There is no absolute formula to winning guys......

[emeans]

Championships have been won by all types of different philosophies (i.e. Shooting PGs, No Centers, Two SG lineups, etc.)

Teams win without being pigeon holed into a tradition way of building a team (i.e. PG must not shoot...only distribute, Must have a 7'0 Center, etc.)

Detroit, the Chicago dynasty teams, The Lakers with Magic. Just about every Championship team didn't have a tradition PG, traditional SG, traditional SF, traditional PF, tradition Center. There are always non-tradition players and positions on probably every championship team.

I say this because I am sick and tired of seeing all of this negativity about players having to be a certain type in order for the TEAM to do well. THAT IS AN ABSOLUTE LIE AND I AM SICK OF SEEING THESE NEGATIVE POST!!

I can't think of many Championship Teams that have had the "Tradition Standard player at Every Position". That just doesn't happen.

Just because Salim Stoudemire can shoot, he can't player PG is absolutely ignorant and people on this forum need to stop with this non-sense. Salims handles and ability to distribute the ball can be just as good as anyone else in this draft. He just happened to be the best shooter on Arizona's team and he had to shoot. That is a good thing!!

Atlanta had an EXCELLENT draft. They are slowly putting together a hell of a roster. Add in a few FAs and you have a scary team from top to bottom.

I reiterate that is NO ABSOLUTE FORMULA TO WINNING, so stop acting like we had to get, what you guys call a Pure PG. There are no "PURE" positional players at every position for a lot of Championship Teams I can remember. Detroit is a very good example!!

Shut-up with this non-sense and praise BK for doing a very good job!!!!Most of you sound like whining children!!

Excellent draft...

[skyhawk]

I just don't understand the media and HawkSquawkers slamming BK for not selecting Paul or Williams. No doubt they'll be good players but you have to take a chance on greatness.

The real question for me on MWill is will he reach the point where he can raise his level of play when the game is on the line and will he be able to make his teammates better. He certainly has the potential to that moreso than any player in this draft. He posesses the work ethic, unselfishness and competitive drive to maximize his talent.

Another key question is can Mike Woodson help him get there.

Certainly having a good PG would be nice but I don't believe it's necessary for a championship run. Just look at San Antonio and Detroit where neither team has a true point as Billups and Parker are scorers.

Time will tell but no there's doubt in me that BK did the right thing..

[Final_quest]

A lot of PGs can shoot, no problem with that. Salim's problem at PG is that he is not a distributor, which is fine if you have a good passing team. If you don't have a good passing team you have a lot of turnovers, that is bad.

Detroit stayed in the games with San Antonio by not turning the ball over. If Salim is our starting PG we will lose a lot of games because of turnovers.

I'm glad we drafted Salim, but we need some ball protection in our lineup.

[emeans]

Salim didn't come off to me to be a big turnover guy. A shooter yes, a turnover magnet no. I will look up his Assist to Turnover ratio to confirm.

I think Salim will do a solid job at the Point.

[Lascar78]

His A-T ratio was 1:1 but it's not a good reflection of his ball handling. Mustafa Shakur was their point guard, getting 4.5 assists per game. Stoudamire was their primary scorer, only getting 2 assists per game. He did handle the rock alot and only got 2 turnovers per game. I don't think that's bad. I saw him play a good bit and he really didn't seem to have a turnover problem. He didn't have NBA point guards playing D on him, so we'll have to see

[Final_quest]

The ratio is 1:1. Which means if he is not turning the ball over much he is not getting many assists. Ideally you want 2:1 ratio or better from a PG.

[Admin]

His a/to ratio is about 1:1 if I remember correctly from someone posting that. Now, when you consider that most people were down on Jack (myself included) for him being a 1.4:1 a/to player, that really makes Salim look bad. The problem with relying on him to be your PG comes in a 7 game series when the opposing coach can gameplan him and force him into situations where he will make bad decisions.

Can he overcome this and be taught to be a solid, efficient PG? I think so. That is entirely up to him though. He will have to put in A LOT of work to get there.

Just remember how frustrated we used to get when JT would make a bone headed mistake with the ball and next you know the other team is streaking the other way for an easy bucket.

This is not a slam on Salim or the choice to take him though. I was quite happy that we selected him. I have not gotten to see enough of him play to see how great he is at shooting outside of his highlights and the one game I saw where Deron pretty much shut him down, but I am very excited about his potential.

However, to even begin to think that he is in the same class as a Chris Paul when it comes to being able to be a good or great NBA point guard would be incredibly foolish and I hope that nobody is really making that assumption.

[Lascar78]

Quote:

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However, to even begin to think that he is in the same class as a Chris Paul when it comes to being able to be a good or great NBA point guard would be incredibly foolish and I hope that nobody is really making that assumption.

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Definitely.

Let's make sure everybody understands: he is a SG, and he will be playing PG. I don't see him being a turnover liability, but he won't be creating shots for others too much.

At the very least, he's a career backup every team wants in the game to hit big shots. He will never be able to defend SGs and needs ALOT of work to become a PG

[drzachary]

I don't know if you can compare an SG's A/TO rations to a PG's.

Whatever idiot posted that initial 1:1 A/TO ratio should have realized how irrelevant it was. What a fool!

[Admin]

It directly relates to the ratio of good choices he makes with the ball to the bad choices that he makes with the ball. Also, more often than not at the end of the games Salim was the one with the ball in his hands bringing it up the court so I am sure he played plenty of minutes at PG.

[drzachary]

As an offensive focal point, he wasn't looking for assists. If he had been running the offense, he would have more! I just don't think it's a statistically significant stat for shooting guards. I stand by my criticism of that idiotic original poster you mentioned!

[Final_quest]

You do understand that a SG can defend a PG and still play SG on offense.

Think about what the Spurs did in the finals. They put Bowen on Billups and had Parker guard Rip in the 4th quarter.

Stoudemire will bring the ball up if he's the best one to do that in the game. He can defend the smallest guard on the opposing team regardless of if he's bringing the ball up or not.

Who he's defending has nothing to do with his position on offense.

[Nicholasp27]

he was a SG

you don't compare a 1:1 ratio for a sg to a 1.4:1 ratio for a PG...

we'll see how he does at PG this year...

as a SG, he wasn't in the position to get the assists, just the turnovers...

if he got 2apg as a SG, he'd prolly get 4-5pg as a PG, giving him closer to a 2:1 ratio

[Final_quest]

Are you serious or just kidding?

Please tell me you are not expecting Salim to be the Hawk's franchise PG.

[drzachary]

Quote:

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Are you serious or just kidding?

Please tell me you are not expecting Salim to be the Hawk's franchise PG.

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I am serious when I tell you that I am not expecting Salim to be the Hawks' franchise PG. (Not sure if you were directing your comment to me on purpose.)

[Lascar78]

I don't think he's our franchise PG, but I think he will play PG a good bit this year depending on who we sign

[emeans]

It all depends on how he plays the Point when games start. ESPN analyst (not clueless Chad Ford) said he will be the STARTING Atlanta Hawks point guard when he was drafted. Vitale thinks he is probably the best sleeper PG in the draft.

[Diesel]

Quote:

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he was a SG

you don't compare a 1:1 ratio for a sg to a 1.4:1 ratio for a PG...

we'll see how he does at PG this year...

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The problem is this...

You don't draft a 6'1" SG to be your PG... Especially not one who has a 1:1 A/TO... Or to make it even more plain... Somebody who commits 2.4 turnovers per game. And if he is not the primary ball handler and he commits 2.4 TOs per game in the college game, how do you expect this to get better as a pro???

Yeah... PGs around the league are rubbing their hands..

[swolehawk2]

I don't think he was drafted to be anything other than what he is.

[drzachary]

"I don't think he was drafted to be anything other than what he is."

... which may be a more deadeye Hubert Davis (my second favorite player ever) who doesn't rely on quick-release to get his shot off, but can beat people off the dribble.

In which case, we got a steal at 31!