Wright's Hawks role has room for scoring By SEKOU SMITH The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 10/07/06 It didn't take Lorenzen Wright long to learn the offense when he played for the Memphis Grizzlies. "We played the throw-the-ball-in-to-Pau-[Gasol]-and-get-out-of-the-way offense," Wright said, laughing. "Really, that was the offense. And we did exactly that. Anybody can learn that offense in seconds." Things are going to be quite different for Wright now that he's back with the Hawks. Wright, a 10-year veteran, played his fourth and fifth seasons with the Hawks before being traded to the Grizzlies in July 2001. He signed a two-year deal with the Hawks in August to provide the rugged inside presence behind starting center Zaza Pachulia that was missing at Philips Arena the past two seasons. But Wright will be more than just an inside banger for the Hawks. He'll get plenty of chances to score with opposing defenses geared to stop Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, Josh Smith and the rest of the Hawks' perimeter weapons. "When you look at the good teams, everybody knows who can score," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "Everybody knows Joe Johnson can score; that he was our leading scorer last year and all that. And honestly, we have more than enough guys that can score. "But Lorenzen can make that pick-and-pop jumper. And I'm not going to take that way from him or anyone. There are all kinds of ways a big man can score in our league. And I don't want to limit anybody offensively." The opportunity to contribute on both ends of the floor is all Wright was looking for this summer. "It's a whole lot better for any player when you know you'll have the chance to shoot the ball and be productive on the defensive end in addition to all the rebounding, defense and other dirty work you know you're going to have to do," Wright said. "I think it makes things a whole lot better for your main scorers, too. If we [post players] are making shots, it takes some pressure off of guys like Joe and Marvin. That's when a team is most dangerous in this league, when the other team knows that every guy on the floor is an offensive threat." Packed house The Hawks packed the gymnasium at Woodward Academy Saturday morning for their open practice. They went through a lively two-hour workout for the crowd, including a three-quarter scrimmage. Coaches and players signed autographs afterward. The open practice was a make-up date from last year, when the Hawks were scheduled to work out at Woodward, where Woodson's daughters are students, but had to cancel when reserve center Jason Collier died early on the morning of Oct. 15. "We owed it to the fans and the people here at Woodward to come out here and show them our appreciation for supporting us," Woodson said. "And I think you can tell by the number of people here that we made the right choice." Scrimmage highlights Smith led all scorers in the scrimmage with 13 points. Johnson added 11. The only other player to reach double figures, however, was free agent center Andreas Glyniadakas, who finished with 10. Pachulia, who is still recovering from a blow to the head earlier this week, Speedy Claxton (finger) and Solomon Jones (ankle) were all held out of the scrimmage portion of Saturday's practice. 資料來源 http://0rz.tw/971VM --

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