After a day off following their exhibition loss against the Pacers, the Hawks got back to work Wednesday. So, they took advantage of extra days between their game Monday and their exhibition finale against the 76ers on Friday.
Following the team’s practice Wednesday, Hawks coach Quin Snyder explained that they spent a little more time on film before hitting the floor to work on things. The Hawks have played every other day leading to Tuesday’s off-day, which did not afford them the luxury of a standard practice.
But to Snyder, everything is a practice.
“We hadn’t practiced in a little while,” Snyder said. “Film was longer. Because we’ve watched some tape and when I say we haven’t practiced, we haven’t had this type of practice. I would like to think of film as practice. I would like to think of shootaround as practice. I would like to think of pregame as practice. Like everything we do is practice. You know, so today was just a little longer of everything.”
The Hawks still have several days until they open the regular season Oct. 25 against the Hornets in Charlotte. So, they’ll look to continue fine-tuning their play before they tip off for real.
Through the exhibition season, the Hawks have rotated their starters in and out of lineups. On Monday, the team rested its backcourt tandem of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, as well as center Clint Capela.
The Hawks did see forward De’Andre Hunter make his exhibition debut after he missed the first three games with a bone bruise. Snyder had plenty of praise for Hunter’s return to the floor.
“I thought he was terrific,” Snyder said. “I told him it’s just you know, his habits, he just gave effort defensively he was making. You know, there’s a couple of times he came up out of the paint to go out and contest the shot. He could’ve easily just gone, ‘Aw I can’t get there.’ But he was trying to make an impact. ... You know, I don’t know what his line was, but I know he got to the free throw line a lot of times. And really, that meant he attacked the rim, and I thought he was really really good. It’s good to have him back.”
The Hawks have one more exhibition game to see what a full starting unit could look like. They return to the court Friday in Philadelphia to take on the 76ers.
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