The Next Big Thing!!!!!!

[emeans]

This comes from ESPN Insider....

Training camps get underway next Tuesday – and we'll finally get our first real look at who spent their their summer vacation sipping gin and juice by the pool and who spent the offseason improving their game.

Scrub to star: Who will be this year's Zach Randolph?

For a number of top young players in the league, the opportunity to break out from obscurity to stardom is there for the taking in October.

Last year it was young players like Zach Randolph, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer and Ronald Murray who came on strong. This year?

In the spirit of the preseason and the optimism that exudes from just about everywhere, Insider examined depth charts, summer league performances and talked to NBA GMs and coaches to find 10 players who could be on the brink of breakout seasons.

Some are young (rookies, however, are excluded), a few have some experience under their belt, all of them have the ability to make significant contributions to their team this season.

Al Harrington, F, Hawks

You've got to be careful what you ask for. Harrington, tired of playing the sixth man on a championship-caliber team, asked Larry Bird to trade him to a team that would give him more minutes and a more prominent role in the offense. Bird pulled the trigger and sent him to the Hawks – a team desperate for just about everything. Expect Harrington's numbers to explode in Atlanta, especially if Antoine Walker ever gets around to passing the ball. He's just 24 years old and still has plenty of room to grow offensively. He's got a great chance of averaging 18 and 10 this season. Hopefully, the better stat sheet will make up for all of the losses he's going to suffer through this season.

[pathway23]

Noticed we're already penciled in to have heavy losses this year...Chad Ford is just like the rest, as much as he may try not to, riding the hate bandwagon. Why can't anybody be at least neutral?

Jeez....before the season even begins we lose 50 games, right?

[Employee8]

Ford even bashes Walker for kicks, too.

I mean....What does Walker have to do to show everyone he ISN'T selfish???

He took a backseat to Paul Pierce, he then TONED DOWN HIS GAME while in Dallas and became a roleplayer, he's averaged around 5 assists for his entire career, and he's a great person in the community...

GEEZ!! GO F YOURSELF, CHAD.

[pathway23]

It is just going to be great seeing all these guys eat crow after we start surprising folks here. We have the coaching, management, and roster to do it.

[Weez]

true...but sometimes "being a team player" is doing what the team needs most out of you...i.e. playing pf at times, playing more D...I don't think anyone questions Walker's game, just his willingness/understanding of the entire contribution that he's capable of making...

[f_town]

then i would predict doom

but we arent

henceforth, i think its gonna be an exciting season for Hawks fans

[Wretch]

I'll say that right now. I'm not calling a post season birth, but these guys could be close at the end of the season. The forward combo of Walker and Harrington is damn decent and we've got Barry, Anderson, and Willis around them leading a very young, atheletic, and energetic team.

Two guys who could really be the difference are Diaw and Chill. Diaw's ball handling and passing along with any kind of offensive development gives us a huge lift; and Chill is the kind of steady, polished, college player that could come in and make solid contributions. I expect him to start before its over with.

The key will be the coaching though and how well these guys respond. What's interesting is that everybody on this team has something to prove. Not like last season's sqaud with guys looking to get paid. These players, rookies and vets, are looking to show people that they can play. Our coach is eager to prove that he belongs in the spotlight. Even our management is committed to turning things around.

It could take a few months, but I expect this team to start clicking and turning heads - especially when Josh Smith starts leaping and dunking. Speaking of which, if we have a dunk contest and he isn't in it...you KNOW something is up.

This may not the year where we turn the franchise around, but it WILL be the year that marks the turning point.

[Diesel]

I think chemistry is something that just can't be predicted. I sort of worry about our young guys. They are very young. I think BK is worried too. Hence, he got some vets. I think Nique will begin to be the face of our front office. I think the team will start to be his team. I think that more than anything else will lead tell what we will be.

[Wretch]

And again, I think these guys are going to click. There's just something about the way this team is built. Not neccessarily to win, but to fit together. We've got really young players, but we've got really old vets. I think the biggest issue is coaching and whether or not Woodson can hammer out roles and keep these guys competitive. If he can, then I think the chemistry will build from there.

Its going to be a very different year. Not neccessarily in the wins, but in how our team comes together and plays together. We have something that we haven't had in a while - a solid foundation.

[emeans]

I totally agree Wretch. This team may not do it this year, but we have a damn good foundation. I think we have just the right mix of youth vs. vets. Harrington and Walker will be our work horses and goto guys.

I can't wait to see the development of JSmooth and Childress. They are going to be special.

We have enough big bodies now to at least give us a presence downlow. Nothing special about them but at least we have them.

We finally have a non-turnover prone true point guard.

The major area of concern to me is Shooting Guard. I see Barry as a 6th man and not really the starting shooting guard. Hopefully Walker can make up for the lack of Shooting Guards until Childress is ready. Or next offseason we need to go out and get a legitimate veteran Shooting Guard. This is where this team will hurt this year.

[Weez]

theone thing I can't see where you're coming from D...is this push Nique to the forefront, we're grooming him to be gm thing. I wouldn't bet against Nique becoming GM one day...but I don't think it'd be something that anyone is planning on wihtin the next year or two. I mean, BK's done a favulous job, I truly like his style of bargaining....I don't really want to "see what Nique can do"...and come in and [censored] this up.

[chillzatl]

All those years with JT, Sar, theo, etc. Chemistry was what we lacked. The lack of chemisty has been the downfall of many paper-great teams. You can't win in this league without it, I don't care how much talent or athleticism you have.

If this group of players can find some chemistry and learn to play as a team, they WILL make the playoffs. I'm not saying that in the great scheme of things, that making the playoffs in the still small east is anything huge. But for this team and us, the fans of this team, it will be huge.

if you look around at the other teams in the east. There are only about 4 that, on paper, are really head and shoulders better than us. Everyone else is hoping on chemistry and player development to give them something that isn't available on a players stat-sheet, just as we are. If we can grab enough of it, we can be a bottom 4 team in the easts playoff race.

[Diesel]

I'm saying that Chemistry is the one element that is almost impossible to predict, I'm not saying that this team doesn't look good on paper. Hell, didn't they all look kinda good on paper before they played the games??

Who would have thought that:

JT/Toni/Reef would not have been world beaters?

Who would have thought that:

Big Dog/Reef/Theo/JT (the big four) would be a bad combination? I mean, supposedly, you had an inside out game with defense in Theo?

Who would have thought that:

Jax, Sura, JT, and CC would be a better combo than the big 4?

I think that it's very hard to predict Chemistry... If it were not, the Lakers would win every year... However, Detroit was a better Chemistry than LAL...

And Chemistry is a determining factor in how good a team will be (most of the time).

I think that we ought to not judge the chemistry until we see them on the floor... But I think that we have good clusters on this team....

[Diesel]

For all practical purposes, Nique will become the "face" of the front office. BK is a good guy... He never lets anyone know what he's doing... But Nique is about to get a stake in the team, he's beginning to play a prominent role in acquisitions. I think Nique will play the same type of role that Magic plays with the Lakers. I don't know if he will neccessary build a team like Dumars, but if we get rid of BK, I have no doubt that it will become Nique's team.

[Weez]

good points, and i cna't help but agree with your reasoning and logic...as well as the veracity/solid thinking of the issue (and tend to agree that i think the brass will go forward in this manner)...up until the final point...if Nique, as we currently know him, as he's "showed/proven" to us thus far, were to become head of the Hawks (aka, GM)...I shudder at the thought. that's about the last thing I would wish upon this team, given current trackrecords, abilities shown, and gut feelings...

[Diesel]

I don't think we have seen much of anything as far as Nique's decision making. For the years that he was acquainted with Babcock, Nique was VP of picture taking and autographs. You could have dump the Harry the Hawk head on Nique and it would have been the same difference.

However, the one thing that I know about the league is that it is a fraternity. And like a fraternity, everybody talks... The thing that has been stated the most during the Babcock regime is how badly that regime was in treating it's stars and how badly that regime was in bringing in fans.

Guys like Theo, R. Wallace, and others were happy to get out of Atlanta... Some for the simple fact that they had heard how Atlanta treated players.

I was happy with the way we treated both Martin and Dampiere. You had to expect that they would try to use us for leverage, but our unbending and refusing to bend over for them showed that we have new decision makers in place who will not overpay for mediocre talent.

Back to Nique, I think the thing said about Nique is that he is a favorite of many players. A lot of these guys grew up idolizing Nique. I have read in interviews where Chris Webber and Vince Carter both said that growing up their favorite player was Dominique. Now, just imagine how that would translate in recruitment. The game right now is all about FAs. You can build a team quicker with FAcy than with anything else. Take Miami for example. Yes, people say well, they drafted Wade... Yes. But last year team was a mixture of Wade and the free agent acquisition of Odom. That same Odom who was used to get Shaq this year. When good players want to play for you, then you have power in today's league.

Well, with Nique as the "face" of the front office, I think we have the beginnings of that kind of power. I think BK is showing Nique how to build a team. I would not be surprised that by 2007-2008, Nique takes over and he brings in a guy to lead us to the championship piece. Somebody like Doc Rivers or whoever...as coach and he brings in one major player as the final piece of our championship puzzle... Then after we win the championship, it's Nique who is arm and arm with D. Stern smoking a Stoggie talking about how the Hawks were built.