why play 2nd or 3rd fiddle on a team stacked with talent when u can instantly become another team's go-to guy and make millions in the process? he's got time to go to another team for a ring later.
a lot of you say it isn't about money, but i think that's part of it.
REALLY? REALLY?! no ****, if your boss was offering you a 6x6 cubicle at $10/hour and another guy came in offered you your own office and $30/hr, you wouldn't take it? For the guys in the league it's not just a game, its their job and it puts food on their table.
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the other part about more playing time is part of it as well. but the Hawks?
hawks were willing to give him the most and they were the only ones who could pull off a deal that could pay him and send the suns someone cheap instead of a big contract. +they told him they'd let him play point, something he thought he could do.
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people say he wanted a starring role. well now he got it. for the Hawks. good luck with that. you just went from a championship caliber team to a team that is in or near the lottery selection every year.
So we know it's not about a championship with this guy. Well have a good career on a team that will never sniff the playoffs.
the guy is still young, only 25, not even in his prime. He'll have at least 10 more years to worry about rings. When you have an opportunity to play you go there and develop.
he's a smart guy, hawks are the retards who paid him all that money and gave up 2 picks for him.
hawks are the retards who paid him all that money and gave up 2 picks for him.
What are the other guys making that are averaging 25 ppg shooting 48%? That is what i thought.
The pick from last year was the 22nd pick. Big deal. The pick this year, assuming it goes to the Suns, might be Noah who is too weak to play C for us but might work there.
And Diaw was a garbage can for us and probably would have gone to Europe if the Hawks hadn't traded him.
The JJ deal is one of the few good moves that our GM has made.
And Diaw was a garbage can for us and probably would have gone to Europe if the Hawks hadn't traded him.
Which is exactly why ATl will not break out of the doldrums for many years to come. Using him primarily as a guard and not recognizing his abilities as a post passer? Now granted PHX has maximized his talent, but he wasnt a garbage can for you cause he was garbage.
Now granted PHX has maximized his talent, but he wasnt a garbage can for you cause he was garbage.
Put him at the 4/5 on another team and what happens? Not much.
A guy who passes up layups in order to pass out to a 3 pt shooter isn't a lot of use to most teams. The only thing he did well with the Hawks was play D.
He couldn't make a 15 ft wide open jumper and made some of the dumbest turnovers i have ever seen. It frequently looked like to forgot the plays.
Now he is averaging 10 ppg in a wide open offense. He can't shoot from the line or from deep. All the shooters and the fast pace make him look a lot better than he is.
Even Tim Thomas looked good with the Suns. How does he look this year?
First Person
Joe Johnson, Hawks Guard
Posted: Tuesday January 23, 2007 11:31AM; Updated: Tuesday January 23, 2007 11:31AM
On sleeping
The way I see it, if I have a chance to sleep, I'm going to take it. There aren't many places I can't sleep -- I could sleep in a regular chair for hours. But my favorite room in my house is the bedroom. I'm lying down there every chance I get. A nap can be four or five hours.
On the suburban Atlanta home he lives in with two of his cousins and two rottweilers
It used to belong to [former Hawks, current Kings center] Shareef Abdur-Rahim. I took one look at it and knew I wanted it. It's got a great home theater.
On leaving Phoenix for struggling Atlanta before last season
I want to play on winning teams, which was the toughest part of leaving Phoenix. But I don't regret it, and I would do it again. I feel it's going to pay off. With time we can develop something great here.
On being the man in Atlanta
Night in and night out you have to perform. It's hard because I get a lot of attention on the court, and it gets frustrating. In Phoenix you couldn't double-team one guy because we had so many who could score. [Now], I come down the court and there might be a double team coming or a guy waiting underneath the basket. I never imagined it being like that.
On Steve Nash's impact on his game
He's the best thing to happen to my career. I stole moves from him. You know that little hesitation jump shot? I do that now too. He's so poised on the offensive end, and his confidence rubbed off on me.
On his famously quiet demeanor
I think about snapping all the time on the court. I want to snap so bad. But I think about the consequences -- the fine, really -- and I hold back. I don't know what the refs would think if I did go off. They'd probably just stare at me.
On his mother, Diane
My whole life, it was just me and her. She was like a mother and a father. She taught me that I have to work for anything I want, that I have to make sacrifices to be great. And man, could you hear her [cheering] at the gym. Every game she was the loudest person there.
On playing for Team USA in last year's world championship
It was amazing. Losing was tough -- everyone went in thinking we would win -- but it was crazy there in Japan. People were hanging out outside our hotel, taking pictures. We were getting bum-rushed. Crazier there than it is here. It was cool to hang out with guys like LeBron and Carmelo. We played video games together, went shopping. It was like an AAU trip.
THE 6'7", 235-POUND JOHNSON, 25, IS AVERAGING A HAWKS-BEST 24.7 POINTS, 11TH HIGHEST IN THE NBA.
I'm sorry, I missed the part where Phoenix won a championship. I mean losing sucks, but being the 4th option on a team who will get eliminated in the second round is only a step above. We have JJ for the long term, and when we win, he will get the satisfaction of knowing that he was there from the beginning. Let us not forget that Phoenix was a lottery team until Dallas let them pick up Steve Nash and they began running a open offense. But until you get close to a championship y'all don't have the right to beat on your chest just yet.
JJ's choice was nothing like choosing between different cubicles at $10 or $30 an hour. The salary difference was certainly not triple, and the perks of being the 1st option are sort of canceled out by losing most of your games, and never playing on national tv.
It's like the difference between working for Google for $100k a year, where you get your own chef and play video games at the office, and being head of the department at some ****hole company for $135k.
