In the meantime … (Sekou blog- Acie,Summer League(

[Cwell]

Good info on Acie and Zaza and nice to know Speedy and Solo playing this summer

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-bl...e_meantime.html

SMYRNA - While we’ve all been locked in on the free agent situation regarding both Josh Smith and Josh Childress the Hawks other players have been busy with the business that is every offseason.

That’s not to say the other players aren’t interested in the futures of their teammates, because they are. In fact, the one question I get most from Hawks players is “what’s up with Josh and Josh?” - as if I know any better than they do.

(There is nothing new to mention regarding the Joshes. The salary cap number will be released to teams Tuesday afternoon/evening, convenient huh, just in time for Wednesday’s official start of the free agent signing period. Once everyone around the league has that official cap number in hand they can go about consummating deals that have been on the table since last week.)

The better question is what’s up with you?

So I poked my head in at Philips Arena this morning in an effort to find an answer to that question. The first two faces I see, shortly before 10 a.m. the morning after the extended 4th of July weekend, belong to Acie Law IV and Hawks coach Mike Woodson.

They were on the practice floor bright and early (Law was working out with Hawks assistant video coordinator John “Beans” Beckett and Woodson stumbled upon them on his way to his office and an impromptu brainstorming session began about the nuances of playing point guard for the Hawks) playing out a scene we all might see on the regular over the next few years.

Save for a two week break, Law’s been working out relentlessly since the Hawks’ playoff run ended. He said he’s hungry as ever and will not let up come mini-camp and summer league (next week in Atlanta for mini-camp and the following week and a half in Salt Lake City for mini-camp).

Woodson was all smiles seeing Law on the floor so early and already having worked up a ferocious sweat while working on his shot and an assortment of other things during his early morning workout.

Law retired to the weight room (allowing me a few minutes to trade questions and answers with Woodson for an upcoming piece on Law) and when he finished with that part of his routine he headed out the door for a therapy session for his injured wrist that caused him problems during his rookie season (he said the wrist feels fine and that the therapy three days a week has done wonders).

He admitted to being wired up for the upcoming season and even more fired about his chance to compete in mini-camp and summer league.

“I can’t wait,” he said, uttering a phrase rarely heard from the lips of a scone-year guy in the middle of his first NBA summer.

While I was in the midst of wrapping up with Law and Woodson Zaza Pachulia breezes into the room with his bag over his shoulder, having already completed his weight room work while I was snooping around downstairs.

ZP seems just as eager as Acie to get back out there and get after someone - he’ll have to do his work with the rest of the Georgian national team when they convene for training camp in a few weeks for some competitions on the other side of the globe.

With all the attention on the NBA Finals and then free agency, it’s easy to overlook just how much work goes on outside of the limelight in this league (the Hawks, like every other team in the league, have guys stretched all over the place doing individual work of their own).

And speaking of work, I put my snooping skills to good use this morning. I pilfered the Hawks’ mini-camp roster/summer league roster (not everyone on the mini-camp roster is going to make the cut for Salt Lake City and some guys will join the Hawks’ summer league crew in Salt Lake City without going through mini-camp) and was surprised by a few of the names on the list. You might be surprised as well (I can’t imagine it’ll take long for the surprise to kick in):

G - Acie Law IV

G - Speedy Claxton

G - Dominique Kirk

G - Brian Chase

G - Jeremy Richardson

G - Demetric Bennett

G - Thomas Gardner

G/F - Mario West

G/F - Luke Jackson

F - Brian Randle

F - Kevin Pinckney

F - Marcus Hubbard

F - Othella Hunter

F - Brian Butch

C - Solomon Jones

C - Jamal Sampson

C - Olumide Oyedeji

I’m still doing homework on some of these cats (since I’d never heard of them), so I’ll reserve comment on most. But I have to say I was stunned to see Speedy Claxton’s name on the list.

Someone mentioned to me a while back that they thought he was going to be on the summer league roster. I thought it was a joke. But with all the injury problems he’s had the past two years it makes sense to see how he’s holding up in July before getting to training camp in a couple months and finding out.

Naturally, you want to see how he fares in what should be some heated competition (if Law has his way). But you also want to see how Solomon Jones, Jeremy Richardson and Mario West look against a group of hungry free agents.

Some of the other names are intriguing - Luke Jackson was a lottery pick, Gardner was a standout college player at Missouri, Randle was the same at Illinois and Butch the same at Wisconsin. Sampson and Oyedeji have the kind of size and experience (both have been on NBA rosters at one time or another).

And as receptive as the Hawks have been to free agent invitees in the past (West, Richardson, Ced Bozeman, Dijon Thompson, Obinna Ekezie and a host of others) these guys need to be watched.

These guys won’t get going until this time next week, just a couple days before departing for Salt Lake City. The free agent drama should play out before then. But in the meantime, we can chew on this list and see if there isn’t a player or two in this group (not already under contract) that could impact the Hawks in the near future …

[Deeman]

I love Acie Law , he is already training for next season.

[WraithSentinel]

Great to see Acie is motivated. I like it even more Acie and Woodson talking.

[capstone21]

Luke Jackson never lived up to the hype. Maybe this will be the right place for him. Its good that he is given a look.

[exodus]

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Luke Jackson never lived up to the hype. Maybe this will be the right place for him. Its good that he is given a look.

he had a serious back injury and had surgery, missing his whole rookie year. I don't think he was quite right after that. He never did get much time with the Cavs.

I did see him have a nice game for the Raps one day, scoring 20 pts.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

If we can't get rid of Speedy, might as well try to play him. It would be nice if he could become the 9th man in the rotation

[hawkman]

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Luke Jackson never lived up to the hype. Maybe this will be the right place for him. Its good that he is given a look.

He was an awesome shooter in college(Oregon if I remember correctly). He had some serious back problems with Clevland and never really got his game together there. I'm kinda interested to see what he'll do in Summer League.

[Chris18]

It's great to hear Acie is working his butt off trying to get better next year. I really think that he is going to make a Deron Williams like leap this year and become one of the top young point guards in the game and its even better that he and Woody seem to be bonding.

Luke Jackson can be a good spot up shooter as long as he can stay healthy and its nice to see Speedy seeing if he can go this year because if he can't this is likely his last shot to do so.

[Diesel]

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Woodson was all smiles seeing Law on the floor so early and already having worked up a ferocious sweat while working on his shot and an assortment of other things during his early morning workout.

Law retired to the weight room (allowing me a few minutes to trade questions and answers with Woodson for an upcoming piece on Law) and when he finished with that part of his routine he headed out the door for a therapy session for his injured wrist that caused him problems during his rookie season (he said the wrist feels fine and that the therapy three days a week has done wonders).

He admitted to being wired up for the upcoming season and even more fired about his chance to compete in mini-camp and summer league.

“I can’t wait,” he said, uttering a phrase rarely heard from the lips of a scone-year guy in the middle of his first NBA summer.

Does anybody know what Marvin is doing this summer?

Maybe He's reliving the good old days.

[Cwell]

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Woodson was all smiles seeing Law on the floor so early and already having worked up a ferocious sweat while working on his shot and an assortment of other things during his early morning workout.

Law retired to the weight room (allowing me a few minutes to trade questions and answers with Woodson for an upcoming piece on Law) and when he finished with that part of his routine he headed out the door for a therapy session for his injured wrist that caused him problems during his rookie season (he said the wrist feels fine and that the therapy three days a week has done wonders).

He admitted to being wired up for the upcoming season and even more fired about his chance to compete in mini-camp and summer league.

“I can’t wait,” he said, uttering a phrase rarely heard from the lips of a scone-year guy in the middle of his first NBA summer.

Does anybody know what Marvin is doing this summer?

Maybe He's reliving the good old days. funny how none of those guys in that picture are doing much of anything in the NBA,compared to their college careers.

[mrhonline]

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If we can't get rid of Speedy, might as well try to play him. It would be nice if he could become the 9th man in the rotation

Amen.

[mrhonline]

Hey, D.

What's Horford doing this summer?

[Deeman]

LoL I bet you Marvin is at his house watching Spongebob.

[Diesel]

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Hey, D.

What's Horford doing this summer?

After a meaningful rookie year where he lived up to his hype... Does it matter?

[Cwell]

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LoL I bet you Marvin is at his house watching Spongebob.

I don't really want to be a part of this but when u said that I pictured Marvin on his couch eating fruit loops and laughing so hard at spongebob, milk sqirts out his nose lol.

[Diesel]

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LoL I bet you Marvin is at his house watching Spongebob.

I don't really want to be a part of this but when u said that I pictured Marvin on his couch eating fruit loops and laughing so hard at spongebob, milk sqirts out his nose lol.

That sad part is that when you say that, you can see it.

Just like when Sekou said that Acie says he's hungry with sweat rolling down his face, you can see that too.

Fortunately and unfortunately, it's not the other way around.

[WraithSentinel]

Horford has nothing to prove in meaningless games. He will have every scrub coming after him trying to cheapshot him in order to make a name for themselves. Better for him to stay away from the SL. Plus he has an education that he want to complete.

[Cwell]

On another note.Derrick Rose is looking like crap in his debut and the guy that stole the title from him (Mario Chalmers) is embarrasing him,out playing him 100%.Beasley looks pretty good though.

[mrhonline]

You didn't answer my question, D.

What's Horford doing this summer?

[Diesel]

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You didn't answer my question, D.

What's Horford doing this summer?

To answer your question, there needs to be some reason for the relevance? Horford is probably finishing his degree because he's proven himself in his rookie year.

Marvin is in his third year. Has yet to live up to the hype. Has yet to improve any part of his game. Is making plenty of money and is going into his first free agent year. To have Acie realize that he didn't live up to his name and to be on the court busting his a00 makes his coach smile. Marvin for 3 years now have been guilty of the same things. Last year, it came to light that he needed an assistant to tell him that maybe he ought to come in and work out.

So to answer your question...

It doesn't really matter what Horf is doing this summer. He could be laid up with a girl on one hand and a corona in the other. We have had much success with "the Godfather" contributing and being robbed of ROY. What about Marvin? (Who wasn't even asked to participate in the Rookie-Sophomore game either year)