Preseason 2014 Thread

[Jamaaliver]

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Dennis had a really good game tonight (from what I can tell). By all accounts, his defense was stellar and his decision-making seems improved. His pre-season as a whole seems further proof that he is ready to take the next step in his development.

Mack is still the steadier more consistent hand, but Dennis has earned the right for consistent minutes this summer.

And when given heavy minutes (20+), his production has been more than solid.

(11 ppg 4 apg on 55% FG shooting in such games.)

[Jamaaliver]

C-Viv's thoughts on tonight's game:

2. Dennis Schroder isn’t ready to surrender the back-up point guard position to Shelvin Mack just yet. Schroder got the bulk of the minutes Monday and 12 points, five assists, two rebounds and just two turnovers in 24 minutes.
Budenholzer said Schroder’s playing time was part by design and part by his play.
“My confidence right now is through the roof,” Schroder said. “… I see that coach trusts me now and puts me in the game. I’m confident and just play my game and every time I don’t think about it, it works out well.”
Mack is still likely the back-up point guard but Schroder is gaining more trust.

[ATLHawksfan21]

I was at the game last night. The two players who impressed me the most were easily Thabo and Dennis.

Thabo. I believe Ferry landed another sweetheart deal here. This contract may end up as valuable as Millsap's when it comes to price vs production. I love his ability to slip past screens. He's so quick at it that we end up trapping the ballhandler sometimes. We were running a lineup of Dennis/Korver/Thabo/Scott/Horford in the second half when we made our big run and Thabo and Dennis's quick hands led to several fast break opportunities. He just looks flat out better than Carroll at every phase of the game. Better on-ball defender, better rebounder, shooter, ballhandler, passer. He seems to be a more than capable passer and he can be a bit crafty with his passes as well. I will be surprised if he isn't starting after the first month of the season unless Bud just prefers to have him play with the second unit.

Dennis had another excellent outing. Throughout the offseason I was more of a fan of Mack than Dennis. Dennis has won me over with his play in summer league, with Germany and now in the preseason. I like how Bud has been giving Dennis the opportunity to run the offense at the end of games. He looks comfortable with his shot and his first step is lightning quick. I hope Dennis gets first dibs at the backup PG spot. Our second unit won't miss a beat if he can continue to play like this on offense while him and Thabo are shutting people down on the perimeter.

The most disappointing player was easily Kent Bazemore. I hope that his struggles are a result of him still learning the offense and getting acquainted with every one and not a sign of things to come. He was limited during training camp and the beginning of preseason due to the surgery he had over the summer. One positive is he is still able to contribute on defense when his offense is not there which is something Lou Will could not offer.

As for the players who were already in the rotation last year, Scott continues to impress. The man just doesn't miss when he is open and I love it when he takes it to the rim hard. He almost had a thunderous dunk over Maxiell, but Maxiell was able to get his hand on it. Some people are going to have a mouthful of crow if scott can continue to be a consistent shooter like he has throughout preseason. Carroll struggled all night.

It looks like Bud will be using the same sub setup as last year with Brand subbing for Horford early in the first. This allows us to play with a lineup of Dennis/Jenkins or Baze/Thabo/Scott/Horford while the other teams second unit is in. I think we will see us blow a lot of games wide open during this stretch this season.

[Jamaaliver]

We're in agreement on Dennis. I wish we had given him these kind of opportunities last spring when the season was falling apart. Maybe he'd be even further along in his development. But he clearly took advantage of the extra PT over the summer. I imagine the trade of Bebe lit a fire under his arse as well. Knowing he could be cast aside in a heartbeat.

Thabo has looked good this pre-season. There's been speculation that he might actually unseat Demarre (or Korver) as a starter this year. My hope, though, is that he is still able to contribute by the time we are in year 2 & 3 of his contract. we saw how limited he was just a few months ago. Those little nagging injuries start adding up at 30+ as well as a lack of quickness.

Mike Scott has looked really good offensively, too. Defensively, still room for improvement. If Millsap asks for too much in negotiations next summer, I can't help but suspect Scott (or Adreian) could be SHORT-TERM solutions at the 4 spot.

Bazemore has looked rough this Fall. I suspect tonight was his chance to really earn a rotation spot early. Jenkins has been better, though. I expect JJ2 and Thabo to get the lion's share of SG minutes during the (early) reg season.

A huge concern: Hawks in three straight games have allowed a late lead to evaporate as the opposition makes a huge run in the fourth quarter.

From Hawkshoop:

One concerning factor with these past two games is how the Hawks have played when Horford leaves the floor. (I’m not including Chicago’s comeback against the Hawks’ third team on Thursday) Horford, who played well against both teams, is a combined plus-37 in the two games. So what’s the problem? The biggest issue is that Pero Antic and Elton Brand, along with the other four starters with which Horford has usually been playing with, have not kept a consistent defensive effort after Horford leaves. After playing well sans-Horford last year, the lineups of the Hawks’ regular four starters plus Antic or Brand have not played inspiring basketball recently.

I was not a fan of our big man depth going into last season. And I have even greater concerns this season.

[PandaKidd]

We dont have any front court depth, Antic and Brand isnt depth, its OH GOD WE HAVE NOTHING ELSE THROW SOMEONE OUT THERE.

Surely there were better options out there than Antic..........

[Jamaaliver]

We dont have any front court depth, Antic and Brand isnt depth, its OH GOD WE HAVE NOTHING ELSE THROW SOMEONE OUT THERE.

Surely there were better options out there than Antic..........

Agreed. And we still have unspent cap space which I truly hope doesn't go unused.

C-Viv mentions the unsettling trend of allowing opponents back into the games:

1. It’s still happening. The Hawks are going lengthy stretches where they are unable to score or stop the opposition. At times the Hawks are running near perfection – like when they went on a 20-0 run between the first and second quarters to take a 40-24 lead. Yet less than 12 minutes later, the 16-point lead was gone and the Hornets were right back in the game. “We are playing well in stretches and we are playing beneath our standards for significant stretches,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “All of us, we have to get better." ... The inability to play a complete game was an issue last season. It is easy to shake the inconsistency off during the preseason, but the Hawks will have things to fix moving into the regular season.

[ATLHawksfan21]

We dont have any front court depth, Antic and Brand isnt depth, its OH GOD WE HAVE NOTHING ELSE THROW SOMEONE OUT THERE.

Surely there were better options out there than Antic..........

I will agree with Antic; however, I strongly disagree about Brand. Brand is still a consistent contributor on both ends of the court and I am happy to have him back. Antic can kick rocks and head back across the Atlantic for all I care.

So I say we have a solid second unit rotation of big men with Scott/Brand. It starts getting sketchy after that.

[ATLHawksfan21]

We're in agreement on Dennis. I wish we had given him these kind of opportunities last spring when the season was falling apart. Maybe he'd be even further along in his development. But he clearly took advantage of the extra PT over the summer. I imagine the trade of Bebe lit a fire under his arse as well. Knowing he could be cast aside in a heartbeat.

Thabo has looked good this pre-season. There's been speculation that he might actually unseat Demarre (or Korver) as a starter this year. My hope, though, is that he is still able to contribute by the time we are in year 2 & 3 of his contract. we saw how limited he was just a few months ago. Those little nagging injuries start adding up at 30+ as well as a lack of quickness.

Mike Scott has looked really good offensively, too. Defensively, still room for improvement. If Millsap asks for too much in negotiations next summer, I can't help but suspect Scott (or Adreian) could be SHORT-TERM solutions at the 4 spot.

Bazemore has looked rough this Fall. I suspect tonight was his chance to really earn a rotation spot early. Jenkins has been better, though. I expect JJ2 and Thabo to get the lion's share of SG minutes during the (early) reg season.

A huge concern: Hawks in three straight games have allowed a late lead to evaporate as the opposition makes a huge run in the fourth quarter.

From Hawkshoop:

One concerning factor with these past two games is how the Hawks have played when Horford leaves the floor. (I’m not including Chicago’s comeback against the Hawks’ third team on Thursday) Horford, who played well against both teams, is a combined plus-37 in the two games. So what’s the problem? The biggest issue is that Pero Antic and Elton Brand, along with the other four starters with which Horford has usually been playing with, have not kept a consistent defensive effort after Horford leaves. After playing well sans-Horford last year, the lineups of the Hawks’ regular four starters plus Antic or Brand have not played inspiring basketball recently.

I was not a fan of our big man depth going into last season. And I have even greater concerns this season.

I would be surprised to see Thabo get much if any time at SG this season. I also think that it is a guarantee that he will not replace Korver in the starting lineup. That would be an absolutely terrible idea. If Thabo starts, it will be in place of Carroll. If JJ and Baze struggle, I think we are more likely to see Bud run a 2-PG lineup of Dennis/Mack in the second unit before Thabo spends time at SG.

[PandaKidd]

We dont have any front court depth, Antic and Brand isnt depth, its OH GOD WE HAVE NOTHING ELSE THROW SOMEONE OUT THERE.

Surely there were better options out there than Antic..........

I will agree with Antic; however, I strongly disagree about Brand. Brand is still a consistent contributor on both ends of the court and I am happy to have him back. Antic can kick rocks and head back across the Atlantic for all I care.

So I say we have a solid second unit rotation of big men with Scott/Brand. It starts getting sketchy after that.

Scott looks to have gotten his shooting stroke more consistent which I love because he just has to be that, consistent.

Brand, I love him as a locker room guy or Vet. But Antic , time will tell.

Brand can really only be depended on 10-12 minutes a night every other game

[ATLHawksfan21]

We dont have any front court depth, Antic and Brand isnt depth, its OH GOD WE HAVE NOTHING ELSE THROW SOMEONE OUT THERE.

Surely there were better options out there than Antic..........

I will agree with Antic; however, I strongly disagree about Brand. Brand is still a consistent contributor on both ends of the court and I am happy to have him back. Antic can kick rocks and head back across the Atlantic for all I care.

So I say we have a solid second unit rotation of big men with Scott/Brand. It starts getting sketchy after that.

Scott looks to have gotten his shooting stroke more consistent which I love because he just has to be that, consistent.

Brand, I love him as a locker room guy or Vet. But Antic , time will tell.

Brand can really only be depended on 10-12 minutes a night every other game

Yeah, that is the one knock on Brand. He should only be playing 10-15 a night which works fine when we are healthy. It becomes a problem if Horford goes down again. I don't even want to type that sentence any more. Hopefully, we are past the point of dealing with Horford injuries. Luck has to favor us at some point I would hope.

[PandaKidd]

I would agree. I think a lot of this hinges on that, health. Our front court has to stay healthy. I think we can sustain a loss anywhere else except PF/C. Teague would hurt, but I think with our system Mack or Dennis could be serviceable.

Millsap/Horford go down, we will be in big big trouble.

[ATLHawksfan21]

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/basketba ... _hawks_sfp

The AJC published a nice article on Bazemore today.

A couple of things I took from this article.

-It looks like they are experimenting with his form and this could be a reason for his shooting struggles in the preseason. I hope at least. He also said that he is still trying to get back in to rhythm after missing so much time while recovering from his foot surgery at the end of last year.

-They say he will likely play 12-15 minutes per night. I'm guessing the majority of these will be at SG so this will really limit Jenkins court time. I could see him logging a few minutes at SF as well.

Defensively, a trio of Dennis/Bazemore/Thabo has to be the best second-unit backcourt in the league. Probably by a wide margin. That trio will be damn good if Bazemore can get comfortable in the offense and provide some of what Lou Will gave us last season.

[ATLHawksfan21]

Once again, our second unit comes out hot in the 2nd quarter and helps dig us out of the hole that our starters got us in. Loving the trio of Dennis/Thabo/Scott. The combo of Dennis/Baze/Thabo once again locks down their counterparts. Baze has to start making his FTs

[Jamaaliver]

For those that saw the Pre-season finale against the Spurs, how did SAS rookie Kyle Anderson look?

He's put up some stellar numbers the last few pre-season games. Looking as if he might be a natural fit for that offense. I know we expressed some reservations here regarding his athletic limitations.

Does he look like he can actually handle being on the same floor with NBA caliber players?

[myrak433]

For those that saw the Pre-season finale against the Spurs, how did SAS rookie Kyle Anderson look?

He's put up some stellar numbers the last few pre-season games. Looking as if he might be a natural fit for that offense. I know we expressed some reservations here regarding his athletic limitations.

Does he look like he can actually handle being on the same floor with NBA caliber players?

small sample size but

He looked good to me.

[DirtybirdGA]

They won in SA... I hope they can get another win in TX in the regular season.