Scheduls doesn't let up for a while yet. ---------

[Gray Mule]

:write a letter:

Schedule maker must have put in some deep thought into this schedule.

After tonight's game, we have 2 @ home.

After the second home game, we play the next night on the road,

the first of four straight away from Phillips Arena.

FINALLY:

Then, fron the 12th of December thru the end of the month, we have

eight in a row @ home.

Knowing our record away from home before this season, this would have

seemed a good way to bury the Hawks before they became a serious threat

to upset the balance of things. But, these Hawks are playing '500 on the

road and winning @ home. Hopefully, that will continue.

:conversation:

[HalfHawk]

:write a letter:

Schedule maker must have put in some deep thought into this schedule.

After tonight's game, we have 2 @ home.

After the second home game, we play the next night on the road,

the first of four straight away from Phillips Arena.

FINALLY:

Then, fron the 12th of December thru the end of the month, we have

eight in a row @ home.

Knowing our record away from home before this season, this would have

seemed a good way to bury the Hawks before they became a serious threat

to upset the balance of things. But, these Hawks are playing '500 on the

road and winning @ home. Hopefully, that will continue.

:conversation:

And with Josh Smith coming back... you bet this Hawks team will hold up!

[TheNorthCydeRises]

:write a letter:

Schedule maker must have put in some deep thought into this schedule.

After tonight's game, we have 2 @ home.

After the second home game, we play the next night on the road,

the first of four straight away from Phillips Arena.

FINALLY:

Then, fron the 12th of December thru the end of the month, we have

eight in a row @ home.

Knowing our record away from home before this season, this would have

seemed a good way to bury the Hawks before they became a serious threat

to upset the balance of things. But, these Hawks are playing '500 on the

road and winning @ home. Hopefully, that will continue.

:conversation:

My thoughts exactly GM. This schedule is ridiculous. It's almost like the NBA said . . "we, we can't have the Hawks doing well, so let's try to kill them right off the bat."

For us to be 10 - 6 right now, with Smoove out for the past 3 weeks and JJ being a little off recently, shows just how mentally tough this team and coaching staff is.

[Popeye]

My thoughts exactly GM. This schedule is ridiculous. It's almost like the NBA said . . "we, we can't have the Hawks doing well, so let's try to kill them right off the bat."

For us to be 10 - 6 right now, with Smoove out for the past 3 weeks and JJ being a little off recently, shows just how mentally tough this team and coaching staff is.

[DrReality]

The schedule is a cast iron b*tch, but given we've done pretty well to this point we have good things to look forward to. it will be nice to have the tough stretch behind us.

[DrReality]

Even though we have a number of these games on the road it looks reasonable that we stay at 500 or better with Smoove coming back.

December

12/03 vs Memphis, 7:00 PM ET6:00 PM CT5:00 PM MT4:00 PM PT12:00 AM GMT

12/05 vs New York, 7:30 PM ET6:30 PM CT5:30 PM MT4:30 PM PT12:30 AM GMT

12/06 at Dallas, 8:30 PM ET7:30 PM CT6:30 PM MT5:30 PM PT1:30 AM GMT

12/09 at Houston, 8:30 PM ET7:30 PM CT6:30 PM MT5:30 PM PT1:30 AM GMT

12/10 at San Antonio, 8:30 PM ET7:30 PM CT6:30 PM MT5:30 PM PT1:30 AM GMT

12/12 at Miami, 7:30 PM ET6:30 PM CT5:30 PM MT4:30 PM PT12:30 AM GMT

[gsuteke]

The schedule to end the season though is very favorable.

[DrReality]

Hawks home for the holidays

By SEKOU SMITH

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday, December 01, 2008

There is plenty to look forward to for the Hawks.

They survived a tough 16-game stretch to start the season 10-6, their best start in 10 years. Josh Smith will be back Wednesday after missing 12 games with an ankle sprain. They have a stretch of eight straight home games in December.

Enlarge this image

Rich Addicks/raddicks@ajc.com

Hawks coach Mike Woodson has lead the team to its best start for the franchise since the 1997-98 season.

How long will it take for Josh Smith's return to have a positive impact?

It will be immediate.

It will take 2-3 games.

Longer. These things take time.

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Still, there is a long way to go — especially when you consider the roller coaster first month of the season. The Hawks started 6-0 and then lost four straight.

The November record is the best start for the franchise since the 1997-98 season. And that’s with 10 of those first 16 games coming on the road, where the Hawks won just 12 times last season.

So it’s hard for Joe Johnson, the Hawks’ notoriously hard to satisfy captain and All-Star, to dismiss what’s gone on so far.

“We’re sitting in a decent position but it could be much better,” he said Monday after practice. “We’ve [threw] away a lot of games we should have won. But when we get [Josh Smith] back and we get everybody back healthy, we’re going to go on another run. I think the schedule works in our favor, but we’ve got to, and I stress this when I say it, take it one game at a time.”

That has to be hard to do with a December schedule that includes a stretch of eight straight home games starting Dec. 13 against Cleveland at Philips Arena. But the Hawks have both Johnson and coach Mike Woodson to take care of that.

“Anybody worried about something in the future has to be crazy,” Woodson said. “I’m focused on Memphis [Wednesday night at Philips Arena] and New York up next [Friday] after that. You do yourself a disservice in our league looking beyond what’s right in front of you.”

The Hawks have encountered early injuries. Smith has been out since Nov. 7 with a high ankle sprain. He’ll return against the Grizzlies. Al Horford missed a game with an ankle sprain. Johnson’s sprained toe on his right foot slowed him down. Still, the Hawks have stayed above the fray.

They were one of only five Eastern Conference teams to post double-digit wins in the first month and one of just 11 in the league overall.

“Obviously everything can’t go right for you,” Horford said. “If they could, we’d have avoided the injury stuff that has set us back. But the games that we’re supposed to take care of we have, for the most part.

“We don’t want to be in the position at the end of the season again where we’re looking back at the games we should have won. We don’t want to be in a situation at the end of the season where we’re stressing having to win this game and have somebody lose that game to make sure we reach our goals. We want to be in a good enough position where we don’t have to worry about that.”

Those games that seemed winnable but seldom were in years past haven’t been an issue this season. The Hawks survived trap games in Oklahoma City and Chicago the second week of the season and then rebounded from those four straight losses to subdue sub-.500 teams like Washington, Charlotte and Milwaukee at home. They also hung on to beat the Wizards again Saturday in Washington.

“Listen, we’re definitely in good shape,” Marvin Williams said. “Not great shape. But good shape. When you look at what kind of road team we were last year, anybody hearing the Hawks had 10 of the first 16 on the road would insist that’s not a good look. But we pulled though it.

“And we’ve got a big time month coming up here. We have to take care of our business here at home this week before we go back out on the road next week in Texas and Miami and then we come back home and see what kind of noise we can make. So I’ll say it again, we’re in good shape.”