Sekou's musings re JJ

[DrReality]

From today's AJC

— How much more of this will Joe Johnson take before he blows up on a teammate, a coach or a Hawks executive about having to carry the entire load? (I know, nobody has to feel sorry for him on payday and all that noise. But just because you sign for the big bucks doesn’t mean you sign up to be ground into dust in the prime of your career because there isn’t adequate support around you).

— Who else might be ready to explode now that the good vibrations of early November have subsided? No one likes losing for prolonged periods of time. No one.

I guess the speculations that all is not well in Hawk's land was close to home. I don't think he would print this without some foundation. Is the timebomb ticking?

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I would love to see Woody shake up the lineup a bit, just to see if he can get a positive response out of the team.

How about this lineup to start the game:

G - Salim

G - JJ

F - Childress

F - Shelden

C - Solomon

You don't have to stay with this group for long. Just stay with them to see what kind of energy we can come out with to start the game.

If you go with this lineup, you're basically telling Speedy, Marvin, and ZaZa to step up their games. I'd still play those 3 at least 30 minutes, unless Salim and Solomon really responded to being in the starting lineup.

But it's the type of thing a coach can do to really shake up his team, and try to get a positive response.

Salim is a "me-guy", so he may not even deserve to start. But I've long said that even with all of his flaws, Salim has the "mentality" of a big time scorer in this league, even if he can't run the point one lick. A lot of people don't like the fact that Salim looks to shoot everytime he gets the ball. But that's the "scorers" mentality. The vast majority of the great scorers in this league have that mentality. With Salim, it's all about him taking good shots in rhythm, and not forcing the issue. And with the offense struggling, JJ would have two guys to possibly get the ball to in Salim and Childress.

With that lineup, you could alternate who brings the ball up the court between JJ, Salim, and Chill . . while keeping Shelden in the game for muscle and rebounding, and having an active body like Solomon in the game.

If it works, Woody looks like a genius, and may go with that group to start games for a while. If it doesn't, Woody can always say that he was just trying to shake up a few people.

When you're in a freefall like we are right now, I'm game for any lineup change, for the good of the team.

[HawksFan87]

Salim never takes good shots he comes into the game chucking , Claxton is healthy enough to start so he will continue to do so...

[Guest Walter]

JJ shouldn't be 2nd in the league in MPG. He's averaging 41.6 MPG, 1 more MPG than last year, and this is despite a calf injury which should have at least limited his MPG short term. He's carrying too much of the load when he's in the game and he's in the game too much. JJ isn't necessarily the kind of guy that will bil over, but he sure will simmer and over time we might just ruin him (for us).

W

[HawksFan87]

I think JJ will be happy when he gets both Lue and Smoove back he has'nt been playing that well since they both got hurt. I hate it for JJ he deserves a rest I mean there's really no point in playing JJ all these minutes if we are down by 20 + points

[hawkman]

Quote:

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From today's AJC

— How much more of this will Joe Johnson take before he blows up on a teammate, a coach or a Hawks executive about having to carry the entire load? (I know, nobody has to feel sorry for him on payday and all that noise. But just because you sign for the big bucks doesn’t mean you sign up to be ground into dust in the prime of your career because there isn’t adequate support around you).

— Who else might be ready to explode now that the good vibrations of early November have subsided? No one likes losing for prolonged periods of time. No one.

I guess the speculations that all is not well in Hawk's land was close to home. I don't think he would print this without some foundation. Is the timebomb ticking?

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I love JJ but he needs to man up. He wanted to come to Atlanta to be THE man and he is paid handsomely to do so. With all due respect, he signed on for this and should have known what he was getting into when he came here. I can understand him being tired or even coming back slowly after his calf injury, but him blowing up at management or a teamate due to the frustration of the current situation is not acceptable. A leader is still a leader when things go bad. Whatever is going on right now, he needs to play through it. It's what he gets paid to do.

[DrReality]

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JJ shouldn't be 2nd in the league in MPG. He's averaging 41.6 MPG, 1 more MPG than last year, and this is despite a calf injury which should have at least limited his MPG short term. He's carrying too much of the load when he's in the game and he's in the game too much. JJ isn't necessarily the kind of guy that will bil over, but he sure will simmer and over time we might just ruin him (for us).

W

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I think this will catch up with him. Too many minutes with a lot of stress makes him very vulnerable to being injured.

[DrReality]

Sekou posted this for tomorrow:

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/h.../0103hawks.html

Maybe this is what JJ needs. Someone to step up for him as a leader.

[hawkman]

Quote:

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Sekou posted this for tomorrow:

http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/h.../0103hawks.html

Maybe this is what JJ needs. Someone to step up for him as a leader.

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But Marv has to back that up with his play. Remember, Lo was brought in for leadership in the locker room but his play kind of nullifies that. Marv has to do more than just settle for jump shots and play bad defense. He has the tools, this is a great opportunity to step up.

[Guest Walter]

AJC

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Williams took the practice floor by storm Tuesday during the Hawks' first workout of 2007, serving as the team's vocal leader during drills and situational work.

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No doubt we need something. Maybe MW has a mean streak I don't know about.

W

[Plainview1981]

Quote:

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JJ shouldn't be 2nd in the league in MPG. He's averaging 41.6 MPG, 1 more MPG than last year, and this is despite a calf injury which should have at least limited his MPG short term. He's carrying too much of the load when he's in the game and he's in the game too much. JJ isn't necessarily the kind of guy that will bil over, but he sure will simmer and over time we might just ruin him (for us).

W

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Most anybody could have saw this coming even after the 4-1 start. JJ isn't a top 5 player and can't carry that type of load. I tried to tell ya even after the 4-1 start that JJ was carrying too much of a burden and would wear out by midseason.

[Guest Walter]

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JJ shouldn't be 2nd in the league in MPG. He's averaging 41.6 MPG, 1 more MPG than last year, and this is despite a calf injury which should have at least limited his MPG short term. He's carrying too much of the load when he's in the game and he's in the game too much. JJ isn't necessarily the kind of guy that will bil over, but he sure will simmer and over time we might just ruin him (for us).

W

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Most anybody could have saw this coming even after the 4-1 start. JJ isn't a top 5 player and can't carry that type of load. I tried to tell ya even after the 4-1 start that JJ was carrying too much of a burden and would wear out by midseason.

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I simply cannot imagine the toll of 82 games where you are expected to be the team's leader, are the team's only real scoring option, play 42 MPG, and are constantly double and occasionally triple teamed.

Anybody here ever play semi-pro or pro basketball? Any glimpse into what the weight of the world must feel like, anyone?

W

[Yeti]

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How about this lineup to start the game:

G - Salim

G - JJ

F - Childress

F - Shelden

C - Solomon

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Replace Shelden with Este.

[Plainview1981]

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JJ shouldn't be 2nd in the league in MPG. He's averaging 41.6 MPG, 1 more MPG than last year, and this is despite a calf injury which should have at least limited his MPG short term. He's carrying too much of the load when he's in the game and he's in the game too much. JJ isn't necessarily the kind of guy that will bil over, but he sure will simmer and over time we might just ruin him (for us).

W

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Most anybody could have saw this coming even after the 4-1 start. JJ isn't a top 5 player and can't carry that type of load. I tried to tell ya even after the 4-1 start that JJ was carrying too much of a burden and would wear out by midseason.

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I simply cannot imagine the toll of 82 games where you are expected to be the team's leader, are the team's only real scoring option, play 42 MPG, and are constantly double and occasionally triple teamed.

Anybody here ever play semi-pro or pro basketball? Any glimpse into what the weight of the world must feel like, anyone?

W

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You just could see it all coming. That 4-1 start was luck. Heck, the team couldn't even finish around the basket on a consistant basis. That was a pretty good sign the winning wasn't going to last.

Kobe sort of carried the Lakers into the playoffs. Sure they have Odom, but he hasn't allways been a consistant offensive player when Kobe Bryant is on the floor. After that, Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Chris Mihm aren't any better than what the Hawks have.

But there is Kobe/Lebron and Wade of sorts... But JJ isn't in that class. Really, this is probably the role only a Kobe Bryant could fill.