MC vs. JJ.......what happened?!?!?!?

[HawkItus]

http://blogs.ajc.com/hawks/2012/05/09/atlanta-hawks-hawks-87-celtics-86/?cxntfid=blogs_hawksThis is the second article where MC seems to be taking Joe to task. What did Joe do to piss of MC? I'm loving it though. Maybe this will spark a little fire in JJ or make the guys rally around him and play harder. Either way it will benefit the team.

[Supporter]

It's no secret that MC is more towards the Josh Smith style of basketbal than the JJ system. Ugh, MC's blog is starting to become like Hoopinion's pessimistic Bret Lagree. Both these guys obviously feel that Josh doesn't do wrong on the court and that JJ is the killer of the team....pathetic.

Edited May 9, 2012 by Supporter

[AHF]

Both these guys obviously feel that Josh doesn't do wrong on the court and that JJ is the killer of the team....pathetic.

Here was the comment on Josh's bad possessions;

[Josh is] a tough guy but he sometimes tries to play the same way gimpy as when he’s well. The jump shots weren’t falling and there were some bad turnovers while trying to run the break

The Hawks survived some tense final moments after Rajon Rondo stole Josh’s pass. “I didn’t think he was going to get it,” Josh said. “He’s got that long wingspan and long fingers. He was able to make a huge play for them. We came back down and I quickly washed the memory out of my head.”

[Joker]

Iso Joe is stupid since he doesn't really work as much anymore. Joe is clearly not a #1 option. Atlanta issue is no one is. The best thing we did was let Josh create at the top of the key for Al or Marvin but the problem with that is Josh doesn't always make a smart decision. It's like damn if you do, damn if you don't.

[Supporter]

Here was the comment on Josh's bad possessions;

Compare those quotes with MC's view of JJ's play...1. Sure, because otherwise the Hawks lose this game and the story might be about how Joe managed just four points on six shots in the second half and bogged down the offense by constantly being indecisive until help came and he dribbled away from the basket.2. I supposed he made Joe happy by helping him get 17 shots for his 15 points while Teague made due with six fewer shots for his 16.There is a difference in the tone when he talks about Josh's play and Joe's play

[Admin]

Compare those quotes with MC's view of JJ's play...1. Sure, because otherwise the Hawks lose this game and the story might be about how Joe managed just four points on six shots in the second half and bogged down the offense by constantly being indecisive until help came and he dribbled away from the basket.2. I supposed he made Joe happy by helping him get 17 shots for his 15 points while Teague made due with six fewer shots for his 16.There is a difference in the tone when he talks about Josh's play and Joe's play

I think that you're right. What MC fails to appreciate is that those other guys don't get open shots if Boston doesn't present their "Wall" and double-teaming against Joe if we had Teague in Joe's position.

[Supporter]

I think that you're right. What MC fails to appreciate is that those other guys don't get open shots if Boston doesn't present their "Wall" and double-teaming against Joe if we had Teague in Joe's position.

I'm ok with MC stating that Joe played poorly because you don't want anybody on the team dribbling the air out of the basketball and bogging the offense down. But at the same time he has to be more professional in his approach when writing about the Hawks. Sure as a fan he is free to not like Joe, but as a writer for the AJC you have to be more unbiased in your tone when writing in general. MC might not like JJ but he doesn't have to seperate the fan base by specifically going in on Joe. He had an entire blog on Joe Johnson quotes, and I've noticed that throughout the year he has been giving more favoritism towards guys like Josh.

[jhay610]

Not to hijack, but MC goes in hard on Coach about his rotations as well, on the regular. I think it's warranted for the most part. Hinrich has played well in this series but LD has been going with Willie Green, who has done nothing.Also LD drives me crazy with his 'all bench mob' lineup he runs out there for extended periods.

[arhawkfan]

I tweeted mc yesterday and asked him about the article on JJ. He said its to show how JJ went from embracing to sharing the ball to not wanting too and how the owners over valued him. Then after reading his blog last night I tweeted him what Reggie Miller said that if he was JJ he would shoot at least 25 times last night because if your going to go down you go down with your guns blazing. I got no response to that. I an a JJ fan but I think he needs some criticism for his play but I thought some of what he wrote was pot shots

[lethalweapon3]

[*]Joe Johnson didn’t see it that way, though: “The court wasn’t necessarily more open with Al out there tonight. I was just trying to make the right play out there. It feels great to have him back on the floor.”

[*]Sure, because otherwise the Hawks lose this game and the story might be about how Joe managed just four points on six shots in the second half and bogged down the offense by constantly being indecisive until help came and he dribbled away from the basket.

I'll have to disagree with MC about the focus being on Joey Touches not doing enough in the second half. I think more of the focus from fans and journalists alike would have been on Josh's multiple nominating entries into the Momentum Killer Hall of Fame. But the Leader of the Core does deserve criticism when the Core is playing rotten, and the critiques will begin with MC.

some Tweets from just the past 24 hours:

@Superiorblogman He {Teague} came in as a rook, Woody beat him down, they made a trade instead of give him a shot, he gets bickered at when he's aggressive. They have to reconfigure this roster but problem is Joe's contract makes it very difficult

@peachtreehoops @JeffSchultzAJC Joe's deliberate style isn't built for the playoffs against good D, which all opponents tend to have... When Joe says "I guess I will go quicker" even he doesn't sound convinced

@j_bo16 I think it shows Joe has gone from embracing sharing the ball to wanting to go back to his iso style. also, Hawks overvalued him

At the risk of foolishly acting like I know MC's career arc, it appears to me that MC is coming to accept that his lot in life, for at least the next four years, involves extracting "mumble-mayne" quotes from Joe Johnson and somehow finding a way to give them substance. Mind you, it's not exactly the path to a Pulitzer. "Covering Dixie Like the Dew" is beginning to gnaw at him, and he's taking it out on #2, especially whenever he is playing like "Number Two."

He recognizes the workday for him would be far different had he remained with a newsrag somewhere in South Florida (take your pick: the Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post, or the Sun-Sentinel that he left). Thanks to The Decision, he'd still be hanging out with Ira Winderman and company covering the Heat's annual quests for not-one-not-two NBA titles. Or, he could have sought a bigger media market with multiple sportswriting options and wound up covering the Lake Show, LOB-FLOP CITY, Da Bulls, Jay-Z's path (train?) to Brooklyn, or the continuing Melo-Drama that is the New York Knicks.

MC instead elected to follow a pathway to the center of the Q-Dawg Universe. Alas, the water-treading Hawks and the AJC are all we've got to offer here. Like many fans, he's acknowledging that Joe's contract (through no fault of Joe's) has us wed to him. And the economy probably has him (MC) wed to AJC. It's like suffering from Buyer's Remorse without actually having bought anything. I think he'd hand this duty over to Mr. Thrasher (C-Viv) in a heartbeat if he could find something better. His lament was dripping with this tweet yesterday:

@jonesy2x4 Joe is a good player but I watch D-Wade, Kobe, and even Melo do things he just can't do. Even old Pierce is still better

It's professional remorse, projected onto the charisma-challenged man he will have to interview, report on, and cover for his foreseeable future.

~lw3

[benhillboy]

I think Joe is overrated in the media for he most part. People always qualify their statements on him as backhanded compliments, usually saying "If Joe steps it up and plays like the superstar he is..." and "he's a great one-on-one scorer, but..." like a truly great player has to be asked to step his game up. Adjectives like "great" and "superstar" are used far too often to describe him, and MC just sees what I saw in Joe many years ago, even what Boston saw in him as a rookie to get rid of him. Nice player, very well-rounded skill set, perfect body type, yet third option is his best niche because he simply isn't quick-witted enough as a ball dominator or athletic enough off the dribble, or tough enough inside to be a first option. The wide open transition basket he passed up last night near the baseline on a Teague find with a clear lane to the hoop after begging for more shots (prompting the crowd to boo) is Joe in a nutshell. His best and most successful season will come when he's a primary defender and 12 point scorer for the Spurs in a few years.

Edited May 9, 2012 by benhillboy

[WilliamSevidal]

I think Joe is overrated in the media for he most part. People always qualify their statements on him as backhanded compliments, usually saying "If Joe steps it up and plays like the superstar he is..." and "he's a great one-on-one scorer, but..." like a truly great player has to be asked to step his game up. Adjectives like "great" and "superstar" are used far too often to describe him, and MC just sees what I saw in Joe many years ago, even what Boston saw in him as a rookie to get rid of him. Nice player, very well-rounded skill set, perfect body type, yet third option is his best niche because he simply isn't quick-witted enough as a ball dominator or athletic enough off the dribble, or tough enough inside to be a first option. The wide open transition basket he passed up last night near the baseline on a Teague find with a clear lane to the hoop after begging for more shots (prompting the crowd to boo) is Joe in a nutshell. His best and most successful season will come when he's a primary defender and 12 point scorer for the Spurs in a few years.

Where did you get that? Asides from Rick Kamla and Dennis Scott on NBATV (who call a lot of people superstars), I don't know anyone who calls him a superstar. People say he's overrated, but who's rating him high? Joe isn't overrated, everyone knows what he is. There's a difference between overrated and overpaid.

[AHF]

Compare those quotes with MC's view of JJ's play...1. Sure, because otherwise the Hawks lose this game and the story might be about how Joe managed just four points on six shots in the second half and bogged down the offense by constantly being indecisive until help came and he dribbled away from the basket.2. I supposed he made Joe happy by helping him get 17 shots for his 15 points while Teague made due with six fewer shots for his 16.There is a difference in the tone when he talks about Josh's play and Joe's play

I don't disagree. I just don't think MC writes like Josh Smith hangs the moon and does no wrong.Clearly, MC thinks JJ isn't worth his contract and that his vocal desire to have the offense run through him even more than it does amounts to grumbling that the Hawks should go back to Woody's "Iso-Joe" offense. By my way of thinking, Joe gets plenty of touches and looks in our offense and isn't being ignored so I don't really get his recent complaints. Moreover, a move back to "Iso-Joe" would be like writing "Game Over" on the board and planning a vacation for next week so I get MC's point even if I don't understand why he is writing in a way to clearly take shots at Joe's character unless he is trying to shame Joe into embracing team ball.

[Admin]

Anyone else think that ~LW3 should replace MC as the Hawks beat writer?

[arhawkfan]

I think joe would be a perfect 2 player. He would thrive in that like he was a 3rd option with the suns in his early days. My problem with MC is he thinks Josh does no wrong. Last night I think the pass that drew boos was because josh caught it around the three point line after he was 0 for everything in the first quarter.

[lethalweapon3]

Anyone else think that ~LW3 should replace MC as the Hawks beat writer?

Ha! Not with my verbose behind. There'd be no room for ads!

~lw3

[arhawkfan]

Ben I remember a couple of years ago the players voted on the most underrated player in the league and JJ won it walking away. I believe it was the year before his contract year or contract year. IMO I think he is grossly overpaid. He is under achieving for his contract but is still a top 3 to 5 sg in the league.

[Admin]

Ha! Not with my verbose behind. There'd be no room for ads!

~lw3

What does your behind have to do with it?

[lethalweapon3]

What does your behind have to do with it?

"I like big words. And I can not lie..."

~lw3

[Admin]

"I like big words. And I can not lie..."~lw3

You sound like a politician LOL ... and I thought the lyrics are "I like big butts and I can not lie"