<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Four games into the NBA season is awfully early to start forming lasting opinions about teams and players. But not for Hawks coach Mike Woodson. Not when the topic is Hawks captain Joe Johnson. Joe Johnson's tied for second in the NBA in scoring, but his contributions to the Hawks' fast start go far beyond that. "He's playing like an MVP," Woodson said of Johnson after Tuesday's win in Cleveland, the Hawks' third straight with Johnson leading the way. "You can say what you want, and I know it's early, but he's on a mission. He's playing his [tail] off and he's a big part of what we're doing. Time and time again he makes big plays down the stretch that we needed to secure the win." The MVP talk is certainly premature. But Johnson's impact on the Hawks' early success is undeniable. He's averaging 28.7 points per game, tied for second in the league with Cleveland's LeBron James, behind Allen Iverson, and the Hawks are atop the Southeast Division standings. And he's been virtually unstoppable in all four games, dominating defenders inside and out while also pushing the Hawks to places they haven't been in four years. "He's a premier scorer in our league," James said after Tuesday's game. "But he doesn't get recognized as much as he should because they [Hawks] have not been good in the past. But right now they're 3-1, so he's starting to get some recognition."</div> Source
JJ has been big, and the Hawks as a whole have played quite well. Even with their good play, they're without Marvin, and haven't gotten much contribution from Speedy, Josh (had a few decent games), and Shelden.
Yeah, I agree with og15. Joe Johnson has been the league's third best scorer so far, behind Allen Iverson and Michael Redd. We have gotten HUGE contributions from Tyronne Lue and Zaza Pachuila. Once Shelden starts improving (he had 8 points against the Cavs, that's improvement, Speedy Claxton starts contributing, and Marvin Williams comes back...the Hawks may be a force to be reckoned with. The two Joshes hopefully can improve, and this team, I believe, could be a very special suprise to the league.
<div class="quote_poster">michiganave17 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">any mvp threads should be on hold until atleast allstar break.</div> my sentiments exactly; the hawks are 4 games in. plus if we were to decide a mvp at this point, it would be lamar odom
He is playing very well, I'm surprised the Hawks have started this well, currentley at 4 - 1, JJ had 34 Points, 8 Rebounds, 5 Assists in todays game against Toronto, shooting on 12/20 from the field. 50 win season?
The Jazz started 7-1 two years ago and then fell to a losing season. Lue is overachieving and Johnson is playing at an amazing level. Although I expect JJ to keep up his stellar play, the other younger and more inexperienced Hawks will fall back sooner or later. I don't expect the Hawks to win for too long but hopefully they prove me wrong. Are there even any Atlanta Hawks fans on this board? lol
Man, I hate these stupid MVP threads. Carlos Boozer and Zach Randolph are all nominated also. Do you honestly believe any of these 2 players can win MVP award? NO WAY
<div class="quote_poster">Junoon Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">The Jazz started 7-1 two years ago and then fell to a losing season. Lue is overachieving and Johnson is playing at an amazing level. Although I expect JJ to keep up his stellar play, the other younger and more inexperienced Hawks will fall back sooner or later. I don't expect the Hawks to win for too long but hopefully they prove me wrong. Are there even any Atlanta Hawks fans on this board? lol</div> Actually some of their younger guys have underperformed. Overall Smith hasn't done as good as you'd expect, he had some big games, but a lot of just fair ones. Shelden has had like one good game so far, and Marvin has been out. Pachulia is the only one that's truly giving consistent production.
