ატლანტას საიტზე წავკითხე და აგაჩ ჩავაგდე..
Looking Good
Center Zaza Pachulia likes what he sees in and on the Hawks and what fans will see from him.
By Jon Cooper
Zaza Pachulia prefers to look on the bright side of things.
That attitude has helped considerably in riding out the bad luck streak he's been on so far in the six weeks of the 2007-08 season.
So far for Pachulia, who is in his third full season with the Hawks, the unexpected and unwelcome has included a littany of injuries. First there was a sprained left ankle in the Oct. 18 exhibition game at Charlotte, an injury that kept him out of the first five games of the regular season. Then came an inadvertent elbow to the head from Sixers' center Samuel Dalembert that caused concussion-like symptoms that kept him out another five games.
"The injury kind of slowed me, but that's the athlete's life. Injuries are a part of the game," said Pachulia, who averaged 5.9 points and 4.0 rebounds (1.7 off the offensive glass) in his first twelve games, while playing only 15.8 minutes. "I have never missed this much practice and games in my life so this is kind of a big experience for me but I feel good about myself because I'm a hard worker. So with my hard work I'm sure I'm going to get into the "Zaza game."
Having to get back into "The Zaza Game" was as disappointing as it was unexpected for the 23-year-old center. He was rarin' to go coming off a memorable summer that included participating in Zo's Summer Groove, a charity game sponsored by Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning, that attracted the likes of Utah's Carlos Boozer, Phoenix's Raja Bell, Memphis' Damon Stoudamire and Cleveland's Damon Jones, then playing for the Georgia National Team in its attempt to qualify for the 2009 European Championships.
"It was the best summer I've had since I've been in the NBA," he said. "I got some rest, had some fun, spent some time in Miami, then started working out and getting ready for the National team.
"I think I improved myself as a player. I spent a lot of time in the gym," he continued. "I came from the National Team, I was in good shape, I had timing. I had already played games overseas and came back ready to go then had to stop for a month."
Sitting was especially hard for Pachulia, who prides himself on his fast starts.
"Every year the start is very important for me," he said. "There are some guys who get in shape while the games go, but I want to make sure I have a good start."
Hawks Head Coach Mike Woodson is well aware of what Pachulia can offer and would like to get Pachulia back to that level of productivity.
“Coming into this season 'Z' was a big part and still is a big part of what we're trying to do,” said Woodson. “We've just got to get him playing like he played a couple of years ago in terms of doing dirty work and going to the offensive board and running the floor and defending and rebounding. That's what we need 'Z' to do.”
If there was a bright spot for the Hawks in Pachulia’s absence it was the emergence of rookie Al Horford. Pachulia is excited about Horford and the depth Atlanta now boasts on the front line. After all, it wasn't long ago that depth up front was almost non-existent for the Hawks.
"I remember a couple of years ago you could count only three big guys," said Pachulia, who has led the Hawks in offensive rebounding the last two seasons. "Now we have six big guys — with the addition of Al, and with Josh [Smith] and Shelden [Williams} and [Solomon Jones], and Lorenzen [Wright]. Everybody's gotten better. You feel more comfortable. You know that somebody's got your back. So it's a good thing we have a lot of big guys inside. It's a competition, too, that's a good thing."
With the season still young and the East so wide open (heading into the Dec. 17 game against Utah, Atlanta was 11-12 and in seventh position in the conference) Pachulia knows there is still plenty of time to get back in the lineup and contribute. He would like to continue a trend that has seen him raise his scoring, field goal percentage and free throw percentage in each of his last three seasons.
Being healthy enough to put on the Hawks uniform would be a nice start, especially with the team's new duds.
The team's new look is long overdue according to "Z," a fashion plate whose sense of style so impressed HOOP Magazine that it named him its style editor for this season.
"Three years ago [Hawks.com Assistant Web Editor] Micah Hart asked me what my favorite color was. I told him it was blue," he recalled with a laugh. "So now we have blue uniforms, white with blue. This is much better. I prefer these colors to yellow or red. I didn't like them at all."
"It's a good look," he added, noting that he took great pleasure in discarding last season's yellow sneakers. "I like it and look forward to playing in this uniform."
Jon Cooper is a freelance writer based in Atlanta
This post has been edited by amikoo on 27 Dec 2007, 18:55
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