Wes Johnson is viable as stretch four

[milesfides]

Wes Johnson is almost getting there as a pretty good stretch four. First of all, he's shooting north of 40% on threes. Awesome. That was probably his biggest obstacle for the role. He needs to stick to catch and shoot (or improve more on pull-ups), just be a little more disciplined; when he gets cute he almost always misses.

He's also 7th in the league in blocks per 48 minutes: 3.3! That's better than Serge Ibaka, Dwight, and Duncan. Likely inflated for a smallish sample size, but it's nice to see him challenging shots.

Defense:
According to nba.com stats, he's giving up 58fg% at the rim, but I think that's a bit misleading. How many times does Wes Johnson get backed down and scored on? Either Wes Johnson is a defensive liability (eye-test says this isn't true) or the stat system is a bit imperfect in assessing who's getting scored on, especially with a formerly classified swingman like Wes playing four. I think for big men, rim protection is fairly accurate because that's generally their role. But for other players? Team defense matters, i.e., switches off screens, fast breaks, etc. On the flip side, he's seemingly outstanding at forcing tough shots from 5-9 feet (27.5%) 10-14 (30.8%) and mid 30s beyond that. Pretty darn good.

For comparison, according to the stats, Lebron is giving up 60% at the rim. And giving up higher percentages across the board. Does that mean Wes is a better defender than Lebron? Defense is just too tricky to get exactly right via stats, except rim protecting centers should have a low opp fg% near the rim. And guards should have a low opp fg% on the perimeter. Beyond that, I think there are just more variables than need to be included in defense.

The big thing Wes Johnson needs to work on is rebounding I think. Granted he's averaging more boards than any time in his career, but he's just not a big enough factor on the boards, 8.2 per 48. That's still in small forward territory. Maybe if he plays PF fulltime he'll see an uptick on the boards. But the eyetest says he can definitely be more active in crashing boards - he's too long and athletic...not saying he can be Shawn Marion, who pulled down an insane 14 boards per 48 in his best season, but he can at least get around 10 per 48, in the same flex-forward range as Rudy Gay, Kwahi Leonard, heck Dorrell Wright.

Once Kobe comes back, I think we'll see more Wes Johnson. I can't see two big men with Kobe on the floor - we'll be too slow on defense, and on offense, opponents will just pack it in.

Although I like the Blake-Kobe-Wes-Hill-Pau lineup in theory, I think Kobe's game will be free throw line and below now. I don't think he's going to beat a guy off the dribble too much any more, so he'll need shooters around him for spacing. Big man out, Wes in.

[CodyB_]

Too small for a stretch 4. The Pau-Hill-Kaman rotation will see us through the season.

[Tee212]

he gets pounded by the likes of griffin and friends, when hes on the perimeter shooting we lose rebounding as a PF. it may work is small bursts on some teams but when the game slows down hes best as a sf imo.

[Kobean]

I like to think of him as a 3 that can guard small and stretch 4s

[Dr Aki]

he gets pounded by the likes of griffin and friends, when hes on the perimeter shooting we lose rebounding as a PF. it may work is small bursts on some teams but when the game slows down hes best as a sf imo.

then its obvious

wes/hill as starters!

[One Love]

Wesley is better at SF... Can't wait to see Blake, Kobe, Wesley, Hill & Pau/Kaman on the floor together... That is allot of length and energy... Lakeshow...

[Tiesto_Lakers]

Wes is best as a SF....but he can play three positions.

Wes should definitely start when Kobe returns...can't wait to see this team at full strength. I think it's either gonna be a solid team or a really bad team...no in-between. Wes should be the SF when Kobe returns:

G - Nash/Farmar
G - Bryant/Blake/Meeks
F - Johnson/Young/Henry
F - Hill/Williams
C - Gasol/Kaman/Sacre

Looks like Meeks and Henry will get shafted out of the rotation when Nash & Kobe return.

[alex_fortress]

Looks like Meeks and Henry will get shafted out of the rotation when Nash & Kobe return.

No way Meeks will be out of the rotation. Hopefully it's Henry and Farmar

[Danny Darko]

Wes Johnson is almost getting there as a pretty good stretch for... me to poop on

Fixed!




i kid i kid.... i've missed these posts, miles

Situations he can handle guys, but just like Matrix(who is stronger) he has certain types that eat him alive (like Odom used to do to Marion). I'd rather see Hill get those minutes unless a matchup calls for Kobe at the 3 and the opposing 4 isn't burly.

[Wavy Q]

this is only viable for at best 5-6 minutes out of a game, he isnt strong enough to handle the majority of 4's in the league defensively.

[dockingsched]

he gets pounded by the likes of griffin and friends, when hes on the perimeter shooting we lose rebounding as a PF. it may work is small bursts on some teams but when the game slows down hes best as a sf imo.

Wes did a greeeeeaaat job on griffin if memory serves me right



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[Tee212]

he gets pounded by the likes of griffin and friends, when hes on the perimeter shooting we lose rebounding as a PF. it may work is small bursts on some teams but when the game slows down hes best as a sf imo.

Wes did a greeeeeaaat job on griffin if memory serves me right



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i dont recall that game so i just threw in big names, but i do remember Lee having his way with wes's body inside lol. even when he does guard a pf down low theres always a help man somewhere which leaves someone else open. wes is best at man on man D or a help D from the weak side. anything offensive is just a plus.

[milesfides]

Certain march ups will be bad no doubt about it. David Lee owned everybody in the post that game, not just Wes. But against many teams - at least half the teams in the NBA are starting flex fours. So Wes won't be a defensive liability on most nights.

But I'm focusing on the lineups and rotation when Kobe comes back. You can't sit Meeks - he's been our third best player and he's shooting almost 50% from three.

So then what, Blake, Meeks, Kobe, hill, pau? Aside from hill, that lineup is going to struggle athletically - they won't be able to get back on defense. We saw what happened last year - even with Dwight - trams were running up our ass.

Wes Johnson is our most athletic player. He and Xavier, except Wes has a wingspan and standing reach of a power forward, and again, shooting 40% on threes. He needs to get more burn, because he and x (and to some extent hill) are beginning to push the ceilings of their potential.

Regardless, Wes is already playing power forward for us during stretches, admittedly with mixed results. When kobe comes back, I think Wes will play even better, because right now we're just playing helter skelter on offense. Wes isn't a creative player. He catches and shoots, he cuts, he leaks out on the break. He needs a system to take advantage of his talents - and grow them. Eventually, Kobe and pau/hill running the pick and roll with three shooters for spacing, and Wes at the 4 makes a lot more sense if we're trying to play more uptempo - which we are, since that's the direction where our coach and roster (and league) are heading. Pau's on his way out... Our future is going to be on the perimeter.

[TylersLakers]

I think he'd be a great stretch four as long as he has a C like Gasol or Kaman next to him. Totally agree, Miles.

[TylersLakers]

Wes is best as a SF....but he can play three positions.

Wes should definitely start when Kobe returns...can't wait to see this team at full strength. I think it's either gonna be a solid team or a really bad team...no in-between. Wes should be the SF when Kobe returns:

G - Nash/Farmar
G - Bryant/Blake/Meeks
F - Johnson/Young/Henry
F - Hill/Williams
C - Gasol/Kaman/Sacre

Looks like Meeks and Henry will get shafted out of the rotation when Nash & Kobe return.

Problem with that starting lineup, there's just not a pure shooter on there outside of Nash. If you replace Johnson with Meeks or Blake, that's a great lineup where Bryant slides to the three.

[Tiesto_Lakers]

I agree, a backcourt of Nash and Blake would be great offensively, but I'm worried about Blake guarding opposing 2's and Kobe guarding the big physical 3's. Against most teams it should be fine though:

Nash/Farmar
Blake/Meeks/Henry
Bryant/Young
Hill/Johnson/Williams
Gasol/Kaman/Sacre

If Nash can give us a solid 20 minutes a night, that lineup should be quite successful in the playoffs. The 2nd unit is extremely athletic and aggressive, and the starters have good spacing with the two Steve's.

[milesfides]

Nash is done.

[crazyeights]

Nash is done.

True, but do the Lakers know that?

[milesfides]

Even if they don't, Nash can't stay on the floor, so any plans involving Nash is a whole lot of contrary-to-fact wishful thinking.

But Wes needs to see more PT...too much upside not to give him more burn. He and Xavier need more minutes..they have the potential to be championship-caliber role players. They both have exceptional athleticism, can shoot 3's at a very high percentage, and have special skills: Xavier can get to the rim and finish and Wes fills up the hustle points.

When Kobe comes back, I hope D'Antoni doesn't decrease the roles of Wes and X: as a long term solution he needs to integrate them with Kobe - that's maximizing our potential as a team.

[Devilzsidewalk]

PF was his position at Syracuse, which was the last time he was any good, so I could see it being his most useful position.