Home Cookin’
Philips Arena has become a feeding ground for the Hawks.

By Jon Cooper

It used to be that opposing teams liked to visit Atlanta, they just didn’t want any part of the Hawks, although that applied more to playing for them.

The perception of Atlanta hasn’t really changed. Opponents still love the city and still don’t want any part of the Hawks, but now it’s the thought of playing against them that’s the source of their distaste.

In fact, even Atlanta itself isn’t as hospitable as it used to be. There’s a whole new attitude amongst the Philips Arena faithful. It’s an energy you can’t help but feel.

“We’ve finally got our fans in our corner,” said Head Coach Mike Woodson. “They respect what we do on the basketball floor. They’ve come out and shown their support and that’s how it should be. When the home team plays the fans should be there having a good time, so when they leave they’re talking about it the next day and they go and tell somebody else what a wonderful time they’ve had and hopefully those people will come out the next time and support us.

“It’s been a building process,” Woodson added. “When you hear your players talk about it at that high level like that, that the fans really juice them up and give them energy to go out when things might be going a little South, they know the fans are there in their corner and it’s nice to see because it’s taken a while to get to that point.”

Joe Johnson remembers the empty arenas and the lack of energy that Hawks players faced when he arrived in Atlanta in 2005.

“When I first got here, there were probably like five or six people out there,” he recalled with a laugh. “It seemed like we weren’t even playing in the NBA. It wasn’t a crowd at all. It’s hard to get up for games like that when there’s nobody in the stands and you have nothing to feed off of. You really have to make your own energy and make your own presence. It’s tough at times. But we’ve managed to get through those times and now it’s starting to get a little better.”

In turn, so are the Hawks. Atlanta is 11-2 at home heading into Tuesaday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 11 wins are two more victories than the team had at home in Woodson’s entire first season. The heartbreaking loss to Boston last Wednesday ended a seven-game home winning streak, the longest since 1997-98.

There is no denying the role of the fans in the streak and the home success.

“We’ve definitely been riding the fans for this long winning streak we’ve had at home,” said forward Josh Smith. “They’ve been good all year. We’ve got to keep the fans behind them and keep riding the wave.”

“The reason why we’re playing good at home and we’re winning this many games is because of our crowds,” agreed center Zaza Pachulia. “They’re coming and supporting us, cheering for us. It really motivates us. It means a lot for us. Last year, making the playoffs totally changed everything.”

Last season Atlanta had its highest home attendance (667,518) and average home attendance (16,281) since 1997-98. That year Atlanta won 70 percent of its home games, had the seven-game home winning streak and had its last season 50-win season. Through 11 home dates, Atlanta is ahead of last season, averaging 16,397 fans.

But numbers alone don’t tell the entire story of the renaissance that is taking place. The big teams, like Boston, always drew well at Philips. But that didn’t always mean big turnouts by Hawks fans.

This year, the fans’ true colors are showing, and those colors are Hawks red.

“We knew there was going to be a huge crowd, even when I first came here, with teams like [Boston],” said Smith. “But to definitely have a huge crowd on our side is the good part about it. It always feels good to have the home crowd supporting you.”

“This is my fourth season being here, I remember times when L.A. would come and everybody was wearing yellow and purple shirts in the stands,” added Pachulia. “We really couldn’t feel that home advantage. But this year is a totally different year.”

It’s been a very good one, as heading into Tuesday’s game, only four teams (Boston, the Lakers, Cleveland, and Orlando) had more home wins than Atlanta’s 11.

The Hawks have a golden opportunity to add to their home-court success during the three five games of their season-long eight-game homestand, during which they are currently 4-1 after Sunday's win over Detroit (a win that, incidentally, put the Hawks two games in front for the 4th spot in the East). They have winnable games against Oklahoma City (1-12 on the road) and Chicago (3-10 on the road) and a test game against Denver (17-8). While it’s still a bit early to think about the playoffs, it’s worth remembering how important home court was in last season’s playoffs.

“We feed off the crowd. We showed in the playoffs that we can protect the home court,” said Johnson. “The crowd plays such a big part in the home court advantage.”

“It’s definitely a good thing to get wins at home. You want to play good at home and motivate yourself,” said Pachulia. “Then when we head to road games we’ll be more motivated because we’re playing good at home and now we have to do something to learn how to win on the road. It’s a good thing but the bottom line is 41 home games, 41 road games. We’ve got to play all 82 games.”

Jon Cooper is a freelance writer based in Atlanta