VERY TIRED of Bandwagon/Fair-weather fans around here.

[ATLscrubLove]

It doesn't matter who we play, there are always a ton of bandwagon fans or transplants that support their team... The bad part about it is that most of the people that are fans of the opposing team are from around the ATL area. It has gotten very sickening honestly. I realize there are a lot of people here from different areas but I have gotten to where I hate going to home games vs bigger teams. Like tonight , the place was literally filled with at least 60% Spurs fans. I've been to about 14 home games so far and, aside from the Bobcats, there were a fair share of opposing fans.

My friend asked some Spurs fans beside us if they were from Texas, they replied "No we just like the team, we are from Marietta." Seriously the bandwagoning has to stop. But I guess it's our own organizations fault for not having an attractive superstar or a history of winning. I would even bet that "IF" the Hawks were to land a star like D12 that we would actually have more fans.

Edited January 20, 2013 by ATLscrubLove

[Ruckus]

I could not agree more. So damn frustrating.

[Plainview1981]

It's amazing how disconnected the team is from the basketball fans in the state.

[tonegully]

Thats why its even more important for the team to win at home. Just win period. i currently live in Missouri and met a guy from GA in the barbershop even had UGA stickers on the car and was a freaking Cowboys fan. SMH.

[Wurider05]

People like good teams. You either need a very, very successful team or a superstar. We have neither. When people consider Josh Smith your best player that says alot about your organization.

[deester11]

People like good teams. You either need a very, very successful team or a superstar. We have neither. When people consider Josh Smith your best player that says alot about your organization.

That's a great observation. The transplants are loud for sure. The wannabe Atlanta fans are disheartened. Thus the loud roar of the opposing teams fans who reside in Atlanta.

[Wretch]

It doesn't matter who we play, there are always a ton of bandwagon fans or transplants that support their team... The bad part about it is that most of the people that are fans of the opposing team are from around the ATL area. It has gotten very sickening honestly. I realize there are a lot of people here from different areas but I have gotten to where I hate going to home games vs bigger teams. Like tonight , the place was literally filled with at least 60% Spurs fans. I've been to about 14 home games so far and, aside from the Bobcats, there were a fair share of opposing fans.

My friend asked some Spurs fans beside us if they were from Texas, they replied "No we just like the team, we are from Marietta." Seriously the bandwagoning has to stop. But I guess it's our own organizations fault for not having an attractive superstar or a history of winning. I would even bet that "IF" the Hawks were to land a star like D12 that we would actually have more fans.

Just sitting here shaking my head... I agree 1000% and I've been trying to hammer this point home for.................eons now.

A buddy of mine posted pictures of Hawks tickets on Facebook yesterday and said how excited he was to see his team...the Spurs. I've known this guy since junior high in 1987. He left Columbus to live in ATL... You should hear the bandwagon excitement around my office. Every team from Miami to Chicago. One dude used to get all in my face every day about the Celtics...had a Pierce jersey on the back of his chair. It ain't there no more. He's quietly jumped on the Thunder bandwagon. They'll all tell you though, none of them are loyal to an NBA team. They just like certain players.

Can you blame them for not being Hawks fans though? Nobody is going to follow a team that GETS to the playoffs every year and gets beat - and beat BADLY at that. It'd be one thing if we could make a spectacle of it...maybe get to the ECF's or build some kind of rivalry. But...nope. Since we traded Dominique...we have had no marketable face, no dominant team, and mediocre playoff results.

That doesn't translate into a fanatical following. Hell, we aren't even bringing in the big college stars (and eventual NBA stars) that people talk about...because Babcock's entire reign was focused on AVOIDING the draft. This is what worries me about trying to tweak a mediocre team for the next 3-5 years. It's a terrible place to be stuck in the middle of the pack. That's worse than being a lottery team to me. And by stuck, I mean capped out with a decent but not great team. At least we have cap space now...

[MaceCase]

I mean damn, a SPURS fan? Outside of certain foreigners in support of their countrymen, fans of Timmy dating back to Wake, people who reside in Texas and basketball purists I've never heard of a Spurs fan anywhere near my age bracket. That is troubling

[yungsta]

Its obvious the hawks never had many hardcore fans but we also do alot of things that will turn off the casual fan and lose alot of fans interest.....

1st of all we are one of dullest teams in the league. for the last 5 years we have been an average 40 win team with early playoff exits with little personnel change. It is exciting when you first 1st make the playoffs for the first time and years and you have a young core but when you dont do anything to make the team better for a number of season you lose the casual fans interest fast.. Our biggest accomplishment for the last 10 or so years is winning a game in 2nd round... that is pathetic..

2nd when we were on national tv we got embarrassed and clowned by the national media on the regular. This is where most casual fans get their view of our team. I know yall remember all those embarrassing national tv games where we come out with little effort and get destroyed or all those playoff games where we are down by 20 by the end of the 1st quarter. It has happened PLENTY of times. Casual fans dont tune into sportssouth lol.

3rd we have no exciting players that fans want to come out and see. This is a stars league and if you dont have any stars you wont draw much interest..

[Wretch]

Its obvious the hawks never had many hardcore fans but we also do alot of things that will turn off the casual fan and lose alot of fans interest.....

1st of all we are one of dullest teams in the league. for the last 5 years we have been an average 40 win team with early playoff exits with little personnel change. It is exciting when you first 1st make the playoffs for the first time and years and you have a young core but when you dont do anything to make the team better for a number of season you lose the casual fans interest fast.. Our biggest accomplishment for the last 10 or so years is winning a game in 2nd round... that is pathetic..

2nd when we were on national tv we got embarrassed and clowned by the national media on the regular. This is where most casual fans get their view of our team. I know yall remember all those embarrassing national tv games where we come out with little effort and get destroyed or all those playoff games where we are down by 20 by the end of the 1st quarter. It has happened PLENTY of times. Casual fans dont tune into sportssouth lol.

3rd we have no exciting players that fans want to come out and see. This is a stars league and if you dont have any stars you wont draw much interest..

LOL..... Almost 16 years later, nothing has changed.

Summer 1997... I was in the military and I was being ridiculed for being a Hawks fan. I argued that we were no different than any other team. They called my team good but boring. They said we didn't have a star. They said we would not be able to get by the best teams in the East...we were just a stepping stone. That day I finally figured it out. Almost like Neo being unplugged from the Matrix. I realized that something was missing from this team.

Back then, having newly discovered the wonders of the Internet, I tried to convince people that we needed more and that we should probably rebuild the team (through the draft). The response I got was, "Are you F'N kidding me? We just...almost won a few games against Michael Jordan and the BULLS! We have one of the best teams in the EAST! All we need is a small forward who could...blah, blah, blah, blah, blah....."

I'm not saying we need to be in the lottery...I"m saying there is nothing more dangerous right now than trying to continually make the playoffs without truly rolling the dice. If we don't do something, and by something I mean seriously rock this boat, I will be having this same conversation 10 years from now. It will take us 3-5 years just to realize this core can't get out of the 2nd round. THEN we will rebuild and it will take 3-5 years just to be respectable again. Barring a star free agent signing...but you go ahead and hold your breath waiting on that.

[Randy]

I'm a Pacer's fan. Grew up in Indiana in the 60's, and am a fan for life. When I moved to ATL in 79, I only went to one Hawks game a year - usually when they played the Pacers. But I watched the Hakws on TV when Skip and Fred did the games and became a Hawks fan too. I remember one game, however, Hawks v. Pacers and Hawks were down in the 4th, for some reason I was cheering for the Hawks. I realized at that point I was a Hawks fan first Pacers second. I think part of the reason was by that time, all the players had changed and I really didn't know any of the Pacers players anymore. So some of those fans of other teams will eventually become Hawks fans too. (Except for the obnoxious Celtics, Bulls and Knicks fans.)

Fan loyalty is hard to build when you have free agency. Players can move around a lot and the guy you liked last year may not be there this year. A long time ago Mark Bradly wrote a column complaining about all the players the Braves were trading. He said something like "I guess we are supposed to cheer for the uniforms." That's part of the problem. Even if you get a superstar, there's no assurance he won't leave once he's a UFA, or get traded when he gets old.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Randy

[ATLscrubLove]

People like good teams. You either need a very, very successful team or a superstar. We have neither. When people consider Josh Smith your best player that says alot about your organization.

Don't remind me.

I'm a Pacer's fan. Grew up in Indiana in the 60's, and am a fan for life. When I moved to ATL in 79, I only went to one Hawks game a year - usually when they played the Pacers. But I watched the Hakws on TV when Skip and Fred did the games and became a Hawks fan too. I remember one game, however, Hawks v. Pacers and Hawks were down in the 4th, for some reason I was cheering for the Hawks. I realized at that point I was a Hawks fan first Pacers second. I think part of the reason was by that time, all the players had changed and I really didn't know any of the Pacers players anymore. So some of those fans of other teams will eventually become Hawks fans too. (Except for the obnoxious Celtics, Bulls and Knicks fans.)

Fan loyalty is hard to build when you have free agency. Players can move around a lot and the guy you liked last year may not be there this year. A long time ago Mark Bradly wrote a column complaining about all the players the Braves were trading. He said something like "I guess we are supposed to cheer for the uniforms." That's part of the problem. Even if you get a superstar, there's no assurance he won't leave once he's a UFA, or get traded when he gets old.

You are one of a handful, I commend you for that.

[tbhawksfan]

So what is the Hawks path to respectability and a good fan base?I think the only path available to this club is to have owners that are committed to winning, a dynamic GM that knows how to draft and grab the occaisional FA player on the up and a good coach who knows how to develop young talent and instill a team based concept that is bigger than any one player.Owners: We have an ownership group that has made so many errors that it's hard to believe that they are willing or able to pay the price to bring this about. They hired the cheapest no name coach in the league and contributed to Sund keeping together a core that had no chance. They brought in Ferry which might indicate a change in culture.GM: Ferry absolutely did the right thing by getting rid of JJ and MW. He needs to continue with a Smoove move and build this thing from the ground up. I think that Horford and Teague are guys that could mentor a new group of young players that might be the beginning of the new Hawks.Coach: Drew seems to have a clue but he's playing against a stacked deck with uncoachable Smith as a self proclaimed team leader. Smith is a team killer i.e. a coach killer. Might Drew have what it takes to be the coach to come together with a unified and behind the scenes ownership and a young dynamic GM in Ferry?The owners seem to have gotten somewhat of a clue as they brought in Ferry and seem to have stepped back so that he can do his job. Ferry did the impossible by ridding us of MW's and especially JJ's deals. These deals would have left us in the crapper for at least the next few years. His draft last season was OK. Might have been better, but not bad considering. Drew has had to deal with Smith and the reality that if he lost the team he'd be out.We're stuck with the owners. Ferry is worth watching. He has the resumé and could be a very nice piece for us. Drew doesn't and probably isn't.If we do jettison Smith and go with a youth movement with Horf and Teague as the mentors, I'd want a coach day one that knows how to create a Spurs kind of team climate invested in the long-term.This situation doesn't need a band-aid, it needs to take advantage of this opportunity to rebuild right and do it right. I think we have owners who have gotten a clue and brought in the right GM. Let's do this rebuild right this time. Find the right coach to complete the trifecta and build a new Hawks team that we can watch grow in the right culture.The last rebuild we didn't have the right GM or coach and the owners were responsible for that. It can be done right. A lot of the pieces are in place. Let's do it right.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

So what is the Hawks path to respectability and a good fan base?I think the only path available to this club is to have owners that are committed to winning, a dynamic GM that knows how to draft and grab the occaisional FA player on the up and a good coach who knows how to develop young talent and instill a team based concept that is bigger than any one player.Owners: We have an ownership group that has made so many errors that it's hard to believe that they are willing or able to pay the price to bring this about. They hired the cheapest no name coach in the league and contributed to Sund keeping together a core that had no chance. They brought in Ferry which might indicate a change in culture.GM: Ferry absolutely did the right thing by getting rid of JJ and MW. He needs to continue with a Smoove move and build this thing from the ground up. I think that Horford and Teague are guys that could mentor a new group of young players that might be the beginning of the new Hawks.Coach: Drew seems to have a clue but he's playing against a stacked deck with uncoachable Smith as a self proclaimed team leader. Smith is a team killer i.e. a coach killer. Might Drew have what it takes to be the coach to come together with a unified and behind the scenes ownership and a young dynamic GM in Ferry?The owners seem to have gotten somewhat of a clue as they brought in Ferry and seem to have stepped back so that he can do his job. Ferry did the impossible by ridding us of MW's and especially JJ's deals. These deals would have left us in the crapper for at least the next few years. His draft last season was OK. Might have been better, but not bad considering. Drew has had to deal with Smith and the reality that if he lost the team he'd be out.We're stuck with the owners. Ferry is worth watching. He has the resumé and could be a very nice piece for us. Drew doesn't and probably isn't.If we do jettison Smith and go with a youth movement with Horf and Teague as the mentors, I'd want a coach day one that knows how to create a Spurs kind of team climate invested in the long-term.This situation doesn't need a band-aid, it needs to take advantage of this opportunity to rebuild right and do it right. I think we have owners who have gotten a clue and brought in the right GM. Let's do this rebuild right this time. Find the right coach to complete the trifecta and build a new Hawks team that we can watch grow in the right culture.The last rebuild we didn't have the right GM or coach and the owners were responsible for that. It can be done right. A lot of the pieces are in place. Let's do it right.

That's why I loved what Houston did in the James Harden deal. He's still learning how to play as "the man", because these days he's either outstandingly great, or horrific. But he has Superstar caliber talent, if he can become a little more consistent. They rolled the dice big time, and got the player they wanted. That move probably accelerated their rebuild by about 3 years. And they're still going to have the cap room to potentially add a big time player to pair with Harden.

People here even poo-pooed on making a play for Carmelo Anthony a few years back. But Melo would've definitely brought the fans out, and at least put us on a path of possibly getting to that next level.

At some point, Ferry is going to have to target a player, and aggressively go after him with everything we got, just to change the perception that we're not going to sit idly by and let the entire NBA bypass us.

Honestly, I think we missed that chance 2 years ago when the Dwight Howard drama first began. I would've given them any 2 out of JJ, Smith, and Horford for Dwight Howard. Even if they wanted Horford and Smith, I'm still giving them Dwight. Even with Dwight having that player option going into last year, I'm still doing that deal.

The one thing about staying mediocre is that it does keep the fans somewhat interested. The minute we turn bad, Philips Arena will turn into a ghost town, with even MORE bandwagon fans in the arena every time their favorite team or player comes to ATL.

[Wretch]

That's why I loved what Houston did in the James Harden deal. He's still learning how to play as "the man", because these days he's either outstandingly great, or horrific. But he has Superstar caliber talent, if he can become a little more consistent. They rolled the dice big time, and got the player they wanted. That move probably accelerated their rebuild by about 3 years. And they're still going to have the cap room to potentially add a big time player to pair with Harden.

People here even poo-pooed on making a play for Carmelo Anthony a few years back. But Melo would've definitely brought the fans out, and at least put us on a path of possibly getting to that next level.

At some point, Ferry is going to have to target a player, and aggressively go after him with everything we got, just to change the perception that we're not going to sit idly by and let the entire NBA bypass us.

Honestly, I think we missed that chance 2 years ago when the Dwight Howard drama first began. I would've given them any 2 out of JJ, Smith, and Horford for Dwight Howard. Even if they wanted Horford and Smith, I'm still giving them Dwight. Even with Dwight having that player option going into last year, I'm still doing that deal.

The one thing about staying mediocre is that it does keep the fans somewhat interested. The minute we turn bad, Philips Arena will turn into a ghost town, with even MORE bandwagon fans in the arena every time their favorite team or player comes to ATL.

We have done a lot of things wrong...going back to Babcock. One thing that we did wrong was not letting the team cycle at the right time. You can't stay good forever. Not even the Lakers can do that...and let's use them as an example. They'll scramble like crazy to keep a winner on the court. And because they are the most glamorous franchise in the NBA, they will always be a threat to attract big names.

But you watch...

When Kobe finally gets over the hill and IF they get stuck with a bunch of salary and a team that can't be expected to compete for a title...they will cycle the team. During their cycle, say we choose to stay the course of being "good." We'll embarrass the Lakers. We'll make the playoffs and laugh at them while they fool around in the draft and fumble with trades. We'll stay good while they suck. We'll enjoy 2 or 3 years of being a playoff team.

Then it'll happen... *poof* Just like that...

All of a sudden, a light is going to pop on in the form of a young and prolific scorer. We'll call it luck or big market operations or just the way it is...we'll have all sorts of labels for it. But they'll get a guy that they can build around and the world is going to take notice. Soon, he'll own ESPN's front page, he'll have 20 games on TNT, people in your office will be rocking his jersey...and some All-Star is going to see him and say, "I want to play there...with him." And the Lakers will sign him.

Or they'll grow another young talent...

Or they'll trade some draft picks for that player...

Or they'll trade a player for that player...

They will get it done and before you know it, there will be this team that is WAY better than us and is a threat to contend. The thing you have to really understand though is that this could be ANY team going through a rebuild. Again, I'm not advocating that we tank the season and aim for the #1 pick. I'm also not denying that the arena would die during a down cycle. I'm just telling you, and I'm telling this whole board...The least important thing right now is making the playoffs and winning. The most important thing for us is to simply DO what it takes to get an extremely talented young player in here and to build around him. Just get him...and seriously, it doesn't matter even a little bit how we do it. Not even a little bit.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Wretch

[BudBall]

It is very annoying I must agree. Went to Knicks-Hawks game last year and I was very disgusted. At school there is a lot sudden Heat fans and Thunder fans as well.

[bruincoach]

I was attacked earlier in the year for this and telling people to go to games on here. I undertand there are several hawks fans out of town BUT the rest of us should be there. Ever been to a hawks game when they are playing an average team during the week? It's awful. I go with a big group and we go to about 60% of games. Other 40% people will rip your arm off for the good (superstar) teams and want to give you $5.00 for lower level seats for the othersI love smoove and think he he's more blame than e deserves BUT it would be nice to get Jefferson and a decent guard in a deal or 2 and see where the hawks go. Horford as a pf and a talented defender (Cory brewer) would break the bank and make us good this year AND have a chance the next year with a good signing or 2

[Ruckus]

Speaking of bandwagonning fans... Can anyone say 49ers fans? Holy cow.

Edited January 21, 2013 by HawkFan

[MQDnATL01]

It's Atlanta, this city only responds to a winning team with a super star. Falcons went through it for decades even when Deion was with the falcons. Hawks better take a page out the Falcons recent playbook for success with the fan base. ASG needs to sell the team to someone who is committed to winning. Notice I said someone and not a group or corporation because they never have a clue about running a Pro franchise. Let the new owner tear this whole mess down and start all over and bring in respected personel from around the league and do whatever you gotta do to bring in a super star weather it draft or FA and win 50+ games a season and make a run in the playoffs. None of that win 4-3 first round and get swept in the 2nd. If the hawks can't do that then you're going to keep seeing the same product you've seen the last 5 seasons. I remember the Magic became a power house in the 90's just through the draft and other teams as well. Hawks gotta do better when drafting also. Do those things and the kids (some adults) will start rooting for the home team and become life long Hawks fans. Or maybe thats just how I see it.

[ATLscrubLove]

Speaking of bandwagonning fans... Can anyone say 49ers fans? Holy cow.

I saw my fair share of those guys at the Hawks game last night. Crazy.