Iso-Joe Was A Product Of the System

Iso-Joe is name associated with the Joe Johnson during his time in Atlanta. At that time, there was justice in that saying, since Joe Johnson had at one point had an isolation play percentage of 36.8% back in 2009-10, which was more than LeBron and slightly less than notorious volume shooter Carmelo Anthony. But Joe Johnson says that's not his style, and he was just following the system.

“I don’t know where the Iso-Joe comes from,” said Joe Johnson, sounding more bemused than annoyed.

Joe Johnson's reputation stems from his days on the Hawks where he would dominate games during the regular season, scoring in a variety of ways. For seven years he played that way, supposedly reluctantly.

“It was cool, until I started getting double- and triple-teamed,” Johnson said.

With both Deron Williams and Joe Johnson in the same back-court could cause problems, similar to what could happen to the Lakers with Kobe and Nash, or what happened to the Knicks with Melo. This inexplicable feeling that both Deron and Johnson need the ball to succeed can be falsified by looking back in Johnson's career.
 
Going back to his Phoenix days, Johnson played with likely future Hall of Famer Steve Nash. Nash was also a facilitator who also happened to be a shooter, and Amar'e Stoudemire ended up with several looks on that team as well. Johnson placed third in points scored per game, and third in shots per game during the 2004-05 season.

“When I started in Phoenix, there wasn’t no Iso-Joe,” Johnson said. “I basically played off of Amar’e and Steve Nash and Shawn and those guys. This is a similar situation for me here in Brooklyn.”

Howard Beck reports Synergy Sports says that only 14.9 percent of "Iso-Joe's" possessions ended up in isolation plays. Compare that to the 36.8% that occurred one year in Atlanta. It rose steadily from joining the Hawks, until Woodson got fired, where Johnson's isolation percentage dropped to 26.9% the next year.

It seems as though that Joe Johnson would be more than happy to take the "backseat" and not be the iso-player that he is reputed as. If Johnson and Deron can find that balance of ball sharing, the Nets back-court should be feared. They are both tremendous scorers, and Deron has shown his ability to facilitate the offense when needed. The question for now relies on how Johnson can adjust to the mold that Coach Avery plans, and if he can return to his non-isolationist form from his Suns days.

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