Updates from Tuesday's practice

[gsuteke]

Tough love’ at practice

By Sekou Smith | Tuesday, October 24, 2006, 03:55 PM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thank you Mother Nature for slapping us all in the face with reality this morning. Freezing temps and the heater blaring is a reminder to us all that the joys of summer and fall will soon come to an end around these parts.

The changing of the season also signals something else: the start of the NBA season, which is just days away. After sitting through an exhausting (even for those of us just watching) Tuesday morning practice, I don’t think I can take too many more of these training camp grinders. We need game time to get here already.

Tuesday’s version of the five things we know right now:

Speedy Claxton’s as quick and shifty as advertised. Watching him work through his first full practice of the season was enlightening. Like so many players that you have to see on a daily basis to truly appreciate what they bring to the table, I had no idea how smooth an operator Claxton was. Keep in mind that his conditioning is nowhere near where he wants or the Hawks need it to be right now, and he was still able to do whatever he wanted to during the scrimmage work at the end of the practice. Stay tuned to the daily paper all this week for a more detailed feature about Speedy.

The NBDL must be doing something right. – I don’t want to be a shill for the league or anything, but after watching Matt Freije and Andreas Glyniadakis for the better part of the past four weeks, it’s clear to me that someone messing with the D-League knows a little something about basketball. These guys are polished and work hard, as do fellow free agent campers Cedric Bozeman and Andre Brown. They’re the best free agent campers the Hawks have had in years, according to several camp observers I’ve spoken to in the past few weeks.

Accountability is the name of the game this season in Hawksville. Having missed Monday night’s game (thanks Karen Rosen for a great job pinch-hitting) I wasn’t privy to the less than acceptable effort the coaches were hounding the players about at practice. They were called up to the middle of the floor more than once and told by not just head coach Mike Woodson but assistants Larry Drew and Bob Bender that those types of performances are a thing of the past. It simply won’t be tolerated. Tough love baby. Tough love.

If you think I’m dropping hints about something you’re probably on to something. I’ve refrained from making too many comments about which guys I think will and will not be on the opening day roster for the Hawks for good reason. I know that some tough decisions will have to be made in terms of who is kept and who is not. I also understand that the coaching staff might be in favor of this guy or that guy, but that those decisions are often made above the head of the coach and his staff. That said, every player on a training camp roster without a guaranteed contract knows that he’s rolling the dice with his immediate future. So there need not be any sympathy dished out for anyone who is let go.

Finally, and totally off the subject, but are we really supposed to believe that Kenny Rogers had dirt on his hand? I just couldn’t help but clown this idea that he had dirt that looked like motor oil conveniently slathered on the palm of his pitching hand. What are we, idiots? And now people have the nerve to debate the integrity of the game of baseball. This is comical. As John McEnroe said, “You cannot be serious.”

[Gray Mule]

We await your next report.

This is getting interesting.

Who will stay and who will go ???

[unknownjdb]

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Who will stay and who will go ???

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Find out next time in "As the Highlight Reel Turns"

Ha ha, ha... uhm, yeah. That was kind of corny.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Just by the way that article sounds, I think Ivey is gone. Maybe even Batista.

[DJlaysitup]

Quote:

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Quote:

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Who will stay and who will go ???

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Find out next time in "As the Highlight Reel Turns"

Ha ha, ha... uhm, yeah. That was kind of corny.

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Hopefully all the guys are staying focused about the job at hand and not looking ahead...Woody needs to tell them:

"Like sands through the hourglass...these are the 'Days of Our Lives'".....sorry-gag

[unknownjdb]

Quote:

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Quote:

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Quote:

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Who will stay and who will go ???

---

Find out next time in "As the Highlight Reel Turns"

Ha ha, ha... uhm, yeah. That was kind of corny.

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Hopefully all the guys are staying focused about the job at hand and not looking ahead...Woody needs to tell them:

"Like sands through the hourglass...these are the 'Days of Our Lives'".....sorry-gag

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Ha, glad I'm not the only one who remembers that stuff. Hell, I'm sure it's still around. I just remember my mom's being big on soaps so I was always drawn into the one way or another.

[AHF]

Quote:

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Quote:

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Quote:

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Quote:

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Who will stay and who will go ???

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Find out next time in "As the Highlight Reel Turns"

Ha ha, ha... uhm, yeah. That was kind of corny.

---

Hopefully all the guys are staying focused about the job at hand and not looking ahead...Woody needs to tell them:

"Like sands through the hourglass...these are the 'Days of Our Lives'".....sorry-gag

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Ha, glad I'm not the only one who remembers that stuff. Hell, I'm sure it's still around. I just remember my mom's being big on soaps so I was always drawn into the one way or another.

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Anyone who knows Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure should also recognize the quote!