If they don't care, why should we?

[ATL_BALLER]

Forgive me if this has already been broached in another thread, but I think it's a legitimate question.

I've been a passionate fan since my first game in the late 80s, and I can't recall ever caring less about a Hawks team as much as this one.

Even after the Orlando playoff debacle, I still DVR'd every game earlier in the season, hoping that this team would find their fire after said embarrassment. Sadly to say, they've regressed worse than I doubt anyone of us could've imagined.

It's not about being fair-weather; it's about being beaten into apathy by the most heartless, unprofessional, unaccountable group of players I've ever had the displeasure of watching.

I haven't seen a game in a couple of months now, so my question to the board: why do any of you still care?

[Seano]

I can totally feel what you're saying and I'm sure a lot of other people feel it too, but I guess I continue to care because I really love basketball and I just don't have it within myself to abandon this team. Teams that I really enjoy watching because I love the way they play, run and gun teams like Denver and Oklahoma City, part of me would love to say screw it and just ditch the Hawks and find a team more suitable to my taste like that, but that would be totally lame and I couldn't do it even if I wanted to because I'm a Hawks fan at heart and have been since I was a young kid back in the late 1970s, and that's just the way it is.

The irony is that I did live in Denver for about 10 years and so could have become a Nuggets fan without having to feel like a 'bandwagoner' about it, but I just couldn't do that cause I'm a Hawk fan, and you are who you are. I don't know, but loving this team is about an exercise in frustration, and there is absolutely no doubt about that.

[niremetal]

Because I was born a Hawks fan, was raised a Hawks fan, have lived as a Hawks fan, and will die a Hawks fan. Don't know how else to say/explain it.

Edited April 11, 2011 by niremetal

[Dejay]

Because I was born a Hawks fan, was raised a Hawks fan, have lived as a Hawks fan, and will die a Hawks fan. Don't know how else to say/explain it.

Same here, Nire. But it still doesn't make it any easier to see them bend over and grab ankles the way they have so many times this season...

[OldTimeHawk]

The Hawks are toast unless they have a heart to heart and break it down . I think its been said here before , when they decide to play they can beat anyone.

The problem is Drew has ignored an ongoing problem and the players all play like they are ready fore the season to end.

This team doesnt hustle, help each other out and seems to disregard Hienrich . That guy has always brought hustle to the floor, and I really think playing in this situation has taken any joy out of the game for him.

This team needs a coach with balls and a leader on the floor. They have neither.

[ATL_BALLER]

Because I was born a Hawks fan, was raised a Hawks fan, have lived as a Hawks fan, and will die a Hawks fan. Don't know how else to say/explain it.

Fair enough, but what do you think of this team? Do you actually like this current group?

[niremetal]

Fair enough, but what do you think of this team? Do you actually like this current group?

Individually? Yes. As a group? I think they need to shake things up. But even if they don't, rooting for them is embedded too deeply in my DNA for me to stop.

[NineOhTheRino]

I don't think it's wrong to root for your favorite team to fail if you feel failure will ultimately bring success. I'm 100% positive this team will never be anything other than mediocre with this current bunch so I would like to see them all gone at any cost. So yep...that pretty much sums up where I'm at with this team.

to add some clarity...

I will not say root for the team to fail. I'll change to say root for this current group (players, GM, and coaches) to fail miserably to speed up the inevitable.

Edited April 12, 2011 by NineOhTheRino

[Bawse]

Because I was born a Hawks fan, was raised a Hawks fan, have lived as a Hawks fan, and will die a Hawks fan. Don't know how else to say/explain it.

Yeah, this is the case with most of us here. We are die-hards.

[NineOhTheRino]

Yeah, this is the case with most of us here. We are die-hards.

Why else would we be typing messages about people that don't know us? Better yet why would we be typing messages to "people" that may not exists. For all I know you all are just automated HTML output from some fancy computer program.

Edited April 12, 2011 by NineOhTheRino

[buckeye242424]

Because I was born a Hawks fan, was raised a Hawks fan, have lived as a Hawks fan, and will die a Hawks fan. Don't know how else to say/explain it.

That sums it up for me.

This group is frustrating, no doubt about that. However, I've come accustomed to being frustrated being a Hawks fan, it's always been that way, it seems. Yet, i still watch every game and root like mad to get victories. This particular bunch is talented, there's no doubt about that...but we're so annoyed because they're not reaching the potential as a team and utilizing their individual strengths. Is it coaching? Possibly. Is it lack of heart? Maybe. Who knows? Whatever it is, it gives us stuff to type about.

[mrhonline]

For all I know you all are just automated HTML output from some fancy computer program.

Welp, there went my cover.

[AnthonyI11]

Because I was born a Hawks fan, was raised a Hawks fan, have lived as a Hawks fan, and will die a Hawks fan. Don't know how else to say/explain it.

Amen :good:

[CBAreject]

I haven't lived in Atlanta since 2001, but I grew up watching those teams with Willis and Nique. Always liked to watch them play, but I fell in love with the Hawks in 1993-94, and when I couldn't watch them on TV (on TBS channeled through our gargantuan rusty antenna in rural GA), I listened to the radio Broadcasts with Steve Holman. The playoffs that season were one of the most disappointing things I've ever seen, and I'm a Braves fan. It was like we knew we were going to lose to the Pacers in the 2nd round that year, despite dominating almost everyone in the regular season (don't want to rehash nique trade). In spite of that, I loved this team, and I've never been able to leave them. I've been in 3 different major cities since leaving Atlanta, and now that I'm in Dallas, there's a better basketball team here. But I can't turn on the Hawks. Just can't do it. As much as I want to root for a winner, I keep remembering Mookie/Stacy/Nique/Willis/Ehlo with Lenny Wilkens pacing the sideline and just believing the hope I had for the 1993-94 team will be realized in a title run...some day. Here we are 20 years later almost, no closer to that title run, and I agree that it's hard to remember a season's end filled with more pessimism.

[Mrs. Joe Johnson]

I haven't lived in Atlanta since 2001, but I grew up watching those teams with Willis and Nique. Always liked to watch them play, but I fell in love with the Hawks in 1993-94, and when I couldn't watch them on TV (on TBS channeled through our gargantuan rusty antenna in rural GA), I listened to the radio Broadcasts with Steve Holman. The playoffs that season were one of the most disappointing things I've ever seen, and I'm a Braves fan. It was like we knew we were going to lose to the Pacers in the 2nd round that year, despite dominating almost everyone in the regular season (don't want to rehash nique trade). In spite of that, I loved this team, and I've never been able to leave them. I've been in 3 different major cities since leaving Atlanta, and now that I'm in Dallas, there's a better basketball team here. But I can't turn on the Hawks. Just can't do it. As much as I want to root for a winner, I keep remembering Mookie/Stacy/Nique/Willis/Ehlo with Lenny Wilkens pacing the sideline and just believing the hope I had for the 1993-94 team will be realized in a title run...some day. Here we are 20 years later almost, no closer to that title run, and I agree that it's hard to remember a season's end filled with more pessimism.

I understand everybody being frustrated including me. However I have to say I'm a fan because one I'm from here never lived anywhere else and I just can not root for any other team and I have pro teams in this city. I really do like these guys on the team and I would hate to see them go and really ball outta control somewhere else although I know thats how the business works. I think my favorite player is Josh Smith eventhough a lot of people like to hate on him maybe because he is from here as well. I have a question for you people always talk about Dallas but their fans should be frustrated to I mean they havent been out of the 1st round in a couple of years, lost to an 8th seed when they were number 1 and choked in the champonship game when they were up by 2 games how can people really feel Dallas is such a great team but they have their issues in the playoffs as well. If we are just speaking about playoff success I would be more mad if I were a Dallas Fan the a Hawk Fan #butthat'sjustme. Anyway I'm still rooting for the hawks in the playoffs here's hoping and praying they prove all the haters and doubters wrong

[Wretch]

Why do I care? Not sure really. I can say that it has very little to do with this:

...and EVERYTHING to do with this:

I don't think it's wrong to root for your favorite team to fail if you feel failure will ultimately bring success. I'm 100% positive this team will never be anything other than mediocre with this current bunch so I would like to see them all gone at any cost. So yep...that pretty much sums up where I'm at with this team.

to add some clarity...

I will not say root for the team to fail. I'll change to say root for this current group (players, GM, and coaches) to fail miserably to speed up the inevitable.

I'm still holding my breath for the playoffs, but pretty much feel the same way. Honestly, I would get just as much satisfaction from a 1st round sweep as I would from an ECF's appearance.

[CBAreject]

I don't think it's wrong to root for your favorite team to fail if you feel failure will ultimately bring success.

Hoo boy that's a loaded, philosophically-weighty statement. Maybe you've been lurking longer than your join date and already know this, but that idea has been hashed and rehashed and butted and rebutted more times than any of us care to remember. Almost all of that occurred prior to our current "playoff run" the last few seasons, and almost all of it was related to the concept of tanking to get a higher pick. There's been a lot of "you're not a TRUE fan!" and I capitalize for accuracy of quote and not added emphasis. As you might guess, I've exclusively been on the receiving end of such insults because I've said very similar things to what you just did. Consider, however, that I said those very same things when we were a 26 or 30-win team and not a 45-win team. That's how I got my Thomas the Tank Engine avatar, which I won't change until I feel we've built a contending team, because I feel that tanking and drafting their Blake Griffin, Dwight Howard, or LeBron James is the only way the Atlanta Hawks will have a title shot. We just are not able to compete for an established superstar otherwise, as documented by, oh, 4 decades of effort. I hope so much I'm wrong and we'll pull a miraculous deal for DH12, but that is a hope maintained through the still rose-colored glasses of homerism. I won't suggest the T-word regarding our team until we're out of shots to make such a blockbuster deal, but realistically we will probably be back there before we're mentioned with the elite teams again.

[OldTimeHawk]

If we had a coach that would define roles for players, and had spent the season holding them accountable ,we would have had success with this team.

Team sports demand that roles be defined and followed , even if the plan is not the best . Look at last year. I absolutely hated the offense Atlanta had that gave us iso Joe, but at least everyone knew who was taking what shot and when , Josh stayed closer to the basket , as did Al , Bibby was around the 3 point line, and Marvin was on the outside waiting. Everyone accepted that this was the game plan , and it won regular season games.

The problem this year is we have a coach that was probably the " good cop" last year , and he cant flip the script and be the hard *ss when its needed . Combine that with the fact the Hawks have no real floor leader and you dont have a team , you have a collection of talented players. I hoped Kurt would have been that player to step in and lead , but he came in too late to establish any authority over this bunch .

Maybe they will get it together and play for pride, but after watching this bunch after losses , it really doesnt seem to bother them to lose.

[batfanjordanv]

I will always be a Hawks fan. They could go 0-82, and I would still cheer them on every single game.

[jy23]

I'm mad all the time and it would probably be better for my long term health if I stopped being a Hawks fan...lord knows my girlfriend wishes I wasn't such a die hard....but I just cant do without the hawks. I'm so glad that I found this website and other people that actually care about this team like I do, I dont feel alone anymore lol. I cant really say I was born a hawks fan but being from TN and moving to Atlanta when I was so young just made me a fan by default. I didnt have a team in TN when I first moved to GA and I just feel in love with everything that was Atlanta. The Hawks came with that territory and have just grown on me more and more over the years, I mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can compare to that feeling I got watching game 6 against Boston at my friends house in TN while everybody there was talking so bad about us and how we were going to get killed, and with every shot that Joe dropped I got more and amped...the step back 3 sent me into straight psycho mode lol. I live for those moments and just hope that we can have more of those in these playoffs