Season Preview: Atlanta Hawks

Considering that John Hollinger has done in a day what I've been doing for the past week, I'm almost tempted to ask why I even bother. Then, I remember that he gets paid to do this stuff, and I would add, that I respectfully disagree with a lot of his rankings, though his reasoning makes sense, I suppose. I'll let you decide whose commentary you like better, but again, remember, Hollinger is the expert, me, I just like to think I know what I'm talking about, maybe I do.

Atlanta Hawks

Starting 5:
PG- Mike Bibby
SG- Joe Johnson
SF- Marvin Williams
PF- Josh Smith
C- Al Horford

Off the Bench
Guards: Speedy Claxton, Maurice Evans, Acie Law, Ronald Murray, Thomas Gardener
Forwards: Othello Hunter
Centers: Zaza Pachulia, Randolph Morris, Solomon Jones

The platoon of guards to replace Tyronne Lue and Anthony Johnson is pretty impressive, that is, assuming Speedy Claxton gets healthy again and Maurice Evans is once again somewhat serviceable. I like Flip Murray and I haven't quite given up on Acie Law yet, he just needs to see some floor time, which he hasn't. As I mentioned in Greg Boome's proposal to send Carter to Atlanta, I would love to see some coach like Adleman, D'Antoni, or Nelson coach the talent on the Hawks. That being said, it's not going to happen. So with the team as it is, less one Josh Childress and plus one Ronald Murray, we have in essence the team that pushed Boston to 7 games in the playoffs.

That being said, the Hawks do boast one of the more dynamic starting 5s, and one that I like a lot, in the league. Bibby is an experienced PG that can run an offense, while he may be past his prime, he's still a perimeter threat. Joe Johnson is a big guard that can shoot and drive and has very good ball handling abilities. Al Horford was a pleasant surprise last season, posting good defensive and rebounding numbers. Additionally, he's able to produce off the block fairly well as well. Josh Smith, the man's a beast. He's only 22, he's a monstrous weak side shot blocker and he's got hops. Marvin Williams, well he can score. Many people I think have a shaded perspective of Marvin Williams, especially since he was drafted before and now stands in the shadows of PG standouts Chris Paul and Deron Williams. However, take into mind that during that draft year, Joe Johnson had declared he would play the point guard position, so front office went with Williams (Marvin) and the Joe Johnson experiment failed. Anyways, Marvin Williams isn't really as bad as people make him out to be, whether or not he's a talent worthy of the 2nd overall selection remains to be seen, of course in light of Paul and Williams (Deron) most people will say no. However, Williams is developing quite nicely and is a legitimate scoring option.

The depth on this team is something of an issue. The primary reserves I see being Zaza Pachulia and Speedy Claxton, who are serviceable at best. Flip Murray and Maurice Evans have shown that they can be fairly reliable given minutes, but Solomon Jones and Othello Hunter? Excuse me, who? This is not a bench I'd go to in crunch time. Injuries aside, you always need a strong bench to add to any squad. Hopefully they figure out a rotation that works.

I don't anticipate significant improvement from last season honestly, and with the Eastern Conference that much better, I see them going like 37-45 and sliding out of the playoffs.