Sheldon 23pts 11 rebounds...

[dawgingermany]

Hawks win by 11.

Al 9/9

AC 9/5 ASSISTS

al didn't start.

[DrReality]

boxscore:

http://www.nba.com/media/jazz/rmr07Game03.pdf

[Guest GHook4]

Wow, surprisingly good game from Shelden. 10/12 from the field. Good for him.

Horford has been very efficient and very effective. He's getting good minutes, but why isn't he starting?

I though Law would rebound from his last game and score 15-20. Anyone else get the feeling he's letting the "pure PG" talk get to him? Maybe his shot just isn't falling. I still expect him to put up good scoring numbers before the RMR is over.

Thanks for the update.

[Gray Mule]

THANKS !!!!!

[vdunkndunk]

Wow...nice game by Shelden. That's something to get excited about. Horford rebounded a bit better with 9 boards and shot 50% from the field, but I wonder why he didn't start or take more shots. Law with another so-so game....5 assists and 2 turnovers is pretty solid, but he had another horrible shooting night.

Stuckey, by the way, has scored 27, 18, and 19 in his first 3 games, and Crittenton is starting to tear it up...he's scored 26, 18, and 28 in his last 3 games after going scoreless his first game. Hope Law, who is two or three years older than those two guys, will start to put up some numbers of his own soon. Hope so.....

[djcorley]

It's only two summer league games!!!

[DrReality]

Don't forget the altitude at Salt Lake. Playing there day-in and day-out when your not used to it can kick your butt.

Here's an article about Horford's debut:

One year makes a big difference

Horford's extra maturity apparent

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 07/15/07

Salt Lake City — Al Horford's gamble paid off minutes into his first quasi-official NBA game Friday night.

Intent on making an immediate impact when he came into the league, Horford decided against bolting for the NBA draft after his sophomore season at Florida.

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That year of hard work and nonstop refining of his game showed up in the Hawks' summer-league opener.

Thirty-two minutes after he set foot on the floor, Horford, the No. 3 pick in last month's NBA draft, was all anyone who watched his Hawks debut could talk about. He was as strong as advertised, as polished as advertised and certainly as confident as advertised.

"That's the reason I stayed that extra year at Florida," Horford said Saturday night before the Hawks' second game against San Antonio at the Rocky Mountain Revue. "I felt if I had another year to perfect some things, a little more experience, my game would be much more solid. And it shows out there."

It certainly did Friday night. Horford led all scorers with 18 points in the Hawks' 64-63 loss to Utah. He also grabbed six rebounds and stood up to the challenge of banging with Jazz brutes Paul Millsap and Rafael Araujo.

"Oh, you won't intimidate this guy," said Hawks assistant coach Larry Drew, who is leading the summer-league team. "He's very polished for a kid his age. You just don't see many young players like him, guys that come into this league and seek that contact down low. That's the thing I noticed about him. He seeks contact.

"Lots of guys shy away from it, but he has no fear. And he does so many things. You can give him the ball in the post. He can pass it. He can handle the ball in transition. He just has a really good feel for the game."

Part of that feel is innate — Horford's father, Tito, played three years in the NBA — but much of it is a product of Horford's continuing maturity and a strong work ethic.

But like all lottery picks, Horford believed his own hype a bit after the draft. After weeks of draft workouts and interviews, Horford allowed himself a moment to bask in all that he had accomplished.

Then came the days immediately following the June 28 draft, when all the well-wishers had vanished and the reality of the NBA set in.

"I think I definitely got calmed down, but not by choice," Horford said with a big smile. "You just feel so high at the draft, and then two days later ... it just felt weird. It was just different. Nobody was there hyping you up. It was all about business. Once I realized that, I got my mind set and was ready to go."

That's exactly what the Hawks will need from their prized 6-foot-10, 245-pound rookie power forward/center come October when training camp begins.

"I think a lot of that is his dad," Drew said of Horford's measured approach to the transition from college star to NBA rookie. "His dad prepped him and let him know exactly what the league is going to be about. You come in knowing that during your rookie year you'll take some lumps, bumps and bruises before you can become an established player. You come in knowing you might have been the man in college, but it's going to be a different story in the NBA.

"When you come in with that frame of mind and that kind of attitude, you've already got half the battle whipped. Then you can spend your time preparing yourself and putting in the work necessa

[DrReality]

The whole maturity thing could not be more different than the last two years with Josh and Marvin. Hopefully Horford will raise the bar for everyone.

[Peoriabird]

Lot of cricketts around here after a Hawks victory and a good game by Shelden Williams. I have a feeling that the harsh Criticism will turn into its only Summer league really quickly if this keeps up!

[JJJJ]

Did your friend go to Hawks game tonight? If so, what did he have to say about our guys?

[Swatguy]

Quote:

---

Lot of cricketts around here after a Hawks victory and a good game by Shelden Williams. I have a feeling that the harsh Criticism will turn into its only Summer league really quickly if this keeps up!

---

Shelden will probably the MVP at this rate.

Horford not starting is appropo for now. Solomon needs to kick it in.

Shelden will be fine.

[KB21]

The funny thing is, none of them will actually admit that Shelden was one of the better rookies in the league last year.

[AnakinJoe]

Did we win tonight? Who cares about individual stats as long as we win the game? 1 lost by 1 point (to the home town team) and a win. So far, not bad. Also, what this teams needs is a floor leader and not a backcourt scorer and Law's 2.5:1 A:T ratio ain't too bad.

[Hawk88]

This is summer league. It's glorified wind sprints and shooting drills. The numbers DO NOT TRANSLATE to the NBA.

[Gray Mule]

Strange, isn't it.

The good stuff doesn't translate to the NBA.

But, on the other hand, any thing bad does.

Strange.

[djcorley]

Shelden Williams is going to prove alot of hater/doubters wrong...

Shelden was one of the top rookies in the league last year prior to hurting his shoulder...and he came back strong at the end of last year winning rookie of the month...

He's our BEST post defender and defensive rebounder. PERIOD. He's a leader/winner and he play very, very hard..

This is a DEEP and talented team now...If Marvin ascends and speedy stays healthy...PLAYOFFS!

[Peoriabird]

Quote:

---

Strange, isn't it.

The good stuff doesn't translate to the NBA.

But, on the other hand, any thing bad does.

Strange.

---

These guys are so predictable!

[drzachary]

Quote:

---

Strange, isn't it.

The good stuff doesn't translate to the NBA.

But, on the other hand, any thing bad does.

Strange.

---

Furthermore, you only need ONE summer league game to prove a negative trend. We should use the one-data-point standard in other areas of life.

[SmooveTheFuture]

Quote:

---

Shelden Williams is going to prove alot of hater/doubters wrong...

Shelden was one of the top rookies in the league last year prior to hurting his shoulder...and he came back strong at the end of last year winning rookie of the month...

He's our BEST post defender and defensive rebounder. PERIOD. He's a leader/winner and he play very, very hard..

This is a DEEP and talented team now...If Marvin ascends and speedy stays healthy...PLAYOFFS!

---

lol at this nonsense after a summer league game.

[Hawk88]

Well, It's summer league!

If a player sucks in summer league, he is more likely to suck in the real NBA. If a player is great you have to withold judement.

It's like trying to judge Yi in the CBA, there was not competition. Like judging Sheldon against guys who aren't in the NBA.

Some of these Summer league guys who are warm bodies but not NBA material. So it's possible to put up strong numbers.

For me its like the garbage time at the end of games when the outcome has already been decided and the last month of the season where players shine while most teams were trying to lose.

It doesn't mean Sheldon stinks, it just means he has not answered any questions.

I am still vey hopeful about Sheldon and am not trying to bash him. 23/11 is a heck of a lot better than sucking it up in which case his sucking would almost definetly translate directly to the NBA and the bench.