Best/Worst fanbases?

[MavsManiac4Life]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

Before looking at the actual stats my picks were Atlanta and New Orleans for worst fans.

Lowest Attendances Since Lebron entered the league:

03-04: ATL
04-05: NOH
05-06: POR
06-07: MEM
07-08: IND
08-09: MEM
09-10: NJ
10-11: IND
11-12: NJ

Not too many surprises here, except for Portland, I always felt that their fans showed up, good team or bad team.

[King_B_Mack]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

These types of threads always intrigue me.
You really have to think about the locals and the culture of a said town.
Take Orlando for example, more people move from around the country to Orlando, than people from Orlando moving to say, Milwaukee. Nothing against Milwaukee, I've been there, it's a pleasant town.
But if I had to be in one city out of those two, I think 95% of people would say Orlando. Also, when your in a place like that, there's a million of things to do.
I think this explains why certain teams' fans don't travel well.
Also, I'm never surprised when there are empty seats at Miami. They have a million beautiful women down there and they have South Beach.
Of course OKC, Milwaukee and Cleavland will get close to selling out every home game. What else is there to do in those towns? When was the last time a free agent said "hmmm I'm takin' my talents to Milwaukee" Not trying to be mean, just explaining my point of view.

I agree with that to a certain extent, but there's a ton of things to do and get distracted by in LA, New York and Chicago as well and that doesn't stop them from doing well with attendance.

[ojandpizza]

Grizz fans can be good at times.. Lots of younger people, at times can feel like a college atmosphere... Compared to what I'd expect to see at an OKC home game, just not near as consistent.

[DukeC]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

The Indiana fanbase as a whole disappoint me. I'm going to leave it at that.

[24]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

Best : Old Supersonics Fan base. You talk about a group of people that really loved their team. Didn't matter how bad/good they were the house was always packed.I remember going to a game in the early 2000's in Seattle's arena against the Lakers and boy did it get loud. The Stadium was small tight and literally felt like you were on top of the hardwood but it made the experience all the better.

[Blue]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

Don't be so quick to call Atlanta the worst based off attendance. Philips is hard to get to when the majority of fans that can afford to go live in the suburbs. Its about a 3-4 hour process(when coming from a lot of areas of greater Atlanta) to try to get to a game during the week because of traffic and the MARTA isn't the best service and doesn't reach a lot of the population. You'll see a lot of fans for other teams because those teams don't visit as often and fans of those teams are more likely to endure the difficulty to get to the game to see those teams play, I know I've made two trips this year to Houston and San Antonio just to see the Hawks play. We have a great fan base and you'll see that if you ever visit some Hawks specific forums. I hope someday Hawks owners will realize this and build a new stadium in a more accessible area of Atlanta like Buckhead or West of Decatur. We are probably about as good as Denver just have a hard time getting the fans to show...

[JazzMan]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

Really, every team has good fans and bad fans. In example, me being a Jazz fan, I'm actually knowledgeable about the game and the players. The Jazz fans that comment on the Facebook page asking for the team to trade Favors, Hayward, Burks, and Kanter and fire Ty Corbin, on the other hand, are bad fans.

It's just how it is for every fanbase.

[OSUFan_88]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

These types of threads always intrigue me.
You really have to think about the locals and the culture of a said town.
Take Orlando for example, more people move from around the country to Orlando, than people from Orlando moving to say, Milwaukee. Nothing against Milwaukee, I've been there, it's a pleasant town.
But if I had to be in one city out of those two, I think 95% of people would say Orlando. Also, when your in a place like that, there's a million of things to do.
I think this explains why certain teams' fans don't travel well.
Also, I'm never surprised when there are empty seats at Miami. They have a million beautiful women down there and they have South Beach.
Of course OKC, Milwaukee and Cleavland will get close to selling out every home game. What else is there to do in those towns? When was the last time a free agent said "hmmm I'm takin' my talents to Milwaukee" Not trying to be mean, just explaining my point of view.

So what was the excuse for Indiana barely able to get their fans to the building?

Why are there fans running into themselves to get tickets at the Garden or Staples Center?

Besides, there are what, 30 teams in the NBA, with 2 repeat cities? So 28 cities in the World that have the highest talent level basketball being played, why aren't they all sold out all the time?

There are good fanbases and there are bad fanbases. Now obviously it could be slightly easier, but there is no excuse to not showing up, as is the case in New Orleans, whether the team is good or bad. And on the other hand, a team like, say, Toronto is the bright shining example of a great fanbase. They pack the building to see losing basketball because they love the team.

[The 24th Letter]

Good or bad team, the Charlotte Hornets had a great fanbase as well

[bghost]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

I think this explains why certain teams' fans don't travel well.
Also, I'm never surprised when there are empty seats at Miami. They have a million beautiful women down there and they have South Beach.
Of course OKC, Milwaukee and Cleavland will get close to selling out every home game. What else is there to do in those towns? When was the last time a free agent said "hmmm I'm takin' my talents to Milwaukee" Not trying to be mean, just explaining my point of view.

oh you know, just milking cows and churning cheese.

[z Revis]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

Surprised a couple people said Indiana as one of the best. I guess it depends on how you define a fanbase, but judging from attendance it's hard to make an argument for them. 2nd straight year as a top seeded team and still sell out very few games. I've said it before, but I don't understand how that state can still call themselves a basketball state and not sell out games for the Pacers... and then come fall go ape **** over Colts tickets even when they suck(2011).

[ubernoob]

oh you know, just milking cows and churning cheese.

It's funny that there's nothing to do in Milwaukee - but hey if that's his perception I'm not gonna change it.

The thing about people moving TO Orlando is the fact that they will already have a team to support. You see this in all the States that have a large retirement contingent, as well. If I move to Orlando today, I'm not going to support them over a team I've been supporting for 20/30/40/50+ years.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

Isn't there a chart available that tracks which teams had the biggest surge among fans and which ones had the biggest drop over certain time periods? Thought I remember seeing something like that but can't remember exactly

I will say that I do see more "player" fans than actual "team" fans in the NBA than in any other major sport though. Now those kinds of fans are more annoying any particular "team" fan.

[dunnyduns]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

Surprised a couple people said Indiana as one of the best. I guess it depends on how you define a fanbase, but judging from attendance it's hard to make an argument for them. 2nd straight year as a top seeded team and still sell out very few games. I've said it before, but I don't understand how that state can still call themselves a basketball state and not sell out games for the Pacers... and then come fall go ape **** over Colts tickets even when they suck(2011).

Indiana/Indianapolis fans are VERY fair weather fans. The reason the Colts do so well is because of Manning and winning. That 2011 Colts season as the season progressed it was very easy to get tickets to a game and I'm willing to bet if the fans/season ticket holders knew before the season that Manning would miss the season and the Colts would go 2-14 attendance would have really suffered.

The same could be said for the Pacers when they had Reggie, he drew fans and the team was winning. So, the Pacers became a hot ticket in town. Before Reggie the Pacers were in this same position as now really. Even the successful ABA Pacers when they moved to NBA after the 1st season had to hold a Save The Pacers telethon to keep the team from moving then.

Then during Miller's last years the Pacers brought in some questionable characters in Tinsley, Artest, Jackson, and a few others which soured the fans. Then of course the Brawl happened. Now, the Pacers are still seen as a team of thugs by a majority of the people in my experience here. That and also for some of these so called "basketball purist" in the state, the NBA is just a bad brand of basketball to them. Even though the Pacers style of basketball is really atypical of the standard NBA style of play.

So, yeah the Pacers should be nowhere near being one of the best fanbases. They really deserve a place at the bottom and they are missing out on watching a quality team with players worth rooting for. Maybe after a couple more seasons of winning basketball and if Paul George really becomes a legit star the fair weather fans will come back. I just hope it's not too late and the team has to move before then because of lack of support.

[ProfessaPackMan]

Re: Best/Worst fanbases?

Then during Miller's last years the Pacers brought in some questionable characters in Tinsley, Artest, Jackson, and a few others which soured the fans. Then of course the Brawl happened. Now, the Pacers are still seen as a team of thugs by a majority of the people in my experience here. That and also for some of these so called "basketball purist" in the state, the NBA is just a bad brand of basketball to them. Even though the Pacers style of basketball is really atypical of the standard NBA style of play.

Why is this?

Is it because of certain things they are or aren't doing on or off the court?