Here's a question?

[Diesel]

When we get Belkin Removed...

Did the Atlanta Owners make a move that got them national attention, home respect, and more season ticket sales??

If you think about it from a marketing point of view...

The fantastic 8 can kick out Belkin (buyout) and in the process, endear themselves to the city as the defenders of RIGHT...

The fallout would be good...

Strong Leadership.

JJ becomes a franchise player.

I predict season ticket sales would rise BECAUSE people like siding with what they perceive as RIGHT!

The national media would even have to take note just to see what all the fuss was about!

[Nicholasp27]

yeah, our ownership has shown they are not only willing to spend and take chances to build a contender, but willing to go to court over it and defend it personally...as well as spend the money to buy-out belkin

that, along with our young talent, jj's good play, and increased wins will show the nba that we are a future contender on the rise

[thesheedera]

Maybe, but unlessthey get tons of positve press on it, I think most fans out there won't be too pumped about it.

Only those of us following it so closely have developed a terrible disdain for Belkin. The casual Hawks fan probably thinks this whole mess isn't worth the trouble, and even if the other 8 win out, they probably expect more trouble down the road.

[Diesel]

If they get Belkin out, they can spin this so easily that it would make a politician grin.

Believe me, People love the good guys.

Already Belkin has been promoted as the evil owner who doesn't want to spend money to make his team better. Once he is out of the ownership circle, these owners can start saying, now expect a change.. with JJ as their flagship!

[Jdawgflow]

I beat you to this one Diesel, but it seems as if you provided a more detailed explaination. Check out the thread, Latest news on JJ "It's all taken care of". I stated the following:

"Oh yeah! I am really looking forward to the season now. If everything goes as planned, I predict that season ticket sales will actually increase from all this drama."

I am glad to see that we see eye to eye on this subject. Just trying to make some leamonade here, but I really believe that some excitement can be generated from this. And if all goes well for the rest of the summer, the Hawks could really surprize some teams this year (and maybe even sneak into the playoffs).

[drzachary]

Quote:

---

Maybe, but unlessthey get tons of positve press on it, I think most fans out there won't be too pumped about it.

Only those of us following it so closely have developed a terrible disdain for Belkin. The casual Hawks fan probably thinks this whole mess isn't worth the trouble, and even if the other 8 win out, they probably expect more trouble down the road.

---

From glancing over the AJC.com's reader comments, a huge portion of the readers side with Belkin.. which is downright scary.

[Lascar78]

Don't underestimate the national hate of the hawks. It is also easy for them to say our ownership has kicked out the only guy who had common sense to not overpay for JJ. I'm not holding my breath for any kind of national recognition until we start winning, a year or two from now.

[Final_quest]

This could be the Hawks version of making new Coke and switching back to old Coke.

At least this has put the Hawks in the news for an extended period of time, and if they drop Belkin it will be easy to spin this story. The images of BK refusing to shake Belkin's hand, the deal going through in spite of Belkin, and ultimately Belkin's removal is a positive story for the Hawks.

[chillzatl]

I agree with you, I think this will be an unplanned positive PR move. Because from the moment we actually started getting info on what was happening, it's been 8 guys wanting to do the "right" think vs. 1 guy who wanted to do the "wrong" thing. The good press has always been on the side of the eight. They want to build this team into something good that the city and fans can be proud of. Once they get Belkin out of his leadership position, fans will respond. Both casual fans and devoted fans alike.

[Sage11]

Diesel, if Belkin is booted, I see the Hawks becoming a much sought after ticket in hotlanta. Such a move certainly endears the team to the city in my opinion.

[chillzatl]

it's been setup from the get go. It's always been eight that want to do the "right" thing vs. one that wants to do the "wrong" thing. The only people that have spun this like it was "the miserable hawks making themselves look worse than ever" are the radio host who want to make a big story even bigger. Once it's resolved and Belkin has no power, we will be better than before.

Think about it, before all of this, this was the perception of people across the nation about the Hawks:

A team that hasn't done anything since the 80's and hasn't had a star since Nique played there.

Now we get to be:

A bad team with new ownership that wants to improve the team and make them into a winner and is making big strides to do so.

[TheDude]

i've also seen that on other message boards..among those that are casual Hawks fans don't understand the true reprocussions of Belkin.

[vonrauss]

Problem is, and I'm just playing devil's advocate here, what happens if JJ doesn't work out? Then what happens? Does the heat turn to the guys who ousted Belkin? Is he all of the sudden the hero?

Just curious...

[Nicholasp27]

Quote:

---

I'm just playing devil's advocate here

---

why would u wanna be belkin's advocate

[vonrauss]

I'm not...

To be honest, I've been a Hawks fan from a distance for a long time. Personally, I think the enthusiasm on these forums is unprecedented and far exceeds the enthusiasm generated on other team forums I've been to. Go to Pistonstalk.com, for example. Almost all of it is negative.

I'm just saying, I'm not yet sold on JJ as the savior of the franchise. I REALLY like him, but I think there are 2 or 3 other players on this team who have the chance of becoming far better players than him...

[KB21]

They aren't looking at Joe Johnson to be the savior of the franchise. They are looking at him as one piece of the puzzle.

[Nicholasp27]

i was just making a joke about belkin = devil

nothing to do with u

[mrhonline]

Quote:

---

Problem is, and I'm just playing devil's advocate here, what happens if JJ doesn't work out?

---

You give the JJ @ PG experiment one good year to succeed. If it doesn't work, you move JJ to SG, where he'll be one of the better young players at that position. You bring either Childress or Marvin off the bench and move Smith to PF permanently.

You trade Harrington for a PG and you have a complete, "traditional" team.

Acquiring talent is a good thing because it gives you options...

[Dragitoff]

This may be a stretch, but could the Belkin incident possibly have been planned by everyone? I know no one will ever admit to it since they brought the legal system into it as well as the NBA, but what if Belkin was going to be bought out anyway, and the owners all agreed to make the most of it. Belkin agreed to be the bad guy in the deal (for a few $$$$'s more) and the whole Billy Knight handshake incident was the thing that put it all over the top. C'Mon, that cameraman was at the right place at the right time, and what balls Belkin would have to have to offer a handshake with all the camera around. You gotta' admit, this would make a great movie plot or something.

[Diesel]

JJ and the Joshes have to show up in a major way. If we can reproduce a season like the Wizards had last season... You know, beating people when nobody expected them to win, the city will finally get behind the Hawks like they got behind the Falcons.

Here's the truth of the matter...

We are in the 9th largest media market.

When you think about the LAL's and the NY's not having anything but yet having the most sought after teams.. Then you see the power of having a strong media market.

Well, the owners have drawn attention to themselves as being " Not the status quo". However, to totally get from under that,,,

JJ and the Joshes will have to make BK look like a Genius..

There's a lot of pressure on JJ weather he likes it or not. He will have to prove that he was worth the fight. IF HE DOES...

These owners will win this city over in a way that Turner and Nique couldn't.... Because even the out of towner is interested in how this will all play out... If it's favorable, then BK gets the credit for building something and the owners get the credit for sticking to their gones and bringing a winner to the city...

Just like when Arthur Blank said " Vick will take this franchise to the Superbowl!"