Comments on: Next Up: Amir Johnson

By: miguel

miguel — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:51:15 +0000

The night where all cows are black….

By: FLUXLAND

FLUXLAND — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 09:06:30 +0000

+ 1.1Million

I cannot stop laughing. Great way to start the morning.

FAN590. BAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!

By: TM Williamson

TM Williamson — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 14:03:51 +0000

I think Amir Johnson is better than our scrub players because he is, not because he comes from another team. Don’t pretend to know my thought process and my rationale, and don’t tell me what I’m thinking or why I’m thinking it. Pops and Joey are free agents for a reason. Because nobody wants them, except you apparently.

“when a player at the age of 23 only plays 12 games in a 82 game season, averaging around 4.5 mpg, then he is a “shity” player”

You want to bring Pops back right? That’s the guy you want rather than what we got from this trade?

Pops Mensah Bonsu Rookie Year Stats:
Age: 23
Games Played: 12
Minutes Per Game: 5.92

So you want to not do this trade in order to bring back Pops, who, by a definition you just made very clear, is a “shitty player”, just like Weems? You want to forego adding Amir so that we can bring Pops back, and Pops had almost exactly the same numbers as the throw in player who you have deemed shitty. I guess I’m not listening to enough Fan 590 to understand how that makes ANY sense whatsoever.

By: thecaustic

thecaustic — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:32:15 +0000

Agreed 100%.
As of today, this is a stale perception, and the NBA is a lot more globalized than a decade ago.
It is not so easy to define a continental trademark as it was before, with young Euro players going to college in the US, and young American players skipping college and going to EU to gain experience(the latter being relatively new, crf. B. Jennings), and with a lot more exchanges overall between the two major Leagues. There are still differences that come from tactics, adaptation to different game rules, and of course different sports culture, but absolutely not as it was before. Or somebody is going to pinpoint the European vocational training of guys like Tony Parker or Dirk Nowitzki or Ginobili?

Instead, there might be another bias right now, as AltRaps underlined, which is more of a hype concerning high expectations that many place in European players, often too superficially…
Also see the discussion in the ‘Developing: Who wants Carlos Delfino?’ post too (http://raptorsrepublic.com/2009/08/17/developing-who-wants-carlos-delfino/#comment-37014)

By: J

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:47:29 +0000

Don’t put words into other people’s mouths.

Honestly, I don’t care about Weems, and neither should anyone who understands that a team can only have 12 active players.

As for being 10 times better, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. He’s maybe twice as good as Pops (and I’m not sure how to make a comparison between a 3 and a 4/5). Only thing Pops was good for was rebounding and energy. Well, Amir is also a great rebounder, and he can actually defend as well (unlike Pops). Oh, and his FG% is almost as high as Pops’ FG% for dunks alone. I don’t think you can really dispute any of this.

By: J

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:41:11 +0000

Oh, wow, thanks for the heads up! If you had read what I wrote (specifically, the “help you out a bit part”), you would notice that I was correcting your figures simply because they were wrong, and not because it helps my point any. ‘Cause, you know, being accurate is more important than winning and losing.

But that’s “just so you know.”

By: J

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:37:38 +0000

Where did you respond with the name of the better big and the team that satisfies the Delfino bit? Considering there’s almost 200 posts here, wouldn’t it be easier if you just stated it again? The only mention of a big that I could find was Pops, and he’s definitely not better than Amir, not to mention he’s a FA.

You’re right. Financial flexibility *is* good. But don’t you think you honestly worry too much? If there was a deal to be made that would put us over the luxury tax level, and MLSE would not approve it unless we managed to stay below the level, there are *so many* pieces on the team right now that could be moved by February to get us back out of luxury tax land. Any of Johnson, Wright, O’Bryant, Weems, Douby and even Belinelli, if we don’t pick up next year’s option, could be sent to a team with space. It’s not like previous years where we had a bunch of hard to move contracts.

By: thecaustic

thecaustic — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:51:06 +0000

Wasn’t it a noctule? :-)

By: Babyface Killah

Babyface Killah — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:31:01 +0000

Solid trade BryCo working his magic again. I agree with Dr. Claw the back-up SF is not as important as you guys are making. Theres only going to be at most 10 minutes and we can divide that minutes between the guys we already have. If we can add someone to fill that spot cool if not its not the end of the world.

By: mo

mo — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 06:48:50 +0000

i remember i watched some kind of dunk contest,
i think it was a the mcdonalds all american high school ?
not sure but sonny weems was in it and im pretty sure he won (or came second)

all i knnow is this guy can dunk,
AND GODDAMN HE LOOKS JUST LIKE JOEY

By: shahin

shahin — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:38:15 +0000

I like BC’s approach this year, we have two guys with alot of potentials who can either have a great season or …. Belineli and Johnson now. If these two guys have a break out season, something like AB did last year, Raptor fans will have one great year ahead of them.

By: FAQ

FAQ — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:21:05 +0000

Ignore REALITY???!!!! … the Ratz have been blown up … and the carnage is starting to sink into the small skulls of the t.h.fans who crawl about on this fine forum trying to put it all together like Lego blocks that kids play with …!!!!!

Does anybody here think that Bosh is delighted, verging on ecstatic, about the new edition of the Moronto Ratpors now …???!!!

Maybe several more seasons of high draft picks will make the Ratz a playoff team … even chimps too …!!!!

By: phdsteve

phdsteve — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:56:52 +0000

the owl of Minerva flies at dawn.

By: RAPMAN

RAPMAN — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:25:14 +0000

See that is my problem with some of people’s posts here…

” The grass is greaner on the other side of the fence”. Just because these players come from a trade, you would think they are better than our own scrub players. IF Amir Johnson was a free agent this year, the most he would get would be vets mimimum or maybe biannual expection.

Some other person also commented “how do you know Weems is a shitty player? Have you ever seen him play?” well, when a player at the age of 23 only plays 12 games in a 82 game season, averaging around 4.5 mpg, then he is a “shity” player…. That means he was below a garbage time player to have that kind of numbers… Maybe there is a reason I never watched him play, that is because HE HASN’T PLAYED ANY NBA GAMES!

My point is, you guys think just because Amir is coming from another team, he is 10 times better than Joey and Pops…

By: TRizzo

TRizzo — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 01:10:22 +0000

Agree.

There is an advantage to being the prefered manager. For instance you can be granted the first audiance, which can be used to mark your territory and disuade others.

Valid point.

(I just think that most of the, agent owes us talk by fans is rubbish… it still takes a GM to make a valid offer.)

By: Tom L

Tom L — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:50:25 +0000

“his second year for an expiring contract around 1-1.5, could you please tell me why that is?”
Because the cap is coming down next year and you’re stuck with paying a 3rd stringer instead of having the flexibility.

By: Tom L

Tom L — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:34:38 +0000

You made the comments that listening to the Fan 590 or reading websites would make us better informed or “more accurate” [Opinions are just that - opinions - can't really be "more" or "less" accurate]
There are quite a few well informed comments on this site – as well as the authors. Some listen to the Fan590, some don’t. Doesn’t mean they are any more or less informed. They think for themselves, not copy the opinion of others.

By: Timo Vainionpaa

Timo Vainionpaa — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:32:34 +0000

well stated Tom.. that was the intent of my original post… Cheers

By: Tom L

Tom L — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:30:06 +0000

Taking on Nocioni’s long and expensive contract in the face of a shrinking cap is not smart regardless.
Amir expires this year. Trading Ukic frees up more next year. Perfect.

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:23:22 +0000

I never said anything about physical play. It is possible to be an inside player who shys away from contact. I’m just saying Kleiza’s first gut reaction is to shoot if he’s open. An American player would probably drive as a first gut reaction.

Again, I’m not saying everyone is like this. Kleiza is certainly more physical than some European players. Probably a result of him playing college ball.