Rockets are starting to get use to Joe on the blocks. Started out rough in this game but then passed the ball well out of the post and made some shots. Even if Joe doesn’t make the shot he is drawing attention from the defense.....opening up a 3-pt shooter. It’s looks like a huge mismatch when Joe posts up a Point Guard. It’s mostly about a playoff thing. Seeing the forest beyond the trees.
Beating any team with Chris Paul at the helm is nothing to scoff at. Who isn't horrible against the Warriors?
Asking some of these guys in the GARM to see the forest through the trees is like trying to teach algebra to 1st graders. Hopefully JJ finds some consistency and people finally stop the whining.
Considering T-Jones lasted longer than D-Mo in this league and had a much bigger overall impact, not sure how anyone can answer D-Mo. D-Mo had one solid partial season while the rest of his career was garbage.
Yep. Boston and Toronto point guards called for a switch-out with their taller Center when forced into a defensive switch onto Joe Johnson. Tonight the point guards stayed with Joe, and were backed up under the rim. When the help defense came, Joe passed the ball out. Looks like Joe is getting use to where the Rockets players are setting up on the perimeter. Implementation of cutters is almost there as well. It’s about posting up Curry in the playoffs. Even if it’s just 12 possessions for Joe out of 86 possessions in a playoff game. 7 or 8 Post ups and 4 iso’s go a long way. Curry having to body up the bigger Joe Johnson might take a little of the startch out of Curry’s legs in the 4th quarter of game 4 and beyond.
I like what I saw from Johnson tonight. He was still a negative on the +/-, but tonight showed that he can still take advantage of some matchups. He has an ‘I don’t care’ demeanor to some, but he clearly does care and his play showed as much.
How we are going to use JJ is becoming a lot more clear now. When teams switch a PG, SG, or even SF, we will post him up. As JJ gets acclimated, his pass outs will become a lot better, given us an in-and-out post game when penetration isn't working. JJ is also a good enough shooter that if he drifts out, a big has to cover him during our small ball lineups. I would like to see us incorporate Ryno the same way as well when he gets back. His midrange game is underrated. For people complaining about JJ playing over GG, just stop. First of all, GG is a player where the coaching staff already knows who he is and what he does. He is a spark plug off the bench like Nick Young is for GSW; bonehead energy player who will chuck up a lot of threes in a hurry. JJ is a disciplined, highly intelligent vet with a high post and midrange game. It is worth finding out now how we can use him later.
Granted this was the Mavs, but I was glad to see Joe minimize his mistakes (I only counted 4) and makes some shots. I'm coming around to see his value in the post and he got more productive there as the game went on. I'm still curious to see how well he can do against good teams, but tonight was definitely a positive step forward for Joe.
MDA go get JJ some training at Dreamshake academy. I can see it now, JJ on the low post backing Curry down, fakes one way and drains the baseline fall away to seal the Western Conference title! JJ showing who da real MVP is.
