Re: Hog wild for JJ

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

At 22:34 28/06/01 -0400, CeltsSteve@AOL.com wrote:
><http://www.ardemgaz.com/today/spt/C1holtjohnson28.asp>http<http://www.ardemgaz.com/today/spt/C1holtjohnson28.asp>://www.ardemgaz.com/today/spt/C1holtjohnson28.asp 
>
>
>"Playing at Arkansas has gotten me ready for what I need to do [in the NBA],"
>Johnson said. "Getting up at 5:30 in the morning for practice has mentally
>prepared me for what's about to happen, and [Razorbacks] Coach [Nolan]
>Richardson's system of getting up and down the floor and getting after it on
>both ends of the floor has helped me out. "I'll take it on the professional
>level now."
>
>Charles Barkley, the longtime NBA star for the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix
>Suns and Houston, said of Johnson, "Any player that plays for Nolan
>Richardson is going to be tough, No. 1, and is going to play hard for you
>every night."

Thanks for that post, CSteve. 48 minutes of hell, baby.

Both Joe's (Johnson and Forte) were quoted as saying they'd been worked out 
at point guard by NBA teams. In some sense we may not need to worry that 
much about being undersized.  In some cases we may even see size mismatches 
on the floor in our favor.

If Boston down the road can eventually get 10 rebounds per game from the 
starting guard combo (say Pierce and Forte), that's going to have a great 
impact.

Because of his defensive role in college and shooting/dribbling skills, 
Johnson's scouting reports read almost like a modern-day, 6-8 version of 
Joe Dumars. Kedrick Brown could work out as a  Vinnie Johnson/ Paul Pressey 
type sixth man by his second year. Of course that is probably pure fantasy.

It is nice to see three kids get picked and not once hear "weight room 
away" or "jumpshot away".  All you needed last year to get Stith's 25 to 30 
minutes per game is to can your spot-up jump shots and play heads up man 
defense. I believe that one or more of the three rookies could win those 
kind of Stith-Williams minutes by midseason, even if they are years away 
from showcasing their complete game.

To me  the storyline out of this draft is that we got  three "best of both 
worlds" guys who shoot well enough to exploit the new zone rules, yet 
create offense well enough to not miss these new rules if they get 
rescinded after a year. Plus all three kids got stellar grades on defense 
compared to most scorers (White/Gasol) picked that early in an NBA draft, 
not to mention Pierce and Walker when they came out of school.

I think Dick Harter is going to make a Joe Kerrigan (Red Sox pitching 
coach) type of impact on this team and get the new players to gel fairly 
quickly in their defensive responsibilities, as we move away from the 
headless chicken outbreak system.

Wallace/Papile got what they wanted in this draft by focusing from the 
start on what they perceived to be the hidden strength (athletic swing 
forwards in the Jason Richardson mold) and letting the other lottery teams 
and the 11-19 teams panic shop on what was touted as a rare center/bigman 
draft. It may turn out to be both those things (it certainly won't go down 
as a PG draft!) but at least Wallace stuck to his gameplan and the chips 
fell right that day from that perspective.

Go Celts!

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