No Matter What

[benhillboy]

Regardless of how the rest of the postseason plays out I just can’t be more happy with the journey this team is on.  This is the best season for the Hawks in Atlanta by a wide margin, as lifelong Hawks fans have been predisposed to failure, bad luck, and mediocrity.  
 

To continue winning with so many roster configurations this deep into the playoffs is one of the best seasonal performances I’ve seen from a franchise period.  The window has been busted out with a brick it’s so open for us as long as The General has the cap space to build a dominant bench with an exquisite mix of skills with little to no overlap.  Lou/Kevin/Cam/Gallo/OO would smash most bad starting units.  No surprise they’ve combined for 3(!) win shares so far in the playoffs.  
 

I just want to see my squad play smart, hard nosed ball night in and f@&kin out, win or lose.  I can’t ask for more man.

Edited June 30, 2021 by benhillboy

[Diesel]

Can I echo... without the haters thinking I'm stealing???

I have been a fan for a while and what I will say about this team that makes them different than others:

1.  They don't quit. 

2.  They look like they are having lots of fun.

I have to speak on this... even when we won the 60 games... for that team, it felt like work.  It felt like they were coming to do a job.   For this team, it's different.  These guys are having a ball out there.   Even down to Skylar and him getting the tech yesterday... 

3.  We actually got a chip on our shoulder.

No other Hawks team had a chip.   We were more happy to be there.   NOW... We are telling higher seeds... "we're coming to your house to send you on vacation."   " Wait til you get to Atlanta".  "We're not afraid of you". 

When you watch us, there's a sense that we know that we're going to win the series.   Even with this series.   Our approach to Milwaukee from game 1 just felt like... we know we can beat these guys. 

4.  We are disrespectful. 

This goes with point 3.   Too many times previous, we were so respectful of the other team. However, now... we disrespect them in their own house... And we have fun doing it.   People talk about the shimmy, but the most disrespectful thing was the ball off the backboard dunk.   That's something that you do in practice because that's the only time you can get away with it.   Well.. we did that in the ECF game 1.   Then there's the Shimmy, the tee shirt, and all the other disrespectful things we do.   we can really embrace being the villain becuase all of our players have been the underdogs their whole career.

 

So are we the best team this franchise have ever had.  Relatively.. probably...But more important than that.. we are one that has an identity. 

[Spud2nique]

Don’t kid yourself @benhillboy it’s your avatar.  Hopefully after this run you and I could have the same avatar, what do you think about a Larry O avi?  

[kg01]

This team DGAF and they play fun.

When #CodeReddish hit that 3 then turned, giggling to the crowd, that was a cool moment.

[benhillboy]

14 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Don’t kid yourself @benhillboy it’s your avatar.  Hopefully after this run you and I could have the same avatar, what do you think about a Larry O avi?  

I planned on changing it to Ivan Johnson (this team is him personified) or something Wu-Tang related but I’d like The General hoisting that O’Brien much better!

[Wurider05]

The key to all of our success is that we have an actual team. With all the all stars being injured these GM's now got to take a harder look at who the "others" are on their teams. 

[Atlantaholic]

Most definitely. This season has already provided more playoff highlights and big moments and performances than the entire 20 previous seasons I've been watching the team combined. 

[benhillboy]

3 minutes ago, Wurider05 said:

The key to all of our success is that we have an actual team. With all the all stars being injured these GM's now got to take a harder look at who the "others" are on their teams. 

I wasn’t sold on Ressler and Gersh and Grant and the glitzy ownership group thing.  Still not totally but much more than I was if they stay out of The General’s way.

[bleachkit]

9 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

I wasn’t sold on Ressler and Gersh and Grant and the glitzy ownership group thing.  Still not totally but much more than I was if they stay out of The General’s way.

He hired the right guy in Schlenk, which is the most important thing. 

[Spud2nique]

46 minutes ago, kg01 said:

When #CodeReddish hit that 3 then turned, giggling to the crowd, that was a cool moment.

Does anyone else feel “a little cooler “ when Cam is makin moves or stroking it from deep? Lol. I just feel cool AF inside, like almost too cool 4 skool. Anyone?

[macdaddy]

If Cam can play at that level he is going to be a problem.   Got to learn to finish inside. 

[kg01]

38 minutes ago, benhillboy said:

I wasn’t sold on Ressler and Gersh and Grant and the glitzy ownership group thing.  Still not totally but much more than I was if they stay out of The General’s way.

Cute how Grant is hopping on now that the spotlight has hit, btw.

[Atlantaholic]

13 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

If Cam can play at that level he is going to be a problem.   Got to learn to finish inside. 

He's got a lot of stuff to learn offensively, but if he ever puts it together, All-Star 100%

[macdaddy]

3 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Cute how Grant is hopping on now that the spotlight has hit, btw.

I was thinking the same thing.  Seems like he wanted to keep his distance for a while.   

[cam1218]

March 1st, Nate takes over and we are 14-20. My first thought was 6 games, can the team win 6 games and get back to .500 and see what happens? After our quick start, the last time we were over .500 was at 10-9 on 1/31. February was a long month for the team and for all of us. But, we won those 6 games, got back to .500 and the rest is history. Can we do it again, win 6 more games again and finish this story? I sure hope so, but this definitely has been an amazing ride regardless of how it ends.

[RandomFan]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

This team DGAF and they play fun.

When #CodeReddish hit that 3 then turned, giggling to the crowd, that was a cool moment.

It's Camborghini bro!  

 

[JeffS17]

40 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

If Cam can play at that level he is going to be a problem.   Got to learn to finish inside. 

He has the talent and skills already, he just needs some more reps so he's comfortable slowing it down.  It's clear he gets a little rushed right now, but I'm just happy he hasn't had any really bad turnovers... his handles have definitely tightened a bit since we last saw him.

[TheFuzz]

I don't post much anymore since I moved to Texas and have been working pretty insane hours, but...

This season has been magical man. I've been a fan since 2003 when I was 10 (!). I remember when I became a hardcore fan; there was this end of year video where Nique and Bob were running down the roster and Nique called Joe "the Allstar" and Marvin Williams "the future" (lol), and for some reason my 10 year old brain thought I want to see that future. What a ride since then.

Josh Smith broke me as a fan. That is all.

That 60 win year felt special, my senior year of college, an Al Horford game winner against the Wizards when we were at the beach and all my classmates watched me lose my mind. Course, we lost that ECF pretty embarrassingly. Ever since then, I've been a homer, but I've been a cautious one.

I was cautiously optimistic about Trae but wanted Luka. The early returns were troubling, but when I went to that double OT game against the Bulls Trae's rookie year, I felt for the first time in my Hawks fandom "Holy shit. We have a superstar." It's been frustrating at times since then, but this season has been the start of something special.

Trae punched New York in the mouth; shooshing the crowd, pointing to the scoreboard, taking that bump from Noel like a boss, bowing to the NY crowd.

Then the whole team took it to the Sixers: Trae's first half game 1. When we were down 18 in game 4, I thought, for a second, we had come to the end of the road. But this team is made of something different. We came back from down 18, and then came back from TWENTY SIX. And we won the series.

We clowned the Bucks in game 1 with backboard oops and shimmies. We got smacked pretty bad game 2, but looked good in game 3 until ... Trae went down.

That right there might've been the biggest "ATL Sports Fan" moment for me (not a huge football fan). I thought, "welp, it was fun while it lasted, but I guess it just ain't meant to be for the Hawks."

I will never doubt this team again. I hope Giannis gets healthy, cuz I'm not sure it really matters. We're built different. Class and attitude. Swagger and poise. Belief and execution. This team makes my cynical heart "believe." I thought I was too old for that shit, but this team's got me in the feels. Best Hawks team in my life time and it's just the beginning!

We're strapping in for a hell of a ride, folks.

[Spud2nique]

35 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Cute how Grant is hopping on now that the spotlight has hit, btw.

YES!!! Chuck had him on TNT on his cell phone ..gimme a break.

[Spud2nique]

2 minutes ago, TheFuzz said:

I don't post much anymore since I moved to Texas and have been working pretty insane hours, but...

This season has been magical man. I've been a fan since 2003 when I was 10 (!). I remember when I became a hardcore fan; there was this end of year video where Nique and Bob were running down the roster and Nique called Joe "the Allstar" and Marvin Williams "the future" (lol), and for some reason my 10 year old brain thought I want to see that future. What a ride since then.

Josh Smith broke me as a fan. That is all.

That 60 win year felt special, my senior year of college, an Al Horford game winner against the Wizards when we were at the beach and all my classmates watched me lose my mind. Course, we lost that ECF pretty embarrassingly. Ever since then, I've been a homer, but I've been a cautious one.

I was cautiously optimistic about Trae but wanted Luka. The early returns were troubling, but when I went to that double OT game against the Bulls Trae's rookie year, I felt for the first time in my Hawks fandom "Holy shit. We have a superstar." It's been frustrating at times since then, but this season has been the start of something special.

Trae punched New York in the mouth; shooshing the crowd, pointing to the scoreboard, taking that bump from Noel like a boss, bowing to the NY crowd.

Then the whole team took it to the Sixers: Trae's first half game 1. When we were down 18 in game 4, I thought, for a second, we had come to the end of the road. But this team is made of something different. We came back from down 18, and then came back from TWENTY SIX. And we won the series.

We clowned the Bucks in game 1 with backboard oops and shimmies. We got smacked pretty bad game 2, but looked good in game 3 until ... Trae went down.

That right there might've been the biggest "ATL Sports Fan" moment for me (not a huge football fan). I thought, "welp, it was fun while it lasted, but I guess it just ain't meant to be for the Hawks."

I will never doubt this team again. I hope Giannis gets healthy, cuz I'm not sure it really matters. We're built different. Class and attitude. Swagger and poise. Belief and execution. This team makes my cynical heart "believe." I thought I was too old for that shit, but this team's got me in the feels. Best Hawks team in my life time and it's just the beginning!

We're strapping in for a hell of a ride, folks.

We miss you bro. Hope you are well.