devilwentdown2GA

We need to take Bagley if he’s available at three. Bamba is an old school big who can protect the rim, play defense, but does not project to be an offensive asset. I think you need to be better at #3, especially in our situation. We need to look for a scorer. Bagley struggled defensively at Duke, but he has all of the tools to be a good defender. 

Honestly, and my Duke fandom is probably showing, but I’d rather take Carter over Bamba. Carter is a great shot blocker and a much more polished offensive player. Just a steady, low-risk player. 

I know nothing about Doncic so I can’t speak for him, but if Bagley’s available you take him. In the new NBA I see no reason why he can’t play alongside Collins for extended minutes. He can rebound, score in the paint, is a decent defender, and very athletic. He’s also capable of hitting the three. And at the college level he can guard all five positions. I think once he develops he’ll be able to defend 3-5. 

That said, I think he’s benefited a lot from just being so much more athletic than the other players that he’s faced. He’s done most of his damage in the paint. We’ll see how he holds up in the ACC. But as of now I’d say that he’s the most talented player that we’ve had at Duke since Kyrie. 

On 10/16/2017 at 0:54 PM, AHF said:

Aaron deserved his starting spot given the alternatives.  Ulis was significantly better than Andrew.  Cost the Cats a ring, imo.

You mean Booker? I think I’d have went with Booker over Aaron. Guy hit some big time shots though. 

Love me some Quinn Cook. Could do worst for an NBA backup. 

Just now, TheFuzz said:

Was with you until you said Giles, lol.

I'm a homer, what can I say. LOL. 

7 minutes ago, TheFuzz said:

Gotta be honest ... not huge on the pick, whereas I loved the Prince pick from the get go. I'll root for him though, the stats don't lie and I think he's got the quickness to be fine on D, but he's both raw and kinda small. Not a freak athlete either.

I agree. I watched him several times in college. He's a perfect college player. He bullied people in the paint, and he has some post skills and a decent jumper. I think he'll be fine in the league, but we could have done better here going with Giles. 

^Ceiling isn't as low as Giles considering the injuries, but Giles ceiling a way higher. 

Had the chance to get a high ceilling player like Giles and passed. Collins will be a solid NBA player, but a very Hawkslike pick. 

On August 25, 2016 at 9:12 PM, Sothron said:

We lived right down the street from them. When did they move over there if you don't mind my asking? My family lived on Ousley Street from 1983-1998

They've been living there 50+ years. 

On August 22, 2016 at 10:23 PM, Sothron said:

No way! I lived for like 12 years on Ousley Street in Poulan. Who are they? The Ledfords?

I graduated Worth Co in 94. Go Rams!

That's crazy. They are the Duckworths.  Ann and Grady. 

On August 18, 2016 at 3:15 PM, Sothron said:

I was on highway 82 east of you in the vast metropolis of Poulan, between Sylvester and Tifton on 82.

Whoa! I grew up in Sylvester GA. Graduated from Worth Co. In 2002. My grandparents livee in Poulan still on Ousley St. I lived in Albany for three years and moved to Hazlehurst last summer. Small world!

^{Fine with this. This is just a bad draft class, so the Hawks are using two picks to try to fill one spot. And I'm guessin that Baze is gone.} 

Checking out some of the NBA mock drafts. Seeing Taurean show up anywhere from 9th in the 1st round to 24;
 

Taurean Prince NBA Draft Scouting Report and Video Breakdown

Taurean Prince (full name: Taurean Waller-Prince) was a completely unheralded high school recruit, originally signing a letter of intent to attend LIU-Brooklyn (in the NEC) before a coaching change enabled him to revisit his choices. He grew 11 inches in high school, going from being a 5'8 point guard to a 6'7 center, and was always young for his class, as he easily could be a junior, being the same age as many players from that class that will be drafted this June. Prince didn't play much as a freshman at Baylor, seeing only 6 minutes per game while sitting out a number of contests, and was not a major contributor as a sophomore either, at 14 minutes per game. 

It wasn't until his senior year that Prince became a full-time starter at Baylor, even if he was clearly one of the most productive sixth men in the country as a junior, and was already drawing significant NBA attention following an excellent summer where he competed for USA Basketball in the Pan-Am Games last August. For his career, Prince averaged over 20 points per-40 minutes, while shooting 38% from beyond the arc, with 8.5 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1 block thrown in for good measure.

Prince has ideal physical tools for the role he's projected to play in the NBA, standing nearly 6'8 with a solid 6'11 ½ wingspan. He has a strong, mature frame that he's not afraid to use, and is a good athlete, being mobile, fluid and highly capable of playing above the rim. 

Prince is a capable outside shooter, hitting a solid 131/348 (38%) attempts for his college career. He does a good job of spacing the floor and has a compact and repeatable stroke that should translate nicely to NBA distances. He also shows some potential as an off the dribble shooter, or even coming off screens, so it's possible he can continue to improve his versatility from the perimeter as his career moves on, as he's already made huge strides in the past few years. 

With that said, Prince is far from a one-dimensional spot-up shooter at this stage. He does a great job handling the ball or finishing in transition, can punish smaller or equally sized players in the post, is intelligent moving off the ball, and will attack defenders off the dribble nicely in a straight-line in closeout situations. 

His versatility is especially evident in the work he does defensively. He is big and strong enough to not get backed down by most power forwards in smaller lineups, but is also quick enough to stay in front of most perimeter players at the same time. He covers ground extremely well, and his long arms, high activity level, competitive spirit and strong instincts make him a playmaker getting in the passing lanes, and coming up with steals, blocks and rebounds. 

While Baylor played quite a bit of zone, which made it challenging at times to get an accurate read on his full potential as a man to man defender, it's easy to project him as being the type of guy you can switch on every ball screen, which is all the rage in basketball these days.

On the downside, Prince is better playing a more confined and narrowly tailored role, as he demonstrated earlier in his career. Baylor's inconsistent guard play this season led to Prince being forced to shoulder more ball-handling and playmaking responsibilities, which contributed to his 2P% dropping from 53% to 47%, and his 3P% from 40% to 36%. 

Prince is not a great ball-handler or overall shot-creator, as he struggles to get low to the ground and will not execute fancy moves or change gears explosively to get into the paint and create a high percentage shot. His first step is just average, and he is not one to rise up for high-flying dunks in traffic in the half-court. He didn't always seem to realize that this season, though, as he showed a tendency to get somewhat wild at times, settling for tough shots, and turning the ball over at a higher rate than you might hope. 

While unlikely to develop into a star or a go-to guy, every NBA team these days needs at least one player like Taurean Prince on their roster. It's very easy to see to project him into a (highly coveted) tailor-made role in today's NBA, and he looks ready both physically and skill-wise to step in and contribute fairly early on. The fact that he's only 21 means there might be some more potential still left to tap into, particularly when surrounded by better players, where he isn't asked to do as much as he was for Baylor at times this season.

7 minutes ago, TheFuzz said:

I'm gonna go on record and say I love, love, love this pick. This kid can ball and he's hilarious. Y'all watch. I'm not sure he can start day 1, but he's not far off.

I like him too. I just think we could have landed Ellenson who IMO has  the highest ceiling in the draft other than Simmons and Ingram and got Prince at 21.  

I told my wife right before they picked, "i want Ellenson, but the Hawks will pick an older player with a low ceiling like Valentine. Just watch."

It was worse. Wow.  I'm angry right now. We gave up an all-star point guard for a player that we could have still drafted with our other pick. LOLOLOL. 

Could have had Ellenson, and could have gotten Prince with our second first round pick. 

Ugh. Gotta hit that free throw Dennis. 

World Series begins tonight too. Lots to watch. Go Hawks!

This is more about being associated with a HoF and not so much about what he did for us. As we seek elite free agents in the future it's always nice to let them know that we have a history of having great players. 

I listened to the interview with Carroll today. He said it was all about cap space and Hawks didn't have enough to even make him an offer. He said he never really got an offer from them and the Hawks chose Milsap over him. He knew Hawks couldn't have both.

 

He said he has no hard feeling against Bud and still considers him a very close friend. He has talked to Milsap throughout Free Agency and Milsap is like his brother.

 

Toronto came to his house at 10a.m. the first morning of FA and they negotiated the deal at his house. They told him they want him to be a big scorer for them and showed him ways they will run plays for him. He said he never had a play run for him as a Hawk.

 

He thanked the organization and all the fans and said that he and the Hawks could not have done it without the fans.

I'm a DMC fan, but if Toronto is running plays for him and counting on him to be a big scorer, I don't see that fitting him tbh. Our system was perfect for him and, while I believe he'll be a solid player for them, I don't see him replicating this season ever again.

No hard feelings. One of my favorites.

Splitter is getting $9 million. That's starter money. I'm not sure comparing the two is fair.

IMO we could have gotten a similar backup for much less, freeing us to go after a starting SF.

Folks, if we let him walk, then what? It's an overpay, but who isn't in today's market? Glad to have him back. He keeps us in contention. We still need to do more though.

Yeah! Glad that it's not a 4 or 5 year deal.