I’m with the others that say he’s playing due to not having a full rotation. One game, we’re missing ariza, the next couple games, we’re missing Gordon, now we’re missing Anderson. Joe Johnson has filled in for the absentees. It does show that coach D’antoni trusts Johnson. Personally, I hope he continues to get playing time to get his rhythm back and chemistry going with this team. In addition to having a HoF playmaker on the floor at all times, the Rockets now have the luxury of having a secondary playmaker with them/him at all times as well. Gordon and Johnson are like lesser Haeden and Paul. They can create and shoot. Opens up the playbook a lot when our initial o is stymied. Side note, the Rockets also have the luxury of having a plus defender on the perimeter at all times as well. And if Brandan Wright lives up to the hype, the Rockets will have a pick and roll lob threat at all times too. The depth on this team is amazing. Wow
Joe Johnson needs some quick minutes to get comfortable with rest of the guys and vice versa. That does not mean he is going to get the same amount of minutes in the playoff with a full healthy squad. Mike D'Antoni is not dumb.
Holy crap!! No one in the crowd even tried to catch that girl. Looks like she could have broke her neck being part of that stupidity.
This thread is good, BUT.... Have you played with Joe Johnson yet on 2k18 with the new line up? I'm just saying.....coach is on to something.
This is the perfect time to be playing Johnson. Let's find out what he has left. Maybe he'll find his niche, maybe he won't.
I´ll give him time to regain his fitness. But he looks worrisome. Defensively seems to be better than Ryno. I hope MDA uses these guys as a situational rotation.
Never fail to correct in Victory, what you will in Defeat!!! JJ is not providing anything off the bench...period! Sure he maybe rusty and/or not have his legs but do you make the team suffer? The last 2 games, we have solely relied upon EG off the bench and we're going to need additional scoring. GG deserves some PT!!!
All these thread hating on jj, is basically posters who want gg to have more playing time. IF U really watch the game u can at least see he is competent in crunch time defense, and we haven't lost yet with him. The head coach must b doing something right.
My concern is regular season Rockets vs. playoff Rockets. In the regular season "format" the Rockets are scary good. In the playoff format, the Rockets are not the same. Playoff Harden and Paul are not world beaters. In the playoffs, depth will matter more. So will defense. Three-point shooting will matter less. In the playoffs, the paint shrinks, everything gets more physical, Harden doesn't get the calls he gets now. The Celtics game is likely what every playoff game is going to look like. Our best chance for a championship is if somebody knocks out GS.
We have another 20 games to figure out if Joe can iso. If he can't then he will see minutes only when we want to rest some players a bit. I'm sure MDA and the team can figure this out. If you notice Joe was not in during crunch time last night.
Just my opinion, Joe Johnson’s value is in post ups vs smaller players. The value is creme that rises to the top in playoff games. Rockets force switches then go iso “3-point line above the break”. Harden/CP3 and now Iso Joe can work over a bigger player “Above the Break”. Problem is creating cutters while Harden/CP3/Iso Joe are trying to break down that center “Above the Break” Warriors Post Up on the block with all kinds of off ball screens.....freeing up players to make cuts to the rim. Not interfering into the path of the post up player. Rockets players need to get use to a post up player in the form of Iso Joe, while learning to screen and make cuts. Rockets have the personnel. Just about getting communication and timing. Joe passes to a cutter and the guy doesn’t follow thru.....or Joe thinks a player is ready for a pass on the perimeter and he cuts.....ends up a turnover. Guy cuts......Joe throws it out of bounds. Guy doesn’t cut.....Joe passes it to nobody except a defensive player close to the paint. Players need to get on the same page. MDA needs to coach it with any practices. Joe posting up his equivalent number on the other side, probably results in a stalemate. Less efficient than posting up the smaller players. Joe vs Marcus Smart or Jaylen Brown or Morris would probably not be advised. But Joe vs Larkin or Kyrie in the post might be very profitable. I wish I saw it last night. Edited: not trying to turn the Rockets into the Warriors. Just a few plays during a key possession or two. I’ve seen Rockets setting back screens off the ball during the season. More so in Dec-Jan than Oct-Nov.
I agree. People keep clamouring for Green to get minutes. He's not a forward; he's a guard. It makes no sense to bring Gordon out of the game to give Green 5 minutes of playing time, And JJ's defense would be a lot better if he closed out on threes a little better. By the end of the year, I think he'll be doing this for us. JJ is probably still building his stamina after not playing all that much.
Joe Johnson has one good game and all the sudden it's "MDA is a genius!, Johnson should probably start!"
JJ playing to get in sync with the team. Coach trust him, will play him if he is ready in playoffs. Green is odd man out in this but that is how it will run. If all healthy and 9 man rotation Green not coming in. And I am not going say Green is better than JJ in playoffs. That is the plan.
