Posts tagged ‘Amir Johnson’

by Ray Stone

The drafting miscues haven’t been the only soft spot for the Pistons under Joe Dumars.

Amir Johnson shines as a good example of how the Detroit Pistons do not do a good job of developing players.

A 6-foot-9 kid out of high school is a blank canvas in the NBA. The Pistons drafted this broad-shouldered young man from LA and had an opportunity to develop him however they wanted.

Johnson is very quick off of the floor, has a nose for the ball, and he effortlessly flies up and down the basketball court as fast as anyone his size in the NBA.

The Pistons were the elite team in the Eastern Conference when AJ got to town. He saw virtually NO playing time during his first couple seasons. No development.

Funny thing is, the team was supposedly ‘running out of gas’ in the post-seasons, after the starters logged heavy minutes during the regular season.

It’s really odd.

Very strange to watch a team supposedly run out of gas, when they have a bouncy 19-year-old kid who would love to get on the floor and hustle for them. He was in street clothes a lot of games.

They were the best team in the conference, but why not start to groom the young guy right away?

It would have cost you some leads and games perhaps, but the Eastern Conference was hideous back then. It wouldn’t have mattered much at all. He would gain experience. Plus most importantly, its saves gas for the games that count.

But there he sat.

Suddenly this year the Pistons announced that they would start Amir Johnson at the power forward position. What? (Had they planned on this being a rebuilding year from the very beginning?)

He was clearly not ready to start. He hadn’t even been giving any consistent playing time at all in his career, now he’s going to be a starter in the NBA? WTH?

That’s not how it works.

After being thrown to the wolves and chewed up, Johnson was eventually benched again. Amir finished this campaign in a familiar fashion, glued to the Detroit bench.

It is too bad for the young guy. I really hope he is moved in a deal this summer for his sake. He needs a real opportunity to develop his basketball game.

He certainly has the talent to play at a high level in this league.

Too bad he didn’t land of a club like the Atlanta Hawks, or the 76ers, whose style of play is perfect for young athletic guys.

They both play a more up-tempo, attacking style game. Full court pressing after made baskets, Amir would fit quite well into a system like that.

I think it would benefit Amir to work on his offensive game facing the basket. Develop more of a small forward’s game as opposed to a power forward’s.

Despite the slow start to his career, he still has years to iron out his game.

He should aspire to be far more than just the rebounding, shot-blocking, hustle player role that this team carved out for him. The sky is the limit for the young man if he has a chance to learn the game.

There was little opportunity to do so in Detroit.

If he is dealt this summer, he should smile as he packs his bags. If he’s put in a good situation, I think we will hear a lot from Amir Johnson in years to come.

-Ray Stone

Got a question for Pistonscast.com? Send it to John W. Davis. And for Pistonscast news and updates follow John on Twitter.

Whats Going On World?

John W. Davis here.  I thought since the regular season is winding down that it would be cool to look at the Most Important Pistons since the February All-Star break.

I’m going to just count it down for you 13 to 1.  Well honestly we only have 12 guys now but we will go 13 to 1 just to be correct.

13. Allen Iverson- He has to be last right now.  The guy is done as a Piston.  Thank God his contract comes of the books this year…

12. Walter Sharpe(Check out the exclusive Pistonscast interview)- The kid hasn’t played much but when he does, he takes it to the hoop STRONG! Look for him to contribute next year.

11. Amir Johnson- I honestly wish I could rank him higher but I can’t.  We are talking Most Important and right now he is hardly in the mix.  I thought this was going to be your year Amir!

10. Kwame Brown-  With this guy, “It Is What It Is“.  Nothing more, nothing less. At least he is 6′11, 270…

9. Walter Herrmann- If his 3 point shot isn’t clicking, whats the point?

8. Jason Maxiell(I MISS THIS VERSION OF MAX)- Another victim of the Coach Michael Curry PLAYING TIME BUG aka DNP-CD Disease…

7…  The Rest of the Most Important Pistons: Post All-Star Break will be published later this week.

Who are your Most Important Post All-Star Break Pistons…  Leave your list in the comment section!

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.twitter.com/johnwdavis

Whats Going on Pistonscast Posse?

It’s official our Pistons Prayers have been answered. Michael Curry has seen the light and now my eyes can see the glory. The glory of beating Cleveland. The glory of beating Boston. They glory of winning the 2009 NBA Championship. Well let’s not go that far. Let’s take it one game at a time but please be thankful that Small Ball is no more and the Pistonscast Boycott has been avoided.

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DET NEWS: HAMILTON TO THE BENCH!

Pistons coach Michael Curry announced Tuesday that he will begin using guard Rip Hamilton off the bench, with guard Allen Iverson and forward Amir Johnson starting.

The situation has been somewhat unsettled since Hamilton returned from a groin injury.

Curry said Hamilton, who has never come off the bench as a Piston, will start the second and fourth quarters.

The new starting lineup will be Stuckey, Iverson, Prince, Wallace and Johnson.

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Peace,

www.pistonscast.com

What’s Going on World?

Is Rip really hurt?  That’s the question.  Check out Episode 76 for the Pistonscast theory on Rip’s possible phantom injury.  Also Chauncey Billups and the aforementioned  Richard Hamilton both make special appearances through a new segment called the “Pistons Phone Tap”.  Even with a 5 game winning streak, there is still a lot to talk about it.

1. Is Rip really hurt?

2. How do you like Amir in the starting lineup?

3. How many games with this current winning streak last?

4. Would you trade Rip? For Who?

Anything else you want to discuss, this is the place to do it!

Peace,

www.pistonscast.com

We have an updated report from one of the Pistonscast Posse.

Richard from Howell, MI

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*First of all I want to say that Dwight Howard is RIPPED.  I managed to get his autograph by the tunnel and his arms looked like they were about to explode.

Now on to the pistons.  They played with great intensity in the first have and rolled onto an 11-point half time lead.  I thought Jason Maxiell did a great job off the bench, like that sick block on morcin gartet or whatever his name is.  That should buy him some playing time.

Rodney Stuckey had another good game making me even happier with his change to the starting lineup.  They did a good job playing without their co-captain and my boy, Rip Hamilton.  You gotta wonder if this lineup without Rip is the best way to go, we seem to play better this way and we can only get better when Rip comes back.  To me it’s the obvious choice of what lineup we should go with. Overall the best part about the first half was how well they were able to shutdown Superman Dwight.  His huge stat line with one first half point proved it.

Unfortunately there was the second half.  Right out of the gate they looked flat, bad body language, lazy Sheed (a.k.a. Rash) and they continually had possessions where they let the shot clock get low, causing a bad shot.  They couldn’t stop Rashard Lewis or Dwight Howard.  I lost count at somewhere around 50 three pointers for Lewis including the one that he nearly converted to a four point play after being tackled by Dyess.  The game was physical all night long, it was unusual how many injuries we saw.

The Good: First half intensity, good play without Rip, energy off the bench, no Superman in first half,   Rodney Stuckey, win pushes record to 18-11, MC seems to be getting more comfortable and more involved
The Bad: Second half, couldn’t stop Rashard Lewis or Dwight Howard, Rash…eed, poor execution, Iverson didn’t play well, we didn’t see either of the Walters but I guess I didn’t really expect Razor Sharpe to play anyway, Amir was quiet.

Peace,

Richard

Howell, MI

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What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis here.

Here is your official discussion blog for tonight’s game against the Orlando Magic.  Hopefully we can play some of that outstanding 3rd Quarter Milwaukee Bucks defense tonight and get a big win!

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VIA MLIVE:

Big or small?

“When we have the bigger lineup, we’re better defensively, we’re better defensive rebounding and it gives us an opportunity to block more shots,” Prince said. “It’s just kind of pick and choose.”

Said Iverson: “It’s something we have to work through, work on our rotations and take advantage of it (small lineup) on the offensive end and use our speed against those bigger guys.”

Injury report
Pistons guard Richard Hamilton, who did not play Saturday because of a left groin injury, is questionable for tonight. If he does not play, Amir Johnson once again will start at power forward with Tayshaun Prince back to small forward and Rasheed Wallace at center. The backcourt will consist of Rodney Stuckey and Iverson.

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*Personally, I’m looking for Stuckey to eat up Jameer Nelson tonight like he did D. Rose!

Who do you think is the key to victory?

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis here.  I didn’t want this news to slip by you. (I know someone just saw the box score and said why did Amir start over Rip?)  Thanks for coming to Pistonscast.com for the scoop.

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VIA MLIVE:

Detroit Pistons guard Richard Hamilton will not play tonight due to a left groin injury. Pistons coach Michael Curry said Hamilton initially suffered the injury at Atlanta on Dec. 21, but re-aggravated it against Oklahoma City last night.

“I kind of came down and I didn’t really know what happened, but after the (Atlanta) game I really felt it,” Hamilton told reporters. “It was like a pull.”

It is unclear when Hamilton will return, but his status is being listed as day-to-day. His absence means Amir Johnson is back in the starting lineup, with Detroit’s backcourt now consisting of Rodney Stuckey and Allen Iverson.

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I WONDER IS AMIR STARTING IN PLACE OF RIP A TASTE OF THINGS TO COME?

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com

Hey guys,

I have something to say about four of the horrible teams we played and lost to.

At the time we’ve played each of them, their combined record looks like this: 14-37.   That’s a 27% win percentage.

Last night’s game was purely awful.  The first quarter looked great, but it all went downhill from there.

Where was Maxiell?

Where was Amir?

Where was Kwame?

Why did we play four of our starters extended minutes in place of them? (Rip and AI = 38 minutes, Stuckey = 36 minutes, Tay = 40 minutes)

At the end of the game, ‘Sheed was nowhere to be found (only 27 minutes played).

We only had one big on the floor, which means only one person could rebound over the other team — McDyess.  Yes, Tayshaun had 11 rebounds, but he’s not a legitimate big.

Again: Where were Maxiell, Amir, and Kwame?

I have to question what in the world happened tonight.

And where our rebounding big men were.  If people are to get more minutes, then why did four starters play almost 40?

This was awful, especially for starting out so well.  Forget the “we’re in a transitional phase” excuse.  Any time you start out with a 29-14 first quarter, then play like the Pistons did, that’s no excuse.  You can’t give up a lead like that and then say, “well, we have a new player.”

I’d like to see more than one guy on the floor who can rebound.

- Ryan

www.pistonscast.com

The Pistons are taking on the New York 2010 Free Agent Class Knicks tonight at the Palace of Auburn Hills.  A nice Pre Turkey day game that should be much better than the Detroit Lions game this week…

Anyway, I hope all the Piston players get out there and play some tough defense to burn off some extra calories for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving feast.

Coming into today, the Pistons are 8-5 and the Knicks are 7-7.  These are not Marbury’s Knicks anymore, they can actually score and most nights put up and very good fight regardless of their opponent.  If the Pistons don’t play defense this might be a run&gun shootout well above the 110 point mark for both teams.

Good News for all Amir Johnson fans from the True Blue Pistons blog:  AMIR MIGHT START! YAH!  About freaking time.  Seriously though,  Amir can only start against teams without a true center.  I.E. The Knicks with David Lee at center and Wilson “Benton Harbor, Mi” Chandler at power forward.  Putting Amir up against Shaq, Big Z or even guys like big baby Andrew Bynum is just asking for trouble.  I dont think he should start against true centers but he should still be used of the bench alot more than he is being used recently.

Every game it shouldn’t be that hard to find 15 solid minutes for Amir.

WHAT’S YOUR PREDICTION FOR THE FINAL SCORE?

Peace,

Pistonscast

www.pistonscast.com

Whats Going on World?

I thought this was great so I wanted to share it with you.

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FROM THE DET NEWS:

About Amir

George David , the Pistons director of player personnel, tells the story about the first time he saw Amir Johnson play and block 11 shots. It was 2005 and David was scouting the Los Angeles-area district of the California state prep tournament. The team Johnson played on, Westchester, had five players being recruited by Division I schools.

“Joe (Dumars , Pistons president) was coming out in a couple of days to watch the Pac-10 tournament,” David said. “I told Joe, ‘Look, forget about the Pac-10 tournament, you need to come out here and see this high school kid. Don’t even worry about the Pac-10 tournament.”

As it turned out, Johnson’s team won and advanced outside the city before Dumars arrived, but the point was made — there was nothing Dumars was going to see in the Pac-10 tournament better than what David had seen.

“What struck me was, here he was with all these other D-1 prospects, but he was the guy instrumental in them winning,” David said. “There are a lot of talented high school kids who aren’t necessarily instrumental in their team winning. Amir was, in every one of those tournament games.”

I AM FREE!!!!

What’s Going on World?

John W. Davis.  We all know Amir Johnson is not perfect.  He is a young player that needs to play to his strengths of rebounding, blocking, and shooting a high field goal percentage.  Don’t ask him to do everything.  Don’t ask him to be an All-Star right out of the gates.

Okay, I’m done just check this mess out.  Props to the Det News for exposing this.

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Somewhere there is a former Pistons assistant coach who ought to be checking his vital signs. Two years ago, the assistant on Flip Saunders’ coaching staff looked at Amir Johnson clanking one ugly-looking jumper after another during warmups and said, “As long as I am alive, Amir Johnson will never be in an NBA rotation.”

Well sir, don’t look now. Johnson will not only be in the rotation for tonight’s opener against the Pacers, he will be the starting power forward for a Pistons team that again is expected to contend for the Eastern Conference title.

“Who said that? Damn,” Johnson said. “That’s OK. That just gives me fuel. Whoever the doubters are, man, I am going to prove everybody wrong.”

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Check out the link to the full story here:Det News Article on Amir

Peace,

John W. Davis

www.pistonscast.com