SLAM ONLINE | » Net Worth Page 1 of 4 XXL SLAM RIDES 0-60 ANTENNA SLAM Facebook SLAM Twitter SLAM Tumblr SLAM Newsletter RSS Home News & Rumors NBA Blogs Media Kicks College & HS Other Ballers Magazine Subscribe HOT TOPICS: RIP, John Strickland Iverson To Turkey? Jordan’s Still The Greatest Top 50: Tim Duncan SEARCH Original Old School: Petro Star Tony Woods, Wake Forest Split Monday, October 11th, 2010 at 2:25 pm | 7 responses 3 Like 1 Net Worth Joe Johnson is back in Atlanta and ready to get better. by Tracy Weissenberg / @basketballista In the NBA, sometimes what a franchise player isn’t is just as important as what he is. Hawks guard Joe Johnson was not above rejoining a team he helped build up, even if it meant adjusting his game to a revamped offense. During his previous five seasons in Atlanta, he had accepted the role of go-to guy that his talent and contract dictated, but he never did it by becoming bigger than the team. While other teams were focused on what a max player is this summer, the Hawks saw what theirs is not. And all those qualities quickly added up. This past offseason, new Hawks head coach Larry Drew visited the marquee free agent to explain the new offense he planned to implement. Asked about the points he made to Johnson, Drew said, “It’s a system that would allow him to continue to be himself but it also allowed him to do other things. There are parts of his game certainly I’m challenging him to enhance. He can be equally as effective without the ball as he is with the ball. That’s what this offense does, it moves bodies, it moves the ball. He doesn’t become a standstill target if we execute properly. Teams cannot just zero and lock in on him. And as I mentioned, he’s bought into it so that’s half the battle won there.” Drew expands on Johnson’s role within the offense when he says, “He’ll spend a lot of time with the ball in his hands again, but now we have something that we can play out of with it in his hands…He’ll get an early touch but there’ll be times where he’ll give it up early as well because of the other options out of the offense…He sees where his opportunities are, he sees that it’s putting other guys in a position to be a threat, and with that it takes a little bit more pressure off of him. And once you have all five guys buying into that whole concept and that whole philosophy, it’s an offense that can be very effective.” On what the new offense means to his personal game, Johnson says, “Moving more without the basketball, doing a lot more catch and shooting instead of just catch, isolation and going one-on-one.” After a second-round sweep to the Magic in last season’s Playoffs, the Hawks hope to prove that their progress has not plateaued. “We just gotta be better than we were last year,” says Johnson, “You know, that’s been our motto every year and we’ve been better. I have no doubt that we’ll come back and be a lot better and stronger than we were last year.” He adds that he is “glad to be back, glad to be a part of something special here.” http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/10/net-worth/ 10/12/2010 SLAM ONLINE | » Net Worth Page 2 of 4 The Hawks’ record has improved in each of Johnson’s five seasons with the team, including three straight playoff appearances. The Hawks will not only look for Johnson to guide the team past the second round, but also to provide guidance to younger players like second-year point guard Jeff Teague. Johnson says the advice he gives is “just to stay confident, you know every game’s not going to be a good game but you got to have a short term memory in this league and you just got to move on.” He adds, “I think Jeff Teague is a great player and he’s going to be a great point guard in this league, he just has to grow.” Lakers Limiting Kobe Bryant to 16 Minutes 2 Johnson says the advice he gives out is similar to what he received coming up in the George Maloof Arrested on a DUI Charge 2 NBA. “Pretty much the same thing I just said about Jeff and that’s just being confident Tony Woods, Wake Forest Split 1 and just play through your mistakes,” he says, “that’s what a lot of veteran guys always used to tell me so I just try to relay it down to the upcoming guys.” Greg Oden: ‘I feel I Can Be An All-Star’ 49 As for his personal legacy, Johnson says he’d like to be thought of “just as a hard worker. A guy who loved Blazers to Sign Steven Hill 6 to come out and play the game of basketball, had fun and handled his business.” More News & Rumors » While many discount the Hawks, coming off a 53-win season, as a championship threat, Johnson is secure with the foundation he and his teammates have constructed. “As long as we believe in each other in this locker room, that’s all that matters,” he says. Photos Wallpapers With a fluid new offense and core group intact, the Hawks and their quiet franchise player will still begin Photos: this season under the radar. While the word max is loaded with implications, its definition is full of Buck Shot ambiguity. And if you start defining the word by what a player is not, you may find out more about who he 18 is and what his game is about. At least that’s what the Hawks found with Joe. Brandon Add a Comment Invite a friend Share Jennings at the KICKS 13 RSS Photo Shoot. More from You might be interested in Photos » LeBron James Doubts He Can Average Triple-Double Blake Griffin: Being Compared to Karl Malone, LeBron James D-Will to Al Jefferson: ‘I’m Going to Make You an All-Star’ Game Notes: Lakers vs. TWolves Tags:Top 50:Atlanta Carlos Hawks Boozer,, Joe Johnsonno. 20 , Larry Drew Clippers to Baron Davis: You’re Out of Shape Allen Iverson Atlanta Hawks Boston 7 Responses to “Net Worth ” Celtics Carmelo Anthony Charlotte Bobcats Money$hot Posted: Oct.11 at 3:14 pm Chicago Bulls U better step your game up Joe Cool! U got 119 million reasons too Cleveland Cavaliers Dallas Mavericks Denver Nuggets Derrick Rose Detroit Pistons Dwight logues Posted: Oct.11 at 5:33 pm Howard Dwyane Wade Free Agency Golden does anybody else think he looks like andre johnson State Warriors Houston Rockets Kevin Durant Kevin Garnett Kobe Bryant LeBron JTaylor21 Posted: Oct.11 at 6:05 pm Los Angeles Clippers Please, don’t disrespect Andre like that. Dude is three times the hard- James Los worker and twice as talented. Angeles Lakers Memphis Grizzlies Miami Heat Michael Jordan Milwaukee Dacre Posted: Oct.11 at 7:18 pm Bucks New Jersey Nets New Orleans Hornets If this guy was still in PHX, Nash would have a finals MVP… New York Knicks Nike Oklahoma City Thunder Orlando Magic Pau Gasol Philadelphia 76ers Phoenix Suns Playoffs 2010 MikeC. Posted: Oct.11 at 10:56 pm Portland Trail Blazers Recruiting Ron Artest ^^If this guy was still in Phoenix, he’d likely be a threat to lead the Sacramento Kings San Antonio Spurs Shaquille league in scoring and the Suns wouldn’t be so worried about Nash O'Neal Toronto Raptors Utah Jazz Washington breaking down every year. Wizards LA Huey Posted: Oct.12 at 12:20 am $119 million reasons why it’s funny that the leader of the Hawks is an albatross. Tarzan Cooper Posted: Oct.12 at 3:37 am http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2010/10/net-worth/ 10/12/2010 SLAM ONLINE | » Net Worth Page 3 of 4 Hawks will stay the same unless they move al to the four and get a real center. Problem is, josh seems better at 4 than 3. hawks must solve Comments Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Submit Comment The comments section is a place to further discuss the topics in this post. Commenters who seek to accomplish any of the following may be banned: - Personally attack other commenters. - Make derogatory comments regarding race, ethnicity, language, gender, sexual orientation or religion. - Troll, or comment with the intention of creating problems. Trolling includes, but isn't limited to, baiting people to flame at you, encouraging people to leave the site, spamming and using alternate IDs. 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