Preseason Preview: Atlanta Hawks @ San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs vs Atlanta Hawks

GAME VENUE AT&T Center
10/10/12 Spurs Time 7:30pm
TV: NONE - RADIO: WOAI

With Atlanta visiting town, Pop will be seeking to solidify his roster further. With a plethra of big men in camp, Pop is deciding on who to keep and who to let go. Eddy Curry, Josh Powell, and Derrick Brown are all competing for the 15th spot on the Spurs team. Who will make the team out of the three is a guessing game right now but Pop is liking what he sees. On the big men in camp, Pop had the following to say, “We’ve seen them in practice, and that’s been great. It’s better against competition. Watching them play against other professionals in a different colored jersey always works better in trying to assess people.” On tonight's opponent, Pop recently praised the Atlanta GM, Danny Ferry and the job he is doing for Atlanta. He summed up the praise by adding, "The good thing for Atlanta is that Danny doesn't play anymore."

The Atlanta Hawks traded Joe Johnson for five players and a draft pick from Brooklyn. Although they lost a prolific scorer in Johnson, they picked up starting shooting guard Anthony Morrow, backup small forward Deshawn Stevenson and a third string big man in Petro. They also picked up starting point guard Devin Harris through a trade with Utah. With that being said, Atlanta may be a team that surprises a few people this season. Although Joe Johnson will no longer be the focus of the team, they have enough pieces to fill in the void. Throw in Al Horford, Josh Smith and sixth man Lou Williams, and you have a team that is more than capable of competing with top tier teams in the NBA.

Atlanta head coach, Larry Drew, is tinkering with his team. On Sunday's win over the Heat, Coach Drew started a different lineup for the second half. Coach has assured us that this will be the same case in tonight's game. In reference to creating his team, Coach Drew said, "Some guys did not play and that was also predetermined. We have 19 guys in camp and as I told the guys before the game we won't play everybody. Some guys will play, some guys won't." Don't expect to see a regular season line up the entire game. Both teams are adjusting their rosters, albeit Atlanta more than San Antonio.

Lineups Starters PG: Tony Parker SG: Danny Green SF: Kawhi Leonard PF: Tim Duncan C: Boris Diaw Key Bench Players Manu Ginobili Tiago Splitter Stephen Jackson			Lineups Starters PG: Devin Harris SG: Anthony Morrow SF: Kyle Korver PF: Josh Smith C: Al Horford Key Bench Players DeShawn Stevenson Lou Williams Anthony Tolliver

Atlanta Hawks perspective can be found here:Peach Tree Hoops

Game Prediction: Spurs by 10

As always Tony must dominate Fisher, and NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area. Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate.