AJC: Atlanta Hawks: Joe Johnson speaks

[Hawksquawk]

I had a sit-down today with J.J. after he signed his new deal at Hawks headquarters. Thought you might want to peep the Q and A:

Q. Can you take me through the process of when you met with the Hawks, they made the offer and then you also had interest from other teams?

A. “It was pretty much the free-agency frenzy that was going on. It was a fun time. I enjoyed it. All along I pretty much felt like Atlanta was the place for me. I have had five great years here. I haven’t regretted anything since I’ve been here. I’ve had a lot of fun. The team has improved every year. The coach and the ownership have done everything possible to improve as a team. I think right now, it is pretty much our time. We have just got to believe in ourselves.”

Q. Did the Hawks discuss their plans for the roster during the meeting?

A. “We kind of sat and talked. They pretty much said how they felt about me coming back to the team and how much they wanted me back. It was a great meeting. They said they …

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[tonegully]

Lets go JOE. Very professional interview.

Its good to see that the ball will be shared. I knew Woodson was wearing him down throughout the season and during games. Im excited about this offense and summer league.

[mrhonline]

Not creating so much until late in the game so I am not so worn down.

Hmmm...not sure how to interpret that. We'll just have to wait it out.

[AHawks89]

Hmmm...not sure how to interpret that. We'll just have to wait it out.

Haha yeah, I was thinking the same thing yesterday when I saw this article. Our main problem was ISO's in the 4th quarter. Um..? haha

[NJHAWK]

I hope the part where he says they have enough to win now was just the company line because I hope he is trying to get some more pieces here. Maybe that chat went down before Lebron chose Miami.

[Admin]

Haha yeah, I was thinking the same thing yesterday when I saw this article. Our main problem was ISO's in the 4th quarter. Um..? haha

I hope that he is saying in case we need an ISO from him late in the 4th and not we'll be running the ISO offense in the 4th.

And yeah NJHAWK I also hope that he knows we need to make some additional moves in order to compete.

[BudBall]

Main problem was that bibby sucked as a creator.

[buckeye242424]

Q. There has been lots of criticism from media and fans around the league about your contract. Have you seen or heard it?

A. “Naw. Uh-uh.”

Q. There are lots of people saying it’s a bad deal for the Hawks. Does that bother you?

A. “There is nothing I can do. You have got to deal with it. You deal with the bad

Fan of Joe, but this didn't sound promising to me. Seriously, how could you not hear the criticism? "You deal with the bad"...what's that?

[Crank]

Q. There has been lots of criticism from media and fans around the league about your contract. Have you seen or heard it?

A. “Naw. Uh-uh.”

Q. There are lots of people saying it’s a bad deal for the Hawks. Does that bother you?

A. “There is nothing I can do. You have got to deal with it. You deal with the bad

Fan of Joe, but this didn't sound promising to me. Seriously, how could you not hear the criticism? "You deal with the bad"...what's that?

Exactly Drew is gonna have his hands full as Joe is one of the most unaware athletes EVER and Josh is a mental ball of goo. These are basically your two best players and what are they doing to convince us that they are serious about getting out of the first rd ?

[HAWKSFAN89]

Q. Your agent said you planned to recruit other players. Any ideas on the guys you’d like to come play with you?

A. “(Laughs). We have to go out and see what is out there. Honestly, I think we have the team now we can win with. That’s no question. The last two years we have averaged 50 wins. We all know it’s time to step up and take it to the next level. I think with the team we’ve got right now we can do that.”

:thumbsdownsmileyanim:

[HawksFan87]

So basically he still doesn't care what the fans thinks lol..

[mudderfudder77]

Hey - congrats to you guys on getting JJ locked up. I was really hoping for a Joe Johnson & Carlos Boozer free agency signing in Chicago - but you guys got Johnson locked up before we could even talk to him. (Appreciate you keeping him away from the Knicks as well.)

[Admin]

Hey - congrats to you guys on getting JJ locked up. I was really hoping for a Joe Johnson & Carlos Boozer free agency signing in Chicago - but you guys got Johnson locked up before we could even talk to him. (Appreciate you keeping him away from the Knicks as well.)

Well with Boozer, Korver and potentially Reddick you guys will have made a huge upgrade from last years already talented squad and you should have plenty of shooters to surround Rose with.