Johnson unhappy with limited number of shots
Vivlamore reporting from Philips Arena, the day after the Hawks’ Game 4 loss to the Celtics.
A day later, Joe Johnson was at loss for words about the Hawks’ embarrassing Game 4 loss to the Celtics that has the team on the brink of playoff elimination.
His one-word answer to a question on his number of shot attempts spoke volumes.
Johnson took just eight shots in Sunday’s 101-79 loss to the Celtics, who are up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 5 Tuesday at Philips Arena.
“I don’t think they are doing anything different defensively on me,” Johnson said. “I think it’s just, basically, getting an opportunity to touch the ball. That’s it.”
When asked if he was not happy with his touches, Johnson answered with a simple, but emphatic, “No.”
Here is what some others had to say about Johnson’s lack of shots in Sunday’s game:
Larry Drew: “We run a lot of things through him. He’s got to be more aggressive in working to get his shots and we have to be mindful when he hasn’t had a shot in one or two trips down the floor we’ve got to get him the ball. All the things that we do run, and we do run a lot of things where we do go through him, I give Boston a lot of credit on how they have defended him. Collectively, while they are out there they have to get him the ball more. Just watching the film in flying back last night there were a number of situations where we could have just made one extra pass and the extra pass would have been to him. We’ve just got to be a little bit more mindful to make sure he is getting touches.”
Jeff Teague: “We’ve got him the ball in Game 3. He got a lot of touches. Last night, they took us out of our stuff and made it difficult to get him the ball. We will try to make a conscious effort in Game 5 to get him the ball and make sure he makes plays for us.
“He is our go-to player. Eight shots is not enough, especially in a playoff game for a guy who can play like him. We’ve got to make sure we get him the ball.”
Al Horford: “Joe is our main guy. We go to him. We has to get us going offensively so he needs to go out there and be an enforcer and make his presence felt. I don’t think my shots or Erick Dampier’s shots are affecting him. I think Joe needs to be aggressive. He needs to go out there and score the ball. That’s when we are at our best when he does that.”
This will be the subject of today’s story for the print edition. You can read the entire story online later. However, feel free to leave your comments on Johnson and his thoughts here.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
358 comments Add your comment
SteveW
May 7th, 2012
10:10 pm
AJ – That is right about money – we should just be able to get Rashard Lewis, Gilbert Arenas, Elton Brand and Antwan Jamison together and win a title if salaries were what mattered. Kaman can come off the bench.
doc
May 7th, 2012
10:15 pm
Amen to gm jeje @9:07. Said it similar earlier and agree melo is better player but not as a leader.
O’b it would be awesome to see a new coach but unless we sell draft picks into the next decade these guys are not going to make the investment.
Aj agree not sure at the acrimony towards jj for taking what was offered. Anyone here ever turn down a raise or say, ” you know if you pay me too much it might hurt the income of a co-worker.” I don’t like his game as he has aged or maturedband made it clear many years ago and would not have been upset if they had traded him before the deadline the year he was coming due nor tried to use some of the tactics they used on josh saying, ” let’s negotiate this a bit”. If he didn’t like it then take the hit and let him walk. Anyway it is stupid to blame j for his salary, flat stupid.
Slimjr
May 7th, 2012
10:24 pm
Wow, Gearon Jr aren’t you glad your squad are not playing the Spurs in a 7 game series out West..
The Hawks would lose by 40 per night!
Astro Joe
May 7th, 2012
10:24 pm
Steve, so you;re saying that if Teague plays with a top 10 player of all time (Kobe) or a few HOFers (Celtics) that he can win a title? I agree.
My argument with Teague in the past was that he neede dto EARN his playing time and that he had failed to do so, despite a head coach (LD) who was vested in his success. Again, he has done a reqally nice job this season, but when I project 2-3 years into the future, I don;t see that we will have a discernable advantage at PG against likely playoff teams. The difference between Teague, Jrue, Collison, Jennings, Knight, Chalmers, Jeremy Lin, is marginal at best. In a 7 games series, flip a coin on which PG would win 4-3. It is too early to say what will happen with Wall and Irving, although Kyrie looks like he could easily become a top 3 PG in our conference. Wall, I’m not so sure. Bobcats and Nets (assuming Deron walks) may not see the playoffs in the next few years (or decade for the Bobcats). So again, I’m not saying he’s a bad player, he obviously is not. But when evaluating every major Hawk and the reason we’re down 3-1, he can’t be ignored in this match-up with Rondo.
Lastly, for all the love from that Bulls series (which you mentioned), Rose averaged 30 points in that series, about 20% more than his regular season average and slightly more than he did against the Pacers in the first round. Teague was a pleasant surprise, but let’s not have the memory that he was anything more than a pleasant surprise. The love he received for that series is about as baffling to me as the love Twin got for allowing D12 to put up Wilt-type numbers. Had Bibby allowed 30 points/game from Rose (or allowed Rondo to score around 75% more than his season average), I susepct that more than a few might say something about it. And to be clear, this is not to denigrate Tegaue as much as to suggest that your hype of him might be a wee out of touch with reality. Slow down, Devin Harris was the flavor of the week previously also. Now, he’s just vanilla.
DawgNole
May 7th, 2012
10:26 pm
SteveW
May 7th, 2012
6:09 pm
If you watch the games, you realize that if it wasn’t for Teague, we wouldn’t even be in this thing.
_______________________
I don’t think we are in this thing.
DawgNole
May 7th, 2012
10:29 pm
Astro Joe
May 7th, 2012
9:53 pm
The biggest problem with Joe’s quote? That the beat writer didn’t ask questions to other Hawks who also stunk up the gym.
_______________________
True. And as another blogger posted, I don’t think Joe went out looking for a writer to complain to.
Slimjr
May 7th, 2012
10:30 pm
Would like to see the Eastern playoff teams play the Western playoff teams and advance..
You’d probably have two Western conference teams in the Finals year after year..
And many more blowouts!
But over time it would cause the Eastern teams to improve their personal to match up with the West and thereby improve the product for the Fans?
BTW, this Spurs team would crush the Hawks and the Celts no doubt in a 7 game match up!
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 7th, 2012
10:37 pm
He finished the night with 6 turnovers, and shot 1-8 on his jumpers outside the paint.
***
josh needs TO STOP taking jumpers.
Get Jerry Sloan and this idiot will get suspended for taking this moronic jumpshots.
LD is a soft coach with no control over his players
Just look at the guy. He looks asleep and frail
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 7th, 2012
10:39 pm
AJ,
Chuck said Jrue is PG for next 10 years for Philly. Either he’s a genius or a straight idiot
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 7th, 2012
10:40 pm
Hire Sloan.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
10:40 pm
“I don’t think my shots or Erick Dampier’s shots are affecting him. I think Joe needs to be aggressive. He needs to go out there and score the ball. ”
(standing ovation for Al)
Quit whining, Joe. If you didn’t wait 10 seconds to decide what you wanted to do every time you got the ball, you would probably get more shots and better shots.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
10:41 pm
Someone on the previous blog said Ray Allen couldn’t create his own shot. Strongly disagree. Go watch those Bucks playoff games from the early 2000s. He was their #1 scorer. Just because the Celtics use him as a complementary player doesn’t mean he doesn’t have that ability.
Luke Cage
May 7th, 2012
10:43 pm
I have been happy and impressed with Teague this season, just imagine if he could have played more in his 1st 2 years like the other PG’s in his draft class, his maturation would be even at a higher level despite Wack Coaching. Give Teague A Chance!!
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
10:43 pm
“too melo like without the edge.”
You’re not being fair to Melo. When Melo gets that ball, he is in attack mode, not take-half-the-shot-clock-to-size-up-the-D-and-jack-up-a-jumper mode. All you have to do is look at each player’s free throw attempts.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
10:44 pm
If you didn’t watch Inside the NBA last night, like me, you can see what the TNT analysts have to say about the Hawks here. Shaq’s comments about the Hawks in general, and Joe in particular, are 100% on point.
Luke Cage
May 7th, 2012
10:46 pm
Has Joe ever attempted more that 10 FT’s in a game before?? Thats part of his own problem, if your shot ain’t fallin’ get to the FT line and you do that by driving to basket
Luke Cage
May 7th, 2012
10:47 pm
I did watch that, and my wife was like dang they bashing your team, I said baby they are telling the truth about my squad.
Astro Joe
May 7th, 2012
10:47 pm
Je-Je, Jrue has a really nice combination of skills and size. But I’m not sold on him being a cornerstone of a franchise for the next 10 years. My guess is that most of the PGs chosen in that class that included Jrue, Jennings, Lawson, Curry, Teague and Collison will get bounced a fair amount from team-to-team. Hopefully, at least one will emerge to be a top 10 PG (like Lowry in Houston, who busted his butt to become a difference-maker). Hopefully, it will be Mr. Teague who goes from middling to terrific.
Grandad
May 7th, 2012
10:48 pm
C-viv is to beat writers as Joe-Johnson is to toast-masters.
Astro Joe
May 7th, 2012
10:50 pm
Funny, I just saw a video clip of Joe’s comments… not nearly as emphatic as the blog comments suggest. In fact, he sounded like he just awoke from a nap (as usual) and didn;t sound nearly as defiant as the write-up would suggest.
Luke Cage
May 7th, 2012
10:52 pm
To me Teauge has closed the gap with the other PG’s in his draft class just on his first full season here alone and they all had much more playing time than he has plus coaches that believed in them. Hopefully he will continue to get better and his teamates let him run the team. He just needs to be more vocal and stop worrying about stepping on toes.
Big Ray
May 7th, 2012
10:53 pm
http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2012/05/07/johnson-unhappy-with-number-of-touches/?cxntfid=blogs_hawks
Laughed so hard, I started coughing.
Ol’ Joe has been the quintessential finger pointer for about 3 years now.
Is this the same Joe people thought would be upset about Jamal being around (and taking a million shots in his own right)?
Is he ticked because now Josh does more with his shots than Joe does? Maybe we should let Joe take 15 shots again, so he can hit 3 of them like he did in game 1. Or how about taking 17 shots so he can hit 7 of them, like he did in game 2?
No wait…I have it….let’s give him 28 shots….yeeeeaaahhhhh….so he can hit 11 of them, like he did in game 3.
WTFE, Joe. You haven’t won us more than a game or two down the stretch, and you aren’t doing anything for us in the playoffs.
Let’s stop talking about how many shots you’re GETTING, and start talking about how many shots you are MAKING.
A$$ clown…..
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
10:55 pm
“Kind of interesting how we have come to a point where we accept PG play that results in poor shot distribution and the opposing PG scoring about 75% above his regular season average.”
Kind of interesting how after two years of defending the indefensible handling of Teague’s development, and spending this entire regular season concocting the preposterous theory that Teague learned better by watching from the bench than he would have by playing in games, you are trying now to lay this series at the feet of the first-year starter on his rookie contract rather than the franchise player 10 year veteran who is the subject of this article. You were dead wrong about Teague from day one, and if it wasn’t emphatically clear the last two years, it sure has been this year. Cut your losses and move on.
Big Ray
May 7th, 2012
10:55 pm
Luke,
Agreed. Although having a moron for a coach and a teammate who is a multiple personality can’t help.
Guess who said this, “He needs to stop worrying about the coach, and the rest of us players and just go out there and look for his shot and play his game”, then said this “I didn’t get enough touches” ?
Same guy….I can tell ya that.
Luke Cage
May 7th, 2012
10:56 pm
Joe just needs to shut up and play ball, nobody really cares what he has to say unless its on the hardwood. He’s too laid back, maybe he should get a tech and fire the guys up a bit, but we all know that ain’t happening because HE’S PAID IN FULL!! And He’s not even thinking of a master plan.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
10:57 pm
“While still building around:
Jason Terry
Joe Johnson
Al Horford
ZaZa Pachulia
Perry Jones
Percy Miller”
I thought Master P gave up on his NBA dreams. I guess I was wrong.
Big Ray
May 7th, 2012
10:57 pm
http://www.hoopinionblog.com/2012/05/wherein-joe-johnson-and-i-are-largely.html
Hilarious.
We can thank Billy Knight for letting us watch Chris Paul on NBA League Pass (except when playoff time comes).
We can thank the ASG for letting us watch Joe Johnson on SportsSouth.
KevinM
May 7th, 2012
10:58 pm
Teague is the least of our problems on this team. If you look at the PGs drafted in ‘09, which ones are having the most success? Here’s the list of PGs drafted in ‘09:
4. Sacramento Kings – Tyreke Evans, G, Memphis
5. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Washington) – Ricky Rubio, G, Spain
6. Minnesota Timberwolves – Jonny Flynn, G, Syracuse
9. Toronto Raptors – DeMar DeRozan, G, USC
10. Milwaukee Bucks – Brandon Jennings, G, Italy
17. Philadelphia 76ers – Jrue Holiday, G, UCLA
18. Minnesota Timberwolves (from Miami) – Ty Lawson, G, North Carolina
19. Atlanta Hawks – Jeff Teague, G, Wake Forest
20. Utah Jazz – Eric Maynor, G, VCU
21. New Orleans Hornets – Darren Collison, G, UCLA
Off this list, I’d say Holliday, Lawson and Teague are having the most success in 3 years. Tyreke Evans is more of a tweener, so I don’t value him as a PG.
Teague deservers his starting position. We don’t have another PG and haven’t had one in 10 years. Teague makes chump change compared to the albatrosses on this roster, Marvin and Kirk. 15+M for these 2?
We are near the end of this season, but I see very little movement this year. We have no idea how to build a championship contender.
Sund and LD get extensions…we flouder through another playoff season, and just explain that our team is nothing but a bunch of professionals.
Big Ray
May 7th, 2012
11:00 pm
Some folks act like Joe only stunk it up for one game. I count three, myself. Even the fourth one where he heroically got us to overtime wasn’t all that great. A few more makes earlier on and maybe we don’t need overtime. Hey, and we still lost that game. So consider me unimpressed. And yeah, it wouldn’t have mattered if it had been any other Hawk who had his stat line in that game.
Joe gets us to overtime. Paul Pierce wins games. Slight difference…
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
11:01 pm
“You watch last night’s game, and it appears Josh lost his focus early on (even MC mentioned it in his interview). 2 silly turnovers in the first quarter (why wont he give the ball up to the PG on the break), and Josh basically checked out after that.”
Before the game, Josh said Game 4 was a must win game, and LD directly contradicted him when asked by Jerome, saying that it was just like any other game. I thought both of their performances reflected this. LD picked this game to tinker with his rotations and give bench players too many minutes in the first quarter, and Josh played this game like he was trying to force the issue every time he touched the ball.
When you let the other team shoot 65% during the competitive portion of the game, everyone has lost focus. And as the defensive anchor of the team, Josh deserves the majority of the blame when the defensive performance is lacking.
Big Ray
May 7th, 2012
11:03 pm
KevinM,
Kirk is around 30 or so yrs old, beat up, banged up, and been the mentor for the last two most talented pgs to come into the Eastern Conference. He’s always been that guy who slides over to play (and defend) the SG when a lottery pick pg comes to town.
Yeah, we overpaid and got him a bit too late. That’s the way it rolls with this franchise….
As for Marvin, he should have never been on this team, but that’s another story, and an old, painful one.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
11:04 pm
Of all those 2009 first round guards, the two that I am absolutely sure will end up better than Teague are Lawson and Rubio. I don’t see anyone else on that list, even Tyreke Evans who has plateaued after a hot start to his career, who has done enough to show that they will end up significantly better than Teague.
Dude doesn’t even have a full regular season’s worth of starts under his belt and people want to lay this at his feet rather than at the feet of the guy who is complaining about touches after getting thoroughly outplayed by his positional counterpart Pierce in this series. SMH
Luke Cage
May 7th, 2012
11:05 pm
Joe needs to step up and start like Pierce did in game 2 and close the deal.
Big Ray
May 7th, 2012
11:05 pm
When you let the other team shoot 65% during the competitive portion of the game, everyone has lost focus. And as the defensive anchor of the team, Josh deserves the majority of the blame when the defensive performance is lacking.
True. But all mega million man can think about is how many shots he got. I guess we’re wrong, and the reporter should have asked him about the defense. Then at least he could have blamed Josh. For the defense and the shots. LOL….
Luke Cage
May 7th, 2012
11:07 pm
Rondo right now is playing his best ball, not many PG’s are going to slow him down at this point, plus like Kenny said last night, we’re just giving him full vision of everthing, thats on LD to change that.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
11:09 pm
“he neede dto EARN his playing time and that he had failed to do so”
This is nonsense. The only thing required to earn playing time is to be the best at your position on the team. It was damn near physically impossible to be worse than Bibby’s corpse last season. There is no doubt in my mind that Teague was the best PG on the team from day one last year. So what if his “inner dog” hadn’t come out yet — at least dude had a pulse, and that’s more than you could say about Bibby.
Big Ray
May 7th, 2012
11:09 pm
Of all those 2009 first round guards, the two that I am absolutely sure will end up better than Teague are Lawson and Rubio.
Rubio, yes. He’s a pure pg, and always was. Teague was never really a pure pg, but has learned. Some of it can be attributed to his coaches, believe it or not. And some of it cannot .
Lawson….ehhhh…maybe. I’d say he’s better than Teague now, but not sure Teague won’t close that gap.
Then again, if Teague has Joe “I need more touches, but have more than enough money” Johnson and Larry “maybe I’ll try another starting lineup tomorrow” Drew…he never will.
cdog
May 7th, 2012
11:10 pm
the main problem is rick sund. they need a gm who want to win chamionsips nt just to finish .500 as sund thinks. hes a waste to the organization
RAD
May 7th, 2012
11:10 pm
Real Superstars find a way to get the ball! If you really want the ball Joe … GO GET IT!!!! It looks to me like you didn’t want the ball last game until after the game was over!!! By the way …. you are not doing your teammates any favors by dribbling the clock down and passing the ball to them with 2 seconds left on the shot clock!! It would be nice if you find a way to slow down Paul Pierce!!!!!!!!!!!!
Big Ray
May 7th, 2012
11:12 pm
Luke,
Rondo is a freight train on the loose without Derrick Rose around. Seriously, there is no Eastern Conference pg I can see outside of Rose who can handle Rondo in the playoffs. Maybe Jrue Holiday…would be an interesting matchup…
Melvin
May 7th, 2012
11:13 pm
Astro,
Come on, stop making excuses for Joe. He could have done a better job in answering C-Viv questions. He didn’t have to throw his teammates under the bus but this isn’t the first time he has done it. I recalled MC mentioning Joe criticizing his teammates in the past. Dude complaining about shots after a blowout lost but he wasn’t complaining after game 1 when they won and he shot/played terrible on offense. And the 2 games where he did have good offensive numbers, they still lost. So for him to mention he need more shots is disturbing to me, especially after a blow lost. Not the way I want my captain to lead.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
11:14 pm
I am not sure that I agree with Kenny about how to play Rondo. With a pass first point guard like him, the important thing is not how good his individual stats are, but rather how good the team’s offensive efficiency is. The Celtics had an amazing offensive game yesterday, in large part because the Hawks didn’t contest any of the other Celtics’ shots, but they haven’t exactly lit the world on fire in the first three games. Rondo shot 7/22 and had 6 turnovers when he picked up that triple double in Game 3. Chances are he’s not going to shoot as well as he did yesterday.
The play that Kenny uses to illustrate this, where Rondo directs KG to go in the paint and throws an alley oop to him, is really more on Josh than the point guard. Even if Rondo has a clear lane of vision to make that pass, if Josh keeps his body between KG and the hoop, Rondo then has to make a tough post entry pass which may or may not be successful.
If the Hawks play Rondo up close, he is going to drive inside and get to the hoop. This is in turn going to put pressure on Josh to help, which will then open up passing lanes for Rondo to get the ball to Bass and KG for easy dunks. I’d rather live with Rondo shooting jumpers than Bass and KG getting dunks.
Luke Cage
May 7th, 2012
11:14 pm
Wouldn’t mind if we had Reggie Evans, guy just plays so hard and really gets after it, much better than Damp-Twin combined x 4
Grandmaster JeJe (GM)
May 7th, 2012
11:14 pm
LOL @ Grandad blaming the refs
Luke Cage
May 7th, 2012
11:15 pm
Plus Najeh LD had Marv on KG also
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
11:16 pm
All my Joe criticism aside, Game 4 was lost on D, and Games 1-3 were competitive because of good D. It starts on the defensive end. If Joe will make the catch and shoot jumpers that he made in the 4th quarter of Game 3, and the team can play good D and contest the Celtics’ shots, I can live with his other deficiencies.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
11:18 pm
“Get Jerry Sloan and this idiot will get suspended for taking this moronic jumpshots.”
If only the Hawks had a viable backup PF who could contribute on D and the boards at a similar rate as Josh, making him more replaceable, it would be a lot more feasible to bench him for taking bad shots.
Grandad
May 7th, 2012
11:19 pm
I agree with Sautee in that Joe has his priorities skewed.
Our Hawks are getting our collective asses kicked and his main concern
is the amount and or frequency of shots ?
This also speaks either to the man`s intelligence or his selfishness.
Take your pick ?
If you are a JJ fan; which is worse ? a hero who hasn`t a clue;;
or a hero who is so self absorbed that his ego took a beating by Pierce;
and therein lay his greatest concern ?
Forget C-viv`s query; should not have mattered, as a real competitor
would have known how to respond to a quetion about shooting or shots
after the game last eve.
Any competitor worth his salt, most likely blown his top at C-viv
just for askin` a dumb question.
But no, that`s where Joe`s mind was.
There was probably a reason the question was asked.
This team, regardless of what we`ve been told, is and has not been right
from the git go.
I remain committed that Joe and Josh have chemistry problems.
Same for Josh and Teaguer.
Yawl wonder why cap`n Kirk starts ? He`s a glue guy for cryin` out loud !
The problem;
Elmer`s don`t make enough glue for this bunch.
I am in agreement with northcyde on most topics;
`cept Joe Johnson.
But nc made a valid point today;
If you get rid of one we should probably rid ourselves of both.
Shed the negative aura from the Hawks dynamic.
Most of which eminates from the above two players plus Marv.
__________________________________________________
On another topic:
Please someone from the Hawks;
Joe, LD, Sund, Gearon … anyone … please:
Stand up for this team, this franchise, this city;;;
and call the NBA on the Bullshooshoo of
giving the edge in each series to the so-called Big Mkt team.
*[officiating]
Cuban stands up for Dallas / everyone knows Stern fixes !
Somebody get a technical, get a fine, something, please & thank-you.
kwooden
May 7th, 2012
11:21 pm
I felt embarrassed by this loss just like everyone else, but Joe’s answer isn’t even worth talking about. :e could have taken 20 more shots and they still would have lost. The Celtics made a ton of jump shots, some contested and some not. We turned the ball over way to much and missed to many open shots. I believe the guys are going to play a lot better tonight, but I not interested in trying to win a first round series, when we’re not even ready to compete in the second round. Hopefully Al can start getting back in the flow and Josh can really make smarter plays. After that I don’t care what happens because I know this team needs to make some moves and draft a quality player.
Najeh Davenpoop
May 7th, 2012
11:29 pm
Not a whole lot of silver linings from yesterday’s game, but one thing I liked is that Al seemed to play well off Josh. At least a couple of times, Josh found Al for easy baskets underneath the hoop. Hopefully that can continue in Game 5. With Josh’s problems scoring one on one against KG, he needs someone who will put themselves in a position to receive passes from him and exploit his passing ability. Al flashing open in the paint is a much better option for that than really anyone else on this team.