Joe Johnson NEEDS TO...

[y2kenta]

STEP UP!!! And stay the F'K UP!!!

He needs to STOP SLEEP WALKING through games waiting for Marvin and the Joshes to take over games and get the D off of him. HE IS THE LEADER of a young inexperienced team who possess the tools to be an very exciting, explosive team. TRUE: It is very evident that a battle-tested vet PG who penetrates and shoots pretty decent is our biggest need. But the Hawks are blowing opportunity after opportunity to get a lot of wins and make the road to the playoffs a lot easier. And as the LEADER, a lot of the fault has to fall on JJ.

He's always shown that he can't be stopped when he's aggressive and he has his shot falling inside, mid, and outside. But he has not been demanding the ball, he has not been running to the ball to take big shots, and he has not been very confident on the offensive end all year.

Last year, the supporting cast was not prducing as much and the defense was even tougher because of that, and Joe put up 25ppg! Why isn't he even close to doing that this year? Though he is playing strong tough defense, he doesn't have to same look on offense this year and his shot doesn't look as sharp. I wonder if Woody is demanding too much from JJ on D and if that could be casuing his offensive struggles?

We need JOE to be JOE!!! Not Josh to be Joe or Marvin to be Joe!!! Joe has to be our Kobe/ Wade/ Lebron - our star leader, especially in games where the offense is sputtering!

[Brotha2ThaNite]

I agree with you too. I wonder does JJ think of himself as the leader of this team.

I have stated this before... Big Al was on 680 the fan radio about 1 week ago. They asked him something about the vet. leadership on this team and Big Al named M-William, J-Smoove and Lo. He did not say JJ that made me wonder. Maybe I'm fishing too much but it just caught me by surprise.

[foeteen14]

I agree JJ needs to step it up. The problem i have with JJ is the he misses too many wide open or lightly contested shots, that is why he does not average 28 ppg. its not because defenses double him, all good players get doubled but the greats get theirs, and you better believe the greats do not miss many open shots, they make the other team pay everytime the opposing defense makes a mistake. Joe doesn't.

So now that i really look at it objectively i see that joe is not a star in the NBA, he is a middle of the pack second tier play. he's like rip hamilton, rashard lewis, and vince carter, he's no kobe, bron, nash, dirk, or wade, he's better than steven jackson, ray allen, and jamal crawford. he is what he is, i believe he played above his head last year and now JJ is just coming back to earth.

so in light of this, i think JJ needs to be more selective with his shots. maybe instead of settling for the slightly contested three, he should pump fake take a couple of dribbles and shoot the open mid range jumper. cut down on the fade aways; he may need to get the josh smith treatment, at least until he shows (this year) that he is consistant enough to warrant the amount of shots he takes.

I love joe, but i watch game after game of him missing shots stars make, i guess it will be easier seeing him miss those shots now that i realize he is not a star.

[coachx]

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I agree with you too. I wonder does JJ think of himself as the leader of this team.

I have stated this before... Big Al was on 680 the fan radio about 1 week ago. They asked him something about the vet. leadership on this team and Big Al named M-William, J-Smoove and Lo. He did not say JJ that made me wonder. Maybe I'm fishing too much but it just caught me by surprise.

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I remember him specifically stating Lo and AJ as veterans who give vocal leadership in the locker room.

I was suprised JJ was not mentioned as well.

[AHF]

My main frustration with Joe this year has been the slide in his attitude. I can't figure out why he isn't more positive and upbeat about this team. The last two years they did not have the firepower to compete in the East. This year, they have the talent and his teammates are maturing into legit players. He should be more excited now than ever before but it seems like he is actually more down on the team than ever before.

[TheDude]

one of the problems is that at the end of games, everyone in the building knows he's getting the ball...and he's doubleteamed farther out so he can't get open....they are even screening him high so when he goes wide to start the drive, he has to go wide and out...i think the other players have to help bail him out when this happens..

whenever a player is doubleteamed, that means someone else is open, we have to get better at setting up the offense to prepare for that so passes can be made easier.

in any case our halfcourt offense is horrible.

[Brotha2ThaNite]

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I agree with you too. I wonder does JJ think of himself as the leader of this team.

I have stated this before... Big Al was on 680 the fan radio about 1 week ago. They asked him something about the vet. leadership on this team and Big Al named M-William, J-Smoove and Lo. He did not say JJ that made me wonder. Maybe I'm fishing too much but it just caught me by surprise.

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I remember him specifically stating Lo and AJ as veterans who give vocal leadership in the locker room.

I was suprised JJ was not mentioned as well.

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You maybe right but... He did say M-Williams too. I remember that well because I said to myself, "maybe that is why they got into that fight during practice. Maybe M-Williams were getting onto JJ about stepping up his game." If you remember JJ was in a bad shooting slump.

[Packfill]

The concern with JJ is that maybe last year was just a career year and that he will not reach that level of play on a consistent basis again.