Post by dajason on Jan 23, 2008 15:07:17 GMT -5
With the 5th pick in the NBL draft... the Atlanta Hawks select AJ Ogilvy, Center out of Vanderbilt.
A.J. Ogilvy is the next Atlanta basketball sensation.
When the NBL commish said those words on Tuesday afternoon, the entire city of Atlanta rejoiced. A season panned by the critics, but as was reported earlier, the city has never lost hope. Spurred on by the trade deadline aquisition of PF Chris Bosh, the fan base hasnt lost hope for the upstart Hawks.
For weeks now, Atlanta's managment have been in closed door meetings discussing everything from potential free agent targets to possible trades. However the major focus has been the upcoming NBL draft. With the Hawks having two picks in the first round, one a lottery pick, there have been a number of possibilities in who they would select.
Late monday night, when the draft order was announced, there was quite a bit of controversy. The original order had the Hawks selecting 4th, one spot up from where they had been mocked to pick. Some whinning from another GM caused the whole draft order process to be reevaluated. So when the order was redone, the Hawks fell back to there they had originally been projected to select.
In the weeks leading up to the draft, we spoke numerous times with team persident and owner Jason Stuart about what direction the team would be heading. "Im not really going to play our hand this early. There are 6 or 7 great players in this draft we would lose to select with our 1st pick" said Stuart just days before the draft. "Whoever we take, he will fit with our current system and philosophy on the court."
His offensive prowess isnt questioned, can Ogilvy make the next step defensivly?
As tight lipped as Stuart might have been, there was a buzz from insiders that the Hawks desperatly wanted a big man in the paint. With the versitility of Bosh, that meant either a PF or C would seem the most practical position. Last years 1st round pick Patrick Ewing Jr has had his own troubles adjusting to the NBL. It seems he may be destined for a career backup position, rather than a starter.
So it really came down to two players in this years draft. Andrew Ogilvy or Blake Griffin. Both superb college players. The question would be, would either drop down to pick #5. Griffin had been touted in many mock drafts to go #1 overall while Ogilvy had been a consensus top 3 pick himself. After the Hawks picked, Stuart gave us some insight.
"We would have loved for Blake to be there with our pick. However, our #1 player on the board was A.J. Ogilvy. I know alot of talk about this kids suspect height and athleticism have been brought up. However when we had him in at our predraft workouts, he measured at over 7 foot. And with some work with our training staff, we feel A.J. has the biggest upside out of the entire draft."
Inside sources confirmed the team loved the way Chris Bosh performed at power forward last season, and didnt want to move him back to center to make room for Griffin. Pairing up Ogilvy and Bosh for the next 10 years was the goal of the team.
"We tried desperatly to move up in the draft so we could take Ogilvy. We had a number of discussions with the Pistons in an attempt to exchange picks so we could select our guy. In the end, we were forced to sit and wait, and pray. Thank God it worked out." Stuart commented.
There has been alot of talk that the team trainers and physicians have already started Ogivly on a rigid training session. Daily workouts and basketball work is intended. Ogilvy, blessed with an extraordinarliy high basketball IQ, could be the smartest player to come out of college in recent memory.
A tremendous offensive awarness on the court, many feel his one major deficiancy is his defense. Team officials have already said his defense will be the main focus point in training sessions and of course the upcoming training camp.
With so much hype surrounding the big man, how would the local fans respond to the selection. We spoke with Atlanta's 790 The Zone Morning Show host Steak Shapiro.
"I havent seen a buzz around this town like this in years. You'd think the Hawks just drafted Clark Kent." said Shapiro. "We cant keep the lines open with so many fans wanting to talk basketball. Which is good really, since our football team has been in the crapper since the whole Vick thing happened back in 07'. Oh,those were the days."
No matter what happens with the Atlanta Hawks, this offseason will be a successful one. The Hawks have a real chance to do something this year. They finally have their Superman.
A.J. Ogilvy is the next Atlanta basketball sensation.
When the NBL commish said those words on Tuesday afternoon, the entire city of Atlanta rejoiced. A season panned by the critics, but as was reported earlier, the city has never lost hope. Spurred on by the trade deadline aquisition of PF Chris Bosh, the fan base hasnt lost hope for the upstart Hawks.
For weeks now, Atlanta's managment have been in closed door meetings discussing everything from potential free agent targets to possible trades. However the major focus has been the upcoming NBL draft. With the Hawks having two picks in the first round, one a lottery pick, there have been a number of possibilities in who they would select.
Late monday night, when the draft order was announced, there was quite a bit of controversy. The original order had the Hawks selecting 4th, one spot up from where they had been mocked to pick. Some whinning from another GM caused the whole draft order process to be reevaluated. So when the order was redone, the Hawks fell back to there they had originally been projected to select.
In the weeks leading up to the draft, we spoke numerous times with team persident and owner Jason Stuart about what direction the team would be heading. "Im not really going to play our hand this early. There are 6 or 7 great players in this draft we would lose to select with our 1st pick" said Stuart just days before the draft. "Whoever we take, he will fit with our current system and philosophy on the court."
His offensive prowess isnt questioned, can Ogilvy make the next step defensivly?
As tight lipped as Stuart might have been, there was a buzz from insiders that the Hawks desperatly wanted a big man in the paint. With the versitility of Bosh, that meant either a PF or C would seem the most practical position. Last years 1st round pick Patrick Ewing Jr has had his own troubles adjusting to the NBL. It seems he may be destined for a career backup position, rather than a starter.
So it really came down to two players in this years draft. Andrew Ogilvy or Blake Griffin. Both superb college players. The question would be, would either drop down to pick #5. Griffin had been touted in many mock drafts to go #1 overall while Ogilvy had been a consensus top 3 pick himself. After the Hawks picked, Stuart gave us some insight.
"We would have loved for Blake to be there with our pick. However, our #1 player on the board was A.J. Ogilvy. I know alot of talk about this kids suspect height and athleticism have been brought up. However when we had him in at our predraft workouts, he measured at over 7 foot. And with some work with our training staff, we feel A.J. has the biggest upside out of the entire draft."
Inside sources confirmed the team loved the way Chris Bosh performed at power forward last season, and didnt want to move him back to center to make room for Griffin. Pairing up Ogilvy and Bosh for the next 10 years was the goal of the team.
"We tried desperatly to move up in the draft so we could take Ogilvy. We had a number of discussions with the Pistons in an attempt to exchange picks so we could select our guy. In the end, we were forced to sit and wait, and pray. Thank God it worked out." Stuart commented.
There has been alot of talk that the team trainers and physicians have already started Ogivly on a rigid training session. Daily workouts and basketball work is intended. Ogilvy, blessed with an extraordinarliy high basketball IQ, could be the smartest player to come out of college in recent memory.
A tremendous offensive awarness on the court, many feel his one major deficiancy is his defense. Team officials have already said his defense will be the main focus point in training sessions and of course the upcoming training camp.
With so much hype surrounding the big man, how would the local fans respond to the selection. We spoke with Atlanta's 790 The Zone Morning Show host Steak Shapiro.
"I havent seen a buzz around this town like this in years. You'd think the Hawks just drafted Clark Kent." said Shapiro. "We cant keep the lines open with so many fans wanting to talk basketball. Which is good really, since our football team has been in the crapper since the whole Vick thing happened back in 07'. Oh,those were the days."
No matter what happens with the Atlanta Hawks, this offseason will be a successful one. The Hawks have a real chance to do something this year. They finally have their Superman.
