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John Schumman at NBA.com will start it off for us by dropping us to #17.
Every team probably wants to avoid the Bulls in the playoffs, but Atlanta is surely at the top of the list after being held to a total of 134 points in its last two meetings with Chicago. They're still six games over .500, but, with seven guys on non-rookie, expiring deals of various sizes, the Hawks are also one of the most fascinating teams to watch as the trade deadline approaches.
Matt Moore at cbssports.com has us at 13 mentioning that he liked the fight in this team despite falling short to the knicks.
You get the feeling that Knicks game will wind up defining their season: outplay the other team, execute well enough to win, lose to a superstar.
Matt Dollinger at SI.com has Atlanta at 12 and wondering if a trade is in our future.
Will the Hawks be the next team to part with a star player for the sake of their future? The Suns are reportedly interested in acquiring Josh Smith and could have the cap-friendly pieces and draft picks to pull off the trade. With nine Atlanta players on expiring contracts, it might make sense for GM Danny Ferry to clean house and build around Al Horford and whatever the team can receive for Smith. The Hawks are in the thick of the playoff picture, but so are the Grizzlies and they just unloaded their leading scorer.
Sam Amico of foxsports.com makes another mention of trade after marking us at #13
Are the Hawks really this solid or are they having success because some East opponents are really struggling? We may not know the real answers about this team until after the trade deadline.
Finally, Marc Stein of ESPN.com has us at 18 and falling even if he is questioning the last play of that Raptors game.
That block Al Horford got away with to deny DeMar DeRozan, enrage Dwane Casey and clinch an Atlanta win? It made Horford the first player to be credited with two swats in the final 15 seconds of a one-point W since Ben Wallace did the same to the Raps exactly nine years earlier.
Well there it is, this weeks review of the power rankings. As always let me know what you guys think and yes as some of you guys have said in previous posts, I also miss the days of #8. Anyway again let me know what you think about our rankings and possibly of what we should do in the future to get back on track.