The Hawks Played Game 4 In a Morgue

The Atlanta fans, lifeless, perturbed and embarrassed over their team’s three game no show against Orlando, felt obligated to make one final trip to Philips Arena. It’s as if they sat through a whole court trial, then figured, “What the heck, might as well grab a seat for the execution.”

The Hawks looked like they didn’t want to be there, either. Or at least they played that way.

The result in Game 4; another double digit loss, filled with all the suspense of a textbook romantic comedy. Matthew McConaughey gets the girl, Atlanta gets an extended vacation. Same story, just on a different night.

The sweep provided a fatal brow to a franchise that had only recently grown accustomed to winning.

As the season unfolded, the Hawks quietly looked like a team on the up and up. This four game debacle, following a just as unpleasant first frame with the Bucks, wasn’t in the original cards. Now, the team’s brain trust stands completely handcuffed. There’s no alternative; the front office should nuke Atlanta’s developing foundation.

Say goodbye to Joe Johnson, who morphed into Joe Anybody over the past ten days. Atlanta can’t wrap banners on the rafters with Johnson posing as their unquestioned face of the franchise. The Hawks are stuck in an organizational no man’s land, good enough to feast on lottery teams and no more.

Johnson’s as good as gone. His Knicks jersey is already available on NBA.com.

Coach Mike Woodson is a dead man walking in a snappy suit. Whispers around the league have hinted at a coaching clearinghouse in Atlanta.

Who could blame the Hawks’ small, depleted fan base for wanting more? The team’s three straight postseason appearances look good in the program sheets. Then you remember Atlanta slogged through sloppy seven game battles against an overmatched Miami club in ’09 and a banged up, inexperienced Milwaukee roster last month.

In a conference where three teams consistently prosper, Atlanta’s grand prize is an annual two week KO from Cleveland, Orlando or Boston. Woodson’s resume simply won’t cut it. Sorry, Mike. There’s no prize for treading water year in and year out.

Woodson won’t be the only Atlanta man looking for work. Mike Bibby also needs a fresh venue for next season.

The days where Bibby could take a peaking Lakers team head on, as he did for Sacramento in the classic ’02 Western Conference Finals, have long since passed. On Monday, Atlanta’s PR staff should have worked in a neat gimmick, where a lucky fan could run the point for 8-10 minutes in the second half. The Hawks offense wouldn’t have suffered in the least.

Bibby’s name now carries more weight than his play. It’s a sad truth. 

And what are the Hawks looking at come opening night in November? A patchy nucleus of Al Horford, a low post banger who has to be the third banana on offense, Josh Smith, whose highlight reel far exceeds his production, and Jamal Crawford, a talented scorer and little else.

On paper, that smells like a six seed. Maybe. And there’s little indication that help is on the way.

No lucrative free agent would dare tank their career by taking a chance on Atlanta. It’s a team with too many missing puzzle pieces, and a fan base that doesn’t care enough to feel tormented.

How could any self respecting superstar endure 41 nights of emotionless, half empty crowds every year?

Atlanta has an outside shot at landing one big name free agent this summer. Unfortunately, that big name happens to be Joe Johnson. And if he returns, we’ll be having this same conversation next May.