The Hawks have options now, but they still rely on Iso-Joe
Joe Johnson goes one-on-one. Sometimes that's OK. (AJC photo by Johnny Crawford)
I heard an amazing thing Friday night at Philips Arena: The Hawks’ best player got the ball with the game on the line, and some in the crowd groaned and started yelling, “Pass the ball, Joe!”
I’ve never considered Joe Johnson a selfish player. I’ve noted many times how well he and Mike Bibby play off one another. But things are changing, and Bibby isn’t on the floor as much. (He worked nine minutes and made one basket in Friday’s victory over the Celtics.) More and more it’s Johnson and Jamal Crawford paired at game’s end, and there are times — against Oklahoma City on MLK Day, against the Celtics over the weekend — when Johnson ducks his head and goes one-on-five.
It didn’t work against the Thunder. Johnson took eight of the Hawks’ 23 fourth-quarter shots; he missed five of the eight. (He had one assist — it went, naturally, to Bibby.) The Hawks lost. Against the Celtics he took nine of the Hawks’ 19 fourth-quarter shots; he made seven of the nine. The Hawks won.
When in doubt — most NBA games are in doubt — the Hawks revert to Iso-Joe. Against the Celtics it made sense: Ray Allen cannot guard Johnson, and Paul Pierce doesn’t do much better. And when Joe’s hitting the end justifies the means. But Joe doesn’t hit them all, and the day is long past when he was the only Hawk capable of scoring.
Al Horford just made the All-Star team. Josh Smith should have made the All-Star team. Crawford could have made the All-Star team. Trouble is, when Johnson goes into his back-’em-in-and-shoot-the-turnaround routine he’s not apt to see anyone else. (Unless it’s Bibby. He sees Bibby. But Bibby didn’t play in the fourth quarter against Boston.)
It’s weird, though. Even as the Hawks are becoming a fleshed-out team, Johnson is shooting slightly more. He’s averaging 18.4 shots, up from 18.0 last season. He’s playing two fewer minutes per game and averaging one fewer assist — but he’s shooting more. This isn’t necessarily a good thing.
In the Hawks’ emphatic first half against the Celtics, Johnson made one basket. (Took eight shots, though.) It didn’t matter because the ball was moving. (Ten assists on 20 first-half hoops.) In the fourth quarter the Hawks made 11 baskets and had one assist. (Josh Smith made it.) Put simply, Joe stopped the ball. He sealed the game by making seven fourth-quarter hoops, but what if he’d made only four?
Understand: The Iso-Joe stuff isn’t a matter of Joe calling his own plays. Mike Woodson is trying to exploit matchups, and against the Celtics it worked. But with all the players the Hawks have now, Iso-Joe seems as cutting-edge as the Betamax. It’s a throwback to the days when this team had nowhere else to turn. It has options now.
There will be times when the new Hawks still need Joe Johnson to win them a game. They no longer need him to win every game. They’ll require something more than the old fallback to get them to the Eastern Conference finals.
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129 comments Add your comment
northcyde
February 2nd, 2010
1:47 pm
from AG:
“Mark great column. I did a little research. When Joe leads the team in scorings (or tied), the Hawks are 12-11,Crawford 11-6, Hortford 4-1, Smoove 3-2, Marvin 1-0, Evans 1-0. Looking at Hortford’s development, he should get more plays ran for him. Hortford should take at least 15 shots per game. If that happens, Joe will be more effective. Joe can carry the team when he is hot, but when he is cold the Hawks fate is sealed. I also notice a lot of games if a Hawk other than Joe scores three baskets in a row, he will not get a chance to score the forth. Many times Hortford is one- even Josh, but they go away from him.”
********
Mr. AG . . here’s a challenge for you. Go back again and SPECIFICALLY look at the games in which JJ has led the team in scoring in. Matter of fact, I have a little time . . . I’ll do it for you. And I’ll attack this from the standpoint of Horford’s production, since you’re an advocate of him getting more touches. If Josh Smith has a good game, I’ll mention him too. I’ll specifically look at the 11 losses the Hawks have had when JJ led the team in scoring:
LOL . . all I’m going to say, is that perception is sometimes NOT REALITY:
- Nov 1 @ Lakers: ( JJ – 27 points, 8 – 16 FG, 9 rebs ) . . . ( Horford: 3 – 8 FG, 6 pts . . Smith: 7 pts on 3 – 10 FG )
- Nov 6 @ Charlotte: ( JJ – 13 points, 5 – 12 FG ) . . . ( Horford: 4 – 9 FG, 10 pts . . Smith: 13 pts on 5 – 13 FG )
- Nov 26 vs Orlando: ( JJ – 22 points, 9 – 21 FG ) . . . ( Horford: 1 – 3 FG, 2 pts . . Smith: 13 pts on 6 – 17 FG )
- Dec 4 vs Knicks: ( JJ – 29 points, 12 – 24 FG . . also had 8 rebs and 8 assists ) . . . ( Horford: 5 – 11 FG, 17 pts & 14 rebs . . Smith: 10 pts on 4 – 8 FG )
(( LOL . . do you see a pattern developing? OK . . let’s continue. ))
- Dec 19 @ Chicago: ( JJ – 40 points, 16 – 32 FG ) . . . ( Horford: 6 – 10 FG, 15 pts & 12 rebs . . Smith: 8 pts on 2 – 12 FG )
- Dec 30 @ Cleveland: ( JJ – 35 points, 15 – 25 FG ) . . . ( Horford: 4 – 8 FG, 10 pts . . . Smith: 11 pts on 4 – 11 FG )
- Jan 1 vs Knicks: ( JJ – 28 points, 12 – 30 FG, 8 rebs, 5 asst ) . . . ( Horford: 11 – 14 FG, 22 pts & 19 rebs . . . Smith: 24 pts on 8 – 14 FG ) . . . . this is the Nate Robinson game
(( Still see the pattern? Let’s continue on. ))
- Jan 18 vs Thunder – ( JJ – 23 points, 10 – 23 FG ) . . . ( Horford: 6 – 12 FG, 13 pts . . . Smith: 18 pts on 6 – 11 FG )
- Jan 27 @ San Antonio – ( JJ – 31 points, 15 – 26 FG ) . . . ( Horford: 2- 10 FG, 4 pts . . . Smith: 14 pts on 3 – 9 FG )
- Jan 30 @ Orlando – ( JJ – 19 points, 8 – 16 FG ) . . . ( Horford: 2 – 7 FG, 4 pts . . . Smith: 16 pts on 6 – 13 FG )
(( So . . . did you see the pattern? Did you see it? ))
* JJ has had some MONSTER GAMES in our losses
* Horford excells against smaller frontlines
* Horford struggles against big frontlines
* Smith was either very good or very bad ( usually bad against the bigger teams )
Or, to drive the point home further . . .
In those 10 losses ( I counted 10 ) in which Joe Johnson has led us in scoring, he averaged 26.7 ppg and shot 110 – 225 ( 48.9% FG ) . . both totals well above his season averages.
In those 10 losses, Horford averaged 10.3 ppg and shot 44 – 92 ( 47.8% FG ) . . both well below his season averages.
Also in those 10 losses, Smith averaged 13.4 ppg and shot 47 – 118 ( 39.8% FG ) . . . with the FG% well below even his season career average.
But ISO-JJ and ISO-Crawford is such a horrible thing huh?
People better start REALLY watching these games, especially when we lose. When you see that JJ’s numbers are close to SUPERSTAR level in these losses, and the other guys numbers are way down, the proper blame needs to be placed on the complimentary guys.
northcyde
February 2nd, 2010
2:20 pm
Brother J . . . I’ll agree with 1/2 of your point. The major weakness in JJ’s game ( the only thing keeping him from being a SUPERSTAR ), is his inability ( or unwillingness ) to draw fouls, especially when driving to the hole. The top level scorers in this league will drive to the basket at times, specifically to draw contact and go to the free throw line. Dominique used to LIVE at the line.
JJ doesn’t do that. He loves his floater in the lane. So he’d rather take an 8 foot floater going to the basket, than to go all the way to the hole and draw a foul. But he rarely draws contact on his floater. And even if he does, the refs don’t call it like they would a guy driving hard to the hole. If JJ could get to the line 6 – 8 times a game, the guy would average 25+ ppg and probably see some of those misses that are counted against him, be taken off the board . . thus, raising his overall shooting percentage.
Saying that Crawford goes all the way to the hole is another one of those peception vs reality things. Crawford averages 13.5 shots per game. And according to hoopdata.com , 2.7 of his shot attempts are at the rim. Another 1.2 are within 10 feet. So 20% of Crawford’s shots are at the rim, and if you add the 1.2 attempts within 10 feet, it means that 28.9% of Crawford’s shots are within 10 feet.
JJ averages 18.4 shots per game. And according to hoopdata.com, 3.5 of his shot attempts are at the rim. Another 3.4 of his attempts are within 10 feet. So 19% of JJ’s shots are at the rim, and if you add the shots within 10 feet, 37.5% of his shot attempts are within 10 feet.
What I wish JJ could “borrow” from Crawford, is his ability to draw fouls off of his jumper. Crawford is one the best I’ve ever seen in drawing a foul while shooting, especially while shooting long jumpers.
But the reality with Crawford . . . is that he LOVES his long jumper.
8.6 of his 13.5 shot attempts coming from 16 feet and beyond ( 63.7% of his shots ). JJ also loves the long jumper, but not as much. 9.7 of his 18.4 shot attempts come from 16 feet and out ( 52.7% of his shots )
northcyde
February 2nd, 2010
2:30 pm
When this is all said and done, JJ could very well be a 3rd team All-NBA selection this year, if the Hawks continue to do well. But people don’t even realize that.
1st team will be Wade and Kobe
2nd team may be Nash and Roy
and that 3rd team may very well be Rondo ( or Deron Williams ) and JJ
Some of you are so wrapped up in this “I Hate Woody’s Offense” and the “JJ vs Jamal” campaign, that you’re not even realizing that your Captain is having an All-NBA caliber season. If we win 55+ games, JJ will even get a few MVP votes.
don
February 2nd, 2010
5:24 pm
@ northcyde i agree with the numbers that joe is putting up but joe is a selfish player in my opinion. He doesn’t pass the ball to make those guys get easier shots. He suppose to be the facilitator but when a player holds the ball for 20 secs. of the 24 shot clock and nobody else touches the ball unless he has no other choice but to pass it to them with maybe 3 seconds on the shot clock yea i guess they would shoot bad percentages being rushed. Josh is a scrappy player who hustles and has improved on his rebounding. He needs the fast past game for his offense to be affective. Marvin i really think he hasn’t completly got his swagg back from that wrist injury last season. Marvin will be the key to how far we go into the playoffs. Joe and Jamal will continue to score but Marvin will be the guy to come through when they’re having off nights.
The Hawks need to look to get into the superstar chase with Lebron and Wade i think thats what we need to WIN a championship! These two guys are FACILITATORS they will put us over the hump and Atlanta is a good city and i think we need to make that push. If we can offer Joe 15 mil. than we have enough to bring one of these guys in and guess what? THEY ARE FREE AGENTS AFTER THIS YEAR WOW! HOW LUCKY ARE WE! GM FOR THE HAWKS LETS GET IT!
don
February 2nd, 2010
5:30 pm
HA HA
don
February 2nd, 2010
5:32 pm
Joe out wade or lebron in the atl 2010-11 season= NBA Championship for the Atlanta Hawks!
northcyde
February 3rd, 2010
2:22 am
Don . . first off, we can’t offer Lebron or Wade big money because we won’t be far enough under the salary cap, even if we let JJ walk next summer. The reason why we can offer JJ big money, is because we own his Bird Rights. If you don’t know what that is, please Google it to see for yourself what it is.
Second, all JJ does is get guys easy shots for other guys, because the opponent is almost solely focused on JJ ( and Crawford, if he’s in the game ). He got a ton of open looks for guys in that Orlando game, but they missed a plethora of shots. When JJ gets doubled, and he swings the ball to Marvin or Bibby, they are wide open. When you see JJ hold the ball like that, it’s to either draw the double team so he can find the open man, or is to size his man up, to take the shot.
People keep calling this guy “selfish”, but he leads the Hawks in assists . . and has done that for 4 out of the 5 years he’s been here. He is our best offensive option, so he should look for his own shot. That’s not being selfish. That’s playing your role as the main scorer on a basketball team.
If JJ is selfish, then Kevin Durant is extremely selfish, because he takes 20 shots a game and only averages 3 assists.
Once again, JJ has a MONSTER GAME ON THE ROAD. 37 points on 13 – 20 shooting . . . at one point, he made 11 out of 12 shots in the 3rd and 4th quarters. But the Hawks didn’t secure defensive rebounds, and let Russell Westbrook look like Dennis Rodman, so they lost.
Mr. ISO-JJ more than did his job tonight.
NASH
February 3rd, 2010
10:53 am
the hawkare a solid team and Joe does something that very few stars in this league. He guarde the other teams best player the thing that is kill the hawks right now is one they don’t get anything from the 3 spot at all and two they need a 4 or a 5 that comes off the bench and can give them 10 pt and acouple rebs everynight
Tweets that mention The Hawks have options now, but they still rely on Iso-Joe | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
February 3rd, 2010
1:54 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Bradley, Scott Freeman. Scott Freeman said: RT @MarkBradleyAJC The Atlanta Hawks have options, but they still rely on Iso-Joe. http://bit.ly/cm2UQv .. JJ ain't MJ. iso=no imagination. [...]
Tweets that mention The Hawks have options now, but they still rely on Iso-Joe | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
February 3rd, 2010
2:50 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Bradley, Michael A. Giarrusso and ReidAdair, S Dot Gilley. S Dot Gilley said: Preach Mr. Bradley!! RT @MarkBradleyAJC The Hawks have options now, but they still rely on Iso-Joe http://bit.ly/9AqTU2 [...]
northcyde
February 3rd, 2010
3:27 pm
You can post all of those tweets from your colleagues all you want. The numbers speak for themselves. JJ is having SUPERSTAR-LIKE games on the road, but the Hawks still lose them because the complimentary players aren’t doing their jobs.
Coach Woodson is proven right on nights like last night. We lose because we don’t 1) REBOUND and 2) DEFEND. As he said in the Slam Magazine article . . he doesn’t give a (( blank )) about the offense, because he knows the Hawks usually lose games when they don’t rebound and defend.
JJ may not be MJ . . . but he’s arguably one of the top 5 ISO players in this league today. And when you have players who aren’t real good halfcourt offensive players, or players who are streaky shooters, you’re better off running ISO-JJ and ISO-Crawford at times.
As ESPN routinely says . . . JJ is the quietest superstar in the league. But the dude doesn’t get the credit he deserves, especially in the city of Atlanta, who would rather root for “flash” type players, than “fundamentally sound” type players.
“Flash” ain’t ever won the people in Atlanta anything.
Eric C.
February 3rd, 2010
3:58 pm
I agree Mark…great article!
The Flash
February 3rd, 2010
7:10 pm
I have disliked ISO JJ from the beginning. If I were going to ISO anyone, it would be Crawford, who can and does get inside the defense almost at will, and sees the floor well. Will give it up to someone open with a good look. I blame this on Woody, who has been wedded to this JJ thing from the beginning to the detriment of the offensive attack of the team, in my opinion.
George Wallace
February 3rd, 2010
7:13 pm
Otherwise shoot me and don’t forget the t-shirt.
George Wallace
February 3rd, 2010
7:22 pm
Roll Tide.
northcyde
February 4th, 2010
2:45 am
Some of you still don’t get it I see.
JJ: 11 – 21 FGs. . . 9 – 10 FTs . . 34 points
And ISO-JJ was BRILLIANT down the stretch of the game, with JJ getting layups in the 4th quarter. And Crawford did his job, especially in that 3rd quarter, to help get us back in the game.
56 COMBINED POINTS BETWEEN JJ AND CRAWFORD TONIGHT . . . They’re becoming a lethal combination. Now, all we need is for our young guys to do their jobs defensively and on the boards. Write about how they’re a great combination Mr. Bradley.
JJ’s last 5 games:
29.8 ppg
4.2 rebs
3.4 asst
54.3% FG
52.4% 3FG
92% FT
Those are SUPERSTAR numbers folks.
RESPECT YOUR CAPTAIN, HAWKS FANS!!
hawkfan
February 4th, 2010
12:27 pm
Joe Johnson is NOT the problem. Anyone who remotely plays, watches, and undertands basketball on a consistent basis knows it. He is a borderline superstar player with great size and excellent 1-on-1 scoring ability, a solid defender, and above all, a professional who works hard every night. If he leaves the Hawks WILL NOT be a better team, unless by some miracle they manage to bring in Wade, Lebron, C PAUL, or Kobe, which more than likely WONT HAPPEN.
ISO-Joe is caused by WOODSON and his LACK OF HALF-COURT OFFENSE. He is a limited coach who prides himself only defense and yet the team still struggles to defend on a consistent basis. Let’s please get rid of him. I dont care if MB says “he is well regarded around the league”
HAHAHA … are you kidding me? I am glad if that is true that way somebody else offers him a lucrative contract.
The Hawks constant improvement record-wise is a result of the development of their draft picks, primarily JSmith, Horford, and MWilliams, and then the additions made by the GMs (Joe, Jamal, Bibby).
But consider this: If a 12 year old basketball player with great skill practices really hard every day with his dad for 3, 4, 5 years, dont you think that player would improve? Of course he would! That doesnt mean his dad would be the best HC or even be a HC. My point is that when starting from almost zero (i,e 13-69), improvement is the only logical trend if you keep the same player(s), assuming hard work and sacrifice are involved. This is why I think nobody should over rate Woodson’s record improvement.
former hawkfan
February 4th, 2010
12:36 pm
J Johnson is NOT the problem. Anyone who remotely plays, watches, and undertands basketball on a consistent basis knows it. He is a borderline superstar player with great size and excellent 1-on-1 scoring ability, a solid defender, and above all, a professional who works hard every night. If he leaves the Hawks WILL NOT be a better team, unless by some miracle they manage to bring in Wade, Lebron, CPAUL, or Kobe, which more than likely WONT HAPPEN.
ISO-Joe is caused by WOODSON and his LACK OF HALF-COURT OFF. He is a sub-par coach who prides himself only defense, and yet the team still struggles to defend on a consistent basis. Let’s please GET RID OF HIM. I dont care if MB says “he is well regarded around the league”
HAHAHA … are you kidding me? I am glad if that is true, that way some other sucker offers him a big contract.
The Hawks constant improvement record-wise is a result of the development of their draft picks, primarily JSmith, Horford, and MWilliams, and then the additions made by the GMs (Joe, Jamal, Bibby).
But consider this: If a 12 year old basketball player with great skill practices really hard every day with his dad for 3, 4, 5 years, dont you think that player would improve? Of course he would! That doesnt mean his dad would be the best HC or even be a HC. My point is that when starting from almost zero (i.e 13-69), improvement is the only logical trend if you keep the same player(s), assuming hard work and sacrifice are involved. This is why I think nobody should over rate Woodson’s record improvement.
albrolin
February 4th, 2010
1:14 pm
Bibby and William needs to go(PHX- so bibby can retire at home) . Go after the other bigs out there Bosh and Amar’e Stoudemire and add to the main four Smith,Joe, Crawford and Harford. That five can beat anybody in the nba on any give day. If the coach can not win with that then he needs to go.
northcyde
February 4th, 2010
1:46 pm
albrolin . . . we could definitely use another big man.
One of the gross misconceptions around the league ( especially amongst the sportswriters who only remember the preseason press clippings of the Hawks ), is that we have a “great bench”.
In reality, this bench, outside of Jamal Crawford, has played pretty bad this year. It’s gotten to the point to where Woody can’t even trust the guys that has been with him for a while ( namely Zaza ). Evans’ play is worse than last year. Joe Smith is just too old to give consistent production on a nightly basis. Collins definitely can’t be dependent to give you production on a nightly basis. And Teague simply isn’t ready, mainly due to the fact that he can’t make midrange jumpshots and layups in traffic.
So it would be nice to get another big man. We may not even need a star caliber big man like an Amare or a Bosh to stabilize this rebounding thing. Even a lesser player like a Ben Wallace coming off the bench, may do the trick.
The Flash
February 4th, 2010
3:22 pm
I agree that the problem is basically Woodson, but I also think that JJ’s style is to occupy the ball way too much. I far from confident that he’ll ever alter that style, which might well make him less attractive as a free agent than you’d expect based upon his other considerable talents.
In other words, you put him on the Lakers instead of Kobe and I’m far from sure the Triangle works. While in the abstract one would think that the Lakers would still be the power out West with JJ instead of Kobe, I doubt it. I do not think that the Zen Master could get through to him.
Why do I say this? Why was he left off the Olympic squad and, if he tries, I believe he’d be left off again.
I think that Lebron is freer to give up the ball than JJ, which is saying something.
That is not to say that I think that the Hawks can improve if they let JJ get away. If they were to land Bosh (the others I don’t see as a viable chance), then I’d let him go in a heart beat. Otherwise, I think that you have to stick with him, and hope that a coach with a more engaging approach to the half-court game will catch JJ’s imagination. If the latter were to happen, and JJ would give up the reigns some, this team’s upside could improve dramatically, in my opinion.
northcyde
February 4th, 2010
10:29 pm
We don’t have a chance to land Bosh either, unless we do a sign and trade. When we made the move to get Crawford, that was our big move. He’s panned out very well, and the addition should help us in the playoffs, when the games get extremely tight and loosly-called.
At that point, 2 good ISO players like JJ and Crawford are going to come up big for us.
It’s funny. People ( including myself ) thought JJ played way too passive in last year’s playoffs, with the way he was deferring to people. This year, he’s selfish . . . lol . . . even though his shot attempts are up only .5 a game and he’s shooting 3% points higher from the field.
The JJ you see now, is the JJ we’re going to need show up in the playoffs. Those other guys, outside of Crawford, do not have the offensive skills to be counted on as a vital scorer in playoff basketball. So the stars must step up to the challenge and take the shots.
oaktown
February 5th, 2010
6:48 am
snap– when Hawks were winning 13 games folks love Joe — now look at this Joe hate– All I have to say is 20-5-5 — there are few people who average those numbers like Joe– and tho he may hold on the ball a little two much — he still has great assist numbers– always– Yall are spoiled– I am from Oakland where we have to watch Nellie play 4 guards and a power forward all night– The Warriors would love Joe– shoot he would play Center for us– Ha
JJFAN
February 5th, 2010
4:59 pm
from AG:
“Mark great column. I did a little research. When Joe leads the team in scorings (or tied), the Hawks are 12-11,Crawford 11-6, Hortford 4-1, Smoove 3-2, Marvin 1-0, Evans 1-0.
This was some lazy and bogus research, especially if you consider the fact that when we were winning big, the starters, specifically Joe would sit out the entire 4th quarter.
lj
February 5th, 2010
8:54 pm
wade lebron Kobe bosh handle’s the ball to much and of coarse Jamal is playing outstanding ball but if got as much pressure as Joe does you’ll see the same mistakes from Jamal. Marvin and Bibby needs to play anyway nothing wrong with putting yourself out on the market i say get Joe and Jamal back next season trade Marvin Bibby Zaza and try to get Chris k. from the clippers brook lopez….doubt wade lebron will come to Atlanta maybe melo or bosh
lj
February 5th, 2010
9:15 pm
get back to reality name a 2 guard better than him other than wade THAT’S ON THE MARKET!!!!..lol..if we had Chris Paul we wouldn’t be talking about this.LOOK…trade marvin and bibby AND ZAZA!!!! lol for Danny Granger
killa bee
February 6th, 2010
2:25 pm
I was at the Cleveland game in the House of Lebron, and I was quite upset afterwards at the outcome of the game. We were up by 17 (i think) in the 3rd quarter but still lost the game.
Joe was hitting big shot after big shot, Bibby was draining 3’s, we were moving the ball and our dynamic frontcourt was doing their thing of rebounding and getting easy hoops in the lane.
And then it all stopped. Iso Joe started missing shots. Crawford started missing shots. Lebron got all the foul calls. I blame Woody for the loss:
1) Playing Bibby, Crawford at the end instead of Marvin kills us on defense – which allowed guys like Anderson Verajao to get offensive rebounds and make that open 3.
2) On offense, I don’t mind Joe or Crawford taking the shot, but at least move the ball around for the best high percentage shot. The inside outside game that gave us the huge 17 point lead was nowhere to be found.
3) Instead of focusing on moving the ball and playing good D, Woody started yelling at the refs (albeit he had beef to b/c of the shot clock issue). But because of this so did Josh Smith and others and our composure totally fell apart.
In order to hang with Cleveland and Orlando, and the Lakers even, we need to be able to get to the line more. Right now, the only way to do that is with a quick PG. Why not play Teague more?
Keep Joe, play Teague more, run, run, and run some more. Get another strong perimeter or post defender and we can and will win our first NBA title.
Obviously, Woody has shown no ability to do this, so bring in someone who understands that our strength is in our ability to run and give open looks to our good shooters.
HAWKS FAN
February 6th, 2010
7:59 pm
KEEP JOE JOHNSON!!! WHY MESS UP THIS GOOD TEAM WE GOT NOW
Say Joe Johnson leaves the Hawks. You OK with that? | Mark Bradley
February 26th, 2010
3:21 pm
[...] has been, I submit, something of a Joe Backlash this season. (I’ve contributed to it, I’ll admit.) The Hawks’ best player has been scrutinized in a way he hasn’t [...]