Thin Skinned?

[tmac13]

Just curious, since it seems there is hardly a week that passes by that some writer or broadcaster doesn't take a negative shot at the Hawks, why do you guys get so upset about it?..The Hawks have been a laughing stock for going on 7 seasons, last year they were historcally bad, why does it upset you to see any negative comment when there has been so much negative on the court?.It is a given that bad teams get bad press..Just because we win 3 out of 4 it doesn't excuse another bad year.. I just get amazed that the most even intelligent and articulate posters here are still outraged about a throw away Jay Bilas comment thats nearly 2 years old..I don't see nearly the same outrage here after we have lost 4 or 5 games in a row..

I guess being in other cities quite abit has given me a different perspective..In any other NBA city the local press and the fans would be blistering a team that has been as bad as the Hawks for as many years..Here, we seem to take offense to any comment that doesn't put the team or our management in a good light ..

I am just curious as to why?

[drzachary]

It's not the criticism that's bad, it's the completely uncreative way they go about it.

ESPN can't even find a synonym for 'lowly.'

[joannes3000]

I don't put myself in the thin skinned category, but I would think people get upset because they're diehard fans that see the progress we're making downplayed by how crappy we've been. It's easy to take shots at us for the time being but everyone knows reporters will be singing a different tune in the next few years.

[DJlaysitup]

We watch the games...pull for the Hawks...and see solid improvement on the floor. Out of towners just look at the record and it says we still suck. It's frustrating.

But I have a feeling about this Lang kid. Lookout world - here come the HAWKS !!

[drzachary]

Yeah, another factor that's bothersome about it is the ignorance involved. They usually don't even get the GM's name right, and never actually delve into anything more than the superficial. They usually don't differentiate between the Babcock debacles and the Knight era, and they never try to actually EXPLAIN the lack of fan support.

I guess that's why they're sportswriters and not real journalists.

[swolehawk2]

The national media should "lowly" the Knicks for a while, or Charlotte.

Give us a break while we are improving.....all about perception...other NBA fans hear it ....players hear it.

Don't paint the Hawks into a team that can't improve..different owners, different era....

Take all the shots u want when we had vets that couldn't win (like the Knicks now) but we are young and talented.

If the Knicks had our young talent and the same record...the media would be saying they are improving and team on the rise crap...wait to these guys get experience....blah blah blah

It is just easy to take shots at this franchise, sometimes I wish media would take the hard route.

[thesheedera]

Quote:

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We watch the games...pull for the Hawks...and see solid improvement on the floor. Out of towners just look at the record and it says we still suck. It's frustrating.

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The reality is that while we are improving and that's awesome, the won-loss record is what matters most. We're on track to have an improved record, but we're still close to the very bottom of the barrel.

We get to 26+ wins and that's improvement, but compared to the rest of the league, it still does in fact, suck.

Until our record sits at .500, we're a losing franchise. Its basically impossible for us to finish the season at .500 this year, so until next season, we're still a losing franchise, no matter how many teams we beat, we won't start getting respect until we can win consistently from start to finish.

Its hard to read all the negativity, but we have a long way to go before we should expect much praise.

[tmac13]

The Knicks yes, but Charlotte is a 2nd year team with with a ton of injuries.

[tmac13]

Its interesting that we as Hawks fans look at the won/loss record as something superficial..We have been conditioned to losing for so long now that we attempt to dismiss the record and only look for gradual improvement.

[swolehawk2]

It is not that we are losing...any moron could see that...it is why.

If a team is poorly constructed with a bunch of vets who make a lot of money ...like the Reef/Big Dog team then of course you beat them up for bad management....(knicks)but if a team is rebuilding has a gang of young talent and is improving, I think you make a note of this.

Bad team now but not because we have bad players or no talent...but because of youth, there is a difference in my opinion.

[thesheedera]

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The national media should "lowly" the Knicks for a while, or Charlotte.

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They do, a LOT. The Knicks are the most embarrassing franchise in the NBA.

Charlotte still gets a little credit for being an expansion team. They probably deserve more patience than the Hawks.

I think we're seeing some positivity and recognition. On TNT and ESPN people mention our young talent and imporvement from time to time. But you have to earn respect and we are just at the very beginning stages of that process.

[swolehawk2]

It is relative to the team that is on the floor....I expected the record of the Reef/Theo teams to be decent...it was not....the record mattered.

This team I did not expect much...because of youth, but did expect growth...record does not matter as much.

[tmac13]

Yes, we have alot of young talent that is getting better, but we ahve also intentionally put a team on the court that is lacking a real point guard or any interior pressence..I think that is a major criticism from alot of NBA people and a fair one.

[swolehawk2]

Team is rebuilding ....you can't do it all in one season...but the core is here.

People fail to realize or even acknowledge this is year 2 of a rebuilding process.

I give BK credit for not coughing up a bunch of money to Dampier or Swift...for the sake of having a big man. ZZ was a steal for the money.

Patience is key to rebuilding.

[BornandDieHawks]

It's like someone else telling you your kids are bad. It may be true but you don't want to hear it.

I don't get upset with the negative articles written about the Hawks because they have been bad. The problem I have is these articles are nothing but a poor attempt to make a joke of the team. They never look at the team and comment on how they are improving or the positives on the team. They love to focus on keeping the team in the news as the laughing stock of the league.

[tmac13]

What if we had drafted Chris Paul and signed Diop instead of John Edwards..Those are moves that would have made us alot better but our managemnet chose to go another path..We would be talking about the playoffs instead of worrying about what some writer said about us..Sometimes moves that aren't made can be a mistake..It goes both ways..

[swolehawk2]

No guarantee we would be any better.

[thesheedera]

Under that scenario we might not have acquired Joe Johnson. We might be even worse!

There's more to the Hornets success than just Paul.

Now had we drafted Paul and also picked up Joe, I do think we'd be better, but there's no way to prove something like that.

[swolehawk2]

I think at this stage with this team...more than we need a PG that can pass and handle and run an O, we need a PG that can defend and disrupt other PGs...keep PGs out of the lane.

It would be great to het a PG that can do both...not many of them however.

[Wretch]

Nobody likes to be picked on and the continual bashing of the Hawks is enough to upset some die-hard fans; being an old-school Hawks fan...and enduring the mediocrity of the reign of Babcock, I actually prefer being bad and getting attention vs. being mediocre and nobody saying anything about the team. I've heard these same journalists bash various franchises over the years, so I understand that SOMEBODY has to get it.

My biggest gripe though...

Is with inconsistency. Don't bash the league for overspending on players like KMart, Tim Thomas, Dampier...and yet, criticize our management for saying, "The hell with that..."

Don't hype up a guy as the savior of basketball as we know it...as the ultimate prospect...as the guy that will shame the rest of his draft class within a few years - and then sh!t on the Hawks for drafting him.

Take your opinions of a player with them as they swap teams... Don't take away your praise of a promising, versatile, young guard on a playoff contender because he has the balls to accept a challenge like ours. And don't give that praise to a hard-headed player that gives up on a situation like ours and benefits from the talent and stability of a winning environment. This is the same, yet somehow now "Magic", player that we praised the potential of since the night we drafted him...that you saw as "just another Atl swingman."

I could go on and on with these cats (that really aren't worth the trouble). The bottom line is that I don't really care about the name calling and the bashing, it's the sloppy ignorance and laziness of their work, their bias, that irritates me.