Hawks’ Terry a Quick Study

For Jason Terry, the madness started at the 1997 NCAA tournament.

The night before Arizona met top-ranked Kansas in the regional semifinals, Terry slept in his Wildcats uniform. The next day at the pregame meal, he ordered chicken fingers but didn’t eat them. On the court, he wore five pairs of socks pulled up to his knees.

Arizona upset Kansas and went on to beat Kentucky for the national title, so Terry has kept his unique routine ever since.

“I don’t know why I do all that stuff,” he said. “It’s crazy, isn’t it? But if it works, you might as well stick with it.”

No reason to change now.

Terry was the 10th pick in the NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. They are counting on this skinny, superstitious 21-year-old player to run their plodding team to a championship.

The Hawks operated in low gear with point guard Mookie Blaylock, who was content to walk the ball down the court and settle for a 20-foot jumper with the shot clock running down. Atlanta ranked next-to-last in scoring and was swept by the younger, more athletic New York Knicks in the second round of the playoffs.

Realizing a drastic change was needed, the Hawks traded Blaylock to Golden State to move up in a draft dominated by point guards. By the time it was Atlanta’s turn, Steve Francis, Baron Davis and Andre Miller already had been taken. But Terry was still there.

“We hope he’ll be the engine that drives an up-tempo game,” Hawks general manager Pete Babcock said. “He has the speed and quickness to deliver what we want.”

Though a starting job is not guaranteed, it’s clear the Hawks are ready to turn their underachieving team over to Terry.

As a senior at Arizona, he averaged 21.9 points, 5.5 assists and 2.8 steals per game and was the first player to lead the Pac-10 in all three categories since Gary Payton at Oregon State. Terry is a tenacious defender, a necessity if you want to play for Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens.

“I think defense is my No. 1 thing,” Terry said. “Defense and speed.”

He expects to start right away for the Hawks, who also have Bimbo Coles and Anthony Johnson as insurance at the point.

“When you get picked as high as No. 10, there’s high expectations,” Terry said. “I’ve set high goals and standards for myself. The goal is to go in and be a starter.”

Bold talk from a guy who didn’t start at Arizona until his final season. Of course, it’s not embarrassing to serve for two years as the sixth man to a lineup that included future NBA players Mike Bibby, Michael Dickerson and Miles Simon.

“It was tough to sit on the bench,” said Terry, an All-American and Pac-10 player of the year as a senior. “But I was competing with those guys in practice every day. Everybody wants to play, but I did my part and did what it takes to win. That’s the most important thing.”

In Atlanta, the dump-truck offense is about to become a turbocharged Porsche. Dikembe Mutombo and Steve Smith better get used to running or they’ll find Terry passing by like a car going the wrong direction down a one-way street.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I was always the fastest guy around,” Terry said. “I was probably the skinniest, too.”

The 6-foot-2, 172-pound Terry was engulfed by the gray-and-black-checkered suit he wore to his first news conference in Atlanta. He found it difficult to keep on weight at Arizona, where he played 29 games last season, so he must prove he can withstand the wear-and-tear of the NBA’s 82-game schedule.

“I’m going to be in the weight room,” Terry vowed. “I’m going on an eating program. I need to put on about 10 pounds.”

Wilkens doesn’t expect the rookie to have any problems fitting in with a lineup that includes the 33-year-old Mutombo and 30-year-old Smith, both entering their ninth NBA seasons.

“When they know he’ll get them the ball, they’re not going to see him as a rookie,” Wilkens said. “They’re going to see him as a guy who can get up and down the court and deliver the pass.”

Terry is moving his fiancee and 1-year-old daughter, Jasionna, to Atlanta. They’ll have a hot meal awaiting.

At his initial news conference, Terry was greeted by a second cousin, Renard Richardson, who works at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The two men hugged, exchanged phone numbers and vowed to meet for dinner after Terry gets settled in.

“I’ve got people here,” Terry said, grinning. “I think this is going to work out.”