Marvin Williams was considered the most promising player in the 2005 draft, and if he hasn't had —- sorry for broaching this, yet again —- the galvanic NBA impact of a Chris Paul, it's nonetheless true that Williams averages 15.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. And he's now the fifth-best starter among Hawks.

You could —- yes, this again —- stock a playoff roster with the guys Billy Knight hasn't drafted, but the greater point is that Knight has, at excruciating last, built a playoff roster for his team. Not many teams can boast five starters of this eminence:

> Al Horford, the third player picked in 2007.

> Williams, the second player picked in 2005.

> Josh Smith, the 17th player picked in 2004.

> Joe Johnson, the 10th player picked in 2001.

> Mike Bibby, the second player picked in 1998.

Asked Wednesday what he saw when he watched tape of the Hawks, Reggie Theus —- Bibby's coach with Sacramento and briefly a Hawk himself —- said this: "I see a very athletic team, a very dangerous team. When they get it going, they can cause a lot of problems ... They could be a very exciting team in the long run."

Here's the thing, though. The long run starts this minute. The Hawks awoke Wednesday 10 games under .500, which should never have happened. But now they've seen their last excuse shredded —- the Hawks have a point guard! —- and these next two months cannot be two months more of false starts and broken promises.

They could and should make the playoffs. They could and should become a rising force in the thin-gruel East. Then again, they could and should have done that already.

The trade with Sacramento has been characterized as Bibby's chance to land with a playoff team, but the cold truth is that the Kings have a better record in a more difficult conference. The Kings do not, however, have better players. A lot of teams with better records have worse players than the Hawks, especially now.

Asked before his first home game in Philips Arena if his new team has the wherewithal to qualify for the postseason for the first time this century, Bibby said: "I think it does. We've just got to get on the same page. We've only had five games, and it's still tough —- we've only had one practice. But it will come."

Asked the same question, Johnson said: "We do, but it depends on how bad we want it."

It's a cliche, sure, but it's one of those cliches that has the benefit of being true. In calendar year 2008 the Hawks too often have played like a team that didn't know how to win. Bibby could change that. He knows what he's doing. He knows because he has done it.

And if you want to know if he, at the ancient age of 29, has anything left ... yeah, he does. He showed that against the Kings, scoring 24 points and making 12 assists and steering the Hawks to their highest-scoring quarter of the season in his first quarter as a Hawk in Philips. (And Williams, who was ill, didn't participate.)

To watch this team swooping and slashing and stacking 40 points on Sacramento in 12 minutes was to wonder if this is how it will be, and if it is there's no doubt this team will be playing beyond its 82nd game. But what got the Hawks 10 games below .500 was the bizarre inability to consolidate a single gain. This powerful effort —- the Hawks won 123-117 —- cannot be a one-night or a one-month thing. This must be sustained.

Said Josh Childress, who scored 25 points and who's yet another lottery pick (sixth overall in 2004): "We have to make it a goal and commit to getting a win by whatever means necessary."

Sure, that notion could and should have taken hold long ago. But there's still time, just, for this to work. There's no longer any reason for these Hawks to stink.

mbradley@ajc.com