There were so many positive storylines out of the Atlanta Hawks 20 point victory against the reigning NBA champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. Kevin Huerter showed some of the game which ledf to him get his extension, and Trae Young‘s 42 point near triple-double was electrifiying.
Danilo Gallinari quitened some of the trade rumors with a solid 10 point performance. What is more important for the Hawks is that the big Italian shooting sensation looked back to his usual form, hitting shots in the mid range and from deep.
However, the one storyline which made me, and I am sure many Atlanta natives smile, was that Sharife Cooper, the Hawks second round pick, got his first points in the NBA. That is a special moment for any NBA player, let alone one who was dafted by their local team.
Now the Atlanta Hawks and Sharife Cooper need to build on this moment.
How it happened was Cooper was out in transition and made the easy layup. Despite the fact that he had never scored in the NBA before, his head was still on a swivel, looking for the best option before he called his own number. That says a lot about the young man, he puts his team before himself.
Cooper showed in the first game for the College Park Skyhawks that he is certainly able to lead the offense as he carried this team in the first half of the first game, putting on a good show. Unfortunately the Skyhawks lost that game but Cooper learned so much from his time on the court.
The next game for the Hawks is against the Orlando Magic on Monday. This is the second night of a back-to-back, but fortunately for the Hawks, it is at home meaning that they don’t have the rigors of travel to contend with. They should win this game, and if they can get the margin up early, then Cooper has the chance to build on his confidence with more court time.
This means that when he gets reassigned to the Skyhawks, he is going to be able to play with greater frredom. This will hopefully get the Skyhawks their first win of the season on the 17th of November.