First Five Games

[HMFFL]

Wed, Oct 29 at Orlando 7:00 pm
Sat, Nov 1 Philadelphia 7:00 pm
Wed, Nov 5 at New Orleans 8:00 pm
Fri, Nov 7 Toronto 7:30 pm
Sun, Nov 9 at Oklahoma City 7:00 pm

The first game of the season is against Orlando on the road. In November we have 6 home games and 9 road games. These road games are going to be such a test for our Hawks.

[betta1]

I would honestly be happy with 2-3 in that stretch. 3-2 would be great. I say we will take Orlando and OKC and maybe one of TOR or PHL.

Can't wait!

Go HAWKS!!

[lethalweapon3]

I agree with 2-3, probably starting out 0-3 and picking up the next two. If they win more I won't complain. I do want to see them be competitive in every game and not take whole quarters off.

~lw3

[JoshB914]

Gotta win at home. And we can't look past that OKC game, that place is going to be rocking.

[killbuckner]

Yeah- I'd guess 2-3 with wins coming against Philly and OKC. People seem to be forgetting that Brand is coming off of a ruptured achilles- its going to take him some time to come back. I'll be betting heavily against Philly in the early games this season assuming the lines come out where I expect them to.

I think that Toronto is a pretty tough matchup for the Hawks right now. Just a healty JO is in position to exploit Horford's lack of size. Smith will be covering Bosh when you really would prefer he has someone he can slough off of to help on defense. And Calderon should be able to toy with Bibby. Actually this is a game where a healthy Claxton (ha) would make a big difference.

Also- I think on paper the Hawks match up awfully well with Orlando. They may even match up better with Evans in the lineup to guard Hedo than they would with Marvin.

[lunarblues]

i see 4-1

we played orlando, philly, toronto, and seattle hard last season

we'll stop orlando
we'll squeak by philly
we'll dominate toronto
we'll beat seattle

New Orleans is gonna be an a$$ whoppin though.

[evildallas]

Is Marvin suspended for game 1 or game 1 and 2? I can't remember. I'm thinking 2-3 as well.

[conleyorbust]

Yeah- I'd guess 2-3 with wins coming against Philly and OKC. People seem to be forgetting that Brand is coming off of a ruptured achilles- its going to take him some time to come back. I'll be betting heavily against Philly in the early games this season assuming the lines come out where I expect them to.

I think that Toronto is a pretty tough matchup for the Hawks right now. Just a healty JO is in position to exploit Horford's lack of size. Smith will be covering Bosh when you really would prefer he has someone he can slough off of to help on defense. And Calderon should be able to toy with Bibby. Actually this is a game where a healthy Claxton (ha) would make a big difference.

Also- I think on paper the Hawks match up awfully well with Orlando. They may even match up better with Evans in the lineup to guard Hedo than they would with Marvin.

JO isn't any bigger than Al and he isn't a back-down, low-post player who would use a size advantage if he did have it. He shoots a lot of fade aways these days. Chances are he will keep Al from doing almost anything in terms of scoring because he's a nasty defender, but he's not a really big dude and he isn't a scorer anymore.

As far as Bibby's problems on D go, at least they don't have TJ Ford and Calderon to make Bibby's life a living hell. Ford is an even worse matchup for Calderon, not that Bibby has any shot of keeping Jose in check, but he sure as hell wasn't staying in front of TJ.

Its most likely a loss of us, I feel like its one of those games where we need Joe to really go off if we want a good shot at a W.

[killbuckner]

actually I don't really worry about Horford getting backed down as much- he is plenty strong. (unless shaq in his prime comes back) I worry about his lack of length being an issue trying to stop a tall guy who can post and hit a shot over him. Horford just doesn't have the size to hinder that shot.

[conleyorbust]

actually I don't really worry about Horford getting backed down as much- he is plenty strong. I worry about his lack of length being an issue trying to stop a tall guy who can hit a shot over him that Horford just doesn't have the size to hinder.

I don't think that will be too much of a problem with JO, he doesn't have much (if any) height/length on Al. When he was spry he would have had quite an explosiveness advantage but one of the reasons he 's become such a waste offensively is that he doesn't face up and go to the rim nearly as well as he did when he was younger and he isn't a top notch shooter or post-player to compensate.

Al should be fine against a guy like JO, especially if his D develops on the natural learning curve. Bynum and Yao will probably eat him for lunch because he isn't strong enough to get them out of position and he doesn't have the reach to contest their shots.

[lethalweapon3]

I agree with 2-3, probably starting out 0-3 and picking up the next two. If they win more I won't complain. I do want to see them be competitive in every game and not take whole quarters off.

~lw3

See? Just like I said, 5-0!


~lw3

[killbuckner]

I'll be betting heavily against Philly in the early games this season assuming the lines come out where I expect them to.

This definitely has panned out for me so far! But I'll definitely give the Hawks credit- I didn't see wins against Orlando or the hornets in the works!

[LL Cool Scott]

I clearly predicted this kind of start. 3 wins down, 79 to go. 82-0, let's make history!

[evildallas]

Is Marvin suspended for game 1 or game 1 and 2? I can't remember. I'm thinking 2-3 as well.

We established a long time ago that I can't handicap the games. I'll continue to be conservative and enjoy ever moment that the team surprises me.