The Hawks participated in their final public tune-up for the season last night with an open scrimmage at McEachern High School in Powder Springs, and the effort was there. Marvin Williams in particular looked impressive, scoring 20+ points in the scrimmage and providing several highlight-reel slams.

The crowd certainly got a kick out of the action, especially considering it was the first time they got to see Josh Smith on the McEachern court since he last played high school ball there in 2003.

Both open practices were a ton of fun, and for those that couldn't make it, put it on your mental calendar for next year.

The 2007-08 NBA season tips off tonight with three games. Man, the offseason flew by. Three days and counting until the Hawks opener against Dallas, and I am on pins and needles.

We have been debating back and forth over here what the preseason meant to the Hawks, who posted their best record (7-1) since 1983. In an effort to get more opinion on the subject, we tossed out the question of the importance of the exhibition season to several Hawks-related bloggers to get their thoughts. Check it out, we will definitely be doing this kind of feature throughout the season.

In the weekly podcast with Slam Magazine's Lang Whitaker yesterday (whose first column for the Hawks website will be posted tomorrow), we discussed the possibility that the Hawks played their starters so much in the preseason so they would be ready for the brutal stretch of games the team has to start the season. I don't know if that is the case, but it does make some sense - Atlanta can't afford to play their way into regular season shape given their schedule. They have to hit the ground running, and running fast.

In other news, our fantasy basketball league is up and running, as my team, Wilkins' Warriors, takes on Memphis for the season's first week and a half (we are playing a head-to-head format).

Wilkins' Warriors Season Opening Roster
PGs - Stephon Marbury, Mo Williams
SGs - Ray Allen, Peja Stojakovic, Daniel Gibson
SFs - Shawn Marion, Josh Howard
PFs - Kenyon Martin, Paul Millsap, Al Horford, Darko Milicic
Cs - Yao Ming, Andrew Bogut, Ike Diogu

I am pretty happy with my roster, though I have to admit, I got beaten to the punch on several players I wanted to draft. Also, I tried to draft Gerald Wallace in the third round, but somehow the applet took too long and I ended up with Ray Allen instead. I may try to trade him. You can see my roster to the right.

I like to be a wheeler dealer in most of my fantasy leagues, so expect this to change throughout the season.

I only have one Hawk as of now, Al Horford, but if I can get my hands on Josh Smith (unlikely) or Josh Childress (more likely), I'll be happy as they usually contribute across the board.

Enjoy the games tonight - our season is almost here!

Update: Here is a study from 82games.com that illustrates a potential correlation between preseason success and regular season success. This bodes well for the Hawks (7-1), and for the Magic (6-1) and Pacers (6-2) as well. (Thanks to Kevin Cott for the link)