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Hawks BasketBlog
speedy claxton
Tuesday September 4, 2007
Posted by: Micah Hart at 9:50PM AFT on September 4, 2007
With summer league play over (job well done Shelden and Acie,
nabbing All-RMR
honors - and Al Horford might have if he hadn't hurt his ankle), and
nothing else really going on until the start of training camp in October, I
thought this would be a good time to take a look at the Hawks roster and check
out everyone's status on the team. It should be a good way to kill some time
over the next few weeks and help bridge the gap until the season starts!
Today we continue the series with point guard Speedy Claxton. How do you think these players will do? Leave your answers in the comments!
2007 Stats: 5.3 ppg, 4.4 apg, 1.7 spg 2007 Highlights: It was a tough season for Speedy, to say the least. A broken finger cost him most of the preseason, and chronic knee pain kept him in and out of the lineup until he eventually had to shut it down for the season in early March. There really weren't many highlights to speak of, but he did show glimpses of what Hawks fans were hoping to see in back-to-back games in December, scoring 19 points and dishing out 11 assists in a 97-88 win at Memphis on Dec. 15 and following that with another double-double (10 points, 11 dimes) in a 106-105 loss to Chicago on Dec. 16. What he needs to work on this summer: It's hard to pinpoint one thing, given how much went wrong for Speedy in 06-07. He shot 55% from the free throw line, 21% worse than his career average, for example. I think it's safe to say at least some of last year was an aberration. Claxton had arthroscopic surgery on his knee, and has been working out in Vancouver this summer with one of the top sports physiotherapists in the world. Hopefully, improvements to his health and to the competition around him will have him back to the form that led the Hawks to sign him in the first place. So far at least, the word is he is healthy and ready to show what he can do.
Outlook for 2007-08: As much grief as Speedy got for his season a year ago, there is no doubting his importance to the team's outlook for 2007-08. With the team promising to play more up-tempo, Claxton is just the type of point guard the team needs to implement that kind of style. I simply refuse to believe that Speedy is as bad as he looked last year. This is a guy who finished second in the 6th Man voting as recently as 05-06 - clearly he has talent. For him it will be all about staying healthy, but I also think the stiffened competition at the point from T-Lue, Acie Law, and Anthony Johnson will help to raise his game as well. The Hawks need Speedy to play to the level they though him capable of when they signed him, and Speedy needs to play well to redeem himself from a nightmare campaign a year ago. This subplot will go a long way towards determining the team's success. Agree? Saturday April 21, 2007
Posted by: Micah Hart at 12:48AM AFT on April 21, 2007
![]() Well, I suppose a valedictory of the season is warranted before we truly move on to the business at hand of figuring out just where the ping-pong balls are going to put us for the NBA Draft. I look at the past season as a four-act play.
Act Two - Die Hard: At this point, a perfect storm of circumstances caused the season to spiral downward at an almost dizzying pace. T-Lue hurt his groin. Josh Smith had to have surgery for a hernia. Speedy continued to deal with knee problems that limited his effectivess. Joe's calf. Marvin's finger. Shelden's shoulder. Childress's foot. It went on and on, and all while the team dealt with a brutal schedule that saw the team face seven playoff teams in eight games (with the eighth being Indiana, a team that was comfortably in the playoff picture at that point). Predictably, the team lost all eight games, and now, sitting at 9-21, hope appeared lost. Act
Three - The Resurrection: Unfortunately, that led to:
There were positives even in the free fall, as Josh Smith continued to show off the game that leads many to predict All-Star game appearances in his future, and both Marvin and Shelden Williams had strong finishes with increased playing time. Now, as we get ready to begin working on the script for 2007-08, it's time to say thanks to all the fans who stuck with the team through a true roller-coaster of a season. It was great at times and excruciating at times, but hopefully in the end the team takes with them the necessary lessons to build towards tomorrow. Despite the season's finish, I find myself very optimistic about the future. Yes, we finished with the 4th worst record in the league. But I refuse to believe we couldn't have competed for a playoff spot, if not earned one outright, if we had ever gotten the chance to play with a full deck. We didn't and that's on us - every team deals with injuries, so you can't play the poor me card too much. But I'm not ready to give up on this roster, and I think we are set up to make some interesting moves this summer to improve. So again - thanks to all the fans for your support this season. Good times are around the corner, I can feel it. Stick with us. Tuesday February 6, 2007
Posted by: Micah Hart at 12:58AM AFT on February 6, 2007
The Hawks will be looking for their second win in two days, thanks to yesterday's 101-99 win at New Jersey courtesy of your favorite braided Hawk and mine, Tyronn Lue. Lue downplayed his efforts slightly when I spoke to him about his game-winning buzzer-beater this morning, but if you watch the highlight of the play (which I have done several times already this morning), you can see just how excited the team (and Lue himself) was to come out of the Meadowlands with such an important victory. Joe Johnson once again was spectacular, continuing his All-Star retribution tour by dropping 37 points on the Nets and their two All-Stars Vince Carter and Jason Kidd, but this game was a team effort. Everyone who played chipped in, including Speedy Claxton, who continues to show a little rust from his layoff. His offense may not be where he'd like it to be yet, but defensively, Claxton made two plays yesterday that were complete difference makers - the charge he drew late in regulation against a streaking Kidd, and then his pilfering of Carter with 33 ticks left in overtime and the Hawks clinging to a one-point lead. Neither of the Hawks floor-generals are even close to 100% right now, but yesterday gave a tantalizing preview once again of some of the things they are capable of when they are up and running. Tonight's game is going to be a tough one, no doubt, as any game is against a team with Kobe Bryant on the roster. Hawks assistant coach Greg Ballard said in breaking down the Lakers this morning that Bryant isn't the only one to focus on - Lamar Odom and company will be every bit as important to focus on tonight in order for the Hawks to win. We have seen the Hawks play much improved basketball over the last couple weeks, winning five of their last seven. Still, this is the kind of game they need to win to show they have really put the slump of late December-early January to rest. Can they get it done? Join us and a chunk of the Atlanta blogging community tonight at Philips and find out! See you there! |