Can the Hawks ditch their new uniforms and permanently go with the old-school "Pac-Man" uniforms like they did against the Suns? I forgot how much I liked those. But I have to be honest - the reason for my positive opinion could be solely due to association because, during those years, we had a winning ball club led by the Human Highlight Film, the one and only 'Nique.
Speaking of Pac-Man, how about this story.

Can someone please explain to me why anyone in their right mind would walk into a strip club in Las Vegas on All-Star Weekend with $81,000 in one dollar bills with the intention of creating a "cash-rain" effect? Who came up with this brilliant idea? Does he have a team of trusted advisors led by Stephen Jackson, Jamaal Tinsley and Charlie Sheen? Congrats Pac-Man - your "generosity" not only cost you $81,000, but probably several million dollars after legal fees and potential expulsion from the NFL.

Fortunately, for every mindless athlete, there's a classy veteran, one of which the Hawks acquired this past week. Welcome back Anthony Johnson. He must feel like he never left after putting on the retro uniform in his debut against the Suns. It's nice to see the Hawks make a move and add another veteran to the roster. Hopefully, Lorenzen Wright and AJ can teach these young Hawks a thing or two about being team players, winning and staying out of trouble like Mr. Pac-Man.

With the possibility of sounding disloyal, I have to admit that I'm jealous of Pheonix fans. There - I said it. I'm sorry. But imagine being guaranteed 41 home games (and double-digit playoff games), in most of which Nash, Amare, Marion, Barbosa and even Boris Diaw are running, running, dunking, running, running and dunking. Knowing how much of a basketball fan I am, I'd consider taking out a second mortgage to get decent season tickets to watch these guys play against NBDL squads. There have been better teams in the last ten or twenty years, but I can't think of a more entertaining team to watch in recent memory.

Other than the fact that Nash could go down as one of the five best point guards in the history of basketball - arguably, in the same ballpark as Magic, Cousy, Stockton, Isiah, Frazier - the athletes he has running with him make the game unfair for opponents. Between Amare and Marion, we're talking about a combined vertical leap of nearly 100 inches. Translation: for the average human, that's only accessible by a ladder. Of course, their athleticism alone isn't what makes Amare, Marion and the rest of the Suns entertaining to watch; they fills lanes, crash the offensive glass and even make back-door cuts once in a while, making their athleticism much more dangerous. And here's THE reason why the Suns are so fun to watch - they desire and allow their opponents to play an up-tempo game. In other words - the anti-Detroit Pistons. Instead of watching painful 85-79 games against defensive-minded Eastern Conference teams, the Suns play a type of game that allows an opposing team's athletes to display their athleticism, creating unmatched entertainment value for fans and players of both teams. It must be nice for D'Antoni and the rest of the Suns to not worry about playing much defense, at least not yet, when you can score 125 points at will.

With that said, the Hawks played with a lot of enthusiasm against a Suns team that I'm giddy to have in the NBA right now. I hope the Hawks can finish this up-and-down season with that sort of enthusiasm (and wearing those Pac-Man uniforms).

To win tonight, we basically just need to play like we did yesterday, but have Joe shoot better. Fortunately, the Mavs don't have a 7-foot inside dominator like Amare Stoudemire. Unfortunately, they do have a 7-foot perimeter dominator in Dirk Nowitzki, so we can't exactly breathe a sigh of relief.

Either way it goes down tonight, I am just hoping for good effort, and hopefully, if just a few (ok, maybe several) things go our way, maybe we can shock the world.

Tune in tonight on FSN South at 8:30 ET to catch all the action!

Happy Monday morning out there Hawks fans! Ok, I'm not really that chipper a person, but just trying to get this week started on the right foot. Tough loss last night to the Suns at Philips, but all in all, it wasn't a bad weekend for the Hawks. The team got a big win Friday against the Rockets, winning a close game against a very good team and gaining a crucial victory during this brutal stretch. As I said last week, I honestly feel like if we could go 1-3 against the West on the home stand and then grab another 1-3 on this upcoming three-game road trip, then we are still alive.

the Houston win. What I liked the most about this game was how the Hawks never built a big lead or let Houston take one. It's rare, especially for a young team like Atlanta, to see us play so consistently for 48 minutes. It's no surprise to see us getting ahead or behind by double digits (and then losing that lead or coming back) because of how prone we are to streaks. Yet Friday we managed to beat the Rockets, a terrific team and potential title contender if they get Yao back healthy, without ever leading by more than five or six until free throws late in the game.

Sunday against Phoenix...what can you say? The Suns are one of the two teams considered most likely to take home the title this season, and the Hawks gave them all they could handle the entire game. Twice, the Hawks rebounded to take the lead when trailing by 13+ points, which is something to be proud of. We didn't win the game, and we couldn't stop Amare Stoudemire (man, that guy is ridiculous), but I am happy about the way the guys battled back and never let it get out of hand, even though it appeared it might at several different junctures.

What can you say about the Suns? They are 13-0 on the road against the East, and if they beat Indy on Tuesday and Philly on Wednesday, they will become the first team in NBA history to win all their road games against the opposing conference. So, all things considered, it sucks that we lost, but clearly Phoenix is on a serious roll this year - at least we got a split!

Moving on, lets give out a couple of extra kudos for individual efforts. First of all, welcome to the family, Anthony Johnson. AJ had 17 points in his Hawks debut, including three-of-four from long-range. I don't expect to see that every single night, but clearly performances like that one will warm the Hawks community to him very quickly.

Also, props to Marvin Williams, who put up big numbers in both games over the weekend, popping for 20 against the Rockets and 23 more (with 10 boards) against Phoenix. Included in that 23 was a ridiculous moonbeam from behind the rim at the third-period buzzer, the kind of shot you take in HORSE but rarely ever see in game action. Marv hit a career-high 10 fgs against Phoenix - now if we can just get him to take like one big step back and turn those long twos into threes, then you'll see his scoring average jump significantly!

Here are some photos from the weekend for your viewing pleasure, courtesy as always of Hawks ace photographer Scott Cunningham.  

This weekend is huge for the Hawks. H-U-G-E. Two daunting opponents on the docket, both of whom can be considered title aspirants (if not favorites). The Hawks have shown they can play with the big boys in the league, coming close to beating San Antonio and Utah, beating Detroit and Phoenix (though sans-Nash).

Still though, the team has got to start turning some of these moral victories into actual victories. Tonight, hosting the Rockets, is a great opportunity to do so.

Houston is a great team, even without Yao, due to their terrific defense. As assistant coach Greg Ballard told us today in breaking down tonight's matchup, the Hawks must play smart offensive basketball in order to win. The Rockets lead the league in defensive rebounding, and have terrific on the ball defenders in Shane Battier and Luther Head, so the Hawks will have to protect the rock and take smart shots.

This stretch is brutal for Atlanta, no doubt. But if they can just tread water, I still say the playoffs are within reach. I know you may think I'm drinking the company kool-aid, but just hear me out. Orlando, in the 7th spot, is 13-23 since starting the season 14-5. Miami, which seemed on their way up the ladder, now faces the prospect of playing without Dwyane Wade for the rest of the season. If so, stick a fork in 'em.

The schedule opens up tremendously for the Hawks in March and April. Do yourself a favor and look at the Hawks schedule for March and April. How many games do you count that you would say for sure, "That's a loss." I don't count that many - four, five tops. Obviously, I am not contending that the Hawks are going to go on a 19-5 run to finish the season. But if they can grab a couple wins in this next five game stretch to stay near the 10 games under mark, the slate is there for the team to start making a push.

Which brings us back to this weekend. If the Hawks are going to make a playoff push, obviously they are going to have to start defending the home court. Winning at least one of the two this weekend would be a huge start.

Come on out to support the boys in red and white, and let's see if we can't start to make this thing a little interesting.

See you there!

Update: No confirmation on this, but allegedly Tracy McGrady said on the Dan Patrick show today on ESPN Radio that he was going to pop for 40 tonight against us. Challenge extended? Challege accepted. Let's crank up the D Hawks!

 

First and foremost, I want to give special commendation to Hawks C Zaza Pachulia, who crammed the game of his life into a single half, pretty much single-handedly rallying the team from a 14-point deficit in the third quarter to get the team back to even entering the 4th. Zaza, scoreless at halftime, had 15 points in the third and finished the game with 23 in a losing effort. He was in attack mode the whole half, getting to the rack again and again for layups and timely putbacks.

Unfortunately, Manu Ginobili struck again, as he had so many times before in this game, and soon the Hawks were back down again. Ginobili was unstoppable in this game, particularly in the second quarter, when he scored a ridiculous 24 straight points for the Spurs. Begrudgingly I will give him credit for his efforts, even though I think he travels more than any player this side of Allen Iverson, and could have been whistled for it five or six times. Also, it continues to amaze me that in the NBA, you can just flail your body into the lane and get a foul call almost every time - though when I think about it, it just makes me wish we did it more often. I mean, if you can't beat em, join em, right?

Here is a photo gallery from the game - I know moral victories are not what we want to get around here, and I am disappointed by the loss, but I still feel like the team made some progress in showing enough backbone to comeback the way they did. Still though, it's time to start turning moral victories into actual ones.

In other news, today is the trading deadline. If anything happens around here, we will let you know. Obviously there have been some rumors, and we know what the team is in need of, but as of now there are no deals that I am aware of.

Check back as the day goes, and we'll see if anything changes.

Well, last night is really not the way we would like for the second half to have started. But hey I mean, if you are going to go down, might as well go down memorably, right? The Hawks became the first team this season to go an entire quarter without making a field goal, going 0-16 from the field in the 3rd quarter. Ouch.

Ok, so let's just put that baby to rest and look ahead. Despite the loss, the Hawks still finished 3-2 on their five-game road trip, and if you had told me that before the start of it, I'd probably have danced some type of celebratory jig.

Now though comes the hard part. The next six games offer up arguably the toughest stretch of the season - home tonight to the Spurs, home to the Rockets on Friday, home to the revenge-minded Suns on Sunday (6:00 pm start!), followed by a three-game road trip through West-leading Dallas, Chris Paul and the Hornets, and finishing at Southeast Division-leading Washington. If we can get to .500 on this stretch, then I honestly believe we have a shot at a playoff spot, no foolin.

The Spurs present, obviously, a stern task tonight. They crushed the Nuggets last night at home, and sport the league's third-best road record. Obviously, it's going to take a total team effort tonight to get a victory.

However, if the team has show one thing this season, it's an uncanny ability to play well against the league's best, as well as rebound from losses on the front end of a back-to-back. Four times this season the Hawks have dropped the first half of a back-to-back, only to win the second a night later (typically the tougher of the two games). Does that mean we will get a victory tonight? Who knows. But I think the team will come out to play tonight, in particular Joe Johnson, who was held under ten points for the first time this season last night in Chicago.

Come out to the game and support the team - especially if you are bald!

Here at the blog, we are always trying to help the fans whenever possible. Which is why we just want to remind you all that Sunday's game against Phoenix starts at 6 pm, not 2 pm as it may say on your ticket or pocket calendar. It used to be a 2 pm game, but it got moved after the schedules were printed.

I know many of you are very excited to see the Suns come to town, and I would hate for you to show up at two o'clock and wonder where everyone is, so hopefully this little reminder will help.

Here it is again, in bold and in caps, just in case the first two paragraphs didn't do it for you:

SUNDAY'S GAME AGAINST PHOENIX STARTS AT 6:00 ET, NOT 2:00!!

The game is over, and the West has won. Bully for them. I wouldn't say this game stood out in any particular way, except for getting to see Joe play, which was the highlight for me. JJ ended up playing the entire fourth quarter, which was exciting. He finished the game with 12 points, third-best on the Eastern Conference team, which though it doesn't mean a whole lot I think it helps him continue to edge his way into the American basketball conscious.

I joined the fray to talk to him after the game, and to be honest, he said all the things you'd expect him to say: he was happy to be here, he enjoyed being in the game and spending time with the other players over the course of the weekend, etc. But I wanted to ask him one thing, and so I did. I wanted to know about his dunk.

I thought his response was pretty funny. Speaking of funny, here is the interview I did earlier this evening with Jimmy Kimmel.

Well, that about wraps it up for me from Vegas. I had a blast, I hope you all enjoyed reading along with me as well. And, wouldn't you know it, I actually have a ticket into a party tonight after all, courtesy of Hawks CMO Lou DePaoli, a stand-up guy if there ever was one. Everything works out in the end! Yay Vegas!

I leave you with a few more pics from tonight, mostly of a few pre-game shots and some post-game interview shots. If I am able to chat up any celebrities (please let it be Chappelle!) later tonight, I will post something about it tomorrow.

Good night!

Louis Gossett, Jr!

Sir Charles signs something for Greg Anthony's son (I assume)

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goldman addresses the media. It's good to be the king.

ESPN's Stephen A. Smith listens in to questions asked to Dwyane Wade before probably shouting something to someone

D-Wade had a quiet night with 10 points and 3 assists

Joe talks to the media after the game

10:45 - As if to show they mean business, Eddie Jordan has put JJ back in the game to help get the East back into the game. His faith is rewarded as Joe immediately hits a three from the elbow. Mehmet Okur answers for the West, and now its 123-94. Okur hasn't played much today, but he is the first NBA All-Star from a country pronounced like a food. Chile, hang in there, you'll get one someday.

10:48 - Does it sound like I have a man-crush on Shaq? It just may. Amazingly, despite all the action on the court, it appears he found time to sneak away to a computer and see that I advocated he try to take someone off the dribble. Never one to disappoint me, Shaq just dribbled the ball up the court and tried to take Okur with a few crossover moves at the top of the key. Sadly, his jumper was off target, or this place would have really erupted.

10:50 - Joe down the lane for two more, cutting the deficit to 27 with 8 minutes to go. They just showed Dave Chappelle again on the jumbotron. Please let me end up at whatever party he is at tonight. Or let me end up at any party.

10:53 - MVP update. Kobe just scored five straight, he now has his jersey number, 24. But Stoudemire just returned to the lineup. It's pretty much between the two of them at this point. Also, Caron Butler comes in to replace Joe (thanks coach!). With 6:20 left to play, that may have been the last we see of JJ, who I think acquitted himself well in his limited minutes. He'll be back for more of these.

10:56 - Whoops! Spoke too soon. JJ is still in the game, and just dribbled between most of the Western "defense" for a nifty left-handed reverse. He is now 4-5 from the field for 10 points. Huzzah!

11:00 - I am enjoying doing this blog, but it has been hard to follow the action every now and then when I have been staring at the computer. Apparently, I just missed perhaps the highlight of the night, as during the break the Flying Elvises (possibly not their real name) performed a trampoline dunk routine. I wasn't watching, but at the very end, Gilbert Arenas came out and jumped off the trampoline, put the ball between his legs, and rammed it home. Please, please let that be on Sportscenter later or something, it sounded really cool.

11:07 - Just over two minutes left to play, and the West leads 147-123. I'm just going to go ahead and say it - LeBron is being a ballhog. Boooooooo.

11:09 - OH MY GOD. JOE DUNKED! Sorry for the caps there, but it's just not something he does very often. This is probably as good a time as any to mention this:

I think we all agree that Joe is heavily underrated by the general public, witness his lack of support in the All-Star voting. Well, I figured out how we can get him more notoriety - he needs to grow an old school, Dr. J-style chin goatee, like three inches long or so. It would be so tight. I decided to explain my plan to him at practice last week before they left for the road trip, and I am sad to say it's a no go. Not because he didn't like the idea, but because he can't grow the facial hair required! Dooop!

I won't give up though - he is only 25, he may still be able to pull it off if he starts shaving more.

11:12 - And that's your ballgame! The West wins 153-132 over the East, let by Kobe's 31 points. I will assume he gets the MVP award. Joe ends up with 12 points, and he played for most of (if not the entirety of) the fourth quarter. Just for that, I won't prank call Eddie Jordan's hotel room later on tonight.

Ok kids, it's been fun. I hope you enjoyed the game - it was fun from here (and they are now announcing Kobe as the MVP. The crowd is reacting much more favorably to it than the Philly crowd did in 2002, but I guess that's not much of a surprise. George Bush probably gets a better reception in the Middle East than most people get in Philly.

Back with some wrap up in a bit!

10:18 - A couple minutes into the third, and the West is cruising 89-65. I suppose that shouldn't surprise too much, since the Western Conference is superior to the East this year by a fairly wide margin. At least, against most teams that aren't the Hawks, who just went 3-1 against them in the last week or so. Ok, so I know we still aren't in the same class as many of the Western teams, but we are 9-11 against them on the season. All things considered, that's really not so bad.

10:23 - Amare Stoudemire has eight points already in the quarter, giving him 19 on the game. Look out for him for MVP honors. Why am I so obsessed with that? I don't know. But I do know this - he and McGrady are both wearing #1 jerseys in this game. I guess it doesn't matter, but having had to do basketball stats a few times in my life, I can tell you that is an unnecessary complication.

10:25 - Ha! Right as I say that, Stoudemire hits a jumper, and the PA announcer goes, "Basket by Trace..." followed by Stoudemire giving him a look. Hey, you want your name pronounced when you score, wear a jersey number no one else has.

10:35 - The West is killing the East right now, 110-78. I can only help but think that if JJ was playing more, they'd only be down by like 24 or so.

10:38 - Shaq gets another basket, giving him 8 points. This won't be an All-Star game though until he launches a three.

10:39 - The East has two #32s on the court - Shaq and Rip Hamilton. In case you cared.

10:42 - The third quarter comes to an end, with the West in control 119-88. They say the fourth quarter is when the game gets serious, but somehow I doubt that will be the case tonight. They are honoring Magic Johnson during the break between quarters, which also reminds me of his final All-Star appearance when he went one-on-one with Isiah and others on his way to MVP honors. They need to do more of that kind of stuff I think. Like Shaq trying to take someone off the dribble. Really Shaq doing just about anything will amuse me, probably.

I don't have a lot to say here, but sort of going along with what I said earlier about Prince vs. Michael Jackson, I will admit being wrong again about another pair of singers. Christina Aguilera is part of the halftime entertainment, and I always thought she'd be the one who'd go downhill well before Britney did. That's not to say there still isn't plenty of time for her to make it happen, but she clearly has defeated Spears.

I got the stats at halftime, and in the interest of being (slightly) fair, Joe did not end up with the least minutes played in the first half - that honor belongs to one of Jordan's charges in Washington, Caron Butler. Now there is someone with beef - come on coach, I'm your own player? You can't sit Vince Carter another minute or two???

The action has been decent so far, but no real eye-openers of note. Shaq smooching T-Mac is probably the best thing that has happened so far. And while I am talking about All-Star memories, I will just add that the play that most stands out in my mind from my childhood was a no-look pass from Magic Johnson to Xavier McDaniel one year in the late '80s. It was a fast break, and someone passed the ball to Magic at about the free throw line. Magic, facing the pass with his back completely turned to the back half of the court, immediately whipped it perfectly behind him to a streaking X-Man for the jam. To this day, I still have no idea how he knew McDaniel was there. I guess that was his genius.

Ok, the players are coming back on the court. Hopefully, we will see just a little bit more of Joe this half.

9:16 - During the break, they did a tribute to Red Auerbach. Very nice. Also, they just showed Dave Chappelle on the jumbotron. Man I miss that guy. Byaaaaah!

9:18 - Ray Allen just hit two straight three's. Man, do I love that guy's shot. Then Chauncey Billups served up an alley off the backboard to Vince Carter, probably the best dunk of the night so far. Joe Johnson still hasn't gotten into the game yet, as Shaq and Gilbert Arenas are now back in for their second tour of duty. Ummm, did Joe make eyes at Eddie Jordan's wife or something? 

9:21 - Did I mention I am going to miss Shaq when he is gone? He missed a dunk, but Rip Hamilton got the rebound and gave it back to him. This time he threw it down, partially because Tracy McGrady stood by and watched the whole thing. To show his appreciation, Shaq planted a smooch on T-Mac's noggin on his way back down court. Given what Barkley did last night and what we have seen from O'Neal this weekend, I think TNT would be crazy not to hire him the second he retires and add him to the studio show.

9:24 - It's a timeout, with the West up 52-37. They are showing more of the celebs in the crowd, and they just showed whatshername from Grey's Anatomy (sorry, I don't watch). I know her as the object of Luke Wilson's affection in Old School. Anyway, she played (acting?) like she didn't know she was on camera, then did one of those "look up at the jumbotron and see yourself, then acknowledge everyone" things. Ummm, the camera is right in front of your face, lady. I hate that show anyway.

9:28 - Halfway through the quarter, and still no Joe. I may be wrong here, but I think he is the only Eastern Conference player not to get in. I officially hate Eddie Jordan.

9:32 - FINALLY. Joe gets into the game after this timeout. There is a huge round of applause. I prefer to think it's for Joe, but they are showing Queen Latifah on the screen. You make the call.

9:33 - Joe appears to be playing the point, though sadly he turned the ball over. Hopefully that doesn't mean Eddie Jordan will yank him from the lineup, but who knows. That guy is suspect.

9:37 - Joe just fouled Kobe on the drive. I think it may have been leftover resentment from the Hawks-Lakers game at Philips a couple weeks ago. At least I like to envision it was. Now they are interviewing David Hasselhoff (aka, "The Hoff"), who just said his highlight of the weekend was speaking German with Dirk Nowitzki. Man, he is really riding that one out, eh? Incidentally, he is starring in The Producers here in Las Vegas, which I bring up only because I think its amazing that The Producers was a movie first, then it was turned into a broadway musical, then turned into a movie adaptation of the musical based on the movie. Personally, I look forward to the play-based-on-the-movie-based-on-the-musical-based-on-the-movie. That will be entertaining.

9:43 - Joe shoots, he scores!!! 1-1 from the field now for three points. Feed him the rock, he's hot!

9:45 - The first half ends with Joe getting one more shot, a three from the corner, but he missed. Well, no one is perfect. At the half, it's 79-59 West, with Kobe Bryant your early MVP leader with 17 points. Hopefully Eddie Jordan will apologize to Joe in the locker room and give him a lot more PT in the second half.

8:45 ET - I think we are finally about to get started here. We just had an in-arena announcement about safety regulations and whatnot on the big screen, not sure if it was shown on TV or not, but it featured impersonators of famous types like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.

Completely, off-topic, but since they showed her I have to say - I am so glad Marilyn Monroe lived when she did, because she never would have lasted in today's climate. I just heard that Britney Spears shaved her head. Mazel Tov, Britney.

Anyway, everyone talks about Marilyn Monroe as the epitome of the dream woman, but if she lived today she'd totally end up hanging out with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. That just makes me sad.

8:47: Ok, the opening tip is now!

Arenas took (and missed) the first shot. I will say this. I advocated him for MVP, but even if he doesn't win, I still bet he takes the most shots.

8:52 - Nothing of note so far - there is Gilbert's first points. A bunch of turnovers so far, which is nothing new to the All-Star game because everyone tries to do something fancy. I tell you what would be interesting - if the All-Star game featured NBA players against the And-1 Mix Tape tour - now those guys know how to be flashy. Kobe Bryant just threw down a monster jam, followed by a sweet alley-oop to Dwyane Wade on the other end, for the two loudest reactions so far. It's 14-11 West as they go to the first timeout.

8:58 - They just showed Prince in the stands. Whenever I see him (I know this joke has been made before), all I can think about is how in the 80's, he used to be considered the eccentric one between himself and Michael Jackson. I mean, he didn't even have a name for awhile. And now he is just another rock star. Is that weird to anyone else?

9:02 - Carmelo Anthony in the game, and he just hit his first shot. I have to say, despite his involvement in the brawl, he deserves to be here. His draftmate, LeBron James, just tried to alley-oop it to himself off the backboard. I love that play. You only see it in the All-Star game, but I always feel like it would work in a regular game as well. Am I alone on that?

9:10 - Many substitutions have happened so far, and still no Joe. Hey Eddie Jordan, help a blog out will ya?

9:11 - Carmelo Anthony just had two straight baskets for the West - he is another who could definitely win MVP of this game. I always feel like unless it's someone like Jordan, it's always someone who has something to prove (hence my Arenas pick). Melo certainly has amends to make after the debacle at Madison Square, so perhaps he looks at this as a way to atone some. End of the first quarter, and your score is 39-31 West in the lead.

Anyway, I will post the audio in just a little bit - it was about what you'd expect from a guy like Kimmel, who has made a career out of catering to a guy's sense of humor. Which is to say I thought he was funny, but it's possible you may not appreciate it as much.

I also saw Louis Gossett, Jr., but he was wrapped up in a conversation and I didn't want to bother him. I did love his work in Diggstown, though.

Ok, they just had Seigfried and Roy say a few words, and now Wayne Newton is performing. I have heard of him, but I have to say, one thing that surprises me about Vegas is how many of the "top" performers are people I have never heard of. Some guy named Clint Holmes sang the national anthem last night, and he must be talented if he is a headliner here, but it's not like he's ever had a hit song or anything (at least to my knowledge). Just seems odd, that's all.

Pregame intros are just finishing up - hey, Wayne Newton plays the fiddle! - and then it's go time. My early pick for MVP? Gilbert Arenas. This just seems like the season for the Hibachi.

Hello everyone. I am just about ready to get this thing started. Should be a fun time here at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, if last night was any indication. The fans were really into the various skills competitions, and I expect they will enjoy what's on tap for them tonight.

One thing I don't understand at all is how much tickets to this game are going for on the street. I heard a guy today say he sold his four tickets for $4000. Four thousand dollars. For an exhibition game. I mean, I'd understand dropping a grand on a ticket to the Super Bowl, or the Final Four, maybe even the final round of the Masters, but for an All-Star game? In a city like Las Vegas, where there are only a million sports books and bars to watch the game?

I don't get it. I hope they get their money's worth, that's all I know.

Ok, I will be back for the start of the game. My early prediction? Even though Joe was an injury replacement, I think you will see him play decent minutes since the East is without any true point guards. Since Joe is capable of doing that, I could see him being used to start the offense for some of the time tonight.

Well, I was hoping to bring you my own video of this, but the chance for the scoop is gone. Ah well, you can't have everything you want in life.

Here, thanks to the glorious website known at Youtube, is footage of yesterday's breakdancing after the Eastern Conference All-Star practice. You know, the NBA is really going to miss Shaq when he is gone...

Wrapping up for Saturday night in Las Vegas...

The All-Star Saturday night festivities were really fun to see live for the first time ever. The dunk contest was very entertaining and I appreciated the contestants creativity, but it still feels like the show has run it's course.

Here are all the interviews I promised you from earlier today:

Boston's Gerald Green wins the dunk contest, mercifully putting America out of it's misery in thinking that Nate Robinson might win again.

Nate, I think I speak for everyone who watched tonight - when you miss a dunk repeatedly, please, for the love of god, TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

Congrats to Gerald Green, who actually did throw down some pretty nasty dunks to take home the crown. The dunks may not have been anything particularly of note tonight, but the showmanship was great, and I think that made the contest fun to watch.

Ok, I will be back with a little more recap in just a little bit...

The dunk contest is about to begin. I will be honest, I can't say I'm all that excited (please don't fine me NBA!). It was awesome the year Josh Smith won it, but last year left such a bad taste in my mouth - I just pray whoever wins tonight is able to execute the first time. I will settle for the second time, maybe even the third. But after the, say, 11th attempt, it's time to say goodnight.

My guess is the judging will be very tight tonight, seeing as the five judges are arguably the best dunkers of all time: Dr. J, Dominique, Dominique-ripper-offer Michael Jordan, Vince Carter, and Kobe Bryant.

Here is a better picture of the race from earlier tonight, courtesy of NBAE/Getty Images:

That was out-standing. Charles Barkley could be a stand-up comic, easily. Surprisingly, Sir Charles beat Dick Bavetta in the three-and-a-half court lengths race, turning around and backpedaling across the finish line to prove his dominance (and toppling over on his rear in the process). Barkley was so gassed at the end, he couldn't even talk to TNT's Ernie Johnson, ceding the mic to Bavetta, who seemed quite capable of winning a two-of-three competition.

It was hysterical. I can only hope this turns into an annual thing, where Barkley takes on America's elderly community in a variety of challenges. The event was all in good fun, as summed up by the Round Mound of Rebound himself, who stated before the race: "I have nothing but love for old people. I hope to be one of them some day."

There will be much better photography of the event later on, but from my seat up in the nosebleeds (can you believe Hawks.com doesn't get a front-row seat with ESPN.com?), this is the best I can do.

The three-point contest is coming up, which is by far my favorite part of the evening in a typical year. We definitely have to get Joe to do this sometime soon, I think he could be a dark-horse candidate.

Barkley and Bavetta toe the starting line - you can see Charles about to false start

Barkley's ego may remain unbruised, but I think his tailbone may need some ice...

Today was a good time. I overcame a credential crisis to make it to the practice session earlier, where I got a chance to talk to Joe Johnson about making the All-Star team, which I promised I would get to you. Well, I am a man of my word, so here it is. I don't know if you can tell from listening to it because Joe is so understated, but he really seems excited to be here.

The Eastern Conference practiced from 11:00 - 11:45, and following that they were available for interviews. I don't think I've seen Joe talk to this many people in his life, but he handled it pretty well.

The media crush was ridiculous, with everyone clamoring to talk to the NBA's cream of the crop. I used the opportunity to get some feedback from some of the guys about Joe's performance this year, in particular some of his former co-workers in Phoenix. I also got a chance to talk to TNT's Kenny Smith (a former Hawk) about Johnson, as the TNT crew all left JJ off their picks for the Eastern Conference squad originally. I won't say I held his feet to the fire too bad, but I at least asked him to explain himself. I suppose I will let it slide.

I will post all of those interviews shortly. But right now I have to stop salivating over the computer - Charles Barkley is about to race Dick Bavetta. If you haven't been following this, it is really one of the funniest things ever. Basically, Barkley claimed on a TNT broadcast that no 67-year old man could ever beat him in a race, and now we are about to find out if that is true or not. I can't imagine Barkley is in shape enough to beat Bavetta (I'm not even sure he is in shape to finish the race period), but he is a fierce competitor, and who knows what he is capable of when his adrenaline is pumping.

Back with more in a bit, unless I have passed out on the floor from laughter.

Alright, coming to you live from the NBA Eastern Conference practice at the All-Star Jam Session at the Mandalay Bay Casino. I spoke to Joe earlier today, and I will post the audio later this afternoon. Sufficed to say, he is really excited to be here. I know he tried to act like it wasn't a big deal when he didn't get chosen the first time around, but he clearly feels honored to be included in this weekend's events.

As for last night...well, I don't want to disappoint you too badly, but I didn't make it to any of the parties. Part of that is because I don't know anyone who could have gotten me in anywhere, and part of it is because the strip...was...packed. It was ridiculous. There looked like a two-hour line for cabs outside of the MGM Grand, and I think my fragile psyche wasn't prepared to wait that long only to get rejected at one of the parties du jour. I spoke with a guy from the New Jersey Nets earlier this morning, and he said he was trying to get into the Nike party with Will Perdue. They saw Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, and Dale Davis waiting in line, and Perdue said to him, "If they ain't gettin in, we ain't gettin in." So I stand by my decision.

Still, I hoped to see some celebrities. I wagered myself a dollar on what kind of celebrity I would see first: a musician? An actor? Pro athlete from another sport? My money was on musician, based on the several cards I was handed by various wannabe rap groups.

However, I was wrong, and the first celeb these two eyes saw was...Shawn Kemp! Somehow that made sense, and strangely I believe that if I'd thought about it harder, I might have actually guessed him. Later on I saw former NFL star Eric Dickerson as well, but the highlight of my night was running into Detroit Lions WR Roy Williams, who played at Texas (my alma mater) in college. Amazingly, he wasn't quite as thrilled to see me as I was him - but it was still cool.

This morning, on my way over to practice, I ended up on the tram with former Syracuse star Gerry McNamara, who won an NCAA title in 2003 with Carmelo Anthony. He is in town for the D-League All-Star game, which he didn't find out he was playing in until 10:00 pm last night. Seemed like a nice guy though - Scranton, PA should be proud.

I've been taking a ton of pictures, and I will post some of them shortly. Back with more later!

Well, I am finally here. My first thoughts, coming into Las Vegas, was how was the city going to deal with the multitudes of people coming into town for the weekend's festivities.

I realize Vegas is used to big weekends, but I think almost anyone you ask will say that this one is about as big as it gets. The NBA is one of the most glamorous leagues in professional sports, and because of how close the fans can get to the action, the one with the most high-profile fandom (Jack Nicholson, Spike Lee for example).

Arriving into McCarron Airport, I hurried through the terminal determined to get in line for a cab. My flight landed at 6:50 local time (9:50 ET), and I figured if lucky I'd be to my hotel (the MGM Grand, where all media-types have been put up - or at least the ones representing the NBA) by, say, midnight. I've been to Vegas many times, and on a random weekend it's usually 30-45 minutes in line before you get to the front of the line.

In what I hope is a good sign of things to come, the line actually moved quickly, perhaps even faster than the other times I'd been here, and I actually made it to my hotel by 8:00. Amazing. I guess it was silly to think Vegas wouldn't be prepared for this (and by the way, I will continue to address "Vegas" throughout the weekend as if it is a living, breathing thing and not an inanimate stretch of land in the Nevada desert), since this is their big dress rehearsal for luring a professional sports team to the city. I am sure they will have the red carpet rolled out in every way shape and form so as to get in the good graces of Commissioner Stern and, by extension, any other professional sports leagues considering a move here.

So, unfortunately, because I couldn't get here any earlier than I did (and I tried - the morning flight from Atlanta was oversold by 18 people!), I missed out on all of the NBA-related action this evening, but based on the highlights I saw on TNT (which will be broadcasting all of the events over the next few days), it looked like there was your typical array of beautiful alley-oops, dazzling dunks, and o le' defense. The sophomores hit 75% of their shots and won 155-114 over the rookies. For the record, I still think Shelden and Marvin Williams should  have been participants in this game, but what can you do. David Lee takes home MVP honors after "hitting" 14-14 from the floor (I understand they were pretty much all dunks with little degree of difficulty).

Tomorrow will start the real action for me, and as excited as I am for the competitions, I will come right out and say the thing I am most excited about is the footrace between Hall of Famer Charles Barkley and 67-year old NBA referee Dick Bavetta. I will talk more about this tomorrow, but sufficed to say, I strongly urge all of you to watch All-Star Saturday night.

Ok, I am off to eat some food and check out the media reception, and if I am feeling up to it, dare I say some of the scene (I have no wingman, so I don't know how comfy I am going to be going into a club or bar by myself. I can only pretend to talk on my cell phone for so long before people realize I'm faking it so as not to look lonely.)

Have a good night, and I will see you all tomorrow.

Vegas baby...Vegas!

For awhile now, we on the website have been planning on making the trek cross-country to the City of Sin in the event that Hawks employees were asked to participate. Well, that didn't work out exactly as we'd hoped. First Shelden and Marvin got overlooked for the rookie-sophomore game, then no one was asked to participate in any of the skills competitions (I think you'll see Joe in the 3-pt shootout one of these years), and of course, JJ was overlooked when the original teams were announced.

Just like that, the trip to Vegas was shot. But, a faint ray of hope began to shine this week when Jason Kidd's back started acting up (I swear I had nothing to do with it), and wouldn't you know it, just like that, the trip was back on.

So, amazingly, just when all hope seemed lost (and all reservations had been cancelled), suddenly all systems are go, and I am proud to announce that the Hawks BasketBlog will be in the house to witness what really should be one of the most unique sporting events (and scenes) the world has ever seen: NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas. There is no turning back now, sports - you were destined one day to take up residency in the Nevada desert, and here is the first real chance to see what it might be like (sorry, XFL).

As it stands now, due to the last-minutedness (a word?) of the trip, I am not getting into Vegas until tomorrow evening, so I will most likely miss the Friday night festivities. But, from there on out, I will be blogging daily about the sights and sounds of the weekend, including interviews with players and A-List celebrities (A-List defined in this case as "those who are willing to talk to me"). In addition, I will be live-blogging the All-Star game Sunday night from press row, which I am very much excited about. Plus, I will have my camera with me, and I promise to post a ton of photos of my experience (at least in the places where cameras are allowed).

It promises to be a great time - if you have any recommendations of things to do, or have questions you'd like me to ask, let me know in the comments.

Vegas baby...Vegas!

What a way to finish the first half of the season (metaphorically speaking, the Hawks have actually played 52 games now). Last night the Hawks came back from a 15 point deficit to defeat the Clippers 96-93, ending their West Coast Swing with a 3-1 record. Ok, raise your hands if you saw that one coming?

You know what was so great about the game last night? For some reason, I always thought we were going to win. Even when we were down by double-figures, I still felt like the Hawks would pull it off. Why? I'm not sure. Part of it was because we were hustling the entire game, whereas the Clippers seemed to be almost sleepwalking at times. And part of it was just because I am gaining confidence in these boys. Remember when we were wondering at the beginning of the season who would be the player to step into Al Harrington's shoes and become the Hawks legit #2 option behind Joe Johnson (who is an All-Star, by the way)?

Well, Josh Smith has staked his claim over the past few weeks, and ever since the guys seem to have all found their niche. That was what impressed me the most last night - instead of people sitting around wondering who was going to do what, it seemed like everyone was doing what they do best to help the team win. Zaza Pachulia was doing the dirty work down low, Marvin Williams was hitting jump shots (and free throws), and Lorenzen Wright was punishing people for coming into the lane. The list goes on. I have spoken before about how the confidence of such a young team can fluctuate wildly, and I definitely think they are playing with more confidence right now than at any point in the season so far. I think they also thought they would win last night, regardless of time and score.

So, as we hit the All-Star break (more on that later today), the Hawks sit at 21-31, five games out of the 8th spot in the East. As I see it, the Heat, if they stay healthy, are in. Orlando, on the other hand, appears to be on a downward trend. To make the playoffs, the Hawks will need to make up basically six games in the standing against the Magic - and hope New Jersey doesn't catch fire. Is that likely? It's hard to say. We have to start winning at home, and we have to start beating the teams who are worse than us as often as we beat the teams that are better (weird, eh?).

Still, anything is possible. All it takes in the East is one big run - one win-seven-of-eight stretch and we can be right back in this thing.

No matter what happens, the team should be proud of the way they played on this West Coast trip (well, maybe not the Utah game so much) - coming back from second-half double-digit deficits twice to get wins is impressive anywhere, even moreso on the road.

A tip of the cap to the Hawks for the way they closed out the first half, and here's to hoping everyone uses the break to rest up and get ready for the season's second act - everyone that is, except Joe, who if you didn't know, is an All-Star. Did we mention that?

Sekou Smith's reporting is in fact correct, as we now have official word that Joe Johnson will indeed represent the Hawks in the All-Star game this Sunday in Las Vegas.

I was in a rush to get the info posted earlier, so I will take a little more time to discuss what this means.

This, obviously, is huge for both Joe and the franchise. As many of us have discussed at length, it always seems like the Hawks are getting slighted in situations like these over the past few years - witness the lack of any participants in the Rookie-Sophomore game.

Obviously, some of it is understandable, as we haven't performed well enough to warrant a ton of consideration.

This year, however, is different. The Hawks are respectable. I realize the record shows 20-31, and that would seem to disagree with that assessment, but the fact is, if you take away the injury-laden stretch from mid-December to early January where the team fell off the pace, this year's squad is a .500 ballclub at worst. I realize that isn't award-winning, but it's enough to prove that we aren't the laughingstocks of the league. Beating teams like Phoenix and Detroit will do that for you.

Anyway, when Joe didn't originally get chosen to make the trip to Vegas, we were all disappointed, because anyone who has watched the Hawks over the course of the season knows how extremely valuable and talented he is. He may not show up on highlight reels very often, but you don't score 25+ a game without playing this game at an extremely high level.

So, though he will go in as an injury replacement, we all know he deserves to be there, and so do his peers. Kudos to Commissioner Stern for making the right choice under the circumstances.

Hopefully, this will be the last time he has to sneak in this way. Something tells me it probably will be.

I realize this has nothing to do with the big news of the day, but I have to help our intern out. The Hawks have a MySpace page, if you aren't aware. We are having a little MySpace contest around the office between the Hawks and Thrashers, to see which team can add the most friends between now and March 1. Our interns are in charge of the two pages, and whichever one of them acquires the most will win free lunch.

So, if you have a MySpace account and are not a friend of the Hawks yet, check it out, get yourself added as a friend, and help feed our poor interns. Or, one of them anyway.

Sekou Smith is reporting on his blog that Joe Johnson has been named to the Eastern Conference All-Star team as an injury replacement for Jason Kidd. I don't know about you, but I am starting to believe in karma just a little bit more.

I know there should be somewhat of an asterisk attached with this because he is a replacement, but I don't feel that way at all. I look at it more as fate deciding to right a previous wrong.

So, Joe will now head to Vegas to represent the Hawks, giving us our first all-star since Shareef Abdur-Rahim in 2002.

Congrats to Joe, who I just can't say enough is so deserving of this honor. Maybe someday making the All-Star team won't be such a big deal to him, but I can guarantee this feels pretty sweet to him (and to all of us) right about now.

More on this later on, and throughout the weekend.

Obviously, everyone around here believes it should be Joe Johnson, but that doesn't mean it will be. If it's going to be anyone else, as we have said, it could be Chicago's Ben Gordon or Luol Deng, and another name bandied about would be Charlotte's Emeka Okafor.

You would think Okafor would be out, since the Bobcats' record is worse than ours, but taking a player off the Bulls, who are 29-24 and fifth in the conference, sounds plausible.

All I know is, if Kidd is indeed out, it should be Joe. Whether it will be remains to be seen...

By the way, I didn't mean to totally skip over the Phoenix win from Friday. I was actually unable to watch said game, but was out at a restaurant with some friends and saw the final score flash across the screen, nearly causing me to do a spit-take.

I don't care that Steve Nash wasn't playing - the Suns still have several All-Stars on their team and are one of the best teams even without him, not to mention they are playing on their home court. What an absolutely tremendous win for the Hawks.

There, I feel better.

Five straight on the road. The last time that happened, I was in 8th grade, had braces, and still thought there was an off-chance I might play professional basketball someday.

After last night's 106-105 win over Golden State (sweeping the season series with the Warriors), Atlanta has now won it's last five road games, and is 3-3 in the month of February, with all three wins coming away from Philips. What gives? I have no idea. Are the home rims too tight or something? Maybe the team needs to start staying at the Omni before home games to simulate the road atmosphere, I don't know, but it is quite a riddle.

Anyway, the Hawks have started 2-0 on this west coast trip, which I think was pretty much a pipe dream when we left for Phoenix. The reason we are doing so well? It's a team effort of course, but we have to single out Josh Smith for his efforts of late. 20+ points in five of his last six. Double-doubles in seven of eleven.

We have talked about this before (and Sekou Smith mentioned it in his blog post today as well), but if Josh can become the consistent #2 option behind Joe Johnson, then this team becomes much more formidable. For the season now, the Hawks are 11-7 when J-Smoove gets a double-double.

Things seem to be looking up, I gotta say. I was thinking about this on the way into the office this morning - follow me if you can.

Let's pretend the last two seasons didn't happen. Actually, forget that. Let's pretend the last decade didn't exist except for last year, and the Hawks were, say, the Bobcats, a recent expansion team. Wouldn't you be incredibly excited about this team? You are talking about a squad that is the youngest in the NBA, so every single player's best days are presumably ahead of him, they have a ton of salary-cap room, and most of the players are locked into playing for the franchise for the foreseeable future. Wouldn't you be getting very excited about the team's prospects for the next few years?

We aren't there yet (duh), and even wins like last night's in Golden State show how we still haven't learned how to close out games all the time (note: take the ball to the hole - good things happen), but I think there is reason to believe there are sunnier skies on the horizon, certainly for future seasons, and maybe even for this one.

The Hawks had a light practice this morning in preparation for taking off for their last West Coast trip of the season. It won't be an easy one, with three teams on the menu who would make the Western Conference playoffs if the season ended today.

First up will be the Phoenix Suns on Friday night in Phoenix. The Hawks may catch a mini-break if Steve Nash remains out with a shoulder injury, but based on how Leandro Barbosa has played in his absence, I don't know how much that will really change. The Hawks will have to play their best basketball of the season to keep pace with the Suns, who have cooled just slightly since their 17-game winning streak was snapped last week.

I spoke to Mike Woodson today to get his thoughts on the road trip and a few other subjects as the team heads out for their last few games before the All-Star break. He seemed in good spirits, even though last night continued another in a long line of tough last-minute losses that have plagued this team over the past couple years.

Why do they keep happening? Who knows. I think it has something to do with the team's youth. I'm not making excuses, but something has to explain why these keep happening (though we aren't always on the losing side - witness Sunday's win at New Jersey).

Last night was the perfect example of the difference between a veteran squad and a young team. The Nets trailed by a point, and they got the ball to Vince Carter, who immediately drove to the basket and scored. Faced with the same situation, the Hawks were unable to get the ball to their top threat and failed as well to get to the rim. Hopefully, experiences like last night will hang with these players and when faced with similar situations in the future they will know to do things differently.

Strangely, the Hawks have played better on the road than at home this season, so perhaps this upcoming five-game trek will help cure some of what ails them.

Tonight's game against New Jersey is, simply put, huge. The Hawks must get a win tonight to build momentum going into the west-coast swing that will end the first half of the season for the team. Looking at the schedule, the rest of February is absolutely brutal. The Nets are a team we can (and should) beat, especially at home, and we need to take advantage of every opportunity like that that we come across, because we can play our best and still lose eight of the next ten we play.

The Nets are a down team right now thanks to injuries, as Coach Woodson spoke about this morning, but with talents like Vince Carter and Jason Kidd, they are capable stealing a few games here and there. We beat them without our best game on Sunday, and that is a credit to the team (especially on the road), but if we come out flat we are going to be in trouble. Speaking of Coach Woodson, SI.com's Ian Thomsen did a little interview with him recently, so check it out.

The team hasn't shot the ball particularly well the last two games, so I like to think we are due for a good night. Look for Josh Smith to continue his improved play of late inside against the likes of Jason Collins, but his match-up against Mikki Moore, the Nets' journeyman center who is enjoying a career year in the middle in place of the injured Nedad Krstic, may be much more important. Moore is a feel good story for the league, showing that hard work can pay off, even if it takes several years and several stops (Moore was even a Hawk for a little bit back in 2002-03.

Come out to Philips tonight and root our boys on in the last home game before the All-Star break!

See you there!

The answer to today's trivia question is the Utah Jazz, who have beaten the Hawks 12 straight times at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Atlanta will have a chance to rectify that situation on Monday, by the way, when we play at the Jazz as part of our final west coast trip of the season.

The Hawks have disrupted a few streaks this season already, including Sunday's win at New Jersey for the first time in ten visits there. Similarly, we earlier snapped a six-game slide against the Clippers, six in a row to Memphis, seven straight at Portland, and eight more on the road at Minnesota.

Congrats to Jamie R., who is today's winner!

Be back with more in a little bit previewing tonight's game with New Jersey...

The Web Guy is a big trivia fan - loves trying to stump his co-workers with various bits of random information throughout the day. So, to have a little fun this year, we are going to be asking a trivia question the morning of every home game - usually around 10:00 am. At that point, you are free to email in your answer to that day's question. Around 2:00 p.m., we will look through all the responses, and one correct answer will be chosen at random as the winner. (Click here for official rules).

And what will they receive for their efforts, you ask? Why, they will get two free tickets to that night's home game! Hooray!

It's that simple! So remember to come to the Hawks BasketBlog every morning of every home game for a chance to win tickets for that night's game! Note: Tickets to weekend games will be given away on Fridays.

Okay, take a look at today's question and give it a shot!

Blog Night went down at Philips Arena last night during the Hawk-Lakers tilt. As you can see from the picture above (thanks again to Dan Greenfield for passing along his photos), we had several bloggers with laptops in hand on hand to take in the action and provide their insight. As you can see, unlike the blogger stereotype, many of them appear to be clean-shaven and able to dress themselves on their own (though I suppose that part is debatable, I only got to see them once they arrived - but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt).

I for one had a great time - it's always fun to talk hoops with Hawks fans. Everyone has an opinion, and, much like a snowflake, every one of them is different.

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it out, and in particular, I have to give props to Chase, the editor of Impending Firestorm, who (and I am not making this up) drove to the game from Maine. Drove. From Maine. Chase, my hat is off to you, and I hope you enjoyed yourself and have either satellite radio or a 60 GB iPod to keep you company for your return home. That my friends is a dedicated fan.

Here are a few excerpts from the blogs who participated on the night:

The Crafty Veteran:
"Kiss Cam: And the highlight of the night is here. Easy now, Pops. There must be something in the air tonight or the crowd all watched Prince last night because they are definitely going at it more than usual. They didn't finish up with any of the players on the Lakers, but they highlighted two Lakers fans. I think we need to incorporate the idea of Kiss cam more into everyday life. Like at restaurants, movie theaters, malls or even work. Basically anywhere that needs a little extra spice."

Eric Cheek's Sports Chatter
"This city simply amazes me sometimes. Joe Johnson and Kobe Bryant just went back-and-forth exchanging three-pointers and the crowd roared each time the ball went through the basket. I have now decided that the average NBA fan simply roots for whoever is playing well at the time. That being said, the only thing that I hate about Atlanta (and I mean it, this is the ONLY thing that I hate) is that it seems like almost everyone is a fan of the “other team.” Maybe everyone is from another city originally or maybe it’s just “fashionable” to cheer for the Lakers. Either way, it disgusts me. We live in Atlanta, people!"

SportsGoneSouth:
"The Hawks have this fun promotion where if the team hits a three-pointer in a given two-minute span, some fan wins two free round-trip tickets on Delta. They’ve got a split-screen on the jumbotron now, and every time a Hawks player takes a step inside the perimeter, this fan looks like he’s going to keel over. Seriously–they need to hit an outside shot or this guy might croak on the spot."

Old School Nasty:
"Part of the 4th quarter turned into a duel between Joe and Kobe. Since the crowd was divided about 50/50 between Hawks and Lakers fans, there was a weird phenomenon going on. It had the feeling of a NCAA tournament game. Kobe hit a 3 and half the building went crazy, then seconds later Joe Johnson nails a three and the other half of the crowd explodes."

Hotlanta Hawks:
"Last night at the invitation of the great Micah Hart (the man that runs the Hawks website) (Ed. note - his words, not mine), a whole mess of bloggers rambled on down to Philips Arena to take in the Hawks vs. Kobe. I won't divulge too much about the men behind the greatest websites in the A, other than to say, well, we're all white dudes. I guess it's true what they say: "white people love blogging."

Impending Firestorm:
"8:13 Halftime. Gotta make sure I meet Mr. Smith (Sekou, the Hawks' AJC beat writer). They just talked about improving temperatures, which is 50 for them. It’s a little cooler up in Maine people, relax. They treat the game like it’s a show, they do a good job. There is some dude in a box for the halftime show. The world’s most flexible man apparently. He’s in a box.

8:17 Holy crap this guy is insane. I’m not sure who he is but his body shouldn’t be doing that. I think we’ve got a problem here…can someone call an ambulance?"

Braves and Birds:
"6:56 - Joe sets up Tyronne Lue for a THREEEEEE!!!!! Joe only has seven points so far, so the Hawks' barometer sees a storm. Then again, he's doing a good job on Kobe right now. I forgot to mention when I was whining about Johnson's all-star snub that his defensive production is just a wee bit better than that of Vinsanity. But then again, who is better suited for a meaningless exhibition in which there is no defense or passing?"

Rise Up Mofos:
"Philips Arena is awash with the putrid colors of Purple and Gold; Kobe jerseys are cheap tonight. Unfortunately, I think that there are as many people cheering for the Lakers as there are for the Hawks. I’m surprised as I would’ve figured that Kobe would’ve done his image permanent damage with the Colorado incident. He’s definitely a polarizing figure- when he was announced there were a ton of cheers and a ton of boos. I just don’t get the allure of Kobe’s game- the guy shoots way too much and doesn’t seem to elevate the players around him. I think that this was evident last season when Kobe was sitting at home during the playoffs and Shaq was winning another ring with the Heat. I’ve always argued that Shaq was the Show in LA and was the primary reason for the Championships; I think somewhere in Kobe’s mind he knew that too and that’s why he was always crying and pouting about Shaq."

Kevin Cott:
"7:39 - Bow Wow in the house. Also here are Martin Lawrence and Tim Allen(?!!).

7:40 - THIRD PHENOMENAL ALLEY-OOP OF THE QUARTER BY JOSH! Now is a good time to point out that I absolutely love his game this year. Hustles his ass off, changes the game defensively, can probably get higher on the glass than anyone else in the league - he’s quietly become a legit force.

7:46 - Right now I’m looking over Jeremy’s shoulder and announcing his observations to him as if they were my own. He’s not amused. But I am."

Hawks Hack:
"Everytime the Hawks would get close (i.e. within three), the Lakers would just pull enough away, but the Hawks would turn it on and come back. Eventually, the Hawks put up a good showing, but they ran out of gas and the Lakers were able to win by seven. The Hawks might have lost the game, but they showed great tenacity in coming back so many times when they were down and I enjoyed the experience of “Blog Night.” It was great to talk to other bloggers who share the same passion for the Hawks as I do."

Bernaisesource:
"In the end, it was a really great experience. It was interesting to hang out with bloggers who are more passionate about the subject matter than the technology that drives their discussions. I haven't decided about live blogging. It gives you a sense of immediacy, but it is hard for me to do much reflecting as I get caught up in the half time show -- the contortionist -- Rubberboy -- and the contortions of Kobe Bryant freeing himself from some pretty intense man-to-man coverage to score a basket."

All in all, I think it was a good time had by all, and thanks to everyone who came out and participated. For those that didn't...it's not too late. We may just do this again sometime this season, so if you are thinking of starting a Hawks-related blog, let us know!

The Hawks dropped a tough one at home last night, losing 90-83 to the Lakers. Joe Johnson and Kobe Bryant staged a duel of sorts in the 4th quarter, and each finished with 27 points, but the Mamba's Lakers came away with the road win, as once again our Hawks just couldn't get over the hump. I give them credit for hanging tough on a night when the shots weren't falling, but missed opportunities kept the home team from winning their second game in two days.

Here are some photos from the game, courtesy of Hawks photog extraordinaire Scott Cunningham.

I will be back with more later to discuss the other event that went on last night, Hawks Blog Night.

Tonight is going to be a big night at Philips (as I may have just written in the title to this post). Not only are the Mamba-led Lakers in town, but tonight is our first-ever Blog Night as well. Over a dozen Atlanta-area bloggers are signed up to come down, laptops in tow, to provide you with their thoughts and analysis of the game as it happens (or soon thereafter, it's entirely up to them).

The Hawks will be looking for their second win in two days, thanks to yesterday's 101-99 win at New Jersey courtesy of your favorite braided Hawk and mine, Tyronn Lue. Lue downplayed his efforts slightly when I spoke to him about his game-winning buzzer-beater this morning, but if you watch the highlight of the play (which I have done several times already this morning), you can see just how excited the team (and Lue himself) was to come out of the Meadowlands with such an important victory.

Joe Johnson once again was spectacular, continuing his All-Star retribution tour by dropping 37 points on the Nets and their two All-Stars Vince Carter and Jason Kidd, but this game was a team effort. Everyone who played chipped in, including Speedy Claxton, who continues to show a little rust from his layoff. His offense may not be where he'd like it to be yet, but defensively, Claxton made two plays yesterday that were complete difference makers - the charge he drew late in regulation against a streaking Kidd, and then his pilfering of Carter with 33 ticks left in overtime and the Hawks clinging to a one-point lead.

Neither of the Hawks floor-generals are even close to 100% right now, but yesterday gave a tantalizing preview once again of some of the things they are capable of when they are up and running.

Tonight's game is going to be a tough one, no doubt, as any game is against a team with Kobe Bryant on the roster. Hawks assistant coach Greg Ballard said in breaking down the Lakers this morning that Bryant isn't the only one to focus on - Lamar Odom and company will be every bit as important to focus on tonight in order for the Hawks to win.

We have seen the Hawks play much improved basketball over the last couple weeks, winning five of their last seven. Still, this is the kind of game they need to win to show they have really put the slump of late December-early January to rest.

Can they get it done? Join us and a chunk of the Atlanta blogging community tonight at Philips and find out!

See you there!

Joe Johnson was another popular answer, and while he has done well against the Lakers (he poured in 30 earlier this season when the teams met in LA), he fell a basket shy of his teammate. Other high scorers against the Lakers are Josh Childress with 21, Speedy Claxton with 22, and Josh Smith with 21 as well.

Congrats to David R., who wins tickets to tonight's Lakers game. Here's to hoping Wright can duplicate that feat again in a winning effort!

The Web Guy is a big trivia fan - loves trying to stump his co-workers with various bits of random information throughout the day. So, to have a little fun this year, we are going to be asking a trivia question the morning of every home game - usually around 10:00 am. At that point, you are free to email in your answer to that day's question. Around 2:00 p.m., we will look through all the responses, and one correct answer will be chosen at random as the winner. (Click here for official rules).

And what will they receive for their efforts, you ask? Why, they will get two free tickets to that night's home game! Hooray!

It's that simple! So remember to come to the Hawks BasketBlog every morning of every home game for a chance to win tickets for that night's game! Note: Tickets to weekend games will be given away on Fridays.

Okay, take a look at today's question and give it a shot!

Now that that's out of the way, a few words if you don't mind about last night's injustice. Clearly, as Hawks fans, we all believed Joe Johnson deserved a spot on the Eastern Conference squad. While it was no surprise he didn't factor into the mix in the fan voting due to the team's lack of a national presence, the thought around the office was that because the Eastern coaches would be doing the balloting, they would vote for Joe since they are the ones double- and triple-teaming him on a nightly basis (yet still giving up 25.3 ppg).

However, it wasn't meant to be. I'll admit it, I'm disappointed. I won't say I'm outraged, because it's not like they put a bunch of complete stiffs on the squad, but I honestly think that no player in the league got worked more than JJ did. Carmelo Anthony leads the league in scoring, but he got suspended for 15 games for the Knicks brawl, so it's not a surprise. Michael Redd certainly is deserving, but he has been hurt for several weeks now and I suppose if he is out of sight, he is out of mind.

I have heard the notion before that players who put up stats for bad teams are not as worthy for All-Star consideration, given that they have to score so much because no one else on the team is capable. Well, that is certainly true in some cases, but consider this about Joe's season so far. Despite being a marked man every time down the court, and despite constantly battling through extra defenders, and despite missing several of his most offensive-minded teammates for long stretches of the season, JJ is currently shooting 48% from the field - a career-best. Joe's numbers are not empty, nor are they put together thanks to a series of meaningless baskets in garbage time. He has carried the Hawks on his back for much of this season, and he should have been rewarded for his efforts with a trip to Vegas.

In the grand scheme of things, maybe this is for the best. Much like Josh Smith, Marvin Williams (another snub for the Rookie-Sophomore game), and Josh Childress upped their play in the second half of the last two seasons after getting rejected from All-Star festivities, maybe this will cause Joe to raise his game to an even higher level (if that's possible).

Anyway, I know you are probably as upset about this as we are, so if you like, please feel free to voice your opinions - the NBA has set up a mailbox where you can write in who you think got left out (thanks to reader Elizabeth H. for pointing us to this). Let em hear it!

Meanwhile, back on the court, the Hawks have a very big game tonight against the Raptors. The home team can snag their second series win of the season with a victory, as they are currently 2-1 against Toronto on the year. The Raptors are playing incredibly well of late, led by January's Eastern Conference Player of the Month Chris Bosh. Stopping him and the rest of the team from getting out on the break will be important tonight, as we heard from assistant coach Larry Drew earlier today.

I think you are going to see an angry team tonight, out to make a statement that they are tired of being overlooked. Well, the only way to change that is by winning, and a W tonight would make it three straight and five-of-six.

Come out tonight and let's show Joe and the gang that we appreciate them, even if no one else seems to.

See you tonight!

The Web Guy is a big trivia fan - loves trying to stump his co-workers with various bits of random information throughout the day. So, to have a little fun this year, we are going to be asking a trivia question the morning of every home game - usually around 10:00 am. At that point, you are free to email in your answer to that day's question. Around 2:00 p.m., we will look through all the responses, and one correct answer will be chosen at random as the winner. (Click here for official rules).

And what will they receive for their efforts, you ask? Why, they will get two free tickets to that night's home game! Hooray!

It's that simple! So remember to come to the Hawks BasketBlog every morning of every home game for a chance to win tickets for that night's game! Note: Tickets to weekend games will be given away on Fridays.

Okay, take a look at today's question and give it a shot!

By going 8 and 7 this January, these young Hawks have earned their first winning month since April 2004. That's not a typo. It really has been that long. Without an abysmal December, we're talking about a team with a .500 record, sitting comfortably in the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference. And if that was the case, do you think the debate would be over whether Joe Johnson deserves a spot on this year's all-star team or is worthy of MVP consideration? Would the Hawks be playing in nationally televised games on TNT and ESPN? Would Josh Smith be the favorite for the NBA's Most-Improved Player award? Would the US Government hire Jack Bauer to find Osama Bin Laden? Would a Major League Soccer team pay one player $250 million … to play soccer?!?

Okay, I better calm down. These are of course all big what-ifs, except for what happened to Mr. Beckham, who currently is pulling his best Scrooge McDuck in "Duck Tales" by swimming in a piggy bank full of British pounds. But these scenarios aren't that far-fetched … are they? Without injuries to Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, Josh Childress, Tyronn Lue and Speedy Claxton, and coming out on the opposite end of a few close ball games, we're talking about a team that's contending for a playoff spot. I'm well aware that injuries are a part of life in the NBA, but the timing of these injuries is what truly hurt this team. After starting off on the right foot, and discovering winning team chemistry, the Hawks began to lose players to the I.R. like Michael Jackson's losing faces. And now that the Hawks are back at full strength, the evolution of this team is back on track.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not making excuses for where the Hawks stand today. But the Hawks are in a nice groove right now due to some minor tweaks with the lineup and the fact that virtually the entire roster is healthy. There's no doubt that Coach Woodson and the boys still need to find ways to execute down the stretch and pull out close games, and avoid ugly patches like the back-to-back losses against the Bobcats. But with several winnable games remaining before the all-star break, I'm hopeful we can carry that momentum into the second half of the season.

By the way, if you have not had the opportunity to listen to the tag-team of Steve Holman and 3-D (Dennis Scott) on 790 The Zone, you really should. These two are upbeat, always entertaining and are not afraid to point out what the Hawks are doing wrong. That sort of objective point of view sprinkled with heavy dosages of humor (and several indecipherable comments by 3-D) make for an entertaining listen.

Last, a quick suggestion for the people at Philips Arena who are responsible for the sound effects and in-game music - add the sound effect of Staples' "Easy Button." As part of its recent ad campaign, Staples is selling these plastic noise-making buttons, which, when pushed down, says in a loud, mechanical voice "THAT WAS EASY!" This sound effect could be made over the Philips Arena loud-speakers every time our MVP Joe Johnson scores a bucket. Imagine … Joe Johnson penetrates the lane, draws contact and drops in one of his signature floaters which tickles the net. This is followed by the crowd cheering, and a "THAT WAS EASY!" noise over the loud-speakers. I don't know about you, but I'd find that pretty funny. Of course, Philips and the Hawks would need Staples' permission for this, but how could they resist such a proposition? Joe's always good for about 26 a game, and I'd like for someone to point out another NBA player who makes the game look easier than Joe (except for Jesus Shuttlesworth, of course). Heck, Staples should pay the Hawks for this sort of exposure.

-- Skippy, The Fan Correspondent | 2:00 p.m. 02/01/07