| Joe Johnson Leads Team To Find Identity Authored by Zettler Clay IV - November 6, 2006 - 10:31 am
About four minutes into the game, Joe Johnson amassed two fouls. Befuddled and clearly shaken, he was removed from the game. For the rest of the quarter the Hawks, who were playing their first home game of the season, played as if they were adjusting to the waxing of the floor, as they were down to the New York Knicks 22-21 after one quarter. The Knicks didn't play much better, but we will get to them later.
Insert Joe ‘Cool’ Johnson with ten minutes left in the second quarter. The following is what happened for the Hawks within the next six minutes of the game:
Cool grabs a defensive rebound.
Seven seconds later, Cool makes a 19-foot jumper.
After a Lorenzen Wright layup, Cool assists Josh Smith for a wide-open three pointer.
30 seconds later, Cool hits a 12-foot shot.
After three free throws sunk by the Hawks (one by Johnson on an Isiah Thomas technical foul), Cool makes a lay-up.
Consider the fact that during this period, the Hawks went on a 15-6 run, and would go on to outscore the Knicks by 11 in the quarter. This was a stark contrast to the game on opening night against the Sixers, where the Hawks played with as much energy as Ben Stein. They out-scored the Knicks 18-10 in the fast-break department, which displayed the renewed effort by the team to get out and run more. After the game, Cool confirmed this.
"We definitely got to be a running team," said Cool. He continued saying, "We have too many athletes. I don't think we are made for a half court game. We got to get up and down the court."
We all know the story of Cool. He was on that 62-win Phoenix team, who churned management the following summer as a restricted free agent and decided to come to a franchise that was in major rebuilding mode. So Phoenix obliged, and here came Cool, set to take the Hawks (who hadn't played past April since 1999) to the next level in their rebuilding plan. The Hawks won 26 games last season (Cool's first in Hotlanta), doubling the win total from a year prior.
However, for the first time since he has arrived in the ATL, this is solely his team. Last season, Al Harrington was a big part of the offense, as in when the ball went into him, it did not come out. Harrington is gone to the Pacers now, and the Hawks success (and maybe Woodson's job) is contingent on how the former Arkansas guard leads them.
Friday's home opener against the Knicks further stamped that this offense has to run through Cool (who finished with 30 points and 8 assists) to be successful. The Hawks looked for him every time on offense in the post, where he will have a size advantage over 87% of the shooting guards in the league. Bottom line, the Hawks found out that they must run the offense through Cool to be at maximal performance. So Cool, are you capable of putting this team on your back?
"Oh definitely, I come night in and night out, and play 100% percent, but don't get me wrong, I have ample amount of help, with Zaza, Speedy, Lorenzen, T-Lue, Josh Smith, and the rest of those guys." said Cool.
So here we are, after Game 2, already seeing the Hawks rack up win number one. The Hawks didn't do that until after 10 games last season, so one could already sense that this is a different year for the Birds; a chance for these Birds to narrow the gap between them and the other Birds (Falcons) in the city. Last year, it took four home games. This year, the first time was a charm. |
