Choose your Johnson

[sturt]

{Some headers just write themselves. )

 

Someone might say, "Hell, just start giving Jalen Johnson the backup SF minutes. It's about time he began getting incorporated into the rotation."

It's an interesting, though yeah also frustrating, place that we find ourselves.

If not for the 21-game health/rotation valley we went through w/o any NBA HQ relief, conventionally speaking we'd be neck-and-neck with Boston right now, and there'd be no question that the priority remains on 2021-22.

And that's the thing.

For some, the priority has already become 2022-23... if not many... if not most.

For the rest of us...

ie, those who believe our current state is the result of some combination of that 6-15 health/rotation valley we experienced, and some sense of complacency as-if we could waltz back into EC Finals contention... and most definitely is not a matter of insufficient talent in a season where we actually added a jenn-you-wine back-up point guard, added a jenn-you-wine back-up center for a chunk of the regular season (which we only discovered/enjoyed for the very last part of last season), as well as a third unit jenn-you-wine center.... and as it turns out subtracted a back-up wing who we've only recently learned had decided long ago he didn't want to be in ATL...

...we still hold 2021-22 as the priority.

To the contrary, the 2021-22 roster is stronger than the 2020-21 one that beat down the Knicks, shamed the Sixers, and but for a misplaced ref's foot would have conquered the Bucks in the journey to ATL's first NBA Finals appearance. No question.

So, it's not quite silly, but just short of silly, to us that people would dismiss our continued belief that this team remains fully capable for as long as it can remain healthy or until they actually do succumb to math that would eliminate this team from contention.

 

"Yeah but what about precedent? Teams in ATL's position at this stage of the season never have won a trophy, and rarely have ever even gotten to the conference finals."

My answer?

Precedent only tells you what has happened, which only, in reality, tells you anything concretely meaningful if you're trying out your new betting app. (Don't get me started on that.)

It doesn't tell you what a team is capable of, and it is completely uninformed by the very unique conditions of the pandemic that explain... almost irrefutably in terms of common sense... a significant chunk of why this particular team is 28-30 instead of 34-24 (ie, per the 0.538 W/L % of the non-valley portions of the season that would have predicted).

 

So all of that to say... Jalen still isn't any more ready to assume an important role on this team than Big2O was this time last season, and somewhat for the same reasons... health... rookie-status... and/but a little worse, for all of our reasons for optimism about him, fact remains he was #20... he was not #6 in the draft.

 

And I'd add... even if/when ready, the role that we need to fill could be filled by Jalen, but there's a good argument that what we need in a back-up SF looks more like Solo... or at least, what Solo was when he was playing his best... an energy guy, a glue guy, a do-a-little-bit-of-everything guy, and a decent defending guy on the perimeter.

I don't think Jalen's that.

 

And unfortunately, there's just not hardly any real good options who would portend to be that.

Alize (pronounced AL-iz-zay) Johnson gives a lot of reason to believe he could be that. He's played enough NBA minutes, and God knows enough G-League minutes that we know what he's made of, and how he could be used... though he's not always been used in a Jimmy Butler kind of way that was anticipated when he came out of college... been used more like a Montrezl Harrel... I think, though, that's been a matter of what his NBA teams have needed him to do, not a matter of all he's capable of doing.

 

Who is this Alize Johnson, you ask?

 

 

 

 

So, yah.... I'm pretty committed to this notion now that adding Alize would be a really solid pick-up for the second unit. He really does resemble a young Solo, at minimum, and arguably, still could blossom into something more than Solo ever was.

[Guest]

I thought this thread was going to be about this ...
https://sports.yahoo.com/beijing-olympics-finnish-cross-country-skier-suffers-frozen-wenis-the-pain-was-unbearable-190726163.html

[HawksNWaffles]

[TheTruth]

Is love to see it (both really), but Nate would pull a Consuela from Family Guy real quick if asked to play either. 

[sturt]

1 hour ago, TheTruth said:

Nate

Right, and/but to your point, it's a Schrodinger's box thing... ie, imagining the situation were to ever occur that Alize were to be signed, think we can be certain it would only be with Nate having said he wanted him... and if Nate wants him, given how well Nate is acquainted with Alize, it only would make sense that Nate has a role in mind for him.

 

[RedDawg#8]

I can’t see JJ chasing anyone around screens or defending on the perimeter, so to me he is still a PF who happens to have some combo ability on offense.

That being said, with JC down, its the perfect excuse to give him 10 mins a game (5 in each half) just to see what he looks like next to rotation guys and not the 11-15 unit. 

He cannot hurt you in that limited action, and he can barely break a sweat. But it gets him exposure  around the guys he will be playing with once we inevitably move on from Gallo as soon as next year.

Ready or not, we don’t have the cap space to resign another big contract guy to replace Gallo, so JJ will have to step in and step up for us eventually while on his rookie deal.

Let’s be clear, if we are healthy, there a lot of quality guys that have to sit on the bench, including JJ. He should not be given minutes just because. But if one of the top 2 PF’s is out, use the kid. Don’t just ignore him altogether because he isn’t perfect yet. See what he can do. Groom him. Then put him back on the shelf when JC returns.

Its that simple

[sturt]

15 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

He cannot hurt you in that limited action, and he can barely break a sweat.

Hmmm.

The difference in our final score and our opponent's is 0.4. Even if you're the reigning world champs, that's still just a 3.4 difference.

Really don't have much luxury there if you truly are trying to compete for the big prize. This is the reason for setting up the discussion with that tipping point... if you're still serious about the post-season, then you really have to take the approach that every on-floor minute is pivotal.

 

21 minutes ago, RedDawg#8 said:

He should not be given minutes just because. But if one of the top 2 PF’s is out, use the kid. Don’t just ignore him altogether because he isn’t perfect yet. See what he can do. Groom him. Then put him back on the shelf when JC returns.

Agreed. If that's your best option, then that's your best option. Have to be tempted to just spread those minutes to the others in the current rotation, but run a danger of course of running players into the ground.

But again, even w/o JC's foot injury, there already was a void in the rotation that hasn't been filled since Cam was traded.

So how do we finish these 24 games out strong? Not with Jalen, imo...

11 hours ago, sturt said:

even if/when ready, the role that we need to fill could be filled by Jalen, but there's a good argument that what we need in a back-up SF looks more like Solo... or at least, what Solo was when he was playing his best... an energy guy, a glue guy, a do-a-little-bit-of-everything guy, and a decent defending guy on the perimeter.

I don't think Jalen's that.

 

 

 

 

[Spud2nique]

On 2/20/2022 at 8:07 AM, sturt said:

AL-iz-zay)

You just took me back to 96.  

[Gray Mule]

JJ wouldn't hurt us that much if he played 5 minutes per half.  (Compared to how much another sub might hurt us.)  

A bird in hand is worth two in the brush.  JJ is already a bird (Hawk) and he's available at any given time.  We don't have to make any drastic moves.  Just insert and play.  

After all, he is our 1st round pick.  He is not without value.  He's grown a lot down in the G League and he is very athletic.  Not asking that he start in the game and play major minutes.  

[sturt]

On 2/20/2022 at 10:07 AM, sturt said:

And I'd add... even if/when ready, the role that we need to fill could be filled by Jalen, but there's a good argument that what we need in a back-up SF looks more like Solo... or at least, what Solo was when he was playing his best... an energy guy, a glue guy, a do-a-little-bit-of-everything guy, and a decent defending guy on the perimeter.

I don't think Jalen's that.

 

And unfortunately, there's just not hardly any real good options who would portend to be that.

 

Then again... maybe TS anticipated that yet another Johnson might suddenly become available??? (See screenshot from Hoops Rumors story on Dragic signing.)

I'd be pretty satisfied with him or Bruce Brown.

 

 

[Final_quest]

So, were saying the most important thing is how we use our Johnson?