Jalen Johnson - WELCOME TO THE HAWKS!

[sturt]

 

[HawkingAwesome]

So essentially shlenk got us 2 top 10 players 

Again 

[HawkingAwesome]

Ok jj can fly

 

 

[MarylandHawk]

I had no idea Jalen Johnson has the nba combine record for vertical leap at a whopping 48”!  Jimminy Crickets. Just heard that watching the summer games. 

[marco102]

Just now, MarylandHawk said:

I had no idea Jalen Johnson has the nba combine record for vertical leap at a whopping 48”!  Jimminy Crickets. Just heard that watching the summer games. 

I believe that was Keldon Johnson. The broadcast team had he names wrong. 

[Bonkers]

1 minute ago, MarylandHawk said:

I had no idea Jalen Johnson has the nba combine record for vertical leap at a whopping 48”!  Jimminy Crickets. Just heard that watching the summer games. 

He doesn't, Smitty got that wrong. It was actually Keon Johnson

[MarylandHawk]

17 minutes ago, Bonkers said:

He doesn't, Smitty got that wrong. It was actually Keon Johnson

Ok I felt like that would be something we wouldn’t have slipped by. I wonder what his vert is. 

[RedDawg#8]

Can we just agree that guys who leap off of one foot are just made different? Everything they do looks effortless like they are floating lol

[RedDawg#8]

Back to this, that last sequence he did at 2:30,  when I first saw this video I was wondering what the dig deal was of showcasing a bunch of dunks.

Upon review, they were showcasing his total athletic package including stamina.

30 seconds non stop, 4 Full court sprints, 5 above the rim finishes, dribbling in stride with zero bobble, everything about his gait is smooth and without a hitch or a 2 foot load up. Just a natural athlete.

Compare to Zion, who is a freak. When he lands, he has to come to a full stop, get his bearings and take 1 hop to get his body moving again. Jalen Johnson would be back at half court while Zion would still be inside his 3 point line.

Jalen could lead and finish a fast break and still make it back on defense to swat you at the rim if you were trying to cherry pick  lol

He's got a little something extra we haven't seen in a long time in Atlanta.

[marco102]

Q&A With Jalen

https://theathletic.com/2765633/2021/08/13/jalen-johnson-qa-on-believing-hes-the-best-player-in-2021-draft-class-leaving-duke-early-his-fit-with-hawks/

Quote

The tone Jalen Johnson used in our conversation made it seem like it’s already settled, that there’s nothing to prove. He knows he’s the best player in his draft class.

Through three summer league games, he’s backed up the talk. He’s been one of the most impressive players in Vegas, and the former five-star prospect is showing why so many thought he was going to be a lottery pick before he enrolled at Duke.

I know it’s only been a couple of weeks since you’ve been a part of the organization, and I know that period right after the draft until Summer League is always a blur because of everything you guys have to get done. What have these past few weeks been like and what are your initial impressions of the franchise? 

I like the organization so far. They’ve welcomed me with open arms, and I like Atlanta for the short 24 hours I was there. I wasn’t even there for an entire day. I plan on doing that immediately after this to get situated. It’s been hectic but fun at the same time. It’s a good stress because you know good things are coming. You’re just kind of anxious and impatiently waiting for what’s next. I’m excited that I know where I’m going to be for however long. I’m just excited for it.

I’m not sure if you’ve had a lot of time to think about this, but have you thought about what you’d like to show everyone in your rookie season? 

That I’m willing to accept any role that I’m given. I just want to make the most of it, and that’s one thing that I’m going to pride myself on. I am going to give it all I got no matter how many minutes. Whatever route I take, and no matter how much I play, I will make the most of it.

You kind of led me to my next question. You obviously know the situation you’re walking into. There’s a lot of depth on this team and minutes might be hard for you to get, at least at the outset. How do you balance the need for experience with the fact that this might require a lot of patience from yourself? 

There’s a lot of experience on this team, so I’m going to sit back and learn. Whenever my number is called, I’m going to be ready. I’m not really worried about any of that. I just want to learn from the best on the team and learn from the guys ahead of me. I just want to continuously work because it’s the one thing I can control. I can’t really control how many minutes I’m getting. That’s up to the coaches. I’m going to stay working hard and stay ready for when my number is called.

 

I have to ask you about Duke and what transpired there. I’m sure it was a big topic of conversation for you in your pre-draft meetings with teams wanting to know why you left school early. What did you tell them and do you believe it was the main reason why you ended up slipping in the draft?

I gave them the honest truth. It’s unfortunate how things unfolded the way they did at Duke. Things weren’t as expected. Things were being told that weren’t true. When I did decide to make the decision to leave, it was like I was a villain now. I was looking out for me. Essentially, I think it is why I did slip in the draft. It is what it is. I’m not mad about anything. I still love Duke to death. I’m grateful I went to Duke. If I had to go to Duke again, I would go to Duke again. It’s unfortunate things happened that way. Things were already thrown off, in a sense, with the pandemic. We were staying at a hotel on campus. We didn’t really get to leave and I didn’t meet any other students because of it. It was just an off-year at Duke for everybody. Coming off a (foot) injury, I just wanted to make sure I didn’t risk anything. I just wanted to prepare myself as best I could for the league.

Do you regret the timing of leaving when you did and would you change anything when it comes to that? 

It happened the way it happened. People have their own opinions. I’m not here to try and convince Twitter trolls that the decision I made was the right one. It was terrible what I was seeing and hearing. You had NBA players saying what they said, calling me a quitter. They don’t know my situation. It was hard seeing people make comments about me. If I told you the whole story, you’d get it and be like, ‘Yes, I would do the same thing. Yes, I would want my son to make the best decision for what’s best for him.’ I didn’t have any ill intentions of leaving because it was a really tough decision. Being in the midst of a pandemic and seeing your teammates every day, we became really close and like brothers. I didn’t want it to come off like I gave up on them and quit on them. That’s the one thing people don’t understand is my teammates were completely supportive. They wanted me to do this. I tried explaining that to people, but it’s not my job to explain it to people. I don’t have to explain anything to anybody. I’m here now and what happened happened.

There's more, but didn't want to post the entire article.  

I like his responses to the questions about handling his expected role.  It could be media drivel, but at least he understands the situation he's coming into.  Learn from the guys ahead of you, get better, and take Gallo's minute's the next season.

The comments on Duke don't give much more on what happened there, but I feel for the Kid looking out for his best interest and then being painted as a villian.  He should know our lead villian (anti-hero) is very successful. 

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by marco102

[sturt]

Excellent Q&A.

Excellent questions.

Excellent answers.

 

Extremely pleased with the maturity and attitude of both our draftees, me, and I'm pretty sure I'm just mindmelding with everyone else on that much.

 

Can we start the season next week?

[Hawkmoor]

8 hours ago, marco102 said:

Q&A With Jalen

https://theathletic.com/2765633/2021/08/13/jalen-johnson-qa-on-believing-hes-the-best-player-in-2021-draft-class-leaving-duke-early-his-fit-with-hawks/

There's more, but didn't want to post the entire article.  

I like his responses to the questions about handling his expected role.  It could be media drivel, but at least he understands the situation he's coming into.  Learn from the guys ahead of you, get better, and take Gallo's minute's the next season.

The comments on Duke don't give much more on what happened there, but I feel for the Kid looking out for his best interest and then being painted as a villian.  He should know our lead villian (anti-hero) is very successful. 

 

I read that article.  I agree with him.  I've seen enough of him to be confident to say he is the best player in this draft.  Coach K did the Hawks a favor by causing him to slide like that.   The VERY good thing about the Hawks is they don't have a FALCON FILTER.

[HawkingAwesome]

On 8/9/2021 at 6:41 AM, RedDawg#8 said:

Can we just agree that guys who leap off of one foot are just made different? Everything they do looks effortless like they are floating lol

6'9 ONE LEGGED JUMPER he's going to be a problem

[Carmine]

 

[marco102]

 

[ATLHawks3]

My guy looks clean in the Hawks Uni.

 

 

[marco102]

Maybe Jalen wasn't lying whenever he said he was the best player in this draft? 

 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[marco102]

 

[marco102]

Jalen Johnson putting in work on that jumper.  His catch and shoot attempts were pretty elite in college. If he can work on getting his off the bounce mid-range shooting to slightly above league average, he's going to be a beast!