The Atlanta Hawks hope to have Williams and Horford take their game to the next level

The Atlanta Hawks finally got past the first round of the playoffs and ended their 10-year drought of no second round action last season.

For the second straight postseason the Hawks had an exciting seven-game first round series. Only this time they won.

They were able to knock out the Miami Heat with a 91-78 game seven victory. However, their celebration was short-lived.

In the second round, the Hawks ran into LeBron JamesLeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers. It was not a pretty series. The Hawks lost by an average of 15.5 points in their four games against the Cavs.

In game two the Cavaliers handed the Hawks their worse loss of the series with a 20-point victory. Game two was actually when Atlanta scored their series best 85 points.

In games one and four the Hawks barely scored in the 70s, and had 82 points in a 15-point loss in game three.

What was their reason for a lack of scoring? While Joe Johnson was trying to create scoring opportunities, his teammates just stood still and watched him. If Johnson gave the ball up, his teammates looked to get the ball right back in his hands. Only problem, they continued to just stand and watch him.

There was zero offense. All Cleveland had to do was clamp down on Johnson, force him to give the ball up, and wait for the Hawks to give him the ball right back. As the 2009-2010 is getting ready to begin, the Hawks feel they have a solution to give Johnson more support on the offensive end.

Their solutions are center Al HorfordAl Horford and small forward Marvin Williams.

The five-year veteran Marvin Williams has averaged 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, along with starting in 209 of the 284 game’s he has played with Atlanta. These numbers are why head coach Mike WoodsonMike Woodson feels Williams can bring more to the team this season.

“Marvin’s come in every year since his rookie year in great shape and he’s been really consistent,” Woodson said. “He can put the ball on the floor and draw fouls. He added the 3-point shot to his game last season and I think it pushed his game to another level. Now, he has to take another step.”

Last season Williams’ coming out party happened in early February. The Hawks were without superstar Johnson during a two-game road stretch and needed someone to step up their play in his absence. Williams answered the call.

He responded with back-to-back games with 23 points and 10 rebounds while beating Minnesota, and just two nights later, had a game-high 29 points and 7 rebounds in a win over Charlotte.

Unfortunately, Williams would miss the final 16 regular season games with a lower back injury, stopping his momentum and cutting short his best season as a pro.

Since the end of the playoffs, Williams has taken time to recovery from his injury and improve on his overall game.

“I think the guys that are most difficult to guard in this league are guys that can do everything, as far as posting up, shooting the ball, handling the ball and really just scoring the ball,” Williams said. “I worked hard on all aspects of my game this summer. That’s why I’m so excited about this season.”

Williams is not the only Hawk that Coach Woodson would like to see be more aggressive on the offensive end. The man in the middle, Al Horford, has also been challenged by his head coach.

“I know one thing,” Woodson said. “I have to get him more touches to the point where he’s more of a threat. If we can get Al at least about 12 or 13 points and double digit rebounds, then we’re talking.”

During this summer Horford has spent more of his concentration on improving at the offensive end than he has in the past. He no longer views himself as a just a situational post scorer, but as a featured performer for Atlanta.

“I think I’ve got to get after it a little more,” Horford said. “A lot of times I’ve been focusing on holding it down in the post for our team that I haven’t focused as much on offense.”

In order to fulfill his coach’s desires and help create more opportunities for the Hawks’ center, Horford has added a 17-foot jump shot, and has worked on his foot-work in the post to add more quick and explosive moves near the basket.

“He’s going to be fine,” Woodson said. “Defending and rebounding he does it all. Offensively, he has to get a little better. But he’s got all the tools to work with. So that’s where we come in as coaches. We have to help make that happen.”