April’s Fools

Mike Woodson, Joe Johnson and the Hawks are scrambling to finish with a bang.

HAWKSVILLE - If this is some sort of sick belated April Fools’ prank Hawks, it’s not funny.

Three straight losses, now?

I know, it was three straight to playoff bound teams playing at a much higher level than the Hawks could as presently constituted (despite all the chatter to the contrary a healthy Marvin Williams would help).

But not now.

Not with everything (namely the fourth spot and the home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs that come with it) on the line.

It’s one of the more deflating stretches I’ve seen out of these Hawks this season. And there have been others.

Check the standings, though, and you’ll realize that now is hardly the time to start a tailspin.

Not even a glorious late Sunday morning brunch with the fam and neighbors at Highland Bakery could erase the stain of what I’ve seen from these Hawks the past week.

After a big time effort against the Los Angeles Lakers in a home win last Sunday, they’ve basically fallen apart before our eyes.

They couldn’t keep pace with 76ers late Tuesday night in Philadelphia (a team and city the Hawks could see a whole lot more of in the coming weeks). They suffered a similar fate Friday night in Boston in yet another loss to the Celtics.

For a while it appeared that they would use their home court mojo to end their slide Saturday night against Orlando … then they suddenly went cold and suffered the exact same sort of power failure in the second half against the Magic.

It’s a nasty trend that should worry you. Because no playoff team should be suffering these sorts of lapses with the postseason just days away.

Naturally, the Hawks aren’t ready to call this a code red just yet.

“You can’t go into panic mode,” Josh Smith said. “You just have to bounce back and try to get these games on the road and win out the rest of the season.”

Sure, it sounds good in theory.

But panic mode might be exactly the place the Hawks need to go to find refuge or at least some answers.

Josh Smith insists now is not the time to panic!

They haven’t met the physical or mental challenge of their opponents in a week, which is a clear indictment of not only the performance on the floor but also of the preparation that goes into every game.

The Hawks’ history of struggles on the road make this week’s road tests in Toronto and Milwaukee, on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, even more critical.

I’m going to close with a little ditty from one of our regulars (you probably know him as RA) who sends me regular emails throughout every game.

He made some interesting points about what he sees as some alarming developments after the Magic game: