Mike on the Hawks

As the Hawks prepare for their showdown on Thanksgiving with the Orlando Magic, they need to realize one thing – that despite sharing the best record in the East with Orlando, they still have a long way to go to get any respect, especially after losing to the Hornets the other night. The talk about the Hawks has pretty much since disappeared and all they did was lose to the Hornets to end their seven game winning streak. This season is still early, but in order to get some more real respect and to try and regain the lead in the Southeast division, they are going to have to come up with a good effort against the Magic. Last season, the Hawks went 1-3 against the Southeast division champions, with the lone win being the Hawks opening night win, meaning its been over a year since the Hawks defeated the Magic, so a win is important in help deciding the pecking order of the division this year. Even though they lost to the New Orleans Hornets last Saturday, the Hawks had a bigger loss, which was losing Mike Bibby to an ankle injury in the first quarter of the game. He is currently listed as day-to-day. The good thing for the Hawks is that they have and won’t have a game until the Thanksgiving showdown, giving Bibby pretty much the whole week to receive treatment and hopefully be ready to play Thursday, but if not, it is going to be up to Joe and Jamal to lead the team. To me, Teague just looks too lost and raw to be able to help the team out right now. He still needs the game to slow down for him, because he looks lost out there. But either way, the Hawks better not be just content to play on national TV on Thanksgiving, because if they do, the Magic will spank them. The Hawks need to come out hungry, with something to prove. Well, because they do.