March Madness Thread

[HMFFL]

Many of you support one of these teams. I know Dallas likes Duke.

This board doesn't need to be all about Hawks basketball. The 2nd just started and Duke is making this a game.

[HoopsGuru25]

I wouldn't mind drafting Ty Lawson at all. The guy was on crutches less than a week ago yet still was the fastest player on the court by far. I don't see how he's ranked on the 20s on nbadraft.net when Felton went 5th.

[evildallas]

Hard loss for my beloved Devils, but at least it wasn't the total drubbing we took back at Cameron in February. Maybe we'll meet in the ACC Tourney next weekend.

Lawson isn't my favorite among the PGs in the draft, but we could do a lot worse. There are several guys (and he is one of them) with the quickness to thrive under the current rules that might be available when we pick. Guys that I think will be able handle running a team while still on their rookie deal.

[LL Cool Scott]

Great win for my beloved 'Heels. Lawson was billed as a Felton clone as a freshman, but he lacks something that Felton had. I can't put my finger on it. He'll never be more than a back-up point for a good team. He'd be a steal in the late first round though, as would Hansbrough. Although Carolina is the far better team, I think Dook has the two best pro prospects in Henderson and Singler.

[evildallas]

Not sure I'd want any part of Hansbrough on the NBA level, but Ed Davis might be intriguing down the road. He doesn't get much PT being a freshman but he seems to have an edge about him. Hansbrough has great college player weak pro written all over him. I didn't want anything to do with Shelden Williams, JJ Redick, or Scott May either. I too like Henderson's pro prospects as he might develop into a poor man's Dwayne Wade. I'm not sure on Singler. He seems crafty and able to play at the NBA level, but doesn't have the strength to play the 4 and might not have the foot speed to play the 3. He could still be a solid player, but I wouldn't expect him to ever be a superstar. Maybe a slightly better Matt Harpring, which isn't a bad thing.

I'm a little bit higher on Ty Lawson that you seem to be or maybe it's that I never really thought too highly of Felton. Lawson seems to accomplish the same level of production with greater effeciency. Shooting a higher percentage and with a better Assist to Turnover ratio. He's been a tad bit injury prone, but I see he as a better pure point and a steal in the 20s. One mock has him going late lottery though, which I don't think would work out as well. He isn't my favorite PG either, ignoring the guys who should go top 10 (Jennings, Teague), I'm still a big fan of Patrick Mills and Eric Maynor. I have Lawson ahead of Darren Collison, AJ Price or Tyrese Rice. Don't know about Jonny Flynn as I haven't managed to watch any Syracuse action.

[LL Cool Scott]

I mainly agree with you. I don't see any NBA stars on either roster. Lawson is a little slower than Felton, and much smaller and weaker. Better jump shot, identical decision maker, passer and ball-handler. Felton just has a bigger, faster, more athletic body than Lawson. Hansbrough is a 15 minute a game, spark-plug. I'd love to have him just for his passion and the effect he'd have on some of the guys in our locker-room who look like they're comatose on the court sometimes (yes, I'm talking to you Joe and Josh). Singler has such a good jumper and he's big enough to get it off, so I think he'll be a good enough pro. Your take on Henderson is spot on.

[HoopsGuru25]

The biggest thing with Lawson is that he would be much better in an uptempo offense. I don't see where he would fit in with the Hawks right now seeing how slow our pace is and how much he would have to play off the ball. His best case scenario is probably TJ Ford but Ford has become a much more respectable mid range shooter since he's been in the league. I think Lawson could as well if he has the work ethic. He is definitely going to have to fix his low release if he wants to get his shot off in the NBA though.

Hansbrough has some big red flags. He's already old-even for a 4 year senior(He'll be 24 his rookie year). He also blocks a ridiculously low amount of shots for a player with such a great motor. The NBA is an above the rim game and I'm not sure Hansbrough has the physical ability to contribute.

I'm still a big fan of Patrick Mills and Eric Maynor. I have Lawson ahead of Darren Collison, AJ Price or Tyrese Rice. Don't know about Jonny Flynn as I haven't managed to watch any Syracuse action.

I think Tyreke Evans,Terrance Williams,and Blair are players who I would love to have at 19 but I'd probably rank the non-elite point guard prospects 1.Maynor 2.Lawson 3.Flynn 4.Mills 5.Collison for the Hawks. Maynor seems to have a good balance of scoring/passing while being 2 inches taller than the other four. Draftexpress has Lawson going in the lottery and Maynor going late 1st, while NBADraft.net has Maynor going 10th and Lawson going 23rd.

Mills played well in the Olympics but I haven't been impressed in the few times I've seen him this year vs weak competition. He takes a lot of 3 pointers for someone who is as quick as his scouting report indicates. I also didn't see many impressive drives to the basket where he set his teammates for easy baskets. Johnny Flynn is a guy who has a great 1st step(draws alot of fouls and is a great leaper) and good court vision but could use another year in college to mature. I wouldn't trust Mills or Flynn to be in the Hawks rotation next year but I definitely feel like Flynn's ceiling is a little higher. Darren Collison just screams backup to me.

[evildallas]

AJ Price is gaining in my eyes as I watch him play 6 OTs with 4 fouls on him. Impressive mental toughness. Although Jonny Flynn is equally impressive in the game.

[HoopsGuru25]

I can't say I would be interested in using a 1st rounder on Price. He isn't terrible but I would be cautious to draft a player who has several of the red flags(graduated HS 5 years ago-only 1 block all year and less than 1 spg) that Hollinger warns people about. He has been right so far about Acie and other lottery picks like Brewer and Morrison.

Flynn should definitely be on the Hawks radar if he declares. He's a very frustrating player if you get the chance to watch him regularly but I don't see how teams are going to keep him out the paint with his 1st step. The potential as a passer and scorer are there with Flynn but he still needs to let the game to him. I still think it would be a good idea to draft the BPA but this is a strong pg draft so we definitely have some quality options to choose from if we are going to draft for a particular need.

[LL Cool Scott]

Johnny Flynn just made himself some MONEY tonight.

[evildallas]

The PF (Patrick Patterson) that I hoped would be available at our pick stayed another year. The more I consider Price, the less I like him on the Hawks. If I'm not mistaken his red flags include 2 separate health issues (knee and brain) as well as a severe judgment question mark (laptop theft scandal). I'd relegate him to a backup projection. Flynn is still raw, but that 1st step combined with the NBA hand check rules could make him a late round steal especially if he works on his shot.

[HoopsGuru25]

Patterson quickly backtracked like most who say they are returning during the season.

http://www.wkyt.com/sports/headlines/41171847.html

I think the gap between Lawson and Flynn on my draft board for the Hawks might be closing. They are both super quick but Flynn seems more durable(plays more minutes and doesn't have nagging injuries)and while not a great shooter-he doesn't have a mechanical flaw in his shot like Lawson does.

[JoshB914]

Can we sticky a March Madness thread? There have been some great games the past few days and there are many more to come. I'm not a big college bball guy but there is nothing quite like the conference and NCAA tournaments.

[HMFFL]

^
No problem.

I like Tennessee over Mississippi St.

Purdue over Ohio St.

Upsets:

Duke favored to win by 5.5 against FSU. Toney Douglas showed off for his hometown against UNC and his brother is Harry Douglas who plays for the Atlanta Falcons if some of you didn't know. I like FSU and the hometown kids to finally get the best of Duke.

Texas San Antonio over Stephen F. Austin

[HoopsGuru25]

I think Eric Maynor is going to eat Darren Collison's lunch. He couldn't have asked for a better game to remove the "weak competition" label people have been giving him.

[raleigh]

Maynor vs. Collison will depend more on pace than anything else.

(I'm a Collison guy myself. A prototypical backup PG).

[smittylo]

Too bad i dont have a hometown team to root for this year. Im kinda interested to see how Miss State does in the tourney along with Syracuse.

[evildallas]

I feel for St. Mary's. They were the only real snub in my eyes. I doubt the credentials of Arizona and Wisconsin (although I don't have a second sure snub, San Diego St maybe). Patty Mills and Steph Curry give some excitement to the NIT.

Haven't had a chance to figure out the first round upsets to trumpet yet. I really want to see Eric Maynor go up against UCLA. And I need to research Binghamton (alma mater of Tony Kornheiser) to find out why the other coaches in their conference black-balled Binghamton's players for season honors voting.

ACC Tournament: Duke covered and I loved it. Too bad I had to give up a couple Hawks games to make time to see it, but that and the cost of my seat were worth it. I sat right behind the Duke band for all games, NC band for the FSU upset, and Maryland band for their upset of Wake Forest. Fun times. Didn't get to see day 1 or Friday's first session because of work. The only game that was unpleasant was the BC game because there was a Tar Heel fan (judging by his attire) in the row behind me that ran his mouth constantly and his comments were vile, mean-spirited, and often had nothing to do with basketball. Every team has its share of obnoxious fans, my teams included, but I found myself wishing bad things on this person. I would have probably done them to him myself except for my aversion to jail time and the fact I didn't want to miss the rest of the tourney.

[HoopsGuru25]

I don't know how Arizona got in. They only won 19 games and came into tourny losing 5 of 6.

As for the Collison-Maynor matchup...Collison has been a guy on the 1st round of mocks since his sophmore year but usually his stock takes a huge hit when UCLA get's eliminated. Collison has played particularly bad in UCLA's NCAA tournament losses in the last 3 years. He shot 4-26 in those games. I hope the Hawks avoid Collison. He just doesn't look like an NBA point guard. After 4 years of college he is still built like a kid and his shot(which is good percentage wise)still has a slow/ugly release. There are quite a few point guards that I prefer over him in this draft.

[JoshB914]

One of the important criteria that people forget about is that an NCAA bid is about the "body of work" and not just how you've been playing down the stretch. To me, 'Zona had a better overall resume than an SMC or SDSU (whom they beat) with some very nice non-conference victories and average performance in the Pac 10. I had no problem with them getting in.