I feel like we just recovered the LA/Boston pick

[Guest Walter]

I think we would have received the LA/Boston pick this offseason had we not traded it away for JJ. Not sure but that pick might have been 10-15. In the 2006 draft with the age limit affecting HSers for the first time, this draft position might have been a few slots weaker. I think Batiste's resume RIGHT NOW reads like a 12-20 pick.

Kudos to Billy Knight for getting this done. I thought GS would have to offer more to get Bat-man given their glut of Pf/Cs. They didn't and BK closed the deal per reports.

Unfortunately I've read Batiste may be only 206 cms or 6'9" rather than 208 cms or 6'10". Makes a little difference concerning his ability to play more time at center. Still, with his remarkable rebounding numbers in the tournament I can see him at center.

W

[Nicholasp27]

i agree

i don't think he's our savior or anything, but his resume definitely sounds like a low teens in weak draft pick to me

[thesource966]

You cant judge this guy based on one good tournament of nobodys. If this guy is a potential first rounder I guarantee someoneone besides us and GS would have offered him a contract worth something, like maybe first round money. Nobody is interested. We gave this guy fair market value(oh wait, there is no market). This guy is no first rounder, a second rounder only if Babcock was still around.

[WraithSentinel]

This guy at the very least should be a solid backup for Harrington. Hawks needed a backup PF. Looking around at the players left. Batista should be just as good as anyone who is left in FA.

[hotboyj]

Not many people wanted Akyol and we can't deny his talent.

Not many people wanted Ginobili and we can't deny his talent.

Not many people wanted Billups.

Just b/c you're popular or unpopular has nothing to do with your talent.

The guy almost had twice as many rebounds as Splitter.

He's only 22 and we(or GS) are getting him for less than a mil over 2 years.

How can there be anything negative said about him. Especially with the talent we had on this team last year at those positions, along with this year.

[djcorley]

I don't think anyone is being negative. I think too many people are being overly positive about a young guy that only two means want and that no one has seen play a single minute.

[Nicholasp27]

foreign guys not in draft (or not in 1st round) never have more than 1-2 teams interested in them simply because most teams haven't seen them

it doesn't mean they aren't good prospects

bk turned to his scouts: 'who's the best young int'l prospect to leave overseas for development for a few years?' and they told him cenk

[Guest Walter]

Quote:

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You cant judge this guy based on one good tournament of nobodys. If this guy is a potential first rounder I guarantee someoneone besides us and GS would have offered him a contract worth something, like maybe first round money. Nobody is interested. We gave this guy fair market value(oh wait, there is no market). This guy is no first rounder, a second rounder only if Babcock was still around.

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He all but destroyed Tiago Splitter's line. Tiago was once a top 3 pick at nbadraft.net but is likely a teens pick. That bodes well for BAT-man.

W

[thesource966]

The sun shines on a dogs ass every once in awhile. Heck, even Chris Crawford can post good numbers during one post season on a poor team, and be rewarded with a big contract. To say no other teams know about this guy just doesn't make any sense. I think its pretty safe to say just about every NBA team had a scout(s) down at that tournament. We are 1 of 2 teams that offered him a tiny contract. There seems to be a consensus among NBA teams and scouts that this guy is not first round material.

I'm not taking anything away from "BAT-man" because he has posted good numbers in a single (9 game) tournament. I think he could turn into a legit pf. But lets not claim this guy is first round material until you see him play against some real competition.

[KB21]

....was not weak competition. The level he faced is a step above the level of competition in college basketball. The USA team that was in this tournament had some of college basketball's better players in the past. Guys who had been in the NBA before and are looking to get back in the league. Guys like Charlie Bell from Michigan State, Tyus Edney from UCLA, Lynn Greer from Temple, and Kris Lang from North Carolina. Also, Francisco Garcia from Louisville and LeAndro Barbosa were in this tournament. So, it isn't exactly like he was playing a bunch of stiffs.

Hell, this guy outrebounded Peter Ramos, who is a player many of you wanted the Hawks to draft last year, by a large margin.

[Guest Walter]

Quote:

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I'm not taking anything away from "BAT-man" because he has posted good numbers in a single (9 game) tournament. I think he could turn into a legit pf. But lets not claim this guy is first round material until you see him play against some real competition.

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The possibility that he could be (as you put it) a "legit power forward" means this guy is first round material, his performance in this tournament (lasting 1/3rd the length of a college basketball season) with high level NBA prospects and current and former NBA talent was consistently great and tops in rebounding, and in every draft and many foreign FA signings all the teams drafting others before and all the teams that weren't "interested" make for a consensus, not necessarily a correct one (see just about every SA move for evidence).

I'm curious, though source, when was the last player you saw average 15.6 RPG in any post-HS tournament or season? That many RPG is like shooting 50% from behind the 3pt line. I don't care if hardly anyone is around to contest you, that's alot of boards, expecially when the next best player got what 9.9?

W

[thesource966]

Quote:

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I don't care if hardly anyone is around to contest you

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What do you need some back up. You need a tag team partner to tag in, you need to feed off of someone else? Spineless?

However,

You are correct, a consensus is not always correct, and that is a lot of rebounds. I'm glad BK is not blinded by this super human rebounding stat and is still thinking clearly, and only offered this guy market value.

To be a legit player in this league you dont have to be drafted in the first round, therefore not first round material. I should have said I "hope" he will be a legit player because I am cautiously optimistic. Again, not being first round material dosen't mean he cant be good!

[Weez]

funny, my 'hope' for him right now is an ability to simply be serviceable. That with John Edwards we have a 'combo' than can play 10-12 minutes per night and grab some boards, clog up the lanes, lay down hard fouls when we need them.

That's about all I want out of the 2 million or so we jsut dropped on those two.

[Guest Walter]

Quote:

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What do you need some back up. You need a tag team partner to tag in, you need to feed off of someone else? Spineless?

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Instead of barking little dog, find a post-HS basketball player averaging 15.6 RPG over a season or tournament, much less one with NBA players in it! JUST ONE!

Quote:

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not being first round material dosen't mean he cant be good!

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Duh. & saying his resume (because that is how we as fans base opinions on many players) is 1st rd material doesn't mean he won't be bad. All it says is that as far as risks go a 22 year old, 6'9"-6'10" big man who, while competing against top NBA prospects and current and former NBA talent, was top 6 in every important category, "the man" for his team, and demonstrated both offensive and defensive games is worth a 1st rd pick and IMHO a mid first in a weak draft AT LEAST!

BTW, the whole point about the "hardly anyone around to contest you" statement was to reflect my certainty that you cannot find examples of post-HS season or tournament 15.6 RPG performances that aren't deserving of 1st rd. I don't need anyone to "contest" you because YOU can't present a single example worthy of contesting!

W

[Plainview1981]

Quote:

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I don't think anyone is being negative. I think too many people are being overly positive about a young guy that only two means want and that no one has seen play a single minute.

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Sure... Why sign anybody with even the slightest bit of

potential when you have two big white stiffs like Jason

Collier and John Edwards. The Nerve of us. Or ZaZa who

spent last year getting dunked on by Josh Smith.

When you are as weak as the Hawks are at center you need

to look at guys with aleast alittle potential.

You guys complaining about hte league he played in? Yeah,

like NCAA basketball is any good. lol

[thesource966]

Excuse me, did you say something? Oh yeah, you got Batista's nuts on your chin.

[AHF]

2001-02 CBA

Leon Smith

16.8 points and 15.2 rebounds per game (called up by the Hawks during this season)

[thesource966]

Leon Smith, clearly not first round material.

[AHF]

Julius Key

1970-71

17.5 RPG

Marvin Barnes

1974-75

15.6 RPG

ABA

Swen Nater

1979-80

15.0 RPG

NBA

http://www.basketballreference.com/leaders...m?stat=rpg&lg=n

John Phillip

Waratah ABL

15.9 RPB

2004-05

ABA (Australian)

2005 16.70 rpg Jason Eversteyn - Sherbrooke Suns, Big V

2004 17.40 rpg Paul Burgess - Blaburn Vikings, Big V

2003 16.30 rpg Lonnie Thomas - Sherbrooke Suns, Big V

2002 17.06 rpg Blake Truslove - West Adelaide Bearcats, Central

2001 15.00 rpg Blake Truslove - West Adelaide Bearcats, Central

I am sure you could find plenty more.

[thesource966]

This is too funny