AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2008 > July > 31
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Looks like a Mexican standoff …
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SMYRNA - I’m afraid that’s what we have here or certainly what we are in store for where the Hawks and Josh Smith are concerned.
Neither side appears to be interested in budging from the positions they’ve assumed on the matter, so I can’t imagine we’re headed for anything other than a Mexican standoff (a situation in which no one can emerge as a clear winner, for those of you not familiar).
We certainly won’t see a quick resolution.
If college football games are being played before this thing is resolved I won’t be surprised.
Understanding exactly what we could be in store for, say for the next month, I have to ask the question … are you ready for yet another month or more of this slow-paced drama?
The folks that get the cash for my cell phone bill every month have to be giddy at the thought of another month of this stuff.
Me, I’d love nothing more than to see this whole saga resolved in the next 24 hours. But it’s not going to happen.
And all the cute trade scenarios, misleading insider reports from places that have no clue about this situation and the players involved and chest-thumping by the opposing sides here won’t do anything to get the issue resolved.
Until the Hawks and Smith’s representatives sit down and start having substantive conversations about how to get either a new contract done or a deal that pleases all sides done, we’re all stuck.
THE NEW NO. 1: On to less depressing news … Mo Evans made quite the impression Thursday afternoon under rather strange conditions.
He held up a No. 1 jersey, the same one Josh Childress has worn the past four years. Evans eases into the jersey and perhaps the role as the Hawks’ sixth man with a smooth understanding of what it is he’ll be asked to do for this team.
His maturity and defensive ability would have been welcome on the Hawks’ 2007-08 squad. And we’ve already highlighted his abilities to shoot the ball from distance and his above average athleticism.
What has probably gone unnoticed by some is his extensive playoff experience (34 games during his NBA career, including postseason stints with every team he’s played on). And with pretty good teams. He’s seen a lot and been in the fire plenty of times, so he won’t back down from any challenges this season.
I called an executive from another Eastern Conference team about Evans Thursday night and he admitted that the Hawks adding a player like Evans was not only a good move but a necessary one at this juncture.
“The one thing I love about him is that he’s a defender,” the exec said. “He’s a guy that’s bought into the fact that he’ll live in this league as a defender and a solid rotation guy. He’s not shy at all about stepping up to that defensive challenge against the Kobe Bryants and Tracy McGradys and those types of guys. He knows who he is and he knows how to be effective doing exactly what he’s done the past couple of years. He is what he is. There’s no mystery there. And he’s a better shooter than people think. He’ll knock down shots if he’s the guy people think they can leave open.”
Hawks GM Rick Sund said Evans was on the Hawks’ short list of free agent targets long before they reached terms on a contract.
And the Hawks don’t have to worry about Evans bolting for (another stint) overseas. He was fishing for the right NBA opportunity this summer and found it once Childress moved on.
“I really worked hard to get here, man,” Evans said. “I was undrafted. It’s been a fight, scratching and clawing to make it in this league. They pick the players from all over the world. If you can play in Africa or somewhere else halfway around the world and you can run and jump over building the NBA is going to come and get you. So if you have a spot and have a chance to impact a situation like I have here, I took advantage of it and you can parlay that into whatever in a couple of years … I’m getting a chance to play the game I love, with good players - Mike [Bibby] and I played together in Sacramento - so when he came over in the trade last year, he wasn’t even really comfortable last year. He didn’t really get to put his imprint on this team last year. So I’m thinking that from the beginning and going through training camp and bonding and coming together as a team, we’ll be able to do some big things once we put it all together.”
PAGING MR. AKYOL: Watched the replay of the USA-Turkey exhibition game tonight, mostly so I could watch Cenk Akyol against NBA competition.
He led all scorers with 22 points, which I could barely make out by watching because the screen was just a constant blur of Duke has beens. Coach K has every single overrated guard who has ever played for him working on the Team USA staff.
They even showed a deal at halftime from the practices that the team had in Vegas and there were even more former, overrated Dukies running around the gym. It was an infuriating evening trying to sort through all the mess and just watch the cat the Hawks took with the 59th pick in the 2005 draft.
I was under the impression he was a point guard prospect. But he looked like more of a shooting guard to me. Turkey had another cat running the point. Akyol was spotting up for 3-pointers and shooting funky leaners and stuff.
What I liked about him was that he seemed eager to go at Team USA, which is always a good sign from an international prospect.
It’s funny, the Hawks own the rights to three players [Akyol, David Andersen and Childress] that will play overseas this season and I’m convinced that all three could certainly help them out this season.
WAS THAT?: Either my eyes are playing tricks on me or I saw James White (the former Florida and Cincinnati skywalker who played briefly with San Antonio two years ago and snagged a NBA championship ring) cutting down the hallway in the locker room at Philips Arena Thursday.
By the time I slid down the hallway the locker room was empty. I know he played in the Turkish league last year but I don’t know what his status is this season. I’ll have to do some more investigating this weekend and see if there’s anything more to his being in Philips.
