99PROBL3MS

Even with the tple double he didn't play well. Lebron was 8-21 shooting (2-12 on jumpshots) and had a career high 9 turnovers. Someone needs to sit Lebron and Smoove down in the same room and just yell over and over "YOU ARE NOT A JUMPSHOOTER! GET TO THE RIM!" Lebron was 18-53 shooting the last 3 games. Joe was blasted unmercifully for shooting like that against a team nobody picked them to beat. 18-53 yet everyone is talking poor Lebron aqnd how bad his teammates are. If the Cavs had Wade instead of Lebron, they win that game tonight. That's my honest opinion.

Based on what? I would love to know your reasoning for this statement.

Where has JJ said he doesn't want to be here? Have you guys talked to him? Can you provide a link? If not where the heck are you guys getting that garbage from?

Oh no doubt. Woody definitely played his part in the dismay that turned out in the second round. I just don't think the Magic get enough credit for the job they did. Not only did SVG have a great gameplan, the players went out and executed it to a "T". Part of it was JJ having a bum shooting hand. Part of it was Woody's lack of adjustments. The biggest part of it in my opinion though, was the Magic executing and hitting on all cylinders. I'm just giving them there due on that.

x2 This is what it all boils down to. Whether we sink or swim in the immediate future will be in the moves we make around resigning JJ (of course if he walks we sink in my opinion). If signing JJ is the only major/important move made, we may win around 60 games in the regular season with a better coach BUT still might not have the pieces to get by Orlando. To do that, we must sign a C who can play Dwight Howard straight up. Brendan Haywood fits that bill perfectly. Haywood is certainly not a huge offensive threat but with JJ, Crawford, (Insert good scoring penetrating PG), Horf, and Josh, we won't need a Center to score alot of points. He can focus on shutting down the paint. Resigning JJ is a given in my honest opinion. Using Crawford as trade bait is a possibility to clear space for next years chance to reup Horford while also getting some cheaper quality players for this season. Maybe Marvin or Bibby can draw a suitor or two along with Bibby allowing us to clear enough cap space to keep both JJ and Horford. Hopefully it doesn't come down to being an either/or between JJ or Horf. If we lose either one we are SOL for the forseeable future.

Well, hopefully someone can convince thre Memphis Grizzlies that Marvin has great potential and we get restricted freeagent Rudy Gay in here on a SnT.

To me it says that SVG and the Magic had a hell of a gameplan to slow JJ down and it worked. SVG was smart enough to know that if he slowed JJ down we stood no chance regardless. The blowouts were embarrassing but I think it (and JJs struggles) had a lot more to do with what they were doing and not we weren't doing.

+1 I cosign. Forget all of that hateful nonsense. I hope lile heck he returns.

I was gonna type the exact same thing lol. No matter what kind of trade we came up with, we wouldn't get near equal value for JJ.I want him back even if Elmer Fudd is the coach. Look at the fate Lebron is suffering tonight in Clevelan's equally terrible offense. He looks just like JJ out there struggling while his shot won't fall. Barkley said it at halftime of this game. "Cleveland is so frustrating to watch because they don't play uptempto. I blame that on coaching. Its like the Atlanta Hawks. They just walk the ball up the court and give it to one guy to go 1-on-5. You can't win in the playoffs like that."

Come on now jsm. You know that comment was out of character and in the heat of the moment. I for one care if he comes back because it gives us a better chance to compete for a title and he is great with the fans. Me and me brother waited out in the freezing cold for the Hawks to get off the bus in Memphis this Feburary. JJ was more than happy to sign autographs for us while Smoove wouldn't give us the time of day. Horf and Marv were cool to sign too though. JJ was the first to make his way over though. What he said was clearly wrong but he does being an NBA star the right way.

So by asking that you remain classy in the Joe Johnson appreciation thread I am attacking you???? There are about 1,000 negative Joe Johnson threads floating around from earlier today you could have posted that in but whatever ma.

I am not arguing at all about how bad he has played Hotlanta. Not at all. Joe was bad this series. Yet and still, as a franchise, we would be crazy to base all of our offseason decisions on this one series. The picture is bigger than that. We have posters think Crawford is the answer for goodness sake. The biggest gripe I have with Joe is that he could get to the FT line alot more than he does. The only reason I mentioned Pierce was to illustrate that a 2nd tier star can be the key cog to a championship caliber team. I don't think this team in its current state can get any further than the 2nd round. Everyone seems so willing to let Joe walk or trade him for a freaking Kirk Hienrich. I don't want to see this team step back that far. If we add a true C, allowing Horford to play more at his natural position and a PG to get the ball out of Joe's hands I think this team is capable of getting out of the 2nd round. I don't know what to do with Josh. I think Horford could be the starting PF on a championship caliber team. Smoove has to realize the limitations of his game (no more 20ft Js) and stop whining to the refs so much. As far as what I have seen the past 5 seasons, this team just has so many holes. We haven't had a hole at the sg position though. (with the exception of this series of course) Barnes and Peitrus are two of the most tenacious on ball defenders in the game. Knowing that D12 has there back at the rim gives them the ability to be that much more aggressive. I have seen Barnes and Peitrus give Kobe and Lebron absolute fits this year. Joe missed alot of shots we have seen him make routinely all year. Sucks for him and sucks for us but it is what it is.

The numbers were mentioned in jest. Pierce and Joe are the same caliber of player. I understand there are different nuances to their games. My point was on that Boston team, Pierce was good enough to be a Finals MVP. If we had Paul Pierce instead of JJ I don't believe the results (as a team would be any different). I mentioned that, because the biggest rap I see JJ catching is that he can't "carry" this team to a championship level. Well we don't have a championship caliber team. Most of that isn't JJs fault. Lebron is the most dominate player in the game and has been for the better part of 4 seasons. The Magic whooped him too when he was asked to go 1-on-5 and create for his teammates. If we want more than a 2nd round exit we need a team capable of more. It doesn't come down to one player. Letting JJ walk doesn't get us any closer to being a ECF or Finals caliber team.

You stay classy man.

That is actually the point. Paul Pierce and Joe Johnson are what we would consider 2nd tier stars. Pierce was good enough to shine on the brightest stage there is because he had the pieces around him to win the title. People complain about JJ not being able to carry us to a championship but this team isn't built like a championship caliber team. Where is the Rondo? Where is the Garnett? Where is the Ray Allen. This team is built to likely make a 2nd round exit. That is the stone cold truth. People want to place all that blame on Joe for not being able to "carry" this team any further. There isn't a player in the league who could have replaced Joe in our lineup and "carried" this team past Orlando. People say we will never be more than a 2nd round team with joe as our best player. No other SG/SF in the NBA would have been capable of "carrying" this team out of the 2nd round the past two years. Ask Lebron. He knows exactly how Joe feels right now. :help wanted:

I'm on board and have been saying this also. Paul Pierce averaged 19.7pts, 5rebs, 4.6 assist and was the finals MVP. JJ can be every bit as good as that and probably better. He needs help man. Everyone keeps talking about JJ not being able to get his team to the Finals. It takes a great cast of players to win a title or even get to the ECF for that matter. No one player can do it.

One thing I thought that would give us a chance in this series was being able to abus Rashard Lewis. I figured we would post him up and be able to get easy buckets against him. Smoove should be punshing Lewis down there. The problem is Josh wants to play 20ft out and face up shooting jumpers like he is Lewis. The same could be said for Matt Barnes. Post him up with Josh. That way they would have to play JJ straight up.

Good post. Sad but all of it is true. I guess it makes us feel better to just think of JJ as the big bad wolf.

I am with you NineOh. During his time with the Hawks, Joe has been one of the most cordial All-star players in the entire NBA. He is a far cry from the arrogance that we see from other NBA players in his stature on a daily basis. He always signs autographs, treats the people of ATL like human beings etc.This is his first PR screw up and it comes after the worst 3 game stretch of his time with the Hawks on the biggest stage he has been on with the Hawks. Suprise, suprise. This definitely appears out of character and in the heat of the moment.

Larry Brown loves Woody. If Brown takes that front office job in Philly, it wouldn't suprise me to see him bring Woody in along with JJ.

Good post niremetal. I don't see how it is JJs fault Smoove thinks he has range 20ft+

2008 Paul Pierce says yes he can. Get a PG that can handle the ball and take pressure off of him and a coach that believes the amswer isn't letting Joe go 1 on 5 all game. Lebron can't even win like that.

:write a letter: Would you not be more concerned if he was happy go lucky duriing these beatdowns and the worst games of his careers?

My dream scenario for this team is Crawford and Evans expiring contracts for CP3. Resigning JJ. Adding a Center this season such as Haywood. His experiment didn't work out in Dallas. Give me two enforcers for the bench like Chuck Hayes and Kurt Thomas as well as Bibby coming from the bench. Draft a scoring guard forward and get a coach who believes in preaching offense as well as defense. I think Sund owes it to himself to see what this group is capable of with a coach of his choosing.

I know you hate JJ bigtime but saying Marvin is better than JJ is comical. What doesn Marvin do better than Joe? I mean really? As far as %, Marvin gets far more open looks than.....you know what. Nevermind. Keep going haha.