haha, it's boris diaw day on 790thezone

[kudzu23]

Post deleted by kudzu23

[Spiral]

How dare you say that!

[Playmaker0017]

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I don't think you did..

he put up 1ppg less the previous year. THE ONLY stat on his sheet that went up considerably from one season to the next was his 3pt %.

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Do you understand statistics? You have to take the numbers as a whole to get the picture, not individually.

Joe Johsnon took almost a shot and a half less to achieve a half point increase in his PPG.

He was better on the offensive glass in fewer minutes. He also had significantly fewer turnovers, which helped lead him to a higher A/TO ratio.

Also, if you don't think that a just from 43% to 46% isn't a big jump then you don't understand the game of basketball.

[Nicholasp27]

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Unfortunately, the Joe Johnson at PG has been attempted and was a disaster.

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putting up 20/5/5 at pg while leading a team with marion, amare (injured half the games), and...and...*crickets* to a 50% record in the west is not exactly a "disaster"

[chillzatl]

Look, I fully understand the difference that Nash and a healthy, more dominant Amare had on him. I don't expect him to be as efficient on his own as he would be with a roster like that. But even as a younger player, he proved that he can be a very very good player in this league. A year of playing with those guys and winning like they did, will only enhance his confidence AND his basketball IQ.

It doesn't really take stats to full realize what he can potentially become. He has the stats to logically back it up though. It's like Diesel saying that Kobe isn't as good as everyone makes him out to be. All you have to do is watch him play, you know he's good. The same goes for JJ.

We've been watching him here for a good four years now. Ever since he was drafted by Boston and then traded to Phoenix. There have been people here (diesel and others) who opined that they would love to get Joe Johnson in Atlanta. They recognized the talent that this guy has.

I had the pleasure of going to a Hawks/Suns game as a guest of Shawn Marion a few years ago. I sat in the players section behind the Suns bench and spent the first quarter cheering for teh Hawks. That is, until I found out that the guy to my right was Jerry Colangelo and he jokingly told me that "If he saw me cheering for the other team again, he would have me thrown out and would tell Shawn". This was right after the got JJ. Because of how much JJ had been talked about here, I brought him up. We spent a good 15 minutes talking about him and he had nothing but praise for his potential and while he never said it directly, you knew that they expected JJ to be a star for them.

He wasn't brought to Phoenix to be a role player. He was brought there to be a focal point. The only reason that didn't happen is because fortune allowed them to get Steve Nash. They had the opportunity to skip a few years into the future, as far as team growth, and they did it. I don't fault them for that. In fact, I praise them for it. Because it has allowed us to get a guy that was considered to be the future for them.

[Playmaker0017]

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Look, I fully understand the difference that Nash and a healthy, more dominant Amare had on him. I don't expect him to be as efficient on his own as he would be with a roster like that. But even as a younger player, he proved that he can be a very very good player in this league. A year of playing with those guys and winning like they did, will only enhance his confidence AND his basketball IQ.

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I edited out the rest...

I know what you are saying, and I agree. He is a VERY good player. I like him and would love him on my team.

I just wouldn't make him the center of my team.

70MM to him is an anchor. If he fails, and I think he will ultimately not succeed, is going to make him a very expensive weight. You won't be able to move him and you won't be able to sign anyone else.

I just think money like that should be reserved for the elite of the elite.

You all KNOW I love Reef, but Reef was never worthy of 13MM.

[chillzatl]

He's never going to be any worse than he was 2 seasons ago. At WORST you're going to get 16/4/4 from him along with a smart player who plays very good defense. The way his contract is setup, he would be very easy to move if it came to that. He's far from being an anchor. The front loaded contract takes care of that.

[Playmaker0017]

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He's never going to be any worse than he was 2 seasons ago.

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One hopes.

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At WORST you're going to get 16/4/4 from him along with a smart player who plays very good defense.

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Not something I would pay 70MM for.

I think offensively, I would expect:

16-18PPG

5-6 RPG

5 APG

Hardly numbers that I would drop 70MM on.

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The way his contract is setup, he would be very easy to move if it came to that. He's far from being an anchor. The front loaded contract takes care of that.

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No one will take him on. You'd never find a team willing to drop that type of coin on him. You could turn around and offer him to the league ... open bidding and teams won't try for him at his new contract, I would bet.

Of course, I wouldn't sign Redd to that nasty deal he got either.

[chillzatl]

you've already established that you won't pay big money for unproven players. But that is not how the league works these days. 16/4/4 is worst case and I will go on record saying that he will do far far better than that. But those are worst case numbers. I fully expect 18/6/4 at worst. Those ARE 70mil numbers in todays NBA.

[pathway23]

I agree with you Chillz, and I don't understand Playmaker's knocks on Joe Johnson. The guy is only 24 years old and if he didn't mean much to Phoenix than why did that team show so bad in the playoffs without him? Their level of play slipped considerably. For just a roleplayer to be missing, how come they couldn't get anybody to step up and play that role?

I think that Joe fits our SYSTEM perfectly, and yes we do have a SYSTEM, Playmaker, whether you'd like to admit it or not, they don't just APPEAR, they develop over time, and you plug in players that fit the SYSTEM over time, and you continue to get better. This team is barely in the 2nd year of rebuilding and Joe is a HUGE part of it, he is the main piece and he most definitely deserves a 70 million contract. He is Alan Houston + handles + passing skills + rebounding skills + defense.. How much did Alan get a few years ago? 120 million. If Alan was worth 120 to the Knicks then, Joe is a steal at 70 mil for ATL now.