No News Is...Typical

One of the things I didn't fully consider before undertaking this enterprise was the lack of local media coverage of the Hawks. After writing tens of game recaps, I don't have much left to say about the team in between games. That the team is frustrating in very consistent ways doesn't help much either. The lack of news reported about the team makes it that much more difficult to cobble together a post following an off-day.

For example, here is the totality of Hawks news in the AJC today:

The results of Thursday's MRI exam on the thumb of Mike Bibby were negative and the Hawks point guard is expected to play Friday against Chicago.

Bibby injured his left thumb in Wednesday's win over Milwaukee. He left the game in the fourth quarter and did not return. X-rays taken after he left the game were negative.

The injured thumb is the same one that cost Bibby 36 games this season after surgery to repair a torn ligament.

So we probably won't get a chance tonight to consider whether a Mike Bibby/Acie Law IV point guard tandem is better or worse defensively than a Law/Salim Stoudamire tandem. Who am I kidding, if Bibby sat out a good chunk of his minutes would likely go to Mario West.

The only other Hawks coverage on AJC.com is a stultifyingly dull (which I guess is a cut above his usual idiocy) blog entry from Terrence Moore that has something to do with pointing out that "taking it one game at a time" is a sports cliche. I don't know, I lost interest in Moore's prose after reading this distracting Josh Smith quote:

"We’re most definitely hungry, and we’re not just satisfied with making the playoffs, because we want to be a Golden State in the playoffs."

First of all, where was this hunger Tuesday night in Chicago? Second of all, the Warriors won 42 games (and 16 of their final 21 games) en route to earning the eighth seed, swept their first round opponent during the regular season, and were coached by Don Nelson rather than Mike Woodson.

The Philadelphia 76ers, winners of 19 of their last 24, would be a better comparison to last year's Warriors save for the fact that the Sixers' prolonged hot streak in this year's weak Eastern Conference could get them all the way up to the 5th seed and eliminate their chance to trouble (at least in the first round) either of the East's legitimately good teams.