AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > December > 11
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Apologies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
ORLANDO - Apologies to all for chastising you about the negativity that seems to invade this space, and places like it, on the regular.
After hearing the home fans boo the effort of a 16-6 team Monday night, it’s clear that common sense often has no place in the realm of extreme fandom. Fact is the Hawks simply outplayed the Magic last night, no matter what that sad 20-second recap on ESPN said to the contrary.
But we’ve been slobberknockin’ these Hawks for their shortcoming the past three seasons (79-187 anyone), and most of the time it’s been done with merit. So to hear the bellyaching I heard Monday night, from fans and some members of the traditional and not so traditional media, made me realize just how easily you can be spoiled by a little success.
Perhaps the Hawks should listen to the folks here like our founding council like Ando and Astro Joe and receive every win with caution. It’ll keep the edge on if they treat a watershed victory like Dallas, Phoenix and last night like anything but. Maybe that is the best way to keep the pressure on with Toronto coming to town for tonight’s showdown - strange, is it me or does there seems to be one of these referendum games for the Hawks every couple of days?
That said, and I made this point yesterday so I’ll try and reiterate it here so you know that I was serious, for the Hawks to win like this without a full cast says something about the fabric of this group. They’re going to have their ups and downs this season, what team doesn’t?
But I give them credit for persevering through all the drama, on and off the court, and grinding like Mateen Cleaves (does any cat have more basketball lives than the former Michigan State star who seems to keep popping up on rosters despite every indication that long and glorious a career in the NBA simply not in the cards?) to stay in the race after that shaky 3-6 start. And understand that
Are they a flawed? Yes. But what team in the NBA isn’t (Dallas, Chicago and Miami are all wondering about their mix and chemistry these days)?
Do they make you crazy sometimes, watching a team you know should thrive one way play in a way that you know spells certain doom? Absolutely. It wouldn’t be the Hawks without a little heartburn.
But do they have as good a chance as anyone else in the jumbled middle ground of the Eastern Conference to find their way to the proper vibe and stay in the scrap for one of those playoff spot? I would argue that they do, in spite of all the obvious and oft-mentioned shortcomings we’ve identified in this space on many occasions.
They have just as good a chance of doing that as they do of crashing and burning tonight against Toronto, seeing as how Joe Johnson and Josh Smith will be playing on the back end of a back-to-back set that saw them log major minutes here last night.
And that’s where we come in. Because when the dust settles we’ll have our say, good or bad, apologies and all.
