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Summer Camp Round-Up: Day 1
Posted by: Micah Hart on July 16, 2008 at 11:36AM EST
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Summer camp practice is underway, with the Hawks (and prospective Hawks) hitting the court in the morning and afternoon for drills and scrimmaging. I was there for the scrimmage portion, and I'm happy to report there were several good things worth mentioning.

- Acie Law is the unquestioned leader of this team. Now that may not mean much (most of these guys will never see a regular season NBA roster), but for someone being groomed as the point guard of the future for this organization, I like to see him asserting himself. The biggest illustration of this came after the first game (the players were divided into three squads). Law's team won, and Coach Woodson declared that losers would stay on (presumably, getting the win offered a reward of getting some rest). Law disagreed, and Woody asked him what he wanted to do, and without hesitation Law decreed that his team should keep playing. Coach acquiesced, and Law's team remained on the court for another game and, as it turned out, another win.

- Speedy Claxton is on his way back. I won't get too excited until I see him do it over a longer stretch of time, but Speedy looked fit yesterday during the scrimmage. He played some harassing defense and got to the hole several times with quick moves (including a sweet behind-the-back dribble at full speed). He spoke with the media after practice and seemed confident that he was good to go and 100% healthy. Given his history it's easy to be skeptical, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

- Thomas Gardner has range. Of all the invitees on the court, Gardner probably stood out the most in scrimmage. He drained several long 3-pointers and looked very comfortable despite the chaos that can be summer league workouts. I don't remember Gardner too much from his time in college at Missouri, but I'll certainly be paying attention to him the rest of camp.

- Mario West was his normal, pestering self (in a good way). He was aggressive defensively as always, but was aggressive offensively as well. He took it strong to the hole a few times, finishing with impressive layups in traffic.

- Al Horford worked out but didn't scrimmage. He won't be making the trip to Salt Lake City, but for good reason - he'll be heading to Las Vegas to scrimmage against the US National team. We've touched on this before, but it's very exciting to see him getting this kind of exposure and opportunity. I always felt like Joe Johnson made his leap to NBA All-Star after the confidence he gained from his National Team stint in 2006, and hopefully Horford will experience the same surge. He spoke afterwards about the experience.

Other notes: Wayne Simien didn't make too much of an impact in scrimmage, but he also didn't get the ball much either. He did get it in the low post once, and strung together an impressive series of moves to free himself for a nice turnaround jumper. I hope to see him get some more touches as practice and summer league continue...Luke Jackson didn't get many cracks either, but looked solid nonetheless. He moved well without the ball, a skill that would definitely be a benefit to a Hawks team that could certainly be accused of standing around too much at times last season...Randolph Morris was on the court as well despite not technically being on the Hawks' summer roster. He is a player with some Atlanta ties (he went to Landmark Christian and played on the same AAU team as Josh Smith and Dwight Howard). Morris obviously has the size the Hawks need, so it bears watching what happens to him this summer. To my knowledge he is a free agent, but there was some discussion yesterday that he might still be Knicks property.

Post-practice Interviews:
Speedy Claxton
Mike Woodson
Acie Law
Al Horford

After the jump, check out some photos from the first day of camp:

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Al Horford talks about going to Vegas


Luke Jackson hangs in the corner


Scrimmage gets underway


Bob Bender goes over a play with Randolph Morris


Mario West prepares to inbound the ball


Check out the brand new practice court!


We even got a little shout out...

(15) Comments
Posted by: BigBoi on July 16, 2008 1:18PM EST
Great job, thank you so much, i'm translating for some french fans and you're doing a great job of giving us as many informations as possible.

Keep the good work, go Hawks!

Posted by: paulie on July 16, 2008 7:00PM EST
Why are we bothering with Kwame Brown. He couldn't hang with the Lakers, Memphis let him slide. Typical of the Hawks, we pick up everybody else cast off.

Posted by: Maurice on July 16, 2008 11:20PM EST
Woodson's staff seems to be adept at making smaller guys play bigger. Let's see if they can make bigger guys play well, big.

Posted by: john on July 17, 2008 12:39AM EST
i think the hawks should give thd d2 player marcus hubbarb a chance great upsize

Posted by: mark morgan on July 17, 2008 9:41AM EST
Get kwame, he's the best FA big availible

Posted by: hawksgirl on July 17, 2008 6:01PM EST
does anyone know if the rumor bout j-smoove not wanting to come back because of mike woodson is true?

Posted by: virgil leonard on July 18, 2008 11:39AM EST
yea hawksgirl i saw a lilttle report yesterday saying he di not want to return if Woodson was still HC. its a shame this young mans immaturity is going to lead to us losing a dynamic player. I hope we can get a draft pick and/or a center for him.

Posted by: hawksgirl on July 19, 2008 1:59PM EST
Thanks virgil, i believe josh has to learn his job and place in the NBA. No coach will allow you to do what you please. He is showing his true selfish colors and its not fair to his fans if he leaves with no real explanation.

Posted by: Eric on July 20, 2008 11:02PM EST
I say let Josh Smith go all he does is dunk. He has the worst shot in the NBA. Besides you can get a better player than him.

Posted by: hawksgirl on July 21, 2008 3:20PM EST
anyone hear of what j chill is trying to do? go over seas.

I wish him luck!!! but i dont want him to leave. this is all seeming so unfair.

Posted by: WALKESIE on July 22, 2008 1:55AM EST
IM TIRED OF BEING AT WORK DEFENDED THE HAWKS, IM A REAL FAN NOT A BANDWAGON AND TEAMS IN THE EAST ARE GETTING BETTER BY THE WEEK AND ALL WE DO IS WATCH..COME ON HAWKS SPEND SOME OF THAT MONEY CUZ IF U THINK THAT YOU CAN DO WHAT U DID LAST YEAR WITH THE TEAM WE HAVE NOW AND MAY HAVE IN THE COMING WEEKS..LOL YOUR KILLING YOURSELF...SO LETS GET RIGHT HAWKS SHOW ME SOMETHING THIS OFF-SEASON!!!!!!U OWE IT 2 US...

Posted by: hawksgirl on July 22, 2008 8:48AM EST
If you were a real fan then you would believe in them through thick and thin. I believe they can do anything if they want it bad enough.

The hawks gm is the one who is goin to mess everything up. not trying to offer the josh's an offer makes them feel their unimportant. So the gm needs to show me he is here for business

Posted by: Erick Man on August 12, 2008 12:54PM EST
the hawks suck and always will

Posted by: Derrick nam on August 12, 2008 12:56PM EST
yeah i agree Erick the hawks are even worse than the 76ers this year

Posted by: annonymous on August 16, 2008 7:34AM EST
derrick, the 76eres r really good this year in case u didnt know

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