ESPN article why Hawks should take point guard,!

[thescout10]

Teams should draft point guards earlyBy Doug Gottlieb

Special to ESPN.com

With the NBA draft rapidly approaching, I have an easy tip for Atlanta, Charlotte, Utah, Portland, New Orleans and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Draft a great college point guard.

I know, I sound like d*ck Vitale passionately pleading the case for teams to look at the college players, but in this case, he's is right on. College guards translate to wins in the NBA, and pure point guards are the best way to fix a team. Over the last several years, NBA teams who have added a pure point guard have improved at a greater rate than through any other change (outside of maybe Shaq in Miami, but there's another reason there, too).

Sure, the NFL draft has a cult following more fitting a Lollapalooza concert, but the NBA draft is a much greater test of a team's ability to judge talent on three vastly different levels of play.

Teams must judge high school, college and international competition to find a player whose skills will develop on the NBA stage. Within these complex analyses lies one overwhelming truth when in doubt, draft the best point guard available.

The NBA is full of 6'9" athletes who can run and jump yet, more often than not, their teams never win. A point guard, though, has more value today, largely because of both zone defenses (against which penetration and shooting is valued) and how tightly-officiated the regular season has been (also valuing penetration). With a point guard in the mix, mediocre teams become playoff teams, and playoff teams become champions.

Obviously, the Phoenix Suns are a prime example. Last year, many NBA analysts pegged Amare Stoudemire as a great athlete and dunker without much "game." Joe Johnson had never truly lived up to the hype that followed him from college. Shawn Marion had been seen as an amazing athlete whose funny-looking shot limited his effectiveness. Quentin Richardson was an amazing yet streaky shooter with the Clippers, NBA lottery regulars. Coach Mike D'Antoni was in desperate need of a guy to set the table for his team or he may have been out of a job.

From the day Steve Nash became a Sun, Stoudamire suddenly became the most dominant young big man in the game, Johnson became a dynamic scoring guard (his 3-point percentage is up 17 percent from last year), Marion averaged nearly 20 points and 12 rebounds all while shooting an unbelievable percentage from the field and Richardson is once again dominant, but he takes better, more timely shots. D'Antoni's now coaches the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

The Milwaukee Bucks, though, might be a better team to study. Last year, they made the playoffs behind Michael Redd, Desmond Mason and a combination of two point guards, Damon Jones and T.J. Ford. While they re-signed Redd over the offseason and Mason has had his best offensive season as a pro, this year's Bucks ended with a dreadful record.

Having not brought back Jones (who is now incredibly valuable for the Heat) and dealing with the spinal cord injury suffered by Ford left them with Mo Williams and Erick Strickland, and while both are serviceable backups, neither created the open looks that Ford specialized in or stretched the defense like Damon Jones could.

Teams should draft point guards early (Cont.)

What is the secret to Miami's explosion this year? Sure Shaq is a big reason for their success, but so are Dwyane Wade and Jones. The Heat got rid of many pieces to their puzzle from last year, but they improved their backcourt with the addition of Jones and Wade's improvement.

Look around the NBA. The Pistons go as Chauncey Billups goes. The Ridnour/Antonio Daniels tandem works well in Seattle. How much better was Golden State at the end of the year with Baron Davis at the helm? Is it me or is Tony Parker the best 22-year-old we never talk about? Why has Houston struggled at times this year despite having two of the top players in the game? Not having a true point guard make T-Mac handle the ball way too much. The Nets? Very little without Jason Kidd.

Now imagine the Atlanta Hawks actually considering drafting anyone other than Chris Paul or Deron Williams. Yes, Andrew Bogut is an intriguing big man with solid skill to go along with soft hands and a massive yet agile frame. Sure, Marvin Williams has the look of a young colt whose inside/outside game combined with his dynamic athleticism may dominate NBA games in the future. But if these teams really want to win, they will only look for which point guard fits their team best.

Now I can hear a cynic saying that Portland already has Sebastian Telfair (whom I never would have taken out of high school, but with two years under Rick Pitino, I would have gobbled up in a heartbeat.) Fine, keep Telfair, take Deron Williams and play them together. The Bulls have made it work with Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon, neither a pure point.

I am not blind to the fact that, after Paul and Deron Williams, Marvin Williams and Bogut should be taken before anyone else is considered. After that, though, there are several guards like Jarrett Jack (assuming he stays in the draft) and Raymond Felton (how valuable was he to UNC?) who would still be on the board after the top four are taken.

There are also substantial point guard values in the second round this year. Guys like Travis Diener, John Gilchrist, Salim Stoudamire, Carl Krauser (if he stays in the draft), Nate Robinson and Filiberto Rivera all have a tremendous shot at making the league, which ordinarily is below a 50-50 proposition as a second-rounder.

While not every point guard will pan out, it is an easier to measure them against each other because they rarely switch positions (the true points, that is) and there is a higher level of guard play at the Division-I level than big men. This class has four clear first-round possibilities and all will improve the teams that draft them.

Doug Gottlieb is an analyst for ESPN and the co-host of GameNight on ESPN Radio.

[thescout10]

Gottlieb makes some very interesting points but he forgets how bad the hawks are on interior defense.I guess he thinks the hawks should get one in the second round? His view has merit point guards are hard to find which is why BK must do everything possible to not only keep hopefully the no1 pick but move up and get another no1 pick to reel in a Feldon,Jack.I doubt the hawks could get deron williams since he will go top5. We need some one to run the show without it it is like a headless horse running a race and trying to win.

[emorystar]

At least he admits that Bogut & Marvin will be the best individuals in this draft. He is just arguing that they won't be as important to team success as the elite point guards will be. I agree, to an extent. But Atlanta has too many holes to expect one player to turn the team around. I think we should draft Bogut in the first, and Nate Robinson in the 2nd. Maybe sign a guy like Duhon.

[Packfill]

I could not agree more with that article. A good point guard is essential to quality team play.

[Nicholasp27]

this is why i think we trade al for a top 10 pick...if jamison and his then-bloated contract got a top 5 pick, maybe al and his good contract can get one as well

if we could get bogut #1 and then deron for al, i'd be so happy

then sign hughes and dalembert (chi will match chandler)

draft sharpshooters in 2nd round and/or sign a korver/jacobsen/bonner

deron/hughes/chill/smoove/bogut with daly 30mpg backing up pf/c

i'd even try to trade our future lakers for a teens pick to get a frye/taft/simien/petro/etc

but if we can't trade al for that, this is why i really wanna move up to get ukic, who i think could be as good or better than deron...tho not as safe as deron

[KBatPCSOM]

.....are made when people draft big. Michael Olowokandi over Mike Bibby. There have been a lot of mistakes made when scouts overrate size for the simple fact that it represents size.

I think that if you have a big guy who is a truly dominant player, then you take him high. However, in the case of Andrew Bogut, I'm just not convinced that he will be anything more than solid in the NBA.

[capstone21]

One thing we have going for us is that we have a lot of FA money and this just happens to be a season where A LOT of talented bigs are FAs. There are not really any good PGs that are FAs this year.

[Lascar78]

not really though. To me it's pretty obvious that Chandler and Dalembert will be matched no matter what. Which leaves who? Swift and Kwame? Yikes. And we'd have to overpay for swift at that. Bogut could well be a franchise center. While there are no star PGs on the market this year there are always servicable guys of Lue's caliber. There are not always servicable big guys. Which is how you end up with Ekezie-Collier-Drobnjak as your centers.

[hawkster411]

What is the cap situation with the Sixers? I know they have AI, Webber, and Korver. I'm sure Korver is due for a raise. The question is whether or not the Sixers are willing to match Dalemberts's salary? If the Hawks offer enough money to Dalembert and the Sixers match our offer, will the Sixers be over the cap?

Can anyone please provide the salary situation for the Sixers?

[macdaddy]

I couldn't agree more with Lascar. The bigs that are out ther e in FA aren't team changing players. I like this quote from an article proposing we take a PG as our lottery pick:

Quote:

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Andrew Bogut is an intriguing big man with solid skill to go along with soft hands and a massive yet agile frame.

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I mean damn what are they looking for in a top pick. How much more can he bring to the table? I'll be disappointed if we have a chance and Bogut and don't take it. Getting Bogut and Jack in the draft would be great. I think Jack is 4th on the PG list but having him on team will increase fan interest and he has size and a shot. Those 2 things usually keep you in the league.

[capstone21]

They also have Mashburn's contract

[capstone21]

Everyone has their opionions. I want a special point guard from the draft and go after our bigs in the FA market. I don't think Dally will be back. I agree that the Bulls will match for Chandler.

[RAHMOR]

Quote:

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Can anyone please provide the salary situation for the Sixers?

---

Here is the state of the sixers cap according the

NBA draft.nethttp://www.nbadraft.net/stateofthecapphiladelphia001.asp

They also have the state of the cap of all teams up to Seattle on this page

http://www.nbadraft.net/articles.asp

[Yeti]

I half agree with taking a point guard. I don't think that we can afford to pass on Bogut, but lets hope that he does not turn out to be another Koncak. I would like to see us get Bogut in the first round and Will Conroy of Washington in the second. Conroy has the right size and attitude for a pg. He was very impressive at Portsmith. That would give us two excellent players who are smart and have a passion for the game. I don't think you can underestimate the importance of intelligence.

I am not a fan of Paul especially after the bonehead mistake that got him benched for a tournament game. We don't need an immature PG on a team with a lot of young players. He would benefit more from working with some veterans.

Anyway, what do you guys think about Conroy?

Yeti

[BOShforRoy]

I liked Aron Miles game in Kansas. He can definetly pass and run the offence but has trouble scoring, still wouldn't be bad for a second rounder.

[Diesel]

If we remain with the luxury tax, I really doubt that Dally will be matched. The 76ers are already 20 million over the cap and they have to match that 20 million. I think they will watch Dally go and not be able to do much about it because of the burden of paying him more... I think they might also lose Korver too. I would think about taking him.

[KB21]

From what I saw of him, he's a very good defender who can handle the point guard position, but he's not the type that is going to create a lot of things for your team.

I just don't want the Hawks to make a mistake that will set their rebuilding back in this draft. I really like Chris Paul, and I believe that he is the player that will make Josh Childress and Josh Smith better players as well. I was impressed with Andrew Bogut to an extent but not enough to say he is the clear cut number one pick. IMO, the best comparison of Bogut is Brad Miller, and would anyone take Brad Miller with the first pick of the draft?

[gohawks11]

since im a carolina guy i want us to pick williams. i still rather him be in chapel hill.

[MoonKnight]

I recorded two of Bogut's recent tourney games and he does not remind of Miller, especially on the O end. Bogut is a much better back to the basket player than Miller. Yet, Bogut can hit the jumper as well as Miller if not better. I think Bogut has longer arms than Miller but he not as physical in the paint on the D end. It is really hard to find a good comparison to Bogut but I think McHale or Walton are better comparisons. This is not necessarily an endorsement of him as the #1 overall pick.

[Plainview1981]

With Steve Nash winning MVP get ready to hear more

of this stuff. And I agree. Josh Smith is an athelete

that I think the best will NOT come out of him without

a really good PG. Childress could really benefit from

one also.