Joe Johnson Appreciation Thread.

[Diesel]

This offseason has shown that we were very fortunate that one day Joe Johnson had pity on our struggling organization and signed an offer sheet with us and begged his old team not to match. He then waited for our owners to stop fighting and get settled so that he could be a Hawk because he wanted to play here.

After 6 allstar appearances we traded him for peanut shells and ground turkey.... And after all the booing and hissing from Atlanta Fans, when he got to Brooklyn, he never said a cross word about Atlanta or his time here.

This offseason, we have missed on every major free agent we went after. None of them wanted to come here. Not Paul, Not Dwight, Not Bynum.

This offseason, Josh leaves and couldn't wait to trash his hometown team.

I know Joe is a net and many of you are happy that he is gone but I applaud the dude because when we couldn't get a free agent, he made it a point to stick with us.

Thanks Joe.

[Plainview1981]

Didn't Joe trash the fans a few years ago?

[YP2K]

Didn't Joe trash the fans a few years ago?

Before he even left... what more could he say once he was gone?

[Eddielives]

I can almost accept underperforming but he'll never get my appreciation due to his lack of passion. It's the only ingredient I believe he needed to be a true superstar. He was content to come here and put up decent numbers for a few years and just get paid. Seeing a hobbling Paul Pierce outplay him a few years ago in the playoffs was the final nail in the Joe coffin. No passion equals no appreciation.

[gsuteke]

One of the most overrated and probably the undisputed champion of overpaid jump shooters in modern history.

[Nicholasp27]

Again, we didn't offer Bynum a contract...he wanted to come here which is why he flew down here after cle before mavsMavs also didn't give him a contract...only team in league to offer him any money (and only 6M guaranteed!) was Cleveland

[Bahamut]

Who???

[NineOhTheRino]

I did not like Joe Johnson towards the end, but I will say JJ was the best thing to happen to this franchise since Nique.

[ATLBob]

Wow, let it go guys ...

Diesel, I know that your OP is chock full of hidden directives and hyperbole, but the fan side of me understands your pain.

Trying to keep the logical side discrete (which is proving increasingly difficult).

I too think that we took Joe & what he meant to this franchise for granted toward the end.

Put it this way:

I'd MUCH rather have the roster the Hawks began last season with than the one they have right now.

Yes, there is still time for more roster moves, but barring a trade (who does Ferry even have left to offer?), I see very few players left out there to get excited about. There are some good role players, and some intriguing but currently flawed ones (a la Jennings), but this season is looking increasingly lost (to me; I know a lot of y'all disagree) before it even begins.

Bottom line:

Joe Johnson was good for the Hawks and it's sad to see him in another uniform.

If you could divorce his contract from that, that's where things would stand. Unfortunately, you cannot, and moving his contract made a lot of sense. It's too bad that decision has yet to pay any dividends (apart from saving the ASG some money. Okay, a lot of money).

Edited July 11, 2013 by ATLBob

[Mutombolievable]

When's the next time y'all think we will have a 6 time all-star on this roster? Everyone loves Al but is he going to make 5 more, even 1 more all-star appearances? Maybe, but probably not. JJ was taken for granted. If he had the personality of D-Wade or even if he had the personality of a guy that's now popular on this board, Brandon Jennings, I think a lot of opinions would be different.

Also, JJ was NOT just a jump shooter. He got to the rim all the time. His hop step and then little flip floater was potent. If he had dunked more instead of laid it in I bet you would think different. Did he get overpaid? Yes, he did. But he was the best thing that happened to this franchise since Nique.

And I can't rip the guy for dissing the fans, I really can't. It kills me to go to Philips and see so many people rooting against our guys. That's got to suck. Has anybody worked at a place where you felt completely unappreciated even though you were one of the top performers? Does that make you feel good? Because most of the time when that happens to people, they find another job and quit. JJ never quit on us like Dwight quit on Orlando, like Melo quit on Denver, like Deron Williams quit on Utah. All the guy did was come to work every day and do his job better than 99% of the other 2 guard in the league.

[Diesel]

Too many fans made Joe about Joe's contract instead of Joe. Joe was a future 6 time allstar coming into his prime who chose Atlanta over any other team. Joe's contract was what somebody felt was necessary to keep Joe here. I don't blame Joe for his contract because I don't remember him ever stating that he needed a max deal to stay.

What I do remember is a guy who came out year by year and played hard even when we didn't have good pieces around him. Then when we finally do have a team to watch him lead us to the playoffs and we lose to Orlando and our own fans boo him. Did he deserve that? How spoiled we as fans became. Sorta like the Braves winning the pennant every year. We as fans became so spoiled that we refused to recognize the accomplishment of getting there.

As a fan, it's easy to talk about not doing enough in the playoffs when you're in the playoffs every year. What do Raptor fans or Wizard's fans talk about?

I don't know what they talk about, but we better get ready to join their conversations.

[ATLBob]

All the guy did was come to work every day and do his job better than 80% of the other 2 guards in the league.

Fixed.

Otherwise, I pretty much agree with everything you just posted.

People didn't like Joe because the Hawks couldn't get to the ECF.

Let that sink in: the paradigm shifted so much in JJ's years here that the ECF became the new measuring stick.

People then latched on to JJ's relaxed demeanor, made it into a negative (phlegmatic, indifferent, not driven) & began the bash party.

But make no mistake, what they really were upset about were the playoff losses and JJ's tendency to wilt in the playoffs (at times, but rather key ones. This is worthy of some criticism, but cannot fully explain the vitriol).

Had the Hawks won more in the playoffs, let alone made a Finals appearance, no one would have cared a lick about Joe's personality.

Edited July 11, 2013 by ATLBob

[ViperXX79]

Stat padding on bad teams isn't very impressive...This thread was made to take shots at the FO because they couldn't get who YOU wanted. You're about as subtle as a brick to the head...

[Diesel]

Fixed.

Otherwise, I pretty much agree with everything you just posted.

People didn't like Joe because the Hawks couldn't get to the ECF.

Let that sink in: the paradigm shifted so much in JJ's years here that the ECF became the new measuring stick.

People then latched on to JJ's relaxed demeanor, made it into a negative (phlegmatic, indifferent, not driven) & began the bash party.

But make no mistake, what they really were upset about were the playoff losses and JJ's tendency to wilt in the playoffs (at times, but rather key ones. This is worthy of some criticism, but cannot fully explain the vitriol).

Had the Hawks won more in the playoffs, let alone made a Finals appearance, no one would have cared a lick about Joe's personality.

Here's the funny part.

Nobody ever cared to examine our team. Only Joe. When you examined our team, for the most part what you find is that we played with 2 PFs, a SF who wasn't shit, and at times a PG who didn't play defense.

Our best chance in the playoffs came when we played against Chicago.

A great defensive team.. We took our team that lacked a true C, A SF who wasn't shit, and PG problems toe to toe with the best team in the league at the time. Imagine if we had Korver instead of Marvin? Would Miami's defense been so good? Imagine if we had Bynum instead of Smoove? Fortunately we had Teague instead of Kirk. Had Kirk been able to go, we would have been swept. Teague (the very same guy that man want to just let go) made that series competitive for us. Joe and Jamal helped us steal game 1.

However, it was Boozer, Asik, and Noah that hurt us in the end.

[Diesel]

Stat padding on bad teams isn't very impressive...This thread was made to take shots at the FO because they couldn't get who YOU wanted. You're about as subtle as a brick to the head.

This front office will be judged by History. There's no need for me to judge them yet. I'm just recognizing that it's not as easy as everybody says (For us). Were you one of the ones that said with So much capspace, we will be able to build a great team... You seem mad about the fact that I want to recognize a guy who did come here. Who did say.. "regardless of their history with players, I'm willing to give them a shot." The funny thing is even Charlotte is able to get their man this year. So, even though we have been in the discussion, we haven't gotten anybody... and we still are upset at a guy who came when there was NO reason to come?

[HorfordTheBeast]

I miss Joe too but look out now, Ferry just got his own BIG 3 (Korver, Milssap, Horford). It's his "vision".

Look out 8th or 7th seed. Here we come! Below mediocre, but still good enough for the playoffs. We did it!

[ATLnightwing]

Joe was easily my favorite Hawk and a superstar in my eyes. People complained about him being boring, but I actually enjoyed watching him hit clutch shots and take people one-on-one. I wish he could have stayed longer. Thank you Joe Johnson.

[benhillboy]

F&@k Joe. It was embarrassing to watch a 2 with size I've never seen fail to show any explosiveness or shoot a free throw. Just a glorified role player who garnered his little fringe All-Star appearances on size and poor talent at the position alone. He's so great the Nets went and got a senior citizen who is the exact same size and does most of the same things, only difference is he's actually helped win something.

Edited July 11, 2013 by benhillboy

[Eddielives]

Joe and the nets were beaten by Nate Robinson and an injured Noah. A perfect example of how playing with guts and heart can do. And just watch come playoff time. Pierce, Garnett and probably Deron will be the ones on the floor showing Joe how to play big when it matters.

[High5]

I don't think this is how appreciation threads are supposed to work...