99PROBL3MS

I have been disappointed in Al's effort lately. Smoove crashed the boards liked a mad man laatnight. If Al have that same effort, we win that game convincingly. In a game with 70+ missed shots, your Center haas to get more than 4 rebounds in 41 minutes.

Yea Smoove was pb the boards like a mad man. I just wish he didn't settle for 7 outside shots ib the 1st half. He could have gotten whatever he wanted inside against Scola tonight. He played a very good all-around game.

Choking? Joe and Smoove scored practically all of our points in the 4th and kept us in the game. Yet as usual, they are the scapegoats. I am disappointed in Horford for disappearing yet again. Of course no one wants to talk about that though.

Good post. I think the biggest factor between Joe and Kobe, Durant, Wade etc. is that he is so much stronger than those guys and plays right through the contact that refs are reluctant to blow the whistle. Lebron is the other player with that size and capability but he is somewhat protected by the league and gets the calls. If you touch his headband, you get a foul. My advice for Joe to just keep driving. The only SGs that average more shots at the rim that Joe are Ellis, Wade, Gordon, Derozan, and S.Jackson. He just needs to keep posting up and keep driving.

J-J-J-J-Joe Johnson.

Funny and ironic that you say that. Phoenix ended up getting Diaw and Raja Bell out off that trade/picks. PHO had the best record in the NBA Joe's last year and there is no telling how salty they could have been with Nash, Joe, and Amare. We got the better end of that deal.

I won't debate that he could average more points if he got to the line more because that is an obvious truth. As down as his scoring is this season, there is still only 11 players who average more ppg on less shots. That is with him not getting to the line as he should. My point about his role in the offense is that it has certainly decreased over the past few weeks. It is no where near what it once was. As I posted in a previous thread, while he has averaged 16 fga/pg, he has only taken more 16+ 7 times in the last 25 games. We are 5-2 in those games. On the season, we are 21-10 when he gets at least 16 shots and 14-17 when he doesn't. I think that sample size is big enough to speak for itself. He has only averaged 12.6 shots in the month of March at 47.7%. We are 4-6 over that span. Over that 25 game span I referred to, he is averaging 13.25 fga/pg, 5.6 of which were in the paint. That is far below that 16.3 fga/gm. In January he averaged 18.7 fga/pg 8.8 of which were in the paint. In my opinion, some of that is his fault for not being more selfish and demanding with the basketball. Some of that is also due in part to how we currently run our offense. Over that same span, Smoove is averaging 14.5 fga/pg. I don't have a problem with that because that is what he has averaged all year. I'm not saying we should go Iso-Joe at all. Nique says virtually before every game that the Hawks must make a concerted effort to get Joe going offensively. That is one of his keys to victory 99% of the time. I just think that we haven't done that as much the past two months and it is effecting us in the win/loss column. The only player on the team that is down in shot attempts is Joe. It is as if we have 3 first options on this team and as he said, "I just don't think we understand who should get the ball."

The ironic thing is that he attempts less long jumpers and more shots in the paint than our PF and C. He has the handles, footwork, and savvy to get to the FT line nearly 10 times a game but hasn't been as aggressive as years past. A big part of that is him just not being as aggressive but another big part is his reduced role in the offense. As long as he is healthy and ready to produce at a high level in the playoffs we will hopefully get what we need from Joe. Having known the guy for years I would say he underachiever based on what we saw him becoming. While he lacks the sheer athleticism that Kobe, Lebron, etc. started their careers with, his versatility should have propelled him to bigger heights. I would say he has underachieved but still has had a very good career. He has had a few injuries this year (elbow, hand, thumb, knee, head etc). We just need him ready for the playoffs. When he was at his healthiest in January he produced up to his salary and as a team we were as tough to beat as anyone. We just need him healthy and aggressive. I am one of the few (and perhaps the only one lol) who still has faith in Joe.

I agree 100%. That is what he should do. He has done it every year up until this one. He just flat pour has to be more aggressive with the ball. We win 70% of the time when he is aggressive and gets his shots up. If Drew won't say anything then he has to.

Joe did mention "shaking things up" a couple times in that interview.

I agree. He has to play more inside. There is absolutely no way he should be taking as many jumpers from 16-23ft as Joe. His shot has improved vastly but shooting 39% when you are wiiiiiide open isn't good. I like what Smoove brings to the table when he decides to bring it. He averages the same number of shots in the paint as Joe and takes more long two pointers. That shouldn't be the case. I just hope by some miracle he wakes up when day and it just clicks.

Good post. You heard it in Joe's interview after the Bulls game when he said: "Everybody on this team knows their role. Everybody on this team knows what we have to do to win. But, yet and still we don't come out and do it. We're a team that sits in this lockeroom all the time and talks about what we got to do. What we need to do. Then go out on the floor, and do things out of our character. Things that's not within ourselves. And it makes us all look bad. UNTIL WE GET THAT PART OF THE GAME DOWN, WE WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK BAD. Like I said, we all know what to do on the court. We all know what to do on the court to make us a better team. We have had countless meetings throughout the season that have meant NOTHING." So I don't konw what to say about it " If these meetings have taken place, and Smoove's teammates have talked to him about his issue with taking ill-advised jumpers and he is ignoring them, then he should be traded. I hope he buys in at some point, but what we see now certainly isn't promising

I agree that he should post up 10xs as much as he does. There isn't a SG in this league that could guard him there. Drew said from the start that his plan was to not rely on Joe so much offensively. I was just pointing out that when he gets enough shots up, we are much more likely to win. Alot of that is on him since this is supposed to be his team. The rest of it falls squarely on Drew for how the gameplan is tailored. I'm not saying go Iso for 40 minutes, but we sould definitely play through him in the post more. Smoove has the ability to post up successfully also but I won't count on seeing too much of that from him either. I really don't have a problem with Horford facing up and staying on the perimeter some because he is not good down in the post. At least not yet. It just seems like as the year has progressed, he has become much more apt to just stand on the perimeter or in the corner as opposed to posting or moving without the ball. Heck, I guess I could say that about the entire team, but it starts with Joe. Whether he likes it or not.

I agree. He should be far more demanding than he is. Things may be reaching the point where he is left with no choice though. This isn't his first parting shot. He and Al both need to stop up and say what needs to be said, even if it is away from the public.

[quote name='plskeepbibby' timestamp='1300982071' post='502333' Me thinks Joe should worry about his own sorry a$$ game. If he is gonna start pointing fingers he needs to start with himself... Well, what do you suggest he do? Take even less shots? The guy needs become a bigger factor in the offense than what he has become for us to be more successful. He has only gotten more than 15 shots in 7 of the last 25 games. We are 5-2 in those 7 games. We are 21-10 when he gets more than 15 shots. We are 14-17 when he gets less than 15. He needs to become a bigger part of the offense. As I said, he definitely plays his part but he isn't being utilized as a true first option for this team. The more shots he gets up, the more we win. The less involved he is offensively, the more likely we lose. We really do go as his offense does.

No one said he was great but we lost 7 home games all year under Woodson with the same team. Under Drew we have more 20+ blowout losses at home than home losses period. Woodson sucked on the road and 2nd round of the playoffs but he didn't suck at home like Coach Drew does.

I agree. I hope he gets canned tonight. I am tired of him pacing the sidelines like a damn zombie during these embarrassing home losses. I am tied of him allowing Joe too stand around on offense and not new the aggressive scorer he used to be. I am tied of him allowing Smoove to jack bad shot after bad shot. I am tired off his motionless offense. I should go on but iIhope they pull the plug on Drew.

We need the players around him to play well so CHI can't double team. If he gets single coverage, he will have a big night.

Lol what player doesn't do better against the bad teams than they do the good teams. Some if you guys go too far out of your way to bash Joe........smh. Wow!

His assist have dipped because his teammates have stopped making shots they made more consistently in the past. His scoring had dipped because his 3pt short isn't falling and teams are doubling him all game. Joe isn't Kobe but Dwight Howard may be the only player in the league who sees more double teams. I understand that part of your purpose is to dog him beyond belief, but you have started to go beyond reason. When his teammates start consistently making teams pay for the constant double teams, his numbers will go back up.

Teams have figured out that all they have to do is double Joe and leave Smoove wide open for 3/long two. The Heat are a great defensive team but there has to be a way to get Al and Joe more quality shots.

True. Joe would have scored 50 if the game wasn't so out of hand.

Please tell me you are joking? Igoudala has only score more than 16pts 17xs this season in 55 games. Igoudala has only scored 20+12 times on the season. Joe has scored 16pts+ in 32 of 58 games. He also has twice as many 20+pt games. You can get by with Lebron, Kobe, and Wade but Iggy? Please......

I never said you should have sympathy for him. I also never said he wasn't overpaid. It is hypocritical to hold him to a standard no one else would. Why should he have asked to be paid less? Would you do that your current job? I am the highest paid employee at my job also. I'm not going to renegotiate my salary for their sake. I doubt any of us would. The NBA is a business. You can be mad at ASG for offering him the contract but how in the world does it make him selfish to sign it? If he had 300M in endorsements like Lebron that would be different. I just disagree with you claiming he is some smug, selfish, arrogant NBA player when he is actually the opposite.

It is obvious that you have no sympathy for him. I don't have a source but having known the guy, he has NEVER come across as arrogant. He is one of the few NBA players that sees his profession for what it is as opposed to thinking he is God's gift to the world. Now is is selfish? Wow. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, so it is what it is.