LET'S GO HEAT!

[Wretch]

Do you hear that shit? I'm sitting at home and my stomach is turning. It ain't news. It ain't even new. I watched Indiana fans bus down to Atlanta in the 90's, fill up our arena, and turn it into home court.

Disgusting. Sick of it.

I want this game, but more importantly...I want a homecourt that opposing "fans" will have no reason to show up at. There is a wretched culture around this club and it starts with..."We just need to worry about making the playoffs."

(..................)

[Plainview1981]

Might aswell get used to it. That's the way that it is always going to be.

[Admin]

Unfortunately it seems that it will always be this way.

[Wretch]

This is why we need a team and an identity. This is why we need a face. At the very least, we'd have a way to shut that team down and if there WERE ass-hat, bandwagon fans, they'd have to take their bandwagon bullshit home with a loss.

[Admin]

This is why we need a team and an identity. This is why we need a face. At the very least, we'd have a way to shut that team down and if there WERE ass-hat, bandwagon fans, they'd have to take their bandwagon bullshit home with a loss.

If this were Philly they'd be going home with a bloody nose at the very least! Not that I'd want Atlanta fans to be like Philly fans, but a little Philly in em wouldn't be so awful.

[gsuteke]

The environment at Phillips is very pedestrian. I can't blame a guy that pays 60 bucks to see a game for not being loud. It is what it is

[Wretch]

It's not just new players or coaches... There needs to be a culture change from the ground up. No more man. I've watched this for like 30 years. Bulls fans, Pistons fans, Celtics fans, Heat fans, Lakers fans Philly fans...tomorrow it will be Raptors fans, Bucks fans, Bobcats fans. Anybody that has a dominant team is going to be welcome in Phillips...until you have that team that runs them off the court.

[capstone21]

Atlanta fans never really come out for the games....even during the niqueThe years.

[Wretch]

Atlanta fans never really come out for the games....even during the niqueThe years.

No, they didn't and I watched back then too. But even then, we had a team that could not get out of the 2nd round. It was all Celtics, Pistons, Bulls, 76ers...

You have to win to get attention.

(Not to mention the club wasn't even 20 years old in ATL.)

[Wretch]

...and you know what? No more excuses. I hope that's the mindset Danny Ferry has...as an outsider looking in. Just build it and if they don't come, whatever. We still have a team that sends the best home with a loss. Personally, I believe if we build it, then people will come. 2008 is a good example when we looked dead against the Celtics. The city is waiting for a team it can get behind.

As it were, people are just following the winners.

Pathetic.

[drzachary]

Contend, and the fans will come. Simple as that.

[coachx]

No, they didn't and I watched back then too. But even then, we had a team that could not get out of the 2nd round. It was all Celtics, Pistons, Bulls, 76ers... You have to win to get attention. (Not to mention the club wasn't even 20 years old in ATL.)

I went back then....remember seeing Reggie Miller as a rookie who was skinnier then Manute Bole....thought Carr and Willis would kill him. Chuck Person was the man then and at that time was the best Chuck to come out of Auburn......for you Barkley fans........Yes I saw Bole,in person too.Never missed a Pacers game then to see Vern Fleming return to Ga to go against his former teammate. The year after Nique left early for the NBA....which was very uncommon back then......Vern Fleming and James Banks lead UGA to their only Final 4........What could have been had Nique stayed at UGA.Remember sitting next to some punk rockers with green and pink mow hawks that were 3 feet tall........man the crowd was different at the Omni in the mid 80s.Sorry for the flashback. Edited February 21, 2013 by coachx

[Bonkers]

Charles Barkley: "The Hawks are a team of nice guys" "I really hate watching the Hawks"

That's how the Majority of people view the Hawks. And I can't blame em

Charles was right

Edited February 21, 2013 by Bonkers

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Chris Bosh has admitted as a Dallas native that he hated the his hometown Mavericks because as a kid they were horrible and always looked bad versus the elite teams such as the Lakers, Bulls, etc. But then the team got Dirk, the team turned around and started filling the seats with Mavs' fans. Then they started getting 50, 60 win seasons, then a finals appearance in '06, and then eventually a finals win in '11. And you know the change started with Cuban. The ASG has backed off and has given the keys to a VERY capable GM in Ferry. The change has already started, but making a championship team doesn't happen overnight. It took Cuban, Dirk and the Mavs 13 years to finally get their championship and honestly, it'll probably take the ASG and Danny just as long. The next step is for Danny to get his guy to coach the team. Then it'll be to find guys that work in the system he is trying to create. IFWT.

[Dejay]

You really can't blame them...if you don't want fans of opposing teams in your building, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. This 'win without losing' mindset this franchise has adopted since the 80's is the chief reason why so many in this town threw their hands up and either started cheering for the hot team du joir or gave up on pro basketball entirely.No one loves rooting for a perennial pretender who stands down when some real boys come into their building. NO ONE...

[coachx]

Charles Barkley: "The Hawks are a team of nice guys" "I really hate watching the Hawks" That's how the Majority of people view the Hawks. And I can't blame em Charles was right

Ask Chuck about Carr and Willis........man I miss those days......we were legit contenders.

[yungsta]

This team and franchise has been a joke. The fans have a good reason to cheer for teams that are actually doing something and have championship expectations with big names.

while we keep being a mediocre team with mediocre players who have been stuck in mediocrity for awhile with no chance to be a contender or a chance to get an elite talent in the lottery. We have not gone in any direction. We are still a 40 win team that is shaping up for another 1st round exit.

Edited February 21, 2013 by yungsta

[Dejay]

This team and franchise has been a joke. The fans have a good reason to cheer for teams that are actually doing something and have championship expectations with big names. while we keep being a mediocre team with mediocre players who have been stuck in mediocrity for awhile with no chance to be a contender or a chance to get an elite talent in the lottery. We have not gone in any direction. We are still a 40 win team that is shaping up for another 1st round exit.

This...It's a tough sell to get folks behind this team of journeymen and B-level players while the ones who play for world titles have guys that drive up the TV ratings. There is no cache with this team, no feeling of privilege for having played here, unless the guy was here in the 80's. The Hawks are just another filler team, who will get a pat on the head for winning 40-45 games before being sent home again.That's why so many of us still rail BK for passing on the likes of Paul, Deron, Jefferson, Deng, Roy, Gay, Iguodala for the scrubs he ended up bringing in. That was our window, our once in a lifetime chance to change the script, and that idiot blew it. That's why we're still counting on the likes of Teague, Tolliver, et al to play above their heads. That's why JJ could demand and get a max deal. And that's why Smith will likely get moved for 54 cents on the dollar come tomorrow.Don't that sound like a team the entire city should get behind?

[cam1218]

Sick and tired of the lack of city pride from Atlanta and the suburb residents.Games like this make me sick. I was born at northside and grew up in the ATL suburbs. I love ALL of my Atlanta sports teams and I always will.But the people that live here are pitiful. These aren't true fans, these are people that populate the city and claim to be sports fans. Atlanta is a destination city for people up north and randoms from around the entire country. They come here and rave about their city and hate on Atlanta...Yeah, we really need a superstar, it would help immensely. You look around at cities like Detroit, Houston, Cleveland, etc..they don't get stuck with people moving there from other cities. There is actually a sense of city pride and you don't see the type of bs we saw tonight where 2/3 of the crowd is pro Lebron.

[plskeepbibby]

Contend, and the fans will come. Simple as that.

This is the truth. Atlanta fans are a fickle bunch. Falcons didn't show before Vick and then after Vick b4 Ryan and now the dome is actually a nice advantage for the Falcons. Atlanta didi the same thing to the Braves over the past 20 years too.. 2008 was the pinnacle of Hawks fever with this current bunch...The bigger problem IMO is the NBA fan bases in general.. Stern made it a star driven league and that is how the fans respond. In the NFL loyalty is what drives fan bases. In the NBA the superstar drives the fan bases. I actually think that it is more of a fundamental flaw of the NBA than just Atlanta. Even when Miami travels to a city like San Antonio there are bandwagon Bron Bron fans there...