[外電] The Lorenaissance
The Lorenaissance
Veteran power forward Lorenzen Wright believes the Hawks can get
to where they want to go by following where he has been.
By Jon Cooper
Things have changed quite a bit since Lorenzen Wright first took
the floor for the Atlanta Hawks in the first game ever played at
Philips Arena (one in which he converted the arena’s first
traditional three-point play).
"I'm more of a veteran now," said Wright, who was 23 and only in
his fourth professional season when acquired by the Hawks prior
to the 1999-2000 season. "I was trying to figure myself out, kind
of like these guys are doing, trying to figure out what my niche
was going to be in the NBA, what kind of player I was going to be."
The Hawks know what to expect from Wright when he begins his 11th
NBA season in the home opener against New York on Nov. 3 (he was
suspended by the League for the season opener Nov. 1 at
Philadelphia for his participation in a fight in the preseason
against Memphis). He will be the elder statesman on a squad so
young that more than half of his teammates were either in or just
getting out of middle school when his NBA career began.
But Wright's experience, his familiarity with his role and ability
to lead by example all factored into General Manager Billy Knight's
decision to sign Wright as a free agent on Aug. 30.
"He's a big man that has NBA experience," said Knight. "I think
he's established himself as a physical competitor, a guy that can
play interior defense, that can rebound and score the ball some
for you. We finished next-to-last in defensive rebounding, and
next-to-last in points scored against us in the paint. So those
are two areas we think he's going to make a big imprint on for us."
The 30-year-old native of Memphis, Tenn., and former No. 1 pick
of the Los Angeles Clippers (7th overall) in the 1996 NBA Draft,
had already made an imprint on Knight, who first acquired him
when he was GM in Memphis. The 2001 Draft Day trade still makes
Hawks faithful cringe, as in addition to Wright, the Hawks also
sent Brevin Knight and the rights to Pau Gasol to Memphis in
exchange for Shareef Abdur-Rahim and the 27th pick of that Draft,
which turned out to be Jamaal Tinsley, who would be shipped to
Indiana for a future No. 1. The season before the trade Wright
set what is still is his career-high, averaging 12.4 points per
game.
Bringing Wright back to Atlanta was a much more palatable move.
"The game is all about relationships," said Knight. "I knew him
from Memphis, obviously, and I liked his personality, I liked his
attitude, I liked his toughness and I really liked what I thought
he could help our young guys do — be a professional big man in
the NBA. He'll help Shelden [Williams] that way, he'll help
Solomon Jones that way, he'll help Esteban Batista. He'll help
everyone in that way. He'll push Zaza every day. So I think it
was a good bonus for us to be able to get him this summer."
"Billy brought me to Memphis and we already had a very good
relationship throughout the years," said Wright, who for his
career is averaging 6.9 rebounds per game and 8.8 points on .460
shooting in 25.5 minutes. "I gave him a call this summer and let
him know I'd be more than happy to play for him and be a part of
this organization."
He's already playing a big part in mentoring the young talent in
the middle.
"It's great experience for me to have someone who has been in the
league a long time and who knows the ins and outs of the center
position," said Williams, the Hawks first-round pick in 2006
(fifth overall). "Pregame stuff and workout stuff, he tells me
the things that he does that give him good position on offense
and defense."
"I'm sure that there are some things that I can learn from him
and he's going to help me to get better and I'm going to help him
to get better also," added Pachulia, who in his first full season
as a starting center last season was third in the NBA in offensive
rebounds per game (3.4) and fifth in total offensive rebounds
(264). "He's an aggressive player so it's going to be very good
for me and for the team. He's going to help our defense."
As Wright showed in the Oct. 11 exhibition in Memphis, he can
also take the offensive. While he knows he carried things a
little too far that night, there was a message from the
altercation with now-former Grizzlie Kimani Ffriend that he
hopes will reverberate throughout the league.
"I'm here to add a little toughness and let guys know that we
won't be taken for granted on the inside," said Wright (shown
right during his first tour of duty). "We're going to fight back
this year and it's not going to be a cakewalk."
"Certainly no one in the league condones fighting or getting into
it like that," said Knight. "But you always try to look at the
positive sides of everything and say the toughness and the
physicality that he brings to the court is a bonus for a young
team. So they learn those things to help them go forward."
Wright, who just missed the Hawks' last playoff run, believes
he's right on time for the next one.
"This is a promising team," he said. "It reminds me of Memphis a
few years back, when we hadn't made the playoffs and were trying
to make a run for it. To be on a team that's on the turnaround,
and help it start winning games, it's a good feeling."
Jon Cooper is a freelance writer based in Atlanta
資料來源
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