NBA LOCALS
A weekly look at locals players in the NBA:
Al-Farouq Aminu, Mavericks, Norcross High
Dallas is 5-0 when he scores in double figures
Chris Bosh, Heat, Georgia Tech
Recorded seventh double-double after posting 27 points and 11 rebounds vs. Hawks on Dec. 3
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Pistons, Georgia
Had a career-high five assists versus Thunder on Dec. 7
Jae Crowder, Mavericks, Villa Rica High
Had 13 points (5 of 6, 3 of 3 3FGs), 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block in 24 minutes at Memphis on Dec. 9
Derrick Favors, Jazz, Georgia Tech
Averaging 16.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in 31.2 minutes in 21 games
J.J. Hickson, Nuggets, Wheeler High
Has started three games for the injured Kenneth Faried
Dwight Howard, Rockets, Southwest Atlanta Christian
Hoped to return Saturday after missing 10 straight games with right knee soreness
Jarrett Jack, Nets, Georgia Tech
Averaging 9.3 points, 3.2 assists and 3.0 rebounds in 25.0 minutes in 20 games
Jeremy Lamb, Thunder, Norcross High
Averaging 12.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 25.7 minutes in 16 games
Jodie Meeks, Pistons, Norcross High
Returned to practice, could play Friday after a stress reaction in his lower back
Anthony Morrow, Thunder, Georgia Tech
Averaging 10.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in 26.9 minutes in 14 games
Glen Rice Jr., Wizards, Georgia Tech
Remains on D-League assignment with Fort Wayne
Iman Shumpert, Knicks, Georgia Tech
Led team in points once, assists six times and rebounds twice
Josh Smith, Pistons, McEachern High
Tied a season-high 11 rebounds at Boston Dec. 3
Thaddeus Young, Timberwolves, Georgia Tech
Had a season-high four steals at Spurs Dec. 6
Lou Williams, Raptors, South Gwinnett High
Reached double-figure scoring 15 times off the bench
Note: Stats through Wednesday
Kyle Korver is staking a claim as the best 3-point percentage shooter of all-time.
The Hawks’ sharp-shooting guard leads the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage (through Wednesday) at 56.1 percent (64 of 114). He was 5-of-7 from long range in Wednesday’s win over the 76ers. It marked the fourth time this season he has made five or more 3’s in a game. He did it seven times last season.
Korver led the NBA in 3-point percentage last season at 47.1 percent.
Oh, and he also owns the best 3-point percentage for a season in league history at 53.6 percent, set in the 2009-10 season with the Jazz.
Korver currently ranks 16th on the all-time 3-point list, with 1,572. He trails 15th-place Jason Richardson by five. Ray Allen is the all-time leader at 2,973.
“He is definitely one of the best (3-point shooters) that I’ve ever been around,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said when asked where Korver ranks of the number of top shooters he was around in San Antonio. “The Michael Finleys and the Brent Barrys, there have been a lot of really good 3-point shooters in San Antonio. I think he’s as good, if not the best, that I’ve ever been around.
“He’s unique in how he can move off the ball and come off of screens. I think we need him and we use him a lot. He is a unique shooter.”
The 11-year veteran does not like to talk about his 3-point prowess, saying little other than he tries to make the next shot.
Korver was a second-round pick of the Nets (No. 51 overall) in 2003. 76ers coach Brett Brown, then an assistant coach with the Spurs, remembers pre-draft workouts with Korver.
“I just walked by him in the hallway and that is a hell of a player,” Brown said this week. “I worked him out 1,000 years ago in San Antonio when everybody thought he wasn’t athletic enough. I tell you what, he blew it out of the water shooting. He and (Steve) Novak came in and just torched one of our standard drills when we assess people in San Antonio. Now I see him years later, he is a big man and he plays hard.”
Payne goes to Austin
The Hawks became the first team in the NBA to use the newly created flexible-assignment system to assign a player to the NBA Development League this week. Rookie Adreian Payne is your answer to the trivia question.
A number of D-League teams agreed to single-affiliation deals with NBA teams this summer. One independent team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, was all that was left in the 18-team D-League. With 13 teams, including the Hawks, sharing affiliation and a maximum of four NBA players on the Fort Wayne roster, it promised to get complicated.
The Hawks made early use of the D-League, sending John Jenkins, Mike Muscala and Payne (twice) on assignment.
Last Sunday, the Hawks assigned Payne to the D-League. However, Fort Wayne was at its maximum with Jenkins, Muscala, the Wizards’ Glen Rice Jr. and the Pelicans’ Russ Smith on the roster. That meant Payne entered flexible assignment where another D-League could volunteer to take the rookie. At least one team, the Austin Spurs, agreed to the addition. If none had agreed, Payne would have been awarded via lottery.
The Hawks jumped at the chance to send Payne to Austin, the affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs, which runs a similar system as the Hawks. Payne, who has yet to play an NBA game, will get valuable experience in a system he has learned with the Hawks.
The Hawks have since recalled Jenkins and Muscala from Fort Wayne. Smith as recalled and later re-assigned.
With a full roster, it is clear that the Hawks will take advantage of the D-League with Jenkins, Muscala and Payne, especially when there are several games close together on the schedule. Payne was to play three games in four days with Austin.
76ers learning on the job
The Hawks easily defeated the two-win 76ers, who started the season with 17 consecutive losses, Wednesday night.
The 76ers’ 15-man roster featured seven players who went undrafted, four second-round and four first-round draft picks.
Brown, in his second season as head coach after being an assistant in San Antonio, said he uses the example of his time with the Spurs to instill in his team that better days are ahead.
“How privileged am I to come where I came from and share stories of what it takes to play in June?” Brown said. “Or what Manu (Ginobili) or Tony (Parker) or Timmy (Duncan) does and share that with my young guys. And understand what it takes to be great — all around, habits, practice standards, attentiveness in scout tape, all those things. I feel like I’m privileged to have a lot of stories to tell. That is how I try to capture their imagination and grab their attention.”
Quotable
“Coaches are always worried. Just put yes next to that question.”
— Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer on whether he was concerned before playing two-win 76ers
“It’s easy when you are winning some games in a row to kind of relax. I think guys have done a good job of approaching every day for what it is, if it’s a practice or a shootaround or a game. Guys are coming focused and just being a pro.”
— Kyle Korver on the Hawks’ eight-game win streak
“You are taken aback by just raw athleticism. When you go back and look at tape and see his forehead parallel to the rim. I’m serious.”
— 76ers coach Brett Brown on rookie K.J. McDaniels
By the numbers
9 Number of NBA coaches who have yet to receive a technical foul (as of Wednesday). Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer is one yet to be penalized.
14 Longest winning streak in Hawks history, Nov. 16-Dec. 14, 1993.
1 Number of chief diversity and inclusion officers in the NBA after the Hawks hired Nzinga Shaw
Carroll’s Corner
Words of wisdom from DeMarre Carroll, the man who brought you this quote from last season: “If you see me in a fight with a bear, you better help that bear.”
Following his first double-double of the season Wednesday that included 14 points and a season-high 11 rebounds in 26 minutes: “I was just being the Junkyard Dawg and hitting the boards, trying to steal them from Paul (Millsap). He steals all my rebounds. Do you all not see it?” Millsap’s response? “Check the film,” he added in the background.
About the Author
