<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Mike Woodson's first Hawks team was a mixed cast of characters, including veterans and four rookies, a group of players who had been assembled on the fly in the months just before the season began. Last year, the Hawks added numerous new faces and even more youngsters to comprise what ended up being one of the youngest teams, if not the youngest, in league history. With so much change, there was little time to develop the chemistry that they've tried to cultivate since the end of last season. That's what has made the third edition so pleasantly surprising for the Hawks' third-year coach. Sure, there are four new faces. But Speedy Claxton and Lorenzen Wright are seasoned veterans. And rookies Shelden Williams and Solomon Jones played four years of college basketball. Melding the personalities this time around has been much easier than in the two seasons past, Woodson said. "I think chemistry plays a major role when you're building a team. That's with anything you do," he said. "You've got to have good chemistry. My first year, we just didn't have the chemistry. Last year we had pretty good chemistry, but we got off to a rocky start, and it just shattered whatever life we had.</div> Read The Rest.
