Your thoughts on AJ

OMPunk · Post #1 » by **OMPunk** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:34 pm

Hey stopping by to see what you guys thought of Anthony Johnson when he played for you since the Magic just picked him up. He seems to be a fairly solid back-up point, especially for what's available right now!
Anyways, I know you guys have a pretty fair opinion on your players, so just wanted to see what you guys thought of him and what he brings to the table.

lunarblues · Post #2 » by **lunarblues** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:51 pm

he's good for the short term. he might win a game for you, but he also might lose a couple games for you.

don't expect much from him though. if anything, he is going to be stopgap until you can find somehting better. you keep him in for too long, you might have problems.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #3 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 8:56 pm

He is an above average defender who takes good care of the ball and can hit the 3 when he's open(although he has a slow release). He can't really can't create his own offense(he went his last 10 games with the Hawks w/o scoring in double figures IIRC) which was a problem for the Hawks because our players(outside of Joe) really need to be set up to score. This probably won't be a problem with the Magic because you have Dwight and Turkolou to run the offense through.

He is a good backup(and I'll say the same thing for Lue as well) who won't do anything to blow the game unless you are depending on him to play 25-30 minutes a night like the Hawks were.

conleyorbust · Post #4 » by **conleyorbust** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:15 pm

lunarblues wrote:he's good for the short term. he might win a game for you, but he also might lose a couple games for you.

don't expect much from him though. if anything, he is going to be stopgap until you can find somehting better. you keep him in for too long, you might have problems.

AJ is going to be a backup in Orlando... you are writing about him as if he were a starter.

He's a pretty nice backup. He's a solid defender, not lock down or anything but he plays within his himself on that end, he won't be posted up easily so he can switch onto 2s if that is called for. He takes care of the ball, sometimes he can hit the open 3. Can hit the midrange J off of a pick. Good backup to have, especially on a team like Orlando where you have other dudes to handle the scoring.

lunarblues · Post #5 » by **lunarblues** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:26 pm

he always starts out as a backup, and he always ends up as a starter.

HoopsGuru25 · Post #6 » by **HoopsGuru25** » Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:35 pm

That's because he played behind Speedy and Jamal Tinlsey who are the two most injury prone point guards in the league. The only reason the Hawks traded for AJ in the first place was because BK panicked because Speedy was hurt and he still thought we had a chance to make the playoffs at the trade deadline in 2007. He will not start in Orlando unless Nelson get's hurt.

raleigh · Post #7 » by **raleigh** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:01 am

A solid player.

I thought his play at PG was vital to the Hawks being anywhere near contention to the 8th spot last season. I'm a fan of him as a backup PG.

JoshB914 · Post #8 » by **JoshB914** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 2:57 am

Solid backup and a good vet presence, also a guy that can start some games and produce. A good sign for the Magic. But IMO they need a starting PG too.

Master8492 · Post #9 » by **Master8492** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 3:48 am

Good size, play defense, can shoot the threes = Good pickup.

tbhawksfan · Post #10 » by **tbhawksfan** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 5:12 am

He also had his minor disputes with Woodson; so he must be pretty smart.

OMPunk · Post #11 » by **OMPunk** » Wed Jul 16, 2008 1:26 pm

Very good, thanks for the info. I feel good about him as a backup that occasionally starts (ala what we had with Arroyo last season), only I think it's better since I hate Carlos Arroyo. Good luck this season...but not too much, since we're still in the same division.