Hawks prospects hope for chance to play

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Cenk Akyol believes he’s ready right now.

Sergiy Gladyr said he needs a year, maybe two, and he’ll be ready to join the Hawks as well.

Now all they have to do is convince the Hawks’ brass that they’re as prepared to contribute in the NBA as they believe they are.

International second-round draft picks of the Hawks in 2005 (Akyol, 22, is from Turkey) and last month (Gladyr, 19, is from the Ukraine), both players are in town this week for the Hawks’ rookie/free-agent mini-camp at Philips Arena.

It’s the first time Mike Woodson and his staff have had a chance to evaluate either player in person as well as the first time for either player to experience the domestic pro game since being drafted.

“This game is totally different here,” Akyol said. “The set plays, the rhythm of the game. It’s totally different. Nothing is similar.”

Woodson wanted to see both players perform in mini-camp for that exact reason. He won’t get the chance to see Gladyr in scrimmage situations. He was not cleared to participate in time by FIBA, the world’s governing body for basketball, and is not working out with the 21 players assembled.

That they even showed up impressed Woodson.

“It really shows me something that they came here and wanted to be a part of this,” Woodson said of the two 6-foot-5, shooting guards. “It says a lot about their competitiveness that they’d want to be a part of this, because there are guys in mini-camps willing to walk on fire to make an impression.

“And when those guys see a draft pick out there, they see an opportunity to make a name for themselves at the expense of those draft picks. So you have to be on top of your game.”

Akyol actually came to town a couple of weeks ago, did three individual workouts for the Hawks and had lunch with Woodson, Hawks general manager Rick Sund and assistant general manager David Pendergraft. A formal invitation to mini-camp followed.

The real test, however, comes in the scrimmage action that started Tuesday night and concludes Thursday morning.

“It’s really hard to evaluate these kids properly on film,” Woodson said. “And as a coach, that’s sometimes all you have to go on. You can’t really tell what they can do until they get banged around a little bit out there with NBA bodies on the floor. So we’ll see what happens.”

Gladyr is already slated to play in Spain this season, which makes him a long-term prospect for the Hawks. Akyol, however, said he is a free agent this summer and interested in pursuing the best opportunity, be it with the Hawks or in Europe.

“We’ll have to see how things go this summer,” Akyol said. “I honestly don’t know what’s going to happen. Wherever I go, I just want to make sure I get a chance to play wherever I am. I want to improve my game and play, because I didn’t get the chance to do that the last two years.”

When the Hawks drafted Akyol four years ago, he was a teenage project much like their first-round pick that year, Marvin Williams. But unlike Williams, who blossomed into a starting small forward since then, the team had no real control over Akyol’s development.

Still, with every team in the league scouring the globe for talent, the Hawks must maintain a strong presence internationally to keep pace.

“That’s why we keep two international scouts,” Pendergraft said. “One handles Eastern Europe and one handles Western Europe. And it would probably be prudent to have one that handles Central and South America and another to handle China, Africa and some of these other emerging places for talent.

“There was a time when you could have one guy handle all your international scouting. But there are just so many players and so many events to cover. It’s too big now.”