Official Game Thread: Hawks - Raptors

[lethalweapon3]

Perturbed at all by the season opener in Dallas? Well, just hold on... we're coming home!

Rev up that organ, Sir Foster! That's right, it’s that time, once again, fans! Your Atlanta Hawks are back in their nest, ready to swoop in and kick off another season of NBA hoops at the… Highlight? Factory??

With You-Know-Who deciding to take his skills to Bankruptcy Beach after a near-decade’s worth of human highlight reels, what will a Highlight at the Highlight Factory look like these days? Corner threes? Backdoor cuts? Mid-range splashes? Making the extra pass? Setting picks? Tipping in missed layups? At Philips Arena, inquiring minds will want to know, and fans will be paying to see what they can come to expect from Danny Ferry's revamped roster, particularly, who will be relied upon to manufacture a conveyor belt’s worth of popcorn-tossing highlights on Friday Nights at the Factory.

For top-play aficionados, several opponents like tonight’s foes, the Toronto Raptors, possess the athleticism and explosiveness at the wing positions to make up for whatever #SCTop10 potential the Hawks are lacking. Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan are at their letter-best when they take advantage of barely-obstructed paths to the rim. Much like Atlanta’s Mike Scott, Terrence Ross has been serving people buckets all preseason, and with his slightly-expanded range, he has become one of the first big-play options off the bench for Head Coach Dwane Casey. They’d be crazy not to dust off the gangly free-agent pickup Austin Daye, a certified Hawk-killer in spurts for Detroit and Memphis last season. While never accused of being athletic or explosive at any point in his lifetime, another signee, ex-Knick Steve Novak, is always good for a Discount Double Check or two when things are going his team’s way.

The Hawks will strive to counter the Raptors’ attacking swingmen with their energetic replacement in the #5 jersey. Atlanta will need DeMarre Carroll to stay tenacious at both ends of the floor. In the loss to Dallas on Wednesday, Carroll led the Hawks in rebounds and tacked on three steals. His season-high for rebounds last year (8) came against Toronto. Jared Cunningham showed all preseason that he has, if nothing else to this point, mad boosties, and should be the recipient of a lob or two for the home fans’ delight. The Human Wristwatch, Cartier Martin, came through with some timely three-pointers in what might have otherwise been a laugher in Dallas. Look for a healthy dose of perimeter offense from this recent pickup, especialy if the Hawks staff continues to rest the back of the recently optioned John Jenkins.

The Dinos are effective on offense not only when their wings and lead guards drive, but when they pound the ball inside and crash the glass after DeRozan’s and Gay’s predictable misses from outside the paint. Last season, they shot 48.2% on the season from 3-to-9 feet (3^rd in the NBA, tops in the East) and 42.1% in the paint outside of the restricted area (4^th in the NBA).

The 6’11” second-year standout Jonas Valanciunas isn’t the team’s go-to-option quite yet (8 points, 11 boards in their home win against Boston on Wednesday), but he is definitely their Plan B. The center matched the offensive rebounding output of the Hawks with 5 boards on Wednesday. On top of that, free agent and perpetual fly-in-the-soup Tyler Hansbrough came off the bench for 12 rebounds. Amir Johnson (55.4 FG%) joined the Hawks’ Al Horford (54.3%) in the NBA top-ten last year for field goal percentage. Toronto’s offensive rebounding edge was 19-7 in their season opener against the Celtics. None of this is a good sign for a Hawks team that managed just 5 offensive rebounds against the Mavs, and gave up a league-worst 62.3% on 2-pointers and 118 points to Dallas.

The good news is, much like Mayor Rob Ford, it shouldn’t be terribly hard for the Hawks to spot any crack in Toronto.

The Raptors suffered last season from the league’s highest opponent free throw rate, a value to looks to extend into this season after the Hackasauruses watched Boston take 29 shots from the line on Wednesday. Referee whistles will continue to get worn out, especially with Hansbrough in the fold for Toronto. Johnson led the NBA in total personal fouls committed (3.7 per game) last season, and the Raptors were 12-18 in games their where opponents took more than 25 foul shots.

Al Horford, Paul Millsap, and Elton Brand will have to match the Raptor bigs’ physicality and convert freebies at the stripe. Besides sustaining his defensive activity (5 steals and 4 blocks on Wednesday), Horford must get a lot more shots up than the 12 field goal attempts he got against Dallas. Like Horford (24.0 PPG, 11.0 RPG in two games), Millsap’s highest per-game scoring output in 2012-13 was against Toronto (27.0 PPG, accompanied by 9.5 RPG) on the strength of 20 free throw shots in two games, including his season-high of 34 points during the Raptors’ November swoon. Carroll’s ability to mix-it-up and draw fouls should also pay dividends.

Darn the turnovers, it should be Full Speed Ahead for Jeff Teague, who displayed aggressiveness during most of Atlanta’s offensive runs against Dallas, going 9-for-12 on free throws on his way to a team-leading 24 points. Teague averaged 9.7 assists versus Toronto last year (second most versus any team), but earned just 5 free throw attempts over the course of three contests.

Teague should be attacking on drives at every opportunity against the Raptors’ Kyle Lowry, who is in better condition compared to the start of his disappointing 2012-13 season, but is playing with a splint after tearing a ring-finger tendon on his non-shooting hand in the preseason. Like Carly Simon, though, the Raptors haven’t got time for the pain.

Lowry must stay on the floor while avoiding foul trouble, especially since the Raptors have settled on a pray-for-rain approach to backing him up. Free agent D.J. Augustin has been hovering between bad and worse for several seasons now. Dwight Buycks earned a contract after a stout summer league performance, but has underwhelmed thus far in the preseason, and for now is stashed on the bench alongside last-minute roster keeper Julyan Stone. If any of these other guys are on the floor tonight, rookie Dennis Schröder should get sent out there and offer up some headache powder for their troubles.

Much like LD last year, Dwane Casey is in his contract season, and is in show-and-prove mode with this Raptors roster, desperate to reach the postseason and stave off coaching extinction. If they don’t pull off victories on the road, especially against the more mediocre opponents, their playoff aspirations could collapse as swiftly as their mascot’s Achilles tendon. Toronto started off 2011-12 on a 4-19 stretch that included one win in their first 15 road games. Without Andrea Bargnani to blame for their troubles anymore, and with new wunderkind-GM Masai Ujiri watching critically, Casey cannot afford a similar start. Atlanta will have to kick off their home season against this hungry Raptors squad, and must play focused and prepared to scrum at times if they are to send their fans home happy.

Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw6

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[macdaddy]

The good news is, much like Mayor Rob Ford, it shouldn’t be terribly hard for the Hawks to spot any crack in Toronto.

Oh you went there! LOL

[Buzzard]

This is a game we should win; at the same time its a dangerous one. DeRozan is a good young SG on the rise. IMO better than JR Smith, Henderson, and quite a few others. Rudy is the same old Rudy, up and down; but he gets a lot more opportunities in Toronto than he did in Memphis.

As I already said: We should win this game. Their bigs match up well defensively, offensively we win with our bigs and its not close; and if Derozan and Gay go ballistic they could put up 40 to 50 between them. Teague vs Lowry, its Teague all day.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Buzzard

[Bahamut]

Got some great tickets for this game; looking forward to the new-look Hawks (and a damn W).

[frankthetank966]

The Hawks need this W. It is early in the season and will give the younger guys some optimism. They let the game vs the Mavs slip. You could tell they were a veteran team led by Carter and Dirk.

[benhillboy]

I can't recall us going 0-2 since Al's been here. I let the first one slide because we were on the road and they had 2 Hall of Famers on deck. I will not take a loss lightly tonight. Al needs to pull a Chris Paul and pile up the stat sheet for tonight and the first game he was absent for.

[MrMeltdown]

I can't see how we should win this game other than we are at home. This team has more talent than us on paper just like Dallas.

[Kimsey]

I just don't see it. The team doesn't have an identity and the Raps are pretty talented.

[benhillboy]

Just looked at the Raptors roster and I don't see how they are more talented than we are. 0 All Star appearances over there, and it'll be the same at the end of the season. They're 10-11 man rotation is decent top to bottom, but I wouldn't want anyone over there not named DeRozan, although I'm aware Ross is promising.

Edited November 1, 2013 by benhillboy

[DJlaysitup]

This is the game...win or tank...large sample sizes are over-rated

[Alex]

Hoping Direct TV is running a league pass trial.

[JTB]

Hoping Direct TV is running a league pass trial.

They are! So enjoy while you can!

[TheFuzz]

The Raptors aren't bad but we're better than we showed last night. I think we'll get the W, especially at home.

[Alex]

They are! So enjoy while you can!

I just went and looked! Thanks man. Originally I was looking in the 600's and saw Fox Sports South.

[MrMeltdown]

Too much Dennis in the 1st half the offense is not the same when he runs it compared to Teague.

[kerrypack]

pero is looking pretty good. i've been keeping an eye on him and he is doing some good stuff.

[Sothron]

Horford double double at the half, where's the haters now?

[Mully]

Horford double double at the half, where's the haters now?

With the Teague haters

[capstone21]

Nice to see fans at the game....very unusual for a game that doesn't have a big name superstar for the opposing team for them to come cheer for.

[Admin]

Boy this was an up and down game. I kept trying to get into it but I honestly couldn't because I really don't think the Raptors are all that good. We had some really sweet plays tonight though. Korver finally got his stroke back, Al looked awesome and Millsap made some awesome buckets. Defense is really going to be the deciding factor in our games though and I don't think we're going to have nearly enough of it against good teams. Nice to get a win tonight though.