Atlanta should have traded down and got him. He had potential, but it wasn't worthy of 4th pick. That was a major surprise just like Westbrook at the 4, but it didn't turn out so good for them.
Shelden Williams' stats per 36 minutes are actually pretty decent: 11.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 1.2 bpg, 1.0 spg, only 2.1 tpg and 4.8 fouls. Maybe he just needs to find the right system?
If there is a system called "How To Not Suck," I agree. Joking aside, he may find a better situation at some point but I don't think he'll ever come close to living up to his draft position.
Shelden is a tragic example of where both traditional scouting and modern statistical analysis both suggest one thing and the complete opposite happens. I remember thinking he had "safe pick" painted all over him. Top 5 worthy? No way. Still was expecting a solid Antonio Davis type player/enforcer in the post, though.
He might still turn out to be solid. Players sometimes take a while to adjust to NBA level play even if they had good college expereince-- but I'm not holding my breath.
Hawks took Shelden Williams over Brandon Roy Marvin Williams over CP3 and Deron Williams Actually the Brandon Roy thing isn't as bad as the Marvin Williams thing since they had Joe Johnson.
The Marvin Williams pick was a real headscratcher given their needs at the time. I guess they incorrectly figured they were taking the best available talent.
I'm sorry, but I had him labeled as failing in the NBA and never understood what was safe about him. In college, he had no skills on offense other than always being a lot stronger than his opponents. He didn't have significant hops, quickness, size or athleticism. He was deficient in most of those. There was NOTHING about him that pointed to NBA success. Everything pointed to him peaking out at the college level, just like his teammate J.J. Redick. Tell me why he was considered a "safe" pick. I saw him play a lot of college ball and not one time did he look like an NBA player to me. I'm too lazy to Google his pre-draft write-up.
I know people go on potential but it was a big time headscractcher because Marvin Williams came off the bench for UNC. He did improve this year before getting hurt though but there is nothing he will do to make Hawk fans forget passing on Cp3 and Deron Williams.
Imagine a starting lineup that included Chris Duhon, J.J. Redick, Shane Battier and Shelden Williams. They were all elite college players that would collectively spell disaster as major pieces for an NBA team. I don't include Battier as an attempt to bash him, just to point out how much more his offensive limitations would stand out on a team that couldn't compensate for it. If that team did actually exist, they might as well should've picked Tyler "Shoulder Heave" Hansborough to play the role of undersized center. All that high IQ would get eaten alive by the lowest IQ team in the league.
I should've mentioned it in the last post but I actually like Marvin and even now, I think he was worthy of a middle to late 1st round pick. He has a nice skillset and I still think his ceiling is a very good starting role player down the line.
I can't equate Marvin Williams with Shelden Williams in the draft. Marvin Williams was a very promising, athletic freshman who had room to get much better. Shelden Williams was a 4-year senior who had obviously reached his peak (IMO). Still, blowing the opportunity to draft D-Will or CP3 was the bigger setback to the Hawks. A truly defining moment for their franchise.
Here's a link to an older post I made on this very same topic: http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=4323854&postcount=15 As always, I respect your opinion but you're having a bit of a memory lapse here. Most scouts were raving about him. And I don't know what you're talking about with the size issue. 6'9" and an 88-inch wingspan (as good as or better than Aldridge, Gay, Tyrus -- basically the three best athletes in the draft) is pretty solid in my book. He was a bulldog underneath the basket in college that yes, generally overpowered his competition offensively, but there was little reason to doubt that his elite shot blocking/rebounding wouldn't translate well to the next level. His timing, intangibles and instincts were all superb. He always loved contact and wasn't afraid to mix it up unlike most of the candy ass finesse players the NBA is seeing anymore. Like I said, I pegged him as an Antonio Davis enforcer type in pro's. Clearly, I was wrong. Just saying, like my original post stated: perfect example of traditional scouting and modern statistical analysis backfiring. Too bad you can't exactly quantify his sudden laziness and motor issues.
Shelden Williams was just another idiotic example of the Hawks management. When rumor said the Hawks management had promised SW with their #5 pick before the draft, people's reactions were like, "WTF! another f**k up by the Hawks management." Shelden Williams was never a top 10 pick, might be a high teen pick in the mock drafts. So, there was no surprise that Shelden Williams turned out to be a bust.
