Toughness is one thing not in doubt By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 02/06/06 Pound for pound, Royal Ivey is the leading contender for the title as the Hawks' toughest player. Ivey, the starting point guard, proved it Saturday night and returned to Atlanta bruised and battered after a series of run-ins with Washington's 7-foot center Brendan Haywood, who took exception with a hard foul Ivey put on him before halftime. Haywood got his revenge by setting a series of vicious picks on Ivey, who got up from every blow — no matter how bad it looked — when he hit the floor. It was one of those collisions that caused the right thigh contusion Ivey is nursing this morning. Ivey had it treated and wrapped after Saturday's game and had it evaluated by Hawks athletic trainer Wally Blase again Sunday. But Ivey said there's no way he'd miss Tuesday night's game against Detroit. "I'm good," he said. "Besides, I can't afford to miss any games." Hawks coach Mike Woodson has praised Ivey's toughness and willingness to accept his role; he's the starter but plays a reserve's minutes. "Royal is a pro's pro, and he's as hard a worker as we have on this team," Woodson said. "And I've never seen him back down from anything. So we expect him to be there when we need him." Harrington misfires but stays confident A 4-for-16 shooting effort doesn't normally constitute a shooting slump. But Hawks co-captain Al Harrington was still shaking his head at his performance against the Wizards. He finished with nine points and 10 rebounds in just more than 35 minutes. "Wood got me out of there before it got worse," Harrington said with a smile, "because I was definitely going to try and shoot my way out of it, but it was just one of those nights." Harrington has had few of those this season. He's shooting better than 46 percent from the floor and better than 37 percent from beyond the 3-point line, the latter 10 percentage points better than his career average. "All I can do is keep working," Harrington said. "You're going to have nights when your shot is just not falling. Sometimes it's the shots you're taking, and sometimes the ball just won't go in the hole. I try and make sure it's not the shot selection." Batista provides spark Some of the best minutes played off the bench against the Wizards came from rookie forward Esteban Batista, who was extremely productive in nine-plus minutes. Batista played six minutes in the third quarter, when the Hawks trimmed a 25-point deficit to six. He grabbed four of his six rebounds during that stretch and gave the Wizards' big men fits with his energetic style and willingness to mix it up regardless of the size of the opposition. "That's his forte right now," Woodson said. "We're going to need him in spurts like that and if can do that, then he'll be fine." Rally was textbook play It was that third-quarter stretch of play that the Hawks use as an example of how they need to play all the time. They did it without four of their starters on the floor. Joe Johnson played about nine minutes in the third, giving way to reserve point guard Tyronn Lue, who scored 11 of his 14 points during that comeback. "We were sharing the ball, penetrating and getting to the free throw line and playing unselfish basketball," Lue said. "We've been playing like that the last four or five games, and we wanted to continue to play like that." 资料来源 http://www.ajc.com/hawks/content/sports/hawks/stories/0206hawks.html --

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