JaJuan Johnson = Useless??

[SHAQATTACK]

JJJ is just horrible. What does this guy do other than run around the court like a decapitated chicken? No purpose whatsoever just running around like an idiot. Please someone tell me why we should keep him?

Gee , I thought the same thing...decapitated chicken ...thats how I see him too.    He has ZERO anticipation for the play developing. JJJ is always CHASING the play down .  The main action is happening, and he is late for the party.  IF JJJ happens to be standing in the right place forgotten , he gets a rebound or knocks down a shot.

Moore does show a better instinctive game and like Sam Cassell he goes at his one pace, not really how Doc wants it....  so I guess this is what gets Moore in DOcs doghouse, he is too much like Sam Cassell.  Kinda funny really to watch. A battle of the minds.

[clover]

The best skill he can accumulate easily is becoming a irritant! Takes no practice it just takes for 1 morning to wake up & wanna be a a**hole! KG learned this early & he fed off of it! But Dennis Rodman is the guy who he should go back & study.
When you attack everything full speed with Lots of unbridled energy, the ball seems to bounce your way & the basketball GODS look out for you. Right now JJJ is cheating the game because he's fat katting his 1st round stature. Rodman worked his butt of until he found 1 great skill set which was Rebounding. I once thought Rodman was a great defender, but now looking back he was just very engaged & 100% into getting under a person's skin. Extra shoves while the refs looking away, make a easy lay-up & point at the crowd like he just went for 30plus, he dove for balls he had zero chance to keep fair, moved his feet skittishly while gaurding SG to make them raise doubt they could actually blow by him like he did when he used to gaurd the young MJ (very funny stuff w/ the antics diaplayed with the Pistons) & his best attribute was endearing himself to the fans he played for with endless hustle & didn't care about anybody else! Rodman couldn't dribble, shoot a jumper, shoot a FT & was undersized for his position & he's in the hall of fame! JJJ needs to learn that & he'll make himself a long career with little or no skill set, but it takes ALOT of hardwork & a dedicated exercise regimen to get there which many are not willing to dedicate themselves to

How many 23yo, 1st-round-pick, second-year NBA pros show such deficiency in hustle, then get their heads screwed on straight and internalize it?

Offhand, I can think of only those who get knocked around pretty seriously and spend some time in the overseas wilderness.  Gerald Green may be something of an example of it in a different way.

I can only believe that the Celtics are pretty down on him now and hope that he can be stuffed as filler in that S&T Danny's working on--or as material to make a mid-season trade work.  

Hence Lue's spirited defense of him yesterday as to how much better he'll look playing with the regular Celtics rotation?  

He seemed to do better in Orlando as the week wore on, which is why it was disheartening to see him regress again yesterday.  But getting cut from the Celtics--or a team he gets traded to--early enough in his career might end up being the best thing that could happen to him.

[SHAQATTACK]

just the amount of replys to this thread indicate something is going wrong with JJJ development. 

[TyrekeCeltics]

The best skill he can accumulate easily is becoming a irritant! Takes no practice it just takes for 1 morning to wake up & wanna be a a**hole! KG learned this early & he fed off of it! But Dennis Rodman is the guy who he should go back & study.
When you attack everything full speed with Lots of unbridled energy, the ball seems to bounce your way & the basketball GODS look out for you. Right now JJJ is cheating the game because he's fat katting his 1st round stature. Rodman worked his butt of until he found 1 great skill set which was Rebounding. I once thought Rodman was a great defender, but now looking back he was just very engaged & 100% into getting under a person's skin. Extra shoves while the refs looking away, make a easy lay-up & point at the crowd like he just went for 30plus, he dove for balls he had zero chance to keep fair, moved his feet skittishly while gaurding SG to make them raise doubt they could actually blow by him like he did when he used to gaurd the young MJ (very funny stuff w/ the antics diaplayed with the Pistons) & his best attribute was endearing himself to the fans he played for with endless hustle & didn't care about anybody else! Rodman couldn't dribble, shoot a jumper, shoot a FT & was undersized for his position & he's in the hall of fame! JJJ needs to learn that & he'll make himself a long career with little or no skill set, but it takes ALOT of hardwork & a dedicated exercise regimen to get there which many are not willing to dedicate themselves to

How many 23yo, 1st-round-pick, second-year NBA pros show such deficiency in hustle, then get their heads screwed on straight and internalize it?

Offhand, I can think of only those who get knocked around pretty seriously and spend some time in the overseas wilderness.  Gerald Green may be something of an example of it in a different way.

I can only believe that the Celtics are pretty down on him now and hope that he can be stuffed as filler in that S&T Danny's working on--or as material to make a mid-season trade work.  

Hence Lue's spirited defense of him yesterday as to how much better he'll look playing with the regular Celtics rotation?  

He seemed to do better in Orlando as the week wore on, which is why it was disheartening to see him regress again yesterday.  But getting cut from the Celtics--or a team he gets traded to--early enough in his career might end up being the best thing that could happen to him.

Even though i have to agree, I dont think any team will cut him this early in his career because of what he did in college and his 1st round status. I think JJJs sealing would be a Hakim Warrick type player who can provide some playing time of the bench. But I'm convinced that a team like Memphis would be happy to get him in return for Mayo which would allow us to sign Courtney Lee.

[TyrekeCeltics]

Another thing, it really p----s me off that we could have MarShon Brooks right now instead of this bum!

[Celtics4ever]

Physically, he has a lot of the tools.  He is skinny but wiry and can jump out of the gym.   I have to question his basketball IQ at times particularly on D.   He does look lost a lot though.

[clover]

The best skill he can accumulate easily is becoming a irritant! Takes no practice it just takes for 1 morning to wake up & wanna be a a**hole! KG learned this early & he fed off of it! But Dennis Rodman is the guy who he should go back & study.
When you attack everything full speed with Lots of unbridled energy, the ball seems to bounce your way & the basketball GODS look out for you. Right now JJJ is cheating the game because he's fat katting his 1st round stature. Rodman worked his butt of until he found 1 great skill set which was Rebounding. I once thought Rodman was a great defender, but now looking back he was just very engaged & 100% into getting under a person's skin. Extra shoves while the refs looking away, make a easy lay-up & point at the crowd like he just went for 30plus, he dove for balls he had zero chance to keep fair, moved his feet skittishly while gaurding SG to make them raise doubt they could actually blow by him like he did when he used to gaurd the young MJ (very funny stuff w/ the antics diaplayed with the Pistons) & his best attribute was endearing himself to the fans he played for with endless hustle & didn't care about anybody else! Rodman couldn't dribble, shoot a jumper, shoot a FT & was undersized for his position & he's in the hall of fame! JJJ needs to learn that & he'll make himself a long career with little or no skill set, but it takes ALOT of hardwork & a dedicated exercise regimen to get there which many are not willing to dedicate themselves to

How many 23yo, 1st-round-pick, second-year NBA pros show such deficiency in hustle, then get their heads screwed on straight and internalize it?

Offhand, I can think of only those who get knocked around pretty seriously and spend some time in the overseas wilderness.  Gerald Green may be something of an example of it in a different way.

I can only believe that the Celtics are pretty down on him now and hope that he can be stuffed as filler in that S&T Danny's working on--or as material to make a mid-season trade work.  

Hence Lue's spirited defense of him yesterday as to how much better he'll look playing with the regular Celtics rotation?  

He seemed to do better in Orlando as the week wore on, which is why it was disheartening to see him regress again yesterday.  But getting cut from the Celtics--or a team he gets traded to--early enough in his career might end up being the best thing that could happen to him.

Even though i have to agree, I dont think any team will cut him this early in his career because of what he did in college and his 1st round status. I think JJJs sealing would be a Hakim Warrick type player who can provide some playing time of the bench. But I'm convinced that a team like Memphis would be happy to get him in return for Mayo which would allow us to sign Courtney Lee.

Memphis happy to get 3J in return for Mayo?  That would be a Celtics dream!

[TyrekeCeltics]

The best skill he can accumulate easily is becoming a irritant! Takes no practice it just takes for 1 morning to wake up & wanna be a a**hole! KG learned this early & he fed off of it! But Dennis Rodman is the guy who he should go back & study.
When you attack everything full speed with Lots of unbridled energy, the ball seems to bounce your way & the basketball GODS look out for you. Right now JJJ is cheating the game because he's fat katting his 1st round stature. Rodman worked his butt of until he found 1 great skill set which was Rebounding. I once thought Rodman was a great defender, but now looking back he was just very engaged & 100% into getting under a person's skin. Extra shoves while the refs looking away, make a easy lay-up & point at the crowd like he just went for 30plus, he dove for balls he had zero chance to keep fair, moved his feet skittishly while gaurding SG to make them raise doubt they could actually blow by him like he did when he used to gaurd the young MJ (very funny stuff w/ the antics diaplayed with the Pistons) & his best attribute was endearing himself to the fans he played for with endless hustle & didn't care about anybody else! Rodman couldn't dribble, shoot a jumper, shoot a FT & was undersized for his position & he's in the hall of fame! JJJ needs to learn that & he'll make himself a long career with little or no skill set, but it takes ALOT of hardwork & a dedicated exercise regimen to get there which many are not willing to dedicate themselves to

How many 23yo, 1st-round-pick, second-year NBA pros show such deficiency in hustle, then get their heads screwed on straight and internalize it?

Offhand, I can think of only those who get knocked around pretty seriously and spend some time in the overseas wilderness.  Gerald Green may be something of an example of it in a different way.

I can only believe that the Celtics are pretty down on him now and hope that he can be stuffed as filler in that S&T Danny's working on--or as material to make a mid-season trade work.  

Hence Lue's spirited defense of him yesterday as to how much better he'll look playing with the regular Celtics rotation?  

He seemed to do better in Orlando as the week wore on, which is why it was disheartening to see him regress again yesterday.  But getting cut from the Celtics--or a team he gets traded to--early enough in his career might end up being the best thing that could happen to him.

Even though i have to agree, I dont think any team will cut him this early in his career because of what he did in college and his 1st round status. I think JJJs sealing would be a Hakim Warrick type player who can provide some playing time of the bench. But I'm convinced that a team like Memphis would be happy to get him in return for Mayo which would allow us to sign Courtney Lee.

Memphis happy to get 3J in return for Mayo?  That would be a Celtics dream!

This would send Mayo to Dallas...

[celticinorlando]

he is lazy, loafs, has no post game and shoot way too many jumpers. If he can't be dumped..it sucks we waste a roster spot on him. He is already behind everyone they brought in including sully and joseph..

if he can't be traded he will spend a the season in the d league. he is useless for this team

[Jon]

Is Johnson ever going to be a star? Perhaps not. But I would caution two things.

First, more than half this board deemed Avery Bradley a complete failure last year, with many claiming E'Twaun Moore to be better than him. Given that Johnson has yet to even have a full training camp with the C's, I would take a wait and see stance on him rather than leap to conclusions about him.

Second, part of the complaint about him is that he isn't dominating summer league games. To that, I would say that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I really question this notion that summer league stars translate to the NBA game. First, we've seen many guys dominate summer league games and be busts in the NBA. I am looking at you Joe Forte, Kedrick Brown, and Jerome Moiso. Second, most of thr guys who take over summer league games won't be allowed to do so in the NBA. Instead, they'll be asked to hit open shots, make passes, and play defense.

Now, I am not claiming that JJJ is setting on the world on fire in these areas, but he has hit some open jumpers and has played some decent help defense. If he can do that in the NBA game and pick up his rebounding, he can be an effective player.  

That said, if Boston trades him, I won't lose sleep. I don't think he will ever be a star. But I do think still has the upside to be a longer version of Brandon Bass. And that's not such a bad thing.

[jdz101]

I've typed the B in B-U-S-T. He needs to convince me not to finish the word.

[celticinorlando]

Is Johnson ever going to be a star? Perhaps not. But I would caution two things.

First, more than half this board deemed Avery Bradley a complete failure last year, with many claiming E'Twaun Moore to be better than him. Given that Johnson has yet to even have a full training camp with the C's, I would take a wait and see stance on him rather than leap to conclusions about him.

Second, part of the complaint about him is that he isn't dominating summer league games. To that, I would say that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I really question this notion that summer league stars translate to the NBA game. First, we've seen many guys dominate summer league games and be busts in the NBA. I am looking at you Joe Forte, Kedrick Brown, and Jerome Moiso. Second, most of thr guys who take over summer league games won't be allowed to do so in the NBA. Instead, they'll be asked to hit open shots, make passes, and play defense.

Now, I am not claiming that JJJ is setting on the world on fire in these areas, but he has hit some open jumpers and has played some decent help defense. If he can do that in the NBA game and pick up his rebounding, he can be an effective player.  

That said, if Boston trades him, I won't lose sleep. I don't think he will ever be a star. But I do think still has the upside to be a longer version of Brandon Bass. And that's not such a bad thing.

bradley could do one thing johnson cannot..he can defend. johnson has no position and is too thin. Where exactly is he going to get minutes on this team? behind bass? no..that is where sully plays...at the 3? no...he isn't playing over green or joseph there

johnson has no position on this team

[slamtheking]

man, JJJ is getting almost as much abuse here as Skippy Blount and Pitino combined.   

too soon to be throwing him under the bus.  Let's see how he does with the rest of summer league and then training camp.  I agree with MMMMM that the best rotation on the floor in summer league has been the C's with a 3-guard line-up and JJJ and Sully on the floor.  JJJ is getting the team defense concept.  He's not the recipient of a generous PG on this team so offense from non-guards is pretty limited. 

rather than jump the gun with 'dump him' and 'garbage' threads, let's see what he does when he's with the vets and Doc in camp.
Also, I'm not expecting a lot of time from him or Sully this year simply because they're behind KG, Bass and Green in the PF spot. 

[SHAQATTACK]

Not wanting to throw him under the bus , man ...I had high hopes .  He seems like a really good kid , stayed in school and all.  He was always the best player on any team .  Not so in the NBA.  He needs to really pin point something he can excel at and just do it,  like RODMAN.  But, I think a short mid range jumper isn't going to do the trick for him. Unfortunately he looked better in actual games , this was becasue he had 4 seasoned vets playing along side him , this took the pressure off , they weren't blanketing him one on one like Pierce gets night in and out or doubled coverage.  He was wide open most of the time.

The high pressure one on one defense is showing up on JJJ's ball control handling.  Melo has a more confident game handling the ball than JJJ to me. ANd he has played only 6 years , barely two years on a zone defense program. ! 

Maybe he can develop in Europe and return , JJJ needs way more work , on passing , reconizing defense , developing a good BB IQ.

[bfrombleacher]

Summer league sucks for him. Both "point guards" behind Moore keep forcing the issue...no...just jacking up shots constantly, not even trying to help the team.

Missing shots hurts your psyche as well. I think that also partly explains why he doesn't play with the energy we'd like him to.