If we don't make a move we're giving up on this season.

[Joker]

I think it's easier to Brand Smoove than it is to Brand Horf.

Horf is a great personality but how can he be branded. He's still a working class Center. He's like Duncan with less moves. Smoove on the other hand has heart. He already has a Nickname (J-Smoove). His Athleticism makes him easy to brand. However, it's hard to brand Smith or Horf with Joe being the main cog. I think they would have to wait until Joe was signed to do such a thing and then they'd have to Brand Joe first.

JOE COOL!!!

I think there was a commercial a few months back...

The Most interesting man in the world.

I say for Joe, they start running

The Coolest man in the world.

A spoof. Featuring Joe Cool.

Start branding him as Cool and never sweats under pressure.

He can't just brand athleticism, you have to be a complete player especially for Atlanta fans. We have a lot of people that like Smith but no one thinks he is or will be a superstar. He's has too many issues on offense for that to ever happen.

Horford is like Karl Malone, better defense, worst on offense but not by much in both departments. I doubt both with be huge media buffs to be honest. It could happen for Smith if he got in a dunk contest v. Lebron and won then went to the NBA Finals. As for Horford, he needs a true elite PG and the NBA Finals. Both can become brands to be honest. JJ is not that type of guy but anything possible.

[Plainview1981]

We need to stay the course. Even if Cleveland is the team to beat, guess what? They are aging at key positions just like Boston.

Shaq, Big Z, and Jamison are all on the wrong side of 30 as far as athletics are concerned. I'm assuming they get big Z back, but he'll be 35 in June and Shaq will be 39 next season. Jamison will be 34.

We have guys who should be getting better not worse in Josh Smith, Al Horford, etc.

We are in perfect position to compete with Orlando over the next 2 years as the top team in the conference.

Yeah right.

Your forgetting that ownership still isn't committed to winning. They can't even get a reasonable back up big man. As long as Lebron is in Cleveland they will have the chance to be better than this team. When these guys get old they will make trades and get more guys.

I know people want to just say such and such team will get old and the Hawks will take their place... But there will always be more teams funded than the Hawks that will go the extra mile to try and win a title. Yet, the Hawks will try to do more with less and come up short in the big picture just like Oakland and Minnesota do.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Hotlanta1981

[DJlaysitup]

Atlanta does have a lot more fans now then it has ever had. So I believe there is potential.

Agreed superstar. I've lived in Georgia twice but I'm still technically a transplant (grew up in Iliinois near the Indiana border). I'm going to state my opinion - maybe I'm right - maybe I'm wrong (likely it's somewhere in the middle). Actually I think "transplants" make up much of the fan base.

I grew up in basketball country. Basketball was as big as football on the H/S level...actually bigger. Georgia is football country. Where I grew up it was Basketball/Football/Baseball....here it's Football/Baseball/Basketball.

The weather: It's too darned mild here in Georgia and people aren't in to indoor sports as much.

And of course there is race: People in the "basketball belt" don't look at it as a racially oriented game. We grew up watching Bob Gibson mowing down hitters and Lou Brock stealing bases for the Cards (although baseball was still predominately white) - and we also grew up watching white AND black basketball players. I read a story awhile back (real news story) about when the Governor of Mississippi would not let the Miss State basketball team leave the state because they were invited to the NCAA tourney (due to their record) but the Ole Miss squad was not (also due to their record). The Miss State team basically had to sneak out to play in the tournament. Granted this was Mississippi and not Georgia - but there are similarities to a lesser degree.

Edited February 18, 2010 by DJlaysitup

[MVP23]

And Again, what in the hell does this have to do with PICKING UP A BACKUP PG OR CENTER??????

[MaceCase]

And Again, what in the hell does this have to do with PICKING UP A BACKUP PG OR CENTER??????

MVP, to make it simple: Every NBA player costs money.

The less money a franchise is making the less likely they are to spend on non-essential or supplementary players. A team like the Lakers can have Luke Walton in a suit for most the year making 6 million because they generate so much revenue. The Hawks can't even afford to have an MLE player in the top 8 rotation because they do not.

[Dejay]

No doubt about it, attendance sucked bad during the Omni years... thank goodness Nique was there otherwise they would've really had crickets! Where I merged that undeniable fact into the "why they don't draw, Philips Arena edition" is that young native Atlantans that wanted to see Nique & the Hawks live didn't have to schlep downtown 40 times a year... they could turn on WTBS (a non-cable UHF station back then) in the comfort of their own living rooms and bedrooms. Many of the "seeds" (the adolescents/young adults I alluded to earlier) fortunate enough to watch from Momma's basement (and "maybe" catch a game or two at the Omni) back then would become the grown folk with disposable income who'd be buying season-ticket packages annually now... and bringing new "seeds" with them. Nique's trade uprooted those seeds, who with cable access would grow to get their NBA jollies from watching WGN (Mike 'n Da Bulls) and perennial championship contenders on TNT+ESPN. Under the Wilkens-Babcock regime that jettisoned Nique... Mookie, Smitty, and Deke's wagging finger were not enough to regain that trust from a demographic critical to the franchise's arena-filling future.

~lw3

Never had truer words been slapped on a keyboard.

There is a major trust hurdle that this franchise has yet to conquer to this very day. So many of us grew up watching drugs decimate the John Drew/Eddie Johnson/Dan Roundfield teams to the point that simply winning 40 games in a season was a minor miracle. Then we were given a gift of Utah's owner nearly going bankrupt and handing us Nique, only to watch the front office sit on their hands in the prime of his career while the Bulls, Pistons, and Knicks passed them by. Many a Hawk fan looked at Stan Kasten crying salary cap to anyone with a microphone on when everyone and their mother knew that Nique needed more help than the likes of Jon Koncak and Rumeal Robinson, turned on WGN and watched MJ do the impossible and said, 'know what, screw the Hawks. I found a new team to root for', and never looked back. Then, when MJ, Bird, and Isiah were no longer factors and the Hawks were suddenly contending again, what do they do to thank their franchise player who put them back on the map? Trade him in the midst of a potential championship year for a guy who didn't want to be here. I was here when that move went down and it was nothing short of an unmitigated PR-disaster of the Enron/Worldcom/Adelphia kind. For many locals who watched the Hawks and bought tickets for years, that was the straw that broke the camal's back because that season wasn't just supposed to be Nique's payoff; it was also supposed to be OUR payoff and Babs, Lenny, and Kasten squashed it. That's a segment of potential season ticket holders that the Hawks forever lost in the name of doing business the WRONG way.

Add in a notoriously piss-poor transit system and a transient fanbase who are stubbornly loyal to their hometown teams to the point where they never pay $$$ for a ticket unless their squad shows up, and that explains why this franchise will always have trouble bringing in the fans on a consistent basis until they....

1) Get a superstar player like Labron, Durant, CP3, Dwight Howard, et al to attract the fans who'd never step foot in the building otherwise.

2) Get to the Eastern Finals and become serious contenders for the world title. Hoisting up a useless division banner and watching someone else dance around and celebrate in your backyard isn't enough (just ask the Braves or Thrashers).

Sure, folks will pack Philips when mainstream teams like the Celtics or Lakers come in or a superstar-driven one like Miami or the Labrons. But the Tuesday night game when the Grizzlies or T-Wolves are in town? 'No thanks, I'll stay home'. Why? BECAUSE THEY DON'T TRUST THIS TEAM ENOUGH TO MAKE THAT KIND OF INVESTMENT.

If, after all of the waiting we've done to finally become competitive, this franchise stops short again, you know what folks around town will say? 'See there, just like I thought. I told you that they'd get beat by (insert playoff team here). Just like they always have'.

That's why it's imperative for the Notorious A.S.G. to erase the Minnesota Twin-esque moniker of paying the minimum and being satisfied with playoff appearances and higher win totals. They'd better be thinking of winning some hardware while the other local teams are still regrouping because longtime residents here know the difference between a pretender and the Real McCoy.

GAME, SET, MATCH.

Edited February 18, 2010 by Dejay