The Hawks are trying to establish themselves as one of the elite teams in the NBA. They have made the playoffs the past two years, have improved record-wise every year since Mike Woodson became coach and are poised to be a good team for many years. There is just one problem.

The Atlanta Hawks lost to Charlotte by 20 points Friday night.

I’m writing about the Charlotte Bobcats not the former Charlotte Hornets. 20 points, can you believe that? The Hawks are now 2-7 in the Time Warner Arena.

To be blunt, if you want to be the best, you’ve got to be able to beat the bottom tier teams in the NBA. The Bobcats were 35-47 last year while the Hawks were the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. In 2007-2008 the Bobcats were 32 and 50 when the Hawks were the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

You shouldn’t lose to a team like Charlotte and the Hawks should be embarrassed. If the Hawks lose to Charlotte, how are they going to be able to handle their own against an unbeaten Denver Nuggets team tomorrow night?