The waiting is finally over for Speedy Claxton.

After sitting out his rookie season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Claxton is happy and healthy again.

The wait has been agonizing. While he watched from the bench, the Sixers last year advanced all the way to the NBA Finals.

"It was definitely frustrating," said Claxton from the team's training camp at Penn State. "To watch them keep winning round by round made it exciting, but tough. I was glad to be a part of it, to see it up close."

Claxton is even more glad today.

He seems to have regained his former quickness that he admitted wasn't quite there when he played Summer League ball in Boston.

"It seems like he's learned a lot and is much more confident than he was," said Sixers coach Larry Brown.