Grundy's coming back and Sekou's top 30 prospects

[ATL2123]

http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/ha...326hawknot.html

By the time they return to town for Wednesday's game against Indiana, Anthony Grundy should be back in a Hawks uniform. One of the last players cut during training camp, Grundy has starred for the Roanoke Dazzle of the NBDL this season.

The Hawks are down two guards with Tyronn Lue (knee) and Salim Stoudamire (elbow) both out with injuries. That's good news for Grundy, who has a good chance of finishing the season the same place he started it, with the Hawks. "He's been here and he's familiar with everything we do," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said of Grundy, who is averaging 23.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

"We're not going to rush anybody back. And Salim's done for the season. So we have to do what we can to fill the void." The Hawks currently have just two healthy guards — Joe Johnson and Royal Ivey — available.

http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/ha...26nbanotes.html

1. LaMarcus Aldridge, 6-11, 245, So., Texas.

A true center with plenty of skills and loads of potential

2. Brandon Roy, 6-5, 195, Sr.. Washington.

Do it all performer reminds some of Dwyane Wade at same stage

3. Rudy Gay, 6-8, 220, So., UConn.

Draft's most gifted pure athlete but isn't particularly skilled

4. Andrea Bargnani, 6-11, 240, Benetton Treviso, Italy.

International big man with a sweet stroke and toughness

5. Rodney Carney, 6-7, 205, Sr., Memphis.

Tremendous leaper and athlete who can provide immediate impact

6. Adam Morrison, 6-8, 220, Jr., Gonzaga.

Scoring machine will have to make transition to shooting guard

7. Joakim Noah, 6-11, 227, So., Florida.

Rapidly rising prospect with most upside of any player on list

8. Tyrus Thomas, 6-9, 218, Fr., LSU.

Still growing and is a freaky athlete with great timing

9. Josh McRoberts, 6-10, 240, Fr., Duke.

Uneven freshman season did nothing to tarnish his rep with NBA

10. Randy Foye, 6-3, 205, Sr., Villanova.

Great shooter and supreme competitor from top-flight program

11. Ronnie Brewer, 6-7, 217, Jr., Arkansas.

Comparisons to Joe Johnson are unfair, but he's got all the tools

12. J.J. Redick, 6-4, 190, Sr., Duke.

Nation's best shooter can help any team as shooting specialist

13. Mardy Collins, 6-6, 205, Sr., Temple.

Big combo-guard who is already an accomplished defender

14. Hilton Armstrong, 6-11, 250, Sr., UConn.

Late-bloomer who blocks shots better than anyone in draft

15. Richard Roby, 6-6, 195, So., Colorado.

Kenyon Martin's little brother is unpolished but talented

16. Josh Boone, 6-11, 237, Jr., UConn.

Projected higher before subpar junior season for nation's top team

17. Marcus Williams, 6-2, 200, So., UConn.

Passed up several others as top point guard prospect available

18. Shelden Williams, 6-9, 240, Sr., Duke.

Rugged and nasty but lacks explosiveness to rank any higher

19. Patrick O'Bryant, 7-0, 250, So., Bradley.

Project from a mid-major already has offensive game

20. Kevin Pittsnogle, 6-10, 255, Sr., West Virginia.

Dangerous shooter who can spread the floor better than most bigs

21. Nick Fazekas, 6-11, 235, Jr., Nevada.

Mentioned as a lottery pick before season but never broke out

22. Tiago Splitter, 6-11, 240, Tau Vittoria, Brazil.

Finally filled out his frame after years of teasing

23. Maurice Ager, 6-5, 185, Sr., Michigan State.

Explosive scorer compares more favorably than Redick to Rip Hamilton

24. Dee Brown, 6-0, 185, Sr., Illinois.

Had to prove he could play the point and lead a team, and he did

25. Ronald Steele, 6-3, 185, Jr., Alabama.

Another combo guard who will have to shift to the point in NBA

26. Paul Millsap, 6-8, 245, Jr., La Tech.

Rebounding machine has to prove he can play bigger than listed

27. Al Horford, 6-10, 240, So., Florida.

A lottery pick if he waits a year but can't be passed up if he doesn't

28. J.P. Batista, 6-10, 270, Sr., Gonzaga.

Low-post monster that served as Morrison's Shelden Williams

29. Shannon Brown, 6-3, 200, Jr., Michigan State.

Undersized NBA shooting guard but superior athlete who can defend

30. Hassan Adams, 6-4, 201, Sr., Arizona

Comes with baggage (DUI, attitude) as well as off-the-charts athleticism

[Spiral]

I was beginning to wonder if we were just going to mail it in the rest of this year. Our turnovers the last few games have killed any chance of winning he have. I'm not sure what kind of ball handler Grundy is, but he can't be much worse than what we got.

[KB21]

I was wondering when and if the Hawks were going to look to bring Grundy back into the fold. He would have made the team out of training camp had it not been for guaranteed contracts.

This guy teamed with Will Bynum to form the most explosive scoring back court in the NBDL this season. Bynum averaged 24.0 PPG while Grundy averaged 23.2 PPG. Grundy also set the single season scoring record this season in the NBDL. The record was previously 950 points held by Nate Thomas. Grundy has scored 1,112 points this season in 44 games.

To top it off though, Will Bynum was called up to the Warriors a couple of games ago. Grundy moves to the point guard spot after that, and he has averaged 13.5 APG over the past two games.

[Popeye]

I hope they actualy play him.... Unlike LAng

[thesheedera]

Where is Glen Davis on that list?

[Gray Mule]

Why wait until Wed. to have him with the team?

Hawks call-up center never saw the floor in a game,

which I find very strange, to say the least, when

you consider that some of the games were out of hand

well before the clock ended the games.

Will this be another case of having a warm body for

practice fodder? It looks that way, considering the

delay until Wed. and the fact that T.L. is coming

back.

[KB21]

Glen Davis is not a great NBA prospect. He's 310 lbs, and he's going to measure out to be, at the most, 6'7" tall. Unless he suddenly becomes a Charles Barkley type, he is not a great NBA prospect.

He'd be a monster prospect as a football player though. I saw clips of him from scout.com back when he was a football recruit, and I firmly believe that he isn't playing the sport that he has the potential to play professionally. If he had played football, he'd be an All-American right now as a defensive or offensive tackle. With his size, strength, and quick feet, he's a left tackle to me.

[DJlaysitup]

Anybody know much about Grundy? I admit I don't follow NC State closely. Possibly he played out of the country for awhile. His status as a rookie doesn't square with his birth date...gonna be 27 here shortly.

College: North Carolina State

Born: 15th April, 1979

Experience: Rookie

[Johnnybravo4]

I think he should start immediately.

[DJlaysitup]

LOL...wouldn't likely hurt anything if he started immediately.

[thesheedera]

Pretty average at best in my opinion. I'd rather see Delk getting the minutes Grundy will get.

[Johnnybravo4]

Didn't he avg something like 24ppg and 8 assists in the NBDL?

[DJlaysitup]

Yeah - I think that's pretty much dead on as far as NBDL stats. One would think he will have to be considerably more 'assists oriented' if they let him play here. I see no reason why they wouldn't give him some minutes. With Lang - he was probably the last resort after the other bench-bigs. But with our guard situation, surely they can get him a few minutes here and there.

That's not to say I expect anything great...I just hate to see a guy called up and he doesn't even get to play and score a few points to get his name in the paper.

[DeacKillsaDevil]

Where is Daniel Gibson?

[thesheedera]

Yeah, but that doesn't make him anything more than average. He's been out of school a long time, he should be able to play well in the NBDL. He was one of NC State's best players on some very bad teams and at least one decent team. Solid all around player, nothing spectacular about him, but he can be a good depth guy for us.

I haven't seen him play since school.

Are there any future stars in the NBDL? Some are young and could blossom. Some are washed up. Some are complete unknowns:

http://www.nba.com/dleague/statistics/

Grundy's 6-3 and he's a combo guard.

If we were taking a NBDL guard for depth purposes, I'd prefer Will Conroy, and I'd even rather take Bynum than Grundy. He's local, he plays his heart out, and he's a Nate Robinson clone with less hops.

Bynum's the 2nd leading NBDL player in assists/game at 6.7.

Grundy is 9th with 4.4:

http://www.nba.com/dleague/statistics/2005...topic=0&stat=15

Anyone know much about Reid?

Is there anyone on that list who will be more than an average NBA player? If so, they're likely between the ages of 18 and 23. Grundy's coming up on his 27th birthday pretty soon.

[AHF]

Bynum has already been picked up by an NBA club, although I am blanking on who that is.

[tmac13]

Golden State

[Lascar78]

he's very average to say the least. He won't do anything special, he won't screw up too bad. He's a pretty competitive guy. Again, we're picking up a NBDLer because at this point Ivey and JJ are our only guards, don't get your hopes up. Talent wise, I would say he is somewhere around the level of mike wilks, someone like that. He can probably get some minutes with Ivey just so JJ doesn't have to bring the ball up, but he's not a significant signing.