Atlanta Hawks: Schedule stuff (UPDATE: 2010-11 schedule released)
The Hawks are set to release their schedule at 2 p.m. today. I will break it down here soon after. You will break it down below soon after that. Together we will formulate predictions, opinion and analysis that likely will mean little once the Hawks open the season.
Now doesn’t that sound fun? Hey, it’s August.
UPDATE
The schedule is out. Here are some highlights:
– The Hawks open the season with two road games and three in four nights. They play at Memphis Oct. 27, at Philadelphia Oct. 29 and at home vs. Washington on Oct. 30.
– Atlanta’s longest road trip of the season is broken up by All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. Games at Detroit Feb. 14 and at New York Feb. 16 are followed by All-Star weekend Feb. 18-20. Atlanta the continues the trip out West with games at the Lakers, Suns, Warriors, Blazers and Nuggets.
– The Hawks follow that trip with nine of their next 10 games at Philips Arena with just one back-to-back set. Atlanta plays 14 of its last 21 games at home.
– Atlanta plays a total of 23 back-to-back sets: 11 home/away, seven away/home and five away/away.
– Miami’s SuperFriends won’t make their first regular-season visit until March 18. The Heat visit again for Atlanta’s home finale on April 11. Miami will play an exhibition game against the Hawks at Philips on Oct. 21.
– The defending champion Lakers come to town on March 8. Orlando visits Dec. 20 and March 30. Defending East champ Boston visits on Nov. 22 and April 1.
– The Hawks play host to the Wizards on Thanksgiving Night (Nov. 25).
–The Hawks will play 14 games on national TV: seven on NBA TV, four on ESPN and three on TNT.
My three thoughts, worth $.02 each:
1. That closing schedule looks like a kind of trade-off between opponents and location, doesn’t it? It’s hard for the Hawks to complain about 14 of their last 21 at home, but they draw the Bulls three times, Miami twice (though that April 11 game could be meaningless for the standings), Boston, the Lakers, Oklahoma City, San Antonio and Orlando. On the plus side, the Hawks play consecutive road games just once during that span, and they are at Indiana and Washington.
2. There could be an opportunity for L.D. to get off to a good start in his first season as the head man. Memphis, Philadelphia, Washington, Cleveland, Detroit and Minnesota looks to be a manageable stretch to open the season. As always, that comes with the caveat that’s it’s folly to look at NBA schedules and predict wins and losses. And four of those games are on the road, where the Hawks were known to mess around and not handle their business last season.
2. Breaking up the February trip with All-Star weekend sounds good to me. I’ll take the long weekend in L.A. It should be good for the Hawks, too, since it takes what could have potentially been one long, 12-day West Coast trip and makes it a four-day trip East and an eight-day trip West with a short vacation in between. And the Hawks have all those home games to look forward to when they return to Atlanta.
MC
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259 comments Add your comment
Astro Joe
August 10th, 2010
2:48 pm
@MC, on a different note, scheduling home games against a division opponent in the last 2 months of the season is stupid. If there were any chance that the Hawks could compete for the division, we would be at a considerable disadvantage but not having a division oponent in our areana until March… and then not again until the last home game. Not for nothing, but the NBA screwed that one up… division opponents should face each other throughout the season both home and away… not one-sided like what we are seeing in the ‘10-11 season.
northcyde
August 10th, 2010
2:54 pm
Season opener @ Memphis is a game I’ll definitely make.
I’ll travel to ATL on the 24th to see my Bengals beat the Falcons . . then to Memphis on the 27th to see the Hawks beat the Grizzlies . . then to Birmingham on the 30th to attend the Magic City Classic.
hawks_4_life
August 10th, 2010
2:56 pm
Way to get some National recognition Hawks!!!
GeeMack
August 10th, 2010
2:59 pm
Astro Joe
You can call the Heat the dreamgirls, but you know that team will be legit when the season starts. As a basketball fan that collection of guys will bring it every night.
Show me state
August 10th, 2010
3:00 pm
I guess i need to make those reservations for the season opener @ Memphis….Go Hawks….
GeeMack
August 10th, 2010
3:00 pm
northcyde
You mean see the Bengals get dusted.
cowboys67
August 10th, 2010
3:00 pm
As usual the ASG get shafted for the 2nd year in a row the last home game of the season is against the hot team last year the Lebrons this year the Wades? League trying to send a message to ASG to clear up there mess.
O'Brien
August 10th, 2010
3:02 pm
Northcyde,
When you say Magic city classic, u may want to clarify. In atlanta, magic city classic might have a different meaning…
northcyde
August 10th, 2010
3:05 pm
Possible home games I may attend . . just by looking at the schedule right now
- Nov. 5th vs Phoenix
- Dec 11th vs Indiana
- Jan 17th vs Sacramento
- Feb 12th vs Charlotte
- Mar 18th vs Miami ( although I may opt to see the Portland game on Mar 12th )
- Apr 1st vs Boston
This schedule is NOT friendly to those that simply like to attend Hawk games on a Friday or Saturday night, and like to see the big name teams. Most of the “marquee games” happen on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, so I’m sure the ASG is glad to see that.
Hawk n the Ham
August 10th, 2010
3:08 pm
Ok folks, I hate to do this but……
There is a difference in the following spellings:
“There”
“Their”
“They’re”
Sorry, but that is a peeve of mine, I aplolgize. Carry on
Wabe
August 10th, 2010
3:09 pm
northcyde
August 10th, 2010
2:54 pm
“Season opener @ Memphis is a game I’ll definitely make.
I’ll travel to ATL on the 24th to see my Bengals beat the Falcons . . then to Memphis on the 27th to see the Hawks beat the Grizzlies . . then to Birmingham on the 30th to attend the Magic City Classic.”
I know it’s dumb to respond to a football remark on the Hawks blog, but common now northcyde, the Bengals beat the Falcons in the GA Dome?
Not happening…
northcyde
August 10th, 2010
3:09 pm
LOL @ O’Brien . . every night is a “classic” at Magic City in ATL . . especially on Monday nights . . ( so I have heard )
Magic City Classic in Birmingham, AL
northcyde
August 10th, 2010
3:10 pm
Wabe . . we’ll see man. We’ll see.
Michael Cunningham
August 10th, 2010
3:18 pm
@ darrell starks: “MC i have some serious Q 2 ask ASG if im going 2 renew my tickets”
which questions are those?
Dept. of Unintended Irony
August 10th, 2010
3:19 pm
“Ok folks, I hate to do this but……”
“There is a difference in the following spellings:”
“There”
“Their”
“They’re”
“Sorry, but that is a peeve of mine, I aplolgize. Carry on”
Hawk,
Apolgy accepted.
just SHOOT me
August 10th, 2010
3:20 pm
Last time I went to Magic City Dominique was in there. Good times, good times. We should have an AJC Hawks Fan event at Magic City. Have Rev in Tampa join us. Hell, we could even invite Woody. Not like he has much going on these days.
Rod from College Park
August 10th, 2010
3:20 pm
McGrady for the vet minimum would have been perfect. ASG has no desire to improve this team. As long as he was healthy, no way that you would be able to keep him out of the starting lineup. I for one, being a season ticket holder for the past 6 years will not renew my tickets to see the same thing or probably worse this year. I just made my decision, I’m not renewing. Powell, Drew, Cheesburger Collins and some end of the bench guy is not worth that couple of thousand dollars.
Michael Cunningham
August 10th, 2010
3:20 pm
@JeJez: “THIS IS UNCLEAR. IS HORFORD GOING TO STAY AT CENTER OR MOVE TO PF. HORFORD SAYS HE IS MOVING. THEN IT SAYS HE WILL PLAY MORE AT PF IDIOTS”
he will start at C but will play PF in certain lineups. look for details on this and more from L.D. in blog post tomorrow.
Michael Cunningham
August 10th, 2010
3:22 pm
@ AJ: “@MC, on a different note, scheduling home games against a division opponent in the last 2 months of the season is stupid.”
i’ve accepted there are things about the NBA schedule that i will never understand.
Michael Cunningham
August 10th, 2010
3:24 pm
@ Rod: “McGrady for the vet minimum would have been perfect. ASG has no desire to improve this team. As long as he was healthy, no way that you would be able to keep him out of the starting lineup.”
strange as it may seem, they insist they don’t need another wing.
Mr. Phil
August 10th, 2010
3:26 pm
You know that basketball comes around late October early November every year. But it seesm so much closer when you write it down (OCt. 27 wow).
Anybody else feel like this off season has just flown by. I am still foaming about the mouth about last season and a new season is less than two months away. Geesh.
just SHOOT me
August 10th, 2010
3:30 pm
Until the Spirit Group shapes up or ships out of town I will not purchase season tickets. Of course they send me an email every single day it seems like with special offers, but for what? I’ve had it. While I think it was questionable signing Joe J to such a huge contract, that’s about all we’ve done besides offer Meatloaf (JC) a contract and sign Powell. Well we had a decent draft in getting Jordan Crawford. Why the heck we got rid of the 31st pick for cash when there were two decent big men (projects) I’ll never understand. Well we’re cheap and that explains a lot this offseason. As I’ve said probably 10 times, the Hawks will finish no better than 5th next year. Can someone please explain why I would want to purchase season tickets? I’ll go to a few games, watch a few games, and that’s it!
northcyde
August 10th, 2010
3:41 pm
This schedule is pretty tough before March 1st.
- We play 35 of our first 61 games on the road.
- 7 in a row on the road to end February
- 5 games vs Miami and Orlando ( only 1 at home )
*************************
But if the Hawks beat whom they are supposed to beat, they could be 6 – 0 going into that Sunday game vs Phoenix. If they do that, they’ll have a legit shot to start the season 14 – 4. And they’ll need a start like that to have as a buffer, if they happen to struggle on the road starting in December. A lot of tough December road games.
SteveW
August 10th, 2010
3:47 pm
Ok – I got us at 54-28 going game by game – of course injuries etc. are not factored in – got us losing some games we should win.
And does anybody else see a possible 19 – 1 start but me? Ok, I’m and idiot so I’ll save you all the effort of calling me one
northcyde
August 10th, 2010
3:47 pm
@ just SHOOT me . . . . well, if you like to see the Hawks play at home, that team has posted a 90 – 33 record at home in the past 3 years. So they’re going to win around 75% of the time you see them at home.
I don’t go to games to see the other team play, although it’s always good to see us play another top level team at home. But I go to see the HAWKS play. Going to an Indiana or a Clipper game doesn’t bother me one bit, because I’m there to see the Hawks.
We may not have upgraded the team, but this should still be one of the best home teams in the NBA. Winning 30 games again at home isn’t out of the question. But for us to get to that next level as a team, we have to start winning more on the road.
But home fans buying season season tickets or not, doesn’t mean anything as to how the Hawks play on the road.
GeeMack
August 10th, 2010
3:48 pm
Enter your comments here
Rufus1
August 10th, 2010
3:49 pm
More National Games will Come
When we the Hawks start the season 20-2
just SHOOT me
August 10th, 2010
3:54 pm
northcyde: I agree with what you’re saying. However, I mean it’s tough for me to endure the kind of nonsense the ASG has pulled this offseason. While other teams in the East have improved, what have the Hawks done? I get they want to keep their core and not spend extra money. It seems to me like they are fine finishing in the top 5, making the playoffs, potentially winning in the 1st round, and then getting destroyedin the 2nd round.
What is the harm in adding pieces to our team? We keep our core and add Powell and resign Collins. Big deal. It’s just hard watching other teams improve while nothing is happening in the ATL. It’s disappointing. It’s depressing. Sure they play great at home. If you’re going to see them chances are they’ll win the game you go and watch. But what the ASG has done this offseason puts such a bad taste in my mouth that spending money towards this group of idiots is the last thing I want to do.
J.J.M.
August 10th, 2010
3:56 pm
if you have madden on xbox live hit me up…igotxx3
northcyde
August 10th, 2010
4:13 pm
Oh I agree with that @ just SHOOT me. The ASG do seem content with what they have right now. They market this team very poorly. And when people saw the East contenders drastically upgrading their teams, they should’ve at least pulled the trigger and acquired at least one decent player.
And when a marketable guy like Shaq became available, that was the best chance of “hope” that they could’ve sold to the fan base. But they passed on that, increasing the apathy that fans like yourself already feel toward the ASG. And they made it worse this offseason.
The product is still very good at home. So if you want to see the Hawks, let that be your motivation for going to the games.
Rod from College Park
August 10th, 2010
4:24 pm
“strange as it may seem, they insist they don’t need another wing.”
Figures. I guess they are ok with troting out the 30th ranked small foward in the league against the Lebron’s, Pierce’s, Granger’s, and Vince Carter’s of the eastern conference.
~~MAC-ToWN~~ (Area Code 478)
August 10th, 2010
4:30 pm
I’m not buying the bulls yet. Remember a few years back when the bulls overachieved and ended up like 3rd or 4th in the east. I believe it was the ‘06-’07 season. People were picking the bulls to be contenders for the east the next year and they didnt do crap. They’ve pretty much been “predicted” to finish much higher than they end up each year since then. I’m not buying it.
and we have alot of talk about our bigs, what about our PG situation? It’s more interesting to me. Is teague gonna end up being a star/borderline star???? a “good” player that contributes??? a scrub??? and if he scrubs it up, do we really want Bibby to be that guy to pick up the slack? Another year older, slower, and closer to actually being mini me.
Reggie
August 10th, 2010
4:31 pm
I was all for signing Shaq for a couple of reasons..number one we need his big body against Dwight and number two he can help draw fans…however i dont understand why people think Tracy Mcgrady will be any help to the Hawks. He play last year on a sorry Knicks team and only managed 9.8 points per game plus only a very small group of people will want to see the artist formally known as T-MAC.
Rod from College Park
August 10th, 2010
4:34 pm
Just read an quote from Danny Ainge saying that he is positve that you will see both O’Neal’s and Garnett on the floor at the same time. I wonder how we will match up. Oh, I forgot, Josh can’t play the 3 (LOL). As contructed now the Hawks have no chance to beat Miami, Orlando,or Boston in a seven game series, and I question us agianst Milwaukee and Chicago.
Najeh Davenpoop
August 10th, 2010
4:47 pm
“That closing schedule looks like a kind of trade-off between opponents and location, doesn’t it? ”
If there’s one thing the Hawks have proven over the last couple of years, it is that they can beat anyone at Philips Arena.
Rod from College Park
August 10th, 2010
4:49 pm
Reggie,
“however i dont understand why people think Tracy Mcgrady will be any help to the Hawks.
Because even after being hurt, McGrady is a better player than our starting small forward, and he is better than anyone on our bench not named Jamal Crawford, and he only makes a mill and some change. So basically you could have signed T. Mac for about the same money that you would have to pay Mario West. Then we are very thin at the 3, along with being unskilled at that position. Imagine if Marvin trips going to the hole (like he always does) and hurts his back again, who starts at the 3 for the Hawks? I would much rather McGrady shooting that open 3 that everyone talks about than Marvin.
Najeh Davenpoop
August 10th, 2010
4:51 pm
“Just read an quote from Danny Ainge saying that he is positve that you will see both O’Neal’s and Garnett on the floor at the same time. I wonder how we will match up.”
How many games this season do you think all three will be healthy at the same time? I put the over/under at 10.
Najeh Davenpoop
August 10th, 2010
4:52 pm
Co-sign everyone else who thinks T-Mac would have been a fine acquisition for this team. The Hawks are paying the vet minimum to Collins and Powell, while T-Mac and Shaq are getting paid the same vet minimum.
Again, it’s not just that the DASG is cheap; it’s also that when they do spend money, they don’t spend it wisely. It makes no sense to support an organization that repeatedly proves its incompetence.
Najeh Davenpoop
August 10th, 2010
4:55 pm
I’m a little puzzled as to why T-Mac signed with Detroit though. If anything, I think maybe Detroit signed him to potentially package in a trade along with Tayshaun Prince at the trade deadline and get some draft picks in return.
jason
August 10th, 2010
5:06 pm
MC if u can right a letter to ASG thant atlanta fans give this offseason a D. And that they should negotiate with free agent small foward Jerry Stackhouse and to trade Marvin,Mo,Teague,and zaza to Indiana for Danny Granger thank you!
Najeh Davenpoop
August 10th, 2010
5:07 pm
ding
jason
August 10th, 2010
5:08 pm
ASG should sell the franchise to someone who actually knows about building a championship team
truthspitter
August 10th, 2010
5:23 pm
Hawks could win 8 or 9 of there first 10 if they could win on the road, but they usually don’t win on the road with this same exact team coming back and counting on a rookie PG, I expect for them to be more like 6-4, 7-3 if they get lucky
MsDee
August 10th, 2010
5:34 pm
@SteveW,
I’m with u drinking THAT Kool-aid..I too can see the Hawks 19-1!! The Hawks will be FRESH starting the season with a NEW attitude, a NEW coach, a NEW OFFensive system, JJ with a NEW contract, Teague with a NEW FT position..only thing that would be old is Horford returning to his OLD position as PF..I’m confident in the NEW 2010/11 season!! GO HAWKS!!
kjb
August 10th, 2010
5:34 pm
any word on Kwame Brown?
The Real JC
August 10th, 2010
5:36 pm
T-Mac is a 2 who can play the 3. He doesn’t (currently) possess any skill set that Joe or JC1 don’t also have. He’s redundant on this Hawks team.
If we’re looking for realistic backup solutions for Marv, we need to look at a real wing player with height and length to go along with his stroke.
If all he needed to do is hang back and hit the three, we’ve got plenty of guys who can do that (Joe, JC1, JC2, Bibby). T-Mac can still shoot, but he can’t and won’t get to the rim like Marvin does.
northcyde
August 10th, 2010
5:46 pm
T-Mac jumpshooting last year:
eFG%: 37.1% . . . ( 5 ppg )
I’m posting from my phone right now. Could somebody go to the Pape Sy blog, and copy and paste my post listing the primary SF’s from each team, and the eFG% they shot on their jumper?
I believe T-Mac would rank next to last in jumpshooting. Only Shawn Marion was worse.
Wabe
August 10th, 2010
5:52 pm
Here’s the deal.
I wasn’t as excited as some of you may have been about the Hawks schedule coming out. As MC stated, it doesn’t have the same excitement factor that you have when a football schedule comes out.
But, all that aside. I love hoops, and enjoy watching the Hawks from night to night. However, in terms of the Hawks, I think we can all agree that this is a playoff team. But, the growing sense amongst fans would indicate that ASG is either way too cheap or way too stupid to get this team where fans want to see it. It’s frustrating watching ASG bank on one thing – and one thing only – to take this team to the promise land (winning a game in the 2nd round in the Hawks case). As others have mentioned, some of the things the Hawks did throughout the course of this offseason just boggles one’s mind. Nothing was done to instill faith in fans that this ownership group is serious about getting this team over the hump. They’re banking on this maturation process of the core group that we have in place – and the when the players don’t perform, whose at fault?
“J.Smith sucks – trade him for Amare.”
“Al Horford isn’t a true center.”
“Joe Johnson isn’t clutch, he’s no Kobe.”
But, in reality, I can’t pin too much on these guys, because have they ever really been put in an optimal position to succeed? I mean, you know who you have to get through to get places in the East, so how bout showing some urgency and getting some additional help in here. I’m all for keeping the core in tact, but, even attempting to bolster the bench would’ve left me a bit more satisfied than what we’ve gotten thus far. It’s pretty absurd.
From draft night when we passed on a big with pick #31 to the Josh Powell signing to losing out on Shaq, the Hawks are either always a step behind or seem disinterested in bringing in the right guys that can help this team get a bit further in the playoffs.
We’re a playoff team. We’ve been to the playoffs 3 straight years. Therefore, regular season records at this point are starting to get old. Not too many people are pointing out the great season we had last season without mentioning how we got demolished vs. Orlando. Even if people point out our great regular season success, they’re most likely going to mention our playoff woes.
I know some will say, “The same few who wanted Woody fired are now claiming the Hawks have no talent…”
It may seem a bit odd in principle, trying to justify it both ways. But, if you discuss it from both sides in depth (Woody’s cluelessness vs. ASG’s cluelessness), you’d see that both parties contributed dearly to this teams failures. This entire system is flawed from top down. ASG will never get the tools this team needs, but at the same time, Woody didn’t do a damn thing to help his case ( IE – if you know you’re going to need guys like Collins/Randolph come playoff time to help matchup – shouldn’t you at least give them some burn throughout the season to have them a bit more prepared for games where our season’s on the line? ).
The landscape has changed moreso this year than in any other past years. You know what you’ll be facing in Miami for the next 5-6 years, and you know that Orlando will remain a threat so long Dwight Howard remains with them. You have other young and talented teams on the rise. Yet, this team seems content on throwing out the same act again with a few tweaks in hopes of seeing different results?
I’ll be rooting hard for them, but I’ll keep my expectations to the minimum as far as playoff success is concerned.
Rod from College Park
August 10th, 2010
5:58 pm
The Real JC,
“If we’re looking for realistic backup solutions for Marv, we need to look at a real wing player with height and length to go along with his stroke.”
McGrady is 6′8 or 6′9 with a 7 foot wingspan, and a better stroke than Marvin. He could easily play the 3 just like Joe can. T-Mac with one leg and one arm could get to the rack better than Marvin. Marv might be a slightly better defender, that’s about it. What games have you been watching?
Najeh,
Just read an quote from Danny Ainge saying that he is positve that you will see both O’Neal’s and Garnett on the floor at the same time. I wonder how we will match up.
“How many games this season do you think all three will be healthy at the same time? I put the over/under at 10.”
Boston doesn’t care about the season, only the Playoffs.
Wabe
August 10th, 2010
5:58 pm
To add a bit more justification to Woody’s firing, in more cases than not, when a coach loses his team, he’s gonna get canned.
Even if you’re a devout believer that he was jipped, it’s hard to argue that Woody had the respect of the guys within our locker room. And, I’m wondering if anybody would’ve bought into a thing he said if he returned next season with the same exact team after being demolished two seasons in a row in the playoffs.
Even if you’re talent deprived, as a coach, you’ve got to get your players to buy into what you’re selling. And, in Woody’s case, it’s tough for me to say that our group ever bought into Woody’s ways.