Another season of Hawks basketball is about to tip off, folks. The Hawks will be taking on the Indiana Pacers tomorrow. Indiana is a team the Hawks used to gear up for when both teams played in the Central division, but since the Hawks moved out of that division and Reggie Miller left Indiana, things change. But, hey, a game is a game.

The Hawks enter the season with not much changing as far as the starting lineup is concerned. The starting five are all back: PG Mike Bibby, SG Joe Johnson, SF Marvin Williams, PF Josh Smith and C Al Horford. The big change is on the bench. Gone are Speedy Claxton, Acie Law IV and Mario West. Say hello to G/F Jamal Crawford who averaged 19.7 ppg with Golden State and the Knicks last season, F/C Joe Smith (6.6 ppg last year) and draft pick Jeff Teague from Wake Forest.

With the versatility of Crawford, Woodson can either put him at point and give Bibby a rest or bring him in at one of the forward positions giving some rest to the other starters. Maybe now Coach Woodson will be able to go deeper in his rotation of players.

So, what does this mean for the season, you ask? Boston and Cleveland, like the Hawks, have made their benches stronger. So, they will be a force once again in the East. In our division, Orlando is once again the team to beat, Washington is finally healthy, Miami had a boring offseason (i.e. didn’t do much) and Charlotte will be better but will still bring up the rear.

I see a chance for the entire Southeast division making the playoffs, with the exception of Charlotte, and the Hawks once again being in the middle of the conference (4 or 5 seed).

This could be a great year for the Hawks. Let’s go out and support this team, Atlanta!