The lack of respect from the common NBA fan on the Hawks

[NBASupes]

I been to numerous boards. Whenever I see Dwight and CP3 to Atlanta comes up, there is always a lot of disrespect shown. Even moreso then with teams like Brooklyn who hasn't won nothing or the Knicks who haven't even did what we did in the last years and probably won't.

Here is what I seen over the months.

Atlanta has a terrible fanbase and they hate Basketball. Not true, the 6th best Basketball market in the NBA via ratings. Obivously the Hawks aren't the most popluar but being a treadmill team is the worst place to be in as far as NBA Basketball in concerned.

Why go to Atlanta though??? The worst franchise in the eastern conference (historically).No one cares about the NBA in Atlanta - they have the worst fan base bar none. I'd rather him have taken the Detroit job.

Wrong. Histortially we have 1 championship and our winning percertage is middle of the pack at .480 which is ahead of the Detroit Pistons.

The Hawks fanbase is like most teams who are treadmill without a superstar are. Terrible. Causal fans don't want to watch it. Losing teams fanbase watch to see their team grow and hope it changes next year. Most treadmill teams are in a poor position for the draft and most fan just don't want to watch it especially ones who it seems like a lot of people dislike in the Hawks.

Can the Atlanta Hawks just go away, please?

Just a lil sum sum I feel about this teamThis franchise continues to take up space in the playoffs.Why can't these f*****s just go away?

nobody wants them in the playoffs. Same **** different season. This team has to be the most irrelevant team to make the playoffs multiple years without a single **** being given. Honestly, I'd rather have the Cavs or the Raptors in these playoff than them. I don't give a damn, any team besides the Bobcats would do at this pointEvery year it's the same thing. Taking up space and ****. I don't care for their core group of players. I remember a few years back, them ****** had that first round series with pre-Lebron Miami Heat. That series was dreadful and brutal to watch because it went to 7 games. Thank God Lebron swept them as quickly as possible the next round. The less of them on my screen the better.I personally think the very few ATL Hawks fans in here force themselves to cheer for this team. Honestly, who would be a fan by option?

This post received 44 likes.

While these Hawks are far from entertaining and Danny Ferry currently knows that, it still doesn't warrant this type of disrespect. If they seen how hard Horford works off the ball. How much he rarely misses an defensive assignment, how much passion Josh Smith plays with, and how much Korver moves around on offense, they would have a greater appreciation for our team. But this is the disrespect we deal with, not just from outside viewers but also people who supposely know the game.

I've seen Al Horford criminally underrated even on this forum for example. It's as if people forget what the Heat had when they started the Big 3. To me, it sadden me because anytime we bring up CP3 and Dwight, it's like the Hawks aren't good enough. We are better as a team than Wade was the year before they landed Lebron and Bosh and the East is better now than then. We have basically 9 guys at 28 million dollars and only 4 needed players to fill out the roster at min salary. We are in a better position to fill out a team than Miami was with the Big three. Dwight, Horford, and CP3 fit each other superiorly than Bron, Wade, and Bosh. But when it brought up, it is completely trashed. People trash our fanbase when we all know in the NBA, if you are medcriore, you likely will not have many causal fans. Indy who is very good didn't have much fan support before the playoffs because their fans didn't see them as contenders and boring without a superstar.

It pisses me off to say the least.

[Buzzard]

We really have not been a respectable contender since Nique and that was 1982 to 1994. Two decades of mediocrity and no maxed out superstars will not get you a lot of respect. Ferry says we need to change our culture and he is right. We need to return to the days when players like Moses Malone and Reggie Theus wanted to play in Atlanta!

[frosgrim]

Why bother with other fan bases? I could care less about what the Knicks' boards have to say, or any other franchise. What I care about are the Hawks and the guys wearing the logo. Winning cures a lot of things and the Atlanta Hawks haven't really won anything, ever. I hope this will change with Ferry and Bud, but we'll see.

[Dejay]

I'd dare say that we haven't had a respectable team here since the '88-89 season with Moses and Theus tagging alongside Nique. The '93-94 team lost all respectability from players, fans, and media alike after the Manning deal went down. There hasn't been a Hawks squad since the mid-late '80s that local and national pundits have included as a playoff contender for the East; NONE. Not the Smitty/Deke/Mookie teams; certainly not the JJ/Smith/Horford ones. After being irrelevant for soooooooo long, is it any small wonder why basketball fans laugh out loud when the Hawks are mentioned? They've seen Charles Barkley and the gang crack jokes about them for over a decade now. Being bad is one thing; being bad with an awful GM making your picks is worse. But to be in the middle, chained to the desk of mediocrity for the vast majority of five decades is the ultimate insult. That's why you hear 'MVP!!' chants for opposing players. That's why you see uniforms of opposing players being sold in the arena on game night. You know what they say; you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting...

[Sothron]

The Hawks started losing national "respect" when Pete blew up the Deke/Smitty/Mookie team and all we had to show for it at the time was a rookie in Jason Terry and half a season of one of the craziest bastards in NBA history in JR Rider. The resulting what 9 years out of the playoffs with such "highlights" as a playoff guarantee that blew up in Pete's face and dealing SAR for nothing while having years of bums like Antoine Walker or trading Rasheed Wallace after one game in Atlanta....I can keep going.

The point is that long playoff drought which coincided with the spread of the internet and social media made the Hawks a perennial joke to common NBA fans. The Joe/Josh/Al teams cemented that status even more by being probably the most pointed to " stuck in playoff mediocrity" franchise I can remember in any sport.

As I have said countless times...you only get "respect" when you win titles. Period. The New England Patriots were considered a complete laughingstock in the NFL until Parcells and later Tom Brady turned things around. Now the Pats might be the best modern NFL franchise. Things can change but you only change by winning titles.

[Randy]

The quoted portion of the OP could have been copied from some of the posters on this board. Its the kind of complaint we read a lot. So why shouldn't fans of other teams think that?

As for fans of other teams, who cares what they think anyway. The Knicks have been irrelevant since the days of Patrick Ewing (or was it Willis Reed?) All I remember is they lost to the Pacers back in the day of Reggie Miller.

[Bahamut]

Who gives a damn what other fans think? Those morons think whatever ESPN tells them to think, and they bounce from one team to another. I'm a Hawks fan even if they have 10 13-win seasons back-to-back. I'm an Atlantan, and they're my team no matter what.

[hazer]

I don't give a flyin' flip...

[capstone21]

Atlanta has a terrible fanbase and they hate Basketball. Not true, the 6th best Basketball market in the NBA via ratings. Obivously the Hawks aren't the most popluar but being a treadmill team is the worst place to be in as far as NBA Basketball in concerned.

We do have the worst fans. They do not support the team at all. They come out to watch other teams stars but even though Atlanta has been successful the areana has always been empty. A lot of times the fans that do show up cheer for the other team.

[cam1218]

I been to numerous boards. Whenever I see Dwight and CP3 to Atlanta comes up, there is always a lot of disrespect shown. Even moreso then with teams like Brooklyn who hasn't won nothing or the Knicks who haven't even did what we did in the last years and probably won't. Here is what I seen over the months. Atlanta has a terrible fanbase and they hate Basketball. Not true, the 6th best Basketball market in the NBA via ratings. Obivously the Hawks aren't the most popluar but being a treadmill team is the worst place to be in as far as NBA Basketball in concerned. Wrong. Histortially we have 1 championship and our winning percertage is middle of the pack at .480 which is ahead of the Detroit Pistons. The Hawks fanbase is like most teams who are treadmill without a superstar are. Terrible. Causal fans don't want to watch it. Losing teams fanbase watch to see their team grow and hope it changes next year. Most treadmill teams are in a poor position for the draft and most fan just don't want to watch it especially ones who it seems like a lot of people dislike in the Hawks. This post received 44 likes.While these Hawks are far from entertaining and Danny Ferry currently knows that, it still doesn't warrant this type of disrespect. If they seen how hard Horford works off the ball. How much he rarely misses an defensive assignment, how much passion Josh Smith plays with, and how much Korver moves around on offense, they would have a greater appreciation for our team. But this is the disrespect we deal with, not just from outside viewers but also people who supposely know the game. I've seen Al Horford criminally underrated even on this forum for example. It's as if people forget what the Heat had when they started the Big 3. To me, it sadden me because anytime we bring up CP3 and Dwight, it's like the Hawks aren't good enough. We are better as a team than Wade was the year before they landed Lebron and Bosh and the East is better now than then. We have basically 9 guys at 28 million dollars and only 4 needed players to fill out the roster at min salary. We are in a better position to fill out a team than Miami was with the Big three. Dwight, Horford, and CP3 fit each other superiorly than Bron, Wade, and Bosh. But when it brought up, it is completely trashed. People trash our fanbase when we all know in the NBA, if you are medcriore, you likely will not have many causal fans. Indy who is very good didn't have much fan support before the playoffs because their fans didn't see them as contenders and boring without a superstar. It pisses me off to say the least.

Very good post. I do think we have good fans, because it isn't easy being a Hawks fan. However, we are not a large group.And Atlanta isn't a great city because the residents only show up for top notch basketball, football and baseball (minus UGA [unfortunately]).I don't live in Atlanta now, and I feel that most of the basketball fans I talk to up here give me the same opinion Stephen A Smith does. It isn't educated, it is usually confusing and it basically says we suck. But the Knicks and Nets are great.The north generally hates the south..but they all go down there to live.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

As long as our building will have 30% - 40% of the crowd rooting AGAINST us in big games, we will always have the perception of having a bad fan base.

I know the hometown fans hate being called "bad fans", especially if you're a fan who actively supports the team by going to games. But when Kyle Korver can get booed LOUDLY at the FT line at the end of a game, in his own home arena in a big game, that says something about our fan base.

It means that our fans ( as a whole ) aren't loyal or hardcore enough to not buy up tickets to prevent bandwagonners from getting their hands on those tickets. Heck, some of us even SELL our tickets to those bandwagon fans.

The fact is that even 1/2 of Hawksquawk probably didn't even attend a game this year. So if we don't make a commitment to attend a game, how can we expect NBA fans as a whole to respect us as fans, or our franchise?

If it makes some of you feel better, Miami has worse fans than Atlanta. But the fact they have 2.5 superstars playing on their team, make them have a national fan base, even if their local fan base sucks.

[Guest]

The people who show up to the games and watch on TV and talk on the Squawk are true fans of the team. Everybody else just happen to live in Atlanta.

[taz]

I've come to the conclusion fans of "bad" NBA teams are smarter fansPlus I'd argue us hawks fans have the best sense if humor about our team.

[Sothron]

As long as our building will have 30% - 40% of the crowd rooting AGAINST us in big games, we will always have the perception of having a bad fan base.

I know the hometown fans hate being called "bad fans", especially if you're a fan who actively supports the team by going to games. But when Kyle Korver can get booed LOUDLY at the FT line at the end of a game, in his own home arena in a big game, that says something about our fan base.

It means that our fans ( as a whole ) aren't loyal or hardcore enough to not buy up tickets to prevent bandwagonners from getting their hands on those tickets. Heck, some of us even SELL our tickets to those bandwagon fans.

The fact is that even 1/2 of Hawksquawk probably didn't even attend a game this year. So if we don't make a commitment to attend a game, how can we expect NBA fans as a whole to respect us as fans, or our franchise?

If it makes some of you feel better, Miami has worse fans than Atlanta. But the fact they have 2.5 superstars playing on their team, make them have a national fan base, even if their local fan base sucks.

I said after being stabbed in the back as a Thrasher fan and former season ticket holder that I refused to go to games or spend any money on the Hawks until the A$G are no longer primary owners and I stand by that.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I said after being stabbed in the back as a Thrasher fan and former season ticket holder that I refused to go to games or spend any money on the Hawks until the A$G are no longer primary owners and I stand by that.

That's cool.

But just understand that if you, and others like you are boycotting the ownership because the Thrashers were sold off, you're also not supporting the Hawks.

So if the ownership group has control of the Hawks for another 10 years, that's 10 more years that you as a die hard Hawks fan refuses to support the team by going to a game. And that simply means that there's one more open seat for a bandwagon fan to actively root AGAINST the Hawks.

It is your business to do what you want to do with your time and money. But the facts still ring true. As long as fan apathy exist in that metro area against the Hawks or the ASG ( or for whatever reason ), we will ALWAYS be looked upon as bad fans.

Period.

Edited May 29, 2013 by northcyde

[Sothron]

That's cool.

But just understand that if you, and others like you are boycotting the ownership because the Thrashers were sold off, you're also not supporting the Hawks.

So if the ownership group has control of the Hawks for another 10 years, that's 10 more years that you as a die hard Hawks fan refuses to support the team by going to a game. And that simply means that there's one more open seat for a bandwagon fan to actively root AGAINST the Hawks.

It is your business to do what you want to do with your time and money. But the facts still ring true. As long as fan apathy exist in that metro area against the Hawks or the ASG ( or for whatever reason ), we will ALWAYS be looked upon as bad fans.

Period.

I live over two hours away from Atlanta let alone the arena. It was a nightmare frankly making it to Thrasher games as well as going to several Hawks games a year. That ownership group literally stabbed myself and every Thrasher fan in the world in the back because it wanted to sell out to the Cuban Pizza guy who couldn't afford a NHL team. They ignored 21 different local groups that tried to keep the team in Atlanta and work out a lease deal or some other deal to keep the team.

I am not giving those people any of my money. I still support the Hawks as a fan but as a paying consumer I choose not to reward those bastards for stealing my team and quite likely killing the NHL in Atlanta for the rest of my life.

[Bahamut]

I live over two hours away from Atlanta let alone the arena. It was a nightmare frankly making it to Thrasher games as well as going to several Hawks games a year. That ownership group literally stabbed myself and every Thrasher fan in the world in the back because it wanted to sell out to the Cuban Pizza guy who couldn't afford a NHL team. They ignored 21 different local groups that tried to keep the team in Atlanta and work out a lease deal or some other deal to keep the team.

I am not giving those people any of my money. I still support the Hawks as a fan but as a paying consumer I choose not to reward those bastards for stealing my team and quite likely killing the NHL in Atlanta for the rest of my life.

As a former Thrashers STH, I agree, but even I couldn't abandon going to Hawks games for more than a year. I'm still amazed that they didn't sell to Anson Carter. That was literally a perfect solution. Meanwhile, I've been explaining to people on the Falcons and even the Atlanta Silverbacks and Major League Soccer boards that ASG killed hockey in this city, not the lack of fans. The fans just got tired of being shit on.

Edited May 29, 2013 by Bahamut

[Buzzard]

Customer Service 101:

"Why customers quit:"
1% die
3% move away
68% quit because of an attitude of indifference towards the customer by the staff.
14 % are dissatisfied with the product.
9% leave because of competitive reasons.

"The average "wronged customer" will tell 8-16 people about it. Over 20% will tell more than 20. Source: Lee Resource Inc"

Arthur Blank could teach a Masters Seminar on this subject, the ASG should attend it.

Link: http://www.customerservicemanager.com/customer-service-facts.htm

Edited May 30, 2013 by Buzzard