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This will be brief, because after four days of scrimmaging there isn't a
whole lot new to report, but I did have a few observations from today...
- First and foremost, I saw one of the nastiest spills I've ever seen today
near the end of practice. Thomas Gardner was going to the hole, guarded
by Mario West, when West slipped on the floor and Gardner went with him. Gardner
went down face first into the floor, causing his head to snap back in a terrible
manner. I was sure he was knocked out, or had broken parts of his face for sure,
but amazingly Gardner got up and walked it off under his own power. The training
staff checked him out, but he appeared to be ok. For his sake I sure hope he is,
because it looked at the time like he was going to be hurt pretty badly. Gardner
has been out the last few days with a leg injury, which must have been pretty
severe considering his reaction to today's spill. That is one tough dude.
- Speaking of bumps and bruises, today was rough on Maurice Evans as
well. Mo caught a skull to the mouth while guarding Marvin Williams at the
basket early on, then accidentally got picked into his own man and went down
hard later on as well. Evans is an incredible athlete and shook both blows off
pretty well, but today was a reminder of just how physical the game of
basketball can be when people are competing as hard as these guys.
- Continuing my wonderful job of segueing (pat myself on the back, why don't
I), I liked what I saw from Marvin Williams today. He didn't hit any
threes, but he took one and generally made life miserable for the guys guarding
him, rubbing off screens to hit several jumpers over the course of the action.
Not that I necessarily want Marvin to take a lot of contested jumpers, but it's
nice to see him able to pull the trigger that quickly and with precision when he
needs to. He also made his presence felt on the defensive end, getting a couple
of nice blocks around the basket.
- I don't feel like I've spoken much about Joe Johnson or Al
Horford during camp, but I think it's because they both just come out and do
their jobs with a steady if unspectacular brilliance. I am expecting big things
from both of these guys this season, and nothing I've seen over the course of
camp so far has led me to alter that line of thinking.
- Speedy Claxton missed practice today after straining his hamstring
late yesterday. I'm not sure how long he's out for, but I'll keep you posted.
- One roster note as the team prepares to head to Orlando for its first
preseason game on Monday, Olumide Oyedeji was put on waivers, cutting the
squad down to 17. You never like to see anyone's tenure end, but there will
still be at least two more to go as the Hawks have to get down to 15 by the
start of the season.
