Lightning rod: JJ comments on Chris Paul.

[mrhonline]

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/h...725teamusa.html

Quote:

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Joe Johnson is getting a firsthand look — and an earful — about what it would be like to play with Chris Paul.

They're together at the USA Basketball national team tryouts, and Paul has not been shy about discussing his desire before the 2005 draft to play for the Hawks. Imagine, the Hawks captain and the NBA Rookie of the Year in the same backcourt.

"I told him to stop talking about it," Johnson said while shaking his head. "Seriously, I told him I don't even want to think about it anymore, what we could have done together. Because

he's the truth

. And I love Marvin [Williams, the player the Hawks took two spots before New Orleans selected Paul in the 2005 draft] like a brother, so don't think I don't appreciate what he's done and what he's going to do for us in the future.

"But me being out here with Chris Paul ... it's unbelievable

how far ahead of his time he is as a player

. The poise he has and

making plays on defense

and just being in the right spot. He definitely could have helped us [in Atlanta]. But that's a part of life. Some of the decisions that are made, you just have to live with it and move on."

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The rest of the article is one of Sekou's best on JJ, but I know this quote will light this board on fire...

[Nicholasp27]

the owners signed off on the jj money and diaw/picks BECAUSE bk said JJ could play pg...there are quotes from the owners saying as much

i STILL maintain that we would NOT have gotten JJ if we had drafted paul

bk had chill who he called a sg along with sf/pf smoove and he woulda NOT gotten jj and woulda run a paul/chill/smoove/marvin/zaza lineup

[Packfill]

I think all the talk from BK/Owners about JJ being a point guard was a bunch of window dressing, meaning JJ never expected to play point guard. Remember, his reason for leaving the Suns was not because he couldn't play point it was because he would always be the fourth option on offense (behind Amare, Marion and Nash). He wanted to be the man and he would have gotten that with the Hawks regardless of whether the team hand an established point guard or drafted one.

[Johnnybravo4]

So effin what! Chris Paul is not a Hawks and will not be a hawk so stop f***in cryin about it.

[mrhonline]

It sounds like the owners can't agree even without Belkin in the mix. That has to be fixed if the Hawks are going to continue to improve.

[macdaddy]

Yeah but have you ever thought that we should have picked Paul instead of MW. No one wants to talk about that.

[Teeareess]

Quote:

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So effin what! Chris Paul is not a Hawks and will not be a hawk so stop

f***in

cryin about it.

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I agree. Let's quit crying about last year's draft oversight and [censored] about this year's draft blunder!!

[deester11]

A thread was started earlier talking about great rookie PG's. It happens. If the same draft were today, I would be just as happy with Marvin. I'm glad people cry about Paul, because when Marvin is doing well I hope they don't jump back on the bandwagon.

[sinctybldh]

If we took a player like Sheldon over Paul I could understand people being upset, but Marvin has too much upside to be crying over what could have been with Paul.

[Sothron]

I honestly was hoping we would draft Deron Williams who is just as effective as Paul is on offense but is a much better man on man defender.

But we'll never know. This past year's draft of taking Shellhead and passing on Roy and Foye is going to torment me much more.

[sinctybldh]

Quote:

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I honestly was hoping we would draft Deron Williams who is just as effective as Paul is on offense but is a much better man on man defender.

But we'll never know. This past year's draft of taking Shellhead and passing on Roy and Foye is going to torment me much more.

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Me too. Its going to be very upsetting watch those two guys become stars while we got us a role player for the next 10 years.

[Final_quest]

This kind of thing happens in the draft. Hindsight is 20/20. There were as many as 5-7 teams that passed on Paul, and perhaps all of them regret it now.

[deester11]

WOW, I join you two in that assessment. I'm just not a Shelden fan...and Roy or Foye would have been sweet!

[KB21]

Where would Roy and Foye play on this team?

Foye is the only one of the two that might be able to work long term as a point guard, but as he showed in the summer league, his biggest talent is his ability to score.

Brandon Roy is a shooting guard. How much sense would it have made to draft Brandon Roy when he would get 8 minutes a game behind Joe Johnson?

Randy Foye will be playing shooting guard for Minnesota as well beside Mike James at the point.

Neither one of these two player's potential is so outrageously high that they are that much better than Shelden Williams. The only player that went after the pick that has an outrageously high upside is Rudy Gay, and most of you would have gone into meltdown had Billy drafted Gay.

I'm still amazed at the people who think the Hawks needed a rookie point guard over the best interior defender in the entire draft.

[deester11]

Good post KB, I respect your views, but I hardly think that Shelden was the best we could have done at five. I don't care what his supporters contention is, there were not many teams clamoring for him. A report by a scout out of the Review mentions that he liked him, but all the problems that he did have in college showed worse. Now I know it's just summer leagues, but Shelden wasn't the best pick at five and that's my opinion.

[KB21]

If we had passed on Marvin Williams, please tell me when the next opportunity to get a player that has the ability to be a mega superstar in the NBA would have come? Because that's what the Hawks got when they drafted Marvin Williams. They got the player that most of the teams trying to move up were targeting.

[Nicholasp27]

it also remains to be seen what sort of durability paul will have over time

[mrhonline]

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but Shelden wasn't the best pick at five and that's my opinion.

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It's too early, people. Too early.

There are many in the NBA that feel you can't truly judge the best and worst of the draft until after the players' third seasons.

[KB21]

How would Brandon Roy have been the best pick at five then? Someone tell me how Brandon Roy would have gotten much playing time on this team with Joe Johnson in front of him at his position?

Brandon Roy isn't a guy who has mega superstar potential. Neither is Randy Foye nor Shelden Williams.

The only player that an argument could have been made for relative to taking him over Shelden Williams with that pick is Randy Foye. A strong argument could made against it as well though. For one, he's a player that would have had to learn the point guard position. Most of you are impatient as it is. How much more impatient would you have been if the Hawks had invested in a player that needs time to the learn the position he would have to play in Atlanta? Secondly, drafting him means the Hawks wouldn't get the inside help they desperately needed. It would mean that the Hawks would have had to go into free agency with the outlook that they have to overpay for the likes of Nazr Mohammed, Joel Przybilla, and whatever other mediocre big man that was available. It would also mean no Speedy Claxton at a bargain of a contract.

[macdaddy]

I was joking. I'm glad we have Marvin.