Peachtree Hoops - October 6: Hawks 93, Pelicans 87The place to read about/discuss the Atlanta Hawks.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/8811/peachtree-fave.jpg2014-10-08T11:00:02-04:00http://www.peachtreehoops.com/rss/stream/66794842014-10-08T11:00:02-04:002014-10-08T11:00:02-04:00Adreian Payne gets the first one out of the way
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<p>Hawks rookie played with energy against the Pelicans and talked about it.</p> <p>"Felt good to get the first one under my belt."</p>
<p><span>Adreian Payne</span> had a mixed bag of basketball results after his first ever preseason game in the NBA. Payne was 1-6 from the field, including some point blank misses at the hoop, but he also grabbed a quick seven boards in his 20 minutes of play, an indicator of his abilities in that much needed area of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.peachtreehoops.com/">Hawks</a> on-court contributions. Also, Payne drilled both free throw attempts and showed nice touch on a pair of assists.</p>
<p>"It's a process of getting better every game," Payne said after the game. Ï felt good, but there are really a lot of areas I can improve on. There's always improvements."</p>
<p>Payne showed every little bit of why he seemed to be a great fit for the Hawks rotation this season. We mentioned the boards, long been an area of growth potential for the Hawks. There is also the athleticism and motor, both of which were on display for the Hawks faithful that attended.</p>
<p>Also, between he and <span>Mike Muscala</span>, they made things difficult for a much taller team inside. Their energy and efforts gave the Pelican big men fits with tipped balls, rip aways and general annoying buzzing around with their perpetual engines running when on the floor.</p>
<p><span>"That's what coach wanted to do," Payne laughed. "He wanted us to be physical and we were."</span></p>
<p>Payne can move on now without the nervousness of being on the Philips Arena floor in a competitive game. "Felt good to get the first one under my belt," Payne admitted, and the Hawks fans see a solid rotational big and what he may be bringing to the table next season.</p>
<p>Payne is positioning himself for a role that might take away from the minutes <span>Pero Antic</span> and <span>Elton Brand</span> got a season ago. If Payne continues to fill up the stat sheet with his high-energy play, it's very easy to see how that may happen.</p>
https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2014/10/8/6933285/atlanta-hawks-adreian-payne-nba-debutJason Walker2014-10-08T09:07:56-04:002014-10-08T09:07:56-04:00John Jenkins, Mike Muscala shine in win over Pelicans<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7uwdmoI3Nyk" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>John Jenkins and Mike Muscala turned in solid performances in Monday's exhibition win over New Orleans.</p></p></div>
https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2014/10/8/6945801/john-jenkins-mike-muscala-shine-in-win-over-pelicansKris Willis2014-10-08T08:53:32-04:002014-10-08T08:53:32-04:00Mike Budenholzer, Paul Millsap on win over Pelicans<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/a-cJ_jp9vGc" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Mike Budenholzer, Paul Millsap react to win over New Orleans</p></p></div>
https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2014/10/8/6945753/mike-budenholzer-paul-millsap-on-win-over-pelicansKris Willis2014-10-08T08:03:07-04:002014-10-08T08:03:07-04:00Dennis Schröder shows improvement, more needed
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<figcaption>Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The young guard shows great promise, unless his mistakes hinder his opportunities to show it.</p> <p>He had nine points, four assists and even added a blocked shot to his first preseason game of 2014, but as this showed the potential impact of Dennis Schröder on a <a href="https://www.peachtreehoops.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Hawks</a> game, so too the other side of the ledger showed the improvement left to be done in the 2013 first round draft pick.</p>
<p>Schröder had six turnovers and missed five of his seven shots. Those five felt like 60 considering Schröder missed them at the rim, usually after a sweet drive to the hoop. It's an area of his game that shows great potential, using his speed to create scoring ops for himself and his teammates, but without the finish, it's a lost opportunity.</p>
<p>"Coach this summer worked with me a lot on that (getting to the rim on drives). He told me to use it in the game, get my teammates involved on kick-outs or finish by myself," Schröder acknowledged. "But I have to keep working on it. Still working on it."</p>
<p>The six turnovers were sloppy, but the defense the young guard played at times on <span>Russ Smith</span> almost looked predatory. Schröder seemed to smell the fear on Smith and got into the young Pelican, almost right as Smith got to halfcourt.</p>
<p>"Yeah, for sure,"Dennis laughed as I asked him about smelling fear on Smith. "Jimmer, too, I could do that. I feel like (when it's like that) I can take them full court, do it every time when it's a dead ball, free throw or something."</p>
<p>The preseason should be the time where Dennis shows what positive impact he can make in the Hawks rotation. Dennis' rookie year, which contained a river of growing opportunities, was likely the importance of bringing <span>Shelvin Mack</span> back. While Mack played little point guard in this preseason game, if Schröder is unable to stay on the court, Mack is ready to reprise his solid role from the 2013-14 season.</p>
<p>Schröder knows what his charter is for his coach and team, "<span>Defense first, share the ball on offense," Schröder repeats. Ï think we are to try to compete every night, to play hard. I feel that's what we do."</span></p>
<p><span>Whether Dennis can provide more good than bad will determine his role in the Hawks rotation, as it did last season. The good is there, and its obvious, but for now, so are the blemishes.</span></p>
https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2014/10/8/6933257/atlanta-hawks-dennis-schroderJason Walker2014-10-07T08:24:10-04:002014-10-07T08:24:10-04:00Jenkins, Muscala shine in Hawks win
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<figcaption>Scott Cunningham - Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>John Jenkins and Mike Muscala turned in solid performances in Atlanta's preseason win over New Orleans. </p> <p>The <a href="https://www.peachtreehoops.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Atlanta Hawks</a> got a lift from a pair of unlikely places as they opened the preseason with a 93-87 win over the <a href="https://www.thebirdwrites.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">New Orleans Pelicans</a>. Both <span>John Jenkins</span> and <span>Mike Muscala</span> turned in solid efforts in helping lead the team to the win.</p>
<p>For Jenkins it was the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak on his long road to recovery from last season's back surgery. Jenkins got the start at shooting guard and finished with a team-high 13 points on 5-7 shooting.</p>
<p>Perhaps most impressive was where those points came from. Jenkins is known primarily as an outside shooter but all but one of his field goals came either drives to the basket or off a cut. Additionally he grabbed six rebounds and handed out two assists all while improving on the defensive end of the floor.</p>
<p>"We are all excited for John to be healthy," said head coach <span>Mike Budenholzer</span>. "You can see his confidence in practice. You can feel his confidence even when he's just walking around the facility. He's got a bounce."</p>
<p>With Al Horford and <span>Pero Antic</span> both sidelined on Monday there figured to be plenty of minutes available for second-year center Mike Muscala. He took advantage of the opportunity and showed that continued growth that we saw this summer during summer league.</p>
<p>Muscala logged a double-double off the bench finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks in 23 minutes. He went 4-7 from the field. Perhaps most impressive was how he went at it defensively against the Pelicans' bigs.</p>
<p>"I was just playing within the offense and trying to bring energy," said Muscala. "I was just trying to be active on the boards. I think that is something I can bring to the team this year."</p>
<p>Going into the season we already felt like the Hawks had a deep roster. The performances by Jenkins and Muscala in the preseason opener illustrated that. There will be plenty of competition for playing time and its going to give Budenholzer a number of options at his disposal.</p>
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https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2014/10/7/6934475/john-jenkins-mike-muscala-atlanta-hawks-vs-new-orleansKris Willis2014-10-06T21:57:28-04:002014-10-06T21:57:28-04:00Jenkins, Muscala lead Hawks to 93-87 win
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<figcaption>Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Atlanta Hawks are playing basketball again, and they had a successful preseason debut against the New Orleans Pelicans. </p> <p>The <a href="https://www.peachtreehoops.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Atlanta Hawks</a> began their preseason schedule on Monday night at Philips Arena, and after a very encouraging first half, the team held on for a 93-87 victory over the <a href="https://www.thebirdwrites.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">New Orleans Pelicans</a>.</p>
<p>The Hawks came out of the gate flying offensively, and it showed on the scoreboard. Atlanta mounted a 34-18 lead in the opening quarter on the strength of 11 for 18 shooting (61%) from the field and 5 for 8 shooting (62.5%) from beyond the 3-point arc. <span>Paul Millsap</span> scored eight points in the period, and newcomer <span>Thabo Sefolosha</span> was flying around defensively while also adding seven points and four rebounds in the opening frame.</p>
<p class="p1">From there, Atlanta pushed the lead to as many as 21 in the second quarter before faltering a bit as the game proceeded toward halftime. Still, 11 members of the Hawks roster scored before the break, with <span>Jeff Teague</span> and <span>Mike Scott</span> leading the way with nine points each, and as a group, Atlanta successfully moved the ball in the <span>Mike Budenholzer</span> offense to the tune of 16 assists on 19 first half field goals.</p>
<p class="p1">The Hawks did not dominate to the same level after the break, and personnel was likely a large reason. Both Paul Millsap and <span>Elton Brand</span> took the second half off for Atlanta, and Mike Budenholzer went with a lineup heavy in reserves down the stretch. New Orleans clawed within 3 points at 86-83 with less than 5 minutes to go in the game, but after Dennis Schröder converted a lay-up and followed it by knocking down two free throws to extend the lead to seven, the lead was never seriously threatened in route to the final margin of 93-87.</p>
<p class="p1"><span>Mike Muscala</span> was extremely productive in his 23 minutes, posting a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds to continue the visible improvement that he displayed in Las Vegas. Mike Scott added 11 points and 5 rebounds, and in the "veteran" category of the program, Jeff Teague put up 11 points (on 4 for 10 shooting) and 3 assists while Paul Millsap contributed 8 points and 4 rebounds in less than 18 minutes of game action.</p>
<p class="p1">Perhaps the biggest story of the night was the play of <span>John Jenkins</span>, who finished with a team-high 13 points on 5 for 7 shooting (1 for 2 from 3-point range) to go along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Jenkins was visibly limited in Summer League before seeing his time cut short, but in his preseason debut, the former first round pick looked to be back to his old self physically while contributing in a meaningful way. He will be a "player to watch" throughout the preseason, but on this night, the returns were quite encouraging.</p>
<p class="p1">The Hawks return to action on Saturday night, as the team travels to Memphis to take on the <a href="https://www.grizzlybearblues.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Grizzlies</a> for an 8:00 pm ET tip-off. Stay tuned.</p>
https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2014/10/6/6926635/hawks-vs-pelicans-final-score-john-jenkins-mike-muscalaBrad Rowland2014-10-06T18:59:53-04:002014-10-06T18:59:53-04:00DeMarre Carroll out for preseason opener
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<figcaption>Kevin C. Cox</figcaption>
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<p>Hawks small forward DeMarre Carroll will miss the preseason opener as a result of an ankle injury. </p> <p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.peachtreehoops.com/">Atlanta Hawks</a> were already set to enter Monday's preseason opener against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thebirdwrites.com/">New Orleans Pelicans</a> without a number of players available, but prior to tip-off, it was revealed that starting small forward <span>DeMarre Carroll</span> would be absent from the festivities.</p>
<p>As noted in <a href="http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2014/10/6/6915389/pelicans-vs-hawks-preview-time-tv-radio-info" target="_blank">our preview this morning</a>, Carroll suffered a sprained ankle during practice on Saturday, as such, it was highly questionable as to whether he would be ready to play. Quite honestly, there was little reason to push the team's projected starter at the small forward spot with nothing on the line in the opener, and after head coach <span>Mike Budenholzer</span> referenced Carroll as somewhat of a game-time decision after "testing" the ankle, this isn't a surprise.</p>
<p>The Hawks will also be without <span>Al Horford</span>, <span>Kent Bazemore</span> and <span>Pero Antic</span> due to injury concerns, with <span>Kyle Korver</span> also out of the lineup due to the pending birth of his child. As such, the Hawks will utilize <span>John Jenkins</span> and <span>Elton Brand</span> i<a href="http://www.peachtreehoops.com/2014/10/6/6919467/pelicans-vs-hawks-kyle-korver-out-john-jenkins" target="_blank">n the starting lineup</a>, with <span>Thabo Sefolosha</span> set to replace DeMarre Carroll.</p>
https://www.peachtreehoops.com/2014/10/6/6926507/demarre-carroll-injury-atlanta-hawks-ankleBrad Rowland