Welcome to ATL John Collins!

[Jamaaliver]

If Collins is good enough to play, play him at the NBA-level. Otherwise, we'll be looking down the line lamenting him going through growing pains we could've gotten out of the way

And, again, this isn't a wrong line of thinking.

But I'd be okay if he got those growing pains out of the way in Erie. Not in Atlanta.

Remember who Collins will be playing beside in ATL. Last year, Dennis and Dwight bumped heads, Struggled to play together on the floor.

Taurean and Bembry are still learning the ropes.

Bazemore...is not good.

Throwing our top pick into that mess could get real ugly, real quick.

I remember that 13-69 season pre-Joe Johnson. Pre Mike Bibby.

It's not fun watching 4 or 5 young guys all learning the NBA on the same roster.

Not to mention that Budenholzer is not the most patient coach when it comes to young players.

I foresee some pretty rough patches for all the young guys.

[MaceCase]

On a team with no real shot at making noise in the conference the young guys should be given every opportunity to prove whether or not they can be franchise staples first rather than be punted to an inferior league from the onset. It's really that simple, I don't see the need to argue any top prospect being sent down for months when there's really zero precedent for that particularly when you want to excuse SL performance but think you'll get a better evaluation from the GLeague. One offers competition against other future starters and stars whereas the other offers competition against hoop dreamers hopeful to even get a 10-day call up.

[Jamaaliver]

I have to agree with Mace on this one...

I tend to prefer my rooks earning their time. A lot of guys that get heavy minutes from the onset build a lot of bad habits that take years to get addressed if ever.

[MaceCase]

Yea, that means starting off with 10, 15, 20 minutes rather than giving 35 minutes from the onset or 0 minutes as they play 1,000 miles away.

[Jamaaliver]

The buzz keeps growing for the 19th pick in the draft.

Read on Twitter

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[atlantabbq99]

I'll say the same thing i said when Matt Ryan was a rookie, and that is ''play the kid''

If the Hawks were a contender playoff team, then I would say ''sit the kid and let him learn'', but since this year's Hawks are in the same position as the 2008 Falcons, and its a ''nothing to lose'' season, then go ahead and ''play the kid''

Budz has a great offense, but the system is notoriously been know to be hard to learn. When Teague and Horford first learned the system they, and the team did not do well. That is why the Hawks only won 38 games.

I don't think Collins will pick up Budz offense in the first year but he needs playing time and understanding the pressure of NBA life. If things go well, he could be like Prince were he started to get the hang of the system in the last three months of the system.

[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

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John Collins joined the Atlanta Hawks with relatively modest expectations. After 10 days in Las Vegas, those expectations skyrocketed on the back of a very exciting, very efficient brand of basketball.

With that said, the overarching concerns with Collins came on the defensive end and it would be tough for any rookie to assuage those doubts based on Summer League performance. To that end, Sean Devaney of the Sporting News caught up with who he describes as a “league scout”. In terms of things that the scout “didn’t love,” Collins’ defense was the topic.

“You have to wonder about where he fits defensively. He is probably going to guard 4s, but he did not show that he’s ready for that. He’ll make a lot of mistakes, the question is, how does he learn from them?”

[atlantabbq99]

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John Collins joined the Atlanta Hawks with relatively modest expectations. After 10 days in Las Vegas, those expectations skyrocketed on the back of a very exciting, very efficient brand of basketball.

With that said, the overarching concerns with Collins came on the defensive end and it would be tough for any rookie to assuage those doubts based on Summer League performance. To that end, Sean Devaney of the Sporting News caught up with who he describes as a “league scout”. In terms of things that the scout “didn’t love,” Collins’ defense was the topic.

“You have to wonder about where he fits defensively. He is probably going to guard 4s, but he did not show that he’s ready for that. He’ll make a lot of mistakes, the question is, how does he learn from them?”

Scouts also said that Paul Millsap and Draymond Green, coming out of college, would also be poor defenders in the NBA ...

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/paul-millsap

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/draymond-green

[macd-gm]

Read on Twitter

John Collins joined the Atlanta Hawks with relatively modest expectations. After 10 days in Las Vegas, those expectations skyrocketed on the back of a very exciting, very efficient brand of basketball.

With that said, the overarching concerns with Collins came on the defensive end and it would be tough for any rookie to assuage those doubts based on Summer League performance. To that end, Sean Devaney of the Sporting News caught up with who he describes as a “league scout”. In terms of things that the scout “didn’t love,” Collins’ defense was the topic.

“You have to wonder about where he fits defensively. He is probably going to guard 4s, but he did not show that he’s ready for that. He’ll make a lot of mistakes, the question is, how does he learn from them?”

Scouts also said that Paul Millsap and Draymond Green, coming out of college, would also be poor defenders in the NBA ...

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/paul-millsap

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/draymond-green

Well I read both of those and they didn't say either guy would be a poor defender. Said Sap lacked the foot speed to guard SFs, which is true, and said Draymond would struggle to stay in front of quick guards on the perimeter which is true but doesn't say anything about them being poor defenders overall. Or inability to defend their positions.

[Geaux_Hawks]

Yea, that means starting off with 10, 15, 20 minutes rather than giving 35 minutes from the onset or 0 minutes as they play 1,000 miles away.

And that's why I believe we brought Ersan back for. Ersan probably starts, and as the season progresses, we will see more and more of Collins.

[atlantabbq99]

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Scouts also said that Paul Millsap and Draymond Green, coming out of college, would also be poor defenders in the NBA ...

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/paul-millsap

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/draymond-green

Well I read both of those and they didn't say either guy would be a poor defender. Said Sap lacked the foot speed to guard SFs, which is true, and said Draymond would struggle to stay in front of quick guards on the perimeter which is true but doesn't say anything about them being poor defenders overall. Or inability to defend their positions.

They both gave each guy a defensive rating of 6 out of 10. Now both guys are all defensive first teams

[Robo_Claw]

No one can predict the future 100%. There are so many variables at play. Who knows what the team leadership/culture is like, or the personal drive to improve every day, or work ethic in general, plus coaching. The spurs are great at these things, Kawhi might never have developed into the player he is now if he went to the knicks or cavs. Hopefully we can continue to improve as one of those teams that can develop the best out of young players.

[Jamaaliver]

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Team definitely seems willing to milk this kid for all the publicity they can get.

Is he a lock for the dunk contest this year?

[jayu70]

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Team definitely seems willing to milk this kid for all the publicity they can get.

Is he a lock for the dunk contest this year?

I prefer he doesn't enter - it has turned into something unwatchable.

[MaceCase]

Heh, Derrick Jones spent most of his rookie season in the DLeague before he was selected for the dunk contest so Collins should be a lock.

[Jamaaliver]

That's an interesting comment because, when I read your posts, I was thinking "Man, this dude's looking at this through a baseball-esque prism". That's wrong, IMHO. The GL is not a true minor league. It may get there someday but it's not there yet. In MLB, you can see prospects wait like 45 years before finally making the big team and everybody's ok with it. That is decidedly not the case in the NBA.

I read a piece by Michael Cunningham today regarding Dansby Swanson's struggles which reminded me of the conversation we had last week about J Collins' development.

Now Swanson is headed to Triple-A for the first time.

You can find fault with how the Braves handled Swanson, on both the baseball and business sides:

A) There was the team’s marketing push with Swanson last year before he even made it to the majors, an effort that increased exponentially this season.
B) There was manager Brian Snitker’s decision to bat Swanson No. 2 to begin this season, which only increased the pressure on the rookie.

I want to reiterate -- the JC kid is gonna struggle this year. I just hope Hawks fans aren't putting too much pressure/too high expectations on the 19-20 year old.

Patience is key. Especially when it comes to kids this young and unproven.

Spoiler:

The fan base had sky-high expectations for teenage Marvin Williams a decade ago. The response was visceral when he failed to live up to some very lofty standards.

[jayu70]

That's an interesting comment because, when I read your posts, I was thinking "Man, this dude's looking at this through a baseball-esque prism". That's wrong, IMHO. The GL is not a true minor league. It may get there someday but it's not there yet. In MLB, you can see prospects wait like 45 years before finally making the big team and everybody's ok with it. That is decidedly not the case in the NBA.

I read a piece by Michael Cunningham today regarding Dansby Swanson's struggles which reminded me of the conversation we had last week about J Collins' development.

Now Swanson is headed to Triple-A for the first time.

You can find fault with how the Braves handled Swanson, on both the baseball and business sides:

A) There was the team’s marketing push with Swanson last year before he even made it to the majors, an effort that increased exponentially this season.
B) There was manager Brian Snitker’s decision to bat Swanson No. 2 to begin this season, which only increased the pressure on the rookie.

I want to reiterate -- the JC kid is gonna struggle this year. I just hope Hawks fans aren't putting too much pressure/too high expectations on the 19-20 year old.

Patience is key. Especially when it comes to kids this young and unproven.

Spoiler:

The fan base had sky-high expectations for teenage Marvin Williams a decade ago. The response was visceral when he failed to live up to some very lofty standards.

This is not baseball.
Marvin was the #2 pick.
Most fans wanted Chris Paul.
Bud will play him if he deserves to play.

[macd-gm]

Hoping Collins can contribute and get good minutes. Aaron Gordon and Myles Turner did when they came into the league. Don't know if they are good comparisons or not.

[kg01]

That's an interesting comment because, when I read your posts, I was thinking "Man, this dude's looking at this through a baseball-esque prism". That's wrong, IMHO. The GL is not a true minor league. It may get there someday but it's not there yet. In MLB, you can see prospects wait like 45 years before finally making the big team and everybody's ok with it. That is decidedly not the case in the NBA.

I read a piece by Michael Cunningham today regarding Dansby Swanson's struggles which reminded me of the conversation we had last week about J Collins' development.

Now Swanson is headed to Triple-A for the first time.

You can find fault with how the Braves handled Swanson, on both the baseball and business sides:

A) There was the team’s marketing push with Swanson last year before he even made it to the majors, an effort that increased exponentially this season.
B) There was manager Brian Snitker’s decision to bat Swanson No. 2 to begin this season, which only increased the pressure on the rookie.

I want to reiterate -- the JC kid is gonna struggle this year. I just hope Hawks fans aren't putting too much pressure/too high expectations on the 19-20 year old.

Patience is key. Especially when it comes to kids this young and unproven.

Spoiler:

The fan base had sky-high expectations for teenage Marvin Williams a decade ago. The response was visceral when he failed to live up to some very lofty standards.

Lots of apples/oranges comps going on.

Like jay said, this isn't baseball and Collins isn't being looked at to save or lead the franchise.

Marv was the #2 pick which, in the NBA, is supposed to be a possible all-star. Marvin having the demeanor and drive of a career role-player was why the backlash happened IMHO.

Those expectations won't be there for Collins. Shii, even if they are, that's why they pay them the big bucks. No need for hand-wringing. Play the dude. In the immortal words of the great Drago ... if he dies, he dies.