JJ's return to phoenix

[arthurracoon]

I personally feel that the "You suck!" taunts go too far, but I have no problem with the booing. It's the vocal equivalent of a thumbs-down or a frowny-face.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I think Salim's quote pretty much sums it up

HAWKS GUARD SALIM STOUDAMIRE (14 PTS): “It was a combination of us not getting back on defense and on the offensive end, just not sharing the ball. We had 8 assists for the game, and they had 27. That was the game. They just moved the ball more than us.

(On fan reaction to Johnson)
"That’s what their supposed to do. If a guy had the option of signing back with his team but then chose another team, of course there’s going to be some bad blood, no matter what he did.”

 

[elindholm]

That’s what their supposed to do.

Let's hope Stoudamire had the right spelling in mind when he made the statement.

Who writes this crap?

 

[jbeecham]

I think Salim's quote pretty much sums it up

It's amazing to hear that kind of comment from one of Joe's teammates and from a rookie in the league. I boo'ed Johnson the whole game, but I've got a friend that was at the game that felt the booing was wrong. He thought Joe deserved that kind of reaction, but he wanted the fans to behave with class and basically not act like Pistons fans. Sure, we weren't throwing things, but over the last few years we have been booing more and more Ex-Suns (Kidd, McDyess, Horry). Obviously this has a lot to do with the way those people left the Suns though (we didn't boo Marbury, Q, Zarko, Casey, etc).

I thought the Joe Johnson sucks chants were taking it too far because he actually doesn't suck. The main reason I boo'ed him was because I was a big JJ fan since he was traded here from Boston. I watched him grow and develop into an amazing player and then he just turns his back on the team and the fans and a possible championship for ATLANTA!

 

[DevilPrideBAS]

As long as we are buying tickets to enter the arena and support our team, we have every right to boo or cheer whoever we feel. It is incredible that people would say it was classless to boo him the whole game, its all part of the sport. I wouldnt mind the boos if i was pulling in 20 million anually. Great statement by Salim as well. Go Suns.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Flipped on Bickley and MJ this morning--first time in months--and it took 30 seconds for me to realize why I never listen to those guys.

No talk about the Suns play or the win streak.
No talk about Diaw.
No talk about how bad the Hawks are.

Its all about how classless Suns fans are, how people don't really know the real story.

I cannot understand how they stay on the air. There are some radio guys you don't like, but you feel compelled to listen to them. I cannot listen to those guys, even if I wanted to.

 

[BillsCarnage]

I thought the Joe Johnson sucks chants were taking it too far because he actually doesn't suck.

He doesn't suck? Hmmm, I'll admit he's a great shooter and good at creating his own shot, but aside from those what can he do?

He couldn't play PG like he said he could. That lasted about 6 games or so before the Hawks told him no more.

He wanted to be "the man" in ATL. Well if you want to be the man you have to act like the man. When his team got down big he didn't show any leadership and try to rally them; he just ball hogged and scored while they watched. Being the man also means you should be a leader and a leader JoJo isn't. He was too scared to go back into the game after being taken out in the 3rd. Boo's or not, the man wouldn't be too scared to play the game he loves.

I have no pity for JoJo and the booing he received. In fact i thought it would have been worse. If this were back in the Barkley or KJ/Chambers days the whole arena would have let him have it.

JoJo choose his line to walk.

 

[BillsCarnage]

Flipped on Bickley and MJ this morning--first time in months--and it took 30 seconds for me to realize why I never listen to those guys.

No talk about the Suns play or the win streak.
No talk about Diaw.
No talk about how bad the Hawks are.

Its all about how classless Suns fans are, how people don't really know the real story.

I cannot understand how they stay on the air. There are some radio guys you don't like, but you feel compelled to listen to them. I cannot listen to those guys, even if I wanted to.

It's the Stern effect. Bad radio is usually the best radio. That's not a knock on Stern either.

 

[carrrnuttt]

Flipped on Bickley and MJ this morning--first time in months--and it took 30 seconds for me to realize why I never listen to those guys.

No talk about the Suns play or the win streak.
No talk about Diaw.
No talk about how bad the Hawks are.

Its all about how classless Suns fans are, how people don't really know the real story.

I cannot understand how they stay on the air. There are some radio guys you don't like, but you feel compelled to listen to them. I cannot listen to those guys, even if I wanted to.

I'm glad I come in to work very early now, so I don't have to listen to that idiot Bickley bad-mouth the Suns organization.

Everybody was calling John Gambadoro slow for the way he speaks on the show, when in fact he had ALL the right reports about the Suns, including JJ's attitude, which Joe himself has proven correct.

This is all while Bickley tried to spin the situation JJ's way, and even had JJ's "financial advisor" call in to his show. Now, he apparently has nothing to say about the situation itself, except to badmouth Suns fans that didn't buy into his BS, and pessimism.

 

[keric]

Just a couple of observations from the Atlanta game..

1.Very glad that JJ got booed, he deserved every little one of them.

2. Couldn't stand the interview before the game as JJ kept saying that he wouldn't do things differently blah blah blah... All of his answers were probably predetermined and his responses were mostly scripted. (although you could tell by his facial expressions that he was feeling different inside)

3. So glad the Suns won, this would be the one game that would've hurt the most had the Suns lost. (worse than Memphis)

4. JJ played a pretty good game. Although many have not commented about this, let me say this: during the second quarter JJ was clearly the best player on the court. Sure it was mostly one on one moves against our "designated stopper" Raja Bell, but during that stretch JJ impressed.

Running floaters in the lane, shooting over a smaller guard, slashing to the basket on a jump stop were all the moves that I miss seeing as a Suns' fan were all on display Sunday night. I wonder where the Hawks would be without his skills??? I wonder where the Suns would be with him. One thing is clear, the traitor is a very skilled player and FUN to watch. (much more so than Bell and Jones who essentially shoot jumpers all game).

 

[nowagimp]

Just a couple of observations from the Atlanta game..

4. JJ played a pretty good game. Although many have not commented about this, let me say this: during the second quarter JJ was clearly the best player on the court. Sure it was mostly one on one moves against our "designated stopper" Raja Bell, but during that stretch JJ impressed.

Running floaters in the lane, shooting over a smaller guard, slashing to the basket on a jump stop were all the moves that I miss seeing as a Suns' fan were all on display Sunday night. I wonder where the Hawks would be without his skills??? I wonder where the Suns would be with him. One thing is clear, the traitor is a very skilled player and FUN to watch. (much more so than Bell and Jones who essentially shoot jumpers all game).

JJ reminded me of Kobe in that game: He played one-on-one almost entirely, didnt get shots for anyone else, didnt play much 'D', and his team was on the ropes in the 2nd quarter. Definition of a good loser. Beware of "good" players on bad teams. I dont care for the booing, never did. JJ can be the king of the molehill anytime in ATL, so what. What JJ doesn't realize is that his development into a really good player, that makes the players around him better, has been put on indefinite hold. He has the same problem that Allen Iverson used to have, but with much less skill of course: He looks good scoring, and losing. This year AI has figured it out, I think. How long did it take AI(8 years?)? How long will it take JJ? The part that I think is hilarious is that Atlanta gets to pay him 70mil to learn how to play basketball, and look good losing. Someday maybe, JJ, but you blew the chance to be a real basketball player while you were still young.

 

[nowagimp]

I wonder where the Hawks would be without his skills??? .

Oh yeah I forgot, they'd be the worst team in the NBA, of course. Der, thats what they are with JJ! At least they are more entertaining. Yeah, so entertaining I just couldnt bare to watch, as I turned the game off when they were 37 points behind in the third quarter, and the suns decided to rest the starters for the next game. It was the most uncompetitive game I've seen in a long time.

 

[Phill11]

That was moi getting the section started - it was great. I was in the very last row yelling "Joe Johnson SUCKS!" There was another guy towards the bottom yelling it too. He came up in the first quarter and we agreed when there was a break in the game we'd start the chant and the whole section started going. It was great.

Did he have redish orange hair?

If so, that guy was funny as hell.

One of the ladies who stands at the entrance to the seats came up to him like 3 times asking him to stop yelling JJ sucks. So then you started yelling it and he'd stand up and say really loud "I AGREE WITH THAT GUY!" Him doing the dance with the cheerleaders was funny as hell too.