Atlanta
Philip Maymin
Basketball News Services
The Hawks held a free open practice and full-court scrimmage last night and GM Billy Knight's vision of filling the seats seems, slowly but surely, to be taking shape. At some point the offseason has to end and the Hawks have nothing left to do but open the doors and hope people come. Last night, they did.
The idea behind Knight's vision seems to be to put together an athletic, up-tempo team with enough local faces to bring in a base of fans. "If it means going out, touching people, doing community work," head coach Mike Woodson toldThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "I'm willing to do anything that it takes to get people in the stands."
While a lot of teams do not make it a priority for every single one of their players to meet the fans, the Hawks do. They even extended their single-file meet-and-greet from the scheduled half hour to fifty minutes as fans lined up for autographs of their newest heroes.
Woodson appears happy with his roster. He's got solidity at the three and the four from the two big summer acquisitions in Al Harrington and Antoine Walker, and he says the off-guard and center spots are the most competitive on the team. The biggest holes he sees that still need to be filled are a backup point guard (is he not enamored of playing Tony Delk at that position?) and a couple more bigs.
That shouldn't too surprising. Who doesn't want a couple more bigs?
NEXT GAME
The Atlanta Hawks (28-54 last season) host hometown favorite Dwight Howard and the just-as-rebuilt Orlando Magic (21-61 last season) on Wednesday, October 13th at the Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia, home of this season's training camp. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. EDT. There are no scheduled broadcasts of this game at this time. Tickets are available for this game at Macon Coliseum.
TEAM NOTES
Tonight: The club hosts a free public workout and scrimmage at the Macon Centreplex, beginning at 6 pm (media availability after).
The annual Atlanta Hawks Charity Golf Classic has been scheduled for October 29 at Bear's Best in Suwanee.
On November 1, the organization will hold the Charity Tip Off Luncheon at the Downtown Ritz-Carlton Hotel, benefiting the Hawks Foundation.
Kids Game: The Hawks will present the Bank of America Kids Game on October 20, when the club takes on the Memphis Grizzlies
INJURY UPDATE
No injuries to report.
Karen Rosen ofThe Atlanta Journal-Constitutionwrites: [T]he promise of a fresh start pervaded Philips Arena.Fans began getting accustomed to the new faces among the 19 players in camp, cheering dunks by Josh Smith and Donta Smith, a steal by Josh Childress and the mere presence of Kevin Willis. They got to meet them during a 50-minute autograph session — 20 minutes longer than planned — in which the line snaked single-file past every player.
Continued: "Our goal is to make the playoffs," Woodson replied. "I wouldn't sell these guys on anything else." He said the most competitive positions are the No. 2 and No. 5 spots, and the team still needs a couple of big guys and a point guard to back up Kenny Anderson.
Hawks.com writes: The practice session was divided into two parts -- the first hour the team ran through a typical practice workout, focusing on ball skills, shooting, running the fast break, passing and proper defensive techniques. In the second hour, the team played a full-court scrimmage. After the practice, Hawks players posed for photos and signed autographs for the many fans in attendance.