2012 Hawks preseason: Atlanta aims to build inside presence with Horford, Smith, Pachulia

With Josh Smith, Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia working down low, the revamped Atlanta Hawks offense will still get strong post looks in the 2012-13 season, players and coaches told reporters after the opening of training camp.

Without the traded Joe Johnson, much has been made of a more up-tempo Hawks offense for the coming season, but Atlanta coach Larry Drew was sure to mention that establishing a presence in the blocks was key to winning.

"Our game, obviously, is going to be in the open floor and in transition," Drew told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "But still we have to establish ourselves in the low post and force teams to have to defend us down there, force teams to double team us down there."

Horford couldn't agree with his coach more, saying the Hawks could not simply rely on the outside shot and that the team was addressing post play in camp.

"You need to have an inside presence," Horford told the AJC. "You can't just sit around and shoot jumpers all day. We have to have a paint presence."