AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2006 > November > 16
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Nasty doesn’t come easy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If there’s a better place to steal a little insight into a team it’s watching them practice. I don’t know that it’s the indicator of future success or failure that some people might have you believe (you know how football coaches love to profess after games that they knew in practice they would or would not play the way they did). But if nothing else, it gives you a glimpse into the tendencies and habits of a particular group.
Hence, Thursday’s version of the five things we already know (practice style):
After 10 years of crashing into other gigantic people for a living everyday, Lorenzen Wright still practices like an eager rookie. It’s one of the more refreshing things I’ve seen out of a veteran in all the years I’ve covered the NBA and sports in general. By general standards Wright is still quite young (30). In the NBA, though, he’s darn near a relic. Yet he’s as active as anyone in drills and scrimmages and the most vocal of any Hawks player when it comes to setting the tone of how things should be done. I can see him getting into coaching when he’s done playing.
Confidence is a funny thing. After six inspired minutes in Tuesday night’s loss to Milwaukee, Salim Stoudamire seems like a totally different player. He admitted to struggling with his confidence after rough outings during the exhibition season. But all he needed was a taste of that game confidence. I expect to see him more and more as his confidence continues to grow. And that can only be a good thing for a team in need of another dead-eye outside shooter.
Nastiness is a learned trait. Sure, some off you might think people are born with it. I disagree. I think you can be born with an aggressive nature. Nastiness is something different. But if you’ve never been a true “banger” (Josh Smith and Zaza Pachulia come to mind) and you’re being asked to develop that type of attitude, that type of nastiness, it’s going to take some time. There’s a mental strength as well as a physical toughness that has to be fortified before you can assume that role on the regular. And it takes time. But it’s one of those lessons that has to be learned the hard way.
The Hawks aren’t the only team plagued with this issue. I watch NBA games every night (I know, get a life huh?) and almost every team in the league struggles with this. Even the supposed powerhouse teams struggle with it at times. The Hawks are grappling with it now as a team. They’re working on it daily. And I think it’s something that really has to be adopted collectively before it can counted on regularly.
Finally, we’re just a couple of days away from THE GAME – and I’m not talking about the Hawks and Heat – and I’m sick with anticipation. I’ve held my tongue on the Michigan-Ohio State game for good reason (I don’t want to be a sore winner and in the event that Michigan loses, I’m going to need all the help I can get in disappearing for about six months). But what does it say about what’s going in Hawksville that we can sneak a Joe Johnson feature on the front of the paper today during this time of year?
