@ the half /// 54-33 Hawks

[ATLNY7]

Up by 21, and lose by 4. Not good.

[capstone21]

Up by 21, and lose by 4. Not good.

Once again it was a preseason game.

Other then Marvin, the bench pretty much played most of the game. Horford would definitely be getting more pt and involvement. It is not about winning, its about figuring things out and trying different things...see what works and doesn't work. Try new plays and giving guys some pt.

[ATLNY7]

Once again it was a preseason game.

Other then Marvin, the bench pretty much played most of the game. Horford would definitely be getting more pt and involvement. It is not about winning, its about figuring things out and trying different things...see what works and doesn't work. Try new plays and giving guys some pt.

Okay, so how do you explain the 42 points given up by the hawks in the third quarter.

[capstone21]

Okay, so how do you explain the 42 points given up by the hawks in the third quarter.

Trying defenses...seeing what works...seeing what doesn't.

[ATLNY7]

The game could've been won easily by better free throw shooting. 27-44=61.4%. That's not going to get the job done. We don't wanna have bad free throw shooting for another season.

[cam1218]

Okay, so how do you explain the 42 points given up by the hawks in the third quarter.

As capstone is saying, it's a single preseason game. I haven't even looked at the box score but I can tell you the players probably gave it their all for the first half and lost focus in the 2nd. It's just how professional sports go; nobody really gets up for games that don't count. As Iverson said, "Practice? We wanna talk about pracice?" This is the first game in preseason--any fans claiming doom already are just looking for something to complain about. You should also keep in mind that Memphis was getting creamed at the half so they probably came out focused in the second half.

[lethalweapon3]

Poor defense and sloppy play for the reserves against most of the Grizzlies' starters in the 3rd quarter did the Hawks in eventually, but they did a nice job especially with the starters in the first quarter, holding the Grizz to 11 points. Memphis' starters were pretty futile until the Hawks brought in the backups.

It's still early, but mixed results from Jordan, Teague, and Powell playing together, first while trying in vain to hold a lead, then using scrappy play to get the game into OT. They need J-Pow and Etan to be more than just foul machines; we need to see better defensive play from both and, from Powell, no settling for contested outside jumpers.

Teague was making mistakes, as expected, but looked eager to try to compensate for them on subsequent plays. The worst was an acting job on a drive trying to manufacture a foul call, leading to a turnover and an easy momentum-turning fastbreak for Memphis at the other end.

Jordan (0-6 from three point land) is not going to take long to find his most effective shots on the floor. When he does, and he will, watch out... it will be hard to keep his talent off the floor. On one fastbreak, though, he didn't look for his trailing teammates and got swatted bad trying to do it himself. It's what rookies do.

Zaza's silly three-point shot at the end of OT was like a "C'mon it's getting late, let's just get home" play. He's in fantastic shape, though, as is Mr. Collins. Considering how comfortable he looked on offense, the latter's dropped pounds looks like addition-by-subtraction.

Joe's numbers weren't thrilling on paper (he and Josh had 5 TOs), but he appeared to be the most eager to "buy in" to LD's offensive scheme thus far. Seeing him looking for and finding teammates was encouraging. I only caught one Iso-style possession from him. Zaza and Joe had a nice little fastbreak off a turnover that they couldn't finish, sadly, but was fun to watch.

Marvin was looking for the ball on the perimeter, which was good to see, but I'd still want the guards to find their forwards and centers in the paint and not kick out the ball so much. Sam Young was having his way with the Hawks until Marvin finally clamped down on defense late in the game.

Smoove injured his hand in the third trying to block Thabeet's dunk, any word on that? I'm hoping it was just a bad cut on the back of the hand. Last year he had a tear on his hand trying to block a Teague dunk attempt.

Grizz fans will be much happier with Acie this time around (compared to last night), as he was much more comfortable finding his shot and finding the open man. Not sure how thrilled they were with Mayo, Conley, and Gasol early on.

~lw3

[coachx]

Poor defense and sloppy play for the reserves against most of the Grizzlies' starters in the 3rd quarter did the Hawks in eventually, but they did a nice job especially with the starters in the first quarter, holding the Grizz to 11 points. Memphis' starters were pretty futile until the Hawks brought in the backups.

It's still early, but mixed results from Jordan, Teague, and Powell playing together, first while trying in vain to hold a lead, then using scrappy play to get the game into OT. They need J-Pow and Etan to be more than just foul machines; we need to see better defensive play from both and, from Powell, no settling for contested outside jumpers.

Teague was making mistakes, as expected, but looked eager to try to compensate for them on subsequent plays. The worst was an acting job on a drive trying to manufacture a foul call, leading to a turnover and an easy momentum-turning fastbreak for Memphis at the other end.

Jordan (0-6 from three point land) is not going to take long to find his most effective shots on the floor. When he does, and he will, watch out... it will be hard to keep his talent off the floor. On one fastbreak, though, he didn't look for his trailing teammates and got swatted bad trying to do it himself. It's what rookies do.

Zaza's silly three-point shot at the end of OT was like a "C'mon it's getting late, let's just get home" play. He's in fantastic shape, though, as is Mr. Collins. Considering how comfortable he looked on offense, the latter's dropped pounds looks like addition-by-subtraction.

Joe's numbers weren't thrilling on paper (he and Josh had 5 TOs), but he appeared to be the most eager to "buy in" to LD's offensive scheme thus far. Seeing him looking for and finding teammates was encouraging. I only caught one Iso-style possession from him. Zaza and Joe had a nice little fastbreak off a turnover that they couldn't finish, sadly, but was fun to watch.

Marvin was looking for the ball on the perimeter, which was good to see, but I'd still want the guards to find their forwards and centers in the paint and not kick out the ball so much. Sam Young was having his way with the Hawks until Marvin finally clamped down on defense late in the game.

Smoove injured his hand in the third trying to block Thabeet's dunk, any word on that? I'm hoping it was just a bad cut on the back of the hand. Last year he had a tear on his hand trying to block a Teague dunk attempt.

Grizz fans will be much happier with Acie this time around (compared to last night), as he was much more comfortable finding his shot and finding the open man. Not sure how thrilled they were with Mayo, Conley, and Gasol early on.

~lw3

Sounds like you were at the game. Any word on why Horford was the only starter to play limited minutes (only 13 minutes) ? I hope he did not get injured.

[Diesel]

Way too much overreaction to our first preseason game of the year

Who cares if we win or lose it does not mean anything

These games are for learning the new system, building chemistry and defining roles

Cap, I agree. It was more about learning and conditioning. We didn't play Al but what 13 minutes. Joe had the night off too. I hope that Jamal does better than his stats show otherwise ,he will be trade bait. Moreover, I'm not so enthused about Jordan Crawford's showing but again, this is just one game. There will be others. I think we showed first half dominance with our first squad but we can't have too many 42 point 3rd quarters.

[lethalweapon3]

Sounds like you were at the game. Any word on why Horford was the only starter to play limited minutes (only 13 minutes) ? I hope he did not get injured.

Right before I left for Philips, I saw Al on a list of Hawks (I think it was MC @ AJC?) that included Jamal, Pape, Mo, and I think one other that I can't recall, that were hampered by injuries during training camp, and if they could play they would receive limited minutes. There were no descriptions of the individual injuries. He seemed fine while he was in there, motions were fluid, so I figure his injury is pretty minor.

~lw3

Edited October 8, 2010 by lethalweapon3

[HawkItus]

Cap, I agree. It was more about learning and conditioning. We didn't play Al but what 13 minutes. Joe had the night off too. I hope that Jamal does better than his stats show otherwise ,he will be trade bait. Moreover, I'm not so enthused about Jordan Crawford's showing but again, this is just one game. There will be others. I think we showed first half dominance with our first squad but we can't have too many 42 point 3rd quarters.

HawksP'R said Jamal was held out. Are you sure he played? That first half was apparently everything we looked for last year. Tough defense, ball movement, and running. Also remember this was the first game. Memphis had played a game before last night.

[lethalweapon3]

HawksP'R said Jamal was held out. Are you sure he played? That first half was apparently everything we looked for last year. Tough defense, ball movement, and running. Also remember this was the first game. Memphis had played a game before last night.

We may have confusion like that throughout year when checking the box scores, like Yahoo's for example, since they often list the last name and first initial (J. Crawford) without clarification unless it's in the newspaper. It will really get confusing for some when both have good scoring nights, a good problem to have.

~lw3

[lethalweapon3]

Sounds like Josh will be fine, based on MC's report. It looked like the back of his hand grazed the rim while defending Thabeet's dunk.

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/hawks-lose-exhibition-debut-667911.html

Jamal Crawford (back), Mo Evans (knee) and Pape Sy (back) were out for the Hawks. In the second half Josh Smith suffered a cut on his right (non-shooting) hand that required five stitches.

From MC's Bibby article:

http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/bibby-looks-to-keep-662191.html

Exhibition plan

Drew said he would play the starters “half the game at most” during the exhibition opener against Memphis on Thursday at Philips Arena.

“A lot depends on who we have available to play,” Drew said.

Al Horford (ankle) participated in the full practice Tuesday after sitting out the past few contact sessions.

Jamal Crawford (back) participated briefly in the scrimmage portion of practice Tuesday. Drew said Crawford is questionable for the game.

Mo Evans (knee) and Pape Sy (back) remain out.

~lw3

[HawkItus]

From MC's Blog on the game-

– Jamal (back), Mo (knee) and Pape Sy (back) didn’t play.

[AHawks89]

From AJC:

Jamal Crawford (back), Mo Evans (knee) and Pape Sy (back) were out for the Hawks. In the second half Josh Smith suffered a cut on his right (non-shooting) hand that required five stitches.

[DrReality]

Sounds very encouragin for a first game witn new coach and system.

[lethalweapon3]

Josh will be out for about a week to get that hand fixed. No big deal.

MC's twitter: http://twitter.com/ajchawks

~lw3

Edited October 8, 2010 by lethalweapon3

[lethalweapon3]

Piling on (I didn't see it on the current Twitter, perhaps MC retracted it), just another minor injury:

#Hawks G Jeff Teague suffered ankle sprain in practice today. Quest. for Mon at #Pistons

— Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC)

October 9, 2010

#Hawks G Jeff Teague suffered ankle sprain in practice today. Quest. for Mon at #Pistons

It'll be interesting to see who participates in the scrimmage tomorrow.

~lw3