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).

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Last night's loss to Phoenix was a tough one, because the Hawks really played quite well in defeat. Tonight they take on the other title favorite, the Dallas Mavericks, in another game that will require the team's absolute best effort to come away victorious.

In playing the Suns and Mavs on back-to-back nights, the Hawks become only the second team to have to run that gauntlet this season. Houston played the two on consecutive nights back in mid-January, losing both. It's very, very possible that will happen to Atlanta as well, as Dallas is currently on an 11-game winning streak and is 46-5 since starting the season 0-4.

To win tonight, the team will have to get a great performance from Joe Johnson - there is just no other way it's going to happen.

I am not knocking Joe by any means - some days you have the touch, and some days you don't. Most days, Joe has it. Yesterday, unfortunately, he didn't, and because of that we fell just shy of a major, major win. Three or four times against the Suns we got the ball to Joe for a wide-open shot that would have taken the lead or tied it up, and it just never fell. What can you do? It happens.

The Hawks video staff put together a little montage of highlights from yesterday's game if you care to check them out. For those who didn't make it, it really was one of the most entertaining games we've seen at Philips this year. Check it out!

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!

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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.  

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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!

 

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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!!

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Coming at you live now from NBA All-Star Saturday Night. Right now the Haier Shooting Stars competition is going on, which I have to say, I am enjoying more than I thought I would. Maybe it's because I just watched Michael Cooper miss, oh I don't know, 14-15 three-pointers in a row. Sorry, I grew up a Hawks fan, so I never liked the Lakers. The Pistons just won it because the Bulls shot out of turn. Cheaters. Bill Laimbeer was one of the participants for Detroit (each team consists of a WNBA player, an NBA player, and an alum from the team's past), and I swear, I don't know how he ever made a shot with his form. Of course, he didn't make that many tonight either, but at least now he can use age as an excuse.

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.

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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.

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