Soar Loser

Newsflash: Joe Johnson is the best all-around player in a Hawks uniform since Dominique Wilkins. He's got a dependable jumper. He can dunk when the lane opens up just the slightest. And if pushed (like he was on January 9 by Cleveland's LeBron James), he has a flair for the fourth quarter dramatics. All that said, can anyone explain why the cat is still a distant ninth on the Eastern Conference ballot for guards in the all-star game? Ray Allen and Chauncey Billups might have a say in the matter, but no other player in the East is remotely doing the things, carrying the offensive load, that JJ (nearly 22 points, four boards and five assists per night) does every game. If the Hawks shooting guard doesn't at least earn a spot on the bench to the big game in New Orleans, Atlanta coach Mike Woodson ought to pound down commissioner David Stern's door and demand an explanation.