Childress & the soft Hawks

[phoostal]

I hope people can start to realize we drafted the wrong guy with the 6th pick. Childress is nothing more than a role player and you should be getting an impact player with that pick.

Please don't hand me this he needs more minutes excuse. He is not going to be a star in this league. He hasn't shown flashes during any of his games. You may bring up the Boston game, yes he played good. However, his points come off running the break and put backs. He can not create his own shots. Something a 6th pick in the draft should be able to do.

As for the other Hawks, Grant Long nailed it last night. This team is a bunch of softies. They don't play physical, commit hard fouls, and give up to easily.

If you ask me this a reflection on the coach. Now it maybe to early to dog out Woodson (I am not saying he should go), however I can not help but wonder what a Fratello would have done to get this team more discipline. It is strange because Woodson has the background of playing for Bobby Knight a strict disciplinarian. I just don't see it in this team.

I think it is also a reflection of Billy Knight. Who wanted to bring in his own guys. As popular a choice was for either Fratello or Musselman. Knight wanted to do it his way. Which is fine, but some of his moves I have to question. It seems to me he is so stubborn with changing things and putting his own stamp on things that he refuses to look at the players we had on this team and the history of this team.

The reason he didn't hire Fratello or Musselman. Simple, they were the favorites by everyone in the city of Atlanta and they represented the good years of Atlanta. With the exception of Musselman. Musselman represented the Babcock era, which Knight hates as well. It's evident to me that Knight has a big ego and does things just so he can get the credit. If he chose Fratello or Musselman it would look like he is giving in to public opinion instead of making his own decision.

The same with all the players from the Babcock era. He got rid of them because they were Babcock's players. The only one he kept was Crawford and that was because he is in the last year of his contract.

I know this team wasn't going to the playoffs with the players it had before Knight got here. However, I still think there were some decent pieces that could have been kept. The one I'm thinking about now is Dickau. He sure would solve our point guard problem now.

A lot of people praise Knight for clearing salary cap. Well, it's not that hard to do. Let only he has nothing to show for it. No free agents are going to come here.

Also, don't worry about Chris Paul coming out this year. If he decides to stay in school we will have a shot at him next year and if he decides to stay in the following year we will have a shot at him that year as well. You get the point.

I think there has to be a time where you start holding Knight and Woodson accountable. Along with these players.

The only one that seems to have a future is J. Smith. This is the only thing I can give Knight credit for. Well, that and making us the laughing stock of the NBA. He has to do it his way. We will see what happens over the next couple of years, but if he keeps picking studs like Childress with the 6th pick. I will probably be typing this same post every 3 years.

I'm willing to give Knight and Woodson some more time. However, they aren't off to a good start. Let's hope Knight can make the right pick this year and sweet talk free agents or more people will be clamoring for Knight's resignation.

P

Just my opinion.

[emeans]

I agree and disagree with your post. You make some very valid points about the 6 pick. I think the 6 pick should be somewhat of an impact player. However, I am willing to give Childress more time. He needs to bulk up about 20 more pounds in the offseason and shoot 1000 jumpers everyday. He is a work in progress.

Secondly, the jury is still out in my mind about Woodson too. The thing that makes me mad about Woodson is that he has double standards with his players based on years in the league. I have seen AW and Al turn the ball over 3 to 4 times straight and he would not pull them. Let Josh Childress or JSmooth miss one shot and they get pulled quicker than you can switch the channel. That burns me about Woodson. Why not get in his 2 stars butts for making dumb plays. I actually see the team playing better sometimes with AW or Al on the bench because they are not turning the ball over 100 times or forcing shots with 5 people on them. Woodson is very hypocritical when it comes to this.

Lastly, we should of kept some of Babcocks players on this team. Right now we need the shooting of a Dickau and/or JT. We need the playmaking of a Sura. We need a center named Nazr. He should of at least kept two or three of the Babcock era players. It is not there fought that Babcock selected them or traded for them. I do think that was ego and that could ultimately railroad BK if he doesn't turn this ship around soon.

[Packfill]

With the sixth pick in the draft a team would be lucky to get an impact player. Five of the most recent 6th pick are Childress, Chris Kamen, Dajuan Wagner, Shane Battier and DeMarr Johnson. None of these guys are impact players and Childress has a chance to be better then any of the others.

[phoostal]

I'm sure in those recent years that picks 7 - 12 had a star player drafted that teams missed on with the 6th pick.

This year is too early to tell, but you can see that Deng would have been the better pick for us (at least the way it stands right now).

I don't have the time to look up the 7 to 12 picks from the last 5 years, but I'm sure there were star players selected in those slots that could have been picked with the 6th pick.

P

[Carl_Spackler]

Recent 6th overall picks in the NBA Draft...

2003 Chris Kaman

2002 Dajuan Wagner

2001 Shane Battier

2000 DerMarr Johnson

1999 Wally Szczerbiak

1998 Robert Traylor

1997 Ron Mercer

Impact players one and all...I'm not saying Chill was the right or wrong selection...just give the kid some time...the season isn't even half over.

[Packfill]

Would Deng really be a better pick for the Hawks now? I don't think so because Josh Smith and Deng are both forwards were as Childress has at least some ability to be a guard. If anything you could argue Igoudala would have been the better selection.

[phoostal]

Which players were picked between 7 - 12 those years? I have a feeling there were some stars, teams missed on with that 6th pick.

P

[phoostal]

Actually, I could make an argument for Deng. With as bad as this team is they could have used Deng. Our front line of the future could be Deng and Smith.

When you are bad you need all the good players that you can get. If you are overloaded in a position than you can make trades to get players you need. However you can't make those trades if the players you have aren't that good.

P

[Packfill]

The fact that Deng is performing better then Childress at this point is not necessarily indicative of their future success. Last year Carmelo Anthony had a better rookie year then Dwayne Wade. This year, that is not the case.

Point is, the draft is a crapshot and once you get beyond the few true can't miss players (Duncan, Lebron, Shaq, etc.) you have to be both good and lucky.

[ATL_BALLER]

Yes, I agree. Give Chill time - he has already shown flashes, and has been a notoriously slow started on every level. I like what I've seen so far, and predict that he will be better than Deng. He's got all the physical tools - he just needs to hit the weight room and work on that jumper.

[Nicholasp27]

chill is a fine draft pick and will turn out to be a good player...we are 5-2 when he plays 30+mpg...most of our wins come when he plays big minutes...

he is only not starting because he is 4th best after al/toine/smoove...so unless he plays point or center, he can't start...

once toine is moved, chill will start at sg and u'll see how good he can be...

even with his minutes and such, he is top 7 amongst rookies for points+rebs+assists...and that doesn't even credit him for his steals and defense...

how can u say he hasn't shown flashes?...he went 19/9 two games ago...he has gotten 10 rebs as a sg in 23 mins and 10 in 27 mins...

in our ONLY two losses when he plays 30mins, he put up

13/5/5/5/2

8/8/3

not bad...

when he gets 25+ mpg, he averages around 13/5/4/3/2

[TheDude]

Hawks win- this team is great on the verge with a few more pieces and we're going to be great.

Hawks lose big- this team is weak, soft, BK doesn't know what he's doing, Childress sucks...

bottom line, these things are going to happen. Yes, I'd like to see our rooks play more time. Childress has impressed me with his all around game. Would you prefer he score 18 a night and throw zero's across the board on the other stats? Of course not. He's focusing on his all-around game and not just one thing. Give the kid a chance. At the number 6 pick you really only have maybe 3 choices. If you pick some guy who was scheduled to go to the number 11 pick, then you will be ridiculed and let's be honest, that person was scheduled to be at number 11 for a reason.

These great picks that come from mid to low in the first round, you cannot say why didn't a GM pick one of those with a high pick. You just can't. When almost all ratings systems have a guy that low, most likely your GM will have him that low also. If he had picked some guy scheduled at 11 with the 6 pick, fans would have had his head.

Childress is a rookie. He has shown flashes in all aspects of the game. He has the work ethic. I say give him time. So far BK has impressed me with his moves. He said it would be a process, not some Babcock stopgap that ends up not working.

[Buzzard]

We are soft because of Toine at PF and the fact we have no center or hard nosed point guard. Really the soft issue has nothing to due with Childress or Josh Smith.

The pre draft thinking was Charlotte loved Childress and if they had not moved up from 5th he was their man. Childress was a nice pick and not one expert anywhere thought he was taken to high.

The only big complaint from the experts was us taking Smith (another SF) and not taking Jameer Nelson. No complaint from me on this one or on Childress.

This is a young rebuilding team. Those of you that understand this and the draft also know that it takes time.

[Wretch]

I was telling people this starting with his first few moves as GM...but, alas, nobody wanted to hear that. Fans have a hard time looking at both sides of an issue; so, they generally go with the easiest thing to say.

With that, I have to disagree with you about Childress. As a matter of fact, I have to disagree with the popular opinion on the Chill vs. Deng arguement - even though I have been in Deng's corner longer than most.

Chill's problem is directly tied to Antoine Walker and Al Harrington. The reason why most can't see that is because they won't take the microscope off of Chill long enough to look at anyone else. They see him miss a shot, turn the ball over, or get scored on and they dump on him. When he's passing to other players and doing things all over the court, they say, well he's better suited as a complimentary role player.

They are studying Chill so hard that they don't see Al and Toine coming down the court, holding the ball, posting up calling for the ball, or shooting the ball. In the half court, they don't see the ball rotation where the ball gets to Chill and then he dumps it to the focus of our offense.

In a system where Chill is made the focus, he is the one creating his own shots off the dribble, or calling for the ball on a mismatch. He is the one that is running the break and finishing the break. He is the one that is taking shots and learning the game. Practicing his shot and getting more minutes will not help Childress much as long as he is splitting time with Josh Smith at the 2 and deferring to Toine, Harrington, and anyone else that can shoot the ball. Topping it all off is a coach that is going to yank him on the first mistake he makes...even if we're down by 30+ with little time left in the game (like last night)

Much as I like Deng and appreciate what he's done this year, he honestly doesn't have to deal with the same thing that Chill does. Josh needs a bigger role on this team to show what he can do and it really is that simple.

[phoostal]

Because he doesn't show flashes of taking over the game. He can't create his own shot. Star players can do that. He is great at hustling and picking up garbage points. Garbage points are put backs and layups on the fast break. The three he hit against Boston was set up by AW. Childress will never be able to get off his own shot. He will always have to have a person set him up for a shot or get offensive put backs or run the break. This is a definition of a role player. Not good for your 6th pick.

P

[phoostal]

Have you heard of the saying that some people are afraid of success?

You challenge the fact that if you take a person with the 6th pick that should be 11th you would be ridiculed. What if that 11th guy is better, who get ridiculed down the road everyone that past up on him.

Take a chance dare to be great and not ordinary. Don't do things because that is what everyone else is doing. Do things that will make you great, not average.

If you think you can get the guy at 11 and don't want to use the 6th pick then trade down.

Dare to be great and not average or good. I challenge the Hawks organization to do that.

P

[phoostal]

I'm not bashing Childress. I know all of you want to make this seem like I am, but I'm not. I just do not think from what I have seen he is worth the 6th pick.

No one else wants to comment on any of the other issues brought up. They just want to focus on Childress.

I hope I'm wrong. I want the Hawks to be good. I just don't understand how sometimes many on this board think, BK, Woodson, and some of the players can do no wrong.

Lord forbid if you criticize BK, Woodson, or Childress. It is like you are going to burn in H@## for doing so. If we are going to be objective like most people say they are then you need to look at every aspect then just one side.

As critical of this team I am,I do see positive things with BK, Woodson, Childress, and the other Hawk players. It just get me upset when someone critiques them and they are thrown out to the curb for doing so. How could you say something bad about our beloved BK, Woodson, or Childress.

Easy I sit and watch what they do, day in and day out. That allows me to see all the positives and negatives they bring. I'm not blind to see these guys have done good things.

I'm not a reporter, but my opinions come from the articles I read and every game I watch (which is basically 75 out of the 82).

I challenge you guys to come up with some negatives for the beloved three. Because right now it sounds like they "can do no wrong". When in all actuallity they have not done much to give them that moniker.

P

Just my opinion.

[Nicholasp27]

chill/bk/woodson all definitely do wrong...

my point is that chill has shown us great things and his rookie season, even with smoove/al/toine, is on par with pippen's and further along than prince's...pippen also didn't have a shot his first year nor did he set up his own shots...

in college, chill ran that team and set up his shot...he can do the same here, but he's deferring to walker/al

if al isn't traded, i want walker to get an "injury" for about 5 games so we can play the team without him to see how these rookies can do on their own...

[Blunt91]

I think Childress can be a 13ppg or 14ppg player and that is all that we would need for him. He won't be a 1st or 2nd option on a team but I am hoping he can be a 3rdoption in time. Both Childress and Josh Smith won't have an impact unitl 2006/2007 season.

[Nicholasp27]

in the post-lebron/wade/melo era, everybody (not only here, but general board in realgm and any other sports board) wants to label players after a few games...players are busts or stars based on their first half of their rookie seasons...

but history repeats itself...for every melo that starts off strong and then declines, there is a jermaine or redd that take a few years to make an impact...

chill could easily become a 15/7/4/2/1 player (pts/rebs/ass/st/blk) in 3 years or so...along with being a player who is near the top in defense and plays smartly and is a clutch player in crunch time...