"Going down the list of Hawks players who should benefit from the team's fresh offensive approach, coach Larry Drew's thoughts lingered on forward Marvin Williams. "It certainly seems Marvin is starting to find his niche again," Drew said before the Hawks played host to Memphis in their exhibition opener Thursday at Philips Arena. "We'll know tonight." The Hawks really won't know about Williams or much else until the games count. But Williams hinted at his potential in Drew's scheme during the team's 115-111 loss. Williams scored 18 points while making five of 10 shots and six of seven free throws. It was a noteworthy performance for Williams, who often got lost in the shuffle of Atlanta's isolation-heavy offense in past seasons. "I love it," Williams said of the offense. "I know where my shots are going to come from every night. That's every player on this team." Williams didn't always aggressively look for his shot then. In Drew's system, ball movement and multiple screens mean Williams simply has to keep moving to find space. But with the game tied in the final seconds of regulation time it was rookie Jordan Crawford who took the last shot. Crawford rebounded Darrel Arthur's miss with 9.9 seconds to go and slowly dribbled the ball up court as the Hawks' bench and nervous fans screamed at him to hurry. Crawford didn't look to pass before pulling up for a long jump shot that hit the front of the rim." Read more: http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-hawks/hawks-lose-exhibition-debut-667911.html
