Who are the most crucial Atlanta Hawks players? Part 1

15.  Mike Scott, PF 

Mike Scott scored 17 points, 15 in the second half, versus Indiana. (Scott Cunningham/NBAE/Getty Images)

Mike Scott is simply buried on the Hawks depth chart. The starting post positions are spoken for with Al Horford and Paul Millsap set in stone at center and power forward, and their backups are in place with the  additions of Pero Antic, Gustavo Ayon, and Elton Brand. Scott’s court time will likely be limited to mop-up duty at the end of lopsided games.

The second-year forward did put in a lot of work in the offseason, attempting to improve his game. Both Al Horford and GM Danny Ferry complimented Scott to the media during the Hawks Media Day. Despite his efforts, Scott is still a limited player and will likely struggle defensively. If you saw the preseason game against the Indiana Pacers, you know what I mean. In the first quarter of that game, Scott made a nice post move around Pacers forward Luis Scola and scored a basket. The 6″8′ Scott went on to play 22 minutes against the Pacers and scored 17 points. However, he was a glaring liability at the defensive end of the floor. Both Pacers forwards Scola and David West had little to no trouble scoring over Scott as they each dropped 20 and 24 points, respectively.

Scott is a “tweener”, too big to guard quicker, smaller players and too small to matchup with bigger, stronger players.