# October Game Thread



## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Since its usually just me, Greg and the occasional outside fan posting, I'll just make one thread for the first three games instead of one for each game.

Wednesday - at Memphis
Friday - at Philadelphia
Saturday - Washington

We should win all three games, but I expect the team to look out of sync at the beginning of the year while the offense tries to pick up Larry Drew's Princeton style offense.


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## BlakeJesus (Feb 1, 2006)

I'm pretty stoked for the season to start, Memphis should be a tough first game. We are going to need Smoove to play good defense.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

I haven't heard what the rotation is going to look like. I am guessing Mike Bibby will get the start tonight, but I'm very interested in seeing Jeff Teague taking on more meaningful minutes.

Bibby just looked too slow last year. He probably has the better perimeter game, but I like Teague's speed out there.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Bibby off to a quick start.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Great start to the game. 30 points after a quarter. Atlanta is controlling the glass, and finding open looks. Offense is already looking better than it did in any pre-season game.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Joe Johnson in playoff form tonight - not a good sign.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Basel said:


> Joe Johnson in playoff form tonight - not a good sign.


Thought he had a good game. Everybody did. This game went about as well as it possibly could have gone. Very happy with what I saw tonight.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

I really liked Drew's rotation tonight. I guess its easy to manage minutes when you hold a comfortable double digit lead for essentially the entire game, but he balanced everyones minutes very well.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Michael Conley looked pretty impressive. I can't tell if its just the usual big game the Hawks allow to opposing PGs or if he's in for a breakout year. I remember being on the fence about if Atlanta should draft Horford or him, so it would be nice to see him finally break out.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Right now, Jeff Teague's defense looks miles ahead of his offense. That's not exactly a knock on him, in fact, it might be what gets him more minutes. Last night he only played 17 minutes, but Drew put him in the game very early on in the first quarter so they weren't just garbage minutes like what he saw under Mike Woodson. 

I know Teague missed most of the pre-season with an ankle injury, but I hope we see more games where he's playing 20+, 25+ minutes in games once we get a few more games into the season. Like I said, he looks like he has the potential to grow into a really nice defender, but he's still a little raw on offense.


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## BlakeJesus (Feb 1, 2006)

Yeah, which is weird because of how talented he was offensively in college. He was just getting by because of his athleticism, I guess. He needs to grow as a shooter, but his transition defense is great.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

He should be more assertive. I hope Joe Johnson and some of the veterans are in his ear about this. I just want to see him blow by his defender and dunk on someone.

I think someone forgot to tell Jamal Crawford that the Hawks are running a motion offense now. Either that, or Drew has given him the green light to shoot in certain situations. Other than that tho, I liked the way guys were moving without the ball.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Al is eating them up. 13 points, 3 rebounds after the first quarter.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

I missed this game, but starting 2-0 on the road is a nice sign for this team. Even if they were both against lottery teams.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

3-0 October record

Hawks won close in home opener vs. Washington. I didn't watch the game because of football, but it looks like Joe carried the offense in the 4th quarter and Al had his 2nd straight 20/10 game.


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## BlakeJesus (Feb 1, 2006)

Very happy with the start so far, hard not to be. Smoove averaging 4+ blocks in 29 minutes haha

Al is playing well, but I want to see Josh Powell shoot a little more effectively from the field.


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