Grizzlies 89, Hawks 85
By Editorial Staff
The Hawks fell to the Memphis Grizzlies in summer league action tonight 89-85. Winning or losing in the summer leagues isn’t what is important though. What you see on the basketball court is what is important. Tonight probably isn’t a great gauge to determine what the Hawks will be doing offensively under Larry Drew, though I saw several on the ball screens, off the ball screens, and back door cuts. I think these things will develop more as this group plays together more this summer. With that said, summer games are about player evaluations so let’s get to them.
Jeff Teague — Jeff did a very nice job tonight pushing the tempo at times. He created several opportunities for easy buckets early on, but his teammates didn’t capitalize on those. As a result, his assists total is low in this game. Jeff also did what he does best, which is get into the lane and get to the free throw line. He didn’t shoot much from the perimeter, hitting the only three point shot he took. Jeff showed a lot of quickness on the floor. Defensively, he’s got a long ways to go. Offensively, there are still times where he doesn’t make good decisions on when to push the ball and when to pull it back out. Overall, this was a nice start for Jeff in the summer league, and hopefully he will continue to gain confidence and develop as the summer league goes along. It’s funny. Watching him tonight, I felt the same way I felt when I watched Jason Terry back in 2000 when Life College used to host a summer league. I was in Atlanta during that summer league visiting a friend who was doing a co-op that summer in Roswell.
Jordan Crawford — His shooting percentage doesn’t look great, but Jordan may have been the most impressive player on the floor for the Hawks. He scored 16 points in the game in a very inefficient fashion as it took him 15 shots to get there, but he also dished out 5 assists. The guy can definitely shoot the basketball. He showed a great stroke from the perimeter, hitting 4 of the 9 three point shots he took. I would like to see him attack the basket more and finish strong. The couple of times he penetrated, he shots some floaters as opposed to taking it strong to the rim. Much like Jeff, Jordan has a long way to go defensively. It will be interesting to see if he can crack the 9 man rotation during the season and what his role will end up being. He clearly has a lot of ability.
Alade Aminu — Alade was the surprise of the night for me. I called him a long shot in my most recent blog entry, but he looked very good tonight. He was 6 of 8 from the floor and scored 14 points. He only had 3 rebounds, but you could tell that his length gave the Grizzlies some trouble. His length and athleticism makes him a very intriguing player, and he was very good when playing in transition. The Hawks have talked about doing a better job of player development, so if Alade has many more summer games like this, he should at least earn a shot to go to training camp with the Hawks.
Pape Sy — Ah, the player no one knows much about. This guy has some ability though. His ball handling is very, very good for a player his size and as he got comfortable, he started attacking the basket. He’s got great size and length. Overall, I thought he did a good job of getting the Hawks into their half court sets. He looks like he has a lot of potential as a defender, and when he started attacking the basket, he got to the free throw line. I think he has a lot of Boris Diaw in him, right down to not looking for his shot. Pape only took 2 shots on the night, but he shot 5 free throws. He’s a very intriguing player who I want to see more of as the summer goes along. He will be stashed overseas for a year or two, but the Hawks may have found a solid bench contributor here.
Trey Gilder — Much like Aminu, Gilder’s length and athleticism intrigue me. He seemed to be pretty active, though he couldn’t throw the ball into the ocean if he was standing 3 feet from it tonight. Defensively, he did not look good at all. I can see some offensive potential in this guy. If his shot starts falling, he has a chance to become a solid scorer. I think with some development, he could make someones bench in the NBA. He has a lot of Jamario Moon in him.
Sergiy Gladyr — He didn’t play very much and didn’t get to shoot much when he did. However, in the limited time he was on the floor, you could tell this guy has a natural shooting stroke with a quick release. With some seasoning, I think he could be a spot up shooter off the bench.
No one else really impressed me tonight. I hope to watch a few more summer league games to get a good feel on these guys.