<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span class="body"> Hawks forward Marvin Williams was in the zone this time a year ago.</p> He came to training camp off of a summer-league experience that saw him named the Most Valuable Player at the Rocky Mountain Revue.</p> He was playing the best basketball of his life. He was strong as he had ever been. His confidence was soaring.</p> And in a split second, and the crack of a bone in his left hand, all that flow came to an abrupt end.</p> That broken finger cost Williams the first 17 games of the season — and the swagger that he is slowly getting back now. And while he isn't all the way back to the confident, attacking small forward he was, Williams is getting closer.</p> "I saw glimpses of the old Marvin in the second half [of Monday night's win over Orlando], and I expect to see him from here on out," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said before his team's 106-100 overtime win over Miami at AmericanAirlines Arena on Wednesday night, their second consecutive exhibition season win.</p> "It's so unfortunate for Marvin that his injury happened the way it did last year because when you're at the same stage of development he is right now, every little boost of confidence helps."</p> Williams might have the toughest assignment of any Hawks player this season while working mostly at small forward. Not only do the Hawks need him to be a competent defender at one of the league's toughest positions, they also need him to be able to go back on offense and score 15-18 points a night, every night.</p> That's why this exhibition season is so important to Williams, who finished with 17 points and six rebounds Wednesday night. He knows he has to make up for lost time.</p> "Some people might not take it as serious," he said. "Every second out there for us is a learning experience and a confidence booster. You just want to win as many battles as you can and roll some of that confidence into opening night [of the regular season] against Dallas and then carry it on from there. But every second matters to me. Every second."</div></p> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</p> </span></p>
