James Johnson Shows Promise…And A Poor Jump Shot
In case you hadn’t heard, the Bulls have been playing in the Vegas Summer League this past week. And by Bulls I mean a hodgepodge of rookies, sophomores and ex-college stars. While Taj Gibson went down with an injury mid-week (no worries, it doesn’t appear to be serious), James Johnson has looked good at times, and terrible at others. Kevin Arnovitz of Truehoop had this to say:
James Johnson’s game can be disjointed at times. It’s not that he looks lost. It’s just the opposite — he’s a small forward with too many choices. Johnson couldn’t buy a shot Friday (2-for-11 from the field), but he made four or five beautiful plays for teammates — including a pinpoint interior bounce pass in traffic between two defenders to find James Augustine for a layup. Johnson finished with seven assists.
I was able to watch parts of a few games online, and I must say he looked very good. His ballhandling skills are superb and he is long and athletic. His jump shot is obviously a little shaky, and not just that 2-11 line from Friday. If anything he is like a poor man’s Tyrus when it comes to freakish athleticism, yet possesses a much keener basketball IQ. He makes good decisions with the ball and will be able to handle it in a lineup that could be lacking in good ballhandlers (Kirk may or may not be here and no one really expects Pargo to be a big factor). He also went to the line 35 times in 5 games, which is an average of 7 free throws a game. While a low post game would be nice, it will also be good to have another player that can attack the basket to complement Rose. Obviously doing all these things in the Summer League does not magically translate into a great pro career, but its exciting to see that he has the tools to be an effective player.
Oh and a side note: yeah that is James Augustine’s name you saw in Arnovitz’s analysis. He has actually looked decent so far this summer, though it seems unlikely that he will earn a spot with the Bulls. Either way, anything to remind me of the Illini’s glory days is always a good thing.
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Comments
Comment from bitternutz
Time July 20, 2009 at 1:51 pm
if only pargo and salmons could shoot 50%. Salmons has been consistent at around 47% which isn’t spectacular, but still pretty good for a perimeter player. Pargo is atrocious. He shoot below 40% which is not acceptable for anyone! If Pargo is playing significant minutes we are going to
Comment from bitternutz
Time July 20, 2009 at 1:51 pm
….suck
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Time July 20, 2009 at 2:50 pm
[...] Qualified To Comment takes a look at the NBA’s Summer League in Las [...]
Comment from Kevin Tapani Fan Club
Time July 20, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Even more of a reason to hire an excellent shooting coach
Comment from Matt Clapp
Time July 20, 2009 at 3:57 pm
I’ve loved what I’ve seen, has a lot of point forward in him. He’s going to be great running the break with Rose and company. Very high basketball IQ as you said, great passer, and very much under control out there. He’s the complete opposite of Tyrus(which I love), even with similar tools.
Comment from bitternutz
Time July 20, 2009 at 5:24 pm
vinny might be a terrible coach in almost every way, but he should be competent enough to teach shooting since he was an above average shooter for most of his career. But the truth is a shooting coach won’t do shit. It’s the equivalent of a hitting coach in baseball…the only purpose of the position is to have someone there to take the fall when the team underperforms
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Time July 21, 2009 at 10:27 am
[...] James Johnson Shows Promise…and a Poor Jumper NQTC [...]
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Comment from Kevin Tapani Fan Club
Time July 20, 2009 at 11:56 am
Liking what I hear. Maybe the Bulls should go out and get a shooting coach considering all of the players on the team that have mediocre jump shots, or at least could improve this part of their game. Pargo and Salmons seem like the only two that can shoot over 50% from the field.