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Atlanta Hawks Media Day Recap

By Andrew Snyder

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September 28th means media day for the Atlanta Hawks. Local and national media gathered in Atlanta to listen to coach Mike Budenholzer and various players speak about the upcoming season. Sadly neither I nor Josh were able to attend. One of the drawbacks of my living six hours away from the great city of Atlanta is not being able to attend most functions that are available to the media.

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We have taken the liberty of compiling some of the more interesting quotes, pictures and tweets from the event. The end of media day means training camp has arrived. Tuesday September 29th the Hawks will roll out the balls adorned with Adam Silver’s signature and practices will begin. In one short month NBA basketball will be back in our lives until June. What a time to be alive.

Sounds like things are peachy in the peach state. That’s always good news. We’ve seen what can happen when an ownership group provides dysfunction rather than stability (Donald Sterling is the worst). Kissing up to your boss is also good for job security. Bud knows what he’s doing.

We got this note the other day, but it’s good to see that nothing has changed. If the Hawks are going to compete for anything meaningful this season Kyle Korver is going to have to continue stretching the floor with his outstanding three-point shooting. Thabo Sefolosha will also play a key role this season. Slotting him into the starting lineup for DeMarre Carroll should improve their defense, if Sefolosha is healthy. Mack might be the best third string point guard in the NBA and serves as an insurance policy in case Dennis Schroder or Jeff Teague go down.

He loves what you’re doing, Hawks fans. Keep filling Phillips Arena and yelling like maniacs once the season starts. Coaches and players like that sort of thing.

Rebounding was an issue last season. The Hawks ranked 30th in offensive rebounding rate last season and 22nd in defensive rebounding rate. Much of that was because of their smaller frontcourt. Al Horford and Paul Millsap are excellent players, but they are not elite rebounders. Adding the 6-foot-11 Tiago Splitter should help things a bit. As far as attacking the basket, that’s up to Jeff Teague and Dennis Schroder. Maybe even Kent Bazemore will show off his athleticism by attacking the rim more often.

It looks like Budenholzer will use training camp to decide who the fifth starter will be. My money is on Sefolosha, but Bazemore or Tim Hardaway Jr. could certainly play their way into the starting lineup. Bazemore and Sefolosha are much better defenders than Hardaway Jr. so I’d be pretty shocked if one of those two didn’t at least begin the season as the starter at small forward. Still, Hardaway Jr.’s three-point shooting is enticing and Budenholzer may elect to go offense first in the starting lineup.

Mike Scott seems contrite. We all make mistakes and hopefully he will learn from his.

Jeff Teague. Laser focused and ready to move past last season’s disappointing ending.

Tiago Splitter looks great with “Atlanta” scrawled across his chest.

The faces of the franchise all together. These three helped change the culture of basketball in Atlanta last season. Their work is not yet done. Big things are still in the making.

Walter “Edy” Tavares is a large human being. #analysis

My girlfriend hates them too. Maybe it’s the volt green? I think they look awesome.

Once Thabo gets 100 percent healthy the team will have a better sense of who to start at small forward. Hopefully he’s ready to go sooner rather than later. Training camp starts tomorrow. Keep a lookout for more player previews and depth chart previews as the week progresses.

Next: Point Guard Depth Chart Preview

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