Ball or Nuthin' » Joe Johnson

Heat and Hawks Play Mindboggling Basketball

T Lamont — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 05:52:12 +0000

If you’ve kept your eyes on Southeastern division foes – the Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat – you’d be completely baffled…

…like I am right now.

Earlier this week, in Miami’s American Airline Arena, these two teams – both fully loaded with all of their best players in tow – played a tilt that was ultimately decided by a 33-21 fourth quarter advantage in favor of the visiting Hawks. Sparked by the unexpected late-game heroics of Tracy McGrady, Atlanta walked out of South Beach with a 100-92 victory.

Fast forward to TNT’s first game of a Thursday night doubleheader, where the Heat were presented with an opportunity to avenge its only blemish of the young season. With the memory of the stunning loss fresh in their minds, All-Stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade would certainly come out to Phillips Arena and make a statement that would validate public opinion that Monday’s outcome was a fluke.

But there was one problem: both James and Wade were relegated to the role of spectators as they sat out with minor ailments.

So, TNT was now left with unevenly matched teams, and a game that Erik Spoelstra’s bunch would be fortunate to keep within double figures.

But no one gave that script to any of the actors in this scene.

What we ended up with was a triple-overtime delight, one in which the visiting team once again came up victorious.

Johnson was only 7-20 from the field against Miami.

Who are the Hawks? A team that can beat the Heat with perhaps the top two players in the league, but lose to them without the studs in the lineup. Since that doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, we are left to dig for more answers with Atlanta.

The Hawks allowed the visitors to establish a double-digit lead mid-way through the third quarter, before appearing to wake up and take control of the tempo. Although Atlanta had worked it ways back from borderline embarrassment, the Hawks missed free throws, took bad shots, played uninspired defense, and just plain got tired.

In the overtime sessions, Atlanta rarely played its sparkplugs – McGrady and Ivan Johnson – both of whom put the Hawks in the drivers seat to win the game at the close of regulation. Atlanta has become too favorable to playing its starters, even when their performance dictates otherwise.

It was an amazing win for the Heat, who predictably depended heavily on Chris Bosh (33 points, 14 boards, 5 assists) and Mario Chalmers (29 points, 7 boards, 8 assists). The most impressive part of the win was the fact that Miami didn’t come into the game conceding defeat, and their belief catapulted them to a tough, hard-fought win.

There’s lots of basketball game left this season…and tonight’s game was an example of why each and every one of them need to be played.

Johnson and Crawford Take Down Chicago

T Lamont — Tue, 03 May 2011 03:46:50 +0000

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Derrick Rose may be the player who’ll soon be named NBA MVP, but he and his Chicago Bulls became the victims of simple math.

Two playmakers are better than one.

Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford exploited the mismatches they had, using their abilities to propel the Atlanta Hawks to a 103-95 victory over the Bulls in the United Center.

To say that Johnson (34 points on 12-18 FGs, 5-5 3FGs) had it going tonight would be a grand understatement. J.J. patiently seized the opportunities that presented themselves within Atlanta’s offense, and made critical shots and plays to close to game – including 10 points in the final quarter. His size and ability to create (for himself and others) has been overlooked at times. Nowadays, Johnson is easily one of the most heavily criticized players from a productivity standpoint, particularly because of the ridiculous contract that the Hawks signed him to in the offseason. (Ironically, the Bulls were one of the team who were heavily in the running for Johnson’s services.) But Atlanta knows that J.J. is fully capable of doing what he did tonight, and efforts like that can only be matched by a select number of players in the Association.

What truly makes the Hawks special, is having a performer the caliber of Jamal Crawford – coming off of their bench, nonetheless. Chicago knows Crawford (22 points, 3 assists) well, as the 6’5″ lead guard spent the first four seasons of his career there. He’s an established scorer (averaging over 17 ppg in 8 different seasons) with the unique ability to create opportunities for others. He’s earned the role of Atlanta’s ‘last shot taker / playmaker’, as his ability to create space and command help from additional defenders is unparallelled.

The Bulls will have to find a way to slow down five-time All-Star Joe Johnson.

Tonight, Tom Thibodeau had the unenviable task of wondering how he would defend these multi-talented players. Chicago had Keith Bogans and Ronnie Brewer at its disposal, but more often than not they’d be coming in for one another due to their inability to play the point. And when Kyle Korver hit the court, the Hawks were clearly going to let their guards go to work.

While shooting over 51% from the floor against one of the league’s best defensive units, the Hawks were also able to severely limit Rose’s effectiveness in Game One. Gifted with speed, a crafty handle, and amazing change of pace, Rose has also improved his outside shooting. Unfortunately, it remains a liability which was on display tonight. Atlanta went under every screen, daring Rose to launch triples (on which he was 2-7). Rose is rightfully the leading candidate for the season’s MVP award, but his incompleteness may keep his team from being as good as it can.

Neither team sported a discernible advantage in the paint, meaning the game’s deciding moments were determined by perimeter play.

And when all was said and done, Atlanta was more than prepared to contain the running of the Bulls.

NBA Free Agency: Teams Will Be Left Disappointed

T Lamont — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:12:06 +0000

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The landscape of NBA free agency is indeed a tricky situation to navigate.

A team has to convince several different players simultaneously that their services are desired above and beyond anyone else that they are recruiting.

Let’s take this off-season, for example. Chicago, Los Angeles (Clippers), New York, New Jersey, Miami and, of course, Cleveland all want a piece of LeBron James. Dwayne Wade serves as what will go down in the history of free agency as one of the most talented consolation prizes ever. And if you’re one of the teams mired in this open season madness, you had better make it your business to grab one of these available bigs on the market – whether it be Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudemire or Carlos Boozer.

We can acknowledge that the aforementioned players represent the cream of the crop, but what is happening with the remainder of the second-tier players?

Well, Memphis swingman Rudy Gay has agreed on a 5-year, $82 million deal which will keep him with the Grizzlies. The soon-to-be-24 swingman is not a franchise player type, but his scoring, athleticism, tough defense and creativity could add a dimension to a team looking for help. Plugging him into the 2/3 spot in Chicago or alongside Dwayne Wade in Miami would have helped those teams tremendously.

Organizations should be concerned about Boozer's injury history.

While Paul Pierce and Ray Allen both filed for free agency, Pierce has already reached a four-year deal to remain with the Celtics. And it’s highly unlikely that Allen will venture away from Beantown. Doc Rivers has announced that he’d “like to get one more crack at it with this group,” and you can believe that he will get that chance.

Joe Johnson is a big name on the market, but is not a true franchise cornerstone. Teams, particularly the Knicks, have courted Johnson in hopes that he can serve as bait for James or Wade. But that plan may be foiled, as the Hawks have offered JJ what many claim to be one of the worst contracts ever – especially for someone who just proved that he is not capable of performing in the absurdly physical second round of the playoffs.

Can we really picture Dirk Nowitzki in a uniform other than that of the Dallas Mavericks? Right now he’s posturing to make his team better, trying to see what Dallas is going to do with its roster. But in the end, he’s not jumping ship.

The big summer of free agency is rapidly coming down to the pursuit of a few key stars – Wade (who has been rumored to be heavily leaning towards remaining in South Beach), James and Bosh (who are both entertaining offers from any and everyone). Accompanying power forwards Boozer and Stoudemire are merely well-known sidekicks.

Six teams are tussling for the two-time NBA MVP. Wade is being wooed by five organizations. Four franchises are engrossed in the hunt for Bosh.

Somebody is going to get left out in the cold. And for them, the summer with so much promise will have ended in nothing but despair.

Bosh Becoming Key Component in Free Agent Class

T Lamont — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:31:13 +0000

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With LeBron James and Dwayne Wade easily being the ’Big Two’ during the free agent bonanza that this summer has become, individually, they may not be the most critical.

The free agent list has a few good to great wing players. Accompanying James and Wade in this category would be Atlanta Hawks guard Joe Johnson and the newly-filed, Boston Celtic forward Paul Pierce. Odds are that Pierce will stay put, but Johnson is certainly looking at options outside of Atlanta.

While James and Wade can be viewed as A+ options for directing a franchise toward instant contender status, Johnson would probably register as a B. But in the frontcourt, there’s seemingly one player who mentioned as the sidekick to the stars – and that’s Toronto Raptors forward Chris Bosh.

Bosh has indicated that he desires to be the premier, franchise player on whatever team he chooses. For him, that is absolutely the correct thing to say. He shouldn’t jeopardize his worth to competing organizations by admitting what we all know as the truth – that he would not be able to carry a team into the postseason on his own merits. The 6’10″ power forward needs a multi-skilled wing player to get to the next level – and we’ve already seen that the player needs to be considerably better than Hedo Turkoglu.

So why is Bosh any more valuable than, say, Carols Boozer? Or even Amar’e Stoudemire?

In a word, versatility.

If Bosh lands in Miami, he could be reunited with Jermaine O'Neal.

When compared to Boozer, Bosh has true PF length. Bosh’s range on jumpers extends a little bit deeper as well. And Boozer is vertically challenged and not a threat to block shots. Don’t get me wrong: Boozer is a hard-nosed, grind-it-out player. Every team needs those type of players. But they don’t need to pay them big time money, either.

Stoudemire is very explosive, but his overall game lacks the refinement of Bosh’s. The two have comparable size, but Bosh is more willing to get tough rebounds. Bosh also does a better job of playing containment defense, an area where Amar’e seems to lack focus at times.

Also, when considering this as a long term investment strategy, the age of the three contestants must be taken into account. Carlos Boozer is 28 years old. Amar’e Stoudemire is 27. Bosh is only 26.

Professional sports is all about mismatches and players’ abilities to capitalize on them. If a team is going to invest in a player the caliber of James, Wade or Johnson, it only makes sense to solidify that investment by ensuring that his supporting cast can also generate some advantages. Bosh’s versatility makes him the best candidate to fulfill that requirement.

There are already numerous reports of the frontrunners in the free agent chase – New York, Chicago and Miami – all attempting to secure Bosh’s services in hopes that it will set them up for at least one of the ‘Big Two.’

Wade Becomes the 2010 Official Spokesperson of NBA Free Agency

T Lamont — Fri, 28 May 2010 16:19:37 +0000

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With some of the biggest names in the sport available to pick and choose their next destinations, the summer of 2010 figures to be one that will dictate which franchises will be NBA powerhouses over the coming decade.

Given the significance of the decisions to be made, the top free agents – including LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Joe Johnson and Chris Bosh – are planning to meet and discuss their plans surrounding free agency. The free-agent season actually commences beginning July 1, and six-time All-Star Dwayne Wade announced that the meeting will take place prior to that date:

“I don’t know the date. LeBron went through a very tough loss, so you’ve got to give guys time to get over things and get their schedules clear. But before July 1 we’ll know what we’re going to do and hopefully it’s somewhere quiet.”

“I’m sure a lot of us, when you sit down and everybody puts a list together of opportunities they have, I’m sure a lot of us have a couple of the same opportunities, the same teams they’re looking at. So I’m sure there’s going to be discussion.”

A story coming from the Chicago Tribune added a little more spice to this gumbo, with this piece where Wade apparently questioned the loyalty of the Bulls organization:

“I think the biggest question that you think about has to be loyalty. I know one thing about Miami: It is a very loyal organization. I see what they do with their players when their players get done with the game of basketball … how loyal they are. I don’t know about the Bulls.”

“I see Michael Jordan is not there, Scottie Pippen is not there. … You know, these guys are not a part. Things like that. So that is probably one of the biggest things for me, because I am a very loyal person.”

But then after realizing that he wasn’t an authority on the subject (regarding what Jordan and Pippen aspired to do after their careers), he quickly backtracked on his initial ramblings:

“I’m not taking shots at the Bulls, and the organization. I respect the organization, I respect every organization in the NBA. It’s just that my opinion when the question was asked about what’s most important to you, I said one of the most important things is loyalty. It’s not that I’m taking shots at the Bulls, or I’m taking shots at any organization.”

Outside of the All-Star Game, would these two mega-stars consider playing on the same team?

Either way, it doesn’t sound like the Chicago native will be headed back home to play for the team that he’s not taking shots at.

There are a host of other potential stars who may also throw their names into the pot, specifically Carlos Boozer, Amar’e Stoudamire and Dirk Nowitzki just to highlight a few.

Some may argue that this is not beneficial to the overall development of the league…but really, who cares?

This off-season is about the choices that these young men are going to have to live with for years to come. A little politicking with their constituents is essential and should be expected to ensure that these elite players are happy with their final selections. From a franchise-based perspective, there’s nothing worse than having a super-talented, but non-motivated player on your roster. This whole process should prevent that from occurring.

On the flip side, players need to understand all aspects of their organization – along with the impacts that other players may have on their individual situation or potential for greater success.

And whether he realizes it or not, Wade has just become the 2010 official spokesperson of NBA free agency.