deester11

Tip, to some degree you're right, but I find it hard to criticize a player who is learning on the job one year removed from HS. We all knew his game was lacking in areas, but again who expected the contributions he's made thus far? Anyone here say they expected him to do what he's done so far is a distant relative of Nostradomus (or Ms. Cleo...whomever is most accurate....). The difference in he and Chill (who is a favorite of mine too) is that Chill was college prepped. I truly expected him to have been a 10-12PPG player with decent rebounding and a few assists sprinkled in. Now I think it'll be next year when he gets more minutes. I'm a little less tolerant of an experienced college player than I am a high schooler learning the NBA game. I know they both are learning, but it's just me.

Additionally, I don't think it's a pass at all for J.Smith, I think that we're seeing glimpses of what true athleticism can bring to a team. The other pieces I think are truly taking too much time to emerge, but this team is a work in progress. Knowing this, we lean on what we believe is a salvation of a lost season somewhat (other than young player development). I don't blame Hawks fans at all for giving Smith leeway. He's done more than any one of us expected even if we thought he was lottery material.

I hope he continues to work and improve. He's going to get better and better. I couldn't be happier for him.

I keep harping on how fun it is to watch the growth of J-Chill and R. Ivey...eventually J.Smoove. I admire the way that BK has tried to assemble an athletic team. I think in the future that the baby Hawks will be outstanding to watch. Anyone remember the Bob Weiss team....UGH! Talk about ugly basketball... Anywho, Marty Blake is one of the most admired personnel evaluators in the NBA and this is his take on Childress: 6. Atlanta – Josh Childress (Stanford) A very active player. I always felt he was more of a small forward. He claims he’s a two. They wanted to go young and athletic. I think he has the chance to be a star. Again, much of the board has at least acknowledged that he will be a solid to above average player. I really think he has the chance to grow, but does anyone think that J.Smith needs to get at least 10 mins.? Is it too early?

Well, at least we can all agree that the majority of us on this board love the Hawks. With every Atlanta team, all I've ever wanted was to be competitive and win consistently. The fly-by-night good seasons can happen to any team, but the perennial winners are what I've always wanted (I still love those Fratello led teams..). I still have the polaroid pictures my brother and I took during a fan visit game as kids with Dan Roundfield, Tree Rollins and John Drew. I'm excited about what BK has done in his short time here because we have athleticism and we're improving. I just say that Chill has been a big part of what the Hawks are trying to accomplish and we're in for some better times. The bandwagon fans will always be lurking.....

But the point is that he is doing what BK envisioned him doing. I was just looking at the stats that you posted a minute ago, and I think it's high time he was starting. Given starter minutes they project to be in the top 5 of all rookies. That's saying something. Plain and simple you could make a very good case for starting Chill and Ivey and I think this team would take off. Add Delk and KA and Barry as second units and our second halves might be a lot different. I know there were a lot of haters (I wasn't pointing you out though Chillz), but he's learning FAST. At the beginning of the season we all envisioned a more athletic team. I'm just glad that SOME of the pieces are coming together.

First of all, we're all just as big Hawks fan as other fans. We've dealt with mediocrity and stupid personnel decisions so I'm coming to the defense of some of the posters here. I'm not sure of all the people who dissed Childress, but I can say that Diesel and myself and a couple of others NEVER dissed the guy. Additionally, we even put scouting reports on here so that people could see that Childress was just as highly regarded or higher than Deng. Let's keep this all in perspective. When/if Childress has an inevitable off night, there will be some who dog him out. That's not every poster on here so don't lump everybody in the same boat. We love the Hawks and want them to succeed, but recent history has made more than a few fans skeptical. The Hawks will always be my team, just like the Braves were when they sucked, and just like the Falcons when they sucked. The trend I'm seeing is that the fans are getting behind this team.

During Josh's senior year at Stanford, when his ankle was injured, the team played very mediocre basketball. When he returned he put the team on his back and was the focal point of the offense. Ever since he came out of high school he'd been in high demand and played on some very athletic all star teams. The point of all of this with Josh is that it wasn't that he wasn't able to play before we began seeing these spurts, it was a matter of assurance, confidence and patience. He often deferred any scoring to AW and AH, but only now is he thinking that his game is NBA caliber. Also, he took 2-3 shots in the first couple of games and looked every bit the Boris Diaw of our draft. He's growing before our very eyes and that's what we wanted him to do. Some will always question the pick before Deng, but I'll always like this pick. We got a good player and that's what matters to me.

Sorry for the sarcasm, but really, Josh is going to be very solid for us for a long time. I'm excited about him and have been since we drafted him. I know, I know...it's only a few games....I just think he's going to be exactly what this foundation needs and I'm glad that we have him! Second that Diesel?

Is it just as easy to dismiss this one game too? No one is drooling over the kid, but with so many on this board crying about not taking Deng, it was good to see that the kid does have skills. I don't care if it was the 27th game of the season, he at least showed that BK saw something in him as did most of the scouts. One game? Yeah, it's a flash, but don't dismiss it either.

Diesel, I specifically recall posting last week his pre-draft scouting notes and a few of us in the minority were blasted. Now this is just one game so I'm not blinded by that fact, but the thing that everyone who supported Chill before this game sought was patience. Eventually look at what we have IF all of our rookies come along....IVEY - Good point material (very suprising), CHILL - Beginning to show confidence (should be starting), and SMOOTH - flashes of athletic freakiness (Will take longer, but when he get's it...WOW). And we still don't know what we have in Donta Smith. This is the reason I've been excited about Chill, and the rookies. Now when Chill shoots 1-10 from the floor, who will start the first Deng post?

This is absolutely crazy that all of a sudden because he's not Deng, people on the board are saying he wasn't worthy of a top 10 pick or that they never heard of him. Not only was he highly touted out of high school, but a lot of recruiting coordinators gave Stanford outstanding marks for getting Childress. We're not talking college game, but we're talking about someone who stepped up his game after injury and led Stanford to a 29-1 record. Does he not get credit for that? It doesn't mean anything? Tell that to Okafor.. Point is, just because he's struggling doesn't mean he was a bad pick in my mind. Everyone wants him to score 20 dish 10 Assists and have 5 steals. Give him time...I don't think we'll be disappointed in him. Thanks again Diesel.

I have to respectfully disagree with the people saying they didn't know about Childress. The only thing he was trying to do pre-draft was improve his top 5/10 positioning. The scouts had questions, but NONE questioned his ability to score and present mismatches which is what he was mostly scouted on during the predraft camps. He matched up with almost everyone and took on any person one on one. According to several draft sites he was going to be top 5 and at worst top 10. Looking back, I knew of him and wasn't disappointed that we took him. I still feel that way and I don't see myself abandoning him just because he hasn't done what Deng has done. I'm glad that Deng is doing his thing. I like him and if we had him i would be estatic. But we don't and I still think that Chill will be fine. That being said....I liked the J.Smith pick the best of any thing we've done in a long time in the draft. We will all hopefully be able to laugh about this next year. The key is....the kids have to play. PERIOD. They need to learn on the floor and they'll be fine. Walker is the key figure here because he does dominate the ball. We will see, but Chill is still worthy...I just hope he shows it soon....

At least BK has some symbolic reasoning to what he's doing. To even put him in the same category as that dumba$$ Babcock is ridiculous. Childress will be very good for us in the future....You heard it here first. And don't even get me started on Josh Smith...We're going to be happy when he learns the NBA game...I am excited about our future.

I think that it's way too early to be bashing Josh C., and it's not hard to score if you only take one shot, but we're all going to have to deal with the ups and downs that are going to be inevitable. I think that I would be happy to see the development of the young guys more than a few wins that aren't meaningful. I haven't been outwardly impressed this preseason, but I think that overall this team is displaying what it will be this year. Walker and Harrington are going to make this team go and we have little else for the moment. Here's hoping that J.Smith and J.Childress grow up quite a bit though.

When there was a chance that he could be playing in Utah after signing the offer sheet, he "dreamed" of being on that team too. I would imagine if he got traded to the Cincinati Bengals, he'd have dreamed of playing with them too (oops, wrong sport).

My nephew played ball against D. Howard, and Josh Smith (of course he thinks he's all world) but he told me that he was more impressed with Smith. Of course that takes nothing away from Howard, but if you would have told me before the draft that we could have gotten two very unique players and a great sleeper in D. Smith, I would have laughed. Thank GOD that Dan Reeves wasn't running the draft..(Oops, wrong sport). Seriously, I haven't been this excited for a team I know won't make the playoffs (possibly) in a long time. I just want fundamental, exciting, defensive, gut-wrenching, in-your-face basketball. My last few years at Philips put me on the path to alcoholism. I didn't need much help in the first place.

I definitely am on the Josh Smith bandwagon and I was talking about him to my coworkers the day before the draft. They all came in the next few days thinking I had ESP or something. All of the media jumped on the Bilas bandwagon because we're the Hawks and easy targets, but check this out from ESPN the Mag before the draft (Projected to us at number 6): JOSH SMITH "It would be tough to pass on Deng here(6), but Smith is freaky. he's got size, mobility and upside." And for perspective, the same Mag said about Childress as high as 5 to the Wizards: "The Wizards need a shooter, if not a SF, and he's the best on the board." Funny how when we draft them, they turn to crap. (Speaking of which, I'll leave the toilet references to you guys).

I agree Jay. I think J.Smith's dad took it better than I would have. The guys still a kid. The constant bashing of Atlanta sports in general is bad enough, but to the hard core fans it's a slap in the face. I proudly tell everyone I'm a Hawks fan. I wish they were more consistent winners, but like you guys have said. It's up to Billy and Co., to change outside perception.

Is just that. His opinion. I think he was obnoxious in spewing the negatives about Josh Smith. I'll present a few views BEFORE the draft. Seems to me that the people who bashed us, don't like the Hawks. For instance in Chicago, Sam Smith (basketball writer) didn't pan the talent of Childress/Smith, but he made it known that they were bad because they were coming to the Hawks. For us to have done so bad, most objective papers felt that Childress, and J.Smith were in the top 10 as far as talent: DETROIT FREE PRESS Rated Josh Smith ahead of Childress. Says that Smith is the best athlete in the draft, and that Childress is thin but tough. PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS Childress:Can play multiple positions because of diverse skills. Above average long-range shooter. Wonderful defensive player. RATED THE FIFTH BEST PLAYER. J. Smith: Can run the floor with anyone. Extremely exciting above-the-rim player and tremendous leaper. Decent left-handed shooter. Body still filling out. RATED TENTH BEST. HOUSTON CHRONICLE Childress:Josh Childress One of better rebounding perimeter players. ... Has a knack like Steve (Francis) to get to the ball. ... Quick off his feet. J.Smith:Off the charts athletically. ... Size projects to a three, but he needs to learn that position. RATED TOP NBA PROSPECTS.... Does any of these views or reports scream that we got nothing in the draft? I think not. I like what Billy is doing and I hope Knight sticks to his plan. Not Bilas's or anyone elses.

I think that any discerning true fan of the Atlanta Hawks would realize that we aren't one, two or even three guys away from a great team. We have to build reasonbly and I think Billy K., did exactly what he should have. At first glance I didn't like Childress, but when we announced J.Smith I was more enthusiastic about the draft. FUTURE. FUTURE. FUTURE. Far too often this team's management thought that a half a#$ talent would contribute only to find them to be horrible. The pieces never fit. I'd rather we try to fit these athletic guys into what BK's vision is than have a group of non-meshing "stars."

Disappointed is a good word for not getting a good shot at D.Howard, but I am sold on Shaun Livingston. I think that just an addition of him and KMart at the right price would be a good start to a foundation. If Billy K., can somehow manage another higher pick than 17...say 12 or so, I wouldn't mind taking a shot at Josh Smith. We probably would have to give up #17 to do that, but would this be so bad?: Pick#1 - 3rd Overall, Livingston Pick#2 - 12-15 Overall, Josh Smith FA Pickup: K-Mart Again, I think this type of foundation would serve lots of purposes, but ideally I think that you get a coveted point, a "potential" superstar (lots to fix, but if Smith shows a little want-to, he could be a stud), and a better than your average Joe Defender in Kmart. We have to move up. No doubt about it. Additionally, the number three offers so many options if Livingston is not the guy. I hope that B.K. knows more than he's telling us. Which is nothing.

Longtime Reader, and posted a while back. Glad to see we still have fans. I know it's only one game, but I've always liked Sura. He was the original "White Chocolate" to me. He always had hops and a flair for the game and great passing. Would it be so bad to keep him? I don't think he would cost that much, and I think he does a great job with JT. (Although I'd rather JT and Hendu go to complete this revamp). Just a thought. As for Knights job so far, I like what he's done, but I think that we could have gotten young talent easily with the assets we had. That being said, he did what was an admirable job thus far. This offseason is going to be very important for us.