My thoughts on tonight's preseason game

[emorystar]

Pretty decent line for a first game from Marvin Williams.

Did Al really start at the 3, and JSmoove at the 4? Interesting. Could mean that once Al is traded, Marvin fits perfectly into the starting lineup.

[Lascar78]

I couldn't really tell you who started where. Al played the role of the 4 on offense, and Smoove that of the 3. I can't remember who they were guarding exactly to start the game off.

[Lascar78]

Actually I can tell you one thing, the game started by Smoove winning the tip-off vs. Dwight Howard. That's probably why they listed him as the 4, as Dwight was the 4 and Battie the 5. Smoove wasn't actually guarding Dwight though, so he was really playing the 3

[Nicholasp27]

i know edwards is most likely collier jr...i'm not exactly high on him myself

but 7 mins in a preseason game doesn't determine a career

[KB21]

He's already got the knack for getting into the lane and drawing fouls, and he's a great free throw shooter. When his shots start falling, he's going to be a tremendous inside/outside threat.

[AHF]

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I'm not going to judge Marvin or any player over one game, especially not a preseason game... However, I do have one remark...

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He is definitely a role player for now, and he'll handle his role with grace and production.

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Definitely Sounds Ira Newbilelish... However, is that what you want from somebody you draft 2nd overall?

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Yeah. He was saying Marvin is exactly like Ira Newble and that is what you want from the #2 pick.

[thesheedera]

"Definitely Sounds Ira Newbilelish... However, is that what you want from somebody you draft 2nd overall?"

Ira Newbill in his prime, and his maximum potential.

Marvin as a rookie, still cutting his teeth.

Yeah, I'll take that from my #2, especially when he gets to the line, hits his free throws, matches his TOs with steals, gets boards and puts the other team in positions where they have to foul.

This is WHILE he's developing into a team leader, star and go-to player. Most guys that develop into that role with his potential kill you early on with rookie mistakes, hogging the ball, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Marvin already contributes without taking away, he'll do that from day one, and every day forward. And all the while, he will grow into the full potential he was drafted for.

FYI: MJ was a "role player" as a freshman at UNC. MJ is the greatest basketball player of all time. I'm not saying Marvin = MJ in any way (but class and coachability, perhaps), but just remember that even the best will play their "role" when its appropriate and necessary.

[macdaddy]

When Newble left I thought damn! we're never going to get a pick high enough to replace him. But look just a few horrible seasons later and we got him! with only the SECOND pick. Happy days are here again!

[Diesel]

And let me remind you... Ira Newble in his rookie year was very coachable... very classy.. A very hard worker.... AND NONE of those attributes have anything to do with being a superstar player so stop trying to superimpose them on Marvin as if that makes him one. That makes him a good guy... But not A SUPERSTAR.

[Nicholasp27]

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very coachable... very classy.. A very hard worker.... AND NONE of those attributes have anything to do with being a superstar player

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so being a hard worker has NOTHING to do with being a superstar?

interesting

[emeans]

Dude....Marvin is going to do as well if not better than any rookie YOU wanted us to draft this year, including Paul and Deron who are older and more experienced than him.

Marvin Williams will be an awesome player in this league. Just give him some time to develop more physically and get comfortable with the NBA. He will develop similar to Kobe Bryant and Garnett...i.e. it will take about 2 to 3 years before you will see the superstardom, but it is definately there.

He will be a flatout stud on the court. He has all the tools!!!

[Traceman]

I was at the game as well. I saw some of the same things that you did but I had a different take on a few issues.

Zaza - Zaza was MUCH more polished offensively and a better athlete than I expected him to be. He has a VERY nice midrange J, he caught the ball well in traffic and finished well around the basket. I was looking for him to be a banger/garbage man type player but I was pleasantly surprised to see that he is actually pretty skilled offensively. Whe you realize that he is only 21 and should get a lot better, it makes you drool. Defensively, he is not and likely never will be a shotblocker but he holds his position well. He did a solid job on Howard. I think he will be a solid rebounder but I don't see him getting 10+ rebounds a game which means that Al needs to get his share of boards as well.

JJ - I disagree somewhat with your assessment of JJ. I thought he started slowly but played VERY well after about the first 4 minutes. I thought he did an EXCELLENT job of running the break and penetrating and finding the open man. I thought he made good decisions with the ball and did a great job of getting it to Zaza, Marvin and others in the right spots. I thought he showed a terrific ability to break his man down off the dribble. I thought he played VERY unselfishly. I thought he played very good D, particularly on the perimeter. I think he is our best and most talented player BY FAR. That said, he was somewhat bothered by pressure from smaller guards in the backcourt and he WILL need help getting the ball up the floor when pressed (he was able to get the ball to the right man when pressed with no problems). In addition, I too would like to see him take smaller guards into the post when the opportunity presents itself. The bottom line though is that after just one preseason game, I think BK was 100% correct that this guy not only CAN play PG, but will be one of the top PGs in this league before it is all said and done.

Al - I thought Al had HORRIBLE game. He seemed out of rhythm all night. You can see the talent but he just played bad. He took ill-advised shots, didn't rebound well and made poor decisions on the break. He basically cost us any chance to win the game after we cut it to 89-87 with about 5 minutes left. He turned it over and took two HORRIBLE fade-aways on 3 consecutive possessions and failed to get back on D after the 3rd possession which resulted in an easy Orlando score. I think Woodson was trying to make him our go to guy in crunch time but if last night was any indication, I think he had better go with JJ.

Chillz - I thought Chillz got off to a slow start but he recovered nicely. He got in foul trouble early which is why he didn't play all that much but he played good D on the perimeter and he sparked us big with some great plays when we got back in the game in the 4th. I LOVE the way he was attacking the basket on the break and he finished well. GREAT jam off the rebound in the comeback run too! That "improved" J is still ugly and that airball was horrendous but hopefully, that was the exception and not the rule. Chillz is already a ballplayer but he is getting better and he is going to be good for a LONG time. I think JJ and Chillz could be our starting backcourt for a LONG time.

Smoove - Smoove looked a lot more confident all around. The midrange J was looking good, particularly when he shot it in rhythm. If he can shoot it like that, SF is likely where he will be most effective for the rest of his career. His handle, while not great, looked to be somewhat improved as well and he is a better than advertised passer. His perimeter D was better but he needs to continue to work. He also needs to rebound better. He is too talented not to be one of the best rebounders in the league.

Marvin - I thought Marvin was solid, particularly considering that he is only 19. He showed a knack for getting the ball to the basket in good scoring position. He had trouble finishing strong around the basket a few times but he was able to get fouled and make the free throws (8-9). He missed the only two J's he took (one at the end of the game as time was running out) but he has a beautiful looking shot and you can see that he is going to be a good shooter in this league. I thought Marvin showed very good awareness of what was going on around him on both offense and defense even though he struggled a little defensively when matched up with savvy vet Grant Hill (who doesn't). He was able to get in the passing lanes on D and get some steals and he defended the post pretty well. Marvin has a ways to go but I think he will get there. He is certainly not where LeBron or Carmelo were as rookies but he is ahead of other young guys who were taken early like Tyson Chandler, Darius Miles and Stromile Swift. I can see his potential and I think we will be VERY happy we drafted him.

Salim - The thing I like most about him is that he just knows how to play. He made a one particularly bad pass but it was as much about him not playing that much with JJ yet as it was about the decision. I thought he did a decent job defensively and I am not worried about his shot, it will fall and fall regularly as he gets more comfortable. I think he has a chance to be really good as our "microwave" off the bench.

Collier - Soft as butter. Worthless on a team like this who desperately needs a physical presence at Center. Collier's only value is his ability to step out and hit a J and we don't really need that on this team. If he were playing with Ben Wallace or another banger up front, he MIGHT be okay but not playing next to Al ,Marvin or Smoove.

John Edwards - Not what I expected and that is not a good thing. I thought he was going to be a big oaf who rebounded and brought 6 hard fouls to every game. What I saw was a guy who was more athletic than I expected but who defended no better than Collier and who provided NO physical presence whatsoever. Mario Kasun pushed him around like he was nothing. His lone bright spot was the J he hit from the top of the key. If that is any indication, at least he can shoot.

Delk - Looked solid when he was on the floor. The knee is apparently doing okay. He doesn't look quite as explosive as the young Delk but he can still score.

Donta - Looked good in his few minutes. He just might get caught up in a numbers game though with Smoove, Marvin, Chillz and JJ all able to play SF.

Lue and Batista did not play.

Overall, I thought we did okay for the first game of the season but we have a LONG way to go to be even a decent team in this league. It is already clear that the biggest problem is going to be our glaring lack of size/interior presence on D. We are going to get outrebounded on most nights with Zaza and Al starting and shotblocking is going to be virtually nonexistent. I would love for us to acquire one more defense minded big man who can play Center and allow Zaza to play some PF when we are getting completely manhandled on the boards. Since acquiring another big man is not likely to happen, Smoove, Chillz and JJ are going to have to hit the boards relentlessly and they are going to have to be top notch perimeter defenders who don't allow easy penetration.

I think the team is going to be fun to watch but I still think 25-30 wins will be best case scenario for this young team. That being said, I think the foundation is being for a successful team a year or so down the road.

[TheDude]

dude, stop comparing Marvin to Ira Newble. I mean just stop being silly.

[Plainview1981]

Overall, I thought we did okay for the first game of the season but we have a LONG way to go to be even a decent team in this league. It is already clear that the biggest problem is going to be our glaring lack of size/interior presence on D."

yep. That seemed rather obvious before the camp even got

started. Yes, we have a few guys that can grab some boards

each... But you really need that presence that the Hawks

don't have.

[swolehawk2]

Your description is basically what I thought after listening to the game...I think we will rebound better...because Chillz and JJ will often out rebound their position. We are going to have to play better perimeter D because we don't have a shot blocker in the middle. I think if we are able to minimize our TOs the lack of size won't become as much of a factor...but we have to make the most of our trips on the offensive end.

Bottom line....

For the Hawks to compete we have to bring effort defensively every night and not turn the ball over.

[emorystar]

LMAO.

Marvin = Newble?

That's hilarious.

[Diesel]

Superstars work hard...

But Just because you're a hard worker doesn't make you a superstar...

LOGIC 101...

[Diesel]

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Dude....Marvin is going to do as well if not better than any rookie YOU wanted us to draft this year, including Paul and Deron who are older and more experienced than him.

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It's not that Marvin has to do as well... That's the LEAST... MARVIN HAS TO BE HEADS AND SHOULDERS BETTER than both Paul and Deron AND Smoove.

Here's why.

We passed up taking a need in order to take a want. Anytime you do that, the Want has to be heads and shoulders better than the NEED!!! NO DOUBT...

It's Like having 4 kids living in a one bedroom house and passing up a new House to get an Escalade (when you already have a YuKon)...

If you're going to get an Escalade, it better lead to something better than a new house.

[Sevin]

The stench of dead horse on this board is overwhelming.

[Nicholasp27]

logic 101

nobody ever made an inference that hard work leads to superstar

but a common trait of many superstars is that they worked hard to get to where they are and continue to work hard on their game

therefore, ur statement that "hard work has nothing to do with being a superstar" is wrong

u can say "hard work does not necessarily make one a superstar"