2012-2013 Season Game Thread

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The Hawks’ initial training camp roster features 18 players, five more than the 13 currently under guaranteed contracts.

Additions to the roster are James Anderson, Keith Benson, Damion James, Carldell ‘Squeaky’ Johnson and Anthony Tolliver. Benson and James are former Hawks draft picks.

It is possible the Hawks could add a player in the next day or two before the start of training camp with a media day on Monday and first practice on Tuesday.

“It’s really just a matter of getting everybody in [camp],” coach Larry Drew said of his roster of veterans, rookies and invitees. “Once you get all the pieces to the component, then you can really see how guys gel off one another and who plays well with one another.”

Many Hawks players have been at Philips Arena the past several weeks working out on their own.

* Anderson is a former first-round pick of the Spurs in 2010 (20th overall). The 6-foot-6 guard played in 77 games over the past two seasons with an average of 3.7 points and 1.3 rebounds.

* Benson is a former Hawks second-round pick in 2011 (48th overall). The 6-11 forward/center was waived prior to the start of the season. He appeared in three games for the Warriors last season.

* James was selected by the Hawks in the first round in 2011 (24th overall). His rights were traded to the Nets on draft night. The 6-7 forward played in 32 games for the Nets, including 16 starts, and averaged 4.5 points and 3.7 rebounds.

* Johnson appeared in 15 games for the Hornets last season. The 5-10 guard averaged 1.8 points and 1.5 assists.

* Tolliver played the past two seasons for the Timberwolves. The 6-8 forward has also played for the Spurs, Trail Blazers and Warriors. He has averaged 6.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in four seasons.

The remaining players under contract with the Hawks are: Devin Harris, Al Horford, John Jenkins, Ivan Johnson, Kyle Korver, Anthony Morrow, Zaza Pachulia, Johan Petro, Mike Scott, Josh Smith, DeShawn Stevenson, Jeff Teague and Lou Williams.

HAWKS ROSTER

11 James Anderson G 6-6 215 Oklahoma St./USA

13 Keith Benson F/C 6-11 230 Oakland/USA

34 Devin Harris G 6-3 192 Wisconsin/USA

15 Al Horford F/C 6-10 250 Florida/Dominican Republic

8 Damion James F 6-7 225 Texas/USA

12 John Jenkins G 6-4 215 Vanderbilt/USA

6 Carldell Johnson G 5-10 180 Alabama-Birmingham/USA

44 Ivan Johnson F 6-8 230 Cal. St. San Bernadino/USA

26 Kyle Korver G 6-7 212 Creighton/USA

22 Anthony Morrow G 6-5 210 Georgia Tech/USA

27 Zaza Pachulia F/C 6-11 275 Ulker/Republic of Georgia

10 Johan Petro C 7-0 247 Pau Orthez/France

32 Mike Scott F 6-8 237 Virginia/USA

5 Josh Smith F 6-9 225 Oak Hill Academy (VA)/USA

92 DeShawn Stevenson G 6-5 218 Washington Union HS (CA)/USA

0 Jeff Teague G 6-2 181 Wake Forest/USA

4 Anthony Tolliver F 6-8 240 Creighton/USA

3 Lou Williams G 6-1 175 S. Gwinnett HS (GA)/USA

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http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2012/09/2...ster-released/

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2013 PRESEASON SCHEDULE

OCTOBER OPPONENT TIME (ET) LOCATION
Sun, Oct 7 vs Miami 2:00 PM Philips Arena

Wed, Oct 10 @ San Antonio 8:30 PM AT&T Center

Sun, Oct 14 @ Memphis 6:00 PM FedExForum

Tue, Oct 16 @ Indiana 7:00 PM Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Thu, Oct 18 vs New Orleans 7:30 PM Philips Arena

Sat, Oct 20 vs Dallas 7:00 PM Philips Arena

Fri, Oct 26 @ Detroit 7:30 PM The Palace of Auburn Hills

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Saw a post from Lang Greene that Kyle Korver he has taken a very vocal role in pick-up games this off-season. Maybe he is instilling some of the Bulls team attitude and Thibbs coaching into this team.

Good to know if that's true. A roster overhaul like the one we experienced means it could take some time for this group to jel but if new guys are coming in with right approach, it will make Drew's job easier.

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Josh Smith suggested that he won't shoot many 3-pointers this season, thanks to the Hawks' acquisition of numerous sharpshooters.

"Kyle Korver, Devin Harris, Louis Williams, Anthony Morrow, Anthony Tolliver," Smith said. "Am I missing anyone? ... I didn’t even say my name did I? Call me mid-range shawty." He worked with a strength and conditioning coach all summer and is entering a contract year, so he's positioned to build on last season's career year.

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rotoworld

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“This team is a team who can get up and down the floor,” Drew said. “Last year, we had some guys who can run. This year, we really have guys who can get out and run. When you think of our fast break you think of Jeff Teague having the ball in his hands and getting from one end of the floor to the other. I think we have somewhat of a two-headed snake with Devin and Lou who are just as fast and creative in the open court. With Kyle Korver, everyone knows he can shoot the basketball, but he does a really good job getting up and down the floor. For big men, both Josh [Smith] and Al [Horford] are two of the best runners in our league. We have an opportunity to be even that much more effective in the open court.”

Drew quickly followed with words of caution.

“I really want to make sure that these guys understand that because I’m talking about play a more open-court basketball game that is not going to be an excuse to be a bad defensive team,” Drew said. “Our focus and emphasis, as it has been the past two years with me being the head coach, our emphasis is defense. We don’t get out and run unless we defend. That is going to be the tone set throughout this training camp.”

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http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2012/10/0...tempo-offense/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jp9TxnRslo

^Really like Josh's new shoe commercial for AdiZero. "The weight of a city's expectations can be heavy."

^ Great Commercial

Its gonna be an interesting training camp. How many do you all think we'll carry? Usually we only take 13, but we're allowed 15.

Personally have never been a fan of DeShawn Stevenson, but good interview.

http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2012/10/0...awn-stevenson/

^^^^ Not a huge fan, but dude does play D and knows his role.

He shouldn't take away minutes from the younger guys, who are more likely to be around beyond this year and need to be developed. That pic of him with the ATM in his kitchen was hilarious though.

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I wasn’t allowed to watch much of practice other than free-throw shooting. Here is how the roster was divided for drill work. I wouldn’t read too much into it because it was for non-contact drills and some offense and defense implementation.

White: Williams, Stevenson, Morrow, Smith, Pachulia, Tolliver

Blue: Teague, Jenkins, Korver, Johnson, Horford, Johnson

Red: Harris, Anderson, James, Scott, Benson, Muhammad, Petro

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Vivlamore

Maybe we can't read TOO much into it, but in these three backcourts, he paired the scoring guards with the shooters/guards who play off the ball. Less redundancy with the ballhandlers, more "traditional" lineups.

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Yes, it’s just a preseason game. But it’s a good start for these new-look Hawks who are implementing a new style, with different offensive and defensive schemes, on a roster that currently has 14 new players.

Josh Smith scored 21 points and newcomers Lou Williams (18) and DeShawn Stevenson (11) were in double-figures in the Hawks’ 92-79 victory over the Heat at Philips Arena. The Heat did play with three of the Big Four with LeBron James (24 minutes), Chris Bosh (23 minutes) and Ray Allen (27 minutes). Dwyane Wade did not play.

The Heat led 26-19 after the first quarter. However, the Hawks outscored the Heat in all three remaining quarters, including by nine points in both the second and fourth stanzas.

“We were a little rusty early on,” Smith said. “After the first quarter, we tightened it up on the defensive end, got some stops, pushed the ball pretty good.”

Jeff Teague started at point guard, but coach Larry Drew used Williams at the position for much of his time in the game. Williams hit 5 of 6 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. The Hawks collectively shot 38.1 percent (8 of 21) from beyond the arc.

“I was very happy with the way he led the team,” Drew said. “He was a point for us tonight. In the past he’s played a lot off the ball where he’s been predominately a scorer. He’s been playing some point guard through training camp and I wanted to use him in that capacity tonight. He was aggressive when he had to be. He got us into an offense when we needed to be. I was extremely, extremely happy with how well he defended.”

Smith and Teague said the Hawks were “rusty” for their first game of a new season. New players are still learning – and getting comfortable with – the new schemes.

“A lot of it is just implementing our whole system and being comfortable with it and not having to think about it but it’s your natural reaction,” Kyle Korver said. “Are we forcing high? Are we forcing low? What is our coverage going to be? I’m speaking for myself, I’m still thinking. That just takes reps. This is a different system. We have a lot of new guys, getting used to a lot of new faces. It’s just going to take some time.”

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ajc

Hollinger tweeted that Lou Will was the stand-out performer.

Good story on Ivan.

http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2012/10/1...of-reflection/

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Johnson admits that his issues last season centered on being an old rookie. He was sent home from Orlando after failing to give up his seat on the bench to a veteran.

“I knew I had some rookie duties to do but I wasn’t going to be put through all the rookie duties because I’m an older rookie,” Johnson said.

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SAN ANTONIO -- Nando De Colo hit a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds remaining to give the San Antonio Spurs a 101-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in a preseason game Wednesday night.

Josh Powell scored 14 points and Gary Neal added 12 to lead the Spurs, who played a lineup of mostly reserves and training camp hopefuls.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich decided to rest a number of players, including Tony Parker, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili.

Center Eddy Curry got his first start of the preseason and finished with 11 points and eight rebounds, while De Colo added nine points and nine assists.

Damion James and Mike Scott led the Hawks with 11 points apiece. Scott scored seven straight points down the stretch for the Hawks, including a 3-pointer to tie the game with 4 seconds left.

Atlanta scored 21 points on 20 turnovers by San Antonio.

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espn

Drew started Lou, Damion James, and James Anderson with Josh and Al.

Jenkins was 3-5 on treys with two steals.

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Originally Posted by Bravo95

espn

Drew started Lou, Damion James, and James Anderson with Josh and Al.

Jenkins was 3-5 on treys with two steals.

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Looked at the Box score. Josh and Al didn't play much, so hopefully that got our rookies some exp.