The Hawks were just one game away last season from being the "Cinderella Team", when they took the future champions Celtics to a 7th game in the first round of the playoffs, something amazing, as the Hawks finished the regular season with almost less 30 wins than the Celtics and they had been swept by Boston in the season series. So naturally it is expected that Atlanta can be more competitive this season and all the unexpected spotlight they had in the playoffs make their expectations to be a place in the playoffs once again and not being just a team with potential but no pressure, like they were last season.

The offseason was a busy one in Atlanta, with Josh Smith taking a lot of time to re-sign and Josh Childress leaving the team for a more profitable contract in Europe. The starting five of the team this season will be the one from last season's playoffs and the Hawks will need to improve even more this season, as they won't make the playoffs this season if they repeat the 37-45 record they had last season.

Joe Johnson is the leader of the team and he is the player who gets the ball in the clutch moments. He had 21.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg and 5.8 apg last season and he will need to continue at the same level this season if the Hawks want to be competitive. With the arrival of Mike Bibby, Joe Johnson could finally be a true SG without having to command the offense of the team. Bibby, on the 33 games he played last season for the Hawks, had 6.5 apg and he was the weapon on the perimeter the team was lacking before his arrival. With Bibby commanding the offense of the team, Acie Law won't have the pressure he had sometimes last season, when he was a starter in some games. He didn't have a good rookie season, but now he can learn with Bibby and improve his game this season.

The Johnson-Bibby duo will be complemented by one of the youngest frontcourts of the league: Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Horford. All of them are coming from better than expected seasons. Josh Smith has confirmed himself as one of the best all-around players on the league with 17.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.5 stl and 2.8 bpg! Many of last season's highlights included Smith's blocks and the truth is that Smith managed to progress from a young talented player to a super star. The same can be said from Marvin Williams. I remember he was the 2nd choice on the draft in front of... Chris Paul and Deron Williams! However, after a poor rookie season, he has improved and achieved career records on points per game, %FG and rebounds per game. I expect Marvin to continue improving, as talent is something he doesn't lack at all. The case of Al Horford is much different, as we are talking about a rookie who had an immediate impact in the league. Even though, Kevin Durant had all the credits last season, the truth is that Horford was the most consistent rookie during the whole season. He almost averaged a double double (10.1 ppg and 9.7 rpg) and shot 49.9% FG. The Hawks have now a player for the next decade, who will guarantee double doubles to the team on an easy way and together with Smith and Williams (the oldest of these three players is just 23 years old) gives Atlanta a frontcourt with unlimited potential.

This starting five has conditions to make a good job, but it will be necessary for the team to have a good bench, in order to be competitive. Even though they lost Childress in this offseason, the truth is that GM Rick Sund made an excellent work and added to the roster some experienced players, who will also be very useful for this season. To replace Childress as the team's 6th man, the Hawks got Mo Evans from the Magic, who is coming from his best season as a Magic, with 8.9 ppg and 48.1% FG. His physical presence and shooting ability from the perimeter makes him an interesting player. The guard Flip Murray has also joined the team from Indiana, where he was a starter at the end of last season. He is an experienced player and besides being useful to rest Johnson and Bibby, he will also be an extra offensive threat (averaged 9.4 ppg last season).

The team maintains almost the same structure from last season. Mike Woodson has all the conditions to continue the growing of the Hawks, who won just 13 games four seasons ago. The Hawks solved the Childress problem very well by hiring some veteran player, who add depth to the team, knowing that they need to improve this season if they want to reach the playoffs once again. Even though it will be hard, the Hawks have chances to reach that goal once again.

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