Terence Moore............just can't stop hatin'

[dakast]

Hawks should have taken Conley

By Terence Moore | Friday, June 29, 2007, 07:24 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Let’s see. Going into this week’s NBA draft, the Hawks needed two things: A center and a point guard. So, with a couple of splendid picks overall, they grabbed somebody who is sort of a center at No. 3, and then they grabbed somebody who is sort of a point guard at No. 11.

Yeah, that makes sense.

The Hawks didn’t need another forward of any kind. Even so, they just drafted another one for the sixth consecutive year during the Billy Knight regime.

The Hawks really, really needed a point guard. Instead, they continued their habit of passing on a definitive one in the draft (hello, Chris Paul and Deron Williams) and selected Acie Law, more of a shooting guard than a point guard.

At least the Hawks resisted their urge to risk rolling snake eyes again by ignoring the gamble that is China’s Yi Jianlian. Which brings us to this: You know you’ve been a woeful franchise when the best that can be said about your draft is that you didn’t totally screw it up.

With the Hawks making NBA-ready forward Al Horford the overall No. 3 pick and grabbing clutch-shooting Law eight spots later and letting Yi stay on the board for somebody else, the Hawks didn’t totally screw it up. They just didn’t totally get it right, not with Mike Conley Jr. sitting there as the player they needed the most. He is as engaging as the majority of the Hawks are bland. He’s a great passer, a relentless defender and an accomplished winner. He’s also a definitive point guard.

Not only that, Conley is the Hawks’ Calvin Johnson, and that’s not good.

Just as the Falcons foolishly passed on Johnson in this year’s NFL draft to allow the former Georgia Tech wide receiver to take his charisma and greatness to the Detroit Lions, the Hawks will look as omnisciently impaired as the Falcons when Conley does wonders for the Memphis Grizzlies at the point and at the box office.

The only way the Hawks soften their Conley blows on the horizon is to hope Law isn’t what he appears to be, and that is a glorified Salim Stoudamire. The Hawks already have the real Stoudamire, a prolific shooter in college who showed quickly that he can’t distribute the ball well enough in the pros.

“I mean, [Law] is a point guard, but he’s just a scoring point guard,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said Friday. “He’s kind of been lumped into this role of being a scorer, because at the end of games, he looks to take over. And I don’t care how you cut it: [Hawks All-Star] Joe [Johnson] is going to be double-teamed, so we’ve got to have guys who can make shots around him.

“I’m not saying Acie is going to be a big-time scorer at this level, but we just felt he could distribute enough and make shots enough for us. At least, that’s what we’re hoping.”

Sound familiar? The Hawks always are “hoping.” They also have this tradition of trying to make a triangle into a circle. When they acquired Johnson from Phoenix, they were adamant he’d lose his shoot-first mentality and run their offense. The Joe Johnson Experiment at point guard lasted closer to days than weeks.

Now the Hawks have the Al Horford Experiment at center. He spent most of his time helping Florida win back-to-back national titles as a power forward. The Hawks could keep the 6-foot-10 Horford at his natural position and ease their self-inflicted glut of “3s” and “4s” by acquiring an experienced point guard. The guy mentioned the most in trade rumors is Seattle’s Luke Ridnour. Such a move would create more questions.

For instance: If Ridnour is among the Hawks’ answers, why was he splitting playing time with the great Earl Watson for an awful Sonics team?

If the Hawks were going to trade for a point guard, why did they use such a high pick on Law?

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl..._should_ha.html

[ncthompson11]

I dont get why he loves conley so much. I was happy to here that the reason he wasnt drafted is because he couldnt shoot. If conley turns into another chris paul then I guess we messed up again, but we got us a pg at 11 anyways.

[jezmund]

I don't understand the Calvin Johnson reference. CJ was an Atlanta born star. Mike Conley Jr. is just player considered the best at his position in this draft. He has no connection to Atlanta and isn't on the level of Calvin Johnson when it comes to a once in a lifetime athlete/person.

[dakast]

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I dont get why he loves conley so much. I was happy to here that the reason he wasnt drafted is because he couldnt shoot. If conley turns into another chris paul then I guess we messed up again, but we got us a pg at 11 anyways.

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And I don't get why he's still bitchin' about the Falcons not taking Calvin Johnson........

[DrReality]

He's the equivalent of Kincaid on the radio. If he's not disagreeing with someone he has nothing to say.

[ncthompson11]

Didnt detroit already draft a lot of receivers? I see horford as our calvin johnson.

[jezmund]

When greatness is staring you in the face, it shouldn't matter what you had done before then. Mike Williams is already gone from the team, Charlie Rogers has had some injury problems (I think) but Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson will be the best WR duo in the NFL.

[dakast]

No trying to be funny or anything........but we're kinda getting off topic here. Let's talk more about the Hawks and how foolish Terence Moore is.

[Dexmethylphenidate]

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I dont get why he loves conley so much. I was happy to here that the reason he wasnt drafted is because he couldnt shoot. If conley turns into another chris paul then I guess we messed up again, but we got us a pg at 11 anyways.

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Chris Paul is not a lights out shooter either. In fact, he's a pretty bad shooter. 42%FG and 28% 3PT in his first year in the NBA.

[vdunkndunk]

They're "hoping" that Law can make some shots when Joe gets double-teamed. I think Terrence sort of missed the point here, because the Hawks already KNOW Conley CAN'T make those shots. I mean, I'd still rather have Conley for the rest of his game, but not for his jumpshooting (which is obviously what Woodson was talking about in the quote that Moore took out of context).

[FrankWhite]

So the Hawks should have taken Conley at 3.... and who exactly at 11? Al Thornton? Thaddeus Young?

They had 2 lottery picks. If they just had the 3rd pick or could trade the 11th pick into a proven big, they would have drafted Conley. But they couldn't, so they took the consensus 3rd best player in the draft, a guy who can play the 4 and the 5, knowing they could take the 2nd best PG at 11. It's called getting the most value for your picks. How often is this going to have to be said?

[Lascar78]

I think he hit the nail exactly on the head (football analogy aside). We could have truly fit one need, whereas we kinda sorta hope we mostly kinda solved two. Conley was our last chance, no picks next year. We drafted a PF to play C, and we got a shoot first PG to distribute.

It really doesn't matter who you get at 11, this isn't football. There are only 5 guys on the floor. Getting one great player for your team is a lot better than 2 pretty good players. I'd take Conley on his own over Horford/Law.

But having said that, there was a chance Hawes would be there (who knows how the draft goes if we draft Horford), but as it turned out you could get a real backup SG in Stuckey, or you could gamble on Jason Smith who at least is a real C.

But instead, we keep covering our eyes and ears and drafting guys we don't have room for and forcing them into other positions like:

-playing JJ at the PG (short lived)

-pretending Chill is a SG when he is clearly a SF

-pretending Shelden is a C when he is clearly a PF

-pretending Horford is a C when he is clearly a PF

-"hoping" Law will be able to distribute enough

We got two very good players, but we got the wrong players for this team at this time.

[Lascar78]

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It's called getting the most value for your picks. How often is this going to have to be said?

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It doesn't work that way. It's like saying Portland should have found a way to trade Oden for Conley and Hawes, they trade the #1 center for the #1 PG and the #2 center. However they'd be complete morons because there is a big gap between the #1 and #2 centers, just like there is a huge gap between the #1 and #2 PGs.

There were no standout centers available. We need a young PG as bad as ever, and we passed up the chance to get the only great PG prospect in the draft. Unsurprisingly, he went at #4.

[Sasha_Volkov]

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It's called getting the most value for your picks. How often is this going to have to be said?

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It doesn't work that way. It's like saying Portland should have found a way to trade Oden for Conley and Hawes, they trade the #1 center for the #1 PG and the #2 center.

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Actually, what you're saying the Hawks should have done is akin to Portland passing on the best talent available (Oden) since they already had post players in Randolph and Aldridge and needed a wing (Durant). Portland instead did the wisest thing by taking Oden and sorting out their logjam with a trade (just as we will likely do between now and November).

I really like Conley but Horford/Law is an order of magnitude more talent aggregately than say Conley/Thornton.