Billy Knight's comments on Diaw

[KB21]

http://www.nba.com/hawks/news/Billy_Knight...s-79011-33.html

So, Billy went to Europe twice before to scout him, and he's going again tomorrow to watch him play in the final game of the French Pro A League Championship. The Hawks had this guy targeted from Day 1 it seems.

Billy says they will want him to put more pressure on the defense with his offensive game, but that they also feel he can allow Terry to shoot the ball a bit more. Reading into that, Diaw will definitely be the point man at times.

[sinctybldh]

I wonder if we look at him as a starter and if so where will he start since we have the lazy dog at small forward.

[Admin]

He isnt a pure PG as far as being able to run a team from what I have read and heard about him over the past however many months, but he can pass the ball well for a big man. What sucks is that he cant shoot to save his life and that leaves JT as the only shooter starting other than Big Dog, so Dog absolutely must be in the lineup and that would mean either Diaw is at SG or PG and honestly they may not even label them, just put the both of them in as guards. I would still rather see DJ beat Diaw out though.

[dgreene]

Picture this: starting line-up of Terry/Diaw (or Diaw/Terry, it really doesn't matter)/GRob/SAR/Ratliff. Our our offense is good, although we're not really a running team, and our defense is okay. But, we could then sub in DJ for GRob. Suddenly, we have 4 6'9" players on the floor (still like a 7-footer, though), 3 of which are potential lock-down defenders. And, with DJ, we still have a pretty good shooter. Who knows? He might be even better now (at shooting, and maybe even handling), since he probably wasn't doing a whole lot of dunking the past year. Just a thought.

[Boondocks]

Diaw is the slam dunk winner of the french league, don't forget that!!

Man I still can't believe we got Diaw, pfeww.

Anyway, from what I read Diaw is a good ballhandler, good dribble, decent jumpshot and oozes athleticism.

Problem with Pau Orthez is that they play a half court game which leads to a stagnant offense.

Diaw is the perfect utility guy for the Hawks, as they can plug him into the 1,2 or 3. He can score quite good, is very young and has great court vision.

[chillzatl]

I think bigdog will be moved before the season starts. Diaw will be our starting SF. It would be nice if we could move bigdog and someone (nazr maybe) for a ball handling SG with skills (spree, jones, etc)

[JTFan31]

True that Diaw is not a shooter, but he isn't all that terrible neither. I see him more like an Eric Snow clone just mich bigger at 6'9, thats [censored] good. I do have my concerns with him, because they have labeled him "soft", but I think if he comes in here and becomes aggresive and plays hard somewhat like Newble, he will be a very successful player in this league........we need his handles, defense and hustle.

[mrhonline]

No, you don't want to just trade Robinson for crap in the offseason. Do that in February at the trading deadline.

But, bring in a 15-16ppg player who plays better defense and passes better than Robinson and the Hawks shouldn't notice much of a difference. JT should be able to score more with the addition of another ballhandler (Diaw) or two (Spree?).

[capstone21]

We do not need a pure point guard....JT is not a pure shooting guard. We need someone with size who can defend and also handle SOME of the PG duties. Basically someone to share pg with JT....that is Diaw. I think it was the best pick for us at 21 and other then Reece Gaines he was who I wanted us to pick in the mid first round.

I am very happy about our first round pick. I am dissappointed that we did not take English with 37 but I hope we invite him to camp. He will make a roster next year....I hope it is ours.

[Guest]

my dream wishes are now with NY and the Spree trade for GRob. It makes sense for both teams in a lot of ways. We'd become a good allround team with defensive minded players at the 2/3 (even if Spree has slipped some), the ability to run the break with Diaw's athleticism, Spree, and the quickness of JT...and SAR on the rare occasion. We'd have decent range with spree in the backcourt.

It just makes so much sense. And with Spree wanting to play with McD and vice versa...well who knows if that later is ever going to play again.

[mrhonline]

that Nazr likely doesn't have to go in the trade since NY "amazingly" got Sweetney & Lampe. They need PG & SF help. They have Frank Williams coming back & Charlie Ward still has one year left...

So, it fills needs for both teams. Plus, we could ship out Crawford's contract.

JT/Dickau

Spree/Smith/Hansen

Diaw/?

SAR/Hendu

Theo/Nazr

We would need a big man and a backup SF. Preferably a scorer. Walt Williams? Jumaine Jones? Calbert Cheaney even?

[Guest]

or even Ira...

[beav]

it gives them all kinds of possibilities with 3 guard lineups:

Diaw, Terry, DJ

Diaw, Terry, Dickau

Dickau, DJ, Diaw

you get the picture...

One thing that I'm hoping is that Dickau uses this last year as a learning experience and comes back hungry and pissed!

[ATLien_]

The scouts contradict themselves. They say Diaw is a lock down defender but he is soft? WTF How can you be a lock down defender and be soft? What I think they mean is that he is unaggresive on the offensive end. Thats not a problem because we have enough people chucking up shots already. As long as he can handle the rock, bring athleticism (Dunk Champion),hit open jumpers, and play lock down defense what else do you need? He also is very good at getting to the basket in the open court. Look how Corey Benjamins athletcism helped us last year. We have 3 offensive juggernauts already, we didn't need an offensive player.

I hate to break it to you guys, but Big Dogg is not going anywhere, and JT is still the PG. This pick assures me of it. This is how we will lineup most likely.

JT

Diaw

Dogg

Sar

Theo

Diaw will help to free JT up when we need his scoring. All JT needed was a ballhandler to help anyway. The Diaw pick made the most since.

I know nothing of the second round guys so i cant comment on him but I do like that 38 inch vertical. I see some ally oops in the hawks future with Diaw and the other guy woot!. Maybe we can run now.

[Guest]

If this guy is a good ball handler....why not just keep

Dog?

[mrhonline]

In reply to:

---

I hate to break it to you guys, but Big Dogg is not going anywhere, and JT is still the PG. This pick assures me of it. This is how we will lineup most likely.

JT

Diaw

Dogg

Sar

Theo

Diaw will help to free JT up when we need his scoring. All JT needed was a ballhandler to help anyway. The Diaw pick made the most since.

---

The Hawks have enough scoring from the Big 3 anyway. What they need are more complementary players and better bench scoring. Bringing in Diaw doesn't change the second half of that scenario.

If you wanted, you could make the case that Knight wanted more *defense* on this team. Both Diaw and Hansen are scouted as good, active defensive players.

Diesel, you said that Diaw was brought in to complement JT, but it seems he was also brought in to offset Big Dog's poor defense...

First and foremost, the Hawks needed talent, athleticism, and depth. They did that.

I do agree that the drafting of Diaw reduces the chances that Big Dog will be traded for cap space BEFORE the season starts. It doesn't rule out that he will be traded at all - Diaw can play three positions, remember...

[dickaufan12]

Beav, don't be surprised when Dickau is good next season. He doesn't take well to failure. He's going to work his butt off over the summer so we don't have a repeat of last season. Hold you comments until after the summer league.

[Traceman]

fine at SG. In relation to Dog, it probably had a lot more to do with Dog's poor ballhandling than it does his poor D. But let's be real, if JT were a "true PG", we wouldn't be looking so desperately for a SG (or PG) with Diaw's size and skill set. In other words, if we had Andre Miller at PG instead of JT, I don't think Diaw would have been our choice at #21.

[dickaufan12]

Absolutely. If we had a complete veteran PG, we probably would have gone after someone else. Maybe Zoran Planinic, who went at #22 to the Nets.

[KB21]

Miller may be a true point guard, but he's also slow. You will not see him lead a team that wants to get out and run. That's why he was such a bad fit in LA, and that's why the best fit for him may be in Utah where he will be able to run a control type, slow paced offense.