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Hawks Going Through Growing Pains

The Hawks coughed up $70 million this summer to sign Joe Johnson and so far have little to show in return. The Hawks are still winless, which makes them the only team in the NBA that hasn?t won a game yet. This season has unraveled differently than what the Hawks have expected, to say the least. The Hawks will be attempting to get their first win of the season today against one of the most formidable teams in the Eastern conference, the Miami Heat.

Al Harrington, who not so long ago a big part of the plan, is on the trading block as the team looks for a piece to at least help them compete. The lack of experience leaves the Hawks with the thinnest margin for error in the NBA as they try to win games. Vice president of basketball operations Dominique Wilkins says fortunes can turn with just one taste of victory, and leadership must come from within the Hawks` young core.

Former Hawks great Dominique Wilkins who now leads the front office for Atlanta says, "Because you start thinking too much and looking over your shoulder too much, and that`s naturally for anybody. But you can`t play if you`re thinking too much". With a 9-0 record the kids could use some "in yer face" and who is more qualified in the franchise to do it? Wilkins never experienced a horrific start like this, though, and it does make a difference that it is happening now as opposed to January or February or even December. Setting a losing tone with such an exclamation mark is never a good omen in November.