And so it Begins....

[TheNorthCydeRises]

True. Kind of like when i ran away from the cable company when my bill hit $200/month.

Did you choose to ditch the cable company payment, and watch the 6 local channels for free . . like the Hawks did?

[Guest]

I like Joe, always have but I don't get this comment: “I’ve been waiting for this kind of pressure for two years, where there’s pressure on us to win,” Johnson said. “Expectations are a lot higher. This is what we want ... this is what we sign up for. Where we really get criticized when we don’t win, and when we win, the players really get celebrated. New York Post Did the ASG pay you all that $ and you felt no pressure to win? They had no expectations of you? WOW, just WOW. The pressure isn't on you, it is on Deron Williams.

[Jody23]

I like Joe, always have but I don't get this comment: “I’ve been waiting for this kind of pressure for two years, where there’s pressure on us to win,” Johnson said. “Expectations are a lot higher. This is what we want ... this is what we sign up for. Where we really get criticized when we don’t win, and when we win, the players really get celebrated. New York Post Did the ASG pay you all that $ and you felt no pressure to win? They had no expectations of you? WOW, just WOW. The pressure isn't on you, it is on Deron Williams.

Not trying to defend JJ comments here, but you have to consider his comments knowing that he's now on a team that legitimately has the pieces to contend in a city who's fan base probably won't except anything less. What's more is he's playing for an owner who's shown he'll try to do whatever it takes to win a title, not just compete. In Atlanta, despite their original promises when they signed JJ to that stupid deal, the Hawks never did a thing to raise expectation levels. They continued to trot out the same flawed team and everybody but the homers (who were just happy to have their favorites still on the team) knew how the season would end before it even started. So, while I can certainly see why one would take exception with JJ's comment here, on the other hand I can understand where he's coming from.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

I like Joe, always have but I don't get this comment:

“I’ve been waiting for this kind of pressure for two years, where there’s pressure on us to win,” Johnson said. “Expectations are a lot higher. This is what we want ... this is what we sign up for. Where we really get criticized when we don’t win, and when we win, the players really get celebrated. New York Post

Did the ASG pay you all that $ and you felt no pressure to win? They had no expectations of you? WOW, just WOW.

The pressure isn't on you, it is on Deron Williams.

You don't understand it? Well I'll break it down for you.

What city did JJ play in? . . . . . ATLANTA

Does the Atlanta media care about the Hawks? . . . . . Well they cover the Hawks, but they care much more about the Falcons, Braves, even the Bulldogs, than they do the Hawks

Do the Hawks get criticized when they lose? . . . . . YES, but even then, it's only for a short time ( a day or two ), because the media and most sports fans in ATL care more about the Falcons, Braves, and Bulldogs

Do the Hawks get celebrated when they win? . . . . . For the most part, NO. Because once again, the media and fans care more about the Falcons, Braves, and Bulldogs.

Like it or not, JJ's comments here are more of a reflection of the laid back fans and lackadaisical media in ATL. ATL is NOT a passionate sports town, no matter how much locals want to believe otherwise. It just isn't.

As great of a player Chipper Jones was for the Braves, it's not like Braves fans worshiped the dude like St Louis Cardinals fans did Mark McGuire and Albert Pujols or even how Cubs fans loved Ryne Sandberg.

As for the ASG, can you really say that their goal the past 2 years was to win a championship? The ASG paid JJ all of that money to keep them at playoff level. There was no one out on the market that could've replaced what JJ brought to the table, so they paid him the money.

Contrast that with Brooklyn, who has literally gone all out to build what they think is a championship caliber team. Even got the coach that WE should've picked up 2 years ago, instead of going the cheap route and hiring Drew.

Like it or not, JJ knows that there will be no issues with crowd attendance at Net games this season. There will be no complaints about late arriving crowds because of traffic. There won't be 5,000 fans from an opposing team cheering for their team, instead of the Hawks.

That entire area is buzzing with excitement. While in Atlanta, the NBA season arrives with the Hawks being 4th on everyone's sports radar, behind the Braves playoff run, the undefeated Falcons, and the undefeated Bulldogs. It's not until February that the Hawks become #1 on the sports radar. And even then, the interest is lukewarm at best.

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Not trying to defend JJ comments here, but you have to consider his comments knowing that he's now on a team that legitimately has the pieces to contend in a city who's fan base probably won't except anything less. What's more is he's playing for an owner who's shown he'll try to do whatever it takes to win a title, not just compete. In Atlanta, despite their original promises when they signed JJ to that stupid deal, the Hawks never did a thing to raise expectation levels. They continued to trot out the same flawed team and everybody but the homers (who were just happy to have their favorites still on the team) knew how the season would end before it even started. So, while I can certainly see why one would take exception with JJ's comment here, on the other hand I can understand where he's coming from.

And to add to this, it was JJ that felt the team need more "tough guys" because he felt the Hawks weren't tough enough. The fact that the ASG used the Luxury Tax line as the ultimate excuse for not going all out to build a winner in ATL, while almost every single championship team the last 6 years was a taxpaying team, proves JJ right. People blame JJ's contract for the reason why Jamal Crawford couldn't be brought back. No it wasn't. If the ASG REALLY wanted Jamal back, they could've offered him an MLE contract, gone over the tax, and brought him back. And they goes for any free agent they could've brought in, for that matter. Instead, the Hawks brought in what . . . 6 vet minimum guys, just so they can stay under the tax? In Brooklyn, money is no object. They're bringing in and paying for the pieces they think can win them a title. In Atlanta, we're shopping at the Dollar Store, simply hoping that we can put an entertaining product out on the court, forget even making the playoffs. Like I said when JJ was traded . . . a REAL championship level franchise would've never dumped a 6 time All-Star that can still play ball, for a bunch of expiring contracts. Edited October 2, 2012 by northcyde

[AHawks89]

[HawkItus]

I like Joe, always have but I don't get this comment: “I’ve been waiting for this kind of pressure for two years, where there’s pressure on us to win,” Johnson said. “Expectations are a lot higher. This is what we want ... this is what we sign up for. Where we really get criticized when we don’t win, and when we win, the players really get celebrated. New York Post Did the ASG pay you all that $ and you felt no pressure to win? They had no expectations of you? WOW, just WOW. The pressure isn't on you, it is on Deron Williams.

Its a culture thing. Here no one outside of that locker room ever considered the Hawks contenders. Our owners, GM, and fan base did not expect a title. That was because two of those Owner/GM knew they had not done all it took to win a title. They spent money to a degree. They did not make trades to shore up weak points. There is a lot of pressure on JJ. If your employer punted you because they thought you made more than you were worth you'd be under pressure. The man has pride. He wants to prove that he just didn't have the pieces to succeed in the ultimate fashion here in Atlanta.

[macdaddy]

Contrast that with Brooklyn, who has literally gone all out to build what they think is a championship caliber team. Even got the coach that WE should've picked up 2 years ago, instead of going the cheap route and hiring Drew.

Like it or not, JJ knows that there will be no issues with crowd attendance at Net games this season. There will be no complaints about late arriving crowds because of traffic. There won't be 5,000 fans from an opposing team cheering for their team, instead of the Hawks.

That entire area is buzzing with excitement. While in Atlanta, the NBA season arrives with the Hawks being 4th on everyone's sports radar, behind the Braves playoff run, the undefeated Falcons, and the undefeated Bulldogs. It's not until February that the Hawks become #1 on the sports radar. And even then, the interest is lukewarm at best.

We'll see how buzzed they are if the team is sub par. Everything is wine and roses right now that they haven't played a game, joe hasn't annoyed Deron by dominating the ball, Lopez hasn't gone down with a foot injury. I'm not saying those things will happen but who knows. We will see how many knick fans show up in Brooklyn. Saying he has been waiting 2 years really is a slap in the face. I don't see how you can slice it any other way. He better be careful though because with all that buzz and excitement comes people who don't forget when you say something like 'i don't care about the fans'.

“I’ve been waiting for this kind of pressure for two years, where there’s pressure on us to win,"

[Supporter]

Take a look at the Phillips when the Hawks are playing, unless the Heat or Lakers are in town, nobody shows up. There is absolutely no FAN SUPPRORT during regular home games; that's where Joe get's in his mind that there was no pressure. Nobody CARED. Brooklyn is a different beast, there's going to be a ton of pressure.