Why is it that .......?

[Gray Mule]

:conversation:

I know that there are a lot of very smart Hawk fans out there. I appeal to you. Explain a couple

of things to me that the old man just don't understand.

#1 - Why is it that, if Hawks win a game against one of the teams that have a similar

record as the Hawks, it's considered an upset? I know that a lot of our players aren't

really known around the NBA. Another topic here relates how a second string center

in the west has more votes than Horford for the center position in all star balloting. That

has to mean that we get no respect. Still, we have a good record. How can all wins against

teams with a similar record be considered an upset?

#2 - In second games, when the Hawks play back to back, our winning % is so good. Hawks

are very hard to beat in that 2nd game. Why? How can this be? Check the records. If we

don't have the best record in the NBA in this one, we're close. There has to be a reason.

So, come on Hawksquawk buddies, help the old man out. Explain this to me.

:help wanted:

[pimp]

#1 - Why is it that, if Hawks win a game against one of the teams that have a similar

record as the Hawks, it's considered an upset?

According to the media the hawks don't win, the other team just loses.

i bet the front page at espn.com said something like " heat loses 4th straight"" Lebron comes up short"

or " the heat stumble against the hawks" :kickcan:

[AHawks89]

I think a lot of this has to do with the media, and also the fact that "we haven't proved ourselves." Teams like Chicago get a lot of love for not proving themselves. I think media has a lot to do with All-Star voting too. ESPN is the main source where everyone see highlights and such, so people only see the teams/players ESPN always over-hypes...

I honestly don't agree with fan voting. It makes no sense to me. There are tons of players who make it each year because of their fame, not because of their talent. So many people get robbed from All-Stars, like Josh Smith for an example.

The reason why the Hawks are so dominant after back-to-back games is a good question. I'd like to know too. :smile:

Edited January 19, 2011 by AHawks89

[pimp]

the players feel the same way lol

Quantcast

Atlanta Hawks

Atlanta Hawks: Quietly making their case for respect

2:56 pm January 19, 2011, by Michael Cunningham

Miami–Both before and immediately after the Hawks beat the Heat, L.D. and his players claimed to reporters not to care that they don’t get more buzz.

Don’t believe them.

Long after inquiring reporters left, and with most of the team already on the bus, a couple Hawks players and a staffer talked about the W. They speculated that stories about the game would focus more on the Heat losing than the Hawks winning. They joked that ESPN’s ticker would probably show the score, some stats for LeBron and Wade, note Miami’s losing streak and then flash the next score.

“And now on to Memphis!” one of them joked.

The truth is the Hawks, like all competitive alpha males, do want accolades and respect. To their credit, they’ve never complained that they deserve more of either. They understand they have more to prove. They beat the Heat with a tough effort but they are still just 5-9 against opponents with winning records (though they notably beat the last two on the road while Miami is now 2-5 against Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Orlando).

The Hawks are now a half-game behind Chicago for fourth in the East. Even if the Hawks keep rolling, they have to know that for many casual observers the lasting memory is that surrender to Orlando last spring. For those watching them closely now, games like that ugly loss to Houston, which immediately followed the stirring victory at Utah, make them wonder if the Hawks are for real.

So for now the Hawks aren’t publicly making the case that they should be in the conversation with Boston and Miami as true contenders. But they do notice that they haven’t gotten much love despite staying among the East’s top five all year even as the injuries piled up.

Will beating Miami change the perception of the Hawks?

“Maybe,” Jamal said. “But we like being under the radar, honestly. We kind of like creeping and doing our thing that way. Nobody talks about us. That’s good as long we we keep racking up the wins.”

“We are content with staying under the radar and just keep trying to play consistent basketball,” Smoove said. “We’ve been pretty good as of late. We are getting guys healthy and we are figuring out a way to play together.”

Of course all this respect stuff won’t mean much in the end. The Hawks will either prove their worth in the playoffs or they won’t and then earn praise or criticism based on those results. Right now this is all just fodder for discussion among NBA media, fans and–as that scene in the locker room late last night showed–the Hawks.

[WakaFlocka]

I've never understood why people (fans) care so much about whether or not their team gets respect... Honestly, why do fans care that we don't get our nuts coddled by ESPN like Miami, Orlando, Boston, LA, OKC, etc do? Just like Jamal and Josh said in that article that pimp posted above me, there's absolutely nothing wrong with going under the radar. Last I checked, the Spurs still own the best record in the league, but how often do you really hear about them? Besides when ESPN talks about the Lakers and the Thunder to state how far back they are behind them (the Spurs), I don't hear much about them at all. Do you think it bothers veterans like Duncan or Ginobli that they don't have their own page on ESPN dedicated to their team? Nope, as long as they're winning they're happy.

There are always going to be media darlings in sports, that's just the way it is. Personally, I'm happy the Hawks don't get hyped up... The last thing we need is for Smoove to get an even bigger head :biggrin:

[thecampster]

:conversation:

I know that there are a lot of very smart Hawk fans out there. I appeal to you. Explain a couple

of things to me that the old man just don't understand.

#1 - Why is it that, if Hawks win a game against one of the teams that have a similar

record as the Hawks, it's considered an upset? I know that a lot of our players aren't

really known around the NBA. Another topic here relates how a second string center

in the west has more votes than Horford for the center position in all star balloting. That

has to mean that we get no respect. Still, we have a good record. How can all wins against

teams with a similar record be considered an upset?

#2 - In second games, when the Hawks play back to back, our winning % is so good. Hawks

are very hard to beat in that 2nd game. Why? How can this be? Check the records. If we

don't have the best record in the NBA in this one, we're close. There has to be a reason.

So, come on Hawksquawk buddies, help the old man out. Explain this to me.

:help wanted:

I have noticed less travel during back to backs this season. During most of them we've seemed to play at least one game at home. That's one airplane right, not 2.

Also, i think LD's rotations have limited the wear and tear on players this year (although injuries haven't helped).

Also, if you remember during the offseason, LD was hyping conditioning. The players were running non stop and there was a lot of talk about it. That might be helping some on the back to backs.

[Brokentree]

#1 - Why is it that, if Hawks win a game against one of the teams that have a similar

record as the Hawks, it's considered an upset? I know that a lot of our players aren't

really known around the NBA. Another topic here relates how a second string center

in the west has more votes than Horford for the center position in all star balloting. That

has to mean that we get no respect. Still, we have a good record. How can all wins against

teams with a similar record be considered an upset?

#2 - In second games, when the Hawks play back to back, our winning % is so good. Hawks

are very hard to beat in that 2nd game. Why? How can this be? Check the records. If we

don't have the best record in the NBA in this one, we're close. There has to be a reason.

So, come on Hawksquawk buddies, help the old man out. Explain this to me.

1a. The Hawks have a tendency to lose to bad teams and not win against good teams. The Hawks schedule has been among the easiest for the first half of the season. Lost twice to NJ by 6 points in one game and then 15 the next (the fact that they lost by more in the second game really burns), got blown out by 23 pts against the Pistons, lost to the Bucks by 17. The only good teams the Hawks have beaten this year are the Magic (2-1), the Heat (1-1) and the Jazz (1-1). If you count the Knicks we're 1-0 against them too. Our record vs teams above .500 is 5-9. The fact that we've only played 14 games against winning teams so far is scary. In the remaining 39 games we play 20 more.

Plus there was that whole second round series last year after squeaking by the Bucks.

1b. Three part answer to your thoughts on Horford. First, he is really good. We know he is good. But when we watch espn we don't see a whole lot of Al Horford. We have Joe and Josh and Jamal taking up most of our alloted screen time. We don't get alot of national games on tv either. Second is demographics. The short explaination is.. Texas. The longer version is that everyone in Texas and the surrounding area can vote for 2 centers that play in Texas. Yao Ming, the top vote getter, and Haywood. San Antonio doesn't have a center on the ballot. 300,000 or so voters in Texas didn't feel right voting for someone that is out for the season so they voted for their (as they see it) only other option in Haywood. Third is the fact that Horford is competing for votes with Dwight Howard who is not only the best center in all of basketball, but is also from Georgia. You only get 1 vote at center.

2. The Hawks are 10-3 in the second game of back to backs. The sample size here is small so its hard to come to any conclusions but of those 10 wins 7 were against sub .500 teams. It kind of goes back to the Hawks strength of schedule. Another interesting thing is that in 4 of those 10 wins the Hawks had lost the first game of the back to back. Perhaps the memory of losing the night before added some motivation during the second games. In 13 back to backs the Hawks won both games 6 times (momentum?). Lost both games 2 times. Won the first game and lost the second 1 time. Lost the first and won the second 4 times.