Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Now I know what it's like to be an Arizona Cardinals fan

It's Draft day for the Hawks, a.k.a. the most exciting day of the year. The consensus seems to be that the Bucks are going to take Andrew Bogut, leaving Marvin Williams to the Hawks. Chad Ford is reporting that the Hawks are having second thoughts and are considering Deron Williams and Chris Paul, but I suspect that the team is so divided between which point guard to pick that they'll likely split the difference and take Williams. I haven't changed my mind that that's the right thing to do because he's the best player in the Draft and also seems to be a humble, coachable, rootable guy, not unlike Josh Childress. That said, if the Hawks trade down and take Paul or Williams, that's fine too. Each player would serve a need and the team could get an extra first rounder for moving down a couple spots. I have a slight preference for Williams over Paul because after seeing Jason Terry and Tyronn Lue, I'm ready for a point guard who can keep the opposing point guard in front of him on defense.

The montage on Mayhem this morning of disastrous #2 picks (Sam Bowie, Len Bias, Shawn Bradley, Jay Williams, and Darko Mlicic) confirmed two things:

1. Don't draft a player who likes cocaine or motorcycles; and

2. Don't reach for a player because he's tall. (See: Bogut, Andrew.)

Part of the fun will also be waiting to see what the Hawks do with their second round pick. This is a very deep Draft and they ought to be able to find someone to go into their eight-man rotation with the #31 pick. Right now, I have my heart set on Randolph Morris: local kid, serves a major need at center, highly touted coming out of high school, and likely to be an NBA starter within three years. That said, there should be a number of interesting point guard prospects at #31. Nate Robinson, for instance, interests me, mainly because he was the key player in Washington going from a dreadful basketball program to a #1 seed in a matter of years. Salim Stoudamire is another interesting option, mainly because he can play some point, he can shoot (unlike just about anyone else on the roster,) and he could fill a Microwave role as the scorer off the bench.

Anyway, the wife and I will be hanging with Boris Diaw tonight when all the drama unfolds. G-d willing, I'll be linking this post in a few years when the Hawks are back in the playoffs and looking back at the night when the project took a giant step forward. If not, at least the wife and I will have the chance to overpay for chicken fingers and ask Royal Ivey how many "Royale with cheese" jokes he gets.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Or you can talk to Josh Childress about how you said he was a 6 foot 8 inch vagina after the hawks drafted him last year.

Michael said...

Because I didn't realize that he can actually rebound. Peace is right that he can't shoot, but he grew on me last year. I'm allowed to admit that I was wrong, although J-Chill isn't good enough to force that recognition yet.