Thats what he gets paid to do folks..

[Gray Mule]

:derisive:

Last night, shots were falling all over the place for the Hawks. We need a hero for every game

but not necessarily the same player every night. It was Joe Johnson's turn. He was past due.

Thank you JJ for having a great game. Look at all the 3's the Hawks hit:

Joe Johnson ---- 6-9

Josh Smith ------ 0-2

Crawford---------- 1-4

Teague ------------2-2

Williams-----------2-2

---------------------------------

Total 3's---------11-19

We've said it and said it - If the Hawks have their shots falling, they win. Prime example.

Again. Thank you Joe Johnson. Maybe, just maybe, you are out of your month long funk

and are ready to preform in the manner you are capable of.

Note: Captain Kirk hit every shot he attempted. Can't beat that.

Go Hawks. Do it again tonight!

:clapping:

Edited March 16, 2011 by Gray Mule

[buckeye242424]

And Joe Johnson did?

I'm saying he should have good games all of the time. Not on random nights, after a complete month of failure.

Completely unrealistic. The guy is human...

[niremetal]

We all knew we over paid for Joe. His performance tonight was awesome, but this probably wont happen again the rest of the season. He is a 20 point scorer a night and gets paid like he scores 30. It is what it is.

Actually, because of the artificially-imposed max salary rule, LeBron and Kobe are 30 point a night scorers and get paid like they score 20. It's not that JJ's overpaid, but rather that the league's elite are underpaid. It's a rather important distinction. To repost something I said awhile back:

There were multiple teams (notably NYK and Chi) openly wooing JJ with max contract offers. If the NBA didn't have a max salary per player (the only major sports league that does, far as I know), LeBron and Kobe would be making $30+M (maybe even $40M) per year, guys like D-12 would be making $25M-30M, and JJ would still be making in the $15-20M range. In that case, I think it's safe to say that no one would be saying that JJ's contract was the worst-ever. Why should that assessment change simply because the NBA and the players have decided to impose an arbitrary cap on how much LeBron and Kobe can get paid?

Saying JJ is overpaid by comparing his salary to guys like LeBron's and Kobe's makes no more sense than saying that Josh is overpaid by comparing him to Blake Griffin - Blake Griffin is neither an available option for the Hawks nor someone whose salary is set at a "market" level, so why should how much Griffin is getting paid affect our assessment of Josh? The same reasoning applies to the max salary level. Not every team can get a "one-man franchise" type player because there are only 3-4 of those guys in existence. All the teams know this. They have to make their decisions on who to sign based on the players actually available to them. If Kobe is not an option for a team but JJ is, why on EARTH should how much Kobe is getting paid affect how much they offer JJ? And if it shouldn't affect how much they offer JJ, then what's the basis for saying that JJ is "overpaid?"

And as for this...

The fact that you could have a legit debate about which one is better says enough.

I had to chuckle when I read that. So because you say Iggy is as good as JJ, there is a legit debate about which one is better? I could probably find people who say filet mignon tastes no better than dog crap. Does that "say enough" about the quality of filet mignon?

NBA coaches have given JJ 5 All-Star appearances and 1 All-NBA nod. They've given Iggy nothing. Except among people who hate Joe Johnson, I haven't seen any legit debate about who is the better player.

Edited March 16, 2011 by niremetal

[Wretch]

In the chat someone asked me if I was "happy" that Joe was playing so well. I said of course. If he plays well, we play well. I'm just not impressed. This is what Joe Johnson gets paid to do. Be the guy, and lead the way. He takes a month and change off, has one good game (really a half) and we're all supposed to be jumping up and down? He is supposed to do this night in, and night out. Not random nights against the Bucks. Is the bar that low that we'll settle for a good game from him once in a while? Please....

I have to +1 you on this thread...

I'm not a Joe hater. I'm the exact opposite. But I had the same thought reading all the positive reaction to his performance this game. I mean damn man... I love Joe. I put that dude in my signature for a reason. But it has been downright discouraging watching him this season. It's reminiscent of how Laettner came in here and gave us an amazing season and a half and then just slowly eroded into absolutely nothing.

I'm just drawing a comparison and it's nowhere near that bad, but let's be honest here. JJ has been playing like mere mortal, an average SG, for the majority of the season. We didn't give him superstar money for average play. He was paid to carry the team to BE the reliable/clutch shooting we need. He was far more than average when he came here with a chip on his shoulder...with something to prove. He was far more than that in the 08 playoffs. Joe is/was our STAR. We should expect him to at least play CLOSE to that level on a day in day out basis. It is most certainly what we paid him to do.