The New Era of Joe Johnson
by hawksdawgs on Jan 28, 2009 9:56 AM EST
7 comments
via api.ning.com
I am a Joe Johnson fan.
My buddy's arm has been bruised on more than one occasion because of repeated blows to his triceps as I screamed "Joe "freakin" Johnson" to anyone who would listen. I have run up and down the aisle, arms out stretched at least years playoff game against Boston, prepared to begin small time worship of this man from Arkansas.
I was a proponent of the sign and trade from the very beginning. I was tired of seeing free agents like Samuel Dalenbert barely even sniff at visiting Atlanta. I was sick of the Hawks being, at best, a leverage point for middle of the road players to get better contracts to play somewhere else. The Hawks were going to have to pay a premium tax to get anything that resembled a first option here.
I do think, and will argue with you if you choose to disagree, that Joe Johnson is a main cog in the wheel of about three cogs that has slowly turned this franchise around to where it is today (a wheel that is admittedly only about half way around a full rotation).
Certain people do not agree with what I just wrote. Some still question how much was given up to sign Joe. Some do not believe he is an all star talent or even a first option guy. But for Joe's first three full years in Atlanta, those have been broad based, impersonal critiques. They were expressions of dissatisfaction with ownership. No one blamed Joe for taking the money. Or they were general expression of perceived fact. Joe is never going to be an all nba player. You could agree or disagree with the person's line of reasoning but the conversation never really delved into how Joe's play last night affected the win or loss.
Because what was there to say? The team was winning 26-37 wins largely on shoulders of Joe. If he took the last second shot with a hand his face even though a second year Marvin Williams was wide open, were fans really going to be upset? If he scored 32 points on 10-25 shooting, were you going to fret about how horrible this was for the team? No, you were worried if Zaza was going to have more turnovers than minutes or if Josh Smith was going to shoot half court 3 pointers with 15 seconds to go on the shot clock.
Joe often did too much because he was asked to and he had to and it was hard to fault a man working that hard and succeeding that frequently the few times he stunk up the joint.
All this to say, things have now officially changed...
The era of Joe Johnson is not without the "freakin." The man is still the mvp of this team, but now, the true sign of legitimacy is on him and that is the burden of expectations.
And with expectations comes criticism. Real, specific critique.
Joe's is still the leader and the go to guy, but the Hawks' ability to win is now the only sign of success, and the blame for losses will be placed on his shoulders more often than not.
Those last second shots where Marvin is in the corner open? Those cannot end as contested jumpers off the hand of Joe. Those poor shooting nights? Those cannot end with a stat line 6-23 from the field. And if they do, Joe can expect some choice words from the media and fans because now, whether fair or not, fans believe the Hawks should be winning. The nothing to lose attitude is no longer around to offer quick forgiveness for a bad night.
And this new era will take some real effort. The attitude of other players can no longer be "defer to Joe because it's not like I am going do any better." And Joe has to realize that. Certainly teams are going to game plan for Joe like they always have. Now though, on a winning team, Mr. Johnson's has to change from "how can I beat this team despite their focus" to simply "how can we win."
And some may say that is obvious, or easy, or already done, but I think the transition is harder than most would believe for both Joe and his teammates. But it is a transition that needs to start happening now.
***Note***
I started this post last night, and now, I wish I posted it then too because Mr. Sekou Smith has already added a bit of kindling for my fire. Mike Woodson has lowered, if ever so slightly, his standard "Joe, man, he is our all-star, and we ask so much of him, other guys just have to pick him up when he has an off night" quote.
“I’ve got find a way to get him some better shots and to get him some more looks at the free-throw line,” Woodson said. “Because there’s no doubt teams are going to try and knock the starch out of him physically and hope that knocks our entire team off balance. And that is, again, where Joe has to be smart in how he’s playing. He has to trust the guys around him and know when to create for them and when he has to attack. And I have the utmost confidence in Joe that he’ll do exactly that.”
Here is to hoping for a nice start for a new era.
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So last summer
when the Hawks were moving at a snails pace in their efforts to re-sign Josh Smith. I did a 20 minute free write and here’s an excerpt. after a few long minutes of rambling
I don’t understand how Josh Smith can bear the brunt of the responsibility for everything that ails this team when he’s still on his rookie contract, while Joe gets to mosey on through season after season never taking any responsibility for the team’s shortcomings. He’s the max player on this team so if they aren’t winning shouldn’t he take a little heat for that. When the Lakers are losing Kobe gets the blame, when the LeBron’s are losing people ask LeBron to do more, when the Rockets fail to get out of the first round time and time again, people blame T-Mac. They don’t blame the role players. Somehow Joe has been able to escape all criticism. It’s really mind blowing. I can’t explain it.
You can read the whole thing here if you’d like.
Anyway, I totally agree with you and I’m constantly telling anyone who will listen (specifically during the closing minutes of the fourth quarter) Joe is working way to hard to get his shot off, or Joe is doing way too much right now, or everyone else is just standing around with their hands by their sides and so forth and so on. I don’t know if it’s just the fact that Joe doesn’t trust his teammates or if it has more to do with him still thinking he’s the team’s first second and third best option. When he’s on he is the best option and hell sometimes when he’s off he’s the best option, but like you said he has to make better plays at the end of the game. I wrote about that once too. Care for another excerpt?
Every shot Joe takes is not a good shot. I know that may be a hard pill for some folks to swallow, but when he has two guys on him and he has to spin and fade away just to get the shot off, not a good shot.
Excellent posts, Drew and Coco.
I remember an argument I had with my dad about how wrong he thought the Hawks were in overpaying a “modest” talent like JJ back when they went to sign him. I defended the Hawks, explaining that even if he wasn’t all that great, a precedent needed to be set regarding the direction of the team, even if it came at the cost of overpaying a few folks. Drew has put his finger exactly on that.
But it is true…times have changed, and there are many tools in the arsenal now, and Joe has to be thanked for that (and ya’ll might want to throw Woody a rare bone for helping develop these people). And now Joe has to trust his teammates.
The more Hawks games I see this year the more I notice that he does trust them in quarters 1-3. However, how many assists versus shots does Joe accrue in the 4th? Especially in crunch time, he appears to be much more inclined to shoot even if he is double-teamed when another is standing open under the basket (I have seen him do this with Horford on a pick and roll countless times). There’s a psychology here that is rubbing off on the whole team, and it’s that “we are going to do things differently at the end because that’s when we’re going to win the game.” I have little doubt that it is part of the reason the Hawks collectively tend to start so slowly but are one of the best 4th quarter teams in the league (as the Miami announcers noted on Monday, with the statistics to back it up).
Woodson talks about playing 48 minutes every night, but this is truly where the rubber does not meet the road with his coaching (I think some of that other stuff he says is just what he wants in the players’ minds—he doesn’t talk about 3-pointers because he wants the team focused on defense)—he talks a lot about playing the right way all the time but does not expect it from his star. And everyone else follows the star’s lead.
The Hawks are living very dangerously this way. Right now, if JJ hits those triple-covered jumpers, they win, and if he doesn’t, they lose. And lately 50/50 has pretty much been the winning percentage too.
It can’t hold if they aspire to the next level.
Good points all
And well said. I will, however, disagree with you rbubp on Woody developing these guys. None of the players drafted or aquired since Woody was hired are any different than they were before coming into the league or to the team. I would even venture to sy that some have regressed (Marvin) before showing any signs of progression with their game. Smith is doing the same thing he did in high school, the only thing Marvin is doing any better at is three point shooting, and Horford’s game is the same as it was at Florida.
Not one player has shown a vast improvement since coming to the Hawks under Woody and I’m doubtful that will ever change.
no improvement?
i got to believe Marvin has improved since he got here. The man could not dribble and run at the same time when he came into the league.
And Josh Smith is maddening but much improved.
I am perfectly fine with not giving Woodson much credit for player development. It probably comes mostly from off season practice, private coaches, and experience.
One thing i will give Woodson credit for is how these young players are learning to play defense or at least make team defense a priority.
No
Not “no improvement”, just not a vast improvement. If you do the same thing for three years, I’d like to believe that you would at least get somewhat better at doing that. I should not have used the word improvement though, because my point was development of their game as a whole.
Sure, Josh is defending better than he did his rookie year but what about his jump shot? It surely has not improved. Marvin can dribble better than his rookie year, but only recently has he started to drive to the basket like he did in college. Marvin’s 3pt game has improved a large amount just from last season, but I could also argue that has more to do with Mark Price than Woodson. By and large, none of our players have developed their game beyond what it was when they arrived here.
Woodson lacks the ability to adjust during a game to take advantage of personnel mis-matches, and we all know he is never going to adjust his game plan or sets during a game, so what evidence is there to support the statement that Woodson is responsible for any player development? May I offer Acie Law as evidence of that? If Woodson helped players develop their game, then wouldn’t we see more Acie Law than we do? He sure isn’t developing sitting on the bench or watching JJ/Flip play 1 vs 4.
I would say that any development, and possibly simple improvement in what already exists, comes from experience, practice, and anything the players themselves initiated. Of course, this is all an opinion base don what I’ve seen over the last few years, so your mileage may vary.
They share the ball
until the last 5 minutes of the 4th qtr then they are in a competition to see who can have the best worst 1 on 4 possession.
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