George O'Brien
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Arizona Republic
Quietly shining Sun
Johnson speaks with his improving play
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 10, 2004 12:00 AM
GAMES Pts/Gm Reb/Gm Asst/Gm Min/Gm FG % 3-PT % FT %
First 34 games 12.6 4.1 3.3 36.9 .389 .286 .786
Past 19 games 22.7 5.5 4.9 42.4 .491 .306 .750
The varsity basketball team for Little Rock's historic Central High School is on the bus heading to its 1996-97 season opener with a tall, lanky sophomore named Joe Johnson aboard for the first time.
Central's coach, Oliver Fitzpatrick, is thinking: "Please, God, don't let me mess him up."
In a car heading west on Interstate 40, two of Johnson's uncles, also on their way to the game, cross the Arkansas River anxiously.
"Man, he's going to be up against some big ol' boys," Michael Johnson tells Tracy Johnson, accustomed to seeing their 15-year-old nephew dominate his age group since a 5-inch growth spurt in eighth grade.
By halftime, Johnson had 18 points and had missed only one shot. He left the gym with 30 points and 17 rebounds.
"Tracy and I didn't turn the radio on the whole trip back, a 2 1/2-hour drive," Michael said. "He wouldn't let Central lose, and we knew that was a special kid."
It took Joe Johnson a little longer to make that kind of impression in the NBA. The 6-foot-7 swingman came to Phoenix two years ago this month in a trade with Boston, but another trade spurred the Suns' quiet man to start making noise.
The Suns sent Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway to New York on Jan. 5, and Johnson's inconsistency vanished.
"When the trade happened, I approached the game in a whole different manner," said Johnson, who is signed through next season. "I had to be a scorer. I had to be a rebounder. I had to be an assist man. I felt like I had to do all these things."
Yet his demeanor - quiet, composed, with his chin and eyes often down after whistles - is no different from the silent, shy kid who never strayed from the straight and narrow.
"He's always been the quietest kid you ever met in your life," Michael Johnson said.
"But when you get him on that court, he wakes up real fast."
Johnson started seriously thinking about an NBA career during that sophomore season that began with 30 points. Fitzpatrick knew Johnson could do it and went to every coaching clinic he could to learn techniques that would advance him.
When Johnson was a junior, he was playing a club game against a Kansas City, Mo., team with current Lakers guard-forward Kareem Rush.
Rising Sun
Suns guard Joe Johnson ascended his game with an expanded role after Phoenix traded Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway to New York on Jan. 5.
"Joe is coming upcourt on a break and Kareem Rush is going full stride at him," Fitzpatrick said. "Joe went behind the back with his right hand and never touched it with his left. He did a crossover for a layup, just dropped his head and ran back, as his style. It was like, 'I can do that any time I want to.'
"He's got a tremendous fire under that cool exterior."
Those dazzling flashes that used to flare in isolated games or practices have become constant bright spots, starting with a solid overall performance (18 points, eight rebounds, five assists) against the Chicago Bulls on the night of the Knicks trade.
Until he scored 13 points Saturday, Johnson's eight-game streak of 20-point games was second only to Orlando's Tracy McGrady. Nine of his 10 highest-scoring NBA games have come since the Knicks trade.
"This run has tremendously lifted my confidence," Johnson said.
For anyone wondering what took so long, remember that Johnson, 22, would be a rookie now if he had stayed four years at Arkansas.
When Johnson heads home to Little Rock this weekend, it may be his last chance to do so during an NBA All-Star break. Suns coach Mike D'Antoni has made references to Johnson's recent All-Star-caliber play.
Basketball was more than fun when Johnson was growing up in the modest Fourche Dam area near the Little Rock airport as an only child of a single mother. His mother, Dianne, worked nights as a nurse at the state hospital, often sending Johnson down the street to his grandmother's house.
His after-school outlet became the Thrasher Boys and Girls Club, which featured older competition.
Johnson had no interest in football, quitting after the lights did not work for his first game in seventh grade. His childhood room was adorned with posters of Hardaway, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Chris Webber, Shaquille O'Neal, Grant Hill, Charles Barkley and Dominique Wilkins, all but the last two of which he has faced.
"I was star-struck," Johnson said of his rookie year. "You can't even really believe it. It was fun to play those guys, but at the same time, you get caught up and watch things."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUNS UPDATE: Phoenix lost at Toronto 83-74 in its last game with Stephon Marbury. After the game, the Suns leave for a Wednesday game at Golden State, their last game before the All-Star break.
RAPTORS UPDATE: Point guard Jalen Rose, averaging 14.4 points and 4.7 assists, played with a fracture in his left hand Sunday. A hand specialist will determine how long Rose will be out. Toronto won the game by holding Golden State to the lowest fourth-quarter output in NBA history - two points.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quietly shining Sun
Johnson speaks with his improving play
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 10, 2004 12:00 AM
GAMES Pts/Gm Reb/Gm Asst/Gm Min/Gm FG % 3-PT % FT %
First 34 games 12.6 4.1 3.3 36.9 .389 .286 .786
Past 19 games 22.7 5.5 4.9 42.4 .491 .306 .750
The varsity basketball team for Little Rock's historic Central High School is on the bus heading to its 1996-97 season opener with a tall, lanky sophomore named Joe Johnson aboard for the first time.
Central's coach, Oliver Fitzpatrick, is thinking: "Please, God, don't let me mess him up."
In a car heading west on Interstate 40, two of Johnson's uncles, also on their way to the game, cross the Arkansas River anxiously.
"Man, he's going to be up against some big ol' boys," Michael Johnson tells Tracy Johnson, accustomed to seeing their 15-year-old nephew dominate his age group since a 5-inch growth spurt in eighth grade.
By halftime, Johnson had 18 points and had missed only one shot. He left the gym with 30 points and 17 rebounds.
"Tracy and I didn't turn the radio on the whole trip back, a 2 1/2-hour drive," Michael said. "He wouldn't let Central lose, and we knew that was a special kid."
It took Joe Johnson a little longer to make that kind of impression in the NBA. The 6-foot-7 swingman came to Phoenix two years ago this month in a trade with Boston, but another trade spurred the Suns' quiet man to start making noise.
The Suns sent Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway to New York on Jan. 5, and Johnson's inconsistency vanished.
"When the trade happened, I approached the game in a whole different manner," said Johnson, who is signed through next season. "I had to be a scorer. I had to be a rebounder. I had to be an assist man. I felt like I had to do all these things."
Yet his demeanor - quiet, composed, with his chin and eyes often down after whistles - is no different from the silent, shy kid who never strayed from the straight and narrow.
"He's always been the quietest kid you ever met in your life," Michael Johnson said.
"But when you get him on that court, he wakes up real fast."
Johnson started seriously thinking about an NBA career during that sophomore season that began with 30 points. Fitzpatrick knew Johnson could do it and went to every coaching clinic he could to learn techniques that would advance him.
When Johnson was a junior, he was playing a club game against a Kansas City, Mo., team with current Lakers guard-forward Kareem Rush.
Rising Sun
Suns guard Joe Johnson ascended his game with an expanded role after Phoenix traded Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway to New York on Jan. 5.
"Joe is coming upcourt on a break and Kareem Rush is going full stride at him," Fitzpatrick said. "Joe went behind the back with his right hand and never touched it with his left. He did a crossover for a layup, just dropped his head and ran back, as his style. It was like, 'I can do that any time I want to.'
"He's got a tremendous fire under that cool exterior."
Those dazzling flashes that used to flare in isolated games or practices have become constant bright spots, starting with a solid overall performance (18 points, eight rebounds, five assists) against the Chicago Bulls on the night of the Knicks trade.
Until he scored 13 points Saturday, Johnson's eight-game streak of 20-point games was second only to Orlando's Tracy McGrady. Nine of his 10 highest-scoring NBA games have come since the Knicks trade.
"This run has tremendously lifted my confidence," Johnson said.
For anyone wondering what took so long, remember that Johnson, 22, would be a rookie now if he had stayed four years at Arkansas.
When Johnson heads home to Little Rock this weekend, it may be his last chance to do so during an NBA All-Star break. Suns coach Mike D'Antoni has made references to Johnson's recent All-Star-caliber play.
Basketball was more than fun when Johnson was growing up in the modest Fourche Dam area near the Little Rock airport as an only child of a single mother. His mother, Dianne, worked nights as a nurse at the state hospital, often sending Johnson down the street to his grandmother's house.
His after-school outlet became the Thrasher Boys and Girls Club, which featured older competition.
Johnson had no interest in football, quitting after the lights did not work for his first game in seventh grade. His childhood room was adorned with posters of Hardaway, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Chris Webber, Shaquille O'Neal, Grant Hill, Charles Barkley and Dominique Wilkins, all but the last two of which he has faced.
"I was star-struck," Johnson said of his rookie year. "You can't even really believe it. It was fun to play those guys, but at the same time, you get caught up and watch things."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUNS UPDATE: Phoenix lost at Toronto 83-74 in its last game with Stephon Marbury. After the game, the Suns leave for a Wednesday game at Golden State, their last game before the All-Star break.
RAPTORS UPDATE: Point guard Jalen Rose, averaging 14.4 points and 4.7 assists, played with a fracture in his left hand Sunday. A hand specialist will determine how long Rose will be out. Toronto won the game by holding Golden State to the lowest fourth-quarter output in NBA history - two points.
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