Hawks Draft Picks Meet the Media, 6/28/04

Hawks General Manager Billy Knight:
"We feel very excited to have these young guys added to our roster. We think these guys will bring a lot to our team and to our organization. They'll bring a lot of youth, a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, a lot of athleticism. We're really happy that they're all here. I'm looking forward to working with them."
"We all have to understand what we're doing here. We're going through a process. These players are part of our foundation that we'll have to go forward with. They each bring something that we find attractive. And we also find attractive the fact that these are fine young men. These are good guys. We do extensive background and research on all of our players and we think those things are important. We think being involved off the court in the community, in the city, those are things these players will bring also. And they'll have an influence on young people. We all know that's part of our charge."
"Collectively, they all bring something that we like, from energy to athleticism, passion, youth and adding to the future development of our team."

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Childress

Josh Childress:
"I'm very excited. I think this is a great situation for all of us here. We're in a situation where we're going to be part of the rebuilding process. With the management, everything is geared towards winning. I'm looking forward to it as well as these three guys here. The city of Atlanta is ready for success from the Hawks. That's the goal -- to come out here and bring that back to the organization. It's just a good situation."

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Smith

Josh Smith:
"Just like Josh, I'm excited to be here. We're going to win more games than last year. There will be great effort. I'm just glad to be back home and playing for the Hawks. We'll put in effort and hard work and win some games."

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Smith

Donta Smith:
"I'll repeat what they said. I'm just happy to be here. With these three guys, hopefully we can get the franchise back where it needs to be."

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Ivey

Royal Ivey:
"I'm ready to work, and make a contribution, along with these other guys, and do good things for this franchise."

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Royal, do you think you have a better chance than some second-round picks, given the team's roster situation?
"Yes, I feel this is a good situation for me. They brought us in here because they believed in us. I'm ready to work and play hard and do the little things to help this team win."
Does not having a coach in place bother you?
Childress: "I don't think so. I have a lot of trust in Mr. Knight. I think they'll do a great job of picking a coach. I'm pretty sure the coach will have the same kind of ideals and expectations they have for us."
Are you worried about losing here a lot more than you did in college?
Childress: "I think the most important thing is changing the mindset, changing it into a more winning-type atmosphere. Regardless what happens, if you learn from your mistakes. Then for every loss, you'll win and extra three. That's the approach we'll have to take. To learn why you're losing. I'm hoping that we don't lose too much. As long as we're playing hard, playing good defense, and executing on offense, we'll be fine. But we're young. So I'm not too worried about that. I've lost before, but it's what you learn from it that's important."
Royal, is your comparison to Eric Snow a good one?
"I think it's a fair comparison. Eric is a great player. I take pride in my defense. I get after people and play hard. He's a team player, who sets his team up and gets them in the offense. And he can hit the open shot. That's what I'd like to be as a player."

A Peek Inside Hawks Draft Center

Hawks Tab Childress, Smith In First Round of Draft

The Atlanta Hawks selected Stanford junior Josh Childress with the sixth overall pick, and Atlanta-area native and high school star Josh Smith 17th overall in the 2004 NBA Draft, held Thursday night in New York City. Atlanta subsequently drafted Donta Smith from Southeastern Illinois College (34th), Texas’ Royal Ivey (37th) and Viktor Sanikidze (42nd) with their second-round choices.
“We're very pleased and excited to have Josh Childress,” said Hawks General Manager Billy Knight. “We think he’ll be a good part of our foundation, a good part of our future. He adds to the athleticism of our team, the energy of our team, the perimeter shooting and the ball-handling of our team. He’ll help us on and off the court.”
“I’m so glad that I’m in Atlanta,” Childress said. “It’s a great city. The organization is really on a track to win and be successful, and it’s going to happen. We’re going to turn things around there, and make Atlanta the place to be. I can’t tell you how excited I was when the cameras came towards me.”
The first-ever Stanford player named Pac-10 Player of the Year, Childress also earned First Team All-America honors by the Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times, NABC and FoxSports.com. In 2003-04, Childress averaged 15.7 points, 7.5 rebounds (fifth in the conference), and led the Cardinal (ranking third in the Pac-10) in blocked shots. He scored in double figures in 22 of 23 games, and was named MVP of the Pac-10 Tournament, helping lead Stanford to an outstanding 30-2 mark.
“Josh Smith is a young player who we think has huge potential,” Knight said. “That will require us to work with him, and we think he’s a willing pupil. We think he has things that you can’t teach – the naturally athletic body, he’s long and rangy, he plays above the rim, and we have to work on the skill sets that he needs. He’s been so good up to this point with just athleticism.”
“This is very exciting to me,” Smith said. “I’m looking forward to playing back at home in front of the crowd. I feel I have the ability and the talent to play with these guys, but I need to work on some things. I will play hard every second I’m on the court this season, and do what I have to do to improve.”
Josh Smith played this past season at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia (averaging 25.8 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.0 blocks and 3.0 steals), and helped lead Oak Hill to a 38-0 mark and a No. 1 national ranking. He attended McEachern High School in Powder Springs for three years before transferring. Smith is a 2004 McDonald’s All-American, a PARADE Magazine All-America team member, and was named to the 2004 USA Men’s Junior National Select Team. He was a two-time First Team All-State selection at McEachern, and was named MVP of the Adidas ABCD Camp in the summer of 2003. He originally committed to play at Indiana University.
Donta Smith, the third-leading scorer in the junior college ranks, earned NJCAA All-American First Team honors and was named conference, district and region Player of the Year as a sophomore. He averaged 25.8 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists and finished his career at Southeastern Illinois College as the school’s all-time leading scorer (1,433). Smith committed to Louisville before making the decision to turn professional.
“Donta is another wing player,” Knight said. “He’s a skilled guy with the ball. He does a lot of things off the dribble and is a good athlete.”
Ivey, a 6-3 shooting guard and defensive specialist from Queens, NY, was the captain of the Longhorns and ended his collegiate career with 1,036 points, 406 rebounds and 300 assists, averaging 9.4 ppg, 4.3 apg and 4.0 rpg in 33 games this past season. He was named to the media’s All-Big 12 third team. He helped lead Texas to four consecutive NCAA Tournaments during his career, including three straight “Sweet 16” appearances, and a Final Four berth in 2003.
“Royal Ivey is a big point guard who can defend,” Knight said. “He’s equated in a lot of ways to an Eric Snow-type of point guard. He has toughness and some size.”
Sanikidze, a native of the Republic of Georgia, attended college in the United States at just 15 years of age, playing a season for Globe Tech Junior College in New York 2001-02. He returned home, where he spent the 2002-03 season with the amateur basketball club Academy Tbilisi. This past season, he averaged 1.9 points and 1.8 rebound in 5.8 minutes in French Pro A with Dijon.

Hawks Announce Ticket Pricing For Upcoming Season

ATLANTA, GA ----- The Atlanta Hawks today announced their ticket price information for the upcoming season, according to team President and CEO Bernie Mullin. The team is now accepting deposits on new full season tickets sales, and renewal kits have been mailed to existing season ticket holders. “We are very appreciative of the continued loyalty and support shown by all of our fans, and particularly by our season ticket holders,” said Mullin. “We have elected not to increase our box office prices and season ticket holders will continue to receive a substantive discount. For some of the season ticket holders, the amount of the discount has been reduced slightly, but all of this adjustment has been offset by more than equal value benefits. “Atlanta Spirit is committed to returning the hustle, passion and pride to the Atlanta Hawks. We are making improvements in every aspect of our business and we are dedicated to taking this team to a level this city will be proud of.” Ticket prices for season seat holders will range from $25 to $77 in non-premium locations and for most of them purchasing tickets in the mezzanine level or higher, season seat holders will enjoy on average, a 10% discount over the prices paid by the general public. Among the numerous benefits available to season ticket holders is a six-month, interest-free payment plan based on an initial payment in July 2004; a complimentary, authentic and personalized Hawks jersey; access to My Hawks Account Manager, a one-stop shop available on Hawks.com that allows fans to manage their season ticket account on-line; a 10% discount at the Team Gear Store; and invitations to exclusive season holder VIP receptions with team personnel, coaches, players and alumni. Tickets for individual games – priced from $10 to $85 – are unchanged from last season – will be available later this summer. The entire 400-section level is available at $10 on a per game basis. Hawks season tickets can be obtained by calling the team’s sales offices at (404) 827-DUNK or by visiting www.hawks.com for more information. --         Seating Category Season Ticket Per Game Price Full Season Ticket Price Individual Game Price Full Season Savings Courtside - Club Row AA $400 $16,800 $450 $2,100 Courtside - Rows BB-CC $150 $6,300 $175 $1050 Club - Sec. 101-107 Contact Your Customer Service Executive Club - Sec. 104, Rows A-B $115 $4,830 $125 $420 Baseline - Row AA $115 $4,830 $125 $420 Baseline - Rows BB-DD $77 $3,234 $85 $336 Sideline - Lower Level $65 $2,730 $75 $420 Baseline - Rows EE-NN $65 $2,730 $75 $420 Corner Lower Level $55 $2,310 $65 $420 Mezzanine Sideline - Rows A-H $50 $2,100 $55 $210 Baseline Lower Level $50 $2,100 $55 $210 Mezzanine Baseline $40 $1,680 $45 $210 Mezzanine Sideline - Rows J-M $40 $1,680 $45 $210 Terrace Sideline $35 $1,470 $35 $0 Terrace Baseline $25 $1,050 $25 $0 Hawks Nest N/A N/A $10 N/A

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Draft Workout Comments, 6/22/04

Andre Emmett:
On the workout:
“It went well. I played hard and hopefully showed them what I can do.” Comparing the intensity of NBA workouts to Texas Tech:
“Fortunately I was in a system where intensity was a must, so I came in and tried to apply that to my game today.”
About his outlook as the draft approaches:
“I know I’ve played hard in my workouts and in Chicago I played tough. I did what I could do, I didn’t try to do anything that wasn’t my part of my game. I’ve tried to be aggressive and I’m just hoping for the best.”
Dorell Wright
On the workout:
“It went pretty well out there until we started the one-on-one’s and two-on-two’s. I just tried to give it my best. My opponents out there are stronger than me physically but I tried as hard as I could.”
On his workouts:
“It’s very exciting, I’m about to achieve one of the biggest goals I set a couple of years ago. These workouts have been a good opportunity for me to get out there and show my skills.”
On the upcoming draft:
“I feel nervous right now … I just want to know where I’m going to be. I’m just waiting and we’ll see what happens. I don’t have a team preference, I’ll go anywhere.”

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Hawks Draft Central | NBA.com Draft Section

Knight Discusses Draft at Media Availability

"Obviously, we're in talks with other teams that could result in us changing our position. But if not, I can't say that it's likely...but it could happen. But these things go on and on. Sometimes they don't work out. It takes two to tango in this. We'd like to do it, but you have to get everybody on the same page. If we don't do something, we think we're still going to find a decent player at the number six pick and the number 17 pick. We think we can find a player or players that can help us in our long-term plans at those two picks."
"When you pick somebody at six or seventeen, you have a three-year commitment at a minimum to those guys. So you have to feel comfortable and like those guys. Seventeen is really interesting. We think (at six) there are enough good players in the draft, you're obviously waiting to see what the top five teams will do, but it could be somebody that you really like. It still could be somebody we like that another team is looking at differently."
"We do think there could be players at seventeen that we'd be comfortable taking and having a three-year commitment with. No matter how you look at it, we have our board of players we like and guys we hope we can take. And another team's going to like players that we don't. So nwe certainly think some players we like are going to be at seventeen. We're still optimistic that we can find some players that can help us. Immediate help or not, I'm not sure about that."
"There are possibilities even behind where we pick. You all know we also have number 34, 37 and 42. There are also possibilities of things happening with those. A good example is, if we think we can get a first-round pick, we may trade two of those second-round picks. We could do that if we feel comfortable with the guy we're going to take. We also have two second-round picks next year. We've done some talking about those kind of things. We also have a future first (round pick) from Philly. So there are all kinds of combinations thereof that we're talking about without our present picks being involved."
"As most of you know, I think this team needs more talent. We need more players. If you look at our roster as we do every day, we have five players under contract. Everyone is always looking for big people. It's like King Kong says, 'size does matter' in this business. And we're looking for that too."
"There are a lot of things we can do because this is a process we're going through. It would be advantageous if we all understood what we're trying to do. And that's build the team. It takes players, and those players become your assets. No matter what happens or who is going to be the coach, you need players to play the game. That's how we're looking at the draft. We're doing a lot of things, trying to be creative, and add some players to the roster that we think can help us."
"We've had a lot of players in for workouts. We've had some players in today, we'll have some players in tomorrow, some Wednesday and some maybe even on draft day. We've had between 50 and 60 people. We look at things maybe a little different from other people. We'd like our people to have size at their positions. We'd like them to be athletic. We'd like them to be versatile, to be able to play more than one position on the floor. Those are the things that we generally look for. And we look at taking the best player we can find, regardless of position."
Where does the coaching search stand?
"The process is ongoing. We don't have a new coach yet. I can't say that there's a specific time frame. It doesn't look like we're going to have a coach for the draft. I feel comfortable that we'll get a good candidate with the pool of people that we're choosing from. I can't tell you when that's going to happen. Ideally, you'd like to have the guy for the draft. You'd ideally like him involved in the process where you give him tape of five or six guys to watch. It hasn't worked out that way for us."

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Four Audition as Draft Countdown Is On

Just two days away from the 2004 NBA Draft (Thursday at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN), Hawks General Manager Billy Knight and his staff will evaluate four prospects on Tuesday at the team’s practice court, beginning at 10 a.m. San Diego State’s Evan Burns (6-8, 220), Andre Emmett (6-5, 230) from Texas Tech, California high school prospect Dorell Wright (6-7, 210) and David Young (6-5, 205) from North Carolina Central will go head-to-head as they try to make a final good impression heading into Thursday’s festivities.

Burns

An early entry candidate, Burns earned Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 2002-03, after averaging 9.2 ppg and 5.1 rpg, ranking third on the team in scoring and second in rebounding at San Diego State. He also tied for the team lead in blocked shots. Burns played only one season (2002-03) for the Aztecs, missing all of last season due to a torn ACL and a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee. He is an Inglewood, California native (Fairfax High School).

Burns’ bio/stats

Emmett

Emmett is coming off an outstanding four-year college career at Texas Tech, where he became the first player in conference history to be named All-Big 12 First Team in three consecutive seasons. As a senior, Emmett was named Second Team All-America by the AP, while averaging a Big 12 leading 20.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and shooting 52.6 percent from the field. Texas Tech’s all-time leading scorer (2,256 points), he also led the conference in scoring as a junior with a 21.8 ppg average.

Emmett's bio/stats

Wright

Coming off a year of prep school (at South Kent Prep in Connecticut), Wright spent his first four seasons at Leuzinger High in Lawndale, California. He was named the top prep school player in the nation this past season by Basketball Times, the fourth-best player in the country by HoopScoop, and the 19th-best senior by USA Today. He averaged 29.0 ppg, 14.0 rpg and 5.0 bpg, and scored 53 points (25-37 FGs) with 20 rebounds in South Kent’s win over Lafayette.

Wright’s bio/stats

Young

Young played his final season at North Carolina Central after transferring from Xavier (OH) University, where he played his first three years. As a senior at NCCU, Young ranked third in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) in scoring at 20.5 ppg, sixth in three-pointers made (2.28 per game), 11th in free throw percentage (.778) and 13th in steals (1.52 spg). He was named CIAA All-Conference and was the Black College All-Star Classic Most Valuable Player after scoring 21 points, including five three-pointers in the second half, to lead the East over the West.

Young’s bio/stats

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Hawks Draft Central | NBA.com Draft Section

Point Guards Highlight Wednesday’s Workout

Hawks General Manager Billy Knight: How do you rate this group of point guards, as well as this draft in general? "You really never know how they're rated until after their third year, because you can tell what they've turned out to be, and what's happened with them. It's hard to predict and project. But after the third year, you can ask me and I'll sound like I know what I'm talking about." Were you impressed with anyone here? "All of the guys were impressive in different ways. There are some younger guys here, some guys here with more experience, some guys whose bodies are developed more, and some guys' aren't. We had something that we liked about all of them. We've seen them a number of times already throughout their careers, at least a dozen times each. So we were familiar with them. But we brought them in because we thought we wanted to get a closer look, interview them, talk to them personally, answer their questions, ask them questions. And maybe see them do some things they'll be asked to do at the NBA level. What are some of the questions that players are asking? "'Who's going to be the coach?' The same thing you guys are asking. And I'll tell you the same thing I tell them - I don't know. They ask questions like 'what style of play are we going to play?', our roster, 'where is training camp going to be?', those kind of things. (So what are some of your answers?): "The direct answers that we have. We don't know the coach (answer), training camp's going to be here, we answer all of their questions." Gordon Ben Gordon On the workout: "Today was fun. It’s always good to compete against the best guards. You probably saw the best guards in the draft today." Thoughts on the Hawks organization: "The Hawks are a lottery team and there’s a chance I may be there at six. So I just wanted to come in here and make a good impression on them because you never know where you may end up." "They have really nice facilities here. Obviously, I haven’t been around much, so I don’t have a lot to compare it to but everything is really nice. The coaching staff and trainers seem like good people, personable people. I worked out for Toronto, which doesn’t have anybody. They didn’t have a GM or head coach at the time I worked out for them. I’m just going out and trying to showcase what I can do." Nelson Jameer Nelson On the workout: "It went well today, it was a good run." Thoughts on the Hawks organization: "Obviously they’ve struggled the past couple of years. The guys they have coming back next year are great guys and hopefully they will get a great coach. The personnel we worked out with today were great. It’s good to have good people around you. When you have good people, you will be successful eventually. With me coming from the Hawks in college, I would love to go the Hawks in the NBA. I would love to play for anybody. But Atlanta is a nice city and I have a couple family members around here. Just helping out an organization anyway I can would be good for me." On his size: "I’m actually six feet tall with my shoes on and I have to play with my shoes on (with a smile on his face). Going to these workouts, I just try to play and do what I can. In the shooting drills I want to knock down as many jump shots as I can. I’m not trying to go out and impress anybody, I just want to be myself. I think if you try to hard to impress somebody, you try to do to many things and have a tendency to make mistakes." On his other workouts: "I feel good about all of them. Certain teams do different things and teams have different challenges, but I think I’ve stepped up to the challenges so far." On the qualities he brings: "Leadership, and my background is winning." Livingston Shaun Livingston On the workout: "It was good, especially for being my first workout against competition. All these guys are a lot more experienced so it will only make me better. Today was great, we had the player of the year, a guy who won the National Championship … these guys are stars. It’s good for me because if I play to the level of competition then I can only get better. I’m trying to look at the positive parts. I was a little nervous starting out. I’m younger, a little more inexperienced and wet behind the ears. I just tried to calm down, relax and play hard." On his other workouts: "This was my first with competition. All of my other workouts have been held in Chicago because I hadn’t signed with an agent prior to this." Thoughts on the Hawks organization: "I feel like they are rebuilding and making strides. Hopefully they feel like I can fit well into the system." On the qualities he brings: "I feel I can bring creativity, versatility, size at the point guard position and the ability to make others better. I have a good feel for the point guard spot, it’s my natural position. The position I play will be up to the coaches though, along with how my game fits within the system." On his decision to turn pro: "It was an opportunity to live my dream, to get the chance to play against the best players in the world." Harris Devin Harris On the workout: "I think everything went pretty well. The competition was great, everybody worked hard and played well. I mean, Jameer Nelson, he’s the player of the year and you can’t get much better than that. With all of these guys in here it’s hard to stand out but I think I held my own and showed what I’m capable of." On his strengths: "You can always improve all parts of your game. I think I definitely need to get stronger. The only way to improve that is to get in the weight room and that’s something I’ve been working real hard at." On NBA competition: "Coming to this level, you know it’s going to be physical but I think I can handle it. The mental aspects I’m sure will be challenging."

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