Quote:
Originally Posted by jthig32
I'm willing to dismiss the playoff results with Atlanta because they came with Joe being the primary offensive player. Pair him with a player like Dirk and he's not going to be forcing shots like that.
I understand how his most recent performances would leave a bad taste in your mouth, but I think it's dangerous to draw conclusions from such a small sample size. We certainly aren't kind to the one poster around that keeps mentioning Dirk's Golden State series.
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It's not necessarily just this run, sure he was hobbled with injuries a bit last year but he still didn't perform. In a Game 7 versus Boston the team pretty much laid down and he shot 24 percent.
But with this game I saw the first quarter of I don't see how he can get off the hook. If he is so great at creating offense for himself, why do the first 5 shots end up being jumpers and you go 3-15 in the game? If he's creative, attack the basket or do something inside of 15 feet, Howard has been abused with foul calls...test him. I just didn't like the "lead by example" quality right there. Talent or no talent, you just carry your team and show off the versatility. I didn't see anything out there other than someone who was already defeated. They were already talking after game 1 and game 2 that it'll take a perfect game to beat the Magic...that doesn't cut it. Guys like Lebron and Wade, they attack and will go down trying...I don't necessarily get that with Joe.
I would think the writing is on the wall that he's gonna leave. He's going to command top dollar and Atlanta now realizes they are far far away from being considered an elite team in the East. They've held on to that core group for at least 3-4 years and its not gotten them past the semi's. They're young, but they're not growing out of their immature tendencies.