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Team captain enthused by trade that brought Bibby to Hawks

An injury replacement for last year's game, Johnson was voted into Sunday's 57th All-Star Game as a reserve by the Eastern Conference coaches. It's a selection that surprised some, considering the uneven showing by Johnson and the Hawks this season.

"I do think I'm starting to get a little respect around the league. I just have to keep working hard and keep my team climbing up the charts," said Johnson, who scored three points for the East in a 134-128 victory over the West.

Bibby offers relief in a couple of those areas, which Johnson has been asking for since training camp, in his usual understated manner.

"It's not like I was asking for selfish reasons," Johnson said. "We're trying to take this team to the playoffs. And having been a part of playoff teams in the past, I understand that it takes more than one guy, more than one veteran, to get there.

"With myself, Josh Smith, Al Horford, Josh Childress, Marvin Williams and now Mike Bibby, we're looking at a totally different setup in terms of what we can do and really how we're going to do it. We lost some good, really good, quality guys. But we upgraded at a crucial position that we all understand will be crucial to us making the playoffs."

The Hawks are attempting to end the league's longest playoff drought — eight years. At 21-28, they are currently in the ninth spot, trailing New Jersey and Philadelphia by percentage points, for the final playoff spot in the East. They are just 2 1/2 games out of the sixth spot.

"We've got 33 games left," Johnson said. "At least for now we have our destiny in our own hands. The last two years we've really been out of the playoff chase by this time. It feels a whole lot better being in the mix, I promise you that."

Johnson's individual excellence has been questioned. Boston's Paul Pierce chimed in when the All-Star rosters were announced. Pierce questioned whether a player on a losing team deserved the nod over a player from one of the best teams in the league. He was speaking of Celtics teammate Ray Allen, who was later added as an injury replacement.

Johnson said he lets that kind of skepticism go in one ear and out the other. And he doesn't take it personally.

His All-Star teammates, many of whom join Johnson on the U.S. Men's Senior National Team, from which the Olympic team will be picked, think he belongs.

"There's not a guy here that shouldn't be here," Denver All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony said. "Joe Johnson is exactly where he's supposed to be. Anybody that thinks otherwise really don't know what they're talking about."

Washington All-Star Caron Butler sees Johnson and the Southeast Division rival Hawks as much as anyone. He, too, scoffs at the notion that Johnson shouldn't be here.

"It's the gift and the curse, when you play at a high level and your team isn't," Butler said. "That's when people always say, 'Should he make it or shouldn't he.' I'm a big fan of Joe's, and his versatility and what he brings to the court night in and night out. He definitely should have made it. I'm glad he's here, a back-to-back All-Star, and I'm proud of him and I love competing against him.

"Because he doesn't say a whole lot, but you always know he's coming at you on that floor trying to beat you just as bad as you want to beat him."

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