NBA Power Rankings: Hawks continue to fall

Well it's no mystery the Hawks are struggling. In the past week we have had a terrible loss where we only scored 58 points, our "star" player get suspended for a game because of an altercation at practice, and finally our fire power of the bench gone for the season. So again this is not a good week for us. Warning: these rankings may depress you and only remind you that this has been a rough week in Atlanta fandom.

Seth Rosenthal at sbnation.com starts things off at #15 with us by mentioning that we have been hurt big time due to injury. He is hopeful (like us) that Jenkins will get some good minutes.

With Lou Williams done for the year, Devin Harris nursing a freshly rolled ankle, and DeShawn Stevenson and Anthony Morrow still on the mend, the Hawks are now down to ... what, two healthy backcourt players? Good news for the promising and prolific John Jenkins, not so good news for Atlanta's positioning in the East. (Given how neatly and sharply the East halves over the playoff dividing line, a team like Atlanta probably doesn't need to worry about slipping out of the picture, but seeding's gonna count a lot down the road.)

Marc Stein of ESPN.com puts us at #20 after seeing the Lou Williams injury and the dismantling handed to us by the Bulls.

Brave of Larry Drew to admit he's "got to find a way to resuscitate this team," since such comments tend to drive up the temperature on the coach's seat. Losing Lou Williams doesn't help, either, after the Hawks initially responded to the 58-point debacle in Chicago by toasting Brooklyn.

John Schumann of NBA.com has us at #16 after dropping us a spot after this rough week. He makes mention that the game in Boston will show us how tough this team is.

The Hawks' offense was already struggling (it ranks 29th in January), and now they've lost Lou Williams (torn ACL) for the season. So they'll have to do their best Pacers imitation and start winning ugly if they're going to put an end to their current free fall (2-8 since Jan. 4) and remain competitive in the East. Friday's visit from Boston should give us a good idea of how much fight they've got left.

Matt Moore of CBSsports.com drops us to #16 of course mentioning something about us scoring 58 points in a game........

I would do anything to un-live watching their game against the Bulls, where they scored 58 points.

Foxsports.com Sam Amico drops us to #15 and wondering when a trade will happen.

Always a maddening ride in the Josh Smith-Al Horford era. Suddenly, Hawks went from early to surprise to Most Likely to Make Major Trade at deadline.

Surprisingly, Matt Dollinger of SI.com moved us up a spot to #13 after the win against Brooklyn with Josh Smith.

The Hawks may have hit rock bottom with their 58-point effort, including the second-worst half of basketball in NBA history, against the Bulls. But the next day, things didn't get any better as an undisclosed incident led Larry Drew to kick Josh Smith out of practice. Rather than give in to the disgruntled star, the Hawks boldly suspended him for one game. Atlanta's response? A feel-good win over the Nets, who had won seven straight, and a 109-point output that nearly doubled its tally from the game before.

The loss of Lou Williams for the season is bad news. Most of all for Williams, but also because it means more Jeff Teague responsibility, and that doesn’t go well over the long haul.

Well that's it for this weeks wrap up, I'm actually kind of surprised to see that we are in the middle of the pack. Now the consensus is that many of the writers don't think we will fall out of the playoff picture but we will get a lower seed. Also, another topic that I am sure they are all wondering is the future of Josh Smith. Well I will see it will be interesting to see how this team will do in the coming weeks with this injured roster and to see if they can make up for Lou Williams output. But what do you guys think? Be sure to comment and let me know if you think that the Hawks will struggle with the injuries and the loss of Williams, or if the play of Teague and others will improve to make up for that. Needless to say this will be a good chance to see what the rookie Jenkins has to offer.