(Sorry again guys about the lack of blogs this weekend.. I was fairly busy and I didn’t have access to a computer)



Here we go. First morning shoot around of the season. pic.twitter.com/XWncfk7Qfb — Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) October 10, 2016

“Where there is unity there is always victory” -Publilius Syrus-





Finally, finally, finally, our first home preseason game came and went, as our Atlanta Hawks returned home to face the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers, which had our hometown Hawks win 99-93!!!

Add the W indeed!





This has been a big game for Hawks fans not only because it was the first game that was televised on Fox Sports SouthEast (shoutout Bob and Nique!!)….



My son with one of the greatest of all time @DWilkins21 #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/ysSlaPWfqb — Andy Platt (@AndyPlattUGA) October 10, 2016

“The Boys are Back in Town! The Boys are Back in Town!!”







But also it’s what the Atlanta Hawks organization announced as the first ever “Unity Game”.





ATLANTA — “The Atlanta Hawks Basketball Club today announced plans to host a unique game experience, celebrating multicultural groups, diverse populations and organizations committed to improving relations amongst different groups, in its first-ever Unity Game on Monday, Oct. 10th as the team takes on the NBA Champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Members of the Hawks organization will participate in two major events prior to the Unity Game: an all-staff service day (six service projects within the city of Atlanta) and the 46th Atlanta Pride Festival, the largest event of its kind in the Southeast.” Source: nba.com/hawks







I believe this was a very admirable action the Hawks are doing as a way to further peaceful conversation and promote services among the sports community. Especially, during a time of tension and unrest in our country, it’s nice to see people bonding together over a game of basketball.

This is why sports are great





Now on to the actual game..





Let’s roll

As I said earlier, our Hawks played the Cleveland Cavaliers for their first preseason home game in what could also be said was the “Dwight Howard Coming Home Party”. Us Hawks fans were definitely excited to come home and see how our boys would face off against Lebron and Co. and-

No Cavs regulars tonight vs. Hawks. That means no LeBron and Co. — Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) October 10, 2016



Oh….







Well..

Okay sorry guys but quick rant on LBJ







This right here is one reason why Lebron James irritates me. Not because he always torches us in the playoffs (okay kinda… but not this year… hopefully) but because I believe he might be one of the phoniest superstar athletes out here. Being one of the most socially conscience and vocal athlete in our times and deciding not to play in a game of Unity just seems wrong in my humblest opinion. And yes, I understand that it’s only a preseason game, and okay, I understand that athletes don’t want to risk injury by playing in said preseason game, but sitting out in a game that was supposed to promote social equality, is not a good look… Unless Lue forced you to sit out for this game… (I’m laughing out loud while typing this) which I highly doubt, you can at least shell out 10 minutes of play.

End Rant





Okay moving right along…







The starters for the Hawks were Howard, Korver, Schroder, Bazemore and Muscala (starting for an injured Millsap) against the Cavs starters James Jones, Dahntay Jones, Jefferson, Felder and McRae (smh). So here it was, finally a chance to see our boys in action for the first time and to see how Bud was going to handle having an non-floor spacing center in Dwight Howard in our constant ball Bud-Movement offense.

And guys it did not disappoint…

Ball movement tho 👀 https://t.co/athz2613pD — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 10, 2016

Guys, this Dennis ➡️ Dwight thing might be fun: https://t.co/xp6MUqmN7L — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 11, 2016

Gotta Love it

And granted, it was against the Cavs bench, it still was great to see Howard and Schroder clearly show in game chemistry that they have been building all throughout training camp.

I had Dwight Howard for four dunks, including to alley-oops from Dennis Schroder. — Chris Vivlamore (@CVivlamoreAJC) October 11, 2016

Ridiculous





So now let’s get to our segment!





Three Hawks 😄😄😄 Things!!

&&

Three Hawks 😒😒😒 Things…

Okay First…

Three Hawks 😄😄😄 Things!!:

1. Dwight Freaking Howard:

Last night @DwightHoward absolutely dominated, and we have proof: pic.twitter.com/Lrfc90c5UI — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 11, 2016

Good Lord

To say Dwight dominated last night may be the understatement of the century (yes I know it’s the Cavs bench, I don’t care) as he finished with 26pts/8rbs/2blks in 24 minutes. Watching him destroy the Cavs (bench) was truly a sight to behold. The best analogy I can think of for Dwight’s perfomance last night, is like that scene in Billy Madison when he plays dodgeball against those elementary school kids and absolutely crushes them.

Men amongst boys

2. Our Starting lineup:

Finally, we were able to see our new look Hawks in action for the first time on television and to be honest I thought they played quite well together. As I’ve said many times before, many Hawks fans were nervous to see how this group would play together out on the floor and I believed they looked pretty solid out there with Dwight finishing with 26pts, Kyle 5pts, Dennis 6pts, Kent 8pts and Mike 10 pts. It’ll definitely be fun to watch once when our anchorman comes back from injury.

We miss you buddy

Also we had Kyle doing his best Hawkeye impression, dropping 3’s from Cobb county last night…

Kyle with the H-O-R-S-E shot! https://t.co/L7nnyAU5Ia — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 11, 2016





#Wet

3. Taurean Prince

#FreshPrinceofAtlanta

Coming off his good night in San Antonio, Prince continued his solid performance in the Unity game by dropping 10pts, nabbing 4 boards and grabbing 2 steals in 16 minutes. Keep up the good work rook!

Going to use this everytime

And now…





Three Hawks 😒😒😒 Things…

(I’m going to cheat here and have the first one cover two of the three because it was so bad)

1.&2. Three point shooting:

sigh..

I was worried about this.. and yes I understand it was only 1 game but 10.5% shooting?! 10.5%?!!?! That’s pretty freaking bad, hopefully our boys improve on this going forward because our shooting is going to be the key on how far this team can go moving forward.

3. Tim Hardaway Jr.

This was his second game in a row where he struggled offensively, coming off of a 1-13 FG shooting performance agaisngt the Spurs this past Saturday. This is particularly worrisome because of how much praise he’s been getting during training camp about how he’s been looking… (and I know it’s PRESEASON, just irrationally overreacting)

Not too “magnificent” yet





And that pretty much sums up the Unity Game. It was great win for our Hawks and be on the lookout this Thursday for our next preseason home game against Andre Drummond and the Detroit Pistons.





Hawks On Top Baby!!!





P.S.

Guess what!? @PapaJohnsATL has no preseason…they're honoring our 50-point first half deal with 50% off online orders TODAY using 50HAWKS pic.twitter.com/r5etVlYe77 — Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) October 11, 2016

We were all winners last night





-msl_atl



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