Critique of the Hawks' game 1 of the summer league

[herschel4heisman]

Josh Childress If it wasn't for him the Hawks would have lost by 40. He did everything for them and I mean it. Childress took control for the Hawks in every way, leading by example throughout the game. Got to the rim at will and played solid defense. Had the single best game of any player at the RMR so far at both SG and SF.

Boris Diaw- Played most of the game at PG other than the few minuets he shared with Royal Ivey in which he played SG. A very nice help defender. He played very solid but had a hard time keeping up with Deron Williams. Deron used his body a lot better than Diaw did. He didn't go inside and didn't back down or even push back vs. Williams. Does everything OK, and nothing bad. A very promising player whose game should carry over into the NBA if he’s put into the right situation.

Royal Ivey – Had a bad game, getting absolutely killed when he was trying to guard Deron Williams. Looked pretty fast but didn't use it one bit to his advantage. Only an average passer who was very tentative with everything he did. Needs to work on his shooting among other things. Showed small flashes of potential, but nothing that could really help his team out all that much here.

Donta Smith- Didn't show much at all. Played some solid minutes, but didn’t do anything that stood that much.

Josh Smith- Athletic out of the ears. He can block and Dunk. He also can block and dunk. But really he can block and dunk. That’s really about it unfortunately. Smith had 10 points, 8 of which were dunks in large minutes. With his incredible athletic ability Smith should be destroying everybody he comes across, but it wasn’t the case here. He seemed to be too busy fighting with his teammates or yelling at his refs. He sat alone before the game and played alone on the court, not doing a single thing to help his teammates out. He seemed more preoccupied with what his next highlight dunk should be instead of what he should be doing in the game, acting like he is too good to be here. Played terrible defense as Humphries was scoring on him at will. Was bullied around on both ends by the bigger Jazz players. Needs to work on everything other than his dunking, but the problem is it seem like his dunks were the only thing he cared about tonight.

Marvin Williams - Started at SF, but him and Josh Smith seemed to trade back and forth on defense on Kris Humphries. Humphries would score on one play, they would switch, and then Humphries would score on the other. It was surprising to see how lazy he looked. He was so lazy that it started to work in his favor actually. Two times he was so slow to get down the court on defense that by the time he got to half court his team had stolen the ball and passed it down to him for a flashy dunk. Offensively, he didn't make a single jump shot. The only points he had were two open dunks and a couple FTs. Really a pathetic first showing for Williams in a Hawks uniform. He tried to go one on one when got the ball, but couldn't get anywhere so he would pass it out with only a few seconds left on the shot clock. It’s hard to believe but he really was one of the worst players in this game. You could see the potential because of his athletic ability, but his lethargy outshined everything else in this game.

Salim Stoudamire – A shooter, plain and simple, that couldn’t do anything else today. Had a hard time playing defense, passing, running the team, basically everything except for shooting. He didn't do a single thing all game until he hit an impossible buzzer beating three to end the 3rd quarter. Had two more super deep threes with a hand in his face, but that's it unfortunately. He was usually the smallest guy on the court and in no way looked like he can play pg.

- Unfortunately I had a feeling that Josh Smith would have such an attitude. Hopefully, he realizes that he needs to use the summer league as a learning experience, but it was only the 1st game so I will try not to read too much into it.

[Nicholasp27]

childress can't take over games singlehandedly...

he's just a role player and will always be a role player and can never be more than a role player!

[Lascar78]

Skita was the league MVP, let's not read too much into this

[Nicholasp27]

i'm not reading much into it

i'm simply commenting on the fact that people keep saying chill is just a role player and will never be more...i'm basing my opinion on his play last year...his 29 point game, his several 20pt games, his whole final 3 months of the year...

chill may never be more than the key role player that does everything needed to put u over the top, but he DOES have potential to be more than a role player

he's a leader, he's intelligent, he can score, rebound, pass, defend, etc...his ONLY knock is his shot, but he CAN improve that, just like countless stars did from their first year...he still SCORES at a higher clip than kobe/tmac/vince/etc; almost as high as lebron

[thesheedera]

Disappointing start for the Hawks, its definitely gonna take a while with the youth on this team.

I'm hoping that Marvin's "lethargy" is a combo of first game nerves and needing more conditioning. I don't think its a matter of heart.

The comments about Smith are disturbing. Who was he arguing with on the team?

[mrhonline]

BK drafted Childress because of his overall ability. Those who watched him last year are well aware of his all-around game, his basketball IQ, and his calm nature on the court.

But he does nothing exceptionally well.

[swolehawk2]

he rebounds exceptionally well.....

He gets to the rack exceptionally well....

and guess what he has played only 1 year....

Chillz haz the skillz to be as good as he wants to be.

[Nicholasp27]

he was a rookie

and he does score at a high rate for a sg (almost as high as lebron, better than kobe/tmac/vince) and rebounds extremely well for a sg

he technically could be a 20/10 shooting guard if his shot improves...after all, he averaged like 15/8 after toine was traded

[mrhonline]

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he rebounds exceptionally well.....

He gets to the rack exceptionally well....

and guess what he has played only 1 year....

Chillz haz the skillz to be as good as he wants to be.

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He rebounds well for a shooting guard. He is an average rebounder for a forward, which he is until he improves his shot.

And he doesn't get to the rack exceptionally well. He gets most of his points within a couple feet of the basket, usually on rebounds.

He is not a penetrator, shooter, or distributor. He's a slasher/energy-type player, and a very useful one at that.

[swolehawk2]

Please ....name all the starting shooting guards who are good to great jump shooters...most SG in todays NBA are average jump shooters...Chilldress surely can be an average to good jump shooter.

"He gets most of his points within a couple feet of the basket, usually on rebounds."

Not true.....

Chillz got to the basket constantly toward the end of last year....did you watch?

"He is not a penetrator"

Not true

"He rebounds well for a shooting guard"

Well since that is what he plays...that should be a good thing right?

[mrhonline]

We're just going to have to let this one die. We obviously watched different players.

[Nicholasp27]

great rebounder for a sg or sf...maybe not for a pf, but he is definitely capable of getting around 10rpg within a few years, which is great for ANY position

again, he COULD be a 20/10 sg

that is NOT a role player

[hotboyj]

While most people think of Chillz as a guy like Bowen, he is more of a side-kick type player like Scottie Pippen.

He does everything good but nothing great, so he can't be a superstar, but he can be a very good player. Chillz doesn't want to be in the spotlight, he just wants to win, and does what ever he can to make sure that happens.

Chillz carried Stanford on his back for 2 years. He certainly can take over if he has to. As he showed in the summer league, and towards the end of the season where he would have 20 pt 14 rebound games.

I just don't see why everyone sees Childress as nothing more than a role player.

He has proven he can lead a team, he is a good rebounder, and accoring to most in Utah he has a better shot.

Why can't we all just accept that he has improved and may be a bigger star than Smoove come next season.

I'm one of th biggest Smoove fans here, but I can clearly see Chillz has the ability to be a great player in his own right.

Pac 10 player of the year, pac 10 tourney mvp, 1st team all-america, and he can't be more than a role-player?

[Final_quest]

I agree. Until proven otherwise Chilldress has to be considered better than Smoove or Marvin. I would give Chilldress more minutes than either of them, until they prove they deserve the minutes.

However, both Smoove or Marvin have a better chance at superstar status. They have the upside that Chilldress does not. They might not ever be better than Chilldress, but we drafted them based on potential.

[Lascar78]

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While most people think of Chillz as a guy like Bowen, he is more of a side-kick type player like Scottie Pippen.

He does everything good but nothing great, so he can't be a superstar, but he can be a very good player. Chillz doesn't want to be in the spotlight, he just wants to win, and does what ever he can to make sure that happens.

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I think this is a very accurate assessment.

[Admin]

apparently because Childress is a phenom at rebounding. No matter what you want to classify him as, he is a SG, plain and simple. If his jumper wasnt so ugly form wise, people wouldnt be talking about him being a bad shooter, because his percentage was greatly improving as the year went on, but its the form that cause people to say he is a bad shooter. Also, it seems that you dont pay much attention to the numerous times that he took his man off the dribble last year to get to the rim. He will never be an Iverson type, but he is more than capable of getting into the paint against any defender they put on him.

However, lets just agree that you are the only one who doesnt see this.

[mrhonline]

Childress shot 30% on jump shots, and his 3 pt.% did not improve from the 1st half to the 2nd half. In fact, he took fewer threes as the season went on; it appeared he lost confidence in his outside shot.

And 6 rebs in thirty minutes is not exceptional for SF, esp. on on a team that has no rebounding big men. Good, but not exceptional. Matt Harpring, Gerald Wallace, Andres Nocioni, Josh Howard, Andre Iguodala, LeBron James, Shane Battier, Caron Butler, Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce, Quentin Richardson, and Mike Dunleavy are all non-PF's who rebound as well or nearly as well as Childress.

As far as his scoring breakdown, Childress averaged a massive 3.4 ppg close to the basket, excluding dunks and tip-ins. Did he take some guys off the dribble? Yes, but not as dominantly as some of you assert. Also, until he improves his shooting, defenders will simply crowd him and negate his penetration.

As I've said all along, IF he improves his long-range shooting, he is definitely the Hawks' SG of the future. Until then, we'll see...

[Nicholasp27]

first of all, he played sg, not sf, and his rebounding is exceptional for a sg...and that's his season average, not his rpg when he got substantial minutes after toine left...

secondly, if he only scored 3.4ppg close to the basket, then his other points came from away from the basket...so if 2/3 of his points came from away from the basket and he still shot almost 50% from the floor, then he must be a decent shooter, even if his 3pt% sucked

also, just cause he didn't score close to the basket, that doesn't mean he didn't penetrate well...many times he'd penetrate and get fouled and then make the fts...that's still good penetration, he just got fouled

on here and on realgm, posters have argued that he is good at penetrating and you're the only one who didn't see this last year

[Final_quest]

Mr. H is excluding all of his high percentage shots, dunks and tip ins, if I understand correctly.

[mrhonline]

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first of all, he played sg, not sf, and his rebounding is exceptional for a sg...and that's his season average, not his rpg when he got substantial minutes after toine left...

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If we're going to look at stats for Childress when the team's best rebounder left, I think it's only fair to do that for other SG/SF's. My point is that quite a few wings could average the same or nearly the same number of rebounds if they played on the Hawks - the team with Obinna Ekezie and Peja Drobnjak at center.

He did play SG after Walker left. He also played some SF after Walker left as well, when the Hawks put Lue and Delk in the lineup at the same time, or Boris. Either way, he did NOT spend his time on the perimeter preparing to shoot. He moved without the ball, often finding a way to get a rebound and score inside. (I really like that part of his game). That's where the MAJORITY of his points came from and the numbers bear that out.

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also, just cause he didn't score close to the basket, that doesn't mean he didn't penetrate well...many times he'd penetrate and get fouled and then make the fts...that's still good penetration, he just got fouled

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Many times he'd get fouled after getting a rebound and going back up with it. Sometimes he'd get his shot swatted back in his face. Sometimes he'd have his penetration stopped and be forced to pass the ball. Sometimes he'd take the outside shot. Still, the MAJORITY of his points came close to the basket.

(There's nothing wrong with that, b/c most teams don't need their SG/SF to be a penetrator. Typically, that's the job of the PG. Childress needs to concentrate on his shooting).

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on here and on realgm, posters have argued that he is good at penetrating and you're the only one who didn't see this last year

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Ignoring the fact that this statement isn't true, I don't think it helps your argument by appealing to the brilliant minds on RealGM.