Final Pre-Season Game Thread, Poll #3, and Links

WHO: Atlanta (4-3) at Detroit (6-1)

WHEN: 7:30pm

WHERE: No TV, Hawks Radio Network (should any station preempt coverage of the pre-season game I suggest NBA Audio League Pass)

Injury/Rest Report: Marvin Williams and Maurice Evans should return for the Hawks. Kwame Brown is expected to miss tonight's game while Michael Curry plans to rest Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Antonio McDyess during the second half.

• The Hawks have announced 24 games which will be broadcast in HD this season.
• The NBA conducted it's annual GM survey. Marvin Williams was voted (tied for) third most likely to have a breakout season. Maurice Evans and Josh Childress (Who's the smart-aleck?) both received a vote for most underrated player acquisition. Childress also got a vote for most surprising move of the off-season. Josh Smith was voted the second most athletic player in the league and received votes for both best finisher and best interior defender.
• Also, the NBA has prepared a document explaining the new instant replay rules.
• New SBNBA blog: The Dream Shake. About the Rockets, natch.
• Basketball Prospectus continues it's season preview with a look at the Pacific Division. I need to take another look at the Warriors, apparently.
• EconomPic Data shows how much less Josh Childress's contract is worth now than when he signed it due to the fall of the Euro vs. the dollar. I'm a Josh Childress fan, but still, shouldn't the post be titled "Don't let your NBA agent double as your currency trader"?
• SI.com has posted their NBA previews. (Direct link to the Hawks preview.) Elsewhere on that site Marty Burns' obviously independent pre-season power rankings put the Hawks 17th in the NBA.
• Mike Kahn picks the Hawks to repeat as the eighth-seed in the East. He has no real reason for doing so, though:

Conventional wisdom says the Hawks will ride the crest of taking the Celtics to seven games in the first round back to the playoffs. With Joe Johnson and Josh Smith, maturing Marvin Williams and Al Horford, plus a training camp with Mike Bibby, they should get there. Let's see if the two-year extension signed by coach Mike Woodson helps them gain consistency.

• Finally, some sad news to report: Salim Stoudamire was waived by the Spurs. I still believe in him. Value of my belief in him to Salim? Approximately nil.
  

Still open... Poll #1 (How many games will the Hawks win?) and Poll #2 (How many games will Mike Woodson coach?)

Today, Poll #3 or, How do you come up with a half-decent poll question about a player as consistent as Joe Johnson? There will not be a poll to determine whether or not I have succeeded in doing that.