Did the fans understand what we had in Joe?

[Diesel]

I know I heard about the contract.. the contract.. the contract... but think about this.. Deron decided to stay in Brooklyn to play with Joe. If that wasn't enough... Listen to Jordan Crawford in the Washington Post.

He still believes that the Wizards have the personnel to claim one of the top eight spots in the Eastern Conference. “Last year, I just wanted that,” Crawford said of his postseason aspirations. “This year, you can kind of see the pieces coming together. It’s more of a team” Crawford admitted that his primary source of motivation hasn’t been Beal, but his former Atlanta Hawks teammate, Joe Johnson. Johnson was dealt to the Brooklyn Nets earlier this month in a deal that pairs him with fellow all-star guard Deron Williams. Every backcourt in the league, including Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash, will take a back seat to the Brooklyn twosome, Crawford said. “Vicious. The only word to describe it,” Crawford, who was originally drafted by the Nets in 2010, said of Johnson and Williams. “I ain’t going to lie. I can’t wait for that game. To play against Deron and Joe, in the same backcourt, that’s live. Deron is like a 6-2 Joe Johnson. . . . I’ve been getting ready for it. Everything I do, it’s them two.”

[Ruckus]

Oh boy, here we go again.

[HawkItus]

The owners never put Joe with another star. We never did it.

[DrReality]

I did! A athlete who was booed that lashed out and said: we don't need the fans

[Diesel]

The owners never put Joe with another star. We never did it.

The closest we got was Crawford. Crawford became 6th man of the year and then last year, Crawford went into obscurity. I think Deron/Joe will be a very tough combo. Both of those guys play tough defense. Teams will have a hard time.

[Sothron]

I think it is readily apparent that the few sensible posters who appreciated Joe but didn't like the contract gets overshadowed by the people who hated Joe.

[Diesel]

I did! A athlete who was booed that lashed out and said: we don't need the fans

Name one Hawk (save Teague) who hasn't lashed out in some way. Lebron Lashed out to the whole NBA. There's a pressure in basketball that makes things tough when you're losing.

[HawkItus]

I did! A athlete who was booed that lashed out and said: we don't need the fans

You know what Joe never did? Ask for a trade. You know what Joe never did? Cry and mope up the court. You know what Joe never did? Complain about his position or defensive assignment. Joe never came in out of shape or tuned out the coach. I love the Hawks and our current team automatically has my 13 favorite players on it. But, some of you guys sound ridiculous holding a grudge against the best guy we've had suit up for this team in decades. All because of a contract that he was offered.

[Vol4ever]

The Hawks will miss Joe, book it. When Joe is playing well in Jersey, unless the Hawks get DHoward this board will be turned upside down.

[benhillboy]

Atlanta basketball fans are very knowledgable. We knew exactly what we had in him. A very good two-way player who no one wanted to pay to see. Ferry realized he had to go because he was killing the team's public relations at the turnstiles with his contract and hampering us on the court by not being able to explode against upper echelon teams.

[Supporter]

Joe is a good player, we don't need Jordan Crawford to prove that point, fans should know regardless.

[AHawks89]

I don't get the point of this thread. We couldn't sign a superstar PG with Joe being on the team...? Of course if he teams up with a superstar PG, they're going to have a sick back court. Duh?

[macdaddy]

Why is it you either love him and throw all these superlatives his way or you hate him and don't know how good he was? I'm a big fan of Joe and I know he's a good player but he wasn't leading us to a title which was his job. Like BenHIll says no one was paying to see Joe. Most of Atlanta probably wouldn't recognize him on the street. That's not what you want in your star player.Plus i'm not sure what Jordan Crawford's opinion really means in the scheme of things.

[Admin]

MacDaddy you are 100% on the money!

[Eddielives]

We had a good but not great player. We had a guy, who did a lot of good things for this franchise and carried himself, more or less, as a professional on and off the court. Could Joe have been more of a charismatic leader? Sure. I think that's fair. Should he have taken less money to play here so the franchise could have more financial flexibility? Of course not. Who would take less money? I blame the atlanta spirit for the contract, not Joe. Could he have been more clutch in the playoffs, especially in these last playoffs where a Paul Pierce who could barely walk and is older, out played him? Well hell yeah. I think we as fans expected more and he let us down. Does that mean he's a terrible person? Of course not. So is there anything out of line or that I've said or am I just being a "hater?"

[PSSSHHHRRR87]

Joe was great on defense, could hit three after three, had the best floater in the game, and could hit that last second shot to win. Joe is the best Robin in the league. He isn't a leader and never will be. The problem with Joe wasn't the contract. The problem with Joe was Sund and the ASG never getting him a legit #1 option to play with and then being offered a contract that made it impossible to get Joe that help. He has that #1 option in BRK. Joe will thrive underneath DW8 and we will look stupid for trading him, but it was the right move on both ATL and BRK's part.

[ViperXX79]

Apparently we had a hall of famer and the many many championships were going to start coming our way any season now. Not to mention his modest contract that gave us a ton of cap room. Once in a generation megastar.

[Plainview1981]

Jordan Crawford's opinion?

IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT JORDAN CRAWFORD'S OPINION IS!!

[Gray Mule]

When Atlanta plays the Nets, will you be a fan of the Hawks? Or, a fanof the Nets, used to be, Atlanta 2 guard, JJ?Sure, I like to see former Hawks do well. Will I be pulling for him to havea great game against the Hawks? Heck no. I hope he shoots O for however manyshots he takes and turns the ball over at least three times each quarter, leadingto fast break points every time.He's great. He's especially great against lesser competition. The young man, Paul Piercefrom Boston pointed out to everyone just how not great JJ is. No, I suppose it wasn'tthat JJ was bad but that PP was just that good. Looked that way, didn't it.I believe in stars and super stars but I still believe in basketball as a team endeaver.Nets now have a super back court and everyone expects them to be the greatestthing on the floor next season. But, remember, it takes more than two players.

Edited July 24, 2012 by Gray Mule

[Peoriabird]

Hopefully we will finally find out how good Darrin Williams is and how good Joe Johnson plays with a pass first point guard. Personally I don't think it mattered who played point with Joe on the floor much like it doesn't matter with other ball stopper like Mello. And hopefully we can now understand that a Chris Paul/Joe Johnson back court here in Atlanta would not have made Joe Johnson any better than he is. So this year, we will finally find out an put one of these theories to rest!