There has to be a wee sense of satisfaction for Joe Johnson, a small measure of triumph, that his NBA season still was alive five days after the Suns had scattered for the summer.
But Johnson stepped up for the Hawks this spring, averaging 20 points and hitting 44.4 percent of his three-pointers in seven playoff games. He shot only 40.9 percent overall, but turned the best-of-seven into a true series when he scored 20 points, en route to 35, in the fourth quarter of the Hawks' Game 4 victory. There was even a moment in Game 3 when Johnson flashed some uncharacteristic emotion, hollering and bumping teammate Josh Smith during a scoring run. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found it so notable that, three years into Johnson's productive but placid stay there, the paper felt compelled to highlight it.
As impressive as the 6-foot-7 shooting guard was against the Celtics, as productive as he has been in three Atlanta seasons (22.0 ppg in 211 games), the role of a team's best and most richly compensated player demands more. That's why it was a little disappointing, heading from the Hawks' surprising first-round play into a newly energized summer, that Johnson still would be deflecting responsibility that, rightfully, falls to him.
"We need more veteran leadership,'' he said after Game 7. "We've got a lot of young guys that are just running wild [in basketball terms] and we need more veteran leadership. Hopefully we can get that.''
Some guys never become vocal leaders, would be nice to hear Joe say "the right things" in the papers though. Can't blame any one member of the team for not beating the Celtics though... much better team. Great defense that can make anyone, Lebron included, look bad.
What do yall think? I can guess that Harry and tontoz won't agree on something.
