Hornets.com’s 1-on-1: Atlanta’s Speedy Claxton, Micah Hart
February 28, 2007
Hornets.com’s Cris Quintana and Jim Eichenhofer interviewed Atlanta guard Speedy Claxton and Atlanta website writer Micah Hart, respectively, in conjunction with the Hawks’ visit to the Ford Center on Wednesday.
Claxton signed as a free agent with Atlanta last summer after playing a large role for the Hornets during their surprisingly successful 2005-06 campaign. Claxton finished as the runner-up in last season’s Sixth Man of the Year voting.
Hart covers Atlanta for Hawks.com, the team’s official site. Meanwhile, Eichenhofer provided his take on the Hornets in an interview on Hawks.com today.
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Atlanta guard Speedy Claxton
Q: What are your thoughts on tonight’s game versus your former team?
A: It was a tough loss; we’re both fighting for playoff spots. We lost the game in the second quarter, because we played them tough the rest of the game. I think we played well, we just need to be able to play the game at our tempo for 48 minutes, play solid defense and make shots, giving us a chance to win in future games.
Q: How difficult was it for you to sign with the Hawks this past offseason after having so much success with the Hornets?
A: It was very difficult. Going into the offseason, my number one goal was to come back to the Hornets. Things did not work out and I had to move on. Atlanta offered me a great opportunity for my family and future, so I had to move forward.
Q: How difficult has it been for you to battle through injuries this season?
A: It’s been very difficult. My knee has been bothering me all season, I’m just trying to play through it and help my team win some ballgames. As a player you want to be out there every night contributing. Injuries are part of the game, you just have to work hard, go through conditioning and get yourself back together and as close to 100 percent as possible.
Q: What are your thoughts on some of the young players on the roster? What do you think you need to do to help take this team to the next level?
A: Get more experience. We have a lot of young, talented guys who with time will mature and will continue learning the importance of being ready to play 82 games with the same level of intensity.
Q: With the rich history of point guards growing up playing basketball in New York City, was there one point guard that you admired growing up?
A: Tiny Archibald. I got a chance to meet him when I was in high school and will never forget how it was to meet someone of his stature. He’s one of the 50 greatest players to play in this league, so trying to pattern my game after him was something that I knew would help me in the long run.
Q: While playing with the Hornets, you formed a pretty good friendship with Chris Paul. What are your thoughts on his future?
A: He has a great future ahead of him. He’s battled through some injuries this season, but I look for him to lead this team into the playoffs this season. He’s a great leader, knows the game, gets everyone involved and plays hard whenever he’s on the court – at practice or in an actual game.
Hart
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Atlanta website writer Micah Hart
Q: Although the Hawks enter Wednesday’s game at 22-35, they’re on pace to register more victories this season than many analysts predicted, especially after they’ve gone 28-54, 13-69 and 26-56 in the last three seasons. What have been the biggest reasons for the Hawks’ competitiveness, including wins over Phoenix, Houston, Detroit and Cleveland this season?
A: Well, the simplest answer is the play of Joe Johnson. Outside of Atlanta, most people really just don’t realize how good he is because we are never on national television and he doesn’t dunk a lot. But if you are fortunate enough to watch him on a night-in, night-out basis, you come to appreciate just how good a basketball player he is and how often he has carried us on his shoulders this season. There are really only a handful of players in the league who can score at will, no matter who (or how many) is guarding them, and he is one of them. When you have a player of his caliber, like D-Wade, Kobe, T-Mac, et cetera, you are capable of winning on any given night due to their potential dominance.
The slightly extended answer is the Hawks have a talented group of players, the foundation of which should make the team very competitive in the next few years if they are allowed to stay together. If anything, the team should have more wins than it does, but injuries have killed us at the worst possible times (as you are familiar with). Also, the youthfulness of the team (the youngest roster in the league over the past two years) has led to growing pains and an inability to close out opponents late in games. They don’t have experience winning, and sometimes (OK, often) it comes back to bite them in the rear.
Q: The Hawks have stockpiled a large group of first-round picks over the past few seasons, including Shelden Williams, Marvin Williams, Josh Childress and Josh Smith, but all of them are essentially forwards. How likely is it that Atlanta will make a major roster move this summer through a trade or free agency?
A: I think it will all depend on price and availability. Hawks GM Billy Knight has proven he won’t give out the kind of salary-cap killing contracts to over-valued players we’ve seen happen so often over the past few years. He is all about patience, for better or for worse, and won’t cave to popular demand and make deals just to appease someone. It’s funny – for all the grief he has received for various draft picks and what not, the moves he hasn’t made (signing Erick Dampier, Kenyon Martin, etc.) has had a significantly positive impact on the team. Anyway, if the right player is there for the right money or right deal, Billy will make it. But as he has shown, he won’t spend the money just for the sake of spending.
We need some help in the middle, and maybe at the one, but it’s hard for me to imagine Billy shaking up the core of this team (Joe, Josh, Josh and Marvin) unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’d say it’s much more likely we will be a player for free agents than through a trade.
Q: Marvin Williams was a standout in summer league, causing many hoops analysts to project a breakout year for the second-year pro. Talk about his progress this season.
A: Marvin had a huge summer, and everyone was really excited for him to hit the ground running at the beginning of this season. Unfortunately, he broke his finger right before everything got started, and we didn’t get to see him till near the end of December. I think that was a significant setback for him.
Marvin is always going to face comparison issues due to so many people clamoring for the Hawks to have taken Chris Paul (you’re welcome) or Deron Williams in 2005, but I still feel very confident about his game. He has the best jump shot on the team (including Joe), and we have seen his comfort level rise more and more over the past couple weeks (20 points in the win over Houston, 23 and 10 against Phoenix). The thing people seem to forget is he is still only 20 years old. He has a LOT of basketball left to play.
If I have one criticism, it’s that I’d like to see him assert himself a little more often on the offensive end. Right now he just waits for the game to come to him, which is admirable and keeps him from making a lot of turnovers, but at some point he will need to start imposing his will a little more on the other team. Joe Johnson does it, and Josh Smith has really started to do it, and when Marvin begins to do it as well, this team will be very, very difficult to stop.
Q: There was a great deal of debate around the NBA on whether the Hawks gave up too much to acquire Joe Johnson in the summer of 2005. Considering that Johnson has developed into near-superstar status, do the Hawks believe they were justified in making the move?
A: Here is the thing. People love to point to the play of Boris Diaw as proof that the Hawks gave up way too much to get JJ, but I can tell you that as much as we liked Boris personally, he was pretty much an afterthought in that exchange. We were coming off a 13-win season and had to make some serious moves to get better. I am happy for Boris and glad he has succeeded, but anyone who tells you they saw it coming is feeding you a load of bull. I wish we hadn’t had to give up two first-rounders, but if that is what it took, so be it.
I have this argument all the time with my friends. There are some players that are worth the risk, and some that aren’t. Even if Joe had been a total bust, it was still the right move for the franchise. No one questions that we overpaid for him – but it’s one thing to overpay for a 30-year-old center with bad knees (Dampier), and quite another to overpay for a 24-year-old swingman with incredible potential.
We had to make something happen, and I think everyone in the Hawks organization would say the trade for Joe has paid off in spades.
Q: Former Hornets guard Speedy Claxton signed with the Hawks last summer, but has had perhaps the poorest season of his career. How much of Speedy’s struggles can be attributed to his knee and back injuries?
A: Not being in the locker room or training room, it’s hard for me to really say. I think it all begins there, to be certain. Much like Marvin, Speedy’s broken finger got everything off to a bad start from the get-go. His knees have really slowed him offensively, but I think confidence has played a role as well. A lot of playing sports at this level is having the confidence in yourself to know that you can get the job done, and I think Speedy has been tentative at times due to a lack of trust of his body. For a guy whose game is predicated on quickness, it’s pretty tough to adapt when your knees are hurting.
Clearly, getting him back to the form we think he is capable of will be crucial to the development of this team in the future. Really, with all the injuries we’ve had at the PG position, I think it’s impressive we have done as well as we have.
