Zaccharie Risacher on his slow starts through four preseason games with Dallas: "I gotta do a better job and show up early in the game... The first half usually during those preseason games wasn't that good." Facing his former team, the Hawks, was "exciting."
After a camp of minor issues, Morez Johnson Jr. said he knocked off rust in Dallas's Oct. 16 game: "I didn't feel like I was in great rhythm ... but I'll get there soon." Used heavily at center, he said it feels like power forward since he still switches onto everyone.
At Dallas Mavericks shootaround, Daniel Gafford said his role under Dusty May is "a lot more flashes. I'm not necessarily setting too many ball screens," putting him in areas he's uncomfortable in. He's also working on 3-pointers, with May and teammates urging him to shoot.
Quin Snyder says the Hawks' starting five and rotation are still unsettled after adding Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins: "it's the course of the 48 minutes that's really important." On the Oct. 16 preseason finale, he named no one: "health can trump all that."