Hawks Lose Exhibition Opener

Boxscore

• Nobody got hurt.
• Marvin Williams has a strong head of hair.
• Jannero Pargo's joining the Hawks tomorrow, undermining what interest one might have had in watching Donald Sloan and Brad Wanamaker tonight.
• Since basically nobody coming of the bench for the Hawks can score, much less create his own shot, the team's lack of depth is going to appear exaggerated if the reserves play as a unit.
  
• Jerry Stackhouse has nothing left. Hasn't for years.

Monday's Pre-Season Game To Be Televised On NBA TV

Atlanta's trip to Charlotte on December 19th will be one of 10 pre-season games shown live over a six-day period on NBA TV. John Schuhmann:

It’s been exactly six months since we’ve seen live NBA basketball, but the drought is about to end. The preseason tips off on Friday. And while the action is bound to be a little sloppy, we’re all salivating at the thought of seeing our teams back in action.

And NBA TV has got you covered, televising 10 preseason games over the course of six days, beginning with No. 1 pick Kyrie Irving‘s first game in an NBA uniform.

Here’s the full NBA TV preseason schedule (all times EST), which includes 18 of the 30 teams…

Friday, Dec. 16
Cleveland @ Detroit, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 17
New York @ New Jersey, 2 p.m.
San Antonio @ Houston, 8 p.m
Sacramento @ Golden State, 10:30 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 18
Oklahoma City @ Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 19
Atlanta @ Charlotte, 7 p.m.
LA Clippers @ LA Lakers, 10:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 20
Washington @ Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 21
Miami @ Orlando, 7 p.m.
LA Lakers @ LA Clippers, 10:30 p.m.

Post-lockout basketball plus the meaninglessness of exhibition basketball plus the long-gestating need to make snap judgments equals entertainment gold.

ESPN.com: Pelton: Trend Watch

Kevin Pelton's inagural Trend Watch at ESPN.com (Insider) takes a look at some troubling numbers from the pre-season:

The preseason demonstrated that Atlanta has a lot of work to do to get comfortable in the new offense. The Hawks finished last in the league in offensive rating, scoring just 94.7 points per 100 possessions. And that improved passing has yet to materialize. Atlanta was slightly below average in assists per field goal last season, ranking 16th in the league, and ranked just 17th this preseason. In turn, the Hawks have gotten few easy baskets. Their 2-point percentage of 44.3 percent was 23rd overall.

The danger to Drew's strategy is that Atlanta will lose the strengths that made its offense so effective during the regular season, when the Hawks boasted one of the league's three best attacks on a per-possession basis. As unattractive as the isolation offense may be, it played to the team's strengths and limited miscues. Atlanta turned the ball over less than any other NBA team a year ago. During the exhibition season, the Hawks committed turnovers slightly more often than average. The team's offensive rebounding has also suffered badly.

Pelton acknowledges both the degree of change Drew is trying to implement and the injuries (specifically Jeff Teague's unavailability for much of the pre-season) that hampered his early efforts. His conclusion:

Drew may need more time to implement his entire game plan.

Atlanta Hawks Cap Exhibition Slate With 33-Point Loss in Charlotte

Box Score

I'll let Larry Drew take the lead in describing how much last night's exhibition game helped the Hawks:

"Zero. Zero. Nothing whatsoever."

Three of the starters played limited minutes, Mike Bibby sat the game out, and Josh Smith used his 29 minutes to attempt two of four shots from beyond 16-feet. He missed both. Jamal Crawford and Jeff Teague both played 34 minutes. They combined for 23 points and 13 turnovers. I suspect no one wanted to be on the road for the second game of a back-to-back at the end of pre-season.

I cede the floor to Larry Brown:

"They seemed disinterested. They played last night, but still."

Michael Cunningham covered the issue of Josh Smith taking a ton of jump shots this pre-season:

L.D. said he doesn’t doubt Josh believes he can make long jump shots. He said he hasn’t told him to stop taking them altogether “because his stroke has certainly improved and he has worked on it.” But he doesn’t want them early in the shot clock, late in games or when the play calls for Josh to be in the post.

That latter point is how L.D. frames the issue: He doesn’t labor the point that Josh can’t make jumpers, but rather points out that he needs to be in the paint because he’s so effective there.

“I just tell him when I run something put him in the post don’t want him letting the defense off the hook shooting a fadeaway jump shot,” L.D. said. “I believe in his ability down in the post to get a basket or get fouled. Shooting a fadeaway is letting your defender off the hook.”

I think the belief that he can make jump shots is the root problem, but I don't have to work with him. 27 of Smith's 56 pre-season field goal attempts came from outside of 16-feet he made 8 of those shots (29.6 eFG%).

Also concerning are Drew's expectations for Josh Powell:

"He’s going to be a big part of us being successful."

Evidence and observation suggest that's highly unlikely. Either way, we'll add to our collective knowledge far more efficiently once the season commences.

Encouraging Performance Gives Atlanta Hawks Victory Over Miami Heat

Box Score

Highlights

The 98-89 win was nice but, with the game not counting, carries relatively little import. As to what did...

Joe Johnson was clearly Atlanta's best player, demonstrating a level of activity largely absent in recent seasons. He moved without the ball, generally made quick, strong moves with the ball, and was a presence on the offensive glass against what should be a stout defensive rebounding team. One caveat: though flex sets should provide higher-quality shots for Johnson, it's unlikely to help him get to the line more often (23 field goal attempts, 2 free throw attempts last night) so he's unlikely to become wildly more efficient as a scorer. Of course, adding a couple offensive rebounds and earning six assists against a single turnover makes for an excellent offensive night overall.

Josh Smith isn't going to stop taking jump shots (4 of his 10 field goals last night were jumpers, including a three-pointer early in the shot clock with the Hawks up 3 and 1:39 left in the game) so someone will have to make him. It's a terrible waste to allow him to punt 3- or 4-percent of the team's possessions just because he feels like it. It's a tough decision and won't be easy to implement but the Hawks can't afford to have a good passer who converts his shots around the rim at a 65% rate drifting around the perimeter undermining his own talents and the team. Maybe Larry Drew can tie permission to shoot the occasional jumper to Smith's free throw percentage.

The other reason making Smith accountable for his shot selection difficult is his centrality to the team's defensive success. He was remarkably effective against Chris Bosh and Josh Powell, the player the team seems intent on using as Smith's backup, wasn't given the opportunity to guard Bosh. Larry Drew gave that assignment to Zaza Pachulia.

Powell grabbed seven rebounds but failed to impress even beyond being hidden defensively in a pre-season game. His inability to score in the paint or make jump shots was on full display, augmented by a committing a couple of turnovers with offensive fouls.

Though movement isn't Mike Bibby's strong suit, increased movement off the ball (both from him and his teammates) amplifies his good basketball instincts.

Which is good, because Jeff Teague doesn't appear prepared to play major minutes yet. No one is going to stay in front of him, but he'll need to convert his own shots in addition to setting up his teammates to take full advantage of his speed. Pick-and-roll defense seems a work in progress, as well. Though, as porous as the second unit looked as a whole, it's plausible that it's primarily a contextual problem.

I think we'll still see Jamal Crawford dominating the ball with the second unit. It's not ideal for Teague's development but may be necessary given the limitations of Evans, Pachulia, and Powell.

Al Horford couldn't buy a bucket in the first half, but there won't be many halves where he misses five straight wide-open face-up jumpers. He finally knocked down a jumper in the third quarter and scored a couple of nice baskets in the paint after catching the ball on the move.

Marvin Williams knocked down the dagger 3 to finish off the Heat but the 10 defensive rebounds he grabbed were nearly as important. No, he didn't slow down LeBron James, but he did make him work harder for his points than any other Hawk did. Decent-to-good defense, above average scoring efficiency, and improved rebounding are reasonable standards to hold Williams to in 2010-11.

Larry Drew:

"I’ve seen improvement in the defense the last couple games. Tonight we did a good job collectively on them. One thing I wanted them to focus on was the transition defense. We let LeBron get away a couple times but for the most part we did a good job with that."

It'll be different when the Hawks have to deal with James and Wade but, as mentioned above, Josh Smith matches up very well with Chris Bosh and Al Horford doesn't have to guard anybody really. I would not be surprised if the Hawks are more competitive against the Heat this season than they are against the Magic.

The Hawks play a sure-to-be anti-climactic exhibition in Charlotte tonight before tipping-off the regular season Wednesday night in Memphis.

Thursday Afternoon Atlanta Hawks Links

• No Mike Miller tonight for the Heat.
• Michael Wallace previews the game at The Heat Index.
• Rick Sund calls Hawks "elite." Tonight's Daily Dime Live sure to respond with claims that the Hawks are not "relevant."
• Kelly Dwyer and Dan Devine preview the Hawks at Ball Don't Lie.
• Tas Melas does the same for The Basketball Jones.
• At SBNation, Mike Prada ranks the Atlanta Hawks as the NBA's fifth-least watchable team.

Atlanta Hawks No Match For Orlando Magic Regardless of Game's Import

Box Score

Hold on to your hat, but the Atlanta Hawks played a basketball game against the Orlando Magic and, in that game, the Hawks took lots of long two-point jump shots and, through their inability to defend multiple areas of the floor simultaneously, made Dwight Howard's teammates as dangerous offensively as Howard.

23 of Atlanta's 78 field goal attempts were two-point jumpers from between 16- and 23-feet. The total belies the underlying problem. Down 27 after three quarters, the Hawks attempted just 3 long two-point jumpers in the fourth quarter. While actively losing the game, the Hawks used 20 of their 62 field goal attempts on the least efficient type of shot in basketball. Larry Drew's effort to implement a new offensive system is admirable but it will take time and it will be run by largely the same players.

Players, even more than a sound tactical system, separate the Orlando Magic from the Atlanta Hawks. It's entirely predictable that Jameer Nelson and Vince Carter could exploit the Hawks' fixation on Dwight Howard. It's more difficult to explain away the degree to which Ryan Anderson (11 points on 4 shots in 16 minutes), Brandon Bass (17 points, 8 rebounds (4 offensive) in 20 minutes), and Chris Duhon (10 assists only 2 field goal attempts in 23 minutes) worked unimpeded. Nor does such production from Orlando's bench against the Hawks stand as a one-off.

As for the home team's bench, some of it admittedly pressed into extended service due to a poor, foul-plagued* performance by Al Horford, there was little to encourage. Sure, Josh Powell scored 13 points on 6 shots but he also failed to grab a defensive rebound in 17 minutes of play. It's the latter stat that fits better with the evidence of his career than does the scoring outburst. The essential bulk of Jason Collins led to 7 unlikely points** but he managed just one defensive rebound in 17 minutes. Yes, Orlando made more than half their shots but they also rebounded 25% of their own misses. There may, in fact, be a downside to filling out the bench with older players who haven't contributed to an NBA team in three seasons.

*And, to a lesser and inexplicable degree, early fouls committed by Zaza Pachulia. I'll say it again, the Hawks would not be damaged at all were Pachulia to foul out of every single game this season. They don't need 40 minutes from him. They need 16 or 20 and he's perfectly capable of giving hard fouls while refraining from fouling out too quickly in that context.

**That it was bench scoring from Josh Powell and Jason Collins that kept the contest within 30 is among the more chilling aspects of the box score.

Marvin Williams:

"They are one of the best teams in the league because they can defend. They can flat-out guard. A lot of people say it’s because of their offense but it’s because they guard. They have a lot of energy on the defensive end, and that’s why they’re one of the top two or three teams."

Al Horford:

"I think that in the past with our team when teams make runs at us we tend to go the other way sometimes. I feel like we have to be more mature about handling things like that, being able to stay with the game plan and keep playing."

Larry Drew:

"[Orlando] is on a mission and we've got to get like that. They are certainly a measuring stick. They are getting the job done now; they are now waiting until the regular season. We have to do the same."

Michael Cunningham:

Before the game Monday Drew said this is a "new year" with a "new attitude" for the Hawks. Instead, there was the same feeble offense, defensive breakdowns and visible frustration that usually show up in their games against Orlando.

Cunningham's right. The difference between the Hawks and Magic has little to do with focus or effort. The difference is in the team's respective talent*, a difference down both to the amount of resources allocated and the wisdom with which the respective resources were allocated. The Atlanta Hawks, as currently constructed, cannot fairly be expected to compete with the Orlando Magic.

*Brandon Bass played 648 minutes last season. The talented and productive (and young) Ryan Anderson played just 910 minutes even with Rashard Lewis missing 10 games.

John Denton of Magic.com:

When the Orlando Magic got word that the Atlanta Hawks were pointing to Monday’s exhibition game as an opportunity to show they aren’t the same team that was obliterated in the playoffs last spring, the Magic had just the motivation they needed to flex their muscles.

Not that the Magic need any extra incentive these days what with the way they regularly crush foes and beat up on the Hawks anytime the two teams collide. But Monday’s pregame banter sharpened Orlando’s focus and set the stage for another whipping that was eerily similar to last spring’s playoff pounding.

JJ Redick:

"We talked this morning about what (Atlanta) said (Monday) morning and they still have it in their minds what happened in the playoffs, but we looked at it as another opportunity to get better and we did that. We’re continually getting better every day and this team has a mindset right now that we don’t want to waste a day."

Eddy Rivera of Magic Basketball on the new-look Atlanta offense:

Atlanta offered a different look offensively than what everyone has been accustomed to seeing under then-head coach Mike Woodson. Instead of a lot of isolation plays, the Hawks ran a considerable amount of pick and rolls and there was plenty of movement off-the-ball. It’s understandable to see that Atlanta is trying to adjust to a new scheme on offense, but some of the elements that head coach Larry Drew is trying to install is encouraging to see. There’s more diversity to the Hawks’ offense than seen before, so it’s only a matter of time before things start to click for them. That being said, Howard did his thing defensively and the rest of the roster for Orlando did not make it easy for Atlanta to score.

At Orlando Pinstriped Post, Ben Q. Rock points out that the Magic thoroughly stifled Atlanta's offense despite forcing only 6 turnovers:

Atlanta's in the infant stages of implementing new systems on both sides of the ball under new head coach Larry Drew, and it showed, as the Hawks' core group of players struggled despite three-plus years of experience together. Orlando limited Atlanta to 86.6 points per 100 possessions, yet the Hawks committed just 6 turnovers, which underscores how difficult the Magic made their shots.

Per, the same post, the Magic scored 120.3 points per 100 possessions last night. In their eight head-to-head meetings last season, the Magic averaged 118.8 points per 100 possessions and held the Hawks to 94.8 points per 100 possessions.

Atlanta Hawks Earn First Pre-Season Win

Box Score

Marvin Williams returned to action, scoring 15 points on 10 shots, while Jamal Crawford scored 9 points on 7 shots and earned 5 assists in his exhibition debut, and the Atlanta Hawks beat the New Orleans Hornets* 84-74 in a sparsely attended exhibition game in Johnson City, TN.

*Without David West and Emeka Okafor and with Chris Paul and Trevor Ariza both sitting out the final three quarters.

As for previous concerns, the Hawks committed 16 more turnovers but allowed just 13 points of off them. Joe Johnson was guilty of 4 of those turnovers, but offset those with 22 points on 14 shots. Josh Smith took 6 of his 10 field goal attempts from outside of 20 feet (including a three-point attempt) and, being on a bit of a hot streak from distance, made 2 of those. He's now used 16 of 33 field goal attempts on long jump shots this pre-season.

Larry Drew:

"As I told the guys before the game. It wasn't a concern about what New Orleans did. The focus of this game was on us and what we were to do on both ends of the floor. That's why I played a lot of our guys some pretty good minutes. We need to work on our game. We've got a ways to go."

Maurice Evans also made his exhibition debut, draining a three-pointer and grabbing a rebound in 7 minutes. Jeff Teague again sat out due to his ankle injury.

The Hawks return to meaningless action at 7pm (ET) on Monday, at home against the Orlando Magic, in a game that will be televised, televised, on NBA TV.

Jordan Crawford Impresses As Hawks Lose In Washington

Box Score

With two weeks until the real starts in Memphis, there are things to worry about through three exhibition games: injuries, turnovers (16 more last night leading to 28 Washington points), Josh Smith missing half his free throws and attempting 10 (and, quite predictably, making only 3) of his 23 field goals from 16-to-23 feet but Jordan Crawford has done nothing but encourage the supposition that he's a good fit for Larry Drew's motion offense.

After providing more effort than execution in his exhibition debut, Crawford stepped up in the absence of Jeff Teague and his namesake Jamal each of the last two nights playing 93 of 96 minutes, scoring 50 points on 37 shots, grabbing 8 rebounds, and earning 12 assists against just 5 turnovers. Michael Cunningham had praise for Crawford's play at the point last night:

The Hawks play faster with Crawford at the point. He never stops coming, he’s confident and he’s skilled. And he tends to look the same no matter who he’s playing with.

It's still unlikely that Crawford plays a significant role* this year, but it's reassuring to believe (at least for the time being) that the Hawks have one player who could step up should injury strike a key member of the core rotation during the regular season.

*Cunningham's very next note about Crawford:

He’s also a rookie, which means he sometimes immediately follows a very good play (drive-and-dish to Powell for a layup) with a bad one (forced runner early in the shot clock).

Before the game, Larry Drew spoke about the team needing to improve its execution of the defensive game plan. Didn't happen.

Larry Drew:

"The defense was not very good at all. Their energy wasn't there; the intensity wasn't there."

The return of Marvin Williams will surely help shore up the defense* but I fear nothing but frustration awaits Drew in his efforts to turn this collection of players into an able defensive unit. Check out Neil Paine's work on projecting player skills for the 2010-11 season and you'll see very little that's encouraging about Drew's defensive options on the perimeter.

Al Horford sums it up nicley:

"I think we have a long way to go as far as defense if we are going to be an elite team."

As true today as it was in February 2008.

*That Joe Johnson, who doesn't record steals or blocks and has not been measurably helpful defensively either of the last two seasons while his athleticism noticeably diminishes, and non-roster players are taking the minutes at small forward likely exacerbates the damage of Williams' absence.

Short-handed Hawks Lose 94-85 in Detroit

Box Score

If there's a lesson to be learned from a game that doesn't count, a game wherein the Hawks were without half of their first 10 players, it's that Larry Drew's motion offense, at least in the short-term, is going to generate more turnovers than Mike Woodson's isolation-heavy system did and the definition of "short-term" is likely dependent on how soon a majority of Hawks get healthy.

21 more turnovers last night in Detroit. 6 more turnovers from Joe Johnson. That's 11 in 52 minutes over two (meaningless) exhibition games. Johnson turned the ball over 145 times in 2886 minutes last season.

Michael Cunningham provides an eyewitness account from Auburn Hills:

There is an inherent tension in the Hawks' new offensive approach. The players and the passes move quickly, but patience is required. The Hawks are playing faster, but the goal is to wait for defenders to make mistakes and then take advantage.

...

The Hawks trailed 30-20 after a quarter because Detroit scored 10 points off nine turnovers. The Hawks rallied from 14 points down to within 55-52 at the half because they played more under control.

Josh Smith:

"We've got to to get acclimated with [the offense] and get comfortable and really knowing our spots and where the shots will come from. Once we run it, we always tend to get a good look. We have just got to be patient."

Larry Drew:

"You can't play that fast. You've got to pick and choose your spots to get up and down the floor. If we don't have anything, we have got to slow it down."

It should be different when it's Jeff Teague rather than Reginald Delk playing fast, when it's Marvin Williams rather than Evan Brock playing fast, when it's Jamal Crawford rather than Jordan Crawford playing fast, and so on and so forth but poor transition defense could magnify poor or even just unsuccessful offensive decisions all season.

Atlanta Hawks Lose Exhibition Opener to Memphis Grizzlies in Overtime

The final score: 115-111. And, largely, it does not matter.

Jamal Crawford (back) and Maurice Evans (knee surgery) didn't play. Evan Brock and Ricardo Marsh did.

Josh Powell and Zaza Pachulia both played twice as many minutes as Al Horford.

The first unofficial possession using Larry Drew's motion offense culminated in a 21-foot Josh Smith jump shot. Four of his ten field goal attempts were two-point jump shots of at least 19-feet. It's a process. Same with the 24 turnovers Atlanta committed.

There are potential positives to take away from the game: Jeff Teague led the team with 20 points on 12 shots and an end-of-quarter heave. He didn't make either of his jump shots but took ten shots in the paint in 31 minutes. Mike Bibby took 62 shots inside of 10 feet last season in 2197 minutes. Marvin Williams scored 18 points on 10 shots (plus 7 free throws), grabbed 10 rebounds, and earned 3 assists. Six different Hawks earned at least 3 assists.

Marvin Williams on the new offense:

"I love it. I know where my shots are going to come from every night."

Larry Drew on Williams, prior to his strong exhibition showing:

"It certainly seems Marvin is starting to find his niche again."

Drew on something that hasn't changed:

"One thing that was glaring was we turned the ball over and didn't get back on defense."

Nor has some of the rhetoric. It's incumbent upon Drew to prove that he means this:

"I’m not concerned about what we do offensively. The focus of the preseason is going to be defense. We are going to look at numbers like [defensive] field-goal percentage and the whole defensive realm. That is what is going to take us to another level. We have the athleticism, size, speed, and quickness to be a top-echelon defensive team."

That last sentence isn't true so much as a perfectly reasonable motivational tactic. No reasonable person expects Drew to coax an excellent defensive performance out of this roster, just something better than his predecessor could manage.

Acie Law IV scored 11 of Memphis's 16 overtime points. Bully for him.

Start of Training Camp, Exhibition Schedule Announced

Complete Press Release

The Atlanta Hawks will hold Media Day on Monday, September 27th with training camp to open the next day.

Three of the seven exhibition games will be played in Atlanta, with the October 21st matchup against the Miami Heat to be televised on TNT.

The Hawks will travel to Detroit, Washington, and Charlotte and will play the New Orleans Hornets in Johnson City, TN.

Full schedule

Magic 123 Hawks 86

Boxscore

Highlights (0:38)

Watch Replay

Forget it, it's pre-season basketball.

Hawks 92 Heat 87

Boxscore

More good shooting from the Hawks means a greater temptation to read something into pre-season stats. Jeff Teague's six point, four turnover, one assist performance should help reduce expectations on the rookie to their previous, realistic levels.

Erik Spoelstra doubled his efforts for quote of the night, calling the matchup "a meaningless pre-season game" and further opining:

"I'm not sure what we can take out of this game. I don't think it was played efficiently or well."

Perhaps pre-season makes one a bit stir crazy.

Real basketball starts Tuesday, the Hawks start the season on Wednesday but anyone who wants or needs a sneak peek is in luck: Hawks @ Magic on ESPN at 8pm (ET) tonight. If your Friday night plans preclude you from watching the game live, there's always ESPN360 if you have that option.

Hawks 113 Wizards 95

Boxscore

There's no narrative to a game that doesn't count. Hence, bullets...

• Mike Woodson on the fight for the 13th and final roster spot:

  "It could be a big guy. It could be a point guard. It could be an in-between perimeter guy. We've got a tough decision to make. It's good because everything's been so competitive but I don't like to see guys not have a job, either. That's the tough part about it."

• Zaza Pachulia (hip) sat out his second straight game.
  
• Joe Smith made his pre-season debut with 5:16 left in the first quarter.
• Jamal Crawford returned to action 49 seconds later.
• In Pachulia's absence, Jason Collins replaced Al Horford with 1:56 left in the first quarter.
  
• Antawn Jamison (right shoulder) and Javaris Crittenton (left foot tendon) both sat out for the Wizards. Gilbert Arenas and Mike Miller missed the game with the flu. Cavs to blame?
• Today's reason to buy Pro Basketball Prospectus 2009-10: Kevin Pelton on Flip Saunders, defensive* coach:

  Saunders is never thought of as a defensive coach, but his Detroit teams finished no worse than sixth in Defensive Rating and were second in the league in 2005-06. Only once in Saunders’ eight full years in Minnesota did his teams rank worse than 16th on defense. In Washington, that qualifies as locking down at the defensive end. The best Wizards team under Jordan finished 17th in the league, while Washington was 28th on D in 2006-07 even with a healthy squad.

• These two teams will do this for real in 11 days. The proximity of real basketball brightens my evening.
• On Washington's first possession, Randy Foye attempted to post up Mike Bibby.
• The Hawks scored on their first four possessions. On the fifth, Al Horford blew a layup after Josh Smith found him in transition.
• The Wizards went zone on the first possession after the last of the Hawks' starters left in the first quarter. Jeff Teague penetrated from the left wing and made a floater.
• Nick Young makes one appreciate Jamal Crawford's relative versatility as a basketball player and restraint as a shooter.
• At the start of the second quarter, Joe Smith looked spry defensively by both helping on Caron Butler in the post and getting back out to challenge Dominic McGuire's 20-footer.
• Despite spotting him a couple of minutes of game time and a near-infinite difference in the desire to shoot, Jason Collins scored before Jamal Crawford did.
• Even allowing for the difficulties in drawing meaningful conclusions from pre-season games, watching the Hawks blow out the Hornets without Okafor, Diogu, Darren Collison, and Marcus Thornton, the Bobcats without Chandler and Diaw, and the Wizards without Arenas, Jamison, and Mike Miller has not, I suspect, broadened my knowledge of this team. The starters (plus Teague and Mo Evans) looked sharp again offensively but the resistance (again) appeared minimal.
  
• By my best estimation, JaVale McGee is eight feet tall. The six offensive rebounds he grabbed in the second quarter were impressive, too, but he remains a work in progress.
  
• Randolph Morris got the backup center minutes in the second half. He didn't commit a foul for almost five minutes of game time, making a bucket and grabbing three defensive boards in the meantime.
• For his third personal foul, Morris just ran through JaVale McGee while jogging back on defense.
• Fact: No one will run harder down the length of the floor to foul a three-point shooter than Mario West.
  
• Replacement refs note: 24 fouls and 23 free throw attempts through three quarters. 16 fouls and 27 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter. Players and quality of play are a factor in these pre-season foul and free throw totals.
  

*Washington is obviously without a defensive anchor like Kevin Garnett or Ben Wallace (and I say that as an admirer of Brendan Haywood's utility) in his prime so building a league-average defense would be a decent accomplishment.

Hawks 111 Grizzlies 96

Boxscore

Maurice Evans returned in a big way (27 points on 10 shots), Jeff Teague continued to suggest he would have electrified Vegas in the Summer League, Courtney Sims appeared to use his 13:11 well, and Mario West made a three-pointer.

I cannot believe that last item failed to make the highlights. Better know your audience, NBATV.

Evans:

"[Teague] makes a tremendous difference having a point guard on the second unit who really distributes the ball the way he does. I found myself really open and getting quality looks."

Remember, there's a Hawks chat today at 12:30pm at ESPN.com.

Hawks/Grizzlies Preview

Chip Crain at 3 Shades of Blue previews tonight's pre-season clash, the last of the less serious exhibition games the Hawks play this month.

Hawks 107 Bobcats 90

Boxscore

There's no narrative to a game that doesn't counts. Hence, bullets...

• From Mike Woodson's pre-game media session (I'm the Courtney Sims of that group of reporters.):

"I think we'll sit down tomorrow and evaluate and make a decision and try to cut down possibly two or three guys."

"We'll probably carry 15 or 16 guys all the way to the end."

The last 3 pre-season games (Washington, @Miami, @Orlando) will be more serious in terms of who plays and how much.

• Joe Smith (left knee), Jason Collins (strained right quad), and Mo Evans (left knee) have yet to make their pre-season debuts. Jamal Crawford's (left calf strain) nine ineffective minutes Wednesday continue to constitute his only pre-season action. Garret Siler warmed up by his pulled right groin prevented his participation.
  
• For a roster this settled, are seven pre-season games too many?
  
• No Flip Murray tonight. Traffic in the Hawks blogosphere to plummet tomorrow.
• Tyson Chandler and Boris Diaw both missed their fourth straight pre-season game. Arguably the closest thing to a first-string post duo the Hawks have faced to date is Ben Wallace and Kwame Brown in Detroit on Sunday.
• Charlotte's first bucket came off a Raymond Felton post-up of Mike Bibby. It's probably not going to stop so the help D will need to get there faster once games, you know, count.
• Josh Smith got his first bucket on a layup off of a dribble-drive that developed out of the secondary break.
• On his second touch, Smith got to left block (again off the dribble), Charlotte stymied him but he did not force a shot nor did he turn the ball over. He found Marvin Williams for an open 21-footer. Williams missed the shot but there was a pleasantly high-percentage aesthetic to the possession.
• Despite five missed free throws and only two rebounds Smith's performance was generally positive. Even when matchups forced him to guard Gerald Wallace on the perimeter, Smith moved his feet well.
  
• First subs: Jeff Teague replaced Bibby. Juan Dixon replaced Joe Johnson. Othello Hunter replaced Josh Smith. Zaza Pachulia replaced Al Horford. Mario West replaced Marvin Williams.
  
• An analogy of marginal utility: Larry Brown : Mike Woodson :: Stephen Graham : Mario West
• I don't type the first draft of a bullet when Jeff Teague has the ball.
• Zaza Pachulia is a lot better than third- and fourth-string centers. He must love coming to Hawks camp every day.
• The absence of Diaw and Chandler exaggerates the relative smallness of the Bobcat roster. There wasn't really anyone for Othello Hunter to guard. Hence the fouls.
  
• Replacement ref thoughts: There was only one foul whistled in the first six-and-a-half minutes when mostly starters and entirely rotation players were on the court. Three of the first four fouls called were for illegal screens set off the ball.
  
• Things got worse: Marty McEachean called a ridiculous offensive foul on (an already T'd up) Gerald Wallace for playfully swatting away a hand check. McEachean knew better and his colleagues were too embarrassed to give Wallace a second T or to confront an agitated Larry Brown in the wake of that call. Someone gave Brown a technical during halftime, though.
  
• Much worse: Larry got his 2nd T from Kevin Scott, who never got within 35 feet of Brown before, during, or after the call. Brown tried to engage any of the refs on the occasion of his ejection but none would speak with or possibly even look at him. Rather than deal with the issue directly, Scott walked to the opposite end of the court and appeared to attempt to enlist a befuddled police officer in asking/making Brown leave the court.
  

Pistons 100 Hawks 91

Boxscore

Highlights*

Drew compared the pre-season boxscore to a tarot card earlier this morning. It's an apt analogy. These games (there's a home game against Charlotte tonight at 7pm) largely provide Hawks fans the opportunity they missed earlier in the year (due to the organization choosing not to field a summer league team) to overreact to Jeff Teague's performance in games that don't count. News from an unseen pre-season game is sparse. Attempts to divine meaning tend to be fruitless when not simply meaningless. For example, I doubt there's any cause-and-effect relationship between the Hawks picking up Al Horford's 2010-11 option on Friday and Horford missing six of seven field goal attempts on Sunday. To imply such would shift this enterprise into an unnecessarily literary dimension with me ("me" ?) now serving as an unreliable narrator.

Nonetheless, here are the DNP's...

• Joe Smith, Mo Evans, and Jason Collins all sat out a second consecutive pre-season game with same knocks.
• Jamal Crawford's calf injury earned a precautionary rest that will likely extend through tonight's game.
• Garret Siler's right groin was reported to be uncooperative.
• Mike Wilks got the lone DNP-CD.

That last item means that Juan Dixon, Aaron Miles, and Courtney Sims got their first pre-season action. Miles's stat line was the most impressive/least unimpressive of the three. Sims played only 3:02 even with Joe Smith, Collins, and Siler sitting out which furthers my confusion about why the D-League MVP is spending his October trying to make this team.

In would-be returnees to the end of the bench watch news another decent performance from Othello Hunter gives him 23 and 12 in 45 minutes over the two pre-season games. Hunter has also refrained from fouling at the rate favored by Randolph Morris (five personal fouls in 8:43) and Mario West (seven in 35:16).

*Check out Rodney Stuckey v. an "electric bundle of energy" at the 1:06 mark. It's a lot easier to defend guys when they're dribbling out the clock than when they're trying to score.

Hawks 108 Hornets 102

There's no narrative to a game that doesn't counts. Hence, bullets...

• Joe Johnson (17 points on 10 shots, 4 assists, 0 turnovers) looked sharp.
• Josh Smith looked like himself as well: solid production despite questionable shot selection and unnecessary griping at the officials.
• Joe Smith (left knee), Mo Evans (left knee contusion), and Jason Collins (strained right quad) all sat out so Othello Hunter was the second big man off the bench and Mario West the first wing.
• Frank Robinson and Randolph Morris were first guys from deep on the bench to enter the game, both got a cameo at the end of the second quarter.
• Mike Wilks came off the bench. Juan Dixon and Aaron Miles did not. If Wilks makes the team, please remember I called it.
• Not that Wilks did anything of note.
• Post-game, Woodson singled (tripled?) out Teague, Mario West, and Othello Hunter for doing "an excellent job" filling in for their injured teammates.
• Woodson also intimated that they're only keeping "one of five or six guys." I think that means Randolph Morris is going to have his contract honored. I don't see how else they get to 13 unless West and Hunter fall in some other category as returning free agents.
  
• Garret Siler came in with 5:57 left in the fourth quarter. He drew a shooting foul on his first offensive possession and made one of the two free throws.
  
• The Hawks pressed full-court for a couple of second quarter possessions against the Hornets' bench with a Teague/Crawford/West/Hunter/Pachulia.
• Teague is visibly slighter than Chris Paul.
• Don't take that to mean that he can't finish at the rim.
  
• I don't know if it was due to caution or intelligence but Teague waited until Chris Paul was not guarding him to attack the basket off the dribble.
• Teague gambles/anticipates a lot defensively with tapping the ball from behind his fall-back strategy if beat. Dwyane Wade, he ain't yet, however.
• In the excitement following his second quarter breakaway dunk, Teague needed reminders from both Bibby and Josh Smith as to who he was supposed to pick up defensively.
• New Orleans didn't provide much resistance inside without Emeka Okafor, Ike Diogu, and even Hilton Armstrong.
• Zaza Pachulia took pleasure in getting to play against Earl Barron and Sean Marks.
• Chris Paul is incapable of coasting.
• James Posey is not.
• How do we know this was a pre-season game? Mike Woodson and Byron Scott let their teams play a 100 possession game.
• If anything, the replacement refs were thorough in calling fouls. There were long stretches of summer league quality action and, just as we shouldn't draw too many conclusions about players from the pre-season games, nor should we with regard to the replacement refs.
• If the company lets you use the luxury suite for a pre-season game do you feel good about that?
• Based on informal observation in and around Section 118, adult men who attend a pre-season Hawks game are more likely to sport the jersey of a former player than a current one.
• Hornets247 was generous enough to value my opinion of their side of the game.