by Aj Brady

Created on: April 27, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

After a string of poor seasons from the Atlanta Hawks, season 2007-08 began promisingly for the National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise.

With the third pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Hawks selected University of Florida NCAA championship power forward Al Horford, as well as Acie Law IV with pick number 11.

The Hawks won their season opener for the first time in almost a decade, but after that, they struggled somewhat, finishing with a 6-9 win-loss record for November.

However, in December, the Hawks seemed to jell a lot more as a team, going 9-4 for the month, and things were looking much brighter for the team who hadn't made the NBA playoffs since 1999.

In January, controversy ensued when the NBA granted the first appeal of a protested game in 25 years. The Miami Heat protested a scoring error during their December loss to Atlanta.

Due to a communications error, the official scorer for Atlanta had wrongly recorded a sixth foul on Heat center Shaquille O'Neal with just over 50 seconds remaining in overtime, thus sending O'Neal to the bench for the rest of the game.

The Hawks were controversially stripped of their overtime victory, however the final 50 seconds were replayed in March, and the Hawks ended up winning by three points.

The month of January, as a whole, turned out to be disastrous for the Atlanta franchise, twice losing four consecutive games, and going 4-11 for the month.

At the completion of the month, the Hawks were 19-24, and again staring down the barrel of another barren post-season.

During February, it seemed even more certain Atlanta would miss the playoffs yet again, as they dropped six games in a row, mostly against high-class teams from the western conference.

In mid-February, the Hawks made a major trade, trading a number of players to Sacramento for point guard Mike Bibby. Their intentions for making the playoffs here and now were showing up loud and clear.

When they dropped their opening four games of March, and had a season record of 25-36, most pundits had consigned Atlanta to also-ran status for season 2007-08.

However, for the remainder of the month, Atlanta showed true grit and determination, and went 9-4, improving their record to 34-40 for the season, and allowing a glimmer of hope in for some playoffs action.

Splitting their first five games of April saw them with a 37-42 record midway through the month, and as luck would have it, it seemed enough to get them a playoffs berth.

The Hawks dropped their final three games of the season, however with a season win-loss record of 37-45, it turned out to be enough for the Atlanta franchise to see playoffs action for the first time in nearly a decade.

The Hawks finished third in the Southeast Division, and were seeded eight in the Eastern conference playoffs, and drew the almighty Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.

So far in that series, as expected, they've been smashed in the first two games in Boston, and head into their home series with their backs against the wall.

Despite being quite fortunate to make the playoffs this season, there's a lot to like about Atlanta for the future.

Horford's rookie season was excellent, and with Bibby, Marvin Williams, Joe Johnson and Josh Smith helping out, the future appears bright for the Hawks.

Another off-season of continual jelling and development as a team should them become a staple in playoffs action during the next few seasons, I expect.

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