James Johnson as a point-forward? I’ve been open-minded enough to entertain that idea for most of the season, maybe it’s because watching Raptors basketball is so brutal that your mind can wander off and start imagining things that shouldn’t be imagined. Like Jarrett Jack as a starting point guard, Jamario Moon as a defensive-stopper, Chris Bosh as a franchise player, Jason Kapono as a starter, unicorns, fat yoga teachers, you get the idea. The new scene is James Johnson being trumpeted a pretty good find by Bryan Colangelo, and someone who was totally worth that first-round pick. His versatility has been praised and he’s now seen as someone the Raptors could very well take forward in their quest to win 30 games.
I figured I put that versatility to the test by seeing just how he fared when playing the position that makes a small forward so versatile – the point. Synergy Sports has video of 20 plays where James Johnson was the ball-handler in a pick ‘n roll, a situation frequently dealt by point guards. So without further ado, here you go:
Here’s how it went:
Made layup
Missed layup
Missed layup
Fouled
Missed jumper
Turnover
Turnover
Missed jumper
Made layup
Turnover
Turnover
Made jumper
Made layup
Missed jumper
Made dunk
Turnover
Made dunk
Missed jumper
Made layup
Missed jumper
You can add them up and see what his percentages are, all I could notice was that he had five turnovers in these situations and as the video shows, they weren’t exactly because the defense was suffocating. I’m not writing off James Johnson as an NBA player, a point-forward or the second coming of Magic Johnson, I’m just saying that the guy is about as refined as a girl from Peterborough. I wish there was a crystal ball which would project his NBA career for us so that we’d be sure we’re not wasting time with him, but there’s not and since he’s cheap, under contract and Colangelo’s acquisition, he’ll get at least another year to ply his trade in Toronto. I also hope there was a Crystal ball which would go back into time and tell me if that bastard who put my sandwich together at Ginger had washed his hands, because I feel goddamn awful.
Here are his Synergy offensive usage/stats, provided only because I felt this post wasn’t long enough.
Have a nice Saturday. Oh yeah, yours truly will be on TSN radio today at 4PM on their “Game Day” show with Matt Cauz. Hopefully I don’t talk too fast because when I talk too fast I get violent and violence is not a good thing, except when it’s against someone who made you a sandwich whilst taking a piss.
One more thing, phdsteve is working late tonight to create the first version of The Big Board. A draft board so big that we were compelled to put the word Big in it. Much unlike McDonalds which should really get rid of the Big in BigMac because that sandwich is tiny man, I had it a couple days ago and I had to dart over to Popeyes to get a real meal.
