Now that the exhibition season has officially been rendered meaningless (in terms of wins and losses and what they mean), it’s time for us to move on to more pressing issues.

Who makes the playoffs… can the Heat win the title again…Michigan football … (Sorry, but I couldn’t resist that last one; 7-0 and rollin’ baby. My Wolverines are trouble for anybody looking for it, and that includes these SEC teams that everyone around these parts assume can’t be touched by anyone other than another SEC team.)

Actually, we’re still 16 days away from knowing all we need to know about these Hawks. The jury is still out on several fronts. Speedy Claxton still hasn’t played. We don’t know how well Josh Smith will fare at power forward night in and night out and we don’t even know if he and Marvin Williams will remain the starting twosome at forward. But let’s make a quick list of what we do as of right now:

1: These Hawks are much further along in the development process than the past two years. Even with their ugly showing in Little Rock, it should be clear to everyone that this team has a sharper focus (they rebounded Saturday night in impressive fashion, without Josh Smith).

2: Tyronn Lue’s knocked by many (I’m always arguing about people about this guy) but name another backup point guard who has filled in more admirably the past two years. Lue isn’t particularly flashy but he’s always there when the Hawks need him. Sure, he’s not 6-3 and unlike so many others, he’s well aware of what he can and cannot do, which makes him that much more effective.

3: Billy Knight’s decision to draft Josh Smith and Marvin Williams in successive years isn’t as easy to knock these days now that Williams is playing with the confidence that was lacking this time a year ago. No one has mentioned Chris Paul more than we have. But give it up to Marvin. He’s put in the work and appears to be on the cusp of big, big things.

4: All that said, there are going to be some tough choices to make in the next 12 months regarding which of these young guys are here for the long haul and which ones are moved to balance the roster. It’s an inevitable thing. No team can go on year after year with this type of imbalance. And the best value usually comes from a player you already have under contract, meaning the Hawks are going to have to part ways with one of their promising young talents (be reasonable here and understand that we’re not talking about a starter) to get one in return.

5: It’s time to get this thing started, and I mean the regular season. I’m tired of games not counting and long practices. The rhythm of the regular season is much easier to follow than the choppy nature of a preseason where games are spread from here to Paris.

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