Atlanta at Portland 10:30 EST

[SAUCERY_SWEET]

Somehow...the Hawks managed to get homecourt in the playoffs despite winning 16 road games in 2009 and 19 road games in 2010. They already have 19 this year but are a 5th seed.

Actually says a lot about how the East has gradually improved. Also that's one thing i've noticed thru all the talk this year. This team has a strong mental mindset on the road this year. It's odd cause i can remember years when i just wished we could get to 16/17 wins on the road.

[Joel Embust]

Drew must really hate Teague. Kid looked good out there, was a solid +5 and only plays 13 minutes. Just like that Phoenix game where he was on fire in the first quarter, hitting shots and dishing out assists before subbing out for the remainder of the half.

[SAUCERY_SWEET]

Drew must really hate Teague. Kid looked good out there, was a solid +5 and only plays 13 minutes. Just like that Phoenix game where he was on fire in the first quarter, hitting shots and dishing out assists before subbing out for the remainder of the half.

I think hate is a strong word for it....let's just say he has an huge distrust for Teague. A lot of it is coming from Woodson's voice in his head talking about this kid in his ear last year for 90+ games. He'll hopefully start to drown this voice out.

[evildallas]

Teague needs more burn. I like Hinrich but give the kid some burn.

I agree, but in my opinion it is Jamal that's really taking the minutes. Hinrich was playing more of the 2 guard in the 4th with Jamal being the point in spite of the 6 turnovers. These last 2 games have shown that Teague is more competent than we were lead to believe. My fear is that once Hinrich is up to speed that Teague's minutes will go back to being wildly inconsistent with a lot of DNPs. If he can get at least 15-20 minutes a night his comfort level should go up and our team defense will benefit. If not, who knows how he'll react.

[clancy]

Teague needs more burn. I like Hinrich but give the kid some burn.

I agree, but in my opinion it is Jamal that's really taking the minutes. Hinrich was playing more of the 2 guard in the 4th with Jamal being the point in spite of the 6 turnovers. These last 2 games have shown that Teague is more competent than we were lead to believe. My fear is that once Hinrich is up to speed that Teague's minutes will go back to being wildly inconsistent with a lot of DNPs. If he can get at least 15-20 minutes a night his comfort level should go up and our team defense will benefit. If not, who knows how he'll react.

It works perfectly to give Hinrich 28-33 at PG and Teague the remaining 15-20, with a little wiggle room for how the game/matchups are going. As the season (and possibly next, depending on trades) wear on, that ratio can begin to shift to do whatever is best for the team. Meanwhile, there's always a PG on the floor and both are rested enough to go hard on D.

[evildallas]

^^^^ I agree with that, but Drew seems to prefer giving quite a few PG minutes to Jamal Crawford.