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."
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."
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."
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."
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." |      |
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Point Guards Highlight Wednesday’s Workout
Gordon
Nelson
Livingston
Harris
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