Amir Johnson is still a project.(Also, science project ideas for all you youngsters!)

before i get labeled as anti-Amir, all i'm saying is that he's farther from being a contributing player than the hype from the front office will lead us to believe. he's got the physical gifts to become a special player, but i don't think it's going to "click" for him until another few years.

all the Langlois nonsense (the first piston's max player??) and blurbs from blogs would lead you to think Amir's going to break out this season. i just don't see it happening. i'd love to be proven wrong in this case, of course.

OTOH, Maxiell, Hayes, Stuckey, and even Afflalo have shown some promise as key contributers this season. Maxiell's game is more complete now with outside jumpers and he seems to be focused on rebounding. Stuckey seemed to get better and better. That last game when he got hurt, he showed some outside range and started to heat up. Stuckey's efficient driving to the hoop, but if he can get that outside jumper going he's going to live up to the hype. Jarvis Hayes even looks like a Joe D-certified steal of the summer. There's something about Afflalo's game that i really like and he even showed some outside range towards the end of preseason (wasn't he supposed to be a good shooter in college?).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

before i get labeled as anti-Amir, all i'm saying is that he's farther from being a contributing player than the hype from the front office will lead us to believe. he's got the physical gifts to become a special player, but i don't think it's going to "click" for him until another few years.

What concerns me is that he can go from "explosive" and engaged on the court, looking like the next Amare, to "wouldn't know he was playing". Maxiell, as a contrast, seems to make everyone "aware" of his presence on the court more frequently. I'm not sure if that's a lack of comfort on the court on Amir's part, lack of familiarity with plays, etc. because I haven't seen him play enough. I agree with the titular sentiment that he is still a project, but I can envision him putting it together in a hurry and being an effective part of the team.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

i'm going to say the thing that everyone's afraid to say: Amir Johnson isn't close to ready.

i really, really, want to buy into the Langlois koolaid and believe that Amir will be the first Pistons' max player, but watching him on the floor.........the dude is still way too raw to be effective. he's extremely agile for a bigman, but he's just too unrefined and he looks clueless when it's not free-wheeling fastbreak basketball. i just don't see any improvement skill-wise since last season. i KNOW he hasn't had much "real" NBA PT, but he's had a chance to play in the NBDL and he's had a few summers to develop his game. this is his third season and he still shoots like a girl (sorry, WNBA) and has no semblance of an offensive game.

i'm going make a prediction and say that Amir barely makes a blip this season. he might average career highs across the board, but those will be deceiving because he'll be in more blow outs, racking up dunks against 3rd stringers.

i think he's still 2-3 years from becoming a reliable bench player. i don't think he's a bust, but i really think he's further off from making an impact than the Piston's brass will lead us to believe. no doubt Amir will be exciting for moments because of his athleticism, but i don't think he's going to be an impact player for 2, 3 maybe 4 years. i stand by my claim that this piston's bench will be exciting/fun to watch (amir being a part of that), i'm just disappointed when i put down my pistons pom-poms and realize that Amir is still more project than player right now.

does anyone else feel this way with Amir? i'm praying that he'll prove me wrong and we can mock and ridicule me for this thread.....

:cogent:

Huge upside, but he is raw. I tried to key on him last night.

Wait wait, so you're suggesting the local detroit media was just spinning what the front office wanted out there????????????????????

I never would have imagined.

btw, what's this week's excuse for the lack of Amir now? is he still "recovering from his injury"??

He's not good at basketball.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hermy

He's not good at basketball.

h8r!

It's pretty obvious now that they gave him that big contract just so his salary could be included in a trade for Kobe.

I AM ONLY KIDDING!! I STILL BELIEVE IN YOU, AMIR!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by metr0man

btw, what's this week's excuse for the lack of Amir now? is he still "recovering from his injury"??

kstat defended him, so it only makes sense that he now sucks. had kstat taken the other position, im sure we'd be talking about an amir mvp right now. im telling you, its uncanny kstat's ability to always be wrong.

Still a project, but fun as hell to watch.

Amir's issue is conditioning from what I see. He loses leaping and as he's in the game longer i noticed and agility. Gotta get his legs better. Needs to be more ballsy a shooter again. They were giving him that jump shot all night. Take it to force honesty.