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!