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Friday, September 12, 2008
Solo chomping at the bit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So you think you’re the only one anxious for the start of the Hawks’ season?
Anxious can’t do justice to what Solomon Jones has been feeling since the Hawks’ Game 7 loss to Boston in May.
Like most of his teammates who have been working together at the team’s practice facility the past two weeks, Jones has been chomping at the bit all summer in anticipation of the start of training camp, which is just weeks away.
Jones played sparingly in his first two seasons with the Hawks. But he is angling for an expanded role this year.
With 20 extra pounds packed on his 6-10½ frame and a much more aggressive attitude, Jones is eager to make his case on the court as opposed to anywhere else.
And that’s why his decision to skip summer league at a time when the post minutes would have been plentiful, seemed so bizarre.
“I did two years in summer league and I wanted to take this summer to hit the weights hard and it paid off,” Jones said. “Right now I’m up to 250 and I want to play this season anywhere from 245 to 250. I thought [skipping summer league] was the best choice for me to make at the time, even though some people didn’t think it was the best decision. But I think people watching me right now would agree that I did the right thing.”
It’s no secret that this is a huge season for Jones, the one-time second round pick who has outlasted the fifth overall pick of the same draft, Shelden Williams ( who was jettisoned in the Mike Bibby trade last year).
And Jones knows that better than anyone.
“Man, hungry isn’t the word to capture how I’m feeling,” he said. “I’ve had opportunities and I thought I made the best of those. But now I have to come out and prove to people, to people everywhere that I can play in this league. And that’s what I’m doing right now. That’s what working so hard this summer was all about, proving that I belong.”
BIG BODIES ABOUND: The difference in available bodies for the Hawks during the playoffs was stark.
On one end the guards were working, with more players in the mix than playing time to be dispensed. On the other end of the floor there was Al Horford, Josh Smith, Zaza Pachulia and Jones - the Hawks’ paper-thin frontcourt rotation without any margin for error.
“I think it’s fair to say we were a little thin,” Horford said.
That shouldn’t be a problem in the future (and the Hawks might not be done procuring big man talent, per at least one of my spies who insists they are still searching for perhaps one more big to add to the mix).
When you add Randolph Morris, Othello Hunter and a thicker Marvin Williams to that mix, it does appear that the Hawks will have a few more bodies to work with compared to what they had in the playoffs.
“I feel like Solo has improved a great deal over this summer,” Horford said. “Josh has gotten a lot stronger and the addition of Randolph and Othello allows us to throw more bodies out there and gives us some serious depth.”
The surprise of the group could be Hunter, a player whose name plenty of people are familiar with from his time at Ohio State but a player whose game his new teammates are just starting to fully understand.
“We played his team in high school when I was at Oak Hill and we blew ‘em out by 30, but we did that to a lot of people,” Smith said and then laughed. “So I didn’t realize it before but I’ve actually gone against him before. He was a good player then but as you might expect, he’s so much better now. He has that good touch around the basket, he’s got good hands, and he has a face up game, too. And he plays a lot bigger than he is, which is basically the standard for all of us.”
Horford faced off against Hunter in college, when he was starring for Florida and Hunter was backing up Greg Oden at Ohio State.
“It’s different for guys in Othello’s case, like my case, when you come from winning programs. It’s all about the team concept so you can’t always show what you can do individually,” Horford said. “I know that was the case for me at Florida. I could always do more than I showed, but you play a role and sacrifice shooting face up jumpers for the good of the team and for the ultimate goal, which is winning. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. But when you get to this level you get to open up your game a bit more and I think we’ll see the same thing from Othello. He’s got pretty good hands and I suspect he’ll really open some eyes in [training] camp.”
The added bodies means increased competition and a mood heading into training camp that no one will be allowed to rest on what they’ve done in the past.
“My rookie year we had some guys but we had injuries and then last year we had trades that moved some guys out,” Jones said. “Right now we’re back up to where you figure a frontcourt needs to be. And I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a [expletive] of a training camp and honestly, I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait for it to get started.”
ROLL CALL: The only players yet to make an appearance at the pickup games are veterans Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby, Mo Evans and Pachulia (who has been in and out of the practice facility all summer). But all are expected to be in the fold within the week - as they arrive other pros that reside in Atlanta during the offseason and were mainstays on the Hawks’ practice court will head out to their respective cities.
