How to tell if someone is a Hawks fan....

[joshuaneder]

You are if....you want to keep Josh Smith at any price.

You are not if...you think he is not worth it.

If you fall in the latter camp you have not been a fan this last decade, have no understanding of the enthusiasm and interest this guy brings to the average Atlanta sports fan and you have the basketball iq of...well.......a rock.

Marvin is a bust. He has no heart.

Horford is a different player.

Smith brings people to the stands, gets people excited and with some continued offensive work will be a perennial allstar in this league.

[Gray Mule]

They believe that Josh Smith is worth whatevere it costs to sign him, if it means that

all the other players on the team must settle for the minimum that the NBA will allow

a team to pay players.

Josh Smith plus fourteen minimum paid players is a great reason to be a Hawk fan.

They also believe that Marvin Williams should be traded for a couple of old basketballs

and a pair of loafers. That's all he's worth. - - And, just think, all that salary could go

to Josh Smith.

[Guest]

What a blind post, way to alienate those that are Hawks fans and are looking towards a bigger picture than throwing all of our money at one player. Some are legitimately concerned about whether Josh Smith will end up forcing us to get rid of other integral parts of our team because we have owners that are unwilling to go to the Luxury Tax.

This isn't a simple issue, its more complex than we sign him or we don't those are just the two outcomes from multiple situations.

[joshuaneder]

Obviously, I am not saying spend 99% of our payroll on him and 1% on the rest. But he is worth 10-15 mil easy. Why? Ask yourself this question. Should we not match an offer in this range how bad will the bubble burst? He is the face (to the average fan) of our resurgence in the playoffs. It could be the final blow to a franchise that has been on close to the ten count for some time. My point is simple, only a long term, true Hawks fan could see this.

[Guest]

Final blow? What are you talking about, you are sensationalizing this whole thing as if the franchise will crumble for not matching.

You are questioning people's fanhood with your whole post and that is ridiculous. Sure you have your opinion on this situation, and I can understand it and it is fine. But you are blatantly saying anyone who does not agree with your assessment is not a Hawks fan. That is a low blow to many and also not a very well thought out judgment.

State your opinion, that is fine and I won't really care one way or the other. But you are attacking whether or not someone is a fan based upon your narrow opinion and that is bull.

[NJHAWK]

Smoove would be great on a playground but right now is way to inconsistant, immature and borderline disruptive to say something as foolish as keep him at any price. Yeah he is a great highlight factory but he is a terrible man to man defender and takes way too many bad shots. Marvin is not a bust unless the differance between a bust and a guy who you should keep at any cost is 3 ppg. Smoove is a better rebounder and shot blocker while Marv is a better man to man defender.

[NJHAWK]

How is he the face of our playoff resurgence? He is not near the player JJ is and certainly not as good as JJ was in the playoffs.

[Supporter]

Hahahah i was thinking the same thing....lol didnt jj do more for us in the playoffs than smith, you can even argue that horford had more impact. And im pretty sure that people think of joe when they think of hawks

[Diesel]

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How is he the face of our playoff resurgence? He is not near the player JJ is and certainly not as good as JJ was in the playoffs.

[AnakinJoe]

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You are if....you want to keep Josh Smith at any price.

You are not if...you think he is not worth it.

If you fall in the latter camp you have not been a fan this last decade, have no understanding of the enthusiasm and interest this guy brings to the average Atlanta sports fan and you have the basketball iq of...well.......a rock.

Marvin is a bust. He has no heart.

Horford is a different player.

Smith brings people to the stands, gets people excited and with some continued offensive work will be a perennial allstar in this league.

The way you can tell a Hawks fan is someone who doesn't care what name is on the back, they just want a team they can be proud to support. Sure, you can have your favorite player, but if you are a fan of the team, then it truly shouldn't matter who ultimately wears your team's colors. I personally can't stand Antoine Walker. I have disliked him since his rookie season and practically cried when the Hawks acquired him. But I still cheered for him to make every ugly shot he took as a Hawk.

There were Hawk fans before Smith was born and there will be Hawk fans when he leaves. All of this passion for a player who has won less than 35% of his 300+ NBA games. And we're supposed to measure our fandom based on our willingness to max him out? PUH-LEASE! Someone in Toronto probably had the same feelings about Vince Carter and discovered that the franchise could both survive and thrive without an exciting star to draw those fans who require a highlight-worthy slam to appreciate the game.

[AnakinJoe]

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He is the face (to the average fan) of our resurgence in the playoffs.

Didn't he miss the flights to Boston during the playoffs? I don't recall seeing him perform in those games.

[A-town Hawks]

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You are if....you want to keep Josh Smith at any price.

You are not if...you think he is not worth it.

If you fall in the latter camp you have not been a fan this last decade, have no understanding of the enthusiasm and interest this guy brings to the average Atlanta sports fan and you have the basketball iq of...well.......a rock.

Marvin is a bust. He has no heart.

Horford is a different player.

Smith brings people to the stands, gets people excited and with some continued offensive work will be a perennial allstar in this league.

Even though Im on the keep Smith at all cost bandwagon with you Juice, this was a horrible post single out all the other posters with reasons to not keep smith. But anyways, the way I see is it is maybe you all are right that Smith isnt a max type player and maybe he won't ever be. But the truth is that Smith is the "face" of our franchise, to the non hawks fan who thinks of the Hawks they think Smoove, and when they think Smoove they think high-flying dunks and fun. Smoove it our biggest market, and for this horrible ownership group they would be losing MORE money watching our "face" leave for nothing, then who's going to garner any interest from the hawks??? Smith MUST stay.

[TheTruth]

The original post smacks so much of arrogance, cockiness and a downright condescending nature that it reminds me of one of my favorite posters, northcyde. Josh Smith still has a lot of holes in his game and by no means is a "sign by any cost" type player. However, the kid is 22, works hard in the offseason to improve his game, and appears to be a legit all-star contender if he pulls everything together. Should we re-sign him? You bet. Should we do so if the price range gets ridiculous, say 16, 17 mill per? Probably not. But do you get a bona fide star in return who will make similar impact if that happens? It will be hard to do so at that price and with that talent, but you better damn find a way.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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The way you can tell a Hawks fan is someone who doesn't care what name is on the back, they just want a team they can be proud to support. Sure, you can have your favorite player, but if you are a fan of the team, then it truly shouldn't matter who ultimately wears your team's colors.

I personally can't stand Antoine Walker. I have disliked him since his rookie season and practically cried when the Hawks acquired him. But I still cheered for him to make every ugly shot he took as a Hawk.

There were Hawk fans before Smith was born and there will be Hawk fans when he leaves. All of this passion for a player who has won less than 35% of his 300+ NBA games. And we're supposed to measure our fandom based on our willingness to max him out? PUH-LEASE! Someone in Toronto probably had the same feelings about Vince Carter and discovered that the franchise could both survive and thrive without an exciting star to draw those fans who require a highlight-worthy slam to appreciate the game.

Ditto on the Walker comment.

I know why they made the trade, and I could endure him for one year, but it was H-A-R-D to root for that guy while he was a Hawk.

Walker is the classic "high talent, low BBIQ" type player. What made him worse, is that he thought he was much, much better than what he truly was.

I never doubted his passion to win, because he did care about winning. It's just that he'd always try to make a superstar-like play at the absolute wrong time, whether it be an ill-advised 3-pointer or a perfect pass through trafic. He was never content on just making the "right" play.

Toine definitely had talent though. He just didn't know how to harness it all.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

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The original post smacks so much of arrogance, cockiness and a downright condescending nature that it reminds me of one of my favorite posters, northcyde. Josh Smith still has a lot of holes in his game and by no means is a "sign by any cost" type player. However, the kid is 22, works hard in the offseason to improve his game, and appears to be a legit all-star contender if he pulls everything together. Should we re-sign him? You bet. Should we do so if the price range gets ridiculous, say 16, 17 mill per? Probably not. But do you get a bona fide star in return who will make similar impact if that happens? It will be hard to do so at that price and with that talent, but you better damn find a way.

Glad to see that I'm one of your favorite posters. I try to be one of the "voices of reason" on this board, and not let emotions dictate my decision making.

Personally, i think people just need to calm down a little on this Smith issue. It is way too early to get hyped up about what teams can potentially do. Let's see what happens on draft night, and go from there. But as usual, the Squawk loves to go into hysteria before it is even necessary.

[TheTruth]

I wouldn't go so far as "voice of reason," [if only it weren't done in such a childish manner], but hey can't agree on everything...

I can agree with you that much of the hysteria is a bit much. However, there are MANY possibilities afoot and a lot can happen between now and August. A few teams have already made plans to ratchet up their drive for Smoove, and with the ASG as our ownership group, it is no wonder some are becoming a bit nervous. My feeling is that Smoove should be immediately signed for anything less than 12-13 mil per. If he wants more than that, and the ASG isnt willing to pay, then we better hope to God Sund can find someone of similar impact and talent for the price range of a Sing-and-Trade.

[crimedog]

There are rabid Hawks fans that think Josh Smith should walk this season.

There are rabid Hawks fans that think Joe Johnson is a whiner who dogged it for 2/3s of this season and then turned it on when management got a vet sidekick.

There are real Hawks fans that though we would have been better off w/ Yi than Al.

They are all Hawks fans and they are all probably wrong, but you can't tell someone they aren't a Hawks fan because they have a different opinion about a certain player, even if they are probably wrong.

[Wurider05]

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How is he the face of our playoff resurgence? He is not near the player JJ is and certainly not as good as JJ was in the playoffs.

You training for Mike Vick now or what??

[Watchman]

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You are if....you want to keep Josh Smith at any price.

You are not if...you think he is not worth it.

If you fall in the latter camp you have not been a fan this last decade, have no understanding of the enthusiasm and interest this guy brings to the average Atlanta sports fan and you have the basketball iq of...well.......a rock.

Marvin is a bust. He has no heart.

Horford is a different player.

Smith brings people to the stands, gets people excited and with some continued offensive work will be a perennial allstar in this league.

I don't go to the game to see a dunk contest. I go to see wins. I suspect I am not alone in that thinking. Winning brings the enthusiasm, not Josh Smith alone.