ESPN.com: Marc Stein Believes; John Hollinger Is Tempered

In the inaugural edition of his 2009-10 NBA power rankings Marc Stein positions himself unequivocally in the zone of positivity regarding the Hawks, ranking them 9th and offering the following appraisal: The Hawks are going to be better. They haven't improved enough to worry the elites, but keeping Bibby, Pachulia and Marvin Williams and adding Jamal Crawford and Joe Smith seals them as No. 4 in the East.John Hollinger's outlook is similar to that which I've advanced this summer: 44 wins and 4th in the East: The Hawks bring back the same team that won 47 games a year ago, with a few upgrades: Teague offers a vast improvement over the departed Law as a fourth guard, and Joe Smith provides a fourth big man that simply didn't exist a year ago.On paper, all that should make the Hawks a better team than a year ago, but not so fast. Crawford is a better player than Murray if you're comparing careers, but he'll be hard-pressed to match the season Murray put together...