The Hawks evened their preseason record at 1-1 with a 17-point win over the Bobcats last night. Josh Smith led Atlanta with 21 points, and newcomer Vladimir Radmanovic added 11 points of his own.

According to coach Larry Drew, the team looked much better compared to Game 1 of the series on Monday night:

“The energy level was much greater tonight,” Hawks coach Larry Drew said. “I thought our starters did a good job picking up energy in times where we got a little lackadaisical.”

For the Bobcats, Corey Maggette led the team with 18 points and 5 rebounds. But all eyes were really on Charlotte’s two rookies, Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo. Biyombo was the 7th overall pick and got a lot of attention during the draft for the interesting path the Congolese PF/C took to make it big (great piece on his story from ESPN’s Chad Ford). However, Biyombo struggled a bit in his debut with one point, two rebounds and four turnovers in just under 16 minutes.

Walker, the number 9 pick who led the Huskies to the NCAA championships last year, had eight points, four rebounds and two assists in a little over 19 minutes.

Next up: The Hawks will kick off the regular season against the Nets next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. EST in New Jersey.

I have to confess that I didn’t follow the NCAA that closely this year, so I won’t try and pretend to know enough to come up with my own mock draft. Instead, I’m basing my commentary on Ian Thomsen’s version in this week’s Sports Illustrated and will go from there. Why Thomsen’s out of all the ones out there? Because of the very scientific rationale that a magazine foldout in color is a lot more user-friendly than Alt-Tab-ing between frames on a tiny computer screen. (And in fairness, I’ve always enjoyed Thomsen’s NBA analyses.)

Here’s who Thomsen has going where:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers – Kyrie Irving, Duke PG
2. Minnesota Timberwolves – Derrick Williams, Arizona PF
3. Utah Jazz – Enes Kanter, Turkey PF/C
4. Cleveland Cavalieres – Jonas Valanciunas, Lithuania PF/C
5. Toronto Raptors – Brandon Knight, Kentucky PG/SG
6. Washington Wizards – Jan Vesely, Czech Republic PF
7. Sacramento Kings – Kemba Walker, UConn PG
8. Detroit Pistons – Bismack Biyombo, Congo PF/C
9. Charlotte Bobcats – Kawhi Leonard, San Diego St. SF
10. Milwaukee Bucks – Klay Thompson, Washington St. SG
11. Golden State Warriors – Marcus Morris, Kansas PF
12. Utah Jazz – Jimmer Fredette, BYU PG
13. Phoenix Suns – Chris Singleton, FSU SF/PF
14. Houston Rockets – Alec Burks, Colorado SG
15. Indiana Pacers – Kenneth Faried, Morehead St. PF

First impressions? Kyrie Irving seems to be the overwhelming Number 1 pick in mock drafts all around for everyone except Cleveland who has yet to concede that they’re definitely going with the freshmen guard. If they do, however, he’ll make a good addition to their team that currently has a subpar shooter in Ramon Sessions and the aging Baron Davis at PG.

I was a little surprised to see Brandon Knight ahead of Kemba Walker in Thomsen’s draft, and most of the others out there for that matter. Knight set the Kentucky freshmen record for shooting and 3-point shooting last year. But Walker is the much more polished and mature PG that led the Huskies to a national championship. Besides, Walker averaged only 18 minutes to get a steal or block, while Knight was at over 40 minutes, an indication of each’s ball movement skills.

Bismack Biyombo. Love this story. A Congolese PF/C who left home at the age of 16 to play with the big boys and went through stints with Yemen and Spain and a lot of disinterested scouts before getting noticed.

“Biyombo began playing for Fuenlabrada’s junior team, but he wasn’t satisfied with the competition. He says he called the coach of the third-division team and asked him whether he could practice with that team as well.

The next year, Biyombo ended up playing for both the third- and fourth-division teams. On Saturday, he’d play third-division games and, then on Sunday, fourth-division games. To keep up with both teams, he’d sometimes have to practice four times a day.” ~ESPN’s Chad Ford

‘Nuff said. It would be great to see him go as a lottery pick, and he fits right into the Pistons’ strategy to rebuild its defense this year.

And finally, Kenneth Faried. Thomsen says Faried may not be a starter, but he was the best rebounder in the NCAA and had the highest Player Efficiency Rating. Besides, I read a really great piece on how Faried’s rebounds are a tribute to his mom. Waudda Faried suffered from lupus, a disease that causes the immune system to attack its own organs and tissues, and would tell him from her hospital bed, “You better have gotten your rebounds.” I’m a fan.

Check back later for Numbers 16-30 and more in-depth analysis in the days leading up to the Draft!

“It’s the weakest draft in history.” “What a mediocre draft class this year.” “Trade away your top picks for something that will give you a little more return and wait for next year.”

If I had a dollar for every time someone’s said or written it. Well, it wouldn’t exactly make a dent in the college loan payments, but the theme is rampant throughout draft predictions.

Why exactly is this year’s class so underwhelming? Why does no one seem to care? I mean, aside from minor distractions like CBA negotiations, an intense NBA Finals, and the fact that everyone’s busy hating on LeBron…

For starters, “staying in school is cool,” and a lot of top prospects like UNC’s Harrison Barnes and OSU’s Jared Sullinger have elected to play it safe in the midst of a potential lockout.

Jimmer Fredette

And then there’s the more pop-culture, media-driven stuff. There wasn’t a storyline that incited the kind of hype that gets even non-college basketball fans invested. Something so compelling that you’d have to be living under a rock to not know about it. Major storylines followed things like a BYU guard with a funny nickname whose play is motivated by his older brother, an All-American star that led the Huskies to an unexpected Big East championship and a Maryland coach retiring after a nearly 40–year career.

Kemba Walker

There wasn’t as much of the juicy stuff like recruiting scandals, indecent behavior and criminal activity. Not to say that it didn’t exist; I mean let’s be honest, John Calipari and Rick Pitino are still coaching. But it didn’t draw the same kind of attention compared to something like the OSU ordeal in college football—you can bet everyone will be watching to see where Terrelle Pryor goes in the NFL’s upcoming supplemental draft.

As a Hawks fan, it does make me a little less bitter about the fact that our first pick doesn’t come until No. 48 in the second round. The Hawks traded their top pick to the Wizards in a deal in February that brought Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong to Atlanta. But it is a little disappointing that something that typically embodies so much hope and potential for an upcoming season is marred by mediocrity and indifference.

Regardless, we’ll certainly be covering things around here. Player profiles and more commentary to come leading up to Draft Day. T-minus five days and counting to the weakest draft in NBA history.

The NBA Draft is 22 days away. While it was fun for a little while to entertain the possibility that the Hawks would trade for a first round pick, it’s time to come back down to reality. Atlanta traded away its first round pick along with Jordan Crawford in exchange for Kirk Hinrich in February. The deal leaves the Hawks with the No. 48 overall pick in the second round as its highest selection.

Now, all is not lost. I took a look at a few of the top No. 48 draft picks over history. And among the crowd, you’ve got a rap star, the record-holder for consecutive free throws and a political protester:

• Craig Ehlo: Nickname: “Mr. Everything.” Most active with: The Cavs. Points-per-game: 8.6. Fun fact: Ehlo also played for the Hawks from 1993-1996 as Steve Smith’s backup. Might keep this one off the resume: Ehlo was the one defending Michael Jordan when he made “The Shot” at the buzzer to win the final game of a 1989 playoff series against Cleveland.

• Cedric Ceballos: Nickname: “Ice.” Most active with: The Suns. Points-per-game: 14.3. Fun Fact: Ceballo won the Slam Dunk Contest with a blindfolded dunk in 1992. Might keep this one off the resume: “Ice” was featured on Warren G’s hip-hop song, Flow On in 1994.

• Micheal Williams: Most active with: The Timberwolves. Points-per-game: 11. Fun fact: Williams holds the NBA record for consecutive free throws at 97. Might keep this one off the resume: Williams played in only 35 games over his last four years, including only two in his final year.

• Craig Hodges: Most active with: The Bulls and Bucks. Points-per-game: 8.5. Fun fact: Hodges led the league in 3-point shooting percentage three times and won three consecutive Three Point Contests in the All-Star Game. Might keep this one off the resume: On a trip to the White House after winning the 1992 NBA Championship, Hodges dressed in a dashiki and delivered a hand-written letter to George H. W. Bush expressing his discontent with the administration’s treatment of the poor and minorities.

• Marc Gasol: Most active with: The Grizzlies. Points-per-game: 12.6. Fun fact: In high school, Gasol was named the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association’s “Mr. Basketball” in 2003.  Might keep this one off the resume: Gasol has a personal blog where he discusses topics like what he misses from home, trash-talking in the NBA, how he met Shaq and Christmas dinner in Memphis.

So maybe we won’t get Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams. But those guys are overrated anyways.

I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t follow the NCAA basketball season as closely as I would have liked this season. Or maybe it’s just my über short-term memory. Little flashes stick out to me– the Big East was stacked and unpredictable, the Pac-10 championship game kept me up way past my bedtime, and Duke and UNC got a lot of pre-season hype and then floundered in the tourney as surely as the sun rises in the East and sets in the West. I saw ‘Cuse dominate St. John’s at the Garden and Kemba dominate everyone at the Verizon Center.

Syracuse @ St. John's

UConn-Bucknell, NCAA Tournament Round 1

But that’s pretty much the extent of what’s stuck with me. So I’m pretty open to first-round draft candidates for the Hawks. Except. Except this:

“By getting younger and more athletic at the point guard position despite Jeff Teague’s emergence, why not solidify that position by drafting Connecticut’s Kemba Walker? This team has many needs, but I do see a scenario in which Kemba Walker could help transform Atlanta’s team profile and franchise.”

And this:

“I believe Jeff Teague, Kemba Walker and Kirk Hinrich can co-exist together in much the same way that Dallas’s trio of Jason Kidd, J.J. Berea and Jason Terry have thrived with the Mavericks.”

Nope. Wrong answer. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m a huge Kemba fan. I too was in awe of his determination and work ethic during the Big East tournament. But he is not the answer to the Hawks’ problems.

» Continue reading “What Not To Draft: Kemba Walker Is Not The Answer To The Hawks’ Problems”