Let's not ignore how good Shelden Williams can be

[Admin]

A lot of you are still pissed that we took him last year and I have to admit that I still wish we had taken Roy, and maybe Foye, but other than that there is nobody picked after Shelden that I would rather have on our team today.

A lot of you are very jaded by how he performed for a lot of the year and seem to forget that not only was he a rookie he was also playing for a coach who isn't that great of a coach, especially at developing young talent. In addition to that Shelden had that shoulder injury that he played through almost the entire season with. Once he got his mobility in his shoulder back he had some very encouraging games.

This guy is a double/double machine, tough as nails, and he has a high basketball IQ. Before we agree to just write him off for whatever aging veteran we are offered for him or as a throw in as part of a trade we need to think long and hard about it. Remember how the Bulls traded Elton Brand for a high lottery pick (which was either Curry or Chandler) and Brand went on to be perhaps the best PF in the game since then with the Clippers? Let's not make the same mistake and ship Shelden Williams out prematurely. He deserves at least 1 healthy, non-rookie, season with our team to prove what type of player he can be.

Take a look at his stats over the final 8 games when he was healthy. I realize this is only a small sample, teams were tanking, etc. but it still tells the story that this guy can play in this league at a high level.

Date	Opponent	Result	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OFF	DEF	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Apr 17	vs. IND	W 118-102	41	9-13	0-0	3-5	2	8	10	2	2	2	0	4	21
Apr 16	@ MIL	L 96-102	41	6-9	0-0	4-4	7	10	17	3	1	1	0	3	16
Apr 14	@ CLE	L 76-110	37	6-13	0-0	1-2	3	8	11	1	3	1	2	4	13
Apr 13	vs. WAS	L 85-98	36	6-7	0-0	2-5	3	7	10	0	2	3	4	3	14
Apr 10	vs. BOS	W 104-96	26	5-7	0-0	4-5	2	6	8	0	1	1	5	3	14
Apr 8	@ PHI	L 104-109	29	1-3	0-0	1-4	1	7	8	0	2	0	2	5	3
Apr 6	vs. MIL	W 115-102	28	4-8	0-0	4-6	6	10	16	2	3	0	3	4	12
Apr 4	@ NJN	L 86-101	31	3-8	0-0	3-4	5	9	14	2	2	0	2	3	9

[exodus]

It isn't likely for us to find out what Shelden is capable of because we have a glut of forwards. And yet people want to add ANOTHER forward to make the glut even worse.

[Wurider05]

That is one of the points that I have been trying to make. Now all of a sudden our guys are [censored] since we got good draft picks. Let's not forget the progress of any of our young guys.

[troubleman]

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It isn't likely for us to find out what Shelden is capable of because we have a glut of forwards. And yet people want to add ANOTHER forward to make the glut even worse.

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I like Shelden, but I like Yi better.

[DavidSomerset]

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And yet people want to add ANOTHER forward to make the glut even worse.

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Taking Yi, Wright, [insert SF/PF here] would be beyond stupid and solve none of our problems.

[troubleman]

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That is one of the points that I have been trying to make. Now all of a sudden our guys are [censored] since we got good draft picks. Let's not forget the progress of any of our young guys.

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It's not that they suck, it's they were drafted by some sort of mad scientist who doesn't have a clue on how to build a freakin team. You cannot win consistently with an undersized 4 and 5, unless you are the Phoenix Suns (and we see how many championshps they have won).

[troubleman]

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And yet people want to add ANOTHER forward to make the glut even worse.

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Taking Yi, Wright, [insert SF/PF here] would be beyond stupid and solve none of our problems.

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Taking Marvin was stupid. Taking Shelden at #5 was stupid. Sticking your head in the ground, and not trying to make up for those mistakes is stupid. I would much rather have a Yi/Law combo over Conley/Hawes.

[exodus]

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It isn't likely for us to find out what Shelden is capable of because we have a glut of forwards. And yet people want to add ANOTHER forward to make the glut even worse.

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I like Shelden, but I like Yi better.

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The reason you like Yi so much is because YOU HAVEN'T SEEN HIM PLAY.

It is the same crap every year with international players. Splitter with the big thing a year or two ago. People were talking him up to be a top 3 pick. Now he probably won't even land in the lottery. People always overrate players they haven't seen because they can't see their weaknesses.

Darko anyone?

Yi could easily the next Skita.

[Peoriabird]

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That is one of the points that I have been trying to make. Now all of a sudden our guys are [censored] since we got good draft picks. Let's not forget the progress of any of our young guys.

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If Wright is a better Powerforward than what we have, He should be the pick since there are no available centers. Whom ever doesn't fit the style of the current coach should be traded. What is so hard to understand about that concept?

[DavidSomerset]

He would average 5 minutes a game sitting behind Marvin, Chillz, Smoove, and Shelden.

It would be a complete waste of a pick and we would still need a center.

[Sothron]

Shellhead is a waste of a roster space. He gets abused on defense, has zero offense and the only positive contribution I ever saw from him was that he could hit free throws. Sadly he has nothing else to speak of in his favor.

[DavidSomerset]

He played well at the end of the year...I know he had that rough shoulder injury he played through.

No way I'm giving up after one season.

[vdunkndunk]

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It isn't likely for us to find out what Shelden is capable of because we have a glut of forwards. And yet people want to add ANOTHER forward to make the glut even worse.

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We could either get an upgrade at forward, i.e., a guy with a chance to be an all-star at that position, or we could add a crappy slow big man just because he's over 7 feet tall.

[Packfill]

Let's not forget that Sheldon will likely never start on the Hawks because of the presence of Josh Smith.

[troubleman]

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The reason you like Yi so much is because YOU HAVEN'T SEEN HIM PLAY.

It is the same crap every year with international players. Splitter with the big thing a year or two ago. People were talking him up to be a top 3 pick. Now he probably won't even land in the lottery. People always overrate players they haven't seen because they can't see their weaknesses.

Darko anyone?

Yi could easily the next Skita.

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Maybe there is a future for you in the circus, because I hear the mindreader gig pays big bucks. lol I like certain aspects of Yi's game, based on the limited footage I have seen. I never saw Splitter, so don't lump me with others here. I never bought into the Marvin hype, I never bought into the Childress hype, I never bought into the Shelden Hype, and I still haven't bought into the Boris Diaw hype. All of my Piston friends will tell you that I have dogged the Darko pick since the beginning, not because they didn't take Carmelo, but because they didn't take Chris Bosh. Never bought into the hype about Skita either. I'm rarely wrong about basketball players, and of the things I have seen so far, I belive it is a mistake to pass on Yi.

[troubleman]

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He would average 5 minutes a game sitting behind Marvin, Chillz, Smoove, and Shelden.

It would be a complete waste of a pick and we would still need a center.

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Who said he would sit behind those guys? What have they accomplished that make them so untouchable?

[uga2006]

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Let's not forget that Sheldon will likely never start on the Hawks because of the presence of Josh Smith.

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Who said we needed him to start? He could still get 30 mpg easy off the bench.

[DJ_Money]

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I'm rarely wrong about basketball players, and of the things I have seen so far, I belive it is a mistake to pass on Yi.

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I guess you might as well quit now, ex. He's got you on this one.

[DavidSomerset]

AND HOW DOES YI SOLVE OUR PROBLEM AT C AND PG???

Why do you people just ignore our NEEDS???

[gutz]

The guy we need to trade first is Chill. His foot problems are going to derail and shorten his career and before they do we need to trade him while we still can. He is redundant anyways. He had foot issues in college at Stanford as well and frankly isn't anything more than a role player on anyteam in the NBA. Shelden on the other hand is getting a raw deal by every poster on this site that bashes him. This guy is a double double machine when given 25+ minutes. He is big, strong and can rebound with the best of them. I would rather keep Shelden at this point than Chill. A player has to have minutes to produce and the numbers show that when Shelden is given the minutes he has put up a double double just about every single time give or take a few. Chill gets 30+ minutes every game when he isn't HURT and still doesn't put up that gooda numbers. Shelden will be more valuable to the Hawks than Chill will be in the future. Tweeners like Chill can be drafted or signed to be a backup anyday of the week.