Joe Johnson

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

I guess if you went by just one big game (like the Pitino 
regime did with Jerome Moiso) then Joe Johnson has to 
grade higher than Richard Jefferson in dribbling, 
jumpshot and playmaking. I'd say even considerably 
higher. Joe Johnson may even be ahead in shooting off the 
dribble too, although not in terms of pure athleticism 
and defense. 

He's a tease, the stats completely bear that out. But I 
can see how in a one day workout he could outshine 
Jefferson. It's a shame that this happened, because 
Jefferson would have been a good Boston Celtic. Joe 
Johnson must have been hard to pass up, but there is 
probably some sort of lesson to learn from there.

When Chris Wallace and Leo Papile made that evaluation, 
Joe Johnson was also a little over 12 months younger than 
Jefferson. One full year is not trivial, at that young 
age.

Even precocious talent and obvious team basketball skills 
aren't everything, as he's demonstrating. I wonder how 
this guy will look when he's a 25 or 26-year-old, and no 
longer has to defer to his elders. Is it a matter of 
deferring to veterans, or is he a floater with less than 
adequate heart?

However it turns out, I'm more impressed with Tony Delk. 
In games like last night, Delk almost looks like he's 
holding back some of his "explosivity" in order to fit 
the program. The guy twice showed shooting range out to 
26 feet, and he also showed he can drive for layups in 
the halfcourt set or pull up for a soft jumper. He's a 
complete offensive package. His release on that pull up 
is straight out of the Michael Jordan video library. And 
while so many spot-up pure shooters will miss when forced 
to dribble, Delk actually takes a lot of his even open 3-
pointers off a dribble. This was more than an even trade. 
We're set for three more years at that spot, as Antoine 
and Pierce enter their prime years.

And Antoine and Pierce would not have second round 
playoff experience if not for the Rogers rental. Given 
that the trade also allowed Boston to win its first two 
playoff series in a decade, it was by no means a 
completely blown draft by the brain trust. The best 
player available drafting approach led to a very 
important trade.

I think the real "sweet spot" we missed was not at 10 and 
11. There were so many duds there that its unfair to pick 
on just Boston. At 21, drafting Red's guy Forte was 
unfortunate with a lot of impact pointguards still on the 
board (Arenas, Tinsley and Parker).  

Joe H.

p.s. Forte is another all-around natural basketball 
player who has yet to find his mark. I think that can 
happen when he moves back to shooting guard and adds some 
strength to his 6-4 frame. Since he's never playing 
anyway, behind Desmond Mason, Barry, the Glove and Kenny 
Anderson, he ought to go on a serious weight lifting 
regimen, even if it throws off his shooting touch from 
one day to the next. If he eventually makes it as a 
pointguard once Kenny leaves, I'd be surprised but more 
power to him. 


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