Sorry, Hawks fans: D-Wade’s not walking through that door
Joe guards Dwyane. They're not interchangeable, y''know. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Believe it or not, I do read your comments. Regarding the Hawks, your prevailing sentiment — after the one that goes, “Fire Woody” — is that the team should let Joe Johnson leave and sign Dwyane Wade (or Chris Bosh, or somebody) to replace him. Sounds easy, I admit. But it wouldn’t be. Here’s why.
Wade works for the Miami Heat, which is owned by Micky Arison, who could buy and sell all the Atlanta Spirit partners put together. (Arison owns Carnival Cruise Lines.) The team is run by Pat Riley, who has won five NBA titles and who’s thinking about coaching again. Together, Arison and Riley and Wade won the 2006 NBA title, so they know it can be done there.
If you’re D-Wade, why take a flier on the Hawks, who haven’t reached the conference finals since 1970 and who had the lowest payroll of any of the 16 playoff teams this season? Why come where there’s no assurance the owners will ever spend big enough to assemble a deep enough supporting cast?
And there’s this: Wade is undergoing a messy divorce that will surely turn expensive. There’s no state income tax in Florida. (There is here, as we know.) That mightn’t sound like a big deal to a man who’ll be making nearly $20 million per season for playing basketball, but hey … every little bit helps, especially at alimony time.
There’s also this: If Wade leaves, Arison’s team collapses. The Heat cannot afford to lose him, and when you’ve got a man as loaded as Arison paying the bills and a man as driven as Riley running the operation … well, such men tend to get what they want. It’s hard to imagine that crew being outflanked by the Spirit, an outfit that couldn’t even keep Josh Childress.
OK, you’re saying, but what about Bosh? He’s obviously interested in leaving Canada — last week he changed his Twitter location from “Toronto” to “everywhere” — but is he what the Hawks need? He’s a power forward, same as Josh Smith, same as some people (I’m not one) claim Al Horford is. Would you want a front line of three 4’s and no 5’s or 3’s? Who would play on the perimeter? Smith? Given that folks groan whenever he rises to take a jump shot, is that advisable?
And if you let Johnson leave, who’s the default shooter with five seconds left on the shot clock? Smith? Horford? Jamal Crawford? Say what you will about Joe — and most of you have — but he welcomes those moments and has proved himself capable, though not this spring, of making such shots.
Johnson averaged 21.1 points this season, 11th-best in the league. If he leaves, those points would have to be made up somewhere. Who’s going to do it? Neither Horford nor Smith is a pure scorer — good players, yes, but not pure scorers. Is Marvin Williams apt to double his average? (We pause now to laugh really hard.) Is Mike Bibby capable of averaging even 10 points a game?
I say again: You might not like the way Johnson plays — I myself soured on Iso-Joe last season — but you can’t deny he puts up big numbers. He’s not Kobe or D-Wade, but he’s the third-best shooting guard in the league. Unless the Hawks can find someone better, they’re better off sticking with Joe. And they won’t find anyone better.
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191 comments Add your comment
Big Ray
May 10th, 2010
1:08 pm
Seriously, we still have one more game (cough, cough…at least) before we begin the summer “festivities”. But why not start the canniblogging early?
Big Ray
May 10th, 2010
1:10 pm
Tyger ,
Did Sund say “I plan on bringing Teague along slowly” ?
Did Sund decree that Teague only play 10 mpg and almost exclusively with the other reserves that rarely get playing time?
Did Sund come out and get quoted as saying “I thought Teague played pretty good for a guy who doesn’t get to play much. It’s tough on rookies when they don’t get to play.”
Nope. Sund wasn’t the guy who did all that. The guy who did goes by a different name….
Big Ray
May 10th, 2010
1:12 pm
And by the way, the only thing making Chris Paul expendable is his injuries. It ain’t Darren Collison. I can’t even believe you said that. Wow….
Sund is on the hook if he does two things: Continue Billy Knight’s original mistake AGAIN (I think we all know what that was), or overpay Joe Johnson.
northcyde
May 10th, 2010
1:13 pm
jdewayneatl
May 10th, 2010
9:54 am
I like JJ. I really do. I would love to see this team stick it out (bringing back J-Chillz) and going far. This team has been built on consistency of organization (no matter how discombobulated it may have been at times via ownership, coach-player relationships, draft picks, etc) and persistence. But the fact is JJ is gonna be old soon. Now Teague could very well be our Rondo, in the sense that by the time Joe is on the downturn, Teague will be able to run this team well enough to counter Joe’s fails.
But I will offer my round of a replacement through my trade and free agent speculation.
I would like to propose a 3-team sign-and-trade involving Atlanta, Chicago, and Golden State.
Chicago gets Joe Johnson, Golden State gets Kurt Hinrich and Luol Ding, and Atlanta gets Monta Ellis and maybe Anthony Randolph.
I all for Monta Ellis coming to the A… The guy is a much better scorer than Joe, averaging 25.5 ppg and if you check the numbers they are very similar to Joe’s in every category. He may not be as good as an on-ball defender as Joe but he does avg more steals.
Monta Ellis would be a great pick up! He is cheaper to come by than Joe’s contract and he is younger. This team would be a playoff team for the next ten years at least. Al Horford will be our undeniable leader for the forseable future and Ellis would make this team that much more dangerous and explosive.
Also, bring Chillz back and start him at SF. Marvin looks like his career will be that of a role player and Chillz has been balling in Europe. Marvin can either back up Josh at PF or Chillz at SF. We would be a better team and a team that will compete.
Teague – Bibby
Ellis – Crawford
Childress – Williams
Smith – Randolph
Horford – Zaza
Super atheletic… super fast… super exciting!!!!!!
***********************************
And absolutely no perimeter defense whatsoever. But this is what people always wanted. For us to be Golden St East. The run and gun, fast paced style that runs . . runs . . runs, but doesn’t play a lick of defense.
Monta had a fit this year because Nellie made him guard SGs. And while Monta is a big time scorer, he’s also a volume shooter. And not a very good deep ball shooter at all.
Teague would not be a starter with that group, because that backcourt is just too small to defend on the NBA level. Teague’s defense is in no way, shape, or form even close to Rondo’s. Rondo was a defensive terror even in college. Teague was a scoring PG.
So Ellis and Crawford would have to start in the backcourt. A lot of offensive firepower, but still no leadership in the backcourt.
Childress has NEVER been known for his defense, and needs to be wide open to get his jumper off. And we all know what Smoove and Horford bring to the table.
What the Hawks need, is to make a coaching change before they break up the core. But they also need to find guys who can balance out this roster. And that means finding a LEGIT PG and a LEGIT C.
We need a PG who can defend, get others involved, and get his own offense every now and then. And we need a C that can effectively defend the big centers in this league.
Dwight Howard is shooting 82% FG in this series . . . WOW !!
Wanted 2 Coaches
May 10th, 2010
1:16 pm
REALLY???? Is Mike still the coach?????
tim
May 10th, 2010
1:19 pm
mark,with the hawks making the playoffs they will not get a high draft pick.so that do you think about the hawks trading all there draft picks and get a center and point guard from other nba teams.
i would not keep jj and trade bibby to. if the hawks have any rights to childress if you can not get him,trade them before you can not get any thing.
i
Mark Bradley
May 10th, 2010
1:23 pm
Here’s the thing about Joe Johnson: If you don’t overpay to keep him, you’ll have to overpay someone else to take his place. And there’s no assurance that someone else will be as good as Joe.
Emir S.
May 10th, 2010
1:40 pm
Mr. Mark Bradley, I think you are missing the point as are alot of others out there. Its become obvious that Joe Johnson no longer wants to play in Atlanta, nor may he even like it here. With that being said, I dont want him here. It’s not about what he is avergaing. I gurantee you if we keep him next season he will not average what he is averaging this season. It would be like a Hedo Turkoglu moment, but without getting traded. He might only stay for the money. Not even bother to play upto his potential.
@Brownie
Well said. I was really disappointed to see Teague on the bench so many times thru out the regular season. I can honestly say that I do see him being a starting PG very soon. I beleive if he was given more minutes with-in the season to develop his game, by mid season he could have had the starting job. The guy is so explosive and can score. Given that he does need to work on his handling, but thats where the whole point of giving him minutes to develop that comes in. Woody did not give him that opportunity.
@jdewayneatl
That is an awesome suggestion. Seeing as tho Golden State will be going more with Curry then Ellis, it could open up the door for a team like the Hawks to make a run at him. Nice heads up there.
- – - – - – -
I think the top 2 things on Rick Sunds “To Do List” should be
1. Get a new coach
2. Replace JJ or do a Sign and Trade
Like many others, I also beleive that we should bring Childress back. I think playing in Europe ahs gotten him more better. He could replace Marvin, even tho I see ALOT of potential in Marvin. Just needs someone to take it out of him.
We need to get Teague more minutes and get him developed. Bibby has been out of his prime for some years now and is to slow to keep uo with alot of PGs today. Teague is insanely quick and we need to take advantage of that.
We DO NOT need Bosh. He maybe a better scorer then Josh or Horford, but he is not as aggresive on defense as they are. Horford and Josh make up atleast like what %70 of our entire teams defense? (Completely guessing btw) I just dont see a need for Bosh on our team.
One more thing, how dare any of you say that we need to get rid of Zaza? Who else will stand up to Garnett when he tries to get out of line!?
And last but not least….bring Mario West back!!
Big Ray
May 10th, 2010
1:41 pm
Northcyde ,
I disagree. Josh Childress did play decent defense, and he was great at roving the baseline for putbacks and rebounds on the offensive or defensive glass, something I wish Marvin would learn to do.
If you thought he didn’t play decent defense, it’s probably because he played 4 positions for us most of the time. PG, SG, SF, and PF (when we went small).
Yes, his jumper was ugly as hell and he had to be open to hit it. But the kid was hitting for 54% from the field while he was here. Marvin never came even close to that, and despite being bigger, he has to be open on ANY shot he takes, not just jumpers. Ever notice how badly he flops when he’s fouled going to the basket? I think I can recall maybe 2 “And 1s” in his entire career. Both were lucky. Just sayin’….
nique
May 10th, 2010
1:42 pm
Joe seems to me to play without competitive fire and probably really just cares about his contract. I get why he should care about his contract, but I can’t think of too many championship teams led by guys without that fire. Maybe Joe just needs a new coach to light that fire….
Big Ray
May 10th, 2010
1:42 pm
Mark ,
It’s a guarantee that no replacement for Joe is going to be as good as he is. One reason why is that we don’t have the cap space to sign anybody near his caliber.
The key to “replacing him” will be twofold:
1) Does anything you get in replacement fit well
2) Does anything you get in replacement help/aid in re-tooling or rebuilding the team.
pluckthehawks
May 10th, 2010
1:50 pm
Can the Hawks keep it under 30 tonight?
Harry The Hawk
May 10th, 2010
1:55 pm
Mark:
Here’s a question for you…..say, you leave the team as it is.
Who goes on the cover of next year’s collaterals to potential season ticket holders: JJ (smirk), Smoove (smirk), Crawford (nice kid, but is he really the face of the franchise—also, how would that go over with the first two?). All three players….another wide smirk.
Point is, ASG has problems deeper than whether they should fire Woody/sign Joe. They have to worry about selling a team of quitters and whiners to a fan base that has had it up to HERE with non-professional behavior and excuses (i.e. Woody’s contention that this is a ‘young’ team growing up…they’ve been together 5 years! Give me a break!).
50-win seasons with maximum playoff efforts can usually be justified, and, in many cases, celebrated. 50 win seasons capped by underachievement during crunch time, max money expectations, whining, miserable losses and bashing the fans who (ultimately) pay your salary is a much tougher road to navigate.
One could argue that ASG has already done a terrible job of positioning their players and product to this point. Are they up to overcoming a task of these proportions? Can they win back core fans (like those on this board) who clearly feel like they’ve been let down and slapped in the face by this current group….without any significant changes?
Love to hear your response…..
northcyde
May 10th, 2010
1:59 pm
I’m not a “capologist”, but I do understand numbers a little. So for all you “capologists” out there, if I’m saying anything wrong, please correct me.
***************************
Projected salary cap for next year . . . . a little over 56 million dollars
Hawks committed salary next year . . . 47.6 million for 8 players ( and this is not counting the salaries of our 2010 1st and 2nd round picks . . and not counting Josh Childress’ cap hold . . . and not including re-signing Joe Johnson )
If Mo Evans exercises his player option for 2010 and opts out . . you’re talking about the committed salary dropping to 45 million.
*********************
So for all of you who want to bring in these star free agents, this is what you need to look at.
If the salary cap is going to be around 56 million, we’re going to be around 9 million under the cap. Maybe close to 11 million if Evans opts out.
And remember. You can’t go over the salary cap to sign OTHER PLAYERS . . but you can go over the salary cap to re-sign YOUR OWN PLAYERS.
***********************
But here’s where “cap holds” KILL you. Because as long as you own a player’s rights, the NBA will put a “cap hold” to prevent teams from just going out and signing unrestricted free agents, plus holding onto the rights of their own players that they haven’t re-signed yet. This forces that team to renounce, or give up that player’s rights, before they make major moves, making them an unrestricted free agent.
Cap holds of the Hawks going into the summer of 2010:
Joe Johnson: 16.2 million
Josh Childress: 10.9 million
Mo Evans: 3.25 million ( if he opts out )
Mario West: 1 million
Jason Collins: .85 million
Joe Smith: .85 million
Randolph Morris: .85 million
All of these guys are officially Unrestricted Free Agents ( if Mo Evans opts out of his contract ), with the exception of Josh Childress. And even though Joe Johnson is an UFA, he still has a cap hold on the Hawks, until we completely renounce his rights. So for us to free up that cap space money, we have to completely release JJ.
But it still doesn’t matter, because of JOSH CHILDRESS’ cap hold, which is a shade under 11 million. This virtually eats up all of the space we have under the cap, unless . . . we do the same thing to Chill, that we do to JJ. Completely release him. And that goes for the other guys as well.
So we can be 9 – 11 million under the cap, but we’d have to renounce the rights of all of those players, making them unrestrictred free agents. And unfortunately folks, being 9 to 11 million under the cap is NOT ENOUGH to bring in a D-Wade . . or a Bosh . . or any one of those other top level guys.
The only thing we can do, is sign and trade for people. And in JJ’s case, because he’s a UFA, he can simply go out and get his own deal, without consulting the Hawks. But the Hawks can’t make a move on the UFA market, unless they ( at minimum ) completely renounce the rights of JJ AND Josh Childress.
So the only weapon they have, is to try to come up with viable sign and trades. Not pipe dream sign and trades. Realistic ones.
northcyde
May 10th, 2010
2:08 pm
What you can do, if you are over the cap, is use the MLE ( mid-level exception ), to sign free agents. But you’re only talking about a number somewhere around 5 – 6 million.
@ Big Ray:
Chill was a great energy guy and a great guy that fueled our transition offense. But he wasn’t a good defensive player. I think Marvin was and is a better defensive player than Chill, but Chill was much more active on the offensive end, because he kept moving and would grab a ton of offensive rebounds ( for the minutes he played ) and put the ball back in the hole.
But defense? Nah. If I were to give Chill a grade for his defense, it would be a C . possibly a C-. And while he was an active offensive player, his game will always be limited, because he needs space to get his shot off. Wish we had him back though.
DeepDiver
May 10th, 2010
2:11 pm
Talk some sense into these people northcyde.
big shocker.
May 10th, 2010
2:17 pm
get used to being a second tier team until ownership will get serious about winning. There is not a great replacement for joe…bad draft choices other than horford. teague, was dissapointed with the choice, and now he doesn’t get on the court to play, another acie law(another piss poor draft choice)so, in the end, who in the heck is making these draft choice decisions. can’t blame it all on billy knight. being prepared during the playoffs is all on the coaches.The point is, The Hawks have hit the ceiling for advancing with this group. no large overhaul, but,some pieces need to be addressed. See yall next year, tonight will be no different…sorry guys, reality is calling. no more illusions of greatness from these hawks. they have already layed down.
northcyde
May 10th, 2010
2:26 pm
LOL DeepDiver. I just don’t want them to be confused about this situation. As much as people are down on JJ right now . . we are in a SERIOUS situation. Sund made a great move to bring Crawford in to compliment JJ as an additional scorer who could be the #2 and sometimes #1 option.
But when he did that, he effectively killed any chance of us being a MAJOR PLAYER in the 2010 free agent market. Remember . . . Speedy Claxton was an expiring contract going into this year and if we didn’t exercise the 2010 option on Acie Law, he would be a unrestricted free agent this year.
We’re talking about an additional 7.4 million dollars that could’ve come off the books, had we’d held onto those two guys this season.
Without Jamal Crawford’s 10.1 million that he’ll make next year, we could’ve been at least a fringe player in this free agent sweepstakes. For this year, that probably means that instead of winning 53 games, we win 48 games. I’ll give JC an impact of +5 wins for this season.
It was a damn good move to make, because we basically got JC for scraps. But it took us out of the 2010 free agent derby. And I believe now more than ever, that Jamal Crawford was fully meant to be the replacement for Joe Johnson, in the absolute worse case scenario ( which is playing out right now ).
We’ll finally get to see how good of a GM that Sund is this season.
Emir S.
May 10th, 2010
2:28 pm
“We’ll finally get to see how good of a GM that Sund is this season.”
Gonna be one hell of an intresting off-season wont it!?
jojo sunshine
May 10th, 2010
2:42 pm
Mark,
You are right when you say who can you get and not over pay them in place of Joe Johnson. I would say you don’t have to overpay anyone. Look at my earlier post and you will see that through the draft we can definitely maintain the make-up of this team while getting younger, bigger, faster, and stronger. Sign and trade with Minnesota for Rubio, a lottery pick (hopefully Evan Turner), and a late first round draft pick. We will send them Joe and Mike and our draft pick or Joe and Josh Smith and our draft pick. What ever it takes. Thanks
Unreal
May 10th, 2010
3:02 pm
I don’t know what the Hawks can do to fix this team, but i know that I don’t ever wanna see Joe Johnson wearing the ATL jersey ever again.(including today vs the Magic!!!) Mr. Johnson doesn’t care about winning or about the fans, he only cares about making BIG MONEY. I rather see Mario West in the starting line up instead of Joe Johnson, who cares if we lose a whole sh!t of games at least we’ll be on the draft lottery and who knows maybe we land a real super star.
One last thing
Joe Johnson is a coward!!!!
Justin
May 10th, 2010
3:14 pm
@northcyde. You make some very good points. I wasn’t familiar with all the rules about cap holds. We really don’t have many options this summer aside from maing a major trade. Still, overpaying for Joe because we’re in a pinch would be a big mistake. Those 5-6 max contracts for players his age can ruin things for years.
As for Childress, I remember him being a much better defender than that. I think he was a better perimeter defender than anyone we have on the roster right now, and that’s an obvious weakness for us.
It sounds like one of the easiest options is to spend upward. Re-sign Joe (he may be cheaper now) and Childress, then we have more chips to play with. That and the mid-level exception. The question then would be who is expendable to get another big. Obviously our roster as-is won’t get out of the 2nd round even if Childress comes back.
get real
May 10th, 2010
3:39 pm
Enter your comments here
jimh
May 10th, 2010
3:45 pm
@ryan, you’re right Brendon Haywood is not going to get you to the promised land, but he is a stop-gap who defends DH12 well (both in Wash and Dallas) and puts Horford and Smith back in their correct positions and he gives you the chance to after a real PG. Don’t know if you noticed these playoffs but the PG is the difference in have and have-nots. Nelson, Rondo, Nash each are the engine to their teams — then there’s OK, Chi and Port each over-performed due on “big part” to PG play. Then there’s a long list of loosers whos’ PGs (and teams) under-performed. The Hawks have a two guard who has just been prtending to be a pg (crawford).
About Wade, he knows his not going to get a solid PG in Miami this year. How good the Bulls be with with a Rose at 1 and Wade at 2 (not mention stong/young center)? In Miami best case gets Boozer or Bosh and has to face Orlando and a strong SE div 4 times a year. And, he’s made it known not thrilled about trading coaches either. A bulls team with Wade might have the hightest BB IQ.
Hey Dirk and Cuban are joined at the hip and if Amare gets the suns this far you won’t see enough money from the spirit to grab him away from the Suns. With a healty Lopez the Suns can make people forget LA. The best the Hawks can hope for good coaching a collection of bigs to throw at Dwight like bobcats did there aren’t that many good fives around you’re gonna overpay. I’d like to be Bosh’s agent right now!
get real
May 10th, 2010
3:55 pm
JJ in New Orleans would be fantastic – for them. A point guard would make a star out of several of our current players, including JJ. If we had a guy that could average 10 assists a game this current team could soar. Imagine if smith and Al expected a pass within 5 feet of the basket? Or a kick out to JJ or Crawford? In this fantasy even Marvin could develop (ok that may be the drugs talking). Jeff Teage?
Pat
May 10th, 2010
5:14 pm
I agree that the Hawks will likely not get Wade and that Bosh is not what’s needed. However, I do not believe they should resign Joe Johnson. Joe Johnson is never going to be the type of player who can carry this team on his back at big moments in the playoffs. I would rather the Hawks try and get a legitimate center and a good spot up shooter to come off the bench. In terms of who the default shooter should be at the end of the clock, even as currently constituted, I would much rather have the ball in Jamal’s hands at the end of the clock than Joe’s as I trust Jamal more to make a better decision. I know what Joe will do in those moments–shoot at the end of the clock and hope that it goes in.
joey
May 10th, 2010
5:36 pm
Enter your comments here
JSS
May 10th, 2010
5:47 pm
I’ve been saying since last summer that too many people around were on oxycotin when discussing UFA’s and the Hawks. Joe Johnson has Paul Pierce’d himself! He better pray that his agent can either save him, or work a deal that gets out of the mess he made of his bargaining power by not producing…
bball fan
May 10th, 2010
7:16 pm
Mark – who gets the dubious honor of blogging live tonight for the Hawks probable ‘last stand’– you or JS?
glw
May 10th, 2010
7:40 pm
northcyde, trading for Crawford didnt make us a NON player in the 2010 free agent market, resigning Bibby and giving Marvin a long term deal did that. Those 2 guys eat up at least 12 million in cap space!!!
Bill Walton
May 11th, 2010
12:06 am
Give Smith, Josh a map to the yellow brick road. Put him on the road to see the wizard. When he gets there tell hm to ask for a brain and a heart. then flip a coin to guess if he manages to find his way back
FansPayURSalary
May 11th, 2010
2:00 am
I agree with many of the comments stated above and have actually had some of the exact same thoughts on many topics. First of all let me say, That Mike Woodson and Joe Johnson has to be terminated. Leaders can’t be good they have to be great and greatness come with passion that is not always centered around money. For example, Kobe Bryant is a great leader, great player and eventually evolved is a great team player all inspired by PASSION. PASSION can’t be taught. For players like Kobe it is about competition and wining and his fan base. That’s why I can respect his game. 80% of the time when he comes out he plays to win, broken fingers,etc. Thats definitely fueled by passion which Joe Johnson nor Mike Woodson do not have. They have no leadership skills at all. I think that Avery Johnson as coach will turn this team around because he has all of the necessary qualities. Sometimes with the right leadership you can make the best out of a bad situation, but you would not cut down the entire tree because of a few bad apples. The comments that Joe Johnson made are unacceptable because the fans help aide in his salary. Mike Woodson should have made him apologize for his unsportsman like behavior and he should have been fined by the league. If this had happened with more of the elite teams there would have been a fine and probably one game suspension. You can’t criticize the refs but you can torture the fans. The Atlanta Hawks marriage with JJ and Woodson should be ended due to non-reconcilable differences. Jamal Crawford definitely should be a starter. He played his role to the fullest. The difference! No matter where any of us go or do we should want to make a difference (good). Joe Johnson became jealous because fans saw JC leadership, humbleness, and willingness to step up. When Jamal got the 6-man award, he only mentioned 2 players that attend. Not Josh nor Joe. Can u say haters with a capital H. JJ comes from the woods of Arkansas where I am sure he let his family dictate to him and fill his head and eago up and it all shows on the court with what someone correctly stated above (ballhogging). Sacrificing games trying to put numbers on the board when Jamal was outscoring him off the bench. Don’t nobody owe you nothing Joe. You will never be of the type of caliber as Kobe or Lebron. You have the wrong attitude and thought process if you think that you can go to any team and they will pay a $60 plus contract without a fan base. There is no need for a game if you don’t have a fan base. You might as well stay home and play in your back your in front of your family and see how much they will pay you (no attention). Didn’t you go to school? Are you just a fool? With all of that being said, in order to have a clean your house, you first have to start by taking out the trash. As the wise old saying goes, you can’t keep doing the same thing expecting different results. Fans are passionate about the games to. When JJ leave Atlanta, he will probably end up with the same type of fate as Allen Iverson.
FansPayURSalary
May 11th, 2010
3:06 am
Continued…
Stats and scoring, etc. are important, but with the right ingredients (players), anything is possible. Chemistry and Culture is just as vital. No one wins a ring without the team effort. No one person can do it all by themselves. That is why it is called a team. People come and leave jobs everyday, for better or worse. Who knows what the outcome is of the road not taken? No one does, but life is about risk, but if the Hawks defeat themselves mentally as they did in the Semi finals they have lost the battle before even physically playing. As a player you have to be a student of the game willing an open to learn and be the best that you can be in any sports. I am not having any mercy on JJ.I appreciate what he did while he was here but your time is up. The Hawks lacked confidence and remained complacent. I gurantee if Doc Rivers coached the Hawks JJ probably would not be starter. He probably would be on the bench or being traded. I have seen players on one team seem mediocre and when the right opportunity comes along with a good team fit(chemistry) they some how blossom. This is the case of Jamal Crawford. In order to be great you have to be around great leaders, great listeners, great people, great passion, great student of the game willing to be great learner to be the best that you can be. There are no excuses. Atlanta Hawks will rise up with the right leadership and the right players with the right attitude. I will not by anyting else with Joe Johnson’s name on it. AL Hordford and Jamal-Have no fear, yall overcame the deer,break free and play your game because JJ won’t be here.
NahzT
May 11th, 2010
3:11 am
As a devout hawks fan, I am entirely disgusted at the moment. Our hawks just got victimized by the Orlando Magic. The Atlanta Hawks. By the Orlando Magic. I am fully aware of the vast disparity in coaching ability, floor mechanics, and fundamental strategy. Talent-wise, we are on par, barring nit picking discrepancies. This playoff blunder is appropriate in such a sad and yet befitting way. Atlanta as a city, was never truly planned. Our streets zig-zag in utter illogical fashion, and we name them all the same. “If you’re looking for a good time check out the corner of M.Williams and S.Williams”. We don’t make progressive decisions to invest in the mobility of this city, instead we build aquariums. “Mike Bibby will solve all our problems”. But when all else fails to provide us any legitimacy as a city, the one thing that will separate us from the rest will be the Coke Museum. “Cue Joe Johnson”. And yes, I just compared Joe Johnson to the Coke Museum.
Perry West
May 11th, 2010
10:30 am
D-WADE SUCKS
Julius Galler
May 11th, 2010
2:34 pm
I would do a sign and trade with Joe Johnson and get a good 3 point shooter, which he is not and an inside defender. Josh Smith is the star and Crawford is good enough to start. They need to spread the floor with a good penetrating guard which I believe Teague could be and have better 3 point shooting. The one-on-one ofense will only take you so far.
Michael
May 11th, 2010
2:49 pm
Please give Mike Woodson some help. We need a Big man at center, move Al back to his nature position and develope Teague.
D-WADE!!!
May 11th, 2010
3:29 pm
All Wade cares about is money! If the hawks come up with a top financial packages, with tons of cash, huge bonus and incentives, Wade will take the offer. He’ll want at least $20-$25 mil per year plus benefits, etc., but he’ll be worth all that cash.
MAXX
May 11th, 2010
9:10 pm
Bosh can play the 5 at an elite level, he does a great job Defensively against D. Howard, and Josh won’t have to necessarily take jumpers if he moves to the 3. I love the idea of Bosh. Joe is not a leader and crapped the bed in the playoffs. He’s a very good 2 guard, but he wants LeBron money, and he’s just not worth it. I’d pay more for Bosh, who is an elite player, than Joe, who is a 2nd tier player. If it comes down to Joe or Bosh, the answer is Bosh, no brainer
JMatt
May 12th, 2010
12:31 pm
Mark, you don’t keep a player because you can’t “find” anyone to replace him. Get rid of Johnson. His one-on-one needs don’t fit within a team offense concept. How about this? Go out and get a guy like John Salmons (who I think is a free agent). Trade J-Smooth and a first round pick to Golden State and see if you can get Stephen Curry (Smith and Horford play the same spot…no need for both). Then search for a true center in the off season. Someone who can give you 14 and 14 a night with a strong defensive prescence. BTW, Marvin is great off the bench but a bust starting. And bring back J-Chill….at least he brought energy and defensive prowness coming off the bench.
McNasty
May 16th, 2010
2:43 pm
IF the Hawks ever want to win big, we have to spend Big. Until then, Atlanta will always be a first-place loser.