I'm just not getting it. Ever since the draft lottery, there have been two options for the Hawks: draft Conley, then a big man, or big man, then Acie.Let's stop there for a second, and back up to right before the NCAA tournament. All I could remember hearing was, "Oh yeah, Acie... that's MY boy." and "I'm really rooting for Texas A&M, they're a dark horse!" Of course, after going to Texas A&M, watching Acie a few times in the past few years in person, watching him numerous times on tv, and running onto the court after we beat texas (because of Acie), this was somewhat comical to me. It was as though people were saying "Oh yeah, I knew about Acie... remember when I talked about Acie a couple months ago?" (Side note: I was like the third person to edit Acie's article on wikipedia. SUCK ON THAT.)Now, fast forward to last night. All of a sudden, Atlanta's set their team back to square one again, apparently. All of these geniuses that were talking about Acie before the tournament are now calling him a bust before he even puts on a uniform. People are accusing Acie of being an awful distributor, a mediocre scorer, and a poor defender.At this point, I'm kinda wondering what makes people actually dislike Acie. Listen, this thread isn't about Horford or Conley. This is about Acie. I don't understand what's making people act like he's a peon. In other words, don't say, "I hate Acie because they could have taken Conley!" I can't speak for the other players that could have been taken. I'm sure they have the potential to be great players, but that is not the issue.Here is my case: I have seen a few of the arguments against him. The main argument is that he is not a good distributor. I really think that is a rather flimsy argument. People see that he had 5 apg, and they flip out and say he cannot succeed as a pg. I have several problems with that... one of them is that A&M's roster wasn't entirely stacked as far as scorers go. Sure, we had a bunch of good guys and usually one or two of them would score 20 points, but Acie was the only truly successful night-in, night-out kind of guy. If he were on a team where he was the second option, you would have seen a lot more assists, I would say. He will have a lot more guys to run with in Atlanta, as insane as that sounds. Another problem with that argument is that there are quite a few good point guards in the league that don't get a buttload of assists. I can agree with you that he won't be anything resembling Steve Nash, but he very well could be a Tony Parker or Mike Bibby type player.Acie and Horford mirror a few tandems in the league that I can think of to some extent. I'm not going to sit here and make those comparisons, because, let's face it, most comparisons like that don't pan out. All I can tell you is that Acie is a damn fine leader, he has quick feet, penetrates well, and I think he'd be pretty good running the pick and roll (you think Horford might be good for helping that?). I'm not going to say that it was the "Right Decision" or otherwise, because I'm not sure that either decision is going to kill or make the franchise. My personal opinion, though, is that Acie is getting slammed a little bit too hard just because the Hawks have made bad decisions in the past. Let me know what y'all have been enlightened about since I obviously didn't get that memo over the past couple months.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Here is my case: I have seen a few of the arguments against him. The main argument is that he is not a good distributor. I really think that is a rather flimsy argument. People see that he had 5 apg, and they flip out and say he cannot succeed as a pg.</div>Sheed, 5 APG is quite good for a college point guard. I agree that people don't give this guy enough love, he was the most NBA-ready point in the draft and will most likely have an impact earlier than Conley; hell he may even end up being better than him. Even Jay Bilas was ragging on the guy saying that he's not a good shooter and doesn't pass enough. Acie is a true leader at the point; a lot of people have forgotten that that is one of the most important attributes in a point guard. They just look for upside in somebody like Conley and Crittenton and are amazed and they toss Acie to the side because he doesn't have a lot of potential left. This is why Derrick Byars and a couple of other players fell to the second round and even out of the draft.
Before this season, Acie Law was not a GREAT player. He turned into a great college player by making a name for himself by being clutch and with great leadership (turning the A&M) program around. I really don't think he's going to be that good. Most scouts say he isn't that great of a shooter, and they don't know if he is big enough to guard anyone that well at the NBA level. Is he still good? Oh yeah, the guys got a lot of talent. I just think when you compare his talent to Conley, Jr., it's not as close as some think. I like Conley's game in a landslide.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MaRdYC26 @ Jun 30 2007, 02:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Before this season, Acie Law was not a GREAT player. He turned into a great college player by making a name for himself by being clutch and with great leadership (turning the A&M) program around. I really don't think he's going to be that good. Most scouts say he isn't that great of a shooter, and they don't know if he is big enough to guard anyone that well at the NBA level. Is he still good? Oh yeah, the guys got a lot of talent. I just think when you compare his talent to Conley, Jr., it's not as close as some think. I like Conley's game in a landslide.</div>Not big enough to guard anyone? He's 6-3 200 pounds; that is pretty good for a point guard. He can get stronger; and if they were hinting that he will only do well at SG they were wrong because the Hawks drafted this guy to play the point and lead the team and that is what he will do.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (noballer07 @ Jun 30 2007, 01:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Sheed, 5 APG is quite good for a college point guard. I agree that people don't give this guy enough love, he was the most NBA-ready point in the draft and will most likely have an impact earlier than Conley; hell he may even end up being better than him. Even Jay Bilas was ragging on the guy saying that he's not a good shooter and doesn't pass enough. Acie is a true leader at the point; a lot of people have forgotten that that is one of the most important attributes in a point guard. They just look for upside in somebody like Conley and Crittenton and are amazed and they toss Acie to the side because he doesn't have a lot of potential left. This is why Derrick Byars and a couple of other players fell to the second round and even out of the draft.</div>Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Bilas anymore. It's one thing to say that you would prefer the Hawks to draft Conley, and another to call the Hawks losers for who they did actually draft.I think the nice thing about Acie is that he might not progress a ton as far as skills go, but I think he is very moldable when you talk about teaching defense, running plays, etc. Anyone can progress and become a better player by just being able to be taught. I don't think people get that. As you said, he is a leader who has open ears. He does what he's told, and even when he makes clutch shots, he's not a prick about it.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MaRdYC26 @ Jun 30 2007, 02:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Before this season, Acie Law was not a GREAT player. He turned into a great college player by making a name for himself by being clutch and with great leadership (turning the A&M) program around.</div>I think that's debatable. Last year we played Syracuse, who was hot off winning the Big East, and won. The year before we didn't do particularly great, but I would say that it wasn't Acie's team at the time. Antoine Wright was a major guy on the team as well. Acie hit big shots before this year, too.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MaRdYC26 @ Jun 30 2007, 02:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Most scouts say he isn't that great of a shooter, and they don't know if he is big enough to guard anyone that well at the NBA level.</div>I think he'll have a better FG% when there are NBA-level players around him, but if they're talking about the lack of rotation on his shot, they'll just have to live with that.I have seen him in real life, and I can say that he is not at all intimidating. He's a few inches taller than me, and not really built or anything. Well-defined, but that's about it. However, I don't think that's going to kill him playing the guard spot. He's got lateral quickness. He just needs to learn to stay in front of his opponent and be able to take a charge. Guys like Barbosa, Devin Harris, and Tony Parker aren't strong per se, just ridiculously fast.
I think the Hawks made the right move personally. They get a solid point guard who could turn into a Sam Cassell type player and a good big man. They are both NBA ready and could make an impact their rookie season.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>I think the nice thing about Acie is that he might not progress a ton as far as skills go, but I think he is very moldable when you talk about teaching defense, running plays, etc. Anyone can progress and become a better player by just being able to be taught. I don't think people get that. As you said, he is a leader who has open ears. He does what he's told, and even when he makes clutch shots, he's not a prick about it.</div>Exactly. Players like him are very teachable and deserve much more respect than they get. Acie will be a great all-around pro point guard; he may never reach ultra-superstar status like LeBron or Kobe, but he'll get the job done. He has a lot of good pieces and he is willing to add on and refine them.
I never watched any A&M games, that's why you won't hear anything from me, but from what I've heard he's pretty good. But that's the problem with the NBA: players are chosen for their athleticsism over their smarts
