Smith hits court but needs time

Josh Smith could barely catch his breath after his first full workout in nearly three weeks on Thanksgiving morning.

But Smith said there isn’t a place he’d rather be than on the floor working out with his Hawks teammates.

“I’d rather be doing this than running on that damn treadmill,” Smith said with a smile. “And that’s for real.”

Smith was confined to strictly treadmill workouts before Thursday, the result of the high left ankle sprain he injured in a Nov. 7 win over Toronto at Philips Arena.

While Smith won’t suit up for either tonight’s return bout in Toronto or Saturday’s game in Washington, he’s at least back on the court for the first time since the injury and eyeing a possible return to action in Wednesday’s home game against Memphis.

And his teammates are loving seeing him out there again.

“Any way you slice it, it’s good to see him back out there,” Mario West said. “We’ve missed Josh’s energy and all that he brings to the table.”

Smith said he’s still experiencing a little stiffness in the ankle, nothing unusual for a high ankle sprain.

Still, he knows he’s on his way back.

“It just takes time,” he said. “I understand that. And I feel as though I could probably play before [Wednesday], but I want to be able to get a few more practices in and get my wind up before I throw myself back out there.

“Because you want to be as close to 100 percent as possible when you get back on the floor after being injured.”

One of the main reasons Hawks coach Mike Woodson scheduled a Thanksgiving morning practice was to get a good look at where Smith was and also to see how his ankle responded after an afternoon flight and an early wakeup call for shootaround for tonight’s game.

Judging by what he saw in the Hawks’ nearly 90-minute workout, Woodson doesn’t think Smith is quite ready to go.

“And we expected that,” Woodson said. “With the injury he had, there’s no need to rush anything, but he got through everything. The real test will be to see how he feels [this morning].”

Smith worked through two games of four-on-four in a halfcourt setting and then three fullcourt games of four-on-four before finishing with the Hawks’ explosion drill, an “endurance” drill, according to Woodson, before finishing with some sprints.

“He’s jumping pretty good, but when he faces up and tries to plant and go, you can tell he’s not there yet,” Woodson said. “But that will come.”

Smith understands he’ll have to have a little patience with himself, something not easy to come by for a guy who returned to action just two and half weeks after hernia surgery two years ago.

“Patience is the one thing I have in large supply right now,” Smith said. “I’ve played in just four games this year and had to watch the action since then. And that’s tough.

“It definitely helps with your patience, though. That’s all an injury really is, a test of your patience. You get a chance to see things from a different perspective when you’re out. You get to see things almost from the same view as the fans, even though you have a more intimate knowledge of the game. All of that helps with your patience, too.”

NEXT FOR HAWKS

> Who: at Raptors

> When: 7 p.m. today

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