Hawks Pride.

[Diesel]

Lately I have been thinking about the phrase Celtic Pride.I heard Pierce talking about having Celtic Pride and knowing what it means...The nostalgia. The Championships. The Fans Expectation. The support system.I thought it would be interesting to point out Hawks pride....What are the Hawks Points of Pride... that we offer players. I will start...1. Dominique.

[benhillboy]

Nique is partly why I can't embrace Joe Johnson. I dont just hate the guy for my health. At around the same size (inch taller, 5-10 pounds lighter depending on Joe's fluctuations), Nique was, IMO, by far the most explosive rim finishing perimeter player I've ever seen not named LeBron or in excess of 260 pounds, so my formative years of watchig basketball were developed by he and Mike driving relentlessly to, around, and over the rim. He's the only guy who could "stand still" in midair. I've seen him windmill so hard he almost hurt himself. He actually started All-Star Games regularly. Wasn't a great shooter or defender, but paint finishing is probably the single most important skill for a True Scorer and Nique was one of the All-Time Best. One of these days I'm changing my a avatar to the toss-off-the-glass during the dunk contest he was shafted in Chicago. My favorite non-game dunk of all time and a work of anatomical art. Poor announcer and commentator, one of a kind baller.

Edited April 6, 2012 by benhillboy

[Rattler4life000]

Nique was a great finisher and scorer, glad I was able to watch him from start to finish as a Hawk fan...look at Niques top ten dunks in game

[capstone21]

Nique was one of the most underrated players of all time

[Diesel]

Nique is partly why I can't embrace Joe Johnson. I dont just hate the guy for my health. At around the same size (inch taller, 5-10 pounds lighter depending on Joe's fluctuations), Nique was, IMO, by far the most explosive rim finishing perimeter player I've ever seen not named LeBron or in excess of 260 pounds, so my formative years of watchig basketball were developed by he and Mike driving relentlessly to, around, and over the rim. He's the only guy who could "stand still" in midair. I've seen him windmill so hard he almost hurt himself. He actually started All-Star Games regularly. Wasn't a great shooter or defender, but paint finishing is probably the single most important skill for a True Scorer and Nique was one of the All-Time Best. One of these days I'm changing my a avatar to the toss-off-the-glass during the dunk contest he was shafted in Chicago. My favorite non-game dunk of all time and a work of anatomical art. Poor announcer and commentator, one of a kind baller.

Yeah, Nique was a brand for a time.. but when you put up Joe... less the ppgs, Rebs Joe is kinda superior to Nique otherwise. Joe is more of a team player. Better assists, better defense. But what separates Nique is that he was a top scorer and the defenses waited on him. (what defense they had back then).Smitty is a great Hawk too. I think that's a better comparison for Joe, but Smitty and Nique are definitely Hawks Points of Pride.

[thecampster]

Nique is partly why I can't embrace Joe Johnson. I dont just hate the guy for my health. At around the same size (inch taller, 5-10 pounds lighter depending on Joe's fluctuations), Nique was, IMO, by far the most explosive rim finishing perimeter player I've ever seen not named LeBron or in excess of 260 pounds, so my formative years of watchig basketball were developed by he and Mike driving relentlessly to, around, and over the rim. He's the only guy who could "stand still" in midair. I've seen him windmill so hard he almost hurt himself. He actually started All-Star Games regularly. Wasn't a great shooter or defender, but paint finishing is probably the single most important skill for a True Scorer and Nique was one of the All-Time Best. One of these days I'm changing my a avatar to the toss-off-the-glass during the dunk contest he was shafted in Chicago. My favorite non-game dunk of all time and a work of anatomical art. Poor announcer and commentator, one of a kind baller.

<----- someone who watched him night in, night out. Nique was one of most impactful offensive players I've ever seen. Not only did he score, but he changed everything about the way the defense approached the game. His presence created opportunities for other players on the floor without having to do a thing. That said, Nique was soft defensively, at times a passive rebounder (one year he committed to it and average 9 per game but was 6.7 average for his career and for his usage, an unwilling passer (2.5 apg for his career). I loved Nique but at times he frustrates me when he talks about defense. That was his weakness. He was good at defense when he committed to it but that was rare. He was a "funneler" on D and that may have been in part to strategy of the team. But he wasn't interested in boxing out or stopping the ball. However, that could also be me putting him on a pedestal and saying "the rest of his game is stellar, everything should be stellar" and holding him to a higher standard.

[thecampster]

Lately I have been thinking about the phrase Celtic Pride.I heard Pierce talking about having Celtic Pride and knowing what it means...The nostalgia. The Championships. The Fans Expectation. The support system.I thought it would be interesting to point out Hawks pride....What are the Hawks Points of Pride... that we offer players. I will start...1. Dominique.

Our pride isn't the team, it's the environment. Atlanta is an amazing city. Great atmosphere, nightlife, history. But the team monicker has always been one of exciting but not well orchestrated basketball. The Nique teams for example had great individual performers but the team concept lacked. The best "team" team was the team right before Nique was traded. In his last 2 years in Atlanta, Nique matured greatly. I honestly believe that if they hadn't traded him that year, they would have won it all. That trade was the beginning of a nasty downward spiral.

[Peoriabird]

Our pride isn't the team, it's the environment. Atlanta is an amazing city. Great atmosphere, nightlife, history. But the team monicker has always been one of exciting but not well orchestrated basketball. The Nique teams for example had great individual performers but the team concept lacked. The best "team" team was the team right before Nique was traded. In his last 2 years in Atlanta, Nique matured greatly. I honestly believe that if they hadn't traded him that year, they would have won it all. That trade was the beginning of a nasty downward spiral.

According to some posters, that was the perfect time to blow up the team since they had not made it out of the 2nd round!

[AtLaS]

According to some posters, that was the perfect time to blow up the team since they had not made it out of the 2nd round!

This is unfair. If we were 1st in the East, none of us would be asking to make a trade or blow it up.

[Buzzard]

This is unfair. If we were 1st in the East, none of us would be asking to make a trade or blow it up.

He knows that plus he is ignoring the fact that the Nique lead Hawks won division titles which btw is the last time we have won a division title :(

[hawkman]

This is unfair. If we were 1st in the East, none of us would be asking to make a trade or blow it up.

Unfair but true. There were many fans who thought trading Nique for Danny friggin Manning was the right thing to do. What other fanbase would think that???? Only the Hawks fanbase, SMH.

[DJlaysitup]

Yeah, Nique was a brand for a time...

Every time I hear Nique say "Heat Check" during the broadcasts it makes me wonder how many times he said that to his coach after taking a dumb shot in a tight game.

Coach: "(thinking) WTF?"...with a puzzled look after Nique took a stupid shot with the game on the line.

Nique: "Heat Check coach".

...but to be fair...he made a bunch

[benhillboy]

As I've stated here before, his UNCF games were phenomenal. We really need something like that to boost fan morale but probably won't happen with insane contracts and players being so restricted to what they can or can't do in the offseaason.On a side note, had anyone else heard of or knew the severity of an ACL before Nique? The way he went down, with no contact or nothing, was just surreal and incomprehensible to me at the time. I remember watching that game and thinking "hell, that was nothing. He'll be back in a couple games". Damn was I wrong.

Edited April 6, 2012 by benhillboy