Are the Hawks becoming 'COOL?'

[Guest]

Excerpts:

After taking the Celtics to seven games as an 8-seed, the Hawks soon found themselves as a permanent mainstay in the playoffs. Led by Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, and Al Horford the Hawks were always good enough to make the playoffs and usually get into the second round, but never any farther. Despite having three very talented players and always making some progress, this never really helped the Atlanta popularity. Joe Johnson was commonly referred to as overrated because of his humongous contract. The longer Josh Smith found himself in Atlanta, the more he seemed to float away from the rim and take bad jump shots. Al Horford to this day is viewed by many as someone who is not actually a center, but a power forward.

Negative reputations and jokes were soon connected to the franchise. Atlanta became the poster child of the team you didn’t want to become. Trapped in limbo with nothing to show for yourself but a second round exit at the hand of Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, or insert eastern conference title contender, of the last seven years, here. “Never Trust the Hawks” became a staple of what twitter would say any time the Hawks were involved in a close game. Never trust them to win. Never trust them to lose. NTTH.

They say reputations take a long time to change and Atlanta is no exception to this. Gone is Joe Johnson’s contract and Josh Smith isn’t in Atlanta any more to shoot long twos. But the reputation of NTTH lived on. Even with a new General Manager with forward thinking ideas, a Spurs system coach, and an overhauled roster built to play a fun brand of basketball. General view points on the Hawks remained the same

When it really did feel like the Hawks had finally become cool was when they released the “new” logo before Game 6. Atlanta was going back to the PacMan logo. It has a little bit of a modern spin to it but everybody associates it with the days of Dominique Wilkins and those cool 80s uniforms;t hat retro modern thing that’s cool with the kids these days. Going into Game 6, the Hawks were up 3-2 and had a chance to be one of the few 8-seeds to ever defeat a 1-seed. The release of the new logo caused a huge amount of Hawks fans on twitter to change their twitter avatar to the modern PacMan logo. The image change was complete. People who were closet Hawks fans changed their avatar and displayed their Hawks fandom with pride. Basketball fans who didn’t have a favorite basketball team saw all the buzz surrounding Atlanta and decided to become Hawks fans. NTTH officially died that day.

Fans getting behind you and everything is nice, but they aren’t going to stay around if the Hawks can’t find a way to keep winning.

However, because the Hawks managed to bring the 1-seed Pacers to seven games, the cap space Atlanta has, and that you hear nothing but good things about Mike Budenholzer, bright days should be ahead. Players pay attention to the teams around them. They see what the Hawks managed to accomplish without their best player. Some of the better players in the NBA see a team that is one piece away from being contenders. They also think they can be that piece.

Atlanta has the potential to be an NBA free agent hot spot. They have the nightlife, they aren’t a small market, and they’re a warm weather city most of the year. They just have to make the team itself attractive. With a playoff series like the one they had against Indiana, they are well on their way to doing so. The barrage of 3-point shooting with lots of ball movement is fun to play in and the extra cap space is nice too. They had the chance to showcase all of that against Indiana and did a great job in making the most of that opportunity.

This Atlanta team’s image has changed. Not only in the eyes of fans, but in the rest of the NBA as well.

http://hawkshoop.com/the-hawks-new-image/

[Bahamut]

#NTTH Nothing has really changed yet.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Definitely a homer type of article. It has some truth to it, but #NTTH may have died if we had actually WON Game 6. But we lost.

There was a guy on peachtreehoops that said he saw a fan who had a Wade jersey underneath the red "Pac is Back" t-shirt, and threw it away after the loss. His assertion was that if we won, maybe that was a chance to convert a casual basketball/Hawk fan, into a potential hardcore fan. But his ( and others ) actions after the loss actually backed up the belief that #NTTH was still in effect.

Just because there was a big buzz for one game, doesn't mean that the demons of the Hawks have been exercised. We had an even biggger buzz back in 2008, when we won Game 6 and forced a Game 7 in Boston. And while I didn't believe we had a chance in hell to win that Game 7, the city and the fans were as high as ever about the Hawks, after that series.

2 years later, they were booing the Hawks off the court because they couldn't figure out Orlando. Booing the Hawks because the city desperately wanted them to be an elite team, but just didn't have the overall talent to get there.

As a Cincinnati Bengal fan, I know all too well what it is like to be at the bottom of the barrell, and to also be stuck in the middle ( like we currently are right now ). No way I would trade being that 2 to 4 win team like we were back in the early 90s, or that off and on 6 to 8 win team like we were before Marvin Lewis came. But now, we're actually good enough to win regular season games, but not good enough to win playoff games.

I call it the "Bo Jackson Curse". We haven't won a playoff game since we hurt Bo Jackson in a playoff game out in Los Angeles back in 1990. 24 years of not winning one playoff game, and only 4 playoff appearances during that time.

The Bengals are a little more "cooler" now, but only to Bengal fans. The rest of the world could give a damn about us. And the same thing goes for the Hawks.

Until you actually WIN, nothing will change. NOTHING.

Edited May 6, 2014 by TheNorthCydeRises

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

PSSSHHHRRR Central - Still can't trust the Hawks, but there is a sense of optimism about the team.

In years past, fans expected the same ole team year in and year out under the ASG, BK, and Sund with WLOC, ISO-Woody, and sheepdog Drew, but now under Ferry and this rejuvenated ASG ownership, the second round ceiling has been removed and we now at least have hope of improvement. The three players (Duck, Osh, and Oh-No-It's-ISO-Joe) that 90% of this board has wanted gone are in different uniforms and the available cap space isn't being spent for the sake of being spent. The two coaches that we loved to criticize are gone and have been replaced with the top coaching candidate of 2013 and 2014 COTY nominee. The old street ball style Hawks teams have been replaced with fundamentals, resilience, and blue-collar basketball.

And the best part about it is that we are finally a team where top free agents feel we are an attractive destination. We aren't just a pretender perennially taking up a playoff spot and giving the fans hollow promises of an ECF appearance. No, not anymore. The Hawks are a team climbing the mountain; not just walking on the plateau of mediocrity.

When the entire organization from the top down are on the same page and are buying into the same plan, you have an organization that is built for long-term success. We are no longer the Hawks of yesteryear, but a cohesive organization prepared for the long haul of sustained success and the work involved to make it happen in Atlanta.

The last step is to get the fans to buy into the Hawks and that comes with sustained winning. And not choking away playoff games and a trip to the ECF wouldn't hurt either. The Hawks get closer to the Spurs South plan by the season, but are a long way away from being a team that the fans buy into. To quote the late Al Davis: "JUST WIN BABY!!!". Winning cures everything included lackluster fan support. The fans interest has been piqued by these no-quit Hawks, now it's time to make them believe.


PSSSHHHRRR87 is a writer who covers everything Atlanta Hawks for Hawksquawk.net.

[macdaddy]

Definitely a homer type of article. It has some truth to it, but #NTTH may have died if we had actually WON Game 6. But we lost.

There was a guy on peachtreehoops that said he saw a fan who had a Wade jersey underneath the red "Pac is Back" t-shirt, and threw it away after the loss. His assertion was that if we won, maybe that was a chance to convert a casual basketball/Hawk fan, into a potential hardcore fan. But his ( and others ) actions after the loss actually backed up the belief that #NTTH was still in effect.

Just because there was a big buzz for one game, doesn't mean that the demons of the Hawks have been exercised. We had an even biggger buzz back in 2008, when we won Game 6 and forced a Game 7 in Boston. And while I didn't believe we had a chance in hell to win that Game 7, the city and the fans were as high as ever about the Hawks, after that series.

2 years later, they were booing the Hawks off the court because they couldn't figure out Orlando. Booing the Hawks because the city desperately wanted them to be an elite team, but just didn't have the overall talent to get there.

As a Cincinnati Bengal fan, I know all too well what it is like to be at the bottom of the barrell, and to also be stuck in the middle ( like we currently are right now ). No way I would trade being that 2 to 4 win team like we were back in the early 90s, or that off and on 6 to 8 win team like we were before Marvin Lewis came. But now, we're actually good enough to win regular season games, but not good enough to win playoff games.

I call it the "Bo Jackson Curse". We haven't won a playoff game since we hurt Bo Jackson in a playoff game out in Los Angeles back in 1990. 24 years of not winning one playoff game, and only 4 playoff appearances during that time.

The Bengals are a little more "cooler" now, but only to Bengal fans. The rest of the world could give a damn about us. And the same thing goes for the Hawks.

Until you actually WIN, nothing will change. NOTHING.

There is a big and noticeable difference though. Against the Celtics we didn't win a road game and got totally blown off the court in all four appearances in Boston. So we managed to win 3 home games with some heroic effort from Joe. This series everyone recognizes that for the most part we outplayed and outcoached the pacers for much of the series. Back then we only made the playoffs because we traded for Bibby. He added just enough experience and scoring to turn us from lottery to 8th seed. But what did we add to that going forward. Nothing. The only significant change to the roster from that 8th seed team for the next 5 years was adding Jamal. I guarantee we will see a bigger influx of talent in the next 2 years.

The biggest thing is that we aren't hooking our wagon to Joe and Josh and saying bring us home. Something neither was capable of doing. We've hooked our wagon to Bud and a specific type of play and player. That's why it's different. That's why people are excited. Because this is a direction and despite the loss it's easy to see that this shit works.

[Pacman21]

I think the playoffs were a small step forward just because it showed that the city will show up if you play a semi exciting brand of basketball (something that this team hasn't had in a minute).

This offseason is the real test imo because it will help to answer the questions about the ownership and front office.

[DrReality]

All the talk on the radio is this is the first time in history that LA, Boston and NYN have never been in the playoffs. They aren't talking about who is in but who isn't.

[Jody23]

I think the playoffs were a small step forward just because it showed that the city will show up if you play a semi exciting brand of basketball (something that this team hasn't had in a minute).

This offseason is the real test imo because it will help to answer the questions about the ownership and front office.

I agree about this offseason being important. Unfortunately for the Hawks, this is the tough part about making the playoffs and having a good showing. The level of expectation is raised. If they don't show the fans they're serious about improving, folks will right them off again.