Totally agree with this excellent post. Joe has underwhelmed me. For most of the game, I'd rather see what Gerald Green can do. But in the last 5 minutes of the WCF, when it's all about stones, I'd rather have Joe out there. OK with me if D'Antoni wants to give him minutes now to get him up to speed for the playoffs.
Thankfully, we have an embarrassment of riches and our main rotations are set. That's why we can afford to throw JJ out right now to see what he can do while still winning games.
well I do know when you give Gerald green 20, 30 minutes, he's gonna produce just like his first few games with the rockets.
If the Rockets are relying on Joe Johnson to do anything substantial in the playoffs, they will be swept by GS and are a fraudulent team. I would genuinely hope the offense doesn't get so poor he is actually consuming possessions in key moments.
So if we already know this, why do you want him to play right now versus getting JJ brought up to speed and seeing what he can still bring to our team?
didn't see it posted here, but last nite during the broadcast bullard outright said that pringles has been playing JJ heavier minutes than he deserves just to get him back into shape. said that when JJ arrived he cited the wrist injury and admitted he hasn't been in game shape so far this season. if this is the case i'm fine with it. as long as pringles goes with the hot hand or logical matchup in the playoffs, ie. i don't want JJ playing over GG vs DEN again -- that was just stupid
Obv nobody is relying solely on him but he was brought here to be a contributor and I wouldn't be surprised to see short spurts of ISO JOE
Watching him on the floor makes me feel old. He should not be getting more than 5 minutes per game. His and Mikes' mind are saying yes but his old legs are saying HELL NAW!
Joe is a way smarter player than Gerald. Many of the quick shots Gerald takes feel like wasted possessions, whereas Joe plays by feel and doesn’t force anything. This isn’t to say that Gerald hasn’t been the better player, because he certainly has. In the playoffs, those wasted possessions by Gerald can really hurt you, whereas mindful, smart play like we see from Joe can be the difference. I think it boils down to this and the trust factor for Dantoni, which is why I don’t expect their roles to reverse any time this season. Fortunately, if everyone is healthy, I doubt we are likely to see much of either in the playoffs.
so you gonna take away the minutes from the guy with the hot hand and see if Johnson can be any better?
Absolutely. Let me spell it out for you. GG is a fringe rotation player. We will win games with or without him right now due to our sheer depth. Hell, we are beating teams by double digits. With this being the case in addition to us knowing already what GG brings to the table, why on earth would we not take this time to play JJ heavy minutes to see what he brings once he gets on the same page as Harden and CP3? To ignore JJ (and Wright) to continue playing GG when we don't need to is stupid. Again, think LONG TERM here.
Joe played well in last years playoffs against the Clippers but Gerald Green also played with the Celtics in the playoffs. He actually started for them against the Wizards if I recall correctly.
He's been pretty bad, but you could do worse as a 12th man. Problem is we are using him as an 8th or 9th guy.
He is trash. Wish we had never signed this bum. Worst thing is that he is Mike's pet so he will continue to get minutes.
