Get Off DerMarr's Back

[jaywalker72]

As the Shaw’s Summer League in Boston came to a close, the Hawks and Head Coach Eric Musselman declared that they had accomplished every goal they had come to achieve.

But, to hear a nation of watchers tell it, the Hawks still have one player who underwhelmes and is still underachieving.

DerMarr Johnson.

The critics say he is a disappointment, some go so far as to say he’s a bust. But, in the rush to declare the 22 year old guard/forward the next fill-in-the-blank, people have begun to focus on what Johnson can’t do, instead of seeing what he is doing.

RealGM's Jason Walker looks back at the draft class of 2000 and discusses the progress of the much discussed Hawks swingman.

Read the entire article:

http://hawks.realgm.com/

[Traceman]

there is one man out there besides myself who is in no way disappointed with DJ's progress up until this point. While DJ hasn't developed as rapidly as many would like, there is no question that he is getting better all the time. I still think Bab's initial prediction for DJ will come true and that after getting one more full season under his belt, we will begin to see the type of player DJ is going to be.

[thecampster]

that's a dang good article.

[JTFan31]

Thats one great article Jay. I loved it, i feel the same love for DJ, I think he will eventually be a very good player and will contribute so much to the Hawks this season.

[Guest]

going with the public sentiments here, but the article pointed something out...how weak that draft was. There's not too many further down the line that I'd rather have...

As Jay points out, like him or not, no one that we passed up on is a superstar by any means. Guess that means a backhanded hats off to Babs for making the most out of the decision

[Admin]

Very nice article as always Jay. Good analysis of the other players drafted in that draft. A thought came to my mind though, what if we hadnt owed the Clips that pick from the Lo Wright trade which they used to draft QRich. Surely we would have traded up or completely traded out for a vet? Most likely since we were looking for some youth we would have traded up. Who would we have taken though? I do not know, but that was an extremely weak draft class. No way is Kenyon Martin a #1 overall pick. My guess is that we would have tried to move up to get Miles or Miller, or maybe we would have kept that second pick and taken QRich.

How bad did we screw ourselves with the 99 draft? 4 first rounders and there is the possibility that JT may be the only one remaining by the time the season starts. Man thats sad.

[Traceman]

if we could have moved up. Who knows, DJ may turn out to be the better player but at the time, D Miles was the guy I liked best in that draft class FOR US by far. K-Mart would have been a good pick too but I was okay with Lo at PF at the time. I DEFINITELY didn't want Fizer, I wasn't that high on Swift and it was actually a toss up to me between DJ and Mike Miller after Miles and K-Mart.

[Admin]

Yeah I was definitely excited about Miles too. I really dont ever see him becoming a great player though now after watching him enough because he doesnt have a good enough jumper for a SF and he isnt big enough to be a dominant PF. I actually wanted Dermarr over Miller, but it was close. Once the next season started and I had seen how much bigger Miller had gotten I was seriously rethinking that, but I think we will be ok.

[KB21]

I think now that Alexander has a starting position, we will see him become the very good scorer he is capable of being and has shown flashes of in the past. Unlike DerMarr, he has to step up his defensive intensity.

Mike Miller is the best player from that draft though.

[Guest]

Shoot you wouldn't know it by people on the net.Because Kenyon

Martin had two good games after the playoffs were basically

decided people think he is going to average 20PPG 12RPG as

I have heard alot of people saying stuff like that.He will jump

up 7 rebounds next year aswell as 6PPG.

Its amazing how after a few games people will jump on a d*ck

and ride it claiming he is the best ever.That is what people

are doing to Martin right now.

[chazhrt]

Finally, a voice of reason, with logical thinking behind it. Excellent article.

[Guest]

Excellent article Jaybird (or should I say JayGator - Football is in the air).

People like Jason, Trace, and myself who saw a good number of games this past season know the tremendous progress DJ made. Plus he does something that a casual Hawks fan or even casual media watchers (i.e. most AJC writers not named Denberg and every single TV and radio reporter in Atlanta) probably failed to see last season: DJ PLAYS DEFENSE.

How you gonna necessarily see that in a boxscore?

I hope DJ can increase his PPG total to somewhere between 12-15 this season. But even if he stays close to 10, his play on defense will get him additional minutes. He is a force on defense (plus he loves to play defense - which many may not realize). Remember, his coach at Cincy (Higgins) is a defensive nut and stresses it all the time. That's where DJ got that defensive mindset.

Dermarr is, along with tradebait....I mean Jason Terry (HA!), one of the bright spots on this team. We have potential with this young nucleus to be a very dangerous team over the next several seasons.

I can't wait!

[Hawksfreak]

DJ will come around you know he can't wait till the regualr season that when I think he will really blosome. You just have to give these things time.

[Guest]

Hotlanta, i hate dickriders too. People doin the same thing with Mike Bibby

[Gambit99]

Amen...This is exactly what I was saying two days ago. Jay, just broke it down to the meat of it all.

Jay, your articles are great...

This year DJ will be our have an outstanding year...Hopefully he won't pull a TMac on us in a year or two, to star on his own team. If San Antion still has Tim in a year or two I can see them going after DJ to replace Steve.

[Guest]

At the time when we were looking at draft picks... We had DJ, Alexander, and Miller come in on the same day.

The first time DJ came... Everyone marvelled that he could jump and touch a 12.5 foot mark.. Also that his jumper looked like satin.

However, the second time he came, he came with Miller, Alexander was sick or something..

Anyway, after that meeting, I think Miller Lost it... I believe that DJ and Miller faced off and DJ showed More?? Because Babs was so sure that Miller wasn't going to be his choice that he said.. Had Miller been available he would not have picked him but woul have picked Crawford instead?

Hmm??

Did Miller fail the pschye test or what?

[Traceman]

from that draft and I still think Miles will eventually be the best. Miller is good and I think he will continue to get better as well but he is not a great defender and K-Mart is solid on both ends of the floor. Orlando would trade Miller for K-Mart so fast it would make your head spin even if Hill were not healthy. As for Alexander, we will see. I think he has a lot of talent and he could turn out to be a very good player. I am not so sure he has a guaranteed starting spot in NO though.

[jaywalker72]

D, from everything I was told, the late Gary Wortman was enamored with DerMarr from go, and though they liked Miller, they felt his ceiling was not as high as Johnson or Crawford.

They knew Miller would be better right away, but looking 3-4 years down the road, they felt that either DerMarr or Jamal would be better.

And it might have been the last workout that sealed that impression on them, too, who knows?

Bottom line is that they liked all 3, but felt that down the road, Johnson would be the best of the 3.

[Guest]

I believe that DJ has already surpassed Miller defensively and he doesn't play nearly as much.

When we really think about it, DJ is a defensive stopper now. I want to see him match up with crafty players like Jordan, Reggie, Spree, and TMac.

[Guest Walter]

When did "good shooters" never break the 40% basketball equivalent of the mendoza line, particularly ones that don't force Iversonian amounts and types of shots?

...

For a long time DJ was considerably behind in terms of developing. He was dissing stars ('Nique) and not lifting bars. Then SAR comes along and lends him his chef to help him gain weight and seemingly some much needed advice. Who knows what other influence occured but you could see the difference in DJ on the defensive end of the court.

Offensively he is still years if ever away and aggression simply may never be a part of his game. Your article correctly highlites many similar players struggling to match the expectations that come with their draft position, many with devastating injuries befalling them helping cause a slower progression. However, it fails to examine specifically within the skill positions (especially swingmen) which we looked to be drafting for and which players develop more quickly.

For example, Peterson, Mason, Alexander, Richardson, Turk, and even Crawford. Of these players Crawford lost an entire season I think and part of another was limited due to injury. Left are Peterson, Mason, Alexander, Richardson, and Turk.

Of these only Richardson and Turk are of a similar age with Turk being the same age or younger and Richardson being one year older. Both were drafted significantly below DerMarr.

These players certainly should be compared to DJ and relative draft position should be (as it alwasy should be) considered in weighing their meeting expectations. Furthermore, Mason, Alexander, and Richardson, while having 2 more years of college are not 2 years of pro experience ahead. Rather a year of pro with its 82 game season and year around practice should equate to 2 college years. A forgiving eye should look upon DJ relative to these similarly postitioned and stage developing players this coming year but the mind cannot overlook his significantly higher draft position and the heart must know that by now he has much similar pro experience to these players and should not be eyed too forgivingly.

MAYBE he will develop into a quiet assassin for this team, helping beat teams without his scoring. Likely he won't before his contract expires which brings up a whole 'nother issue. Regardless, he deserves mention somewhere between the clueless writers that call him out for his lacking defense (?) and those here, many who have, over time whether they realize it or not, tempered their enthusiasm from his being the next McGrady to Pippen, yet still see his flaws as mere growing pains.

And don't forget that it was DJ that was turning down help from the franchise's best and laughably claiming he would cross over and dunk on the world's best. His status as a #6 pick may lead to more scrutiny than later picks (as it should) but he didn't do alot to lessen that scrutiny by shinning the spotlight on himself with such bonehead moves.

DJ doesn't need anybody on his back, nor does he need anyone patting his back. He is at a crossroads this season. Let's hope his own back can support the added weight of righful expectations that come with a most important season.

W