Harrington unloads after losses

[Admin]

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Harrington unloads after losses

Sekou Smith - Staff

Sunday, November 6, 2005

Portland, Ore. --- Eight quarters into a season seems a bit premature as far as defining moments go, but Hawks veteran forward and co-captain Al Harrington says he's seen enough.

The time has come already, Harrington said, for this Hawks team to decide what type of team they will be.

Will they be the outfit that ran circles around the Golden State Warriors for a little more than a half in Wednesday's season opener? Or the confused and timid bunch that was steamrolled in the second half of that game and all night Friday by the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center?

Harrington was in the middle of the action against the Warriors. He watched the Clippers debacle from the bench as he nursed the sprained left ankle that also kept him out of Saturday night's game against Portland at the Rose Garden.

He was back in the thick of things in the locker room after the loss to the Clippers, however, when tempers flared and a players-only meeting was held before the media was allowed in. Harrington wouldn't elaborate on the details but spoke for the entire team afterwards.

"Our problems, whatever they might be, are self-inflicted, and until we understand that we're going to be on our heels," Harrington said. "Are we inexperienced? [Heck] yes. Are we hurting? Obviously. But are we going to go out every night and lose by 25 and 30? I say [heck] no. [Heck] no.

"We've got to start listening to our coaches and doing the things we work on every day in practice. We can't go out there when the game starts and play scatterbrained and act like we haven't prepared properly, because we have. And that's a reflection on us as a whole, not any one person."

Losing often fosters uncertainty and contempt, traits that can be contagious if not treated properly. Harrington said before he lets that happen with this team, he'll crank up the volume in the locker room and everywhere else, if need be.

"We were 13-69 last year, so we don't have anything to stand on this year but our effort and our pride," he said.

"If anybody on this team thinks another team in this league is going to feel sorry for us, they are sorely mistaken. If anybody on this team thinks they are above doing any and everything possible to help us turn this thing around, they are mistaken.

"The Clippers had two cats come off the bench [James Singleton and Chris Wilcox] and do work. They played with the kind of energy and fire that has to be our style. We can't allow anybody to play harder than us and have a chance to win games. We can't be that kind of team and be successful.

"And sometimes you just have to keep your mouth shut, listen to your coaches and do the work."

Wilcox scored 10 quick second-quarter points to jumpstart the Clippers en route to their 92-77 victory.

Singleton, a relentless rebounder, finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. The Clippers outrebounded the Hawks by 51-40.

[Lascar78]

this was already posted but is a great read

[Admin]

Ah, sorry about that ... must have missed it yesterday due to football related stress

Still, good to hear him taking a stand and making himself be heard.

[Diesel]

It seems to me that Harrington has stepped up as a LEADER here!!... GOOD!

I'm not going to speculate on who was playing scatterbrained and unprepared but we put up a good gamr