I get the feeling that we won't be back in the playoffs for some time.

[Dejay]

What truth was he telling? He said he could care less if the fans show up. So you're saying that he could really care less if the fans show up? Ok fine. If he's telling the truth then he's an idiot because he doesn't understand where his paycheck comes from. I guess you are reading into that that he is saying the fans in Atlanta aren't all that great because they haven't been showing up?

The truth is that there are a lot of diehard fans in Atlanta who don't need to be lumped in with the casual fans everytime a delicate player gets his feelings hurt. The other truth is there are a lot of knowledgable fans in Atlanta who can tell the difference between a contender and a pretender. With the Braves was it coincidental that playoff games stopped selling out at the same time the Braves stopped winning in the playoffs?

We're all diehards here (on this board) and are much too emotionally wrapped up to see what the casual Atlanta fan has been seeing. A team without a larger than life star, a team that often folds on national tv against the Cavs, Lakers, Magic. If you're a casual fan do you notice 53 wins or do you notice a thanksgiving day debacle? How many times have these guys failed on the big stage and then after failing again in historic fashion you're going to tell your fans you don't care about them. That'll put butts in the seats.

I've been preaching this sermon to deaf ears for almost a decade on this board. If you want to know why this team hasn't gotten the full support in this town, this series was the Zapruder film; the only thing that was missing in Games 1 and 3 was Kevin Costner from the JFK movie saying 'out and back' about twenty times. While no one would dare question the loyalty and fandom of the folks on this board, casual sports fan who don't have a dog in the fight need and demand more to get them motivated. And when you come up soooooooo short time and time again, especially on national TV, you can't expect to win them back to the building as quickly as other cities who have conference and world title banners hanging up in the rafters of their buildings.

As I've stated ad nauseum, no town in this country is better at discerning a phony from the Real McCoy better than Atlanta sports fans; the margin isn't even close. I just pointed out yesterday that the Hawks just finished losing their 15th straight game in the second round; FIFTEEN IN A ROW WITH THE LAST TEN BY DOUBLE DIGITS!!!! And just how long did it take for them to finally draft a guy who became an All-Star? Over a quarter-century?! It's no small wonder why so many folks here simply throw up their hands, go to Foot Locker, and buy a Kobe or Lebron jersey. You don't have to be a genius to figure out why they'll take their sweet time to get to the building if Wade isn't in town, if they decide to go at all. Just look at the Game 3 film; would you be so willing to get down to Philips again after that display?

So no, you're not going to get folks here to show up like they do in one-sport cities like OKC, Salt Lake, San Antonio, and Portland, not with that putrid history hanging over the team's head. Macdaddy hit the mark when he mentioned the Braves; when Kasten and the gang started chirping about their division titles days after (insert NL team here) finished splashing champagne on each other at Turner Field and laughing at anyone who suggested that one world title in fourteen chances is a disappointment, all while the Yankees, Red Sox, Marlins, et al were holding parades in October we got the message that they cared more about how much was made in the Chophouse than what's on the field. Would he had been able to get away with that in NYC? Boston? Philly? Doubt it. But here, good and mediocrity is supposed to be accepted. Huh?

Nah, not me. I want a front office who hurts the same way I do after a bad loss, much less a record-breaking series loss. Say what you want about Arthur Blank but I appreciate an owner who demands more from his team than 7-9 and 8-8; the Smith family would've done backflips over 8-8. I appreciate a guy who cares about the team's success the same way I have for the last 30+ years. And no, they haven't won but at least they have shown that they WANT TO. That's good enough for me. And GD'it, that's not asking for too much....

Edited May 11, 2010 by Dejay

[Dsinner]

First off, JJ didn't have to come here in the first place. We would have been a nothing doing going back to the lottery getting another Sf team had he not come.

Buzz.

Once you get married, you will find that sometimes, you say things in the heat of the moment.... and yes, you still love them. You still support them. You still would buy them a diamond necklace. Because it's not about the heat of that moment, but it's about everything.

I think that while he was here, JJ put it all on the court. He played hard. He came to us when we were a 13 win team.. and he weathered the Esteban Batistas, Anthony Grundy's, the John Edwards and the Salim Stoudamires. Do you know how many of the guys that have been Hawks during the time we had Joe are no longer in the league now?? This is what Joe played with. He asked for help, we got him Bibby. We kept babies around him and he never complained. Even this year, when we could have picked up some meaningful FAs like Stackhouse, what did we do? Nothing. So yea, Joe is due one heat of the moment exchange after being booed by a crowd that certainly wasn't around when he was building this team with little help...

LOL! So JJ came here to do us lowly Atlanta fans a favor? Please. He came here to be "the man" and earn a max deal after that. He didn't come here because he felt he was doing us or our franchise a favor. You're either an idiot if you think so or your just in denial of a player you like. He earned those boo's with his play and then he earned even more with his mouth. We owe him nothing because I promise you he's never made any decision based on how it would affect any franchise only his bank account. Before this ordeal I thought he wanted to much money. After these playoffs and his mouth I'm glad he didn't take the original offer much less a max deal from us. Good bye and good riddance.

[Diesel]

LOL! So JJ came here to do us lowly Atlanta fans a favor? Please. He came here to be "the man" and earn a max deal after that. He didn't come here because he felt he was doing us or our franchise a favor. You're either an idiot if you think so or your just in denial of a player you like. He earned those boo's with his play and then he earned even more with his mouth. We owe him nothing because I promise you he's never made any decision based on how it would affect any franchise only his bank account. Before this ordeal I thought he wanted to much money. After these playoffs and his mouth I'm glad he didn't take the original offer much less a max deal from us. Good bye and good riddance.

Yes. This franchise haven't had a 4 time allstar since Nique. He came here to be the man and he was the man. Did he earn a max deal.. no. I don't care what Joe's personal reasons for coming were. I just know that there are 20 someodd other teams he could have went to and been the man. He could have gone to Milwaukee. He certainly could have left this situation when our ownership split in the midst of trying to sign him. But he wanted to come HERE.. Not just because we had money and position (there were other teams with that)... He wanted to come here for some other reason. What that is? You and I don't know so I don't think it's a good idea to suppose that somebody is an idiot for appreciate him coming here and helping us get to the playoffs.

You say he earned those boos with his play?? That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard. When do you have the right to boo anybody having a bad game? What if you found out that he was playing with an injured thumb because he was too much of a warrior to sit out on his team during the playoffs??? Did he still earn those boos?

I hope that next time you're having a bad day at work (for whatever reason) somebody comes along and boo you. If it were to happen, I betcha you wouldn't be somewhere saying "I deserved that.. I earned those boos".

[Buzzard]

I hope that next time you're having a bad day at work (for whatever reason) somebody comes along and boo you. If it were to happen, I betcha you wouldn't be somewhere saying "I deserved that.. I earned those boos".

I worked in customer service once and if I told a roomfull of customers I could careless about them...it would be a really bad day; as us little people get fired for such childish B.S.

Boos and 15 mill a year would be much better IMO than the unemployment line.

[thecampster]

Yes. This franchise haven't had a 4 time allstar since Nique. He came here to be the man and he was the man. Did he earn a max deal.. no. I don't care what Joe's personal reasons for coming were. I just know that there are 20 someodd other teams he could have went to and been the man. He could have gone to Milwaukee. He certainly could have left this situation when our ownership split in the midst of trying to sign him. But he wanted to come HERE.. Not just because we had money and position (there were other teams with that)... He wanted to come here for some other reason. What that is? You and I don't know so I don't think it's a good idea to suppose that somebody is an idiot for appreciate him coming here and helping us get to the playoffs.

You say he earned those boos with his play?? That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard. When do you have the right to boo anybody having a bad game? What if you found out that he was playing with an injured thumb because he was too much of a warrior to sit out on his team during the playoffs??? Did he still earn those boos?

I hope that next time you're having a bad day at work (for whatever reason) somebody comes along and boo you. If it were to happen, I betcha you wouldn't be somewhere saying "I deserved that.. I earned those boos".

Yeah uhm....not so much. 6 straight games shooting under 40% in the playoffs. Getting stuck on switches and leaving his cover open for a 3 in the corner time and time again in the series. Yes, he earned the boos. He earned them because he accepted the job. He isn't working at taco bell or on a help desk. He's accepted the mantle of team captain of an NBA franchise earning 15 million dollars a year. He is no average Joe, he is more like a CEO of a company that failed miserably at the trade show and the company stock got halved on the exchange the next day. He's one of the 3 faces of the franchise. He's the man and he failed. He was carrying the banner for the city. The fans pay the salary and he did not live up to expectations. I mean have a thick skin here. It was only a boo. No one chucked bottles. He's still gonna make millions upon millions over the next 6 years to play a game you and I shoot on the playground for free and when I start throwing the ball away and bricking layups in the driveway, my kids raze me too. JJ needs to man up and accept responsibility for his play and his actions.

[Plainview1981]

Mookie went to a lottery team who was in the midst of an identity crisis. Smitty went to a PTL team that had 30,000 star players. Still, for PTL Smitty was one of their top guys. Then after that (4 yrs later), he helped Duncan win a ring.

None of this changes that Smitty was done as the teams leading scorer. Yeah, he went to Portland and SA and had productive seasons playing off other guys, but he was done as first option. The dude shot 40% his last season here and the mediocre shooting of her and Mookie was a big part of the reason that Hawks team was terrible on the offensive end that last season. Players get old and drop off. That's what Smitty did. His efficiency rose with SA and Portland because he was a semi role player on those teams. How hard is that to understand? That team was old and tired.