http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/hawks/entries/2008/07/07/in_the_meantime.htmlIn the meantime …
By Sekou K Smith | Monday, July 7, 2008, 03:19 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SMYRNA - While we’ve all been locked in on the free agent situation regarding both Josh Smith and Josh Childress the Hawks other players have been busy with the business that is every offseason.
That’s not to say the other players aren’t interested in the futures of their teammates, because they are. In fact, the one question I get most from Hawks players is “what’s up with Josh and Josh?” - as if I know any better than they do.
(There is nothing new to mention regarding the Joshes. The salary cap number will be released to teams Tuesday afternoon/evening, convenient huh, just in time for Wednesday’s official start of the free agent signing period. Once everyone around the league has that official cap number in hand they can go about consummating deals that have been on the table since last week.)
The better question is what’s up with you?
So I poked my head in at Philips Arena this morning in an effort to find an answer to that question. The first two faces I see, shortly before 10 a.m. the morning after the extended 4th of July weekend, belong to Acie Law IV and Hawks coach Mike Woodson.
They were on the practice floor bright and early (Law was working out with Hawks assistant video coordinator John “Beans” Beckett and Woodson stumbled upon them on his way to his office and an impromptu brainstorming session began about the nuances of playing point guard for the Hawks) playing out a scene we all might see on the regular over the next few years.
Save for a two week break, Law’s been working out relentlessly since the Hawks’ playoff run ended. He said he’s hungry as ever and will not let up come mini-camp and summer league (next week in Atlanta for mini-camp and the following week and a half in Salt Lake City for mini-camp).
Woodson was all smiles seeing Law on the floor so early and already having worked up a ferocious sweat while working on his shot and an assortment of other things during his early morning workout.
Law retired to the weight room (allowing me a few minutes to trade questions and answers with Woodson for an upcoming piece on Law) and when he finished with that part of his routine he headed out the door for a therapy session for his injured wrist that caused him problems during his rookie season (he said the wrist feels fine and that the therapy three days a week has done wonders).
He admitted to being wired up for the upcoming season and even more fired about his chance to compete in mini-camp and summer league.
“I can’t wait,” he said, uttering a phrase rarely heard from the lips of a scone-year guy in the middle of his first NBA summer.
While I was in the midst of wrapping up with Law and Woodson Zaza Pachulia breezes into the room with his bag over his shoulder, having already completed his weight room work while I was snooping around downstairs.
ZP seems just as eager as Acie to get back out there and get after someone - he’ll have to do his work with the rest of the Georgian national team when they convene for training camp in a few weeks for some competitions on the other side of the globe.
With all the attention on the NBA Finals and then free agency, it’s easy to overlook just how much work goes on outside of the limelight in this league (the Hawks, like every other team in the league, have guys stretched all over the place doing individual work of their own).
And speaking of work, I put my snooping skills to good use this morning. I pilfered the Hawks’ mini-camp roster/summer league roster (not everyone on the mini-camp roster is going to make the cut for Salt Lake City and some guys will join the Hawks’ summer league crew in Salt Lake City without going through mini-camp) and was surprised by a few of the names on the list. You might be surprised as well (I can’t imagine it’ll take long for the surprise to kick in):
G - Acie Law IV
G - Speedy Claxton
G - Dominique Kirk
G - Brian Chase
G - Jeremy Richardson
G - Demetric Bennett
G - Thomas Gardner
G/F - Mario West
G/F - Luke Jackson
F - Brian Randle
F - Kevin Pinckney
F - Marcus Hubbard
F - Othella Hunter
F - Brian Butch
C - Solomon Jones
C - Jamal Sampson
C - Olumide Oyedeji
I’m still doing homework on some of these cats (since I’d never heard of them), so I’ll reserve comment on most. But I have to say I was stunned to see Speedy Claxton’s name on the list.
Someone mentioned to me a while back that they thought he was going to be on the summer league roster. I thought it was a joke. But with all the injury problems he’s had the past two years it makes sense to see how he’s holding up in July before getting to training camp in a couple months and finding out.
Naturally, you want to see how he fares in what should be some heated competition (if Law has his way). But you also want to see how Solomon Jones, Jeremy Richardson and Mario West look against a group of hungry free agents.
Some of the other names are intriguing - Luke Jackson was a lottery pick, Gardner was a standout college player at Missouri, Randle was the same at Illinois and Butch the same at Wisconsin. Sampson and Oyedeji have the kind of size and experience (both have been on NBA rosters at one time or another).
And as receptive as the Hawks have been to free agent invitees in the past (West, Richardson, Ced Bozeman, Dijon Thompson, Obinna Ekezie and a host of others) these guys need to be watched.
These guys won’t get going until this time next week, just a couple days before departing for Salt Lake City. The free agent drama should play out before then. But in the meantime, we can chew on this list and see if there isn’t a player or two in this group (not already under contract) that could impact the Hawks in the near future …