Atlanta Hawks Seeking Growth, Winning 'Tude

No team was more overjoyed to reach the NBA Playoffs than the Atlanta Hawks in 2007-08. After all, being missing from playoff action since the days of Dikembe Mutombo and Christian Laettner in 1999 is nothing to be to proud about, but the Hawks managed to pull it in. The eventual maturation of the team's young forwards and the acquisition of Mike Bibby at point guard made things right, but the defection of key swingman Josh Childress to Greece and the poor ownership situation, as well as a lack of upgrading the roster as a whole may hand-tie the Hawks into a mediocre situation for 2009.

The good thing about Bibby being the starting point guard? He's Mike Bibby, which means that he is adept at shooting and passing, and he has experience in taking a team deep into the playoffs. Speaking of point guards, Craig "Speedy" Claxton is back from a string of knee injuries that threaten to make him retire, and journeyman guard Ronald "Flip" Murray is going to have an opportunity to steal some quality PG minutes away from Bibby as a reserve, though an obvious successor for the starter's position is Acie Law, a ballsy point guard that resembles a true point guard version of Eddie House (who plays for the Boston Celtics).

Joe Johnson will man the shooting guard spot, as a starter no doubt, and while Childress became a valued backup 2-guard, the Hawks answered by signing talented swingman Maurice Evans away from the Orlando Magic, and he may actually fill in just as well as the former Afro-ed guard/forward did. Another plus is that Murray is equally able to play effectively at off-guard as well, giving Atlanta a very solid guard group.

The frontcourt is basically a collection of versatile forwards, able to play each other's positions at any and all times. Josh Smith being the dynamic player of the entire bunch is the default starting power forward, since the true power forward of the bunch is the extremely talented Al Horford, whose presence is desperately needed in the middle at center (even though he's much more effective as a 4). Marvin Williams, a combo forward who was the No. 2 pick in the 2005 Draft, is the de facto starting small forward and has gone through many exhaustive levels of growing pains, and he is shaping up to be a complete player in the Antawn Jamison mold. If not for the apparent talent of the aforementioned trio of forwards, Zaur "Zaza" Pachulia would be a likely starter at either power forward or center. Pachulia is joined in a reserve capacity by Smith's former high school AAU teammate Randolph Morris, Solomon Jones and Ohio State rookie Othello Hunter, who was a key member of the Buckeyes' 2007 Final Four team.

Along with a hosts of other projects at all other positions, Atlanta has another decent chance to make the playoffs and build off of their success from the 2008 season. Eventually, though, the Hawks will have to upgrade their roster sometime in the season to really take off amidst an Eastern Conference resurgence of winning teams.