Hamstring sidelines Hawks’ Claxton

[Vesper]

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/h...dy_claxton.html

Hamstring sidelines Hawks’ Claxton

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Veteran point guard Speedy Claxton pulled his hamstring late in Friday’s workout and could be out for a significant amount of time, including the entirety of this week’s three-game road trip to Orlando, Phoenix and Kansas City, where they will play Portland.

Claxton replaced second-year swingman Thomas Gardner on the inactive list for practice Saturday.

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This marks Claxton’s third-straight training camp with the Hawks that has been marred by an injury. He broke his hand just days before his first training camp with the Hawks, injured a knee injury last year and missed the entire season.

And now, while trying to resurrect his career, and now the hamstring injury could derail his plans.

“He really could be out for a while,” Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. “He’ll go on the trip with us this week. But [as far as playing], I don’t know. We’ll just have to see how he responds.”

[KDT88]

Cool, so we got the Speedy injury out of the way.

[mrhonline]

:beathorse:

[mattlanta]

Why can't we just cut him. He's on the final year of the contract, right? That roster spot should belong to someone else who actually deserves it and make it worthwhile.

[AtLaS]

LOL.

[Cwell]

Why can't we just cut him. He's on the final year of the contract, right? That roster spot should belong to someone else who actually deserves it and make it worthwhile.

he's in the 3rd year of his 4 year contract.

[crimedog]

I guess it's better than a bone/joint injury.

It would have been, and still is, folly to count on him. If he can come in and be productive - bonus. If not - another day at the office.

At least this news isn't about Joe or Josh.

[Swatguy]

I guess it's better than a bone/joint injury.

It would have been, and still is, folly to count on him. If he can come in and be productive - bonus. If not - another day at the office.

At least this news isn't about Joe or Josh.

Of course I'm pulling for him to get well quickly. A Hammy could be a couple of days or a couple of months

[atlien]

Of course I'm pulling for him to get well quickly. A Hammy could be a couple of days or a couple of months

With Speedy it could be the entire season.

[Plainview1981]

Signing him was one of the Hawks worst signings. He never was that good to begin with.

[WraithSentinel]

I wish him the best and wish he could stay healthy. The reality of it that is likely to never happen. At this point he is our version of Mike Hampton. Another words he is nothing more than comic relief at this point. Which is sad. Here is a simple advice to Speedy. :white flag:

Edited October 5, 2008 by HawksJJHorford

[DrReality]

It'll give Acie more minutes and in the long run that's a good thing.

[Boomer]

Man, poor Speedy. Might be time to start thinking about hangin em up. Might be the best thing for him and the Hawks.

[Wretch]

Pffft....

lol, whatever man.

[DrReality]

He should become a sports agent specializing in clients with a history of injuries.

[OGRat]

Man, poor Speedy. Might be time to start thinking about hangin em up. Might be the best thing for him and the Hawks.

Someone coming off a long break without playing much is always liable to pull a muscle. Sounds to me like someone has not been doing their job of managing his activity or making sure he is properly warmed up. Who is our strength and conditioning coach anyway?

While it would be better for the Hawks for him to be an insurance write-off, I would welcome Claxton back if I thought he could produce on a consistent basis. Even still, a pulled hamstring is not what will end his career. If he can come back from the surgeries, he can come back from the muscle pull. That said, I do not expect much from Claxton on a consistent basis.

I'd like to see him ride the bench until absolutely necessary for him to play. You know.....the month or so when two someones vital get hurt and we need an offensive spark. Just in time for everyone to be ready and primed for the playoffs.

[capstone21]

I hope he is able to come back. I think he can a real difference off the bench...especially defensively. I was/am looking forward to putting him and Evans in there together to shut down backcourts like the Pistons.

This is a chance for Acie to prove he belongs. He had some struggles in the summer league running the team. Maybe some extended minutes here will help him. Its important for Acie to step up or we have to figure out a way to resign Bibby this offseason.

[mrhonline]

This sucks because the Hawks need to know what they have in him as early as possible.

If Claxton plays more than 10 games, the Hawks are not eligible to wipe his salary off the books until the end of the next season as opposed to the end of this season (assuming retirement). It's a little thing, but it would be nice to know...

Edited October 6, 2008 by mrhonline

[Traceman]

Someone coming off a long break without playing much is always liable to pull a muscle. Sounds to me like someone has not been doing their job of managing his activity or making sure he is properly warmed up. Who is our strength and conditioning coach anyway?

While it would be better for the Hawks for him to be an insurance write-off, I would welcome Claxton back if I thought he could produce on a consistent basis. Even still, a pulled hamstring is not what will end his career. If he can come back from the surgeries, he can come back from the muscle pull. That said, I do not expect much from Claxton on a consistent basis.

I'd like to see him ride the bench until absolutely necessary for him to play. You know.....the month or so when two someones vital get hurt and we need an offensive spark. Just in time for everyone to be ready and primed for the playoffs.

Rat, come on man! This is SPEEDY we are talking about. You can't be serious when you suggest that the training staff might bear some responsibility for his injury. The Hawks training staff does a remarkable job of getting our guys ready to play which is one of the reasons why our guys missed so few games last year. Speedy might have injured his hamstring pulling his sweats off for all we know.

Speedy is the Mike Hampton of the Atlanta Hawks. He is made of the same stuff that Hampton and Theo Ratliff are made of. He is just fragile and NO amount of stretching, pilates, special training routines, pool work, weigtht training, aerobics, yoga, jazzercise, bike riding, whirlpools, heat pads, ice, ointments, hyperbaric chambers or anything else is going to keep that guy healthy for very long.

[AtLaS]

Doesn't bother me at all that he went down. Otherwise Acie would ride pine all year, but now he'll at least get a chance and hopefully consistent minutes.

Face it, after all these injuries and surgeries, Speedy is NOT going to be nearly the same player. He's not going to be as quick or as good a defender, and he still sucks at shooting. Not a big loss here.