FWIW, Johnson hasn't done anything to impress me yet. Since I am scarcely a basketball expert, he really must not have impressed the coaches yet either.
Signed! At this point it would be irresponsible not to play him. Dorsey, Josh, Ariza, Brewer, Johnson. Crash the boards and run.
If you're not impressed by his rebounding, you're not watching. Nick gets his hands on a loose ball way more than he should at his height, but he can jump out the gym.
He can defend. That's all I see right now. He has no elite skill on the other side. Can't shoot, can't draw fouls, nada. If he can learn to hit 3s maybe we have Bevs replacement.
Once the game slows down for him, he's going to be a great weapon for us. He got beat a couple of times on D yesterday, but then made that up with some exceptional defending and rebounding on other plays. If his offensive game develops he will be really good.
Looks like he's good at finishing around the basket. He's had some contested layups go in. Facilitating and shooting don't come naturally to him. Those are things he can pick up over time (especially shooting). Even DMo and TJones have become ok shooters.
His defense and rebounding has been top notch. I haven't seen a Rocket guard sky for a board like he can since Franchise
Nick Johnson could be our weapon againist stephen curry in the playoffs... i dunno, it just might be crazy enough to work
I am pleased with Johnson's effort, and I do see him on the playoff roster but I wish McDaniels could play 5-8 minutes a game as Harden's backup, while switching Brewer at the 1 at times. Prigioni could then come off the bench to take over the PG responsibilities. Perhaps KJ will get to play next year, or he might be let go. On a different note, I think Capela's confidence might take a momentary hit by benching him against the Mavs. Sure his FT % is non-existent, but Dorsey isn't much better at it either. I think he was partially benched because the Mavs are more of a jump shooting/ slashing team. I hope he will get some minutes against OKC.
Jones and Smith too. If these guys can give a solid playoff performance, we should be able to make it to the 2nd round.
There's a big difference between 28% and 0%. Dallas was going to hack-a-whatever and we had to get both Dorsey and Capella out of there. They then picked the wrong guy to hack in Josh. Dallas even used the hack-a while they were ahead, for crying out loud. Clint will be ok and he is getting some valuable experience....but his minutes have to be really carefully chosen. Kanter and Adams are both a handful for Clint at this point.
Johnson needs to be given more freedom to work the magic instead of being put under wraps. Johnson's athletic prowess is being limited by trying too hard to fit in the hole that McHale puts him in without the freedom to explore and attack with passion.
I've seen enough of Nick to want to see more. His defense and rebounding are top notch. I'm anxious to see how he fares against Westbrook Sunday as Prigs and Terry will likely be completely overmatched.
The whole team needs to be in the gym shooting foul shots. Carlisle already tipped his hand how they'll play us... Hack-every-rockets-big.
