James Johnson and his lack of minutes

[kasrahimi]

I'm pretty sure it boils down to his off court activities...don't overlook that for a second, same with T ross

[Geddy]

The fact that he's still in positive spirits on the bench even though he's not playing leads me to believe that JJ did something wrong or broke team rules, and he is accepting his punishment willingly. If it was for another type of internal conflict I would expect him to be sulking at the end of the bench, which he is not.

Maybe he got caught with weed on the charter again?

[Raps in 4]

casey needs to switch vasquez, ross, and jj in and out of the starting lineup depending on match ups against opponent teams...cus their are some teams like with sactown and gay where playing vasquez just doesnt match well at all...demar needs to score for us and attack, and guard gay? thats too much

or does gv guard gay if he plays? LOL...casey loves thinking outside the box, theres always a chance

Vazquez should never be starting.

[Raps in 4]

I just think our problem is we have too much depth. You can't make everyone happy someone needs to be benched, it just so happens to be JJ.

With Rosss, Lou, vasquez, DD and JJ, there isn't enough minutes to go around. Casey tried to play them all early in the season but that created issues imo.

Ross and Vazquez have been terrible all season. Johnson has actually been useful for us.

Either Casey can't see that or there is beef between the two. I'd like to think Casey is smart enough to realize the former.

[DG88]

The answer to why JJ has not gotten minutes. Guess what it's exactly what I guessed earlier in the thread.

One player who appears to be the odd man out as a result of this rotation shakeup is James Johnson, who did not log a single minute for the second time since the change was made.

Externally, many have questioned and continue to doubt the rationale behind Johnson's limited minutes, but both Casey and the player himself have insisted there's nothing more to it, nothing going on behind the scenes that people are unaware of. It's simply a decision based on minute distribution under the recent lineup change.

With two point guards in the starting lineup, the rotation is shortened. Vasquez is starting because of his ability to space the floor, something Johnson lacks, but also acts as the back-up point guard when Lowry is on the bench, hence his increased playing time. Lou Williams, another floor spacer, has not had his minutes altered off the bench and Casey still prefers to use Patrick Patterson and Tyler Hansbrough as his conventional bigs as opposed to playing small with Johnson at the four. As a result, there's roughly 18-22 minutes available per game on the wing for either Ross or Johnson.

Word is Johnson is taking his decreased playing time in stride, handling it like a professional. Buying into his role, he has been a pleasant surprise for the Raptors this season, but despite his strong play in a few areas, he's not without his weaknesses. His range is limited offensively and his defensive prowess may be overstated as he has a tendency to gamble off his man, often irking the coaching staff.

This last bit though is interest that JJ goes away from the scheme to often.

Splitting the 18 (or so) available minutes between them is also not a viable solution, it would be awfully difficult for either player to get in any kind of rhythm.

Agree or disagree, this is the rotation Casey is riding with and, at least for now, it seems to be working. At some point, likely in the near future, the Raptors plan to revert back to their old lineup and minute distribution, returning Ross to the starting lineup and presumably freeing Johnson.

http://www.tsn.ca/talent/ross-continues ... b-1.193491

[ATLTimekeeper]

Like Casey or Johnson would go on the record and say it's off court stuff. Usually you don't take good players out of your line-up in favour or worse players, and this year JJ has been better than Vasquez and Ross. If he stepped out of line, he needed to be brought back to earth, but in order for us to be a better team he needs to play.

[mango2209]

To be fair, we had no idea about the problems with jj the last time he was here.

[kingr]

This is too bizarre to be play-related. Something has to be happening behind the scenes.

[Doctorb23]

showcasing Ross in order to trade him. or maybe just to try to get him going. or maybe both

[DellCurry4Life]

It would make sense that his lack of playing time is tied to breaking from the defensive scheme. The flashy plays are the steals, help blocks, etc. But they may be occurring because JJ is freelancing on D. Something Casey hates. That was one of the biggest disagreements between Casey and Lowry in year 1 I believe, getting Kyle to stop gambling as much on d.

I still do not believe there is something else at play as regardless if his range is limited, or breaks the d scheme, he still produces and is being a positive impact on the game. Also, if it was breaking the d scheme then I think by now Casey's message would of sunk in. For caring so much about match-ups, and the defensive side of the game, JJ has spent far too long on the bench for guys like Hans and Lou to be getting extended run

[wicked_crossova]

They're saving him as a secret weapon-type role in the playoffs

No playing time = no scouting report = Casey is a genius

[OakleyDokely]

The Raptors have one of the most efficient SF's at both ends and he doesn't play. I don't get it.

[GED Education]

It still hasn't sunk in with me that James Johnson is officially out of the rotation. I honestly can't believe it. This guy was the most consistent player on this team night in night out, and brought it on both ends of the court.

I wouldn't blame him if he asked for a trade.

I LOL at you sig gif.

[Randle McMurphy]

The Raptors have one of the most efficient SF's at both ends and he doesn't play. I don't get it.

Casey clearly doesn't either and that's a major problem going forward for this organization.

[DG88]

Like Casey or Johnson would go on the record and say it's off court stuff. Usually you don't take good players out of your line-up in favour or worse players, and this year JJ has been better than Vasquez and Ross. If he stepped out of line, he needed to be brought back to earth, but in order for us to be a better team he needs to play.

There is nothing to even suggest on off the court issue? Again your assumption of such an issue is baseless. Ross is taking JJ's minutes off the bench to redeem himself. Once Ross comes back to the starting lineup, minutes will be available for JJ. It's that simple and it shouldn't be this hard for people to grasp. Everyone wants some sort of juicy story about Casey and JJ butting heads. The last time JJ wasn't willing to conform to his role on the team and that's where this whole Casey vs JJ stuff is gaining traction. This time he has done what Casey has asked of him and played within himself for the most part.

[FirstInkTDot]

James Johnson needs to Karate chop GV's head and that way he'll get more minutes.

[Local_NG_Idiot]

The Raptors have one of the most efficient SF's at both ends and he doesn't play. I don't get it.

Early in the year I would agree with you, but when you look over his efficiency for the past 10 games where he was still heavy in the rotation (Chicago-Atlanta) his USG% was where it has been all year (in the 15% range), meanwhile his TOV% jumped in that time into the 17% range which translated into 2.5 TOV/G. And as many have shown, his gambling on defense increased which reflects in his DRTG dropping into the 109s during those 10 games.

He was regressing into his old habits of attempting to do too much and pressing the issue. If this helps real him back in and get him playing the way he did again at the beginning of the season them I'm all for it. When he gets back into the rotation and if he doesn't get back to early season form, then I'm all for gluing him to the end of the bench for the remainder of the season.

[xaser]

Its really funny how people have a hard on for JJ - the guy has no work ethic. I was told by a close friend of mine who has no reason to lie that she saw him at Luxy (that's that club in Woodbridge) on Saturday night, drunk out of his mind, dancing with any girl that had any curves on her. He also had a VIP booth (as you can guess). The Raps played Detroit on Sunday.... I am sure he was feeling the booze from the night before. No wonder he is not complaining about his lack of minutes, he know he doesn't deserve to see the floor with that kind of behaviour.

So in a nutshell, if you have a hard on for JJ, get some curves and you can suck him off at Luxy the night before game day

[tecumseh18]

There is nothing to even suggest on off the court issue? Again your assumption of such an issue is baseless.

You can keep saying that, but that doesn't make it true. "Baseless" is strong word, and labelling the mere possibility of "behind the scenes" stuff going on as baseless is, frankly, baseless. And disrespectful to posters.

The fact is, this team is in win now mode, and can be expected to field its best players. Casey is not in a player development mode. That's the apparent justification for not playing Jonas in fourth quarters. So regardless of the holes in JJ's game, he's been a better player this year than Ross or GV and he's the only legit SF we have, and it's fair for people to wonder what's going on.

The probability is that nothing is going on, that we just want more 3-point shooters out there especially with DeMar back, and/or that they just want to give T-Ross a minute surge to get his mojo back, and/or that they want cool JJ's propensity to gamble. I accept that. I've even argued in favour of some of them earlier in this thread. But that doesn't mean other possibilities are "baseless". Knock it off with that stuff.

[MrBojangelz71]

There is nothing to even suggest on off the court issue? Again your assumption of such an issue is baseless.

You can keep saying that, but that doesn't make it true. "Baseless" is strong word, and labelling the mere possibility of "behind the scenes" stuff going on as baseless is, frankly, baseless. And disrespectful to posters.

The fact is, this team is in win now mode, and can be expected to field its best players. Casey is not in a player development mode. That's the apparent justification for not playing Jonas in fourth quarters. So regardless of the holes in JJ's game, he's been a better player this year than Ross or GV, and it's fair for people to wonder what's going on.

The probability is that nothing is going on, that we just want more 3-point shooters out there especially with DeMar back, and/or that they just want to give T-Ross a minute surge to get his mojo back, and/or that they want cool JJ's propensity to gamble. I accept that. I've even argued in favour of some of them earlier in this thread. But that doesn't mean other possibilities are "baseless". Knock it off with that stuff.

Fact is this team is in a win now? Why?

We are still one of the youngest teams in the league, lots of room for growth and development, we are far from win now, very far. See Miami, see Dallas, see San Antonio for examples of win now scenarios. Us, not even close.

Baseless means you are basing your assumptions on your own thoughts, which is baseless. If you have factual information on JJ not playing, then baseless would not apply. Do you have anything factual.

What is factual, is that you contradict yourself in the post above. Casey is not in a player development mode because of Jonas lack of 4rth quarter minutes? Yet playing Ross over JJ, the younger player that needs development is seen by yourself as a means of getting more 3 point shooting in our lineup. Which one is it, is Casey against playing younger players over older players as a means of winning now, or is Casey developing younger players over older players by getting Ross in the lineup?

Until you have facts to back your statements up, they are baseless. And there is nothing wrong with baseless statements, this forum is built on them. But lets not get our gitch in a knot because you get called out on your statements that you having nothing to back them up with, other than your subjective thoughts on the matter.