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Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Forget rumors — Hawks need a point guard
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
There has been this rumor floating around the Internet (which is Latin for: vast cesspool of disinformation) that the Hawks already have decided to draft Duke forward Shelden Williams.
Personally, I find it best to avoid rumors before drafts, unless they are from a credible source. For example, the National Enquirer this week has nothing about the NBA draft but it does have a really good story about Brad Pitt possibly not being the father of Angelina Jolie’s new baby girl.
This will mean nothing to Hawks fans, unless Billy Knight is projecting Shiloh as the Hawks’ next point guard because of her athleticism and long-term potential.
But that’s almost certainly not going to happen.
Probably.
General managers lie before drafts. Everybody lies before drafts. The big problem with the Hawks is that there have been so many bad selections and missteps in terms of player analysis and development - I’ll cite Boris Diaw and Jason Terry in these NBA playoffs - that the potential disinformation campaign floating online might be less scary than the team’s actual plan.
Shelden Williams was a nice player at Duke. He may or may not be a decent player in the NBA. But unless drafting Williams is part of some plan to shift one or two other bodies in that 6-foot-7 to 6-9 range off the roster for somebody who can really help, he does nothing for the Hawks.
He’s not a point guard.
The Hawks worked out three guards Monday. I would take that as a good sign if I thought public displays of affection meant something this time of year.
To say the Hawks need a point guard has qualified as a big, “Duh,” for some time now. But the mistakes of the past and the importance of that position became magnified in these playoffs.
The NBA, after years of thugball, mercifully is slowly swinging back to a scoring league. Players can’t hand check while holding slabs of concrete, anymore. There is more room to roam on the perimeter. It’s becoming a guard’s game again. (It could still be a center’s game, but the lack of many great big men prevent that.)
Terry, the former Hawks player, has blossomed into one of the game’s best point guards in these playoffs. In Atlanta, he was viewed as limited and something other than a building block. Go figure.
Phoenix made it as far as it did because of Steve Nash, who won his second MVP award. Chauncey Billups led Detroit to the best record in the regular season. Chris Paul - well, you know about Chris Paul.
Technically, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant aren’t point guards. But they don’t have to be. When the game is on the line, the ball is in their hands.
Everybody knew Wade was good. Few knew he might be one of the game’s three best players. Dallas is a deeper and better all-around team than Miami. To deny that is to give too much weight to the marquee value of roster antiques like Gary Payton. But the Heat took a 3-2 series lead back to Dallas with a chance to win a championship because of Wade, and only Wade. He has enabled Miami to overcome a superior opponent and the sporadic play of his formally teammate, Shaquille O’Neal.
The Hawks need somebody to run the show. They need a compliment in the backcourt to Joe Johnson. There has been little to indicate they will pursue a trade for Allen Iverson, even though he would make them infinitely more watchable. The thought that Terry would want to come back here in free agency seems laughable. Sam Cassell, another free agent, is a possibility.
But the way this league is going, one move for one veteran point guard isn’t enough.
If Connecticut junior Marcus Williams really is the best point guard in the draft, the Hawks should make him their pick with the fifth selection. If Knight doesn’t draft the right Williams - Marcus, not Shelden - or any point guard, there could be only two logical explanations:
He wants to lock the Hawks’ future into such mediocrity that Steve Belkin will drop his pursuit of the franchise in court. Or he has his eye on Shiloh.
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Tuesday Countdown still worst-to-first
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
10: The Falcons have shown no interest in Denver wide receiver Ashley Lelie, who held out of a recent minicamp and is being shopped. Lelie has averaged 42 catches a season in his first four years. He must be over qualified.
9: The answer is: The Rangers, Padres and Braves. The question is: What do they have in common? Well, nothing yet. But … (they call this a tease in broadcasting. The problem is, I don’t have any sponsors so I can’t go to a commercial).
8: (This number for sale.)
7: I knew you’d come crawling down to 7. If the Braves finish in last place, they will be the first baseball team to pull a first-to-worst since Texas won the American League West in 1998 and 1999, then tumbled to last in 2000 (20 1/2 games behind Oakland). The last National League team to go from first to last was San Diego. The Padres went 91-71 to win the National League West in 1996, then fell to 76-87 and 21 games back of San Francisco in 1997.
6: Do I think the Braves will finish in last? No. But when you lose 17 out of 20, the mind wanders.
5: It’s not surprising the Braves have no plans to trade Chipper Jones (as if anybody would take his contract), Andruw Jones, Tim Hudson or John Smoltz is not surprising. But if it’s true there are no plans to deal catching prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia tells me there’s little chance of a major trade forth coming.
4: Marcus Giles — he wasn’t addressed.
3: The legion of Giles fans think I’m picking on him. But you need to understand something. He hasn’t shown that he can hit leadoff, he’s not indispensable at second and - here’s the big one — he’s arbitration eligible. There’s a decent chance that the Braves will not want to pay him, which would mean he’s gone anyway.
2: So the last two Stanley Cup winners have come from the Southeast Division (Carolina and Tampa Bay). I guess the Washington Capitals are next up.
1: Billy Payne promises a week of celebrations to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Atlanta Olympics. Hopefully, nothing will involve a bus ride.
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