If you haven't gotten your fill of Hawks previews as we begin the 2008-09 season, don't fret. You can check out the Atlanta Hawks Preseason Special this Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on WXIA Channel 11 (Comcast Channel 6). The preseason special will feature interviews with GM Rick Sund, Head Coach Mike Woodson and guard Joe Johnson. In addition, the station will profile Marvin Williams (the team’s reigning ping-pong champ, who takes on WXIA’s Sam Crenshaw) and Al Horford (whose mother prepared some of their native dishes from the Dominican Republic, and some of the team’s off-the-court activities.

Well, that wasn't so bad was it? The Hawks got off to a terrific start with a 99-85 road win (that's right - road warriors baby) against last year's Beast of the Southeast, the Orlando Magic, in the season opener last night. In no particular order, I would like to comment on why this was so great:

- It's the first season-opening road win since 1997-98 (also against the Magic - hey NBA schedule makers, keep hooking this up!).

- It's the first time since 1987-88 and 88-89 that the Hawks won consecutive season-openers. Somehow that stat amazes me.

- The victory was against a division rival, and came on a night (yes, I know it's early, you don't have to tell me) that saw every other Southeast Division team that played take a loss - Miami lost at New York, the Wizards fell at home to the Nets, and the Bobcats were idle, though I expect them to lose tonight at Cleveland.

- This was a total team effort. As one of my co-workers said this morning, it wasn't like we won because Joe scored 45 or the Magic turned the ball over 30 times. This was just a well-played game by everyone in a Hawks uniform, especially on the defensive end.

- The knock against the Hawks last season (especially on the road) was that they came out flat, in the first and third quarters especially. Last night Atlanta outscored Orlando 26-13 in the first and 27-15 in the third. Man I hope that trend continues.

- Josh Smith, showing no signs of letting up after signing his long-term deal over the summer, had a ho-hum stat-stuffing night for himself, finishing the game with 17 points, 10 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 4 steals. Oh, and no turnovers. I will take that stat-line from Smoove every single game, and I guarantee you this - if he is close to that, he will be making plans for Phoenix come February. Smith and Mike Bibby finished the night with identical +23 plus/minus ratios for the game to lead the team.

- Want to see how to defend against Dwight Howard? Check out the stat lines of the Hawks two main options at center last night. Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia combined to play nearly 41 minutes in the game, finishing the night with a collective 18 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 fouls drawn (Howard was 6-13 from the foul stripe). Zaza played only 11:32, but finished the night at +14. That's what happens I guess when you get 6 offensive rebounds in that short a span of time.

- How about Flip Murray destroying JJ Redick in the second quarter?

- The Hawks won last night by outhustling the Magic, pure and simple. They won the battle of the boards, 53-45, and nearly everyone chipped in. 5 players finished the night with 7 rebounds or more, and this against an Orlando frontcourt that goes 6-10 (Hedo Turkoglu), 6-10 (Rashard Lewis), and 6-11 (Howard).

I've heard it said many times, and it's entirely true - you are never as good as you look when you win or as bad when you lose, so I'm not about to predict 65 wins and a trip to the NBA Finals just yet. But as a Hawks fan, this was definitely one to savor and a terrific start to the season.

What say we all come down to Philips Saturday, light the place up like we did during the playoffs, and get the Hawks out the gate 2-0?

Lots to talk about as the season gets underway for the Hawks tonight in Orlando against the Magic.

As I have mentioned many times since the start of training camp, I am cautiously optimistic about the upcoming season. I base that opinion on many things, but I base it mostly on this one main opinion: the Hawks players are still improving.

Think about it. Al Horford? He's only going to get better. Marvin Williams? He's not a finished product by a long shot. Josh Smith could break out and become an All-Star. That's 60% of the starting lineup that you can reasonably expect to play better this year than a season ago, and that's not even including what their improvements will mean for Joe Johnson (who garners most of the defensive attention night in and night out). Mike Bibby is finally healthy, and I have an expectation that we'll see him play much better than he did last year.

But that's not all - the bench is improved too. Zaza Pachulia, injured and in a funk for much of last season, looks completely rejuvenated this offseason. Ditto for Acie Law. Both are young players still capable of improving their games. And I think the "FlipMo Squad", as Sekou Smith has christened them, will provide some things on the court (bench scoring, 3-point shooting) and off (veteran leadership) that the team has been missing for several years.

Yes, I think this could be a very good season for the Hawks, and I think a playoff berth (and a better one than last year) is absolutely within reach. We'll get a pretty good read on what this team is capable of early on, as the team plays 7 of the first 10 away from home. The Hawks were good at home last season, going 25-16 which was tied for the third-best mark in the conference. The road...well, that was where things went awry. Simply put, Atlanta can't go 12-29 on the road this year and expect to be playing basketball in the month of May. If the Hawks can weather the first storm (which won't be easy, by the way, with early road games against playoff teams New Orleans, Boston, and Cleveland amongst others), it will set them up to take advantage of a very home-heavy December and hopefully give them some breathing room in the Eastern Conference pecking order.

In other news, I am happy to announce that "Hometeam" Brandon Leak, who you know from his tenure at 790 the Zone, will be joining us on Hawks.com for the upcoming season. While we haven't quite ironed out exactly what all he will be doing, sufficed to say Hometeam is one of the most well-known Hawks fans in the A and I think you'll enjoy getting to hear from him as the season goes along. He joined me yesterday for the season's first BasketBlog Podcast, so be sure to listen as we break down the Hawks roster for 2008-09 and discuss all of the offseason changes for the team and what they mean going forward.

On the blog front, I do want to mention two of our fellow Hawks bloggers have new homes this year. Hoopinion, which did a tremendous job covering the team analytically last season, has set up shop in a new spot this year at Peachtree Hoops. He's a little more pessimistic than I am, but hopefully the team can prove him wrong! Also, the blog formerly known as Hawks, Dawgs, and Jesus has decided to narrow it's focus a bit this season (sorry God!) and has rechristened itself Zaza's Playground. Both of these blogs write about as much about the Hawks as any other blog you'll find out there, so definitely check them out.

In addition, if you are a fan and have started a blog about the Hawks, by all means let us know. Shoot us an email at hawks.mailbag@atlantaspirit.com so we can follow your work, and if you are really keeping at it we'll be happy to add you to our blog roll.

This season is going to be a lot of fun, and it all starts tonight. The Hawks are without Marvin Williams, who is serving his one-game suspension for his flagrant foul on Rajon Rondo from last year's playoffs. Otherwise, the roster is healthy and ready to rock. I spoke to Marvin yesterday about the upcoming season, and he sounds confident in both the team's chances of making a playoff run and his ability to knock down some more perimeter shots than in years past. Methinks the two things will be related somehow...

Check out the action from Orlando tonight at 7:00 ET on SportSouth, and tell us what you think of the game right here in the comments.

The preseason concludes tonight in Detroit, as the Hawks try to (for what it's worth) finish the exhibition season with a winning record (they are currently 4-3). One of the main stories of this preseason, both with the Hawks and around the league in general, has been the preponderance of injuries. Fortunately for the Hawks no one has been seriously affected, but the injury bug will affect them tonight as they go to Detroit without Joe Johnson, who has a mild groin strain, and Speedy Claxton, who is out for personal reasons.  I don't think anyone is too worried, but why take chances?

I spoke with Mike Woodson after practice yesterday to get his assessment of the team at this point, and he seems reasonably pleased. He spoke about the injuries in this preseason have given several players a chance to show what they can do, which hopefully will give him confidence to use some of them in meaningful situations as the season gets underway.

In other news, the season previews continue to roll out elsewhere, and shockingly, we are getting no love from most of the prognosticators (heavy sarcasm). What else is new? The sky is blue, water is wet, and no one thinks our Hawks are capable of doing much this year. Most of this stuff bounces off me (and the team as well), but for some reason the Sports Illustrated preview always seems to stick in my craw. Not the whole preview necessarily, but always the "Enemy Lines" portion, where they interview a "scout" about the Hawks to get a "real" take on the team from an "insider" (sorry for all the quotation marks, I'm just feeling particularly derisive).

Here is a sample from this year's section on A-Town:

A rival scout on the HAWKS: Who is their lead player? Joe Johnson tends to not take the last shot as much as you'd expect from a franchise guy. He's a good third player on a contending team—not someone you build around...

Here's a little reminder, in case you forgot:

Seriously, I get goosebumps just watching those highlights. How can you watch that performance and think he doesn't want the last shot, let alone claim he's no better than the third best player on a contending team. AAAAAARGH!

Sorry, I'm better now.

Anyway, tonight's game is the final one of the preseason, and then it's game time and it's up to the Hawks to prove their doubters wrong.

I for one can't wait.

It's funny. People ask me all the time (and I mean all the time) about the Hawks. The questions change depending on the time of year, but there isn't a day that goes by where a member of my family, friends, or even fellow co-workers seek out my opinion on the state of the franchise. Right now, with the season just a week or so away from tipping off, everyone wants me to give my projection for the season - will the Hawks make the playoffs again? Can they earn a higher seed? Will they return to obscurity? WILL THEY EVER GET TO PLAY ON TNT??? (Actually, I'm the one asking that last question).

Generally speaking, I tend to lean towards the optimistic when it comes to the Hawks. I don't know if I can't see the forest for the trees or what, but I always look at the team and think about the things that could go right as opposed to what might go wrong. Over the past several years, let's be honest, there haven't been many people who agreed with those viewpoints.

After last year's incredible playoff run against the Celtics I hoped the perceptions of the team would change, but in reading various previews of the season it seems many are expecting us to return to the depths of the East.

I've been pretty happy with what I've seen from the Hawks in training camp and preseason play so far, but as I said, I'm always an optimist. That's why reading Sekou Smith's blog post in the AJC today made me smile. It appears he too may be seeing what I'm seeing:

"Either I’m going soft after all these years on the beat or this team is finally starting to look like the rest of the average and above average teams in the NBA."

Smith goes on to say that he's not predicting anything outlandish like the top seed or 60 wins, and for that matter neither am I, but I do agree with his central thesis that this team, even without Josh Childress, looks to be better than they were a year ago.

Hopefully the regular season will prove us right.

Tonight's game against Orlando is your last chance to see the Hawks in action at Philips before the regular season begins (they have one more preseason game after tonight, at Detroit on Thursday). Come out and see for yourself if the optimism is legitimate!

A ton of stuff going on around these parts (there always is in the weeks leading up to the season), but again I think you'll be happy with the results when they are finally ready to launch. I did still manage to make it down to practice today, where I was treated to a three-point shooting exhibition put on by Marvin Williams after scrimmage was over. First of all, I think any worries we have about his thumb should be put to rest soon. I don't know that he will play tomorrow night, but he was out there in practice today (though he didn't scrimmage) and his shot certainly didn't seem affected by the contraption he wore around his thumb.

Marvin was hitting at least 3 of 5 from every 3-point location around the court, and doing it with ease. It's actually very interesting to watch him shoot from distance, because while I always think of him as a jump shooter in the midrange, he takes a set shot from behind the arc (or at least was today). He looked incredibly comfortable, so much so that it just seems inconceivable that he took so few last year. I'd say his development as a long-range shooter is perhaps the single most intriguing subplot to the beginning of the season for me.

Anyway, I caught up with Acie Law after practice to ask him what he thinks about the preseason so far. Injuries are never good, but I'd argue that the setbacks to Mike Bibby and Speedy Claxton have been a blessing in disguise, as Acie has gotten the opportunity to get a ton of minutes and grow his confidence as a leader on the court. He talked about his game-winning layup on Monday against the Bobcats as well as his game-losing blocked layup from Wednesday's game against Phoenix, and he really seems pleased with both his performance and that of the team's so far. I still contend that he could have had a decent season last year if his injury hadn't sidetracked him, and I hope that what we've seen from him so far will help him to prove his doubters wrong this time around.

Word on the street is Marvin will most likely not play tomorrow night, while Speedy and Bibby will be in uniform. The Bobcats are winless on the preseason so far, so I expect them to come out with near regular-season intensity. Should be a good game!

Sorry I didn't have a chance to post yesterday. There was a bit of brief news around Hawktown, as Marcus Hubbard and Frank Robinson were released, moving the Hawks roster number down to 15. There is speculation as to whether or not the team will stay at 15 or move down one more to 14 before the season starts, but sufficed to say I have no idea how that will play out. When I hear something, I'll let you know.

On to tonight's game against the Suns, the second time we'll face them this preseason. The Hawks took a 100-96 victory in the desert last week, but tonight's game promises to be a little different because each roster has changed a bit since last week. For Phoenix, they will have Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudemire back, while Atlanta will be without the services of Marvin Williams, Mike Bibby, and Speedy Claxton. All three are listed as day to day, and hopefully each will be back shortly, but with this being the preseason there is no reason to risk making any injury worse. The good news on Marvin is his thumb is not broken, so that's a huge relief (not that I thought it might have been, but anytime a doctor has to check you out there is always a fear of the worst).

I spoke with Hawks assistant coach Bob Bender after shootaround today to break down tonight's matchup against the Suns, and as usual he was very informative. I asked him about the new look of the Suns without Mike D'Antoni at the helm, which is one of the subplots of the upcoming NBA season I find most interesting. Watch the interview for yourself, but I will say that the basic difference he perceives so far has come on the defensive side of the ball. Does that mean we won't see 120-113 shootouts anymore? I think that makes me sad.

With two starters out, tonight's game will be another chance for Coach Woodson to try some different combinations and find out more about what his bench players are capable of providing. Acie Law has had some nice performances so far, and I hope to see that continue tonight. Also, I think we'll see some more of the Hawks "big" lineup of Zaza in the middle, Al at the four, and Smoove at the three, perhaps even right off the bat.

It should make for a pretty entertaining preseason game. Come on out to Philips and support the team!

The Hawks acquitted themselves fairly well on the road last week, winning games in Orlando and Phoenix before falling to Portland in Kansas City on Friday night.

Each game has seen nice performances from several different players, and Friday saw the first game action for rookie Othello Hunter, who nabbed 6 offensive rebounds in just under 17 minutes of play. Not bad for the rook - you can read about his experience getting into his first game as he continues his training camp blog for Hawks.com.

There was a nice turnout on Saturday for the open practice, and I think everyone who was there had a nice time. Still, tonight is the real deal, as the Hawks hit the hardcourt for the first time this season at Philips Arena against live competition.

We previewed the game this morning with new Hawks assistant coach Jim Todd. It's always hard to get a read on things in the preseason, but he still gave a glimpse into what we can expect the team to do tonight to try to get a W. He mentioned during the interview the status of Mike Bibby being up in the air, and the latest I'm hearing is we probably won't see him tonight as he is dealing with a strained oblique. Speedy Claxton is out as well as he continues to rehab from a hamstring pull. That being the case, I think we'll see a ton of Acie Law, Flip Murray, Mario West, and Thomas Gardner tonight just as we did against the Blazers. All reports of Law's game have been positive so far, so I am excited to see him give it a go tonight.

In other news, Lang Whitaker, famous for his Hawks column from a year ago (fine - and famous for his work at Slam Magazine and others as well) did a preview of the Hawks season for Slamonline, and had a nice little conversation with Sekou Smith as a part of it. A lot of interesting takes in there, I highly recommend reading and listening. Lang will be back this season on Hawks.com as well, so stay tuned for that.

You coming out tonight? What else are you excited to see from your first glimpse of the Hawks in uniform?

The Hawks got another nice road win on Wednesday, though again we have to remember that preseason results mean little. Still, there are things to be happy about as the team commences their third preseason game, tonight in Kansas City against (who else?) the Portland Trail Blazers. I for one am very sad this game is not on television, as I'd love to get my first glimpse of Greg Oden. The early reviews of the rookie big man (he never played last year, so technically he's still a rook) have been positive, but the last two times he faced up against Al Horford he got, as they say on the web, pwned.

Once again, I hope the bench gets into the action tonight and continues to show progress the way they have in the first two outings. In the first game it was Acie and Mo Evans, on Wednesday it was Flip Murray and Zaza Pachulia. Portland has a deep roster, so playing against their reserves promises to be a good test for the second string tonight.

Atlanta returns to Philips Arena tomorrow for the annual open practice; I highly recommend coming out if you can. It's usually a great chance to get an up-close-and-personal view of the team and see what they've been working on in the offseason (whether it's a facet of their game or their physical appearance).

One link to leave you with for the weekend - the terrific Yahoo! NBA blog Ball Don't Lie has posted its Hawks preview - it's slightly more optimistic than Hollinger, but still sells the team short a bit in these eyes. That's alright though - it's just more fuel to the fire.

Go get 'em tonight Hawks!

A few links on a Wednesday morning as the Hawks prepare to play the Suns tonight in Phoenix...

- Over the years I've become friendly with some of the other website people around the league, in particular the guys with the Suns (who by the way have one of the best websites in the league). Yesterday I did a podcast with Steven Koek, who does a lot of the outstanding video work for their site, to preview the game tonight. One note - Amare Stoudemire will not play after being poked in the eye in practice the other day. He always causes us problems, and I wish he was able to play tonight but maybe sit out when it counts in January.

- Courtesy of Dime Magazine, Adidas has a new basketball commercial out and it's pretty sweet. It's footage of a pick-up game featuring several of the NBA's best players, and you'll see several cameos by the Hawks' own Josh Smith. Is it weird that I would be more fascinated to see those guys play a pick-up game than in an actual organized contest?

- Maurice Evans put a hurtin' on his former team on Monday, torching the Orlando Magic for 17 points in the Hawks 118-101 preseason win. The Orlando Sentinel caught up to him while he was back in town and did this little Q & A.

- Sekou Smith has a feature in the AJC on Mario West's chances of making the Hawks roster.

- And finally, there has been a lot of uproar around these parts over ESPN's John Hollinger and his preseason projection for the Hawks this season - he isn't too high on us (that's like, his opinion, man). Obviously, I think we all hope the Hawks will prove his 31-51 prediction wrong, and after watching a healthy Mike Bibby in action over the last week or so I am feeling very positive that we will, and by a healthy margin.

I wanted to ask Hollinger about his prediction, because my suspicion is that most people who are dropping the Hawks in the standings are basing it in part on the Bibby they saw in Atlanta the last half of the season and the playoffs. The Bibby I've seen so far looks nothing like that guy, and I wanted to know if Hollinger's opinion of the Hawks would if he knew that Bibby was finally back to 100%.

Well, I'd love to say his opinion was completely flipped around, but it didn't do too much to sway him. Hollinger wrote me back to say, "For the Hawks it isn't a question of which Bibby shows up, but that he shows up at all. The Hawks need 375 games from their starting five to make the playoffs because that bench...eccch."

Hollinger is entitled to his view - but hopefully performances like we saw Monday night from the likes of Acie Law and Maurice Evans will show that the Hawks bench is capable of more than people seem to think.

A great start to the preseason with last night's 118-101 win at Orlando. The Hawks bench was the story - after struggling in camp against the Hawks starters for most of last week, several players got untracked last night with impressive performances that will hopefully be a sign of things to come.

I emailed Voice of the Hawks Steve Holman this morning to get his take on last night's affair, and here were his five things to take away from the action:

1. If Acie Law plays the way he did last night we should be in great shape at PG with him backing up a healthy Mike Bibby.

2. After just one game, the addition of veterans Mo Evans and Flip Murray brings stability to the second unit.

3. Al Horford looks great. He is ready to pick up where he left off last year. He played with loads of confidence.

4. Marvin hit his first 3-point shot of the night, something he worked on all summer.

5. Joe was Joe and Bibby was Bibby. They both looked very comfortable with each other and the rest of the first unit.

Score by Quarters
ATL -- 24/25/45/24 -- 118
Orl -- 29/22/30/20 -- 101

Leading Scorers
ATL -- Law 20
Orl -- Lewis 22

Leading Rebounders
ATL -- 42 (Horford 9)
Orl -- 31 (Battie 7)

Assists
ATL -- 23 (two with 4)
Orl -- 18 (Nelson 7)

-- The Hawks overcame a slow start Monday night to defeat division rival Orlando to win their preseason opener, 118-101.

-- Acie Law led six Atlanta players with 20 points on 8-11 FGs, while former Magic forward Maurice Evans burned his team for 17, hitting all four of his threes.

-- Al Horford tallied 13 and pulled down a game-high nine boards, and Joe Johnson, Mike Bibby and Flip Murray each finished with 11.

-- After struggling to shoot from the field early on, Atlanta converted 50% from the field and three-point range.

-- Next up for the Hawks is a Wednesday game at Phoenix (10 pm ET, 790 AM).

This will be brief, because after four days of scrimmaging there isn't a whole lot new to report, but I did have a few observations from today...

- First and foremost, I saw one of the nastiest spills I've ever seen today near the end of practice. Thomas Gardner was going to the hole, guarded by Mario West, when West slipped on the floor and Gardner went with him. Gardner went down face first into the floor, causing his head to snap back in a terrible manner. I was sure he was knocked out, or had broken parts of his face for sure, but amazingly Gardner got up and walked it off under his own power. The training staff checked him out, but he appeared to be ok. For his sake I sure hope he is, because it looked at the time like he was going to be hurt pretty badly. Gardner has been out the last few days with a leg injury, which must have been pretty severe considering his reaction to today's spill. That is one tough dude.

- Speaking of bumps and bruises, today was rough on Maurice Evans as well. Mo caught a skull to the mouth while guarding Marvin Williams at the basket early on, then accidentally got picked into his own man and went down hard later on as well. Evans is an incredible athlete and shook both blows off pretty well, but today was a reminder of just how physical the game of basketball can be when people are competing as hard as these guys.

- Continuing my wonderful job of segueing (pat myself on the back, why don't I), I liked what I saw from Marvin Williams today. He didn't hit any threes, but he took one and generally made life miserable for the guys guarding him, rubbing off screens to hit several jumpers over the course of the action. Not that I necessarily want Marvin to take a lot of contested jumpers, but it's nice to see him able to pull the trigger that quickly and with precision when he needs to. He also made his presence felt on the defensive end, getting a couple of nice blocks around the basket.

- I don't feel like I've spoken much about Joe Johnson or Al Horford during camp, but I think it's because they both just come out and do their jobs with a steady if unspectacular brilliance. I am expecting big things from both of these guys this season, and nothing I've seen over the course of camp so far has led me to alter that line of thinking.

- Speedy Claxton missed practice today after straining his hamstring late yesterday. I'm not sure how long he's out for, but I'll keep you posted. 

- One roster note as the team prepares to head to Orlando for its first preseason game on Monday, Olumide Oyedeji was put on waivers, cutting the squad down to 17. You never like to see anyone's tenure end, but there will still be at least two more to go as the Hawks have to get down to 15 by the start of the season.

Joe goes up for a breakaway dunk

Friday was another day of drills followed by some good scrimmaging. The starters continue to look battle-tested and ready to rock, while several bench players continue to push for consideration in the rotation come the start of the regular season. It will be very interesting to see what kind of PT some of these guys get in preseason, which begins Monday at Orlando.

Here are my thoughts from today:

- As I mentioned, the starters looked pretty good, at least on offense. Defensively, I think there is still room for improvement - during their game against the third string (today composed of Randolph Morris, Frank Robinson, Olumide Oyedeji, Othello Hunter, and Speedy Claxton), they gave up several offensive rebounds and seemed to lose focus at times. I expect that to improve as camp continues, and I'm sure Coach Woodson does as well.

- Solomon Jones continues to impress me. I watched him hit another barrage of shots on the interior today using a variety of spin moves, hooks, and fadeaways. I am really excited to see him in action against other teams to see if he can translate this into regular play. But he really looks like he's put in work this offseason to improve his game and I commend him for that.

- Continuing on the big man theme, I thought Zaza Pachulia played well today. Big Z grabbed several offensive boards and took it strong to the hole, but also flashed some fancy moves with a sweet no-look over-his-shoulders pass to Acie Law under the basket.

- Al Horford didn't do anything spectacular (save for one monstrous block on a Mario West foray into the lane), but that's mostly because everything he does is so fundamentally sound. I do think Oyedeji might be a little sore tonight though, as he was the recipient of a big Al shoulder to the chest on one play as Horford made his move to the bucket. We know Al will get his minutes this season, but I asked him after practice what he thought about the rest of the frontcourt rotation. He was diplomatic as always, but count him as someone who thinks the Hawks will have more depth to play with in the post this season.

- Flip Murray seems right at home with the team's second unit. He has absolutely no fear offensively, and I continue to believe his scoring ability will be a huge plus for the Hawks off the bench. One thing I've noticed is how strong Murray is despite his seemingly small stature. He gets to the hole and finishes as well as anyone on the team. The second team has been getting tattooed a bit by the first team the last few days, but Murray hasn't backed down at all.

- The second unit has seemed to struggle some as a collective, despite some impressive performances individually by some of the guys. This doesn't worry me too much though, as I doubt we will regularly see the entire starting lineup on the bench for long stretches of time. Still, I'd definitely like to see them gel a bit more as things progress.

- Mario West continues to make his presence felt on the court with his energy and hustle. He hasn't been making a ton of outside shots, but he probably had the highlight of the day today when he crossed Acie over and got the basket where he finished with a tremendous tomahawk dunk. I like Mario's confidence in himself - he definitely acts like someone who has been through this before, and I think that will help his cause as he tries to make a case for inclusion on the regular season roster.

After the jump, the obligatory pics...

Wednesday saw the Hawks put on a full scrimmage for the first time in training camp. Unlike the running clock scrimmages of the first couple days, today's action featured officials, free throws - pretty much your standard game atmosphere.

I don't want to put too much emphasis on what I saw today, because there is a long way to go, and it's much easier to look good on the practice court than in the heat of regular season battle - but I gotta say, I saw a lot to like. Let's get right to it:

- Marvin Williams was 2-2 from long range during the scrimmage. That's a tiny, miniscule little sample size - but the fact that he took them without hesitation is what made me happy. That he made them was gravy; I'd still be happy if he'd gone 0-2. But both shots came in the rhythm of the offense and with no added effort for Marv, who we all know spent his summer working on the three-ball. This is one component of the offense I know a lot of fans are anxious to see, and I'm happy to say so far, so good.

- Josh Smith was an animal today. He was aggressive going to the hole and getting rebounds, and he must have gone to the free throw line 6-7 times at least. One play stood out in particular that I hope is a sign of things to come - with the shot clock winding down and Smoove out on the perimeter, he initially went into a shooting motion, then thought better of it and took it to the rim for a lay-up. The more shots he takes inside, the better off we'll be.

- Solomon Jones' offense impressed today. I mentioned yesterday that I thought his offensive production would go a long way towards determining his minutes this year, and today he looked more confident on offense than I've ever seen. I asked him about it after practice today, and he said he spent all summer working on his game. I know most guys say that, but it looked today as if it were true. He scored on several different offensive maneuvers, moving with purpose and finishing with a soft touch around the rim.

- Man, Mike Bibby looks good. I think that was probably the thing I heard the most from people watching today. He was on fire from the field, hitting seemingly every jumper he took, and directed the offense with ease. I am prone to hyperbole - I know this - but I am telling you, if this is the Mike Bibby that plays for the Hawks this season, we are going to surprise some folks.

- Othello Hunter, who is chronicling his training camp experiences for us, also looked good today. He didn't do too much that would show up on a stat sheet, but he got up and down the court with pace, and corralled one rebound so high it made a few of us turn and look at each other with a "did-you-see-that?" expression on our faces. He's worth keeping an eye on.

- The word of the day for Mario West was attack. Man, I would hate guarding that guy. It seemed like every time he got the ball today, he was barreling into the lane come hell or high water. His energy and tenacity are what got him on this team in the first place, and he shows no sign of changing anytime soon.

And now for something completely different - some pictures from the afternoon's action after the jump...

Day 2 of training camp saw a little bit less scrimmaging than Day 1 (and, I'm happy to report, no deleting issues with the camera), but I'm told there will be much more of that to come as camp heats up.

For those wanting more detailed breakdowns of how everyone looks, I hope to get more of them as we go, but it's hard to glean much from watching guys go through shooting drills. I did enjoy watching some of the big men drills they were doing today, which entailed assistant coach Jim Todd holding out a football pad and basically a lacrosse stick (to simulate the outstretched arm of a defender) in the post while the bigs established position and went through a series of offensive moves. It reminded me of the football-esque practices you used to hear about at Michigan State and Oklahoma State (I searched for a clip of it on YouTube to no avail).

That doesn't mean there weren't observations to be taken from the scrimmage today...

- The first scrimmage matched the starters (Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Al Horford, and Mike Bibby) against the second string, and the first unit killed it. In a five-minute running clock period, they piled up 26 points. It was an impressive showing of offensive basketball, with just about everyone chipping in. Coach Woodson was none too pleased with the effort of the bench, and told them so.

- I was impressed by Maurice Evans today. During the aforementioned scrimmage, Joe got a steal and took off down the court, with only Evans getting back on D to stop him from getting to the basket. Mo harrassed JJ into missing a layup, but no one else got back to help him out and Joe eventually scored. Evans was mad, and let his teammates know it was unacceptable. I asked him about it after practice, and I thought his answers spoke volumes. Count me in as someone who thinks Evans will have a positive impact on the team this season, on and off the court.

- Mike Bibby looks good. He isn't wearing any protective devices for any parts of his anatomy, and appears to move with the ease and economy of motion I remember from his days in Sacramento. His shot looks good too, as I watched him drain 3 after 3 during post-practice shooting drills. I've seen a lot of prognostications about the Hawks chances for the upcoming season (John Hollinger's came out yesterday, and he's not real keen on us - we'll show him!), and I think a healthy Bibby will go a long way towards proving guys like Hollinger wrong.

- Solomon Jones looked aggressive going to the hole, which was good to see. Solo's rep has always been more as a defensive guy, but if he wants to get on the court more this season he's going to have to show that he can make teams respect his game on the offensive end as well.

- Acie Law hit a nice jump shot in traffic. The more of those he can drop, the better chance he has of earning PT. Today was definitely a day won by the offenses, so I'm sure Coach Woodson will have defense on the brain during practice tomorrow.

- I spoke with Woody after practice, and amongst other things he praised the effort of rookie Othello Hunter. More from him later on...

Check out some photos from the action today after the jump...