I don't know if any of you saw the bit on 11Alive after the Super Bowl. They addressed the national media's perception that Atlanta is a "Bad Sports Town". But they offered some nice feedback on why we may be perceived this way. Here are some bullet points for what they had to saw.

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Currently the Hawks are on a 3-game losing streak (at home). The Hawks came home after a tough road trip that wasn't tough because of the quality of opponents but more so for the travel. Most were surprised that the Hawks did so well, posting a 4-1 record which was the best road trip for the franchise. Now the Hawks have turned a successful road trip into a horrible homecoming. At home is where the Hawks were sure to fly. I thought that the Hawks had a chance to win all four games at home, at worst go 2-2. But they did not fail to bring all of our hopes back down to earth.

I must say that I was probably one of a few optimistic hopefuls that didn't believe in the Hawks demise after Al's injury. And I still take that stance. But this was a test that the Hawks should have passed if they were serious about holding their spot as a true contender. The Hawks were valiant in the aftermath of Al's injury and some of the national media and some of our own Hawks fans began to think that maybe, just maybe this team was for real. But a 3-game losing streak at home?

Well its bad but not unusual. I can't even say that the losing streak is solely because the team misses Al's presence, but it would help. I say that because the three losses were caused much by the inconsistency that has plagued the Hawks in this current era of Hawks basketball. They began the season playing high level defense with extraordinary effort, they moved the ball on offense and took care of the ball.

In the last three games, the Hawks have been lackadaisical on offense and defense. Its like the Hawks hit a twilight zone or something. They forget what gained them success and seem to not play in sync with one another. It happens every year. This is the first time this year. I think that this losing streak kind of clouds the fact that the Hawks don't have its starting center. Over the course of the losing streak, the Hawks have fell into the same habits that caused losing in the past even with Al in the lineup. The fact is the Hawks need help up front in the form of any competent center that can rebound and play defense.

This home stretch was important for two reasons: 1) Putting up a good run would have shown that this team is for real. They would have been able to make the case that even without one of its best players, it could still compete at a high level and for once be able to sustain it. 2) They have a much more difficult road trip on the horizon and getting Ws at home would have drastically changed the pressure of such a difficult trip.

All in all, I think that this is just another low point for the Hawks that they will soon get past. Let's just hope that they show up to retaliate against the Pacers.

Here is a list of available centers (from what I can tell they are availalbe) that the Hawks have to choose from. They aren't all great, but they are big and we need big.

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1. Smoove and Hinrich for Pau Gasol, Josh Mcroberts, Steve Blake and Lakers first rounder

Originally I wanted this to be and Al and Hinrich for Pau and the lakers first rounder but that would mean the Lakers are admitting that they are tanking this season and I dont think that happening. Sooooo....I threw in Smoove and McBob.

Now I may be overestimating Pau but I think he still has a couple of years left in him and escaping from under Kobe might help him. On a side note, I would insist on both Pau and McBob. No deal if we dont get back two big men. The lakers first rounder is a sweetener for the Hawks since Pau seems like he's past his prime, Josh is younger and he's also very good bait for Dwight Howard. Steve Blake can be kept or removed from the trade based on your point of view. Hes shown that he can be a decent rotation guard but hes been crap the past two seasons so it could go either way and I dont think the Lakers would mind getting rid of the three years on his contract considering what he's given them.

2. Al Horford for Emeka Okafor +exchange first round picks hawks pick for minny pick

This is based on: a) Al may not be back in time/ be healthy enough to be a contributing member in the playoffs. and b) with one more big man we could really make some noise in the playoffs this year.

I dont know if the Hornets/Stern would agree to the pick swap but considering that we are losing the better player i think its more than fair especially since the minny pick is losing value quickly.

Based on an interview with Sund last season, he mentioned that the Hawks were elite and most people rediculed him. However, his definition of elite is

1.The elite teams are those that earn homecourt advantage in the first round and advance to the second round. 2.Your record at the end of the season( must be above 500 )against all the final four teams in your conference.Based on his definition, the Hawks were elite.

However, the media thinks only Miami and Chicago can be considered elite in the east.

What is an elite team in the NBA? What qualifies a team to be elite. Are the Hawks an elite team. Fellow bloggers, please help me in answering these questions.

I have been reading a lot of comments on this blog about how the Hawks should trade Henrich for a center ( or any center) and frankly i am shocked. Why on earth would the hawks want to trade Henrich for ANY BIG??.I keep hearing names like Nazr Mohammed, Thabeet!!!! Are you kidding me?? Unless the center is a legitimate starter who is better than Zaza, the hawks should keep Henrich and even look to extend him . Here's why:

1. Remember Orlando in the playoffs or better still remember Jameer Nelson??.

One of the major reasons why the Hawks got by Orlando last year was Henrich.His D on Jameer Nelson is what helped us win that series. How easily we Hawks fan forget. Infact, If he was not injured last season, I still think we would have gotten by Chicago as he would have made Rose work harded for his points.

2. He is the 2nd best guard we have today.

I am in favor of Jeff Teague starting because he needs the experience and he is the long term solution for us. But, as of today, Henrich is better than Jeff. Why trade your second best guard for a 7ft scrub.

3. Teams will give a lot to have him.

New York, Lakers, Miami are some of the teams that would LOVE to have a veteran guard like Kirk. why give him up for a center who is at best a backup.?

4. We need him.

Just because we have 5 guards does not mean that we should trade Henrich. If we have any hope of getting into the conference finals, we would need Henrich. Willie Green and Pargo are obviously not going to get us into the conference final.

5. He plays the 1 and 2 pretty well.

During the playoffs, where the rotation gets shortened, a guard combination of Kirk , Joe and Jeff is far better than any combination of Joe, Jeff,Pargo and Green.

6. We gave up a lot to get him

We traded 2 first round picks to get him.( The way the 2 picks are playing in Washington, I am grateful we made the deal).The least we can do is see what he can produce for a full season. We still dont know what would have happened had he not been injured in the playoffs.

"Fire Woody" may be the most popular phrase in Hawksland since 2004. "Fire Woody" was more popular than bashing the ASG or the infamous "Nooooooo" when Josh Smith took any jumpshot (good, bad, or ugly). "Fire Woody" has a deep and well documented background. Iso-Joe, Josh's shot selection, getting drilled by Orlando, and playing Joe 40 minutes a game for 5 seasons could all be attributed to the Woody effect. For this franchise, "Fire Woody" was its first cure to solving most of its problems.

And now, as I continue to enjoy the ups and downs of being a Hawks fan, "Fire LD" just does not have the same ring. Now that's not to say that I totally endorse LD. That's not to say that I or other Hawks fans are satisfied with LD's performance and decision-making (like calling out his team for quitting when no one else would have made that assumption and refusing to give Teague a chance to be the Hawks starting point guard last season). And that's before acknowledging that LD is a product of the Woody era. But LD is a clear upgrade over Woodson. LD introduced an offense that is much more lethal and balanced. It has taken time for the team to fully embrace it and it has taken time for the team to get rid of a large portion of its old habits on offense, but now it runs much more fluently and Iso-Joe is a just a small sample of the Hawks attack. The players seem to respond better to LD's leadership. LD has done a great job of putting guys in positions to succeed.

Now before you begin to think that this is an LD love letter, its not. This post actually has less to do with LD and more to do with something that all Hawks fans do not miss and something that another projected Eastern Conference power, has become well acquainted with. Its Woody's biggest down fall and the fuel to the "Fire Woody" locomotive.

It is that horrible, ineffective switching defense. For years Al and Josh and Zaza and even Twin would be isolated somewhere on the court by smaller but quicker guards. For years Mike Bibby, Jamal Crawford, and the brigade of other guards to come through Atlanta found themselves matched up with bigger, stronger forwards and centers. It made no sense. Everyone seemed to know that but Woody. For all we know, none of his assistants agreed with the switching. But Woody was the head coach and Woody was a "defensive genius" coming from Detroit, so everyone bought in.

This is where the Knicks come in. The Knicks had one of the best offensive minds in basketball as its head coach. They had one of the best offensive power forwards and one of the best offensive weapons regardless of position as its first threat. So common sense says that defense is where they had to improve. They went out and got the defensive anchor from the World Champions. They drafted maybe the best perimeter defender in the draft. And they hired Woody as the equivalent to an NFL defensive coordinator.

The Knicks are having a bad season thus far. Carmelo and Amare' don't seem to compliment one another. They desperately need a floor general, maybe Baron Davis is the answer there. And Mike D'antoni's offense doesn't look anything like his Pheonix days. And so you have calls for his job. It has been said that Madison Square Garden has recently been filled with "We Want Woody" chants. I guess because he has NY ties. Beats me.

Whether D'antoni is the right man for the job, I can not say. But what I can say is that Woody is definitely not the answer and is more so a part of the problem. Woody, as the Knicks defensive coordinator, has implemented his switching D as his signature to a renewed Knicks team. Not surprisingly, as in Atlanta, it is not working and Knicks fans hate it.

The inspiration to write this post came from a rant by Steven A. Smith about the Knicks. Right now, I can tell you that he was beyond heated. He was more of what you call "38 hot". Click the following link to see what Steven A. had to say and why he was so mad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKa-kKxs2J8 I think that the entire commentary is entertaining but I took particular affection for how he feels about that switching D. Forward to 2:46 to hear Stephen A. describing Hawks fans' pain of years.

via www.urbannewsroom.com

Joe Johnson is, without a doubt, my favorite player in the association. No shooting guard can match his length, and very few small forwards (read: KD, Lebron, and Iggy) can keep pace with him. His mid-range game is impeccable, and when his shot is falling, it's like watching poetry in motion. Always calm, always collected. He's a silent killer that feints and jabs and pokes--then goes for the money shot. Basketball is a beautiful thing because of players like him. More after the jump.

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This is totally hypothetical because we have yet to see how things work out over a longer stretch of games without Al, although I say losing Al is minor hiccup. If the Hawks continue to play as well as they are, there is a legitimate claim that the Hawks would be one dominant defensive minded and offensively capable center away from competing for a championship. That is of course if the bench continues to exceed expectations, Josh continues his MVP run, Joe continues to show why he has been selected as an All-Star 6 consecutive years, and Jeff Teague continues to show that he can play with the best point guards in the league.

So just say that Al becomes expendable...

Would it be worth the gamble of trading for Kaman, who is set to be a free agent in the summer, near the trade deadline?

There are several reason I would say yes:

-Kaman is a legitimate 7 foot shot blocker and he is just as productive offensively as Al.

-The Hawks would become players in free agency during the summer. Kaman's 14 mil and Hinrich's 8 mil coming off the books in the summer would put the Hawks over 10million under the cap.

-Kaman may also be a better fit in terms of giving the Hawks a low post threat and a better compliment to Joe and Josh.

-Most importantly, he fills the starting center void left by Al

via www.tampabay.com

Let me get straight to the point: Al Horford's value is overestimated, and while a Josh Smith trade made sense during the last half of the 2011 campaign, it makes absolutely no sense now, not while Smoove is ballin out of his mind. More after the jump.

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