Aug 20 2009
Atlanta Hawks 2009 PreSeason Schedule
The new NBA season is coming closer each day and the Atlanta Hawks will return to the hardwood on October 7th to play the New Orleans Hornets at Philips Arena. This will be 1 of 7 preseason games for the Hawks this year. They will all take place in the month of October and fans will have the opportunity to catch 3 games at home this year. October 12th will be the date for the 2nd home game in Atlanta and the opponent that night will be the Charlotte Bobcats. One week after this Monday game will be the last time to catch the Hawks at home for the preseason and they wrap up their home games with a showdown against the Washington Wizards.
Hawks preseason tickets should be easy to get and you will want them for October 7th, October 12th, or October 19th to watch the team in action, before the real games start up. Any dedicated Hawks fans looking to make a road trip for the preseaon really have two options this year. The first one will be on October 14th; when the Hawks take on the Memphis Grizzlies. You can make the short drive up to Memphis, Tennessee to catch this NBA preseason action. The game against the Grizzlies will be at the Fed Ex Forum located in Memphis. If you live in the southern part of the state; then a trip to Jacksonville might be more your style. The Atlanta Hawks will have a preseason game in Jacksonville at Veterans Memorial Arena. This should be an interesting game as Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat will get their first glimpse of the new Hawks in Jacksonville, Florida on October 22nd. This will be the only preseason game for the Hawks this year that takes place on a neutral court.
The longest trip during the preseason will happen on October 11th; which will be the 2nd game on the preseason schedule for the Atlanta Hawks. They will travel up to Auburn Hills to play Mike Woodson’s former team the Detroit Pistons. The 7th and final preseason game will take place on Friday October 23rd and this will be a National TV Game against the Orlando Magic. The Hawks see these guys again on Thanksgiving Day for a National Spotlight Game; so the fans around the country should get a nice dose of Hawks and Magic basketball in the first month of the new NBA season.
Typically the Hawks play strong in the preseason action and their starters tend to play more minutes than the other team’s starters. No big surprise if the Hawks do go 7-0 or 6-1 this preseason, but don’t think that last game against the Magic will be the typical preseason game. I expect Mike Woodson to do whatever it takes to get a W on the final game of the preseason slate for the Hawks.
Do you plan to make any stops at Philips to watch the Hawks in preseason action? It is a good opportunity to see some of the younger guys play. We probably won’t see much of Jeff Teague when the games start for real, so this is a good opportunity to watch him play a lot of minutes against another NBA team. It doesn’t appear any big time trades or free agent signings are around the corner and the Hawks roster is set for about 10 guys with about 2 new players that will be trying to earn a spot on the 2009/2010 roster. The Atlanta Hawks will be sending some good talent down to the D-League this year and probably our best talent in reserve that we have had, since the D-League was created for NBA teams. Don’t forget about Chris Paul and the Hornets coming to Atlanta to get things started on October 7th. Make sure to mark that date on your calendars and if you can’t make it down to Philips Arena, be sure to listen to the guys on radio call the game!
