Today we continue the series with third-year F Marvin Williams. How do you think these players will do? Leave your answers in the comments!

Marvin Williams

2007 Stats: 13.1 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 82% FT

2007 Highlights: A year ago, Marvin was coming off an MVP performance in summer league and everyone was looking forward to seeing how he would perform in his second season in the league. But, fate had other plans, and a broken finger sidelined him for the season's first 17 games. It took a little while for Marvin to work himself back into game shape, but once he got it going he had several good games. For my money, his best performance was the 23 points he dropped on Chicago in the Hawks excruciating 106-104 loss on Dec. 16. It was only his sixth game back, but Marvin showed off the promise Atlanta fans had been waiting for as he hit several big shots in the second half to keep the Hawks in the lead (one which they would ultimately blow in overtime, sadly). Other good efforts were 24 and 7 in a 98-85 loss to Washington on Apr. 13, and 23 points on 10-15 shooting in the season-ending win over Indiana.

What he needs to work on this summer: Marvin may have the prettiest looking shot on the team (Joe and Salim included), and he is already one of the best mid-range shooters in the league. The key for him for the future is extending his range further out to make himself a 3-point threat. Last season he made only 25% (13-53) of his attempts from beyond the arc, which in this writer's opinion is not only too low a percentage but also way too few attempts. Once Marvin adds more strength, I feel certain he'll improve in this category. 

Click here to see Marvin's video highlights!

Outlook for 2007-08: If Josh Smith is the hyper-aggressive type, making mistakes because he is constantly pressing the action, then Marvin is his exact opposite. Marv keeps mistakes to a minimum on the court, which is a good thing for the most part. But, as the saying goes, sometimes you have to break a few eggs to make an omelet. Marvin needs to show more aggressiveness in his third season, and if it leads to a few more miscues I think it is something the team can live with if it means having him dictate the action more often.

Since Joe Johnson and Josh Smith appear somewhat firmly cemented in the #1 and #2 roles on offense, Marvin has a chance to really capitalize on a lack of attention from opposing defenses and make teams pay with his shooting ability. If he starts out hot, other teams will have to start rethinking their defensive priorities, and any time you can create indecision on the part of your opponent you can do some real damage.

What do you think?

If you've been reading Sekou Smith's articles in the AJC lately, you know he has been checking in with some of the Hawks during the offseason to see what they have been up to (so far he's interviewed Josh Smith and Josh Childress). It's interesting reading for sure, so make sure to check it out.

Both the Joshes have been busy this summer, but they aren't the only Hawks who've been traveling around. Marvin Williams is currently in Hong Kong as part of NBA Madness, an offshoot of the popular Basketball Without Borders program the NBA does during the summer.

From the press release:

"NBA Madness Hong Kong tipped off today with an opening ceremony took place at Citiplaza in Tai Koo Shing, Hong Kong.

Joined by local celebrities Bosco Wong and Charles Szeto, the opening ceremony started with the energetic dance performance of Silver Dancers from the 2007 NBA Champion San Antonio Spurs. The 2 celebrities also had a great time learning some NBA dance steps from the Silver Dancers. Thunder from the Golden State Warriors also staged a dunking show with the two celebrities.

Marvin Williams, a rising star of the Atlanta Hawks, received warm welcome by fans at Citiplaza while he encourages the NBA fans to join him in NBA Madness for the rest of the week. He also shared his experience in the NBA with the fans. DHL once again delivered the Larry O'Brien Trophy to the NBA Madness venue and the trophy was unveiled publicly for the first time in Hong Kong by Marvin. After the ceremony, Marvin played the free throw conga with the two celebrities and a top HKBA player and he knocked them all out!"

Marvin talks to the press at NBA Madness

Posing with the Spurs Silver Dancers and Thunder, the Warriors mascot

 

Well, I suppose a valedictory of the season is warranted before we truly move on to the business at hand of figuring out just where the ping-pong balls are going to put us for the NBA Draft.

I look at the past season as a four-act play.

Act One - Hangin In:
This comprised most of the first quarter of the season, where we battled through injuries (a recurring theme) to stand 8-9 after an improbable 98-96 win at Denver on December 6. Things were looking up - we were set to get Marvin Williams back from his broken finger, Joe Johnson was one of the leading scorers in the NBA, and Tyronn Lue was playing the best basketball of his career.

Act Two - Die Hard:
It began the next game out, as JJ hurt his calf against the Lakers and things started to trend in the wrong direction. The tipping point came in two games, as the Hawks failed to hold onto two late-game leads (including a 21-point fourth quarter spread) against the Bulls and Jazz. Those losses were devastating. I don't think I've ever felt two losses affect my physical well-being as those games did, and I just work on the website. You can imagine what it did to the team's confidence.

At this point, a perfect storm of circumstances caused the season to spiral downward at an almost dizzying pace. T-Lue hurt his groin. Josh Smith had to have surgery for a hernia. Speedy continued to deal with knee problems that limited his effectivess. Joe's calf. Marvin's finger. Shelden's shoulder. Childress's foot. It went on and on, and all while the team dealt with a brutal schedule that saw the team face seven playoff teams in eight games (with the eighth being Indiana, a team that was comfortably in the playoff picture at that point).

Predictably, the team lost all eight games, and now, sitting at 9-21, hope appeared lost.

Act Three - The Resurrection:
A surprising thing happened at that point. Act Three saw the team begin to play better, starting with an 86-74 home win over the Clippers on January 6. Despite a few bad losses (including consecutive blowouts to Charlotte on back-to-back nights), the Hawks strung together some impressive wins, including a home victory over Detroit, on the road at Minnesota, and home-and-away wins against Orlando to take the season series. The Hawks finished January with a winning record, the first time the team had achieved such a feat over a full month since a 9-7 March back in 2002. February started off well too - the team won three of four on a West Coast road trip going into the All-Star break (including an all-but-inconceivable win at Phoenix), and things were looking up. Even with all the injuries and the big losing streak, the team was just a few games out of a playoff spot to start the second half and to top it off, Joe made the Eastern Conference All-Star team (yeah yeah, I know it was as a replacement, but we all know he was deserving, so shut it).

Unfortunately, that led to:

Act Four - the Deluge:
Another brutal stretch of scheduling (at Chicago, home to Houston, Phoenix, and San Antonio, and at Dallas), saw the team fall further back, and then the bottom dropped out when Joe Johnson was lost for the season after suffering a calf injury at Miami on March 5. The team responded well at first, winning four straight, but eventually the loss of their best player was too much to overcome. Further injuries continued to compound the problem, and soon the playoffs faded from sight. Fans began rooting for the team to lose (Commies) to protect the draft pick that heads to Phoenix if not in the top three, and the team obliged, albeit unwillingly.

There were positives even in the free fall, as Josh Smith continued to show off the game that leads many to predict All-Star game appearances in his future, and both Marvin and Shelden Williams had strong finishes with increased playing time.

Now, as we get ready to begin working on the script for 2007-08, it's time to say thanks to all the fans who stuck with the team through a true roller-coaster of a season. It was great at times and excruciating at times, but hopefully in the end the team takes with them the necessary lessons to build towards tomorrow.

Despite the season's finish, I find myself very optimistic about the future. Yes, we finished with the 4th worst record in the league. But I refuse to believe we couldn't have competed for a playoff spot, if not earned one outright, if we had ever gotten the chance to play with a full deck. We didn't and that's on us - every team deals with injuries, so you can't play the poor me card too much. But I'm not ready to give up on this roster, and I think we are set up to make some interesting moves this summer to improve.

So again - thanks to all the fans for your support this season. Good times are around the corner, I can feel it. Stick with us.

The 2006-07 season has come to a close. It's crazy - it feels like it just started. I can't believe it's over.

We went out on a positive note, beating down the Pacers 118-102 to finish the season with an even 30 wins against 52 losses.

I will get more in depth in the coming weeks, breaking down the players and everything, but for now I will just say that I think that everyone is disappointed in how the season ended (despite last night's victory), but that every player I talked to is determined to do what it takes over the summer to do better in 07-08.

Today was the day they cleared out the lockers for the summer and had their exit interviews with Coach Woodson.

It was personally sad for me, as it may have been the last time I see Royal Ivey, who I have watched since he was a freshman at Texas, and who is an unrestricted free agent going into the off-season.

I spoke to Marvin Williams and Josh Childress about the season and their summer plans. Marvin is headed back to Chapel Hill for summer school, while Childress is heading to South Africa to participate in Basketball Without Borders for the second straight summer.

I also did one final episode of The Show With The Show with Tyronn Lue. T-Lue is a huge NBA fan, so he will be in the audience at several playoff games over the next few weeks. His picks for the finals? Dallas and Detroit.

As I said, I will have more recap of the season in the coming weeks, but for now, here are some pics from the morning:

Solo and Video Coordinator John Beckett on the phone. They may have been talking to each other

Zaza Pachulia gets interviewed by a member of the Georgian media (the Republic, not the state)

Sekou Smith talks to Josh Childress about his summer plans

Chills and Solo clean out their lockers

 

The Hawks held their annual Spring charity event on Saturday night, the aptly-titled "Hawks Bowl-n-Ball" at Ten Pin Alley at Atlantic Station. It was a fun time for all who were there, as fans got to meet and mingle with all of the Hawks players, coaches, and front-office staff during a night of bowling, pool, and cards, all in the name of raising money for the Hawks Foundation. Here are some pictures from the evening, courtesy of Colby Kidd.

I don't know if all NBA players are like this, but the Hawks love to bowl. Many of them own their own balls, and Marvin (pictured right) apparently routinely breaks 200. I am definitely recruiting him to join my league the next time I play.

Happy Monday morning out there Hawks fans! Ok, I'm not really that chipper a person, but just trying to get this week started on the right foot. Tough loss last night to the Suns at Philips, but all in all, it wasn't a bad weekend for the Hawks. The team got a big win Friday against the Rockets, winning a close game against a very good team and gaining a crucial victory during this brutal stretch. As I said last week, I honestly feel like if we could go 1-3 against the West on the home stand and then grab another 1-3 on this upcoming three-game road trip, then we are still alive.

the Houston win. What I liked the most about this game was how the Hawks never built a big lead or let Houston take one. It's rare, especially for a young team like Atlanta, to see us play so consistently for 48 minutes. It's no surprise to see us getting ahead or behind by double digits (and then losing that lead or coming back) because of how prone we are to streaks. Yet Friday we managed to beat the Rockets, a terrific team and potential title contender if they get Yao back healthy, without ever leading by more than five or six until free throws late in the game.

Sunday against Phoenix...what can you say? The Suns are one of the two teams considered most likely to take home the title this season, and the Hawks gave them all they could handle the entire game. Twice, the Hawks rebounded to take the lead when trailing by 13+ points, which is something to be proud of. We didn't win the game, and we couldn't stop Amare Stoudemire (man, that guy is ridiculous), but I am happy about the way the guys battled back and never let it get out of hand, even though it appeared it might at several different junctures.

What can you say about the Suns? They are 13-0 on the road against the East, and if they beat Indy on Tuesday and Philly on Wednesday, they will become the first team in NBA history to win all their road games against the opposing conference. So, all things considered, it sucks that we lost, but clearly Phoenix is on a serious roll this year - at least we got a split!

Moving on, lets give out a couple of extra kudos for individual efforts. First of all, welcome to the family, Anthony Johnson. AJ had 17 points in his Hawks debut, including three-of-four from long-range. I don't expect to see that every single night, but clearly performances like that one will warm the Hawks community to him very quickly.

Also, props to Marvin Williams, who put up big numbers in both games over the weekend, popping for 20 against the Rockets and 23 more (with 10 boards) against Phoenix. Included in that 23 was a ridiculous moonbeam from behind the rim at the third-period buzzer, the kind of shot you take in HORSE but rarely ever see in game action. Marv hit a career-high 10 fgs against Phoenix - now if we can just get him to take like one big step back and turn those long twos into threes, then you'll see his scoring average jump significantly!

Here are some photos from the weekend for your viewing pleasure, courtesy as always of Hawks ace photographer Scott Cunningham.