Summer League Wrap Up
By Editorial Staff
The Atlanta Hawks concluded their summer league play with an 89-83 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves summer league team. The Hawks ended with a record of 3-2. As I stated during the first summer league game, winning isn’t what is important in these games. What is important is the players and the evaluation of those players in this small sample size. Overall, it’s difficult to get a good gauge on what a player can do. Summer league games are conducive to players that can get up and down the court, and sometimes, guys who are shooters have a little trouble finding a rhythm in this type of setting. With that said, the Hawks appear to have two players on this summer league team that can make an impact on the team during the regular season.
Jeff Teague— The Hawks basically set this roster up as a way to showcase Jeff Teague and give him the green light and the confidence to take charge and run the team. It remains to be seen whether Larry Drew will ask him to do in the regular season what he was asked to do in the summer league. After the first couple of games, Jeff took the shackles off and played his style. He attacked the basket off the dribble, got to the free throw, and showed that he can make a variety of floaters in the line. For the most part, he shied away from shooting jump shots, particularly pull up jumpers off the dribble. It isn’t surprising, because this was his game when he was at Wake Forest. When he came out, he was one of the top guards relative to attacking the lane and getting to the free throw line. Jeff also showed that he has an upside as a playmaker, whether he is making plays for himself or for his teammates. The Hawks tried surrounding him with shooters, but many of his passes ended up being missed shots, diminishing his overall assists total in Las Vegas. Overall, Jeff shot well from the floor hitting around 52% of his shots overall. He also shot 33 free throw attempts and 46 shot attempts overall. Jeff also showed that there was no one in this league that could match his quickness and keep him from getting into the lane. Like I said, the question about him in the regular season is two fold. Will he be asked to play this way? Will he play timidly and defer to the more veteran players? Overall, I’m very encouraged by Jeff’s performance. The turnovers are something we may have to live with, because he was also like that in college.
Jordan Crawford — Jordan showed that he has tremendous basketball instincts, not only as a scorer, but also as a defender as well as an all around player. Granted, Jordan did show some of the things this coaching staff will be working hard on him with as things progress forward. His shot selection needs to be honed in, as he has never met a shot that he dislikes. He did show his range for the most part, hitting around 30% of his three point shots. A little over 1/3rd of his shots were three point shots as well. The unexpected thing that Jordan showed is that he has very good passing instincts when he struggles to get his shot off. He showed above average court vision, getting his big men easy buckets around the basket when he was able to draw attention to himself. Another surprising aspect of Jordan’s game was that he got to the free throw line at a fairly high rate. This was one of his major criticisms coming out of Xavier. He would attack the basket, but he would either shoot a pull up jumper from the elbow or throw up a floater in the lane rather than taking it strong. As a result, he didn’t get to the free throw line at a high rate and wasn’t a great finisher as a result. He improved this aspect in summer league, so it will be interesting to see if this continues as the regular season progresses. It is going to be tough for Jordan to find minutes on this team, but unlike the previous head coach, I feel Larry Drew will find a way to get him on the floor even if it is in limited time.
Both of these players showed very good ability in the open floor. Jeff Teague finished strong on the fast break, and Jordan showed a tremendous instinct for getting the ball up the floor quickly, whether it was via a pass or taking it himself. Once Teague settled down and stopped deferring, he ran the break very well.
I don’t feel anyone else on the team played to the point that made me feel they would be a contributor in the regular season on this team. Trey Gilder is a player that has some talent. He’s very long and athletic, although he is very skinny for his position. If he could shoot the basketball at all, he would be on an NBA roster. He could be a solid small forward if he improves his shooting, and I would consider bringing him to camp just to see if I could help him improve his shooting stroke if I were Larry Drew. Larry is known for helping poor shooters improve their shooting ability.
Richard Hendrix had a strong showing as a low post offensive threat. He shot a high percentage from the floor and was able to gain position on the low block. With that said, while he blocked a few shots, he didn’t show much presence defensively. Richard is one of those players who has the wide body many want in a low post player, but he lacks the length and athleticism to make an impact defensively.
Conversely, Alade Aminuis a player that has the length and athleticism to make an impact on the defensive end. Unlike Richard Hendrix though, Alade showed that he is still very raw when it comes to offense. He showed well on the fast break and when finishing around the basket, but he’s very limited when it comes to gaining position on the low block and doing something with the ball once he gains position. If the Hawks were willing to use the NBDL the way they should, then Alade would be a solid option as a 14th or 15th man on the roster. Jermareo Davidson is another player that has the length and athleticism to make an impact defensively and on the boards. He’s a very active player, though he didn’t block as many shots as I would have liked to have seen him block.
James Augustineended up being the best rebounder on a relatively poor rebounding team this summer. James has the overall size that some of the other big men on this roster lacked. Once he got his feet under him, he actually finished the summer league relatively strong. He was solid on the low block offensively and was able to get his body in the muck and grab some boards. He showed no awareness when it came to defense though and didn’t block a single shot. He did get a lot of personal fouls called on him. With his past NBA experience, he is a player that could come to camp and compete for a job as a 5th big man. He would be a borderline roster guy though and likely a 12th or 13th man overall at best.
Sergiy Gladyr showed that he isn’t quite ready for the speed of the game, and Pape Syshowed that he may have some tools to work with. Neither player is ready to compete for a roster spot and will be stashed overseas for further seasoning. I do feel like Sy has the potential to be a Boris Diaw type of player in the NBA based on what I saw from him. Gladyr just couldn’t find his shot, and as I stated above, this kind of setting isn’t conducive for a guy like Gladyr to have success.
I don’t feel anyone else that was on this roster is really worth mentioned. Luke Jackson was a potential NBA player a few years ago, but I feel his time has now passed. He has a future in the European leagues but not in the NBA. Randolph Morris showed why the Hawks need to move on without him.