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JJ was barely the same player last year. His shot selection has been excellent this year, unlike last year.
Phil A Xiao wrote:DG88 wrote:May be JJ's minutes are being cut to give DeRozan more minutes to get himself back into the flow of things. This is even more so with Ross on the bench and Vasquez starting. JJ's minutes become scares because of the new rotations. Before Ross and DD were both starting so JJ was able to get 20 minutes a game.
Fine, let's assume that is true that someone's minutes need to be cut in order to get DeRozan going again. Why does that person need to be JJ? Why can't it be Vasquez or Ross?
It just makes no sense to me that the solution to: DeRozan is injured and we need to find a replacement in the starting lineup or Ross has lost his mojo and we need to find a replacement in the starting lineup is Greivis Vasquez.With Ross floundering we need to replace him with a 3 point threat on the starting lineup. Casey doesn't want to change the starting lineup that drastically.
Again, Vasquez has not been shooting well enough to argue that he's a huge threat in the Starting Lineup. But more importantly, he's a terrible defender and the Raps have completely lost their defensive identity over the month of January.
For someone like Dwane who's supposedly known to be a defensive coach first, it seems so strange that he would prioritize questionable shooting from range over defense in the starting lineup.For me that makes more sense then JJ is in Casey's doghouse or that JJ did something wrong.
The only conclusion that makes sense is that JJ has pissed Casey off in some way or another. The alternative option is that Casey is an idiot who plays favourites.
Nothing else really makes any sense.
Randle McMurphy wrote:It remains hilarious that some are actually defending this lineup construction.
DG88 wrote:Randle McMurphy wrote:It remains hilarious that some are actually defending this lineup construction.
Even funnier is peoples baseless conclusions based on their unsupported narratives. Makes every here sound like conspiracy theorists.
Johnson played just nine minutes off the bench on Friday, scoring six points on 3-for-3 shooting with three rebounds.
Spin: While Raptors coach Dwane Casey insists there's no issue with Johnson the forward has clearly fallen out of favor, seeing just 28 minutes of action in total over the last four games. He'll likely earn his way back into a bigger role in the rotation at some point, but in most leagues you can safely cut him loose and look for someone more productive on your waiver wire.
tecumseh18 wrote:DG88 wrote:Randle McMurphy wrote:It remains hilarious that some are actually defending this lineup construction.
Even funnier is peoples baseless conclusions based on their unsupported narratives. Makes every here sound like conspiracy theorists.
Well ... I wouldn't call it baseless.
#1 Casey is a defence-first coach.
#2 GV is terrible defensively, and is currently sporting a 12.96 PER and a TS% of .484.
#3. JJ is obviously decent defensively (he was even good covering Teague a few weeks ago), has a 625 TS% and a 17.53 PER, which puts him at #8 among SF's in the league. Meanwhile, Ross has a .525 TS% and an 11.37 PER, "good" for #46 among SFs, while providing flaky defence and not much else.
#4 According to Casey, the team is in win-now mode. That's why we aren't prioritizing JV's development.
#5. JJ does not appear to be an unpopular teammate. I've just started noticing, but Amir gives JJ a very warm hug during every player intro.
So it's fair for people to speculate about unpublicized events. But as Randle suggested, it's more likely the issue comes down to roster construction. To repeat my point from above, our (former) all-star winger can't shoot 3s to save his life (.241, with a horrible .490 TS%). Therefore, every other player getting substantial minutes at the wing MUST be able to shoot 3s at an acceptable clip. Not only can JJ not shoot 3s (he's at .194), he tries to shoot them when open. If I was coach, I would bench him for a game for that reason alone, just to send a message.
The only other possibility is that GV and/or Ross and/or Lou are being showcased for a trade. But Raptor management wouldn't tell JJ that, and he does seem accepting of the current situation.
Finally, here's what ESPN fantasy has to say about the current situation:Johnson played just nine minutes off the bench on Friday, scoring six points on 3-for-3 shooting with three rebounds.
Spin: While Raptors coach Dwane Casey insists there's no issue with Johnson the forward has clearly fallen out of favor, seeing just 28 minutes of action in total over the last four games. He'll likely earn his way back into a bigger role in the rotation at some point, but in most leagues you can safely cut him loose and look for someone more productive on your waiver wire.
tecumseh18 wrote:DG88 wrote:Randle McMurphy wrote:It remains hilarious that some are actually defending this lineup construction.
Even funnier is peoples baseless conclusions based on their unsupported narratives. Makes every here sound like conspiracy theorists.
Well ... I wouldn't call it baseless.
#1 Casey is a defence-first coach.
#2 GV is terrible defensively, and is currently sporting a 12.96 PER and a TS% of .484.
#3. JJ is obviously decent defensively (he was even good covering Teague a few weeks ago), has a 625 TS% and a 17.53 PER, which puts him at #8 among SF's in the league. Meanwhile, Ross has a .525 TS% and an 11.37 PER, "good" for #46 among SFs, while providing flaky defence and not much else.
#4 According to Casey, the team is in win-now mode. That's why we aren't prioritizing JV's development.
#5. JJ does not appear to be an unpopular teammate. I've just started noticing, but Amir gives JJ a very warm hug during every player intro.
So it's fair for people to speculate about unpublicized events. But as Randle suggested, it's more likely the issue comes down to roster construction. To repeat my point from above, our (former) all-star winger can't shoot 3s to save his life (.241, with a horrible .490 TS%). Therefore, every other player getting substantial minutes at the wing MUST be able to shoot 3s at an acceptable clip. Not only can JJ not shoot 3s (he's at .194), he tries to shoot them when open. If I was coach, I would bench him for a game for that reason alone, just to send a message.
The only other possibility is that GV and/or Ross and/or Lou are being showcased for a trade. But Raptor management wouldn't tell JJ that, and he does seem accepting of the current situation.
Finally, here's what ESPN fantasy has to say about the current situation:Johnson played just nine minutes off the bench on Friday, scoring six points on 3-for-3 shooting with three rebounds.
Spin: While Raptors coach Dwane Casey insists there's no issue with Johnson the forward has clearly fallen out of favor, seeing just 28 minutes of action in total over the last four games. He'll likely earn his way back into a bigger role in the rotation at some point, but in most leagues you can safely cut him loose and look for someone more productive on your waiver wire.
Chriscross wrote:realball wrote:Chriscross wrote:
Could you then tell me why James Johnson was playing 22 minutes a game under David Joerger pre-all star break and post all-star break, he plays 13 minutes a game?
Let's not forget, their starting SF was Tayshaun Prince. In the playoffs, JJ was essentially MIA
Has the city of Memphis solved that riddle?
JJ was barely the same player last year. His shot selection has been excellent this year, unlike last year.
Besides, the Grizzlies are the best defensive team in the league that needs some spacing. It's why they signed Vince Carter instead of re-signing JJ. We are a horrid defensive team that needs players who attack the paint.
JJ clearly turned around his career last season with the Grizzlies. Ask any Memphis fan and they will tell you he was incredible for them. Who turned their season around?? James Johnson.
JJ had a TS% of .552
Tayshaun Prince doesn't provide spacing and had a TS% of .438. No one on our current team has a TS% remotely as bad as Prince's.
Post All-Star Break, JJ is averaging 13 MPG and Prince is averaging 24 MPG.
Prince - ORTG 97, DRTG 108
JJ - ORTG 110, DRTG 101
So why did Joerger play Prince over JJ?
IMAN5 wrote:feel really bad for JJ, it's happening again. He seems to start things hot with his teams (Raptors, Grizz) and then fall out of rotation.
DG88 wrote:
There have been many contributing factors to the current player rotations that we've seen.
1)Ross's play regressing
2)Re-inserting DeRozan back into the lineup
3)Lowry getting fatigued
4)Our bad play on both ends
When DeRozan came back roles had to be adjusted for the the rest of the team. That impacts our wing players who got more run when he was out. Ross's regressing play was hurting us and Casey had to make a decision without affecting the lineup too drastically. Lowry was also running on fumes and it could be seen in his play. Casey made a lineup change and altered the rotation by putting in Vasquez for Ross. This put Lowry off the ball so that he could rest while Vasquez ran the point. This also doesn't compromise the spacing that Ross would provide. Also Vasquez provides energy that we were missing in the starting lineup.
Casey not wanting to change too much of the second unit chemistry subs Vasquez out for Lou early in the quarter so that he can sub in for Lowry and continue being the primary ball handler for the second unit. Casey has been ramping up DeRozan's minutes and is trying to get him back into form, which takes away more minutes from JJ. We're still trying to develop Ross so he also needs minutes. Are people advocating playing JJ ahead of Ross and impeding his development? He ends up being DeRozan's sub. So again where is JJ going to get his minutes. We could play him at PF but again Casey doesn't want to drastically mess up his player rotations too drastically so that there is some continuity an rhythm when they come in and out of the game. If Casey did play JJ at PF that takes away from Patterson's minutes and he's instrumental in our second unit.
JJ isn't going to play C so we can rule that out. You start to see why it's been difficult to play him a healthy sum of minutes right now. If Ross goes back to the starting lineup it frees minutes for JJ to play, just like how it was in the beginning of the season. We haven't heard anything from the media or from Casey that there has been any disagreement or spat between him and JJ. We have no evidence to conclude that this is the reason for JJ not getting minutes. It's just a baseless assumption that no one can back up with an concrete proof. The reason I made above is far more reasonable then all of these jumping to conclusions that many keep on making repeatedly. You can give me all the ESPN fantasy quotes that you want, but they don't have access to what's happening in behind closed doors. They're only speculating like most of the posters here.
ballercb4 wrote:Phil A Xiao wrote:DG88 wrote:May be JJ's minutes are being cut to give DeRozan more minutes to get himself back into the flow of things. This is even more so with Ross on the bench and Vasquez starting. JJ's minutes become scares because of the new rotations. Before Ross and DD were both starting so JJ was able to get 20 minutes a game.
Fine, let's assume that is true that someone's minutes need to be cut in order to get DeRozan going again. Why does that person need to be JJ? Why can't it be Vasquez or Ross?
It just makes no sense to me that the solution to: DeRozan is injured and we need to find a replacement in the starting lineup or Ross has lost his mojo and we need to find a replacement in the starting lineup is Greivis Vasquez.With Ross floundering we need to replace him with a 3 point threat on the starting lineup. Casey doesn't want to change the starting lineup that drastically.
Again, Vasquez has not been shooting well enough to argue that he's a huge threat in the Starting Lineup. But more importantly, he's a terrible defender and the Raps have completely lost their defensive identity over the month of January.
For someone like Dwane who's supposedly known to be a defensive coach first, it seems so strange that he would prioritize questionable shooting from range over defense in the starting lineup.For me that makes more sense then JJ is in Casey's doghouse or that JJ did something wrong.
The only conclusion that makes sense is that JJ has pissed Casey off in some way or another. The alternative option is that Casey is an idiot who plays favourites.
Nothing else really makes any sense.
I'm pretty sure JJ did this in Casey's face when he was denied a starting position...As a result Casey told him he can do all the gyrating he wants when he's glued to the bench...
elmer_yuck wrote:DG88 wrote:
There have been many contributing factors to the current player rotations that we've seen.
1)Ross's play regressing
2)Re-inserting DeRozan back into the lineup
3)Lowry getting fatigued
4)Our bad play on both ends
When DeRozan came back roles had to be adjusted for the the rest of the team. That impacts our wing players who got more run when he was out. Ross's regressing play was hurting us and Casey had to make a decision without affecting the lineup too drastically. Lowry was also running on fumes and it could be seen in his play. Casey made a lineup change and altered the rotation by putting in Vasquez for Ross. This put Lowry off the ball so that he could rest while Vasquez ran the point. This also doesn't compromise the spacing that Ross would provide. Also Vasquez provides energy that we were missing in the starting lineup.
Casey not wanting to change too much of the second unit chemistry subs Vasquez out for Lou early in the quarter so that he can sub in for Lowry and continue being the primary ball handler for the second unit. Casey has been ramping up DeRozan's minutes and is trying to get him back into form, which takes away more minutes from JJ. We're still trying to develop Ross so he also needs minutes. Are people advocating playing JJ ahead of Ross and impeding his development? He ends up being DeRozan's sub. So again where is JJ going to get his minutes. We could play him at PF but again Casey doesn't want to drastically mess up his player rotations too drastically so that there is some continuity an rhythm when they come in and out of the game. If Casey did play JJ at PF that takes away from Patterson's minutes and he's instrumental in our second unit.
JJ isn't going to play C so we can rule that out. You start to see why it's been difficult to play him a healthy sum of minutes right now. If Ross goes back to the starting lineup it frees minutes for JJ to play, just like how it was in the beginning of the season. We haven't heard anything from the media or from Casey that there has been any disagreement or spat between him and JJ. We have no evidence to conclude that this is the reason for JJ not getting minutes. It's just a baseless assumption that no one can back up with an concrete proof. The reason I made above is far more reasonable then all of these jumping to conclusions that many keep on making repeatedly. You can give me all the ESPN fantasy quotes that you want, but they don't have access to what's happening in behind closed doors. They're only speculating like most of the posters here.
Wow, so much explaining for why one of our better players and best defender no longer plays.
But usually the simpler explanation is most likely,and in this case there are 2:
1) Casey is pissed at JJ for some reason
2) Casey is an imbecile
Walid wrote:This is absurd. Casey needs to be called out and questioned as to why he is not playing JJ.
tecumseh18 wrote:DG88 wrote:Randle McMurphy wrote:It remains hilarious that some are actually defending this lineup construction.
Even funnier is peoples baseless conclusions based on their unsupported narratives. Makes every here sound like conspiracy theorists.
Well ... I wouldn't call it baseless.
#1 Casey is a defence-first coach.
#2 GV is terrible defensively, and is currently sporting a 12.96 PER and a TS% of .484.
#3. JJ is obviously decent defensively (he was even good covering Teague a few weeks ago), has a 625 TS% and a 17.53 PER, which puts him at #8 among SF's in the league. Meanwhile, Ross has a .525 TS% and an 11.37 PER, "good" for #46 among SFs, while providing flaky defence and not much else.
#4 According to Casey, the team is in win-now mode. That's why we aren't prioritizing JV's development.
#5. JJ does not appear to be an unpopular teammate. I've just started noticing, but Amir gives JJ a very warm hug during every player intro.
So it's fair for people to speculate about unpublicized events. But as Randle suggested, it's more likely the issue comes down to roster construction. To repeat my point from above, our (former) all-star winger can't shoot 3s to save his life (.241, with a horrible .490 TS%). Therefore, every other player getting substantial minutes at the wing MUST be able to shoot 3s at an acceptable clip. Not only can JJ not shoot 3s (he's at .194), he tries to shoot them when open. If I was coach, I would bench him for a game for that reason alone, just to send a message.
The only other possibility is that GV and/or Ross and/or Lou are being showcased for a trade. But Raptor management wouldn't tell JJ that, and he does seem accepting of the current situation.
Finally, here's what ESPN fantasy has to say about the current situation:Johnson played just nine minutes off the bench on Friday, scoring six points on 3-for-3 shooting with three rebounds.
Spin: While Raptors coach Dwane Casey insists there's no issue with Johnson the forward has clearly fallen out of favor, seeing just 28 minutes of action in total over the last four games. He'll likely earn his way back into a bigger role in the rotation at some point, but in most leagues you can safely cut him loose and look for someone more productive on your waiver wire.