It’s game time!
There were no smiles to be found at Philips Arena when the Hawks' season came crashing to an end in a four-game sweep against Cleveland in the Eastern Conference semifinals. But they get a fresh start on a new season tonight. The Hawks open the preseason at home against New Orleans.
HAWKSVILLE – The last time you saw the Hawks on this floor, their heads were dipped and the spirits were sagging. On the receiving end of a series of furious left hooks and right crosses from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the mood was nasty.
Thank goodness for preseason basketball. The Hawks kick off their slate tonight at the building formerly known as the “Highlight Factory” against New Orleans.
While I don’t expect to see Joe Johnson and Josh Smith or Chris Paul and the Hornets’ starters for long, I’m going to cherish the few quality minutes we see from the big boys tonight.
If we get a barnburner by accident, so be it. After all, this is Mike Woodson we’re talking about (he of the “I’m trying to win every preseason game I can” fame of the past few seasons). But the smart money is on seeing much less of the starters and more and more of guys like Hawks rookie point guard Jeff Teague and his draft classmate Darren Collison of the Hornets.
“I’m going to be excited to be out there and to see how we all jell together,” Teague said. “I’m just excited in general to play my first real NBA game.”
The youngster will have to forgive some of his older and more seasoned teammates for not showing up with the same vigor. The veteran Hawks know that what really counts is the games that come at the end of this season and not these pre-Halloween dress rehearsals. I’m not insinuating that the preseason is meaningless, but as a wise general manager told me recently, “Does anybody remember how many preseason games the Lakers won last year?”
Yet I remain addicted to the NBA preseason. I like it because it gives me a chance to see the rookies and the camp invitees at work, knowing this might be the last time we see some of them this season (or at least for a while). Who knows? We might not see a whole lot of Courtney Sims or Aaron Miles after tonight, not to pick on those two guys alone. But you get my point.
Now is the time to take full stock of all the guys you see wearing the uniform, because in a few weeks there will only be nine or 10 of them playing most nights. And that means you’ll have a small sample size to work with on the others (that make the team but don’t make the playing rotation).
IN THE MEANTIME …
All that said, you shouldn’t take your eyes off the big boys. I think we all want to see what the chemistry looks like with the top seven or eight guys. I know I want to see how Jamal Crawford looks out there with JJ, Josh and Al Horford. We’ve seen so little of it during training camp, what with Crawford and Teague working exclusively with the reserve team in scrimmages (simulated and the real thing). I need to see if he fits as nicely as I think he will with those guys.
Other than how he and Teague (and to an extent Joe Smith, though he’s a utility player that should have no problem blending his skills in with whatever a team is doing) mesh with the core group, I can’t imagine there a ton of surprises to be had in this game. One of the benefits of the Hawks returning so much of their core from a year ago is that we should know exactly what we’re dealing with from the opening tip of this season.
Roles have been established. Responsibilities have been defined. Positions are squared away. The only left is to trot out onto that floor and see if it all looks as good under the bright lights as it did with the practice lights on.
The conversation here throughout tonight’s game, so don’t go anywhere.
Oh, and in case you missed the update, there’s a new home for your Hawks information on Twitter. We’re going with a new look and a revamped, corporate style. It’s a permanent move for the Twitter updates, so adjust your glasses to make sure it fits. Everybody starts from scratch on the new spot. Ha.
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126 comments Add your comment
Big Ray
October 8th, 2009
2:38 am
Looks to me like Josh has both his ankles back, judging by that alley-oop. Glad to see it, and glad to see that he wasn’t shooting any 3-balls.
JJ’s shot looks really good. Nice to see a 7-10 shooting performance instead of a 3-14 job.
Jeff Teague definitely has some serious skills. It really helps when the head coach and the veterans are this supportive of a rookie, though
Key phrase from Joe Johnson: “”I knew Woody had said something to him,” Johnson said. “I just told him that he has to play through the mistakes and not to let [Woodson] take your aggressiveness away. When you’re a young player in this league your aggressiveness is what gets you through sometimes.”
Ladies and gentlemen, you can say what you want. That came from the team captain.
At the same time, Joe is showing some leadership here, and that’s a damn good thing.
Big Ray
October 8th, 2009
2:44 am
A note on coaching, veterans, young players, etc.
While watching the Hawks “Real Training Camp” episode, I listened to a lot of what NBATV commentator Eric Snow had to say. One of the things he said really stood out. He said that relationships between the good and the elite players, and their coaches, are rarely easy. He said it takes patience, a lot of time, and a lot of work. He went on to say that the player/players and coach aren’t necessarily going to agree on everything, but they find ways to work through that to accomplish a common goal.
I think that’s about as reasonable a point of view as I’ve ever heard, and it’s coming from a veteran of the NBA as well. Does that make how a player or coach approaches a situation any less difficult? No. Does it make a player’s petulance or other less-than-pleasant attitude right? No. But it is what it is, and it has to be worked through. Personally, I’ve seen, heard, and read of far worse situations than the one with Mike Woodson and Josh Smith. And I think most of us who have jobs (or rather, careers) have had worse situations to deal with. But we make it work, because we need to/have to, do we not?
vava74
October 8th, 2009
5:54 am
In my opinion there are very few conclusions to take from this game.
We opened a small gap when both starting fives were playing each other and then a huge gap when we had our starting five against NO’s reserves.
Then the opposite happened when Scott put in their best players against our reserves, crawling back bit by bit.
This means that each team’s starting fives are better then the opposite team’s reserves and not much else (we also have to take into account that NO were playing with a stiff – Marks – instead of Okafor).
Eventually we can also conclude that:
1. The team looks to be in good shape physically and mentally.
2. Teague seems to be ready for prime time scoring, but not really distributing (1ass) nor defending (Chris Paul had an easy offensive game 5-7FG and 10-11FT);
3. Zaza is coming out firing on all cylinders and apparently with 2” more of vertical leap (I know that this will break the heart of someone here in the blog…).
4. Otello and Rio are the front runners to make the team, although I guess that the absence of Mo, Joe and Collins explain why they played so many minutes.
and finally
5. That RandMo was a beast per48m proving how useless is that stat!!!
RA
October 8th, 2009
5:58 am
I’ll second you on that thought Big Ray, but add in that winning is your ultimate bonding agent. When a team is highly successful (i.e the Spurs), you very rarely hear about chemistry issues. Of course sometimes it does happen (i.e. the Lakers of the early 2000’s). Still, I think that if this team gets off to the kind of start that it’s capable of, the personality issues will be few and much less public.
Ryan
October 8th, 2009
7:03 am
I think the following says alot about Woody too, and it is not good:
“When Woodson jumped Teague about being nervous, Johnson swooped in with some sound advice for the young point guard that hit the mark.
“I knew Woody had said something to him,” Johnson said. “I just told him that he has to play through the mistakes and not to let [Woodson] take your aggressiveness away. When you’re a young player in this league your aggressiveness is what gets you through sometimes.”"
terrell barron
October 8th, 2009
8:28 am
Checking out Solo and the Pacers on NBA TV. Airing again at 12:00
Daniel
October 8th, 2009
8:32 am
I just got to read the game summary and see the highlight package, so it is difficult to make a lot of judgements about the game. I did see ZaZa looking very good around the basket, Josh certainly has his legs back, Joe Johnson can shoot(nothing new there) and Teague played well.
I wonder if the minutes that Hunter and Rio got were a signal or as VaVa puts it due to Mo and Smith being out?
Samuel
October 8th, 2009
8:32 am
Some how I knew the Woody hate would creep into every blog. It really stinks. Cuz really knows how to push yalls’ buttons. Whatever it takes to get the ratings I guess.
Daniel
October 8th, 2009
8:32 am
Is there a game feed somewhere on the Net from last nights game?
Daniel
October 8th, 2009
8:34 am
Samuel- I was thinking the same thing. I read it as more a statement about Joe’s leadership and confidence in Teague than a knock on Woody. Sekou went out of his way to talk about how impressed Woody has been of Teague and how supportive. Heck, he even told him “good shot” on a missed runner.
hawks_4_life
October 8th, 2009
8:35 am
All set for fantasy basketball
Daniel
October 8th, 2009
8:37 am
Samuel did you set up a fantasy league?
ILL-logical
October 8th, 2009
8:57 am
8,000 + attendance =not good. Collins DNP “out of shape”=not good
Win=very good.
hawks_4_life
October 8th, 2009
9:05 am
Daniel
Samuel did set up the league check the blog first page near the bottom
vava74
October 8th, 2009
9:14 am
Daniel and Samuel,
I’m with you. People fail to realise that the first job of a coach is not to pat rookies’ backs but to try and to correct their flaws and point the right direction.
A good coach must be a father figure or at least he must behave and be seen as an older brother who instils “loving respect”.
On the contrary, as JJ did it, is the job of the veteran players (leaders) to, once in a while, pat the back of the rookies giving them confidence to improve and play hard.
If a coach is too soft and forgiving, he will never get his players respect. I think from what we have seen in the past and recently on the training camp media day, Woody balances well discipline and teaching with the necessary camaraderie.
I really believe that the Hawks have a very good group character wise and that they look like a tight knit family.
vava74
October 8th, 2009
9:41 am
Daniel, Hawks_for_life,
I think the link and the info for Samuel’s fantasy league is on the last page (3) of the previous blog, not on this one.
Big Nuttz
October 8th, 2009
9:53 am
Stoke it Ryan.Get that haters flame burning. Shout out to the Bubba Crew. Lets go get Woodson.
Big Nuttz
October 8th, 2009
9:56 am
Yeah.It garbage time in the game and Zaza collects. Hummm well Ok I stand corrected thats a 2.75 vertical leap. Good point!
Daniel
October 8th, 2009
10:43 am
do you have to have a yahoo account to play?
Daniel
October 8th, 2009
10:45 am
ILL- What’s up, I read that about Collins, too. I am going to let it go, because he has never been a guy that has been called lazy. (no talent- yes) But, that comment did make me go HMMMMM…..
The Truth
October 8th, 2009
11:01 am
My thoughts from actually watching the game:
Our veteran core players continue to mature together as a team and played well together for the first per-season game. You can see the growth of the team after witnessing them some 4 years ago. However, I’m still not sure whether the apparent readiness of the Hawks and their overall fine performance were just the result of a rusty Hornet team who may have approached this game as an extension of training camp trying to assemble its pieces for the upcoming season run. JJ and Teague were the offensive standouts. Zaza stats look good but he played heavy minutes for a backup and was the recipient of some nice setup assist-plays by Teague and others. With the addition of Teague and Crawford, he must raised is level of finishing plays. His numbers would have been even better had he made more free-throws. Generally speaking, however, free-throwing shooting is still an area for improvement for most of the Hawks players. Josh played with confidence but continues to bark at the officials for some calls against him. He is starting to resemble Rasheed Wallace with his antics at times. I know his passion for winning is just on display but he has to learn to play under control or Joe Smith will get more playing time then he signed-up for. But without question, Josh athleticism can change the outcome of a game as he showed us some tidbits of things to come: block shots, highlight dunks, steals, etc. As Teague started slow but finished strong, Crawford struggled early and never hit his stride. When it was apparent he was struggling offensively, Woody elected not to let him play through-it as he would have done if JJ had struggled. As result, Teague may have been the recipient of more playing time.
One thing to watch is Crawford trying to discover his new role as a 6th man off the bench. Will he be a scorer (as Flip was) or a play maker (setup guy)? Last night he was searching for that right blend. He had 2 nice assist to Zaza but when it came time for him to score to keep the defender honest, he was cold and never found his rhythm. I hope he elects to go with his first instinct and not try to reinvent himself. Woody probably wants him to be a gunner attack dog first and then setup plays for others.
The game was not really as close as the scoreboard indicated. Mario and Hunter played like they belong on the team. Woody granted them minutes as if he expects them to be on the roster. Siler saw about 5 minutes and played respectable for the biggest guy in the building. Just his presence will alter an opponent’s offense. The body size of this guy is what makes him unique. I say he needs to on this team if for no other reason.
As a veteran team, the Hawks now understands that the nuances of winning games depends on the small things during the course of a game such as: that extra rebound, that extra pass, that timely block shot, causing that timely turn-over, etc. Sometimes these things don’t show up on the stat sheet as was the case last night. It was clear that the Hawk played at that style and the Hornets did not. I’ll give a shout-out to Woody and his staff for installing that kind of mentality to the team. Over time, both Crawford and Teague should profit from brand of team attitude.
Samuel
October 8th, 2009
11:09 am
Yea Daniel,
Did you get in?
Daniel
October 8th, 2009
11:18 am
not yet, is it closed?
Daniel
October 8th, 2009
11:19 am
Truth- were you at the game?
Where did Woody have Hunter playing? PF/SF? Did he play on the perimeter at all?
KevinA
October 8th, 2009
1:12 pm
The Truth,
nice post
nunna yo biznezz
October 8th, 2009
9:35 pm
am i missing something here..
did any of u see the hawks training camp on nba tv??
i see an issue here..
j-smoove was faked out by an unknown training camp invitee,who did a finger roll to cap off a brillian drive on smoove…
woody yelled down the court to smith,and just said”smooth”!!
josh was miked,and he just shrugged his shoulders and said(into the mike),”that was a good finger roll what do u want me to do”??
he did nothing on his mike but talk crap..nothing to show he was into the practice or even show some kinda leadership..no talking to new bigs about blown assignments or nothing..and neither did any other of the players except,bibby..
my point is,josh is a budding superstar on this team..he is not an all star,but is one of the highlight features on our team..he has a very decent help defense game,and is a slasher/mid range shooter/dunker..
he is a starter,and should be more of at least,a voice,on this team..
if woody and this team don’t make it too the championship of the eastern conference this year,don’t expect to see him,bibby,or even j-smoove here next year..
sund,has given him size with collins/stiller/morris to back up da front line against the likes of howard/shaq/yao,veteran leader who can play a strong roll in joe smith,and youth with teague/othello hunter..
this is a do or die year for woody..
and,since he has no extension,don’t expect him to show loyalty to this organization if he does make it past the eastern conference championship and get this team into the finals..HE WILL WALK…
AND IN SOME WAYS,I HOPE HE DO..