was a guy whose game was simply ahead of it’s time.
That’s why in order for the game to catch up to the changes, coaches at every level have to first recognize that the game needs to be taught differently. Players can no longer be pigeonholed at certain positions based on size at the early stages of their careers.
By no means am I a fan of this relentless, and mostly futile, international search for the next Nowitzki or Ginobili or whoever is the foreign flavor of the month in the NBA. But I do believe that the international interpretation of the game, from the way it’s taught to the way it’s played, is simply much more fun to watch and I’m sure a much more enjoyable way to play the game that so many of us love.
