Gray Mule

Hawks have this kid named Vince Carter. In their 1st pre season game that they won, VC took them on his back and led them. Len got bad mouthed but I noticed that he set a screen for VC and the three was good! This was our "regular season looking" game and, regardless of who we were playing, everything looked pretty good. In the past, Hawk fans were lucky to have one pre season game on TV. Last night, for the nation to see, in the famous gardens, Atlanta came away with the win! Back to back in the pre season? Yep. Playing again tonight. Then, they all count. Rookies looked like rookies at times. Other times they shined like new money! Didn't seem to bother them to be on national TV in the garden. Huerter and Crabbe continue to miss games but apparently get in some practice time. Hopefully, they will be available before too long and not have too much rust on their game. Len is playing while not 100% healthy. Fernando is unable to relax and play yet. Still showing rookie jitters. Our center position will improve without doing anything. And, who knows what may happen and who might become available as we head to the trade deadline. If nothing happens, then next summer, free agents and the draft will still be there for us.

Could it be that Huerter is injured - hurting more than we've been led to believe? I wasn't worried about him at first. Now I am. Seems that he's not going to be well enough to play in the season opener. Last season the Hawks lost a lot early because Collins was out with an injury. Seems that we are in for much the same thing happening this season with Huerter. Our second unit struggles. Huerter being out, along with Crabbe, sure messes that unit up a lot. How long until we're healthy?

Buttermilk ranch is much better !!

Observations from the game: Herro was on fire to open the game. Couldn't be stopped. Hit about 8 shots, many of them 3's before he missed one. Wow! What else can we say... Hunter and Reddish looked like rookies. Imagine that. Wonder why? Terrible scoring night for both of them. Reddish showing what missing so much time can do for a player. Note: Huerter is in the same boat right now. Getting it on film.. Hawks were playing everyone to get their play on film so that the coaching staff could get a real look at the players available under game conditions. This explains why players stayed in the game, even when they weren't winning the game. We, the ardent fans, begin to see why those talking heads don't expect this year's team to win many more games than last year's team. Last season, Hawks defense stunk. We thought things would be better this year. It isn't. Not yet, any way. Our second unit, playing together as a unit last night, looked lost. They were a step slow in getting to where they needed to be on both ends of the floor. Remember, these players haven't worked together as a unit - - ever. It takes time. So many things went wrong. Coaches now have an opportunity to watch the film and work on correcting all this wrong stuff. Trae let the scoring of Herro get to him and he set out to match it instead of playing to his mates. Oops! Bad boy. Gotta correct this. To end second quarter, Hawks couldn't hit a bull in the butt with a base fiddle and our worthy opponent went on a run to bury us, never to let us up again. Making film... In a regular game, coach would call time out and, hopefully, change things and stop the run. Last night, they let it run. Pre season IS different! Expect a lot more of this to open the season. Not enough experience of playing together as a team. The left hand still does not know what the right hand is doing. This will change and improve as time goes on. Hawks weren't expecting to be great to begin the season. Getting better. That's our goal for today !!

Good friend of mine is a Cowboys fan. Sunday, they lost again, this time to the Jets when they were down by 2 and failed to make their 2 point conversion in the final 2 minutes of the game. (They had about 7 or 8 minutes to go after the Atlanta game was over.) Which team has the worst defense? Hard to say. They both stink!

Podcast, ETC. On the squawk, go to Forums, then topic listing. Scroll way down to news section. Pull up Atlanta Hawks news. Several good reads there plus the way to get the podcasts. Easy done. You just have to know where to look!

Something to think about and watch for in tonight's game: Three rookies = three defensive players to watch! Hunter = defensive player of the year in school. Reddish = surprised us all with his defense. Fernando = Big boy. Knows how to play defense. What do you think??

Tonight, we come to the end of the greatest time between games this season. Hawks have played two pre season games and have had several days of practice and teaching from LP and staff. So much yet to do. Players seem to be coming together as a team. Young players and VC returning. New players coming here and three new rookies getting their toes in the water of the NBA. Huerter remains inactive to play. We haven't played our projected starting five yet. As our returning Hawks get the rust off their game and all the new players learn to play together, learning how we as a team plays, things will improve. Season opener is coming up fast. Ready or not, the games that count are just around the corner. Hawks should look better tonight. GO ATL HAWKS !!

HOW BADLY DO WE NEED A CENTER? What we really need right now is work with the three centers on the roster right now and see what we really have. Somehow, with the loss of Dedmon, many of us went into the panic mode. Len is working to become the most improved player in the NBA. We traded away Spellman for a center who just wants a new start with his new team and our #36 Draft pick wants to show the other NBA teams that they erred when they didn't draft him when they had the opportunity. Right now, we can't possibly know how bad we need a center until we see the centers that we already have play some with the Hawks and with their system. Maybe we really, really need another center. Maybe not. Time will tell, When we get down to the trade deadline, then we should really know. And, by that time, there may be a center available to fill our needs and expectations. If not then, perhaps we draft him next summer. Going for the playoffs this season and going for 1st place in 24 months. We're gaining on it!! GO ATL HAWKS !!

Wonder if Bruno is learning anything right now? We have been told that he smart and a quick learner from his college coach. Time off right now is for improvement, especially for all our young players AND all those vets we added since last season. Three games to go in pre season. That #1 pick sure is showing out, making everything seem so easy. It is, for him right now. Just wait until regular season and teams begin to plan for him. He will still be very good but it will not be as easy as it is now. Hawks are in the "learn now" mode and that includes "win now" and hopefully we will be learning and winning as we get deeper and deeper into the season. Bruno is one of the many keys to a successful season.

There is a big gap between our last game and our next game on Monday, 14th of October. Players who played were on film and coaches gave the time and opportunity to closely examine each player and how they did. Once the season begins there will not be as much time as we have right now. All of us here have our thoughts about how good or how bad the Hawks were. LP and his staff have much more and they will be working hard to improve everything. Three more times the Hawks play when it doesn't count. Then, the season begins. Apparently, the season begins with a bunch of hard games for Atlanta. That's what we read. We musn't allow ourselves to get too high or too low on our Hawks early in the season. It's going to be a long season with lots of stuff to learn. Other NBA teams have many returning players to begin the season. I believe our number is six. With our pre season number at 20, this means 14 new Hawks.. With so many young Hawks, they tell us that the entire team is bonding together. This is great. They care for each other and will look out for their teammates both on the floor and off.

Please! Hawks desperately need a big, bully boy center. Check out our current roster. Atlanta has one! So, he's a rookie. So, he was a second round pick. So, what is the problem? I know. He's not there yet. He's not a star NBA center. Yet, he fills the exact description of what we need. Never saw so many posters, some being not nice in their language, crying about the fact that we really, really need a player that we already have.

Yeah. That's true. But, take all that away and Atlanta still ends up on the wrong side of a 3-1 game. Braves didn't have many 1-0 wins this season. Ah, well. On to next season with all the young Braves. Braves - dead for the season. Falcons - dying for the season. Hopeful Hawk season coming soon! Atlanta United - Still alive in their season?

"The King" has made it work for him for many years. As he goes toward his retirement, perhaps this is his replacement in the NBA...

All Hawk fans love all of our Hawk players. Team plays one pre season game and we all turn thumbs down on one of our own. Some how we must learn to be patient. Terrible defense and terrible turnovers. We must all believe that this will improve. Damian Jones wasn't the only Hawk that didn't have a great game. How much time has he had with Lloyd and his staff? He has his degree, proving he isn't a dumb bunny. Tonight's game will not show that all our faults have been corrected. We all had dreams of our perfect NBA team. One pre season game and our dream is shattered, on the floor in ruins. Hawks are not as good as we wish that they were but they are not as bad as they showed in game one of the pre season. Some of our players didn't play. Some who played are headed to our G League team. LP told them to go out and play, have fun and don't worry about anything. No real game plan. We will do it again in game two. The sky is not falling. Hawks are not great. But, remember this, we're gaining on greatness! Most everyone thought our three rookies looked pretty good in game one. Look for positive things in game two.