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Monday, September 26, 2005
Real work on the way
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
And you all thought you were ready for the season to start. I sat across from Hawks GM Billy Knight at a Hurricane Katrina benefit Sunday afternoon and the first thing he said to me was, “You ready to go to work?” This just days after Al Harrington and I stood on the practice court at Philips Arena and he asked me the same thing. The conspiracy theorist in me started wondering if my editor had slipped them both the question. Or maybe it was my bi-weekly shaven face that screamed DO SOME WORK! So I didn’t lose that extra 25 pounds this summer. It doesn’t mean I haven’t done any wo.. …well, anyway. But they are correct that the real work is on the way, for all of us. Training camp is just a week away now. And many of our burning questions will be answered in the month leading up to the start of the regular season. Let me answer a couple of frequently emailed questions real quick and then pose one that was born out of conversations with various people over the past week.
Q) So how is Harrington’s body holding up after he finished last season on the injured list? A) Harrington is in ridiculous shape and his sore knees have been sufficiently rested. He’s down to a lean 245 pounds (he was probably close to 260 during the post-All-Star Game portion of last season). Al’s a notorious workout warrior during the offseason, spending much of his time at the NBA player-infested IMG Academy basketball facility in Bradenton. He did take time out to do quite a bit of relief work for Katrina, and found a way to get on MTV’s Punk’d with his good friend Jermaine O’Neal. Seriously, though, this is an important year for him, the last of his current contract. Hawks fans should expect early fireworks from him as he tries to help lead this young team and make a case for a lucrative, long term contract.
Q) Is Zaza Pachulia really going to start this season at center? A) It looks that way right now. But rather than him logging 35-40 minutes per game, look for the workload to spread around a bit between he and Jason Collier and either John Edwards or Esteban (he wants to be called Steve but as a fellow owner of a unique name I’m not letting him off that easy) Batista.
Q) Is Boris Diaw’s standout performance during the recent European Championships cause for concern now that he’s been traded? A) Only if he continues to play at a high level during the regular season in Phoenix. The issue with Boris has never been about how well he played on the French national team. No one has ever been able to figure out why he can’t translate those performances to the NBA. But if he does make an early statement this season his performance this summer will have served as a preview.
Now I have a question. How long does the Joe Johnson experiment at point guard last if it doesn’t work out the way Knight and Mike Woodson expect? Tyronn Lue will be waiting in the wings, and everyone knows he’s more than capable. That’s the Hawks’ most glaring question mark outside of the issue at center.
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