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He played relatively well in the summer league, but can he handle the role of running the team?

Jeff Teague has shown nothing to make an objective person think that he is ready to be the starting PG for a playoff team.

killbuckner wrote:Jeff Teague has shown nothing to make an objective person think that he is ready to be the starting PG for a playoff team.

What are the other options though? Bibby(who can't get within 15 feet of the rim)or the pg equivalent of Josh Powell? The options are limited unless they plan on adding even more long term salary by trading for a guy like Mo Williams or Calderon.

Even with Bibby's problem, and if Teague will start, I'd bet that in the same conditions, with the same 4 other guys, the team will be better with Bibby than Teague.

Following seasons can be a different story, and I hope it for Teague, but at this moment, we can't be sure of anything.

1. The Hawks will have one of the lowest ranked starting pg's in the league unless Teague or Bibby plays significantly better than they did in 2010.

2. Stop putting so much stock into plus/minus. Bibby's wasn't even a positive in 2009 despite that being his best year as a Hawk by a WIDE margin.

killbuckner wrote:Jeff Teague has shown nothing to make an objective person think that he is ready to be the starting PG for a playoff team.

Ready? No. Necessary for the future of the team? Yes.

Teague is far from necessary for the future of the team. it would still jsut be a bonus if he ends up turning into even a solid 6th man.

I've said before that Teague's 2 years away and I'll stick with that. However, he can be fine right now in the regular season, especially in an up-and-down game. I think he'll have problems when the game slows down in the 4th and in the playoffs. If we can get major minutes out of Teague early and then let Bibby play the last 10 minutes of the game, we'll be in good shape.

The other consideration is Drew's offense: if it doesn't need a traditional PG, then JaCrawford can log the majority of minutes.

killbuckner wrote:Teague is far from necessary for the future of the team. it would still jsut be a bonus if he ends up turning into even a solid 6th man.

Who runs our point then 2 years down the line, barring a CP3 heist?

Teague's got the physical gifts to be another Rondo. I don't get the "solid 6th man" stuff. Save that for the Steve Blakes and Derek Fishers of the world -- the physically limited guys.

I am for starting Teague and either he flourishes or fails. If he can't handle the job I'd rather know now because next years draft might have 5-6 stud PGs in it. I might be more cautious had the ASG loaded up for a run this year but they didn't. We have the same roster as last year so the vast amount of improvement must come from within as Coaching/Schemes can only go so far.

Who runs our point then 2 years down the line, barring a CP3 heist?

If I were betting on the starting PG opening day of the 2012 season I'd bet on Bibby, Someone not on the current roster, Crawford, and Teague in the order of most likely to least likely. And I say this as someone who thinks Bibby is in the process of a huge decline. Teague was drafted where he was in large part because of his shooting- considering how disastrous he was shooting the ball last season I don't see how anyone right now thinks that he is likely to be a starter in 2 years.

I'm not seeing why you are averse to starting Teague. Like dallas said, he either does well or sucks. If he does well, great. If he sucks, well, I'd rather find out now than when Bibby is 34 years old and can't guard a YMCA-league player.

Seriously, list me the long-term downsides of starting Teague over Bibby. I can't see any.

There aren't any long term downsides to starting teague this season. In fact its a net positive since the Hawks could be in the lottery with Teague at the point and longterm that probably does help.

Teh downsides are that teague had terrible PG skills in college and has been abysmal shooter in the pros. I just don't see the upside of starting him that you do. My belief on young players is that you should pick and choose spots where they are put in position to succeed and once they show they can handle that you start expanding out their role. Teague hasn't earned more time yet.

killbuckner wrote:... In fact its a net positive since the Hawks could be in the lottery with Teague at the point and longterm that probably does help.

I absolutely disagree and I can't see where you're coming from with that opinion.

Even if Teague plays as poorly as Bibby played last year, we're still an athletic, talented team. We'll run well; we'll defend well; IN THE REGULAR SEASON, we'll be tough to beat.

In the playoffs, however, is where Teague's inexperience will hurt us.

If you put one of the worst shooters in the league as the starting PG I think you are dramatically underestimating how much that will hurt the offense.

killbuckner wrote:There aren't any long term downsides to starting teague this season. In fact its a net positive since the Hawks could be in the lottery with Teague at the point and longterm that probably does help.

Teh downsides are that teague had terrible PG skills in college and has been abysmal shooter in the pros. I just don't see the upside of starting him that you do. My belief on young players is that you should pick and choose spots where they are put in position to succeed and once they show they can handle that you start expanding out their role. Teague hasn't earned more time yet.

Yes, giving Teague more than 10 minutes a game is sending us straight into the lottery

Young players, like all people, need to be handled on a case by case basis. Kwame Brown might have always been a draft bust, but MJ yelling at him and calling him a six-letter slur repeatedly and treating him like garbage every time he screwed up destroyed his confidence and certainly didn't help. Scottie Pippen on the other hand blocked out Jordan's assholeness and embraced the challenge and is now a Top 25 All-Time player, Top 50 at worst. Teague I think is the type of player that needs to be thrust into the fire.

I'll point out that numerous players had pretty bad rookie seasons. For instance, Teague has almost identical Per36 stats as TP:

11.2 vs 11.4 PTs
5.3 vs 6.1 ASTs
3.1 vs 3.4 TRBs
1.4 vs 1.7 STL
0.1 vs 0.6 BLK
2.4 vs 2.5 TOV
42/32/68 vs 40/22/84 %s
2.6 vs 4.1 PFs

The first column is Tony Parker. The second column is Jeff Teague. Would you have written off Tony Parker too?

If you dramatically improve your defense and fast break, I think you're underestimating how much that'll help.

The guy shot 84% FTs last year and shot in the 80's each season for Wake Forest -- that's a man who has potential for being a good shooter. You'll have to admit, Woodson's treatment of him was poor and presented him in a bad light.

Jeff Teague is a better shooter than Rajon Rondo, who made the All-Star Game. He's also a better shooter than Mario Chalmers, the starting PG for the Heat superteam. He is far from one of the worst shooters in the league.

You are talking about making Teague the starting PG. If you want to start him and sit him in crunch time then I suppose that still qualifies but I don't see the benefit of it.

From Watching Teague I don't think he showed enough to be anywhere close to a starting PG for a playoff team. I don't know that he is even a quality backup at this point. He was drafted because he shot 44% from 3- with his lousy turnover ratio in college if he had been such a poor shooter he would never have gotten drafted in the first round. I haven't written off Teague by any stretch of the imagination- I just need to see actual good play from him against NBA plaeyrs before I'll talk about giving him a bigger role on the team and will just laugh when people talk about starting him.

Teague was one of the worst shooters in the league last year. His college career shows that last year may have been an aberration but there are lots of guys who could shoot in college who turned into terrible shooters in the pros when they had less time to get their shot off and had to beat taller players. I haven't at all written Teague off- I just don't have any evidence that he will be an asset to a playoff team at PG this season.