Hawks News: September 26, 2004

[HawkTodd]

Hawks News: September 26, 2004

Willis, 42, returns to Hawks (9-26-04).

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-h...ov=ap&type=lgns

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InsideHoops.com NBA Power Rankings (9-26-04).

http://insidehoops.com/power-rankings.shtml

29) Atlanta Hawks (28-54) - The only guy that seems willing to play for the Hawks is InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner. But seriously, Antoine Walker and Al Harrington could help this team make real noise in the East. But because they're the Hawks, we simply cannot give them the benefit of the doubt right now.

[Plainview1981]

Hawks are above the Bobcats. Atleast they aren't last!

[f_town]

brought him back years ago...

its positive press even...from national media

nice going Hawks

now im ready for training camp news...hehe

[Gray Mule]

If I'm a Bobcat fan, I'm insulted.

As a Hawk fan, they expect us to end up barely above this!

Wow! Wonder if they believe that most of those Bobcat wins

come against the Hawks????

It could be said that these two teams wouldn't be great

without being completely insulting about it.

[Wretch]

[Wretch]

Y'know, the national media gets away with it because they figure there's nobody that cares about the Hawks anyway. Dog the Lakers or the Knicks when they're bad, and they'll fear for their lives...

It's also curious that much of this really got going after Denberg passed away (bless his soul); Lord knows nobody else will stand up for the franchise. When the national media gets out of line, some of our so called local columnists should say something.

We got Jay, but seems like Chad Ford's the only person who listens to him (or us); and he seems to only be interested in plucking our insights . I wish the Hawks or the AJC would pick up Jay and give him a louder voice.

[Packfill]

Every team gets lambasted by the media every now and then. You should see some of the negative press the Knicks get in their home town - The NY Times, NY Post, Daily News, News Day, etc. all rag on the Knicks - and rightfully so. I live in NY, so I see this daily. I for one much prefer the Hawks roster/salary cap situation to the Knicks. Knicks currently have more talent but they are in in a bad place cap wise. Little flexibility. I don't think the Jamal Crawford signing is significant. A healthy Allen Houston is a much better player. But for his contract, I would love to have a player with his skill set on the Hawks.

[Wretch]

We can't do anything right and if we do something right, then it's still wrong. We drafted wrong, we traded wrong, we signed wrong, etc. While any other team in the L could make the exact same moves and not recieve nearly as much bad press.

When we win games, the other team's highlights are shown; if they show a recap of the game at all. We are lucky to get one game on national TV and in every editorial are treated like a perrennial joke...as if we've a situation similar to the Clips.

It's one thing to talk about the mistakes a franchise makes, or even dog them. And it doesn't surprise me that NY press is so critical of NY sports. But Atlanta gets absolutely NO respect for anything they do. Until we produce a team that's worthy of a bandwagon following, it isn't likely to change.

[emeans]

This team will be much better than the 29th ranked team in the NBA. It kills me that they talk about the Hawks as if this is the losingest franchise in the history of the NBA. This team won and was in the playoff consistently before the last 5 years or so.

They have had many more winning years than losing years. This consistent losing has only been in recent years. People have very short memories!! The Hawks were a winning franchise. They just couldn't get out of the 2nd round, after having several excellent opportunities to do so. A few years they should have been the NBA champions, if not for the lucky and cheating Boston Celtics and the Bad Boys of Detroit. If Boston hadn't beaten the Hawks by cheating of course in that 7 game series against Dominique and Co., this Organization would of had an NBA championship. This is not the worse organization in the NBA by a far stretch.

Boy some media has Short memories!!

[Nicholasp27]

yeah, less than 10 yrs ago, the hawks had the most wins in the East!

[Packfill]

Guys, I think we need to step back and realize what the national media does in general when analyzing sporting teams. Fact of the matter is that they overdramatize things. More and more they do this by making over the top statements. This is the Stephen A. Smith/Fox style of reporting. It is sensationalistic. This stype of reporting has gained popularity in the past ten years. Bottom line is - Don't take what they say literally. For example, they are not making a prediction that Charlotte will win 5 games. Rather, they are saying that Charlotte has very little proven talent and will struggle to win games, likely finishing with the worst record in the league.

If the Hawks win they will all jump on the bandwagon, don't worry.

If you really want to no what suffering is go talk to a Boston Red Sox fan. Every May they talk as if this is the year, then they lose to the Yankees and you can't even make fun of them because they immediately go into this whole self-pity ritual.

[emeans]

I think the media tries to equate not having a lot of fans at the game (recently) to having a losing franchise, when this is totally wrong.

The Hawks have a better history than probably 60% of the teams in the NBA.

[Wretch]

For the most part, there are a certain sect of reporters out there who exaggerate the news. Although Stephen A. has an exaggerated personality, I wouldn't put him into that category. He's just looking to put his name on people's lips and it's working. Chad Ford is a good example of someone who stretches a story...and his intentions are clear as day.

But the Hawks get ill coverage from everywhere - no matter the intended effect. As an NBA fan for two decades, I don't take anything that the "experts" say literally. And I know that Charlotte would have to trot out a grade school JV team to win only 5 games.

The point is, the media is taking shots at the franchise because they can, because we have no "fans", and nobody has a loud enough voice speaking for us to say otherwise.

[Packfill]

I would definitely include Stephen A. Smith in the group of reporters and jounalists that tends to exaggerate things. Every time he is on the air he says such and such is terrible, so and so is too old, etc. If nothing else you have to agree he is prone to hyperbole.

[Wretch]

He's just has an exaggerated personality. Its his attitude that I don't like, but I wouldn't say that he stretches things like say...Jim Grey, Bill Walton, or Chad Ford. These guys take things and just run with them. Especially Grey...who is good for digging up a grain of sand and trying to pass it off as a pile of dirt. I've heard Smith do some solid commentary when he isn't trying to pass off an inflated ego. I rarely disagree with what he's saying...just his homerism and exaggerated personality.

[Weez]

yep. Smith, when he calms down, he can actually provide some decent insight (much like Barkley, when he's not out to be Barkley)...he did this semi-often while co-hosting pti during August...but his homerism can run off the charts at other times, nuliffying his effect, esp. to those who dont' see his calmer moments.