'Gym rat' Johnson raring to go By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 10/12/06 Memphis — Ask Hawks captain Joe Johnson how he's feeling after a long summer toiling for USA Basketball and a little over a week of two-a-day training camp practices and he'll swear he's feeling great. But after playing his best player 40 minutes per game last year, Hawks coach Mike Woodson won't allow his hardest working player to convince him to change his strategy of resting Johnson throughout the exhibition season. "This guy's a total gym rat, he never wants a rest," Woodson said before the Hawks exhibition opener Wednesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies. "So I know I'll have to monitor his minutes. But Joe's a pro. And he knows when he can go and when he can't go. If he tells me to back off, I'll do that. But if I don't push the issue he'll just keep going because he is the definition of a gym rat." Johnson logged major minutes during the exhibition season a year ago because it was his first chance to play with a new cast of teammates. "He's in great shape," Woodson said. "But we don't need to burn him out during the exhibition season." Brown, Calipari drop in Woodson's former boss and mentor Larry Brown was waiting for the Hawks at FedEx Forum Wednesday when they arrived for a shootaround practice. Brown and University of Memphis coach John Calipari both sat in on the workout. Brown, the brother of Hawks assistant coach Herb Brown, spoke to the Hawks in the locker room before they left the building. Woodson wanted his players to hear the same thing he's been preaching from a coach considered one of the game's all-time greats. "Larry watched these guys last year," Woodson said. "He knows we had about 25 games last year, 25 close games that were very winnable games for us that we couldn't pull out for whatever reasons. So he talked to our guys about taking that next step, making that commitment to the game and playing with the same passion and purpose from start to finish that all of the teams that make the postseason have to." Stoudamire's 24th Second-year guard Salim Stoudamire had reason to celebrate Wednesday night. Not only was it his 24th birthday, Stoudamire was playing in his first game since his rookie season ended after 61 games last year because of an elbow injury that required surgery. 资料来源 http://0rz.tw/dc1YI --

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