Bob Rathbun & Associates

Talk about must tweet TV! Welcome to Chicago, where tomorrow afternoon the road-weary Hawks take on the Chicago Bulls. (SportSouth in the Hawks region, 4pm ET).
Today, the traveling party endured a four-hour marathon flight from Portland, OR, to the Windy City. and as I type these words, we are a mere 18 hours ’til tip-off.
This grind, excentuated by the lockout and its compressed-schedule aftermath, is relentless. After getting blown out against the Blazers, now the Hawks must deal with the Bulls. Injuries and personal matters are mounting.
Tonight, we learned the Marvin Williams has left the team after a death in his family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Marvin.
But he won’t be here for the game tomorrow, so coach Larry Drew will have to make another adjustment. Already down Al Horford for the last 20 games due to injury, now Marvin exits.
The Hawks tonight re-signed Erick Dampier to a second 10-day contract, so Damp will stay in the rotation of bigs.
Willie Green has been hot off the bench the last two games. Will Willie start, and Joe slide to the small forward spot? That’s one option. Another could be to start Kirk Hinrich at the two, with Joe at the three, and let Jennero Pargo play the back up minutes at the point.
Whatever the coaches come up with, they will have to do it fast, with no practice time. It’s a day game tomorrow, so no shoot around.
The Hawks will be facing a Bulls team that was embarrased at the United Center Saturday by lowly New Jersey. Do not expect a repeat performance. And the Bulls may get MVP Derrick Rose back for tomorrow’s game.
Then its on to New York for Linsanity Wednesday (and maybe Carmelo’s return) before a Thursday night matchup with Orlando in Atlanta.
This is a crucial four-day stretch. Hawks fans will be watching to see if the tough get going.
See you tomorrow afternoon on SportSouth!