Shelden Williams

[Hoosier]

It is encouraging to me, to look at how many people here, do actually think for themselves and can see through the constant barage of negative hype that a couple of posters keep puting out about SW.

He is going to be a he11 of player, and I'll put what reputation I have on that. We'll see where Southron and Tex are next year when SW is kicking a$$. Sombody should pull out the hundreds of posts that those two, together have made about him.

[Sothron]

They can put those posts right up next to the ones I made declaring Deron Williams the best all around PG in the 2005 draft well before and after the draft and the many posts I made pleading with the Hawks to draft said Deron Williams. I also said Chris Paul would have the sexier rookie campaign but his slight frame would make him a defensive liability in the NBA and he would suffer from injuries accordingly. I have been proven right in every case yet I abstain from trumpeting any of it.

If Shellhead actually pans out as something then I will be happy to have him on the team. I will never put my "internet rep" over my fandom to the Atlanta sports teams.

You can quote me on that as often as you wish.

[Lascar78]

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I think it's absurd what people are proclaiming what a bad pick Shelden was after one year where he wasn't even healthy.

Look at how Shelden matches up with Horford. I was surprised how close he was.

Al Horford

6'8.75"

6'9.75"

246 pounds

7'0.75" wing span

8'11" standing reach

31 inch No step Vert

35.5 inch Max Vert

20 Bench press

12.15 lane agility

3.37 3/4 court sprint

Shelden Williams

6'7.5"

6'8.5"

258 pounds

7'4.25 wing span

8'8 standing reach

29 inch standing vert

33.5 max vert

25 bench press

11.53 lane agility

3.59 3/4 court sprint

Horford had the advantage in height, standing reach, vertical leaping and 3/4 court sprint which are all not surprising.

But I was surprised to see Shelden had the advantage in wingspan and lane agility. Also didn't think he would be that close to HOrford in terms of vertical leap. Add the edge Shelden has in strength and weight and he has a chance to be one heck of a basketball player.

Sure maybe he can't play the 5 full-time, but he should def get more minutes.

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I also like Shelden, and like Horford too. I would draft Horford at 3 if we hadn't taken Shelden, but we did.

Just to clarify though, wingspan is not important, what matters most for big man defense / shot blocking other than strength is

Standing reach: Horford's hands are 3 inches higher

Vertical: Horford jumps 2 inches higher

So when they jump to block a shot, Horford's hand is a full 5 inches higher.

Anyhow I think Horford is the third best player, but we need to take Conley.

[TexasPete]

The injury was nothing serious but because he wore a brace people on this site act like he played with a torn ACL or something. SW's issues were on the defensive end where he struggled with guarding forwards. He consistently got beat and cost us in the one area he was drafted to help.

He recovered against teams that were clearly either tanking or playing for nothing late in the season. He got minutes because we had written the season off. He played whether his man was beating him to the rack or not. SW can rebound, that is one thing he does well. But, when you get beat off the dribble and can't cover the 4 and you are SWs size, you have problems.

Sothron, what do the people you know say about the whole SW pick debacle?

[atlien110]

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They can put those posts right up next to the ones I made declaring Deron Williams the best all around PG in the 2005 draft well before and after the draft and the many posts I made pleading with the Hawks to draft said Deron Williams. I also said Chris Paul would have the sexier rookie campaign but his slight frame would make him a defensive liability in the NBA and he would suffer from injuries accordingly. I have been proven right in every case yet I abstain from trumpeting any of it.

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huh? you abstain after you trumpet? funny stuff.

[Sothron]

That was in fact a debacle and that BK took that pick almost totally on his own. The other FO was heavily leaning towards Roy or Foye.

[Hoosier]

Well, I wanted the Hawks to take Foye, but what does that have to do with the way you and Tex have methodically trashed SW's abilities everytime someone makes a positive post about him? Not to mention the fact, that you both are going to be flat out wrong about him.

[BHayley]

I gotta agree with BusBoy on this one. Shelden was in the ROTY talks in the first month or so of the year (so was JJ, believe it or not) and then that shoulder injury killed Shelden for the middle 60 percent of the year.

Shelden will be fine

[TexasPete]

I was in the stands actually watching him play? Where were you? Or, are you just in the habit of pulling player predictions out of your a$$?

Why was the 5th pick on the bench for long periods? To make the GM look bad? He was on the bench because he struggled on defense and that is a foreign concept around here.

Hoosier, I'm 100% sure after reading some of your other posts that you are basing your SW opinion on nothing more than blind faith. The simple fact is you don't know what your talking about.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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I was in the stands actually watching him play? Where were you? Or, are you just in the habit of pulling player predictions out of your a$$?

Why was the 5th pick on the bench for long periods? To make the GM look bad? He was on the bench because he struggled on defense and that is a foreign concept around here.

Hoosier, I'm 100% sure after reading some of your other posts that you are basing your SW opinion on nothing more than blind faith. The simple fact is you don't know what your talking about.

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It's not blind faith. It's the fact that HE DID produce when he was healthy at the beginning and end of the season.

Let the guy be healthy for a season before you guys call him the next Koncak.

[DJlaysitup]

The key here (IMO) is that Shelden didn't do a damn thing wrong. He got picked where he got picked because of BK. I truly believe that Shelden will be a solid player for the Hawks...maybe not a starter...obviously not an all-star...but a solid player. Those are needed on good teams.

Again...it's not Shelden's fault that BK picked him too early, nor is it Shelden's fault that he plays for a team with Woody. I think we need to get a new coach.

Hells Bells we have talent on this team. We need a real NBA coach.

[Sothron]

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Well, I wanted the Hawks to take Foye, but what does that have to do with the way you and Tex have methodically trashed SW's abilities everytime someone makes a positive post about him? Not to mention the fact, that you both are going to be flat out wrong about him.

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So you accuse Tex and I of looking in a crystal ball and seeing only negatives and yet you looked into the same crystal ball obviously to try and see something different. Time will tell who is right.

[DJlaysitup]

You are getting a little bit too Smug Sothron..you may have an "insider" link into Hawks management - but lets remember - the Hawks management is the WORST in any professional sport that I know of.

What we need is a house-cleaning...at the minimum we need an NBA coach.

[Sothron]

How am I smug? He called me out by name about Shellhead and said we shouldn't give up on him and yet he swears Shellhead will be some kind of wunderkind. So which is it? You can only predict a player's future if its a positive outlook? As I said, time will tell who is right and who is not.

[SmooveTheFuture]

Man some of you peoople like to make so many excuses its sickening. If Shelden was seriously hurt he wouldnt have played the fact that he played tells me it wasnt serious. This Shelden Williams was suppose to be the best nba ready player which he was not even close. This guy was a 4 year senior who is already wat 23 going on 24 yes he won 2 dpoy awards but he has not shown he can play good defense in the NBA where is the shot block shots everyone was going crazy about before the season. Also many peole felt this guy could play center which is not true Shelden doesnt have much upside at all if any. This guy has no athelism cant block shots cant play defense no low post moves. Explain to me why we drafted a 6'8 PF again ??? All I can see he can do is rebound thats it not worthy of a top 5 pick,. He is a player similar to guys like Antonio Davis, Dale Davis and perhaps Charles Oakley. Guys who are slow not atheltic and just rebound get cheap points around the paint. Im sorry but you do no draft role players of this kind with the 5th overal pick thats why I say this pick was an awful one. By BK guarnteeing him the 5th pick was just icing on the cake for one of the worst picks in history. How do you give someone a guarntee when you never have worked him out like he was a cant miss prospect. We should have drafted Brandon Roy (ROY) or Randy Foye. Shelden was another botched pick just like Marvin Williams was. Paul Milsap is a much better player then Shelden will ever be and is 2 years younger. Also Paul MILSAP was a 2nd round pick now tell me Shelden Williams was a good pick....

[AtLaS]

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Shelden was in the ROTY talks in the first month or so of the year (so was JJ, believe it or not) and then that shoulder injury killed Shelden for the middle 60 percent of the year.

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Actually, Marvin returned and stole Shelden's minutes because he was the #2 pick.

I think Shelden will be a solid player, but not for the Hawks, we have absolutely no position to play him or get him significant minutes. ESPECIALLY if we draft one of Yi, Wright, Horford.

[DJlaysitup]

Well I guess we will find out if he was seriouslly hurt. Now lets think a bit...is BK smart enough to put a shoulder harness (which generally means coming back from a seperated shoulder) on a guy who he drafted at #5?...I doubt it.

Shelden was actually hurt. We would know that with normal GMs.

and P.S. - sorry about the "smug" comment

[TexasPete]

BK didn't put the harness on SW. The trainers did that and the injury was never mentioned as being serious at all. A lot of guys have nagging stuff that they have to navigate through, things more annoying than detrimental.

Trust me, if SW was playing thru something major they would have cut him more slack and even let the public know. The last thing they want is people thinking he sucks when he is hurt.

This harness has his apologists with a ready made excuse when no excuses are warrant.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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Man some of you peoople like to make so many excuses its sickening. If Shelden was seriously hurt he wouldnt have played the fact that he played tells me it wasnt serious. This Shelden Williams was suppose to be the best nba ready player which he was not even close.

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Ever heard of playing through pain???

Maybe the guy was tough enough to play through pain but being tough with a nagging injury doesn't make you an effective basketball player.

Just look at Larry Hughes. He's trying to be tough because his team is in the NBA Finals but it's apparent his injury is hindering his play on both sides of the ball.

You think it's just a coincidence that Shelden Williams was clearly the best rookie of the first couple of months of the seasons as this team was in the thick of the playoff race and had one of the best interior defenses in basketball, and then he gets hurt and we fall all the way to the cellar?

Well go ahead and think it's a coincidence but like I said, the truth will come out when the guy is healthy and I think there will be a lot of doubters proved wrong.

[BHayley]

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You think it's just a coincidence that Shelden Williams was clearly the best rookie of the first couple of months of the seasons as this team was in the thick of the playoff race and had one of the best interior defenses in basketball, and then he gets hurt and we fall all the way to the cellar?

Well go ahead and think it's a coincidence but like I said, the truth will come out when the guy is healthy and I think there will be a lot of doubters proved wrong.

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[/indent]

BusBoy, don't overestimate Sheldon too much. I've liked this guy since the day we got him, but the fact we went down the cellars was more a result of JSmoove and JJ's injuries than anything else. I also find it funny a lot of people, when they found out we had the #3 pick, automatically forgot about our young big guys developing. I do think Sheldon is 12/8 potential in this coming year or 2.