Man that is just sad

[Admin]

Shaq at the line, the PA asks the crowd to get the thundersticks going and you can see all of maybe 5 of them behind the backboard. Other teams all you see is a wall of white but not in Atlanta......sheesh.

[bballfan]

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Shaq at the line, the PA asks the crowd to get the thundersticks going and you can see all of maybe 5 of them behind the backboard. Other teams all you see is a wall of white but not in Atlanta......sheesh.

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Do we even have enough people sitting behind the basket.lol

In all seriousness I agree. I can't belive how unsupportive the fans have been this year. Except for that Boston game where they were great.

[capstone21]

Atlanta easily has the worst fans in Basketball. Even when we have good teams they only come out to cheer for opposing teams stars.

[bballfan]

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Atlanta easily has the worst fans in Basketball. Even when we have good teams they only come out to cheer for opposing teams stars.

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I feel bad saying this but if these people can't support the team maybe it should be moved to a place that deserves one. I work a lot and can't attened a lot of games but when I am there I cheer loudly for our team.

[pathway23]

The team isn't going anywhere and the team will continue to draw fans that cheer for the opposing teams. The reason for this is more about the makeup of the city than anything else. Most people in Atlanta are from somewhere else. Other countries, other US cities, particularly northern cities, and they are loyal to their home teams. The only way to swing these loyalists over to the Hawks is the bandwagon factor when the team starts winning. The team is selling a lot more tickets than it did last year, so the team isn't going anywhere.

I think Atlanta Spirit should try what Arther Blank did to fill the seats, sell Season tickets in the nose bleed seats at a steep discount. This will bring true Hawks fans on board I think since the carpetbaggers have all the money and spend more on closer seats.

[Wretch]

There is no basketball history in Atlanta; there is no foundation upon which to draw support. Aside from Nique, who we dumped on the side of the road, we've had no Bird, Magic, Jordan...or Barkley.

The sad fact is, there are more diehard fans of other teams around the league than there are Hawks fans in GA (not just Atlanta). The excitement has always been happening elsewhere around the league with other teams.

Even when we were winning in recent times, what seems like eons ago, I used to hear people talk about how "boring" the Hawks were; some people say, well that's a poor excuse to not support a winning ballclub, but at the same time, the Hawks would make it to the playoffs and get blasted out of the 1st round.

Nobody is attracted to mediocrity and that's what we've been for a VERY long time; and aside from Nique's days, there is virtually no basketball (or sports really) history to build upon in ATL. I don't blame the fans so much. In our case, I put it mostly on the old regime. They did nothing to change the "culture" surrounding the team. I put a lot of the blame on Babcock personally. He's the one who built those teams and he's the one who dealt away our lottery future (where other teams were mining their stars).

Regardless, it'll all change once we establish an identity.

[Dakin]

They should've built the arena in the suburbs. If they played at gwinnett arena or alpharetta attendance would be much better imo.

[TheDude]

you can't say aside from Nique we have no bird, jordan, or magic..nique is our bird, jordan, or magic...what we don't have is good teams with an identity after that...

[Wretch]

I'm sorry but I missed your point here; it sounds like you are repeating what I said...?

We have no real NBA basketball history in Atlanta nothing to reflect upon except the teams from the mid 80's - early 90's led by Doc and Nique. And even those teams weren't always winning.

I know very well what Dominique meant to the franchise, I watched almost every game he played in. However, those days are long gone. NBA fans around here identify with whoever is hot - be it the Knicks, the Lakers, Sacramento, Dallas...any team that's winning. These teams have a loyal band of followers throughout the state. Just go around and ask people who their basketball team is.

Building an identity and a culture around this team starts now. First the team needs an identity - a face to market to the fans; then they need a winner. In order to instill some kind of fan loyalty, they need to get that team deep into the playoffs.

Then, maybe umpteen years from now, things will be different.