I think green should have had JJs minutes for sure. That said, Rockets played pretty bad and still had a chance to win on the road against the 3rd best team in the league...
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree, but i do watch the games, record them, repeat in slow motion, at watch for the hand signals and listen to the vocal call outs. GG messes up switches, it just happens. JJ is just damn slow, but he's switching properly...he's just slow to get there. Perhaps we're arguing about different things. I agree that JJ is a terrible defender, but you can see that he knows where he's supposed to be guarding.
Man I have so much work to do, but a huge part of me wants to make a video cut of Joe Johnsons wrong switches last night which led to easy baskets. Atleast 6 points were given up by it. I'm not saying Gerald Green is good at it either. I'm just disagreeing that Joe Johnson is better in anyway. Now it could be do to the small line-up and so switching may be different in that scenario and he isn't used to it, but he made the wrong move on a few occasions last night.
I'll take your word for last night's game - only saw it on a phone so far and haven't gotten to replay the video yet. But imo, it's been pretty solid prior to that, but I'll get to it soon. Edit: I just watched his stint from the end of the 3rd to the middle of the 4th. What switching error do you speak of? He started each defensive position on the 4 or 5, as is his position is in the small lineup. He made 2 offensive errors (passed up a shot, had a turnover on a drive) and accounted for 1 created 3pter on an iso drive. But defensively, he was late on his first help (because he's slow), but on time on the next 2 helps. The 1-5 and 1-4 PnR is supposed to be switched on the D. That's how the Rockets play it. I really think you're mistaken now (at least for the stretch of end of 3rd to beginning of 4th). I agree that he couldn't guard Van Fleet, but he was doing what he was supposed to do, which is switch to Van Fleet on the high PnR.
I just want it on video how the contenders will defend against Joe Johnson in the post. Then play Gerald Green more mins. It tells you something when the smaller point guard bails out as Johnson is getting the ball. WTF is that? What player posts up only to have their defender abandon ship before he gets the ball in his hands? That should tell you the other teams game planned for that. Maybe teams have been doing that with the Warriors, but the Rockets are not use to it being defended against us like that. Trolls from other teams here want us to put pressure on the team to abandon the Joe Johnson experiment.....but it would be wise to work out the wrinkles sparingly in the final 16 games or so. If teams/players fear a play or mismatch.....keep working on it. You must be on to something good.
I feel like Joe knows where he's supposed to be and how/when to switch, he just isn't athletic enough anymore to be effective. When you watch closely, he's not quick enough to close out shooters, and when they pump fake and drive, Joe can't slow them down at all. Joe got beat baseline last night like his feet were in cement, but luckily PJ had a great help rotation and stepped up on the baseline block to took a charge. Then when he's playing one-on-one defense on the perimeter, pretty much any player outside of a center can go right around him with ease. I realize that we're being super picky about the last guy in the rotation, but D'Antoni had no business playing Joe last night over Gerald Green, who is an obvious upgrade. In close games, you need every edge you can get, and Joe is a detriment to the team's success. D'Antoni is trying to get JJ ready for the playoffs so that he can give us that one clutch shot to help us win a game, but the problem is that JJ is going to cost us a ton of wasted offensive possessions, turn the ball over, give up easy buckets and weaken our defense on every defensive possession. He may well hit that clutch shot in the playoffs, but I contend that he'll have already made mistakes prior to the clutch shot that will have made the game unnecessarily close.
Joe needs time to get back in shape. In playoffs Hes gonna catch fire and become the spot up shooter we need him to be
Joe is just slightly above average in the post... You're going to get maybe 4 post ups from him a game and he'll make 1 bucket, turn the ball over once, and miss the other two times. Then at the other end of the court teams will iso their guards against him and he'll give up 8-10 points via direct buckets or assists to easy layups. Any benefits from Joe Johnson's game are FAR outweighed by his weaknesses. He would have to shoot 40%+ from behind the arc on 5+ attempts per game to break even IMO.
I agree... Joe is a great guy to have at the end of the bench and in the locker room. But Morey also went out and got Gerald Green, and THAT's who should be getting those minutes in the tough games. Joe can get into shape against the Mavs, Suns, Kings, etc.
What guys? No one expects Johnson to play like an all-star. I think most people are hoping for a very modest contribution.
per NBA.com (17/18 regular season) playtype-Post Ups http://stats.nba.com/players/playtype-post-up/ Player................................................frequency...............ppp..........NBA percentile Joe Johnson (Rockets) 6 games.......16.7%......................0.88....................—— Klay Thompson......................................4.1%.......................0.83.................... Draymond..............................................7.5%.......................0.68..................... Melo......................................................14.7%......................0.84..................... DeRosan................................................7.5%........................0.87.................... Antetokounmpo.....................................13.4%.......................0.83................... Millsap...................................................16.3%.....................0.73.................... Horford..................................................26.3%......................0.82..................... Cousins.................................................16.6%......................0.88..............53.1 (numbers comparable to Joe) Livingston..............................................16.9%......................0.96..............70.9 GS Warriors use the Post Up as a big part of their staple on offense. Joe Johnsons numbers are without the team running it right. Wait until they start to get it. I’m a big fan of Gerald Green.....but Green will not be the Post Up threat Joe Johnson is. Johnson has been doing it for years. In the playoffs you better have more than PnR and Iso. Edited: you may be watching the game.....but are you really watching the game?
Someone help me- I read occasional arguments saying we're going to need JJ because of his defense? Can someone point out to me what's good about it? Was he ever known as a defender in the past, and he somehow retains that reputation? I watch every game and I don't understand.
Joe Johnson was not even a good defender in his peak. He was never a catch and shoot guy, which is why he passes up open looks, and he isn't better at any aspect of the court than Ryan Anderson. Except ballhandling. And his ballhandling means nothing but he is quite literally slower than most centers.
Didn't he play on some of D'Antoni's greatest teams, like in 2006 and 2007? Did he not fit into the system? (Not a rhetorical question, I didn't watch a lot of Suns.)
Ryan Anderson at least can move faster laterally defensively, he is a passable defender against quicker guards. Joe Johnson looks super old and seems to quit on possessions offensively and not really into the game, like old injured quit McGrady. Gerald deserves to play every night he hustles and has so much passion when he plays. Mike needs to let go of the past of Joe Johnson 36 years old, playing like Ed Reed of the Texans. Gerald Green has been playing off the bench the last couple of years for a guy being 30 years old, he plays like he is 27 years old, A lot of energy, bounce and lift in his shot
Because 'better' defense is the topic of debate used by some for giving JJ playing time over GG. Because right now in their careers and for the system we run, GG is undoubtedly the superior offensive player between the two.
Nah, I expect him to play less minutes, especially when there's a productive bench member keeping it warm while he plays. JJ should be depth, but he shouldn't be getting significant minutes unless he shows more. So far, it's 5-7min max.
