Why are all Atlanta Fans Bandwagon Fans?

[frankthetank966]

Look I hate to be negative but why are all Atlanta (not just Hawks) fans bandwagon?

The Hawks are a prime example. When the Hawks started 6-0 everybody on this message board was raving about the team. The only negative thing at the time was the fact that Woody was still coaching and Smith was down. Now I will let ya'll know I am not a Mike Woodson fan, but I am an Atlanta Hawk fan. So to say that a 9-6 record is not acceptable playing 11 games without their starting F Josh Smith is completely sane! C'mon. Look the Hawks are 5-6 since Smith has been out but we lost mainly because of his absence and coaching. Don't start blaming Horford for not being a post-presence because when Smith is playing Horford is a nice post-presence. And don't start blaming Flip because his shot is off. Flip has been bench player most of his career, and unfortunately he has not stepped up his game since J-Smoove went down but Flip has been a nice addition to this team. Look at the beginning of the season if you had told me that the Hawks would be 9-6 without Josh Smith I would have laughed in your face. What it comes down to is that the Hawks are virtually competing in every game, win or loose. The only blowout loss I recall this season was vs. the Cavs. We lost to Boston by a hair and a few other teams because of poor coaching. But when J-Smoove comes back I expect the Hawks and our 'bandwagon' fans to pick up the morale.

Edited November 29, 2008 by frankthetank966

[TheTruth]

9-6 is a good start, but some of these losses have been unacceptable. Heck, we are BARELY squeaking by garbage teams and it is hard for some, some to stay on this alleged bandwagon. Add to that Smith's absence, which has exposed Horford's glaring weaknesses inside (well, he is still young), Woodson's inability to control his player PT management (Zaza sitting today, shorten the leash on Flip, give Acie some burn, give Joe less burn, etc.), and same old offensive schemes [or lack thereof]. I love the Hawks, and I can't speak for the supposed bandwagon-jumpers you speak of, but this team will drive just about anyone crazy.

[TroyMcClure]

Look at the beginning of the season if you had told me that the Hawks would be 9-6 without Josh Smith I would have laughed in your face.

And I would have told you that Woody cost us at least 3 of the 6.

A lot of you guys need to stop talking about "the fans". It's ridiculous. Also

Frank, my guess is that you either don't know or don't understand that Atlanta is a transient city or that "bandwagoning" is the very nature of sport. You see something good, it excites you. There aren't many people like myself that are "Atlanta" fans. I didn't begin to like the Hawks because I thought the colors were cool. However, if every "fan" were like me, the stadium would be more than half empty, because of the apathy alone. The sports business lives off of bandwagon fans. They make the whole thing go.

Edited November 29, 2008 by TroyMcClure

[Mrs. Joe Johnson]

I totally agree with u frank I believe that Atlanta is a bandwagon city. I realize there are a lot of transplants but that is no excuse. I am from Atlanta born and raised and I have always supported my teams through good and bad. That is not to say I dont get upset with them but anything u love u are always going to feel like they could do much more. I think that is what some fans feel like the hawks let some games slip away with or without smoove. Regardless this team is still learning and although we dont want to hear it they are still going to have growing pains.(not so many though) We are just going to have to be patient.

[atlien]

While I think many Atlantans in general ARE bandwagon fans, I wouldnt say that many here are.

Most of us were around during those horrendous losing seasons the past few years, watching every game and overanalyzing their outcomes. The people here are some of the most committed fans in that regard.

But yeah, I do agree that Atlanta is a bandwagon city for sports. But, speaking for myself, I watch and root for all our teams no matter how good/awful we are. Although I will say, last year's falcons were TOUGH to watch haha.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Look I hate to be negative but why are all Atlanta (not just Hawks) fans bandwagon?

The Hawks are a prime example. When the Hawks started 6-0 everybody on this message board was raving about the team. The only negative thing at the time was the fact that Woody was still coaching and Smith was down. Now I will let ya'll know I am not a Mike Woodson fan, but I am an Atlanta Hawk fan. So to say that a 9-6 record is not acceptable playing 11 games without their starting F Josh Smith is completely sane! C'mon. Look the Hawks are 5-6 since Smith has been out but we lost mainly because of his absence and coaching. Don't start blaming Horford for not being a post-presence because when Smith is playing Horford is a nice post-presence. And don't start blaming Flip because his shot is off. Flip has been bench player most of his career, and unfortunately he has not stepped up his game since J-Smoove went down but Flip has been a nice addition to this team. Look at the beginning of the season if you had told me that the Hawks would be 9-6 without Josh Smith I would have laughed in your face. What it comes down to is that the Hawks are virtually competing in every game, win or loose. The only blowout loss I recall this season was vs. the Cavs. We lost to Boston by a hair and a few other teams because of poor coaching. But when J-Smoove comes back I expect the Hawks and our 'bandwagon' fans to pick up the morale.

Frank, the sports fans in ATL don't ever want you to say anything bad about Atlanta being a "bandwagon" sports town. To them, this town is just fine as a sports city.

They do have some valid points regarding all of the people who are not from ATL, who now make that city their home. A lot of those out of towners have loyalties to other sports teams, and don't cheer/root for the Hawks, Falcons, Braves, or Thrashers, unless they're putting a tremendous winning product on the floor.

Before the season, I seriously didn't know if this team could finish the month above .500, with all of the back to backs this month ( 4 ), the amount of road games ( 10 ), and the amount of games vs playoff teams from last year we had to play ( 9 ).

Personally, once tonight's game is over, I would've been satisfied with a 7 - 9 record going into December. Then I was hoping we could survive the Texas road trip starting next Saturday, then make the run at the end of the month with all of those home games in a row.

Instead, we're 9 - 6 ( without our best shot blocker and energy player in the lineup: Smoove ), and we've won 4 road games already, after only winning 12 all year last year. We're #5 in the conference, and we're 1 game back of Orlando for the top spot in the division.

The bad thing about our fan base sometimes, is that they're used to being in a "gloom and doom" mode. It's natural for fans to complain. I've always understood that. But when you're used to bytching and complaining about your favorite team, it's easy to revert back to that mode when you play 2 weeks worth of bad to mediocre basketball.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

9-6 is a good start, but some of these losses have been unacceptable. Heck, we are BARELY squeaking by garbage teams and it is hard for some, some to stay on this alleged bandwagon. Add to that Smith's absence, which has exposed Horford's glaring weaknesses inside (well, he is still young), Woodson's inability to control his player PT management (Zaza sitting today, shorten the leash on Flip, give Acie some burn, give Joe less burn, etc.), and same old offensive schemes [or lack thereof]. I love the Hawks, and I can't speak for the supposed bandwagon-jumpers you speak of, but this team will drive just about anyone crazy.

Unacceptable?

- We lose to Boston on a great shot by Pierce.

- We 2 games to Jersey in which Devin Harris shreds our defense. Something he wouldn't have done if he had to worry about Smoove patrolling the lane. In the game in ATL, Vince played like a superstar, scoring 26 of his 30 points in the 2nd half.

- We lose to Indy on a night where Horford gets hurt, and Rasho Nesterovic played like a top 5 center in the league.

- We lose to Cleveland on a night where we come out lethargic as hell, and on a night were JJ was hurting and only scored 4 points.

- And last night, we shoot horribly from the outside in the 2nd half, and Bosh damn near puts up a triple-double.

And some of these losses were unacceptable? With 5 of them being on the road? Come on now. From the OKC game on the 9th, to the Cleveland game on the 22nd, the Hawks played 9 games ( with 4 back-to-backs ), in a 14 day span. I've NEVER seen an NBA schedule like that in a 2 week span. Never.

Yet, some of these losses were "unacceptable"?

Ish, we're probably lucky we've only lost 6 games this month, even if we were healthy.

[TheTruth]

When I saw that you replied to this topic, I just knew that you would quote my post. How [un]surprising.

I refuse to settle for mediocrity and excuses. If we lose to the 2-11 Wizards, what will the excuse be this time, hmm? Smoove is out? Too many games in a short period? We are a young team, cant expect to win consistently on the road? Or wait, we shot poorly?

Ug, makes me sick.

Im not talking about the Celtics game...that was a hell of a game. Now if only we could bring THAT intensity and great team play with us EVERY game--no matter who the team is or who is out injured.

We are barely skating by some teams (OKC and others) and cant seem to raise our game on a consistent basis. Dont give me crap about the Nets game...the Nets arent even that good. There is NO WAY we should have let that scrub Center manhandle us. If Smoove being out is such a convenient excuse, what does that tell you about our inside defense? And dont even get me started on Woodson.

Bleh.

It's time for people to call a spade a spade instead of dressing it up as some wonderfully-intricate machine of war.

[Peoriabird]

Personally, once tonight's game is over, I would've been satisfied with a 7 - 9 record going into December. Then I was hoping we could survive the Texas road trip starting next Saturday, then make the run at the end of the month with all of those home games in a row.

Essentially what you are saying is that you don't think the team is that good. I guess it is en vogue now to be labeled a bandwagon fan when that fan expect this team to be over .500. Sorry that you have low expectations of your favor team but it doesn't make you more of a fan than us who think that the team has more talent than what you are giving them credit for. Personally, I think they have the talent to be a 3rd or 4th seed in the east but system of a 7th or 8th seed. If we changed our offense to play to the team's strength, we would easily be a 4th seed.

[Plainview1981]

Look I hate to be negative but why are all Atlanta (not just Hawks) fans bandwagon?

The Hawks are a prime example. When the Hawks started 6-0 everybody on this message board was raving about the team. The only negative thing at the time was the fact that Woody was still coaching and Smith was down. Now I will let ya'll know I am not a Mike Woodson fan, but I am an Atlanta Hawk fan. So to say that a 9-6 record is not acceptable playing 11 games without their starting F Josh Smith is completely sane! C'mon. Look the Hawks are 5-6 since Smith has been out but we lost mainly because of his absence and coaching. Don't start blaming Horford for not being a post-presence because when Smith is playing Horford is a nice post-presence. And don't start blaming Flip because his shot is off. Flip has been bench player most of his career, and unfortunately he has not stepped up his game since J-Smoove went down but Flip has been a nice addition to this team. Look at the beginning of the season if you had told me that the Hawks would be 9-6 without Josh Smith I would have laughed in your face. What it comes down to is that the Hawks are virtually competing in every game, win or loose. The only blowout loss I recall this season was vs. the Cavs. We lost to Boston by a hair and a few other teams because of poor coaching. But when J-Smoove comes back I expect the Hawks and our 'bandwagon' fans to pick up the morale.

If people were a bandwagon fan, we'd be cheering on the Lakers or Boston and not watching a team with a 10 season losing streak. Think about it.

[Plainview1981]

Unacceptable?

- We lose to Boston on a great shot by Pierce.

- We 2 games to Jersey in which Devin Harris shreds our defense. Something he wouldn't have done if he had to worry about Smoove patrolling the lane. In the game in ATL, Vince played like a superstar, scoring 26 of his 30 points in the 2nd half.

- We lose to Indy on a night where Horford gets hurt, and Rasho Nesterovic played like a top 5 center in the league.

- We lose to Cleveland on a night where we come out lethargic as hell, and on a night were JJ was hurting and only scored 4 points.

- And last night, we shoot horribly from the outside in the 2nd half, and Bosh damn near puts up a triple-double.

And some of these losses were unacceptable? With 5 of them being on the road? Come on now. From the OKC game on the 9th, to the Cleveland game on the 22nd, the Hawks played 9 games ( with 4 back-to-backs ), in a 14 day span. I've NEVER seen an NBA schedule like that in a 2 week span. Never.

Yet, some of these losses were "unacceptable"?

Ish, we're probably lucky we've only lost 6 games this month, even if we were healthy.

120 points to NJ with or without Josh Smith is unacceptable for ANY team. It would be unacceptable for the 13 win Hawks in 2004 was it?

[HalfHawk]

Look I hate to be negative but why are all Atlanta (not just Hawks) fans bandwagon?

The Hawks are a prime example. When the Hawks started 6-0 everybody on this message board was raving about the team. The only negative thing at the time was the fact that Woody was still coaching and Smith was down. Now I will let ya'll know I am not a Mike Woodson fan, but I am an Atlanta Hawk fan. So to say that a 9-6 record is not acceptable playing 11 games without their starting F Josh Smith is completely sane! C'mon. Look the Hawks are 5-6 since Smith has been out but we lost mainly because of his absence and coaching. Don't start blaming Horford for not being a post-presence because when Smith is playing Horford is a nice post-presence. And don't start blaming Flip because his shot is off. Flip has been bench player most of his career, and unfortunately he has not stepped up his game since J-Smoove went down but Flip has been a nice addition to this team. Look at the beginning of the season if you had told me that the Hawks would be 9-6 without Josh Smith I would have laughed in your face. What it comes down to is that the Hawks are virtually competing in every game, win or loose. The only blowout loss I recall this season was vs. the Cavs. We lost to Boston by a hair and a few other teams because of poor coaching. But when J-Smoove comes back I expect the Hawks and our 'bandwagon' fans to pick up the morale.

At least that doesn't apply to me. I became a hawks fan a little before their 13 win season.....

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Essentially what you are saying is that you don't think the team is that good. I guess it is en vogue now to be labeled a bandwagon fan when that fan expect this team to be over .500. Sorry that you have low expectations of your favor team but it doesn't make you more of a fan than us who think that the team has more talent than what you are giving them credit for. Personally, I think they have the talent to be a 3rd or 4th seed in the east but system of a 7th or 8th seed. If we changed our offense to play to the team's strength, we would easily be a 4th seed.

Peoria, I'm the same cat that said that we'd win 45 - 50 games back in the summer. I'm also the same one that had confidence in Marvin, when others doubted him big time.

But this November schedule, along with the Texas road trip in December, looked to be very difficult before the season started. My hope was that we'd stay somewhere close to .500, then make our run in mid-December.

LOL . . . don't spin this into "I'm a better fan than any of you", because I didn't even say or imply that. I just try to be somewhat of a realist about the situation. Ish . . if anything, I've been accused on this board for overhyping this team the last 3 years, more than anything else.

All I'm saying is that this fan base should be estatic that the Hawks are 10 - 6, with Smoove ( the player that about 50% of our fan base thinks is our most important player ), out for the last 12 games. It's obvious that while the Hawks can survive offensively without Smoove, the defense has been severely hampered with his absence.

I didn't see anybody on this board predicting a 6 - 0 start, or a 10 win November. So we should all be delighted at the position we're in right now, and not necessarily complaining about games the Hawks lost during a brutal stretch of playing 9 games in 14 nights.

My hope is that we take care of business next week to go 12 - 6, before we play those Texas games + Miami. Then we get 11 of our next 14 games at home against pretty decent competition. After that, we'll see where we stand as a team.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

When I saw that you replied to this topic, I just knew that you would quote my post. How [un]surprising.

I refuse to settle for mediocrity and excuses. If we lose to the 2-11 Wizards, what will the excuse be this time, hmm? Smoove is out? Too many games in a short period? We are a young team, cant expect to win consistently on the road? Or wait, we shot poorly?

Ug, makes me sick.

Im not talking about the Celtics game...that was a hell of a game. Now if only we could bring THAT intensity and great team play with us EVERY game--no matter who the team is or who is out injured.

We are barely skating by some teams (OKC and others) and cant seem to raise our game on a consistent basis. Dont give me crap about the Nets game...the Nets arent even that good. There is NO WAY we should have let that scrub Center manhandle us. If Smoove being out is such a convenient excuse, what does that tell you about our inside defense? And dont even get me started on Woodson.

Bleh.

It's time for people to call a spade a spade instead of dressing it up as some wonderfully-intricate machine of war.

Well Truth, you will always have something to complain about as a fan then, if you take that approach. You'll literally drive yourself crazy, if you expect the Hawks to play at the highest level possible every night. This team is good, but we won't know just how good, until around January or February.

People keep talking about the Nets like they're a scrub team. Last I checked, they've won 6 of their last 8, including a win vs a good Utah team IN UTAH last night. And Devin Harris absolutely destroyed Deron, dropping 34 on his azz. Like us, they couldn't stop his penetration either. Don't look now, but Harris is averaging almost 23.5 ppg with a little over 6 assists. LOL @ him getting to the line over 11 times a game. That's insane. That's 2nd in the league behind only Dwight Howard. He's getting to the line more than Wade. And the 3 games he missed, the Nets lost. The Nets could very well have the same record as we do, if he wasn't out.

But I guess since Utah didn't have Boozer in the lineup last night, they can't use that as an "excuse" for losing. Or better yet, since Utah couldn't stop Harris, that Jerry Sloan lost that game for them. LOL . . damn that. When you lose a key player on your squad, you're going to struggle at times.

Truth, the NBA season is a long, long one. There's no way the Hawks can bring that type of intensity in every game the entire season. Anybody who has ever played an organized sport before, knows what I'm talking about.

I still want to see how many people thought we'd be 10 - 6 at the end of November, before the season started. With Smoove out, I could care less how we're winning games. Just as long as we win them.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Essentially what you are saying is that you don't think the team is that good. I guess it is en vogue now to be labeled a bandwagon fan when that fan expect this team to be over .500. Sorry that you have low expectations of your favor team but it doesn't make you more of a fan than us who think that the team has more talent than what you are giving them credit for. Personally, I think they have the talent to be a 3rd or 4th seed in the east but system of a 7th or 8th seed. If we changed our offense to play to the team's strength, we would easily be a 4th seed.

How is the current offense not playing to our strength?

We're the top 3-point shooting team in the entire NBA. LOL . . it's strange as hell to say that. That's the strength of this team right now. I guess we could feed the ball to Horford a little more, and play inside out. But Horford tends to have big games against smaller frontlines, or teams that don't have a good defensive post player.

Right now, I'm definitely satisfied with running everything through JJ, even if he is struggling with his shot the past 2 weeks or so. As long as we're doing that, guys will continue to try to shut JJ down, opening up the floor for everybody else to make plays. The shooting of Marvin, Evans, and especially Bibby, has been a godsend recently.

[TheTruth]

Well Truth, you will always have something to complain about as a fan then, if you take that approach. You'll literally drive yourself crazy, if you expect the Hawks to play at the highest level possible every night. This team is good, but we won't know just how good, until around January or February.

I disagree. I only complain when it's the same old tired story time and time again. I believe this team is good as well. But when we have games like some of the recent ones, it's a head-scratcher.

Truth, the NBA season is a long, long one. There's no way the Hawks can bring that type of intensity in every game the entire season. Anybody who has ever played an organized sport before, knows what I'm talking about.

I understand that...no one can deny that. I used to play varsity baseball myself.

I still want to see how many people thought we'd be 10 - 6 at the end of November, before the season started. With Smoove out, I could care less how we're winning games. Just as long as we win them.

See, I think this is where we fundamentally disagree. I DO CARE how we are winning games. 10-6 is great when you are dominating the games you are supposed to and losing to teams you probably should anyway. It's also great when the coaching is consistently good and the play by the players is the same. However, this has not been the case. That is why, to me at least, the 10-6 record is misleading. It is going to be nice to see how Smoove's return changes the dynamic of the Hawks. We haven't had much of an inside presence, and unfortunately Smoove is the only enforcer we have (Solo gets an honorable mention).

We shall see.

Edited November 30, 2008 by TheTruth

[TroyMcClure]

Northcyde, don't ever compare Woody to Jerry Sloan ever again, ok? It makes you seem retarded. I'll keep this quick, but I bet Sloan thinks he can win any game, no matter who is on the floor. Woody on the other hand, has an excuse at the ready whenever things aren't perfect. Which is in fact, often. The Truth just expects a little more. As do I.

[DrReality]

There was a lot more activity posting after the loss than after the win. Can't say I am surprised.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Northcyde, don't ever compare Woody to Jerry Sloan ever again, ok? It makes you seem retarded. I'll keep this quick, but I bet Sloan thinks he can win any game, no matter who is on the floor. Woody on the other hand, has an excuse at the ready whenever things aren't perfect. Which is in fact, often. The Truth just expects a little more. As do I.

Of course it's retarted to compare the 2. But isn't it ironic that when Woody finally has a competent veteran team, that the Hawks seem to have turned the corner. Yet, he caught all the heat the past 2 - 3 years, while the players got a pass.

So you expect us to be 12 - 4 right now. Cool. I think that's a little unrealistic, but that's cool.

[HawkItus]

A lot people in Atlanta don't have an emotional connect with these teams. They are from somewhere else or just can't stand the lean history of winning these franchises have. I grew up on the home teams. I'm a die hard fan. Most people aren't.