Could the Hawks play in Mercedes-Benz stadium next year?

[BigDog90]

I see the Hawks played in the Georgia Dome from 1997-99.  Maybe Mercedes-Benz could hold down the Hawks for a few years while Philips work on their upgrades.

[Guest]

Interesting!!!

[ViewsFromTheSquawk]

That'd make our fan base look awful.... Y'all don't understand that stadium is going to be HUGE and we can barely 60% fill up Phillipd Arena

[thecampster]

4 hours ago, BigDog90 said:

I see the Hawks played in the Georgia Dome from 1997-99.  Maybe Mercedes-Benz could hold down the Hawks for a few years while Philips work on their upgrades.

Unfortunately, the draw of basketball for the fan is the intimate experience. Even "bad" seats in basketball are pretty close compared to other sports. A football stadium really puts you a long way from the action.

[BigDog90]

3 hours ago, ViewsFromTheSquawk said:

That'd make our fan base look awful.... Y'all don't understand that stadium is going to be HUGE and we can barely 60% fill up Phillipd Arena

They made it with the Georgia Dome.  MBS and Georgia Dome have pretty much the same capacity. I see they'll lower the capacity of MLS games so maybe they could do the same for NBA.

[ViewsFromTheSquawk]

7 hours ago, BigDog90 said:

They made it with the Georgia Dome.  MBS and Georgia Dome have pretty much the same capacity. I see they'll lower the capacity of MLS games so maybe they could do the same for NBA.

Huh never thought about that.... 

[Guest]

8 hours ago, BigDog90 said:

They made it with the Georgia Dome.  MBS and Georgia Dome have pretty much the same capacity. I see they'll lower the capacity of MLS games so maybe they could do the same for NBA.

The problem when they re-configure domes for basketball is you totally lose the "experience".  Our tepid homecourt advantage would be further muted.

Plus depth perception issues in domes (allegedly) drop FG%'s so who wants that?

McCamish Pavilion (GT) is just fine and is arguably a better venue than Philips anyway.  Just smaller capacity.

[macdaddy]

I don't know the last nba team to play in an alternate arena that wasn't an NBA capacity facility.   It may be the Hawks.   I kind of can't see the team or the league going for that now.   

[Guest]

12 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

I don't know the last nba team to play in an alternate arena that wasn't an NBA capacity facility.   It may be the Hawks.   I kind of can't see the team or the league going for that now.   

Yeah, that would be strange.  McCamish is just under 9,000.  Philips is approx. 18,000 so, yeah that's not even close.

Gwinnett is around 13,000.  That'd be preferable to the Dome IMHO.  I just hate the idea of putting a tarp up and adding bleachers to make the Dome work.

[macdaddy]

Someone is reading the squawk:

 

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/basketball/renovations-to-philips-arena-wont-interrupt-hawks-/nsK2P/

[Guest]

I bet Vivlamore got beat up a lot in high school. Even now I kinda wanna punch him directly in the nose. GO HAWKS!!!

[ATLSmith]

On 8/22/2016 at 8:33 PM, ViewsFromTheSquawk said:

That'd make our fan base look awful.... Y'all don't understand that stadium is going to be HUGE and we can barely 60% fill up Phillipd Arena

I totally agree.  I saw the Hawks vs Bulls in the GA dome years ago when Phillips was being built.  They only had seating in half the dome and even then it looked sparse.  This was with a good crowd in attendance to see Jordan.  The Hawks won by the way.

[macdaddy]

11 hours ago, ATLSmith said:

I totally agree.  I saw the Hawks vs Bulls in the GA dome years ago when Phillips was being built.  They only had seating in half the dome and even then it looked sparse.  This was with a good crowd in attendance to see Jordan.  The Hawks won by the way.

Those GA dome games were the pits, but I think there was a different time that Jordan came to down and it may still be the largest crowd to see an nba game.  I'll look that up.

Yep.  #1.   I remember that game.   Sucked

 

1) 62,046-Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks, March 27, 1998

The  Bulls, Hawks matchup at Georgia Dome, on March 27, 1998, drew a crowd of 62,046 people, largest in any game of NBA history. This massive crowd came to cheer the home team Atlanta but the Bulls ruined all their plans as they beat their team by 89-74. For the Bulls,  Michael Jordan scored 34 points and led the team to a resounding victory.

[macdaddy]

I don't know if it was that bulls game but it was definitely one in the GA dome where Jordan took a late 3 and airballed it but claimed to get hit on the elbow by Smitty.  In fact, he probably did get slightly grazed but there was no call.   He absolutely got in the refs face and just berated him.     No technical.  Definitely one of those moments where you realize that the playing field is not level.