Say It Ain't So! Joe Johnson Hands Off Leadership Role When It Counts

This postseason was supposed to be the Atlanta Hawks' coming-out party.

Atlanta didn’t sneak into the playoffs this time with a sub-.500 record.

In fact, they earned the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference.

The team would be led in the postseason by its lone All-Star, Joe Johnson. Johnson supposedly would create match-up problems with his great perimeter shooting and his ability to post up smaller guards.

Apparently, no one told Johnson he should increase his intensity in the playoffs. Or Josh Smith that he would become the leader of the team at the height of its ascent.

Although Johnson isn't entirely to blame for the Cleveland Cavaliers' sweep of the Hawks (see Smith's two-for-15 performance from three-point land in the playoffs), he's most responsible.

While Smith was already the emotional leader of the team and its only remaining member from the 2004-05 season, Johnson was the leader by example on the court. He's been an All-Star three consecutive years, and led the team in scoring and assists this year.

But his averages in nearly every category went down during the playoffs: Points from 21.4 per game to 16.4 per game, assists from 5.8 per game to 3.5 per game, field-goal percentage from 43.7 percent to 41.7 percent. Inexcusably, Johnson's free-throw percentage went from 82.6 percent to 62.2 percent—and those charity stripe points could have come in handy against LeBron James and Co.

Maybe fans should be happy Johnson brought his team this far with his play in the regular season. The Hawks had advanced to the second round of the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 1999, and won a seven-game series for the first time in 38 years.

Well, it wasn't all Joe's fault you say? The entire Hawks team mailed it in?

Check the stats. Josh Smith averaged 15.6 points a game in the regular season. He averaged 17.1 in the playoffs. His rebounding was steady and he actually decided to shoot a better free throw percentage (from 58.8 percentage to 73.2 percentage) in the playoffs, where it's win or go home.

Two games of the Cleveland series tell it all. In Game One, Johnson opened with an insignificant 11 points, while Smith led the team with 22 points. In Game Four, Johnson seemingly healed from his Game Two ankle injury, scored 18 points on 7-of-18 shooting as the Hawks were swept out of the playoffs in Atlanta.

Smith went down fighting, shooting fewer shots but scoring more points (8-of-16, 26 points) and leaving Hawks fans an example of team leadership at 23 years old.