Nice trade but no need for JJ dis

["hironaka@nomade.fr"<hironaka@nomade.fr>]

I know we enjoy going the extra mile to justify a trade 
that already stands well enough on its own merits. But I 
don't think the Joe Johnson dissing is very smart. Its  
seems like the sober truth on JJ is that he remains a 
talented prospect who can guard good players. 

Its unlikely too that his dribbling, passing, shooting 
etc. will all vanish now that he's about to reach the age 
of 21.

But, wait, he's a wallflower. And its congenital.... 

Certainly that fact makes me feel a lot better, believe 
me.

Unfortunately, I can imagine on the "learning curve" how 
someone's game can temporarily come apart when playing 
within a designated-gunners system like Boston's. The 
Celtics have a very specific star system, even by NBA 
team standards.

Most of us have probably been on ball hog, pecking order 
type teams where you might start second guessing yourself 
if you handle the ball for any longer than two seconds. A 
player can fall into that funk all the more when they are 
much younger and less developed than the 
established "stars". 

So next thing you know, the creativity and daring 
deteriorates and the player needs to make that important 
gut check e.g. stay aggressive even if the coach and the 
stars are staring a hole through you every time you 
dribble.

The way Joe Johnson released his pent up frustrations in 
the rookie game might be akin to how a miscast 
benchwarmer might do the same thing in a co-ed inter-dorm 
game or whatever. JJ jacked up a lot of shots even if he 
wasn't hot, and ended up one of the best guys out there. 

Obviously, there haven't been many minutes of PT since 
then. In that sense, we still really don't know what we 
have (er, had) in Johnson. Everyone goes through that gut 
check and the process of figuring out one's role in a 
system.
  
Strickland and EWill are older, wilier and frankly less 
talented, so they play aggressive offense, ultimately to 
the tune of 35% shooting. They'll dribble and attack 
because its programmed into their survival instinct as 
veterans. You either make plays during your limited 
playing time or you don't play.

Some people seem convinced Joe Johnson might never get 
it.  But if he ever gets it, make no mistake he's a 
talented package. 

Don't worry, JJ's life ambition is to be mediocre and 
never play to his skill level.

Well my feeling is that we don't have to go there. This 
was a "win" trade in light of what we added and because 
we have Kedrick as the annointed prospect three years 
down the line.

Its a scare tactic question, but is it possible we traded 
a Jeff Bagwell for two 30-ish 'tweeners? I seriously 
doubt it. 

I keep bringing up Bagwell (a certain Hall of Famer 
obviously), because AAA 3B Scott Cooper (later twice a 
Red Sox All Star I believe)and ML 3B Wade Boggs were a 
rung above him. 

That's kind of how it played out with Joe Johnson. You 
have Pierce as the batting champ and Kedrick as the 
annointed top prospect (and Forte).

In other words, he may be a bust but he wasn't traded 
because he was a bust.

Boston was wise to move one of these prospects to upgrade 
our "bullpen". The Celts could afford to. We all hope we 
got rid of the right guy. 

But all this about what a born loser Joe Johnson is and 
how we are recouping off a blown draft (everyone else 
apparently made off like bandits). Well give that a rest, 
please. 

We don't need to bash Joe Johnson to prove we won the 
trade. 

Boston adds a pair of double-figure scorers and locker-
room leaders for Joe Johnson, and we behave like he had 
so little trade value that we could barely give him away.

If we haven't learned the lesson of patience from 
following Toine and Pierce's development in Boston, then 
we are stupid learners. Give the "Joe Johnson is a 
failure" part of this debate a rest. It sounds ignorant.

Boston gave up something of value (potential and signs of 
real talent) to gain something of value (a bonafide 
veteran playoff bench). I'm happy this opportunity came 
along, even if Joe Johnson blossoms out there (as long as 
Kedrick does the same over here). I don't feel any urge 
to bash him, based on the evidence.

This probably reads like a confused post, but I won't 
bother re-reading it before clicking send! To be honest, 
I don't even know exactly what my point was. ;-) Just 
rambling on.

Go CELTS!

Joe

How do you all feel about tonight. Its hard to imagine 
Boston winning, but back-to-back wins against the best 
teams out West would be a very, very postive milestone. 
Strangely, I was sure Boston would win on this trip 
against the Lakers (I marked it as a "W"). I know how 
Toine plays historically versus LA, and the Pierce 
homecoming was a factor too. But tonight we are playing a 
TEAM that usually makes Boston look way out of their 
depths. 

Of course, the talent gap has never been narrower. Finley 
(if he's not traded in the next few hours) and Paul 
Pierce are at least for the moment on opposite 
trajectories, and Walker may be the league's best player 
with two triple doubles in a week. Even so, I think its 
going to be Patriots-level odds that our headband boys 
can win. Go Celts.

***




 
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