Eight Assists vs. Phoenix Says It All

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Phoenix --- For Josh Childress and many of his Hawks teammates, the present resembles the past in so many wicked ways.

Sixteen games into his rookie season, the Hawks were 2-14 and sporting one of the NBA's worst records.

Sixteen games into his second season, with a relatively new cast of players, Childress is on a Hawks team with the same lousy record.

"It's twisted," Childress said. "It doesn't feel good to be in this same situation after working as hard as we have."

There is no relief in sight. The Hawks play tonight at Denver and Wednesday in Utah before heading back to Philips Arena for a Saturday date with world champion San Antonio. The search for positive signs is like a treasure hunt without a map.

Sure, there was that 43-point fourth quarter in Sunday night's loss to Phoenix. And Marvin Williams (17 points, 11 rebounds) and Esteban Batista (12 points) had their best outings of the season.

But it was all just background clutter for what proved to be yet another forgettable night.

"Really, it's our own fault," Childress said, gesturing to the rest of the players who sat in the locker room Sunday night after the Hawks absorbed their fifth straight beating, a 112-94 laugher against the Boris Diaw-led Suns. "We know that if we share the ball and play together, we give ourselves every opportunity to win games. And we'll do it in spurts. We did it in the second half and especially in the fourth quarter. When we play like that, our defense is better, and we do just about everything else better.

"But it's almost like we forget who and what we are sometimes and just go crazy."

The Hawks were outclassed by the Suns, who barely played their starters after taking a 37-point lead. But they also were schooled on the finer points of team basketball by one of the league's most cohesive teams.

While the Hawks managed just eight assists during the game, five in the second half, the Suns' precision-passing attack produced 27. They got 19 from their starting unit and a game-high nine from Diaw.

"Our problem was a combination of us not getting back on defense and, on the offensive end, just not sharing the ball," rookie guard Salim Stoudamire said, using a refrain that has accompanied all but a few of the Hawks' losses. "We had eight assists, and they had 27. That was the game. They just moved the ball more than us." </div>

Source