We must take Smith and Howard.....

[Diesel]

This is really the debate on taking two (these two) HSer if we have the chance.....

Here are the points for Debate:

1. PR Genuis. Both Howard and Smith are from Atlanta. They play for the Atlanta AAU team. Aside from their roots, they are both highly sought after... Smith's coach has said that he's probably the best player that he has ever coached... Considering that he coached Mello and Stackhouse and some others, that's a big deal. We all know what's being said about Howard.

2. Shows that Atlanta New owners are willing to take a risk... 2 HSers at the same time. What a risk! However, if you look at the track records of HSers, they have a pretty good one in comparison to any other group. It's definitely a crap shoot, but when you consider Kobe, KG, King James, J. Oneal, Tmac.... These are the leaders of the new school of the NBA and none of them went to HS... Who are the failures out of HS? Bender - damn, wasn't most of you talking about trying to get him in a thread below? Miles? Isn't he blowing up in PTL? Chandler - He's been injured, he's still young, but that's 1. Kwame - Yeah, he's been a disappointment, but I'd still like to see him playing somewhere else. Rasheed Wallace is singing his praises but says he needs a change of scenerio. Curry - Isn't that his name... Big man in Chicago. I never liked him. He's put up some inconsistent numbers, not all bad.. But that's 2. So 2 guys who were missed coached... and another (Diop who shouldnt' have come out)... Still some of the others who are out it's still too early to tell... But if I was to go down the line and look at any other group... Euros, Collegiates... I think that HSers reign supreme as far as success stories...

3. With the right coaching, you can have the same thing that many franchise have tried to create... A young tandem that could dominate basketball for years. Shaq/Kobe. Shaq/Penny. Jordan/Pippen. Stockton/Malone. Kemp/Payton. Bottom line is that we can homegrow our superstars.

4. It would build a fanbase. The city is tired of Safe, old picks like Alan Henderson that never creates a bit of a buzz. These kids, will cause a buzz. Both are mature. Both are atheletic... They'd be hanging from the rims. It would be similar to what the Clipps had when they had Miles, QRich, and Maggette.. They didn't have the best of coaches for that team... and Baylor failed at making the right picks in the following years... But for a moment, they were exciting and people wanted to see them. That's what Atlanta needs. Atlanta needs it's Vick of Basketball. The players that cause people to stand up when they go down the lane. Do you think you will get that from some soft Euro player that's 6'11 and spend most of his time on the 3 pt line?? Hell no.

5. The owners have to put their mark on this team. They already have ties to Turner and a Soccer guy as Team President. If they come in and don't bring something new with them, this franchise should pack up and take the next St. Louis bid...

[OGRat]

I believe that it is a mistake to evaluate HSers as a group. They are all individuals with different potentials. With that said, I would not take just any HSer. He would have to have a history of leading winning teams, undeniable nba skills, and poise beyond his years. He'd also have to have faced and come through some adversity and to have demonstrated a drive to consistently get better.

I do not know enough about these young guys, but if they fit that description, I'm all for it. If not, then the Marketing might get you through the first year. Then you need to start winning.

[Wretch]

Whether that be two HSSR's, two underclassmen, or mix and match. Ultimately, we will need wins to draw fans to the game. However, if we could put a young package out there that is at least interesting to watch...then we create a buzz - exactly like what has been going on in Clipperland for the past couple of years. It would be enough to draw fans and free agents.

My problem with this whole scenario is the opinion of drafting two guys in the same draft - be it two HSSRs or whatever. What is the problem? Ego?

This is absolutely absurd on so many different levels. We are talking about rookies. It doesn't matter who they are, or how dominant they are coming in. There is a wall that rookies hit when they experience the speed, talent level, depth, and duration of the NBA game. Every underclassmen that I have ever heard interview has said basically the same thing and this wall alone is enought to keep a rookie's ego in check.

Ego problems LARGELY depend on the types of players that you are trying to pair up. You draft two guys like Iverson and Kobe, you'll be asking for problems. Though that is an issue that is consistent across the board. You have to have players that can play together whether they be vets, young guns, or rookies. Though regardless, ultimately, you will need at least TWO players of impact quality to do anything significant.

Which brings up another good point. It don't get done without a dynamic duo or tremendous trio of stars. It simply does not happen. It...does...not...happen - EVER. The game is played by teams, true, but it is built upon IMPACT PLAYERS. These players are generally found in picks 1 through 13, the lottery. You can't get around it. You can't argue with it. It is fact. So, if you can reach into the lottery and pluck out two players with that kind of potential, without ruining what you are building upon, then you have to go for it. We have nothing to build upon. It would behoove us to look into it.

If there were a problem drafting two HSSR’s or two young guys back to back in the same or successive drafts, then there would literally be a different set of teams in the lottery selecting players every two years. Teams continue to fish in the lottery BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT’S WHERE THE BIG FISH ARE.

Pressure may be an issue with a couple of young pups, but isn’t that the case across the board? Aren’t the stars of this league under the same kind of pressure? If Odom, Butler, and Wade yielded results similar to Crawford, Curry, and Chandler would there not be as much pressure on them? Does this same kind of pressure not exist with the current incarnation of the Lakers? Did it not exist with MJ and Scottie? Does it not exist with LBJ, Booz, and whomever they draft this year? Pressure does not keep talent from developing; it is how players respond to that pressure that defines talent.

All that being said, if teams are trying to deal themselves lower in the lottery or out of it completely, and if we can come out of this thing with two potential impact players…regardless of who we plan to select, we need to go for it.

Smith and Howard?

Sounds okay to me.

[DominiqueWilkins]

I feel sorry for any high schooler who is drafted by the Hawks, and I will express my reasons why.

We don't have a stable coaching staff that can put a high schooler under their wing. We have never had a good group of coaches who did anything for any of the "chumps/bust" that we have drafted in years past.

About the only guy I would trust giving me advice from the Atlanta Hawks right now, would be Dominique Wilkins himself.

Dominique Wilkins tried to give Demarr Johnson advice a few years ago, and he didn't want any part of it.

Dominique Wilkins needs to be a big part of the development of our draft picks, and we start with this season. I hope Boris Diaw is gaining knowledge from Dominique, and I hope Dominique has been working with Boris.

Two high schoolers at one time? I laugh at that because I doubt we can even take care of one high schooler, must less 2.

Dwight Howard and Josh Smith would be ideal to pick if we had two high lottery draft choices, and mostly likely Knight would do it if he had the chance.

The Hawks may draft two high schoolers at some point in this draft. We may take Josh Smith or Dwight Howard with our lottery pick, and then draft a high schooler with our 17th pick. I pefer the Hawks to go with only one high schoolers, and the rest overseas/college players.

I would change what I think if I knew we had a stable coaching staff behind theses young kids, but face it we don't at the moment. We also need to form a system so the overseas players we draft are more comfortable when they come over here.

[JB20]

The only drawback: Do you want to be the Baby Bulls part two? If they do pick two HSers, they need to pick up some solid veterans. I'm saying get some old guys to teach them. You're basically saying that winning isn't the top priority next year if you do take a couple of HS kids, so you might as well invest in a guy like Michael Curry - a good role model and a coach on the floor. It doesn't have to be someone as bad as Curry, but you get what I mean.

[Wretch]

Chicago is neither the rule nor the exception. First of all, they just lost one of the brightest point guard prospects in some time in JWill. Who knows what kind of impact he would have had on their game.

Secondly, we're talking about two post players...two guys who need the ball down on the block to be effective. It was a bad idea to select both both of these guys and think that they'd both develop a well rounded post game - while fighting for the same shots.

Third, the knock on Curry coming out of HS was his weight and work ethic. What if the Bulls had drafted Jason Richardson, Pau Gasol, or even Battier?

Fourth, it is WAY to early to pronounce Chicago a failure. What they are sitting on is a mountain of potential. As soon as this team starts winning all of the talking will stop. Honestly, there's nothing really standing in their way.

Lastly, the Bulls have built their team EXCLUSIVELY through the draft (and dealt away some very good building pieces). We need to add veteran players, but that only becomes neccessary when that must have vet is available or when winning games becomes our top priority.

Winning is not the top priority for this team. For one, we've got nothing to win with. Secondly, bad decisions have flung us far off the NBA radar - and, accordingly, the fan's radar too. The priority of this team is FINDING MARKETABLE STAR TALENT TO REVIVE THE FRANCHISE. Second only to that would be DEVELOPING SAID TALENT.

[Diesel]

First off, we don't know what coaching staff we have. Don't think because one is not in place now, that by Summertime the one we have won't be able to train young players.

Secondly, with the skill set that most Collegiate players come into the pros with, a highly touted HS player is probably better. Haven't you noticed the decline in overall skills of collegiate players and their lack to become superstars. For example, let's take one of the best fundamental Collegiate players to ever come out.... Shane Battier. He was the most fundamentally sound Collegiate player in quite some time... Why hasn't he become a superstar? He's barely a starter (if that). The point is that underclassmen and HSer are simply better suited for superstar roles... So getting 2 HSers up our chances of getting a superstar.

[Diesel]

It's very weak.... For instance... Recent times... Let's go back to Clipperland... Where was the ego between QRich, Maggette, and Miles...

I also missed where Pau Gasol and Battier were bumping heads?

The point is that good coaching overcomes egos... and you also have to look at the maturity of the player. Granted, not everybody can be Pippen. Not everyone will be Kareem to somebody else's Magic. Not everybody can be Stockton to Malone. However, Not everybody has problems like Shaq Kobe either... however, if we do have that kind of problem... IS it so bad?