Atlanta "fans" are the worst

[Dejay]

Oh BTW, what games during Nique's hey were you watching? I wasn't just watching them on TBS; I was at the Omni when they were last viewed as a viable contender (1987-1989) and they sold out more than their fair share of games. Only a few teams sold out on a consistent basis back then and what was the common theme? You guessed it, they either were playoff contenders (Boston, LA, Utah, Houston, Detroit) or had a marquee superstar on their roster that casual fans wanted to see (NYC, Philly, Chicago), which was Stern's plan from the day he took over the league. The only year, the one and ONLY year that the Hawks put all of their chips on the table and went for it was 1988-89 when they traded for Reggie Theus and signed Moses Malone. Those 'bad' fans you whine about only managed to buy out 96% of every available seat in the Omni that year (an Atlanta Hawks record that still stands today). After losing, Stan Kasten, in his infinite wisdom, gave up, exposed Theus to the expansion draft, continued drafting poorly, and didn't add anyone to help Nique and the gang out. While all of this was going on, folks tuned out the Hawks locally and started tuning into WGN to watch some guy in a #23 jersey do the impossible in Chicago. You can fill out the rest...

[Bahamut]

While all of this was going on, folks tuned out the Hawks locally and started tuning into WGN to watch some guy in a #23 jersey do the impossible in Chicago. You can fill out the rest...

On that note, imagine where the Hawks (and the Thrashers) would be had TBS developed like WGN, who continues to show all of those games and has a respectable news broadcast too. Meanwhile, TBS throws in the towel on showing local sports altogether (no Braves games on Peachtree TV this season, which means the Braves-Turner Broadcasting partnership is gone), and shows syndicated sitcoms and random MLB matchups. Turner screwed Atlanta sports as much as he helped, all thanks to that dumbass merger with AOL.

[jhay610]

If the Hawks could get this thing moving in the right direction, a la the Falcons, fans would come out in droves. Players would take a pay cut to live and work here.

This franchise has been run by clowns for years, and now even its ownership group is amateurish.

This is an NBA town, but the market is untapped by the Hawks. It's not a Hawks town.

ATL-BOS '08 playoffs showed what it could be -- that was the tip of the iceberg...but the iceberg is lost out at sea somewhere.

[ATLscrubLove]

Too many transplants and bandwagon fans around here.

[Dejay]

ATL-BOS '08 playoffs showed what it could be -- that was the tip of the iceberg...but the iceberg is lost out at sea somewhere.

I'll take this raft into the deeper part of the swimming pool...

Imagine if the Hawks had gone into that Boston series with Chris Paul, Al Jefferson, and Rudy Gay to go alongside JJ and Smith. Talk about a hot series....scratch that, that series never happens in the first round. Know why? A team with that kind of talent would've won more than 37 effin games.

Now imagine had they hired a coach who didn't live by the Red Holtzman/George Young philosophy of only playing the vets while letting the young guys rot on the bench. A guy who didn't run only iso plays and switch on every screen no matter how much it isn't working.

How much more valuable would this team be today had the proper moves been made years ago? Of course, you can say that about every team but every team isn't depending on Anthony Tolliver to hold the fort at small forward either. Every team isn't hoping that their GM pulls a rabbit out of the hat and bring home a superstar player in free agency, especially when they had multiple chances at drafting one and riding the waves of his success. How many sellouts in a row would the Hawks have right now if CP3 and Iguodala were here to grow with JJ and Smith? Would the Clippers be the only team left to have never advanced to a pro league's final four? Would we even be having a debate about transient fans and what they like to see?

Like I mentioned earlier, I was at the Omni when the Hawks were last seen as serious playoff contenders. Let me tell you something; few had the brass ones to crack wise about the Hawks in that building without putting their own lives in jeopardy. Even fewer had the guts to wear an Isiah Thomas jersey or take a 'Go Showtime' sign in unless the cops were in force in their section in the upper deck; and even that didn't save them once they were on the MARTA trains and buses where tons of Hawk fans were waiting on them to arrive.

Those are the games in the mid-late '80s I remember. It could've been the same again had someone other than BK was picking the groceries...

Edited March 14, 2013 by Dejay

[Wretch]

I'll take this raft into the deeper part of the swimming pool...

Imagine if the Hawks had gone into that Boston series with Chris Paul, Al Jefferson, and Rudy Gay to go alongside JJ and Smith. Talk about a hot series....scratch that, that series never happens in the first round. Know why? A team with that kind of talent would've won more than 37 effin games.

Now imagine had they hired a coach who didn't live by the Red Holtzman/George Young philosophy of only playing the vets while letting the young guys rot on the bench. A guy who didn't run only iso plays and switch on every screen no matter how much it isn't working.

How much more valuable would this team be today had the proper moves been made years ago? Of course, you can say that about every team but every team isn't depending on Anthony Tolliver to hold the fort at small forward either. Every team isn't hoping that their GM pulls a rabbit out of the hat and bring home a superstar player in free agency, especially when they had multiple chances at drafting one and riding the waves of his success. How many sellouts in a row would the Hawks have right now if CP3 and Iguodala were here to grow with JJ and Smith? Would the Clippers be the only team left to have never advanced to a pro league's final four? Would we even be having a debate about transient fans and what they like to see?

Like I mentioned earlier, I was at the Omni when the Hawks were last seen as serious playoff contenders. Let me tell you something; few had the brass ones to crack wise about the Hawks in that building without putting their own lives in jeopardy. Even fewer had the guts to wear an Isiah Thomas jersey or take a 'Go Showtime' sign in unless the cops were in force in their section in the upper deck; and even that didn't save them once they were on the MARTA trains and buses where tons of Hawk fans were waiting on them to arrive.

Those are the games in the mid-late '80s I remember. It could've been the same again had someone other than BK was picking the groceries...

Man...you sound like me. lol I am WITH you dude. I can see it. I can see what shoulda, woulda, and coulda...

My big thing, and it has been this way since the 90's, but my thing is...you've got to do something about it. Once you hit that peak, you have to take chances. Strangely enough, as mediocre as we've been... management and the fans have been deathly afraid of change.

But you look around the league and you break your neck trying to watch all the changes. Meanwhile, we won't trade anybody, we won't fire anybody, we won't even...hold on...hold on dammit because this one deserves it's own damn sentence, dramatically emphasized in large letters and bold...

WE WON'T EVEN BENCH OR OTHERWISE DISCIPLINE A DUDE WHO THINKS HE'S A MIDRANGE SHOOTER WHEN HE IS ONE OF THE *********WORST********* MIDRANGE SHOOTERS IN THE WHOLE F'N GAME!

I mean are you KIDDING me? Are you KIDDING me right now? It's like I'm living in this ass backwards bizarro world. And the truth is sitting here slapping us in the face. This shit is a JOKE how we've run this thing over the past 30 years. Babcock was a shortsighted nimrod, Billy Knight was just a lunatic...just a crazy minded all-forward loving LUNATIC...and the ASG were just the epitome of incompetence. From WLOC to selling Kobe Jerseys....

Hold on man...I gotta catch my breath and just shake my f***ing head.....

...to the courtroom drama, I swear...the only thing worse than having them run the show would be having Isaiah Thomas giving out max contracts to bums and trading away draft picks for peanuts.

Danny Ferry...are you reading? This is your task homeslice. It should be apparent what's going on here. It's not whining and bitching and moaning....

It's been some lame ass, lazy, scared, half-assed, brainless shit going on in the front office and on the court.

Edited March 14, 2013 by Wretch

[Guest]

I'll take this raft into the deeper part of the swimming pool... Imagine if the Hawks had gone into that Boston series with Chris Paul, Al Jefferson, and Rudy Gay to go alongside JJ and Smith. Talk about a hot series....scratch that, that series never happens in the first round. Know why? A team with that kind of talent would've won more than 37 effin games. Now imagine had they hired a coach who didn't live by the Red Holtzman/George Young philosophy of only playing the vets while letting the young guys rot on the bench. A guy who didn't run only iso plays and switch on every screen no matter how much it isn't working. How much more valuable would this team be today had the proper moves been made years ago? Of course, you can say that about every team but every team isn't depending on Anthony Tolliver to hold the fort at small forward either. Every team isn't hoping that their GM pulls a rabbit out of the hat and bring home a superstar player in free agency, especially when they had multiple chances at drafting one and riding the waves of his success. How many sellouts in a row would the Hawks have right now if CP3 and Iguodala were here to grow with JJ and Smith? Would the Clippers be the only team left to have never advanced to a pro league's final four? Would we even be having a debate about transient fans and what they like to see? Like I mentioned earlier, I was at the Omni when the Hawks were last seen as serious playoff contenders. Let me tell you something; few had the brass ones to crack wise about the Hawks in that building without putting their own lives in jeopardy. Even fewer had the guts to wear an Isiah Thomas jersey or take a 'Go Showtime' sign in unless the cops were in force in their section in the upper deck; and even that didn't save them once they were on the MARTA trains and buses where tons of Hawk fans were waiting on them to arrive. Those are the games in the mid-late '80s I remember. It could've been the same again had someone other than BK was picking the groceries...

I understand what you are saying but had we drafted Al Jefferson, we may not have been in position to draft Paul. If we had picked Paul and Woody played him we would not be in position to draft Gay because in those scenarios we would be assuming the team would be better had we drafted different players when Joe joined.The Hawks in general have done a piss poor job of drafting - Marvin, Chillz and Shellhead.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Disagree. I don't buy the transplant BS that is supposed to make us feel better. I'll bet most of these fans were from Decatur, Marietta, anywhere in the SWATS, etc. The same phenomenon happens to the Falcons when they don't have a competitive product on the field.

The Hawks have been a mediocre franchise for my whole life (born in '81) and really since they've moved to Atlanta. They don't have that cache around here. This city is full of front-runners for whatever reason, and the Hawks are viewed as a 'loser' product. Call a spade a spade.

This comes up all of the time. To be relevant in this city you must be either 1) championship elite (Falcons now) or 2) very good/2nd tier with a superstar (Vick-era Falcons).

The problem with Atlanta, and the reason why it's a bad sports town, is because they're not LOYAL to their home teams. It doesn't matter if it's the Hawks, Falcons, or Braves ( who have won a championship ). As soon as some sign of trouble arises, the fans will BAIL OUT on the team. The other thing is that fans find every reason in the world to NOT attend a game.

- Oh the traffic is too bad

- Oh the tickets are too high

- Oh the economy is too bad

- Oh the game starts too early

- Oh they don't have a superstar

- Oh they have never won a championship

- Oh we have too many transplants in the city

- Oh I can't find a place to park close to the arena

- Oh I'm scared of the homeless people in and around Philips

Almost 5 million people in metro ATL, but I guess 4.9 million of them are transplants, leaving only 100,000 true ATLiens to go to games. And even THEY don't like the team.

It's excuse . . after excuse . . after excuse.

What happened to Korver last night would've never happened in Memphis ( a city with 4x less people in the metro area and a franchise that has never made it out of the 2nd round ), because

1) Memphis is a true basketball town with loud, hardcore fans even when they don't sell the place out

2) Most of them wouldn't have sold their tickets to Laker fans, because they'd want to see their team BEAT THE LAKERS more than they'd want the money

Laker fans would've definitely been in attendance, and you probably could hear them in Memphis, or any other arena in the league. But they wouldn't have drown out the home team fans.

Just to put it in perspective, these are the current playoff teams that if the Hawks had their talent, the fans wouldn't unconditionally support

- Brooklyn

- Boston

- Indiana

- Milwaukee

- NY Knicks

They'd support the superstar laden Miami Heat. And they MIGHT support a Derrick Rose led Bulls team, but definitely not the current Bulls without Rose. Out West?

- Memphis

- Denver

- Houston

- Golden St

- San Antonio

So the only rosters the fans in that city would unconditionally support, would be the rosters on the Heat, Lakers, Clippers, Bulls, and Thunder?

Those are the only 5 rosters the people of ATL could get behind? And even if those rosters falter, they'd bail on them?

Yeah . . . that's the reason it's a bad sports town.

[Dejay]

I understand what you are saying but had we drafted Al Jefferson, we may not have been in position to draft Paul. If we had picked Paul and Woody played him we would not be in position to draft Gay because in those scenarios we would be assuming the team would be better had we drafted different players when Joe joined.The Hawks in general have done a piss poor job of drafting - Marvin, Chillz and Shellhead.

I understand where you're going but being that Jefferson and Smith wouldn't have had much around them to make a serious enough dent into the 13-69 record they had, it's safe to assume that they would've kept a high enough pick to draft either Paul or Deron. That, along with picking up JJ that summer would've given the franchise the kind of jumpstart they so desperately needed. Think a few people in town would've been interested in watching some rookie point guard like Paul work magic on the floor with JJ, Jefferson, and Smith? Think they would've been on few highlight reels on ESPN and NBATV? 'Hey, they're not quite playoff ready yet, but look out for those Hawks. Boy are they exciting.'

Now, I'll grant you that the CP3 and Jefferson picks would've taken you out of the Rudy Gay mix. But the return on having him in Hawk gear is much more enticing. Since passing over Paul and Deron, how many millions have been spent by the Hawks on the point guard position? The millions spent on signing Claxton, drafting Acie Law, trading for Bibby, trading for Hinrich, and drafting Teague? You're telling me that a small forward couldn't have been had with those resources spent elsewhere? You're telling me that some young swingman who could play wouldn't be in the least bit interested to play with arguably the best backcourt tandem in the sport? Really?

I know, it's just my imagination....running away from me....

[HawkItus]

The problem with Atlanta, and the reason why it's a bad sports town, is because they're not LOYAL to their home teams. It doesn't matter if it's the Hawks, Falcons, or Braves ( who have won a championship ). As soon as some sign of trouble arises, the fans will BAIL OUT on the team. The other thing is that fans find every reason in the world to NOT attend a game.

- Oh the traffic is too bad

- Oh the tickets are too high

- Oh the economy is too bad

- Oh the game starts too early

- Oh they don't have a superstar

- Oh they have never won a championship

- Oh we have too many transplants in the city

- Oh I can't find a place to park close to the arena

- Oh I'm scared of the homeless people in and around Philips

Almost 5 million people in metro ATL, but I guess 4.9 million of them are transplants, leaving only 100,000 true ATLiens to go to games. And even THEY don't like the team.

It's excuse . . after excuse . . after excuse.

What happened to Korver last night would've never happened in Memphis ( a city with 4x less people in the metro area and a franchise that has never made it out of the 2nd round ), because

1) Memphis is a true basketball town with loud, hardcore fans even when they don't sell the place out

2) Most of them wouldn't have sold their tickets to Laker fans, because they'd want to see their team BEAT THE LAKERS more than they'd want the money

Laker fans would've definitely been in attendance, and you probably could hear them in Memphis, or any other arena in the league. But they wouldn't have drown out the home team fans.

Just to put it in perspective, these are the current playoff teams that if the Hawks had their talent, the fans wouldn't unconditionally support

- Brooklyn

- Boston

- Indiana

- Milwaukee

- NY Knicks

They'd support the superstar laden Miami Heat. And they MIGHT support a Derrick Rose led Bulls team, but definitely not the current Bulls without Rose. Out West?

- Memphis

- Denver

- Houston

- Golden St

- San Antonio

So the only rosters the fans in that city would unconditionally support, would be the rosters on the Heat, Lakers, Clippers, Bulls, and Thunder?

Those are the only 5 rosters the people of ATL could get behind? And even if those rosters falter, they'd bail on them?

Yeah . . . that's the reason it's a bad sports town.

Man please, the customer is always right. It is the same in LA. Give the fans what they want. Give them a star. Give them showtime. You can't make a people in Portland love sweet tea if they want Coffee. You give them coffee. If Atlanta wants glamor the owner better damn well give them what they want or sale the team. Author figured it out. Ted Turner figured it out. ASG needs to figure it out.

[NekiEcko]

First of all, i dont think that Atlanta isnt a bad sport town at all but when it comes down to support those teams, then its another story. Most people need to remember that most of the cities that has very loyal NBA fans are the same ones that is the only game in town (i.e. Spurs, Kings (if the sell to the Seattle group is blocked) and Portland) while others has a sizeable fanbase.

We do know all the problems of why the Atlanta teams doesnt get any respect or following, shoot it took the Falcons a long time to get national respect and they are one of the elite in NFL right now.

For the Hawks, i think that the ownership needs to take a page out of "Arthur Blank" playbook of how to connect to the fans, realizing the reason why they are doing this, wasnt only to get a bottom line profit but a parade and a ring. They need to go and make new Hawks fans by bring the brightest stars (if they want to come here) and we the fans, need to be patience with them as well.

[AHF]

Hawks season ticketholders make money on these games. They sell tix for $300 /$600 for games vs the Lakers, Heat, and Celtics......and to a lesser extent the Knicks.I have 6 UGA season tix and sell 2 of fhem for mega bucks for the big games each year. I plan on selling 2 tix for USC and LSU for around $1,000 this season.........while keeping 4. I may make more then that since last year I sold 2 tix for the UT and GT games for $1,000. That will virtually payoff 2 of my 6 season tix.I did the same thing for 1 Falcons game per year when I had season tix for them.Most Atlantans / Georgians just are not rich enough to turn that kind of money down.....we don't make money like they do in LA, NY, Boston, and Miami where the cost of living is crazy high.Just speaking the truth.I bought tix for Fri nights game vs the Suns on the 6th row / Halfcourt for $70........those seats would have coat me $500 tonight. Atlantans are simply smarter with their money.

The difference is that you can sell your UGA tickets to UGA fans for big bucks. Hawks fans sell their tickets to the opposing team's fans. Growing the core fan base is a key need for this franchise for sure.

I agree with those who think a star would galvanize the fan base. The Hawks need their own "Michael Vick" (minus the dog fighting) - not their own Chris Chandler. I think the fan base would embrace an Allen Iverson type of star (or superior less dramatic players like Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, etc.) over a superior winning % (but non-contender) team (ala Carmelo Knicks over non-Carmelo Nuggets).

Edited March 14, 2013 by AHF

[jhay610]

I think the fan base would embrace an Allen Iverson type of star (or superior less dramatic players like Kevin Durant, Tim Duncan, etc.) over a superior winning % (but non-contender) team (ala Carmelo Knicks over non-Carmelo Nuggets).

QFT, my good man. QFT.

Edited March 15, 2013 by jhay610

[Wretch]

It's a combination of a lot of things for sure what's wrong. I think the major factor is just our ineptitude. People want to see a team...win. Seriously... There's not much to discuss there. Anybody that watches pro sports likes to see good matchups. Are we seriously debating that? The Hawks are historically a lame-duck matchup. Which is the next biggest issue...

We have failed to build any history. How can you have loyalty with no history? For all the people who want to cite all these other reasons as the main factor for our lack of a fan base...please tell me how you can generate considerable loyalty without any memorable HISTORY. Given that we have also been inept - historically so vs. Orlando a few years back - how can you couple ineptitude with a lack of history and expect loyalty?

No All Star Starters

No MVPs

No rookie sensations

No high profile free agents

No rivalries

No ECFs, Finals, Championships...and not even CLOSE in 40 years.

NA-DA. that's a huge problem and I can't believe some people can't see that.

I don't live in Atlanta, but you guys tell me the marketing of the team there...sucks. Another problem. Couple those things with the transplants and the excuses. That's the story. You fix it by addressing each of the bullet points under your direct control.

Edited March 15, 2013 by Wretch

[Guest]

Forget all the Faker, Star-watching, star rooting 'fans' - Kudos to the true diehard fans who were at the game screaming and cheering and rising to your feet and clapping our Hawks to victory. Job well done.

[cam1218]

The problem with Atlanta, and the reason why it's a bad sports town, is because they're not LOYAL to their home teams. It doesn't matter if it's the Hawks, Falcons, or Braves ( who have won a championship ). As soon as some sign of trouble arises, the fans will BAIL OUT on the team. The other thing is that fans find every reason in the world to NOT attend a game. - Oh the traffic is too bad- Oh the tickets are too high- Oh the economy is too bad- Oh the game starts too early- Oh they don't have a superstar- Oh they have never won a championship- Oh we have too many transplants in the city- Oh I can't find a place to park close to the arena- Oh I'm scared of the homeless people in and around Philips Almost 5 million people in metro ATL, but I guess 4.9 million of them are transplants, leaving only 100,000 true ATLiens to go to games. And even THEY don't like the team. It's excuse . . after excuse . . after excuse. What happened to Korver last night would've never happened in Memphis ( a city with 4x less people in the metro area and a franchise that has never made it out of the 2nd round ), because 1) Memphis is a true basketball town with loud, hardcore fans even when they don't sell the place out 2) Most of them wouldn't have sold their tickets to Laker fans, because they'd want to see their team BEAT THE LAKERS more than they'd want the money Laker fans would've definitely been in attendance, and you probably could hear them in Memphis, or any other arena in the league. But they wouldn't have drown out the home team fans. Just to put it in perspective, these are the current playoff teams that if the Hawks had their talent, the fans wouldn't unconditionally support - Brooklyn- Boston- Indiana- Milwaukee- NY Knicks They'd support the superstar laden Miami Heat. And they MIGHT support a Derrick Rose led Bulls team, but definitely not the current Bulls without Rose. Out West? - Memphis- Denver- Houston- Golden St- San Antonio So the only rosters the fans in that city would unconditionally support, would be the rosters on the Heat, Lakers, Clippers, Bulls, and Thunder? Those are the only 5 rosters the people of ATL could get behind? And even if those rosters falter, they'd bail on them? Yeah . . . that's the reason it's a bad sports town.

100% accurate, good post.

[Bahamut]

We do know all the problems of why the Atlanta teams doesnt get any respect or following, shoot it took the Falcons a long time to get national respect and they are one of the elite in NFL right now.

The Falcons are still fighting to get this (they're still getting ignored in the media), but at least they deserve national respect. If Ferry is smart, he'll make this off-season the best in Hawks history with a serious splash. People here only respond to razzle-dazzle, and it's been a long time since we've had that. Even the Braves created some huge buzz by signing the Uptons. In the star-crazed NBA, it's the only way to get noticed (and get the refs on your side, sadly).