Smith plays in stitches at Hawks' first practice

By Sekou Smith

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

So much for taking it easy on his stitched-up fingers.

Hawks forward Josh Smith was on the floor for all but the scrimmage portion of Tuesday's first training-camp practice. He did this after saying Monday that he would "probably stay out of the mix" to keep the stitches between the index and middle fingers on his left hand out of harm's way.

"I've got a pad on there, and my fingers are separated with tape to keep it all safe and secure," Smith said. "I did some conditioning on the treadmill while they did the five-minute [scrimmage] drill, but other than that, I feel great. My body is in great shape, and nobody needs to be worried about anything. This was just a minor setback."

Smith gashed his hand two weeks ago during a pickup game at the Hawks' practice facility and needed seven stitches to close the cut. He had half of the stitches removed late last week and said the remaining stitches are set to be removed by the end of the week.

But he couldn’t stomach the thought of sitting out the first practice of camp, well, at least certain parts of the first practice.

"That five-minute drill is funny for the new guys because they really don't know what's going to happen," he said smiling. "So when they feel the intensity of that drill, it's no joke. I was very appreciative not to have to go through that, but I'm really not supposed to be doing anything, contact-wise, right now anyway.

"That drill, though, that's the one that let's you know you're in the building and the camp has started. It's no joke."

Five minutes of fury

Hawks coach Mike Woodson's famed five-minute drill worked as designed. One of his practice staples, it includes two five-man teams running through a non-stop scrimmage for five minutes to see whose body can stand the strain.

Since the veterans knew what to expect they didn’t appear to be overwhelmed by it. Several of the newcomers, however, were victims.

"Nobody warned me about that," said rookie point guard Jeff Teague, who played with the White team during the first five minutes and had to play a second consecutive five minutes against a third grouping. "That thing will blow you out."

That's the plan, according to Woodson.

"You just want to see where they are physically," Woodson said. "And you do that at the end of practice when you've already done a lot of running. You want to see who has a little something left in their tank. As the year goes on that drill becomes a breeze because the guys are in better shape."

Evans takes a spill, bounces back

There was one casualty during the drill. Veteran swingman Mo Evans hit the floor after hyperextending his left knee while running up the floor to play defense.

"Can you believe that man?" Evans said with a half-smile. "And it was at the end of the drill, too. I'm good, though. I could have gotten back in there, but that's a disaster waiting to happen if you jump back out there too quickly. I'll be fine for [Wednesday's practice]. And that's all that matters."