So far Shelden and Solomon look like SOLID picks

[Guest]

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Didn't you see Okofer cry last night?

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Sean May averages 6.3 rpg. He had 17 last game while Shelden had 4. I am not saying Shelden is bad, I just want to see him play against some of the better big men in the league before any judgement on him.

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did u even watch the game, or just read the box score?

may got his points/rebounds when shelden was on the bench

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I had to box score it because I couldn't get the game where I was. That still doesn't change the point of my post, Shelden hasn't played against the better bigs yet, I am going to reserve judgement on him until he plays some better competition.

[TexasPete]

I agree that its early on Shelden but he is certainly going to help the Hawks and he will get better as the season progresses. He won't block shots like he did in college but he is proving to be a better than average rebounder and that is HUGE. Z is not a great rebounder on the defensive side (getting better) so SW helps a ton on the glass.

Here is the real key point on the draft: There isn't a sure fire stud that I can see at this point. I would take Shelden over Morrison. I would take him over just about all of them except Roy who has been hurt. I still think Roy will be the best but it doesn't matter because SW is giving the Hawks some good stuff when Woody plays him.

Morrison is so one dimensional it is ridiculous. The dudes defense isn't just bad...ask JJ how he got his 22 in the 2nd quarter. I swear Morrisons defense was among the worst I have ever seen.

I can also envision SW playing some 5 with Marvin, Smith, Chill, and JJ. That lineup, if we can board, would be a tough matchup. Chill and MW give us tremendous flexibility. If we can survive out west we may make a playoff push.

But I was wrong about SW being a bust. And I'm damn glad about it. I also didn't like Solomon Jones but I have to say he has shown he can play a little ball.

[jerrywest]

http://gocelts34.wordpress.com/2006/07/25/...n-the-top-five/

Shelden Williams is also a guy that I have come to love ever since he has stepped foot onto NCAA hardwood. I love the toughness, and competitiveness he brings to the table. Unlike the other big men in the top five picks, Shelden Williams is the enforcer when it comes to playing on the low block. He has terrific size, strength, and readiness for the NBA. With his ability to block shots, rebound, defend on the ball and the weak side, score in the low blocks, a see a PJ Brown type player in him, with a better ability to block shots. PJ is a guy that can defend the blocks real well, just like Shelden. Shelden however brings better protection for the weak side, which showed in college when he was able to block 3.5 shots per game in his junior and senior years. This kid will be able to step in and make a bigger impact right off the bat then any of the other big men listed in the top five. Shelden will probably make a trip or two to the All Star game, but he will never be the superstar potential that a lot of the other big men have. I think Shelden will become elite shot block, and rebounder in the NBA, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Shelden consistently leading the league in rebounds some two three years down the road.

[CBAreject]

Texas Pete, I was scared to death Morrison would fall to us and we would have to take him. My next biggest fear would be that BK thought Gay was too good to pass on. I didn't want anything to do with those two guys.

Morrison will be a top scorer in the NBA, but he'll be an awful defender. Much rather have Marvin at SF, who can play some D to go with some scoring.

[DJlaysitup]

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...I had to box score it because I couldn't get the game where I was. That still doesn't change the point of my post, Shelden hasn't played against the better bigs yet, I am going to reserve judgement on him until he plays some better competition.

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Well no offense HF - wish you could have seen the game - but that does pretty much reduce the credibility of your comment on Shelden's play. Those of us lucky enough to have seen the game know that SW's defense inside was critical in building the big lead. Sure, we lost most of it - but we did win.

By the way - SW wasn't the big hero this game - he just did his job when he was in there - JJ against Morrison in the 2nd quarter was a piece of art.

[Guest]

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Well no offense HF - wish you could have seen the game - but that does pretty much reduce the credibility of your comment on Shelden's play.

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Well I have been able to either go to or watch on TV about half of the games, so it isn't like I haven't seen Shelden play. I didn't see the Bobcats game, but I just want to see more of Shelden against really good offensive big men. You are right, I have no credibility with the Bobcats game. I am just trying not to judge Shelden until after December, so far he looks good but it hasn't been against great competition and it is early on.

[DJlaysitup]

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Well no offense HF - wish you could have seen the game - but that does pretty much reduce the credibility of your comment on Shelden's play.

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Well I have been able to either go to or watch on TV about half of the games, so it isn't like I haven't seen Shelden play. I didn't see the Bobcats game, but I just want to see more of Shelden against really good offensive big men. You are right, I have no credibility with the Bobcats game. I am just trying not to judge Shelden until after December, so far he looks good but it hasn't been against great competition and it is early on.

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That's fair - we will see.

[TexasPete]

After watching Morrison's defense the other night I can tell you flat out he isn't that great a player. His defense isn't even in the neighborhood of being NBA quality. What good does it do a team if a guy scores 15 but gives up 25? That's Morrison. I swear there are some guys on this board who would have given JJ a better run on defense. It was EMBARRASSING! You can't win championships with guys like Morrison. You may get a few butts in seats but thats it.

I wouldn't trade Shelden's future 12 and 10 for him in a million years because he defends and rebounds. BTW, Morrison is a horrendous rebounder as well. If he gets ROY it will be a joke and it will mean the ROY is based on offense only. Morrisons is so one dimensional its a joke.

What really baffles me is Jordan drafted him...a guy who knows what it takes to win. Jordan's track record on player personnel just proves that great players don't always make great coaches or GM's. I am relieved Morrison is a Bobcat and not a Hawk.

[Nicholasp27]

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Didn't you see Okofer cry last night?

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Sean May averages 6.3 rpg. He had 17 last game while Shelden had 4. I am not saying Shelden is bad, I just want to see him play against some of the better big men in the league before any judgement on him.

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did u even watch the game, or just read the box score?

may got his points/rebounds when shelden was on the bench

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I had to box score it because I couldn't get the game where I was. That still doesn't change the point of my post, Shelden hasn't played against the better bigs yet, I am going to reserve judgement on him until he plays some better competition.

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but it does change your argument about May going off on him

so now the argument goes back to simply "he's unproven against good bigs" rather than "he's unproven AND got crushed by a sophomore"

[TexasPete]

May was not guarded by SW when he went off. In fact, most of May's points were face up 18 foot jumpers. I think Smoove was on him most of the 4th.

[GoDawgs21]

Dwight Howard, Rasheed Wallace, they don't count ?????????

[Nicholasp27]

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May was not guarded by SW when he went off. In fact, most of May's points were face up 18 foot jumpers. I think Smoove was on him most of the 4th.

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we had already established this several times in the thread

[exodus]

I just realized the Bobcats only scored 22 points in the paint. I wonder how many times that happened last year.

[TexasPete]

Really? Well, I guess thats my bad then, right?

[Guest]

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Dwight Howard, Rasheed Wallace, they don't count ?????????

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Did you read my post that said he hasn't played anyone but Dwight and Sheed?

[Peoriabird]

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Dwight Howard, Rasheed Wallace, they don't count ?????????

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Did you read my post that said he hasn't played anyone but Dwight and Sheed?

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I guess Chris Bosh is a nobody

[Guest]

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I guess Chris Bosh is a nobody

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The first game Shelden played 15 minutes...big sample size there. The second game against Toronto I hardly saw Shelden on Bosh, he played more against Parker and Garbagjosa. And yet some people still ignore the other part of my argument, IT IS STILL EARLY. 13 freaking games into the season and you guys already want to disect and project Shelden as being some great defensive presence that will completely turn us around or whatever. Just because I am reserving my judgement you guys want to jump down my throat. I originally said wait until 10 games into the season before we talk about whether Shelden is a bust or not. I do believe I also said it would take around 30-40 games before we should discuss if he will be any good in this league. I am sticking to what I originally said.

[mrhonline]

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13 freaking games into the season and you guys already want to disect and project Shelden as being some great defensive presence that will completely turn us around or whatever.

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As for me, I merely think Williams has proven he will not be a total bust, as was a common prediction among his detractors, both on here and on other teams' sites.

As for his upside, who knows? Waiting and watching is half the fun.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Frankly, I think a lot of you guys were scared of the Shelden pick because some of you truly believed the hype that guys like Roy or Foye were the 2nd coming of Jordan and D-Wade. Both of those guys still may be very good pros, so the jury is still out on them. But it's pretty obvious that the NBA scouts were dead on about Shelden.

"He's the most NBA ready player in the draft."

And one of the reoccuring points that I made over the summer, is that a lot of you STILL weren't sold on JJ becoming a potential superstar player for this team. And even further, a lot of you didn't trust the kids to improve their overall games ( Smoove, Marvin, and especially Childress ).

Because if you truly believed that JJ would be a star player, then there was no justification for taking Roy or Foye, and try to play them out of position.

This team desperately needed help on the interior MORE than they needed a PG or a floor leader.

I loved the Shelden pick and had no problem taking him where we did. And I'd seen about 4 South Florida games last year to know that Solomon Jones was a Keon Clark clone. Keon played almost the same type of game Solomon did while at UNLV. And he was a good energy guy to bring off the bench during his 5 or so years in the NBA. So it doesn't surprise me one bit that Solomon can step into an NBA game for 10 minutes or so, and grab a few boards, score a few points, and provide a spark on the defensive end with his shot blocking.

We're 6 - 7 . . which could EASILY be 9 - 4 right now.

- Marvin has been out the entire season

- Speedy isn't close to being right

- Chill has been hurt the past 6 games

And not only are we still competitive, we have a dang good shot to win EVERY NIGHT.

And we're not even close to full strength yet.

And a big part of the reason why we're in the position we're in right now, is because of the defense that this team plays on a nightly basis.

If we can survive December, the East better watch out for us.

[gutz]

I agree Northclyde! Speedy is finally getting healthy I think after playing a lot more minutes the last game against Charlotte and looking pretty good. When Chill comes back after playing incredible ball off the bench for us our first 5 games where we went 4-1 were going to be even better. And of course when Marvelous Marvin Williams who has been out the entire season so far and was counted on to be our #2 scorer with Al gone comes back the NBA better look the F out. This team as is right now can win every night against any team without Chill and Marvin. Were still in every game we play. No one here thinks Chill and Marvin are saviors but you guys are blind if you don't think this team will be better with these 2 back.