Terry Foster of the Detroit News and Drew Sharp of the Detroit Free Press have each made a case recently for Amir Johnson to be given a chance to start. In my latest article from HOOPSWORLD, I asked Johnson what he thought about all of this:
Some players might not know how to handle that kind of sudden attention, but Johnson appears to be taking his rise from obscurity in stride. “In the beginning of the year I hurt my ankle. I’m just starting to get into the rotation a little bit, so I’m doing pretty good right now,” he said. “I’m just taking one step at a time.”
And for now, the next step involves learning how to avoid foul trouble and being part of a playoff rotation for the first time in his career, not leapfrogging McDyess into the starting lineup. “I just feel like we’re doing a good job right now,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter who starts, as long as we get the win. Nothing really matters as long as we do good in the playoffs.”
Well said, my young Padawan. Rushing into the game is the way to the dark side.
Yeah, lets win the ship and you’ll get your chance next year.
It’s “do well in the playoffs”, young Amir. Perhaps you shouldn’t have been so hasty in your decision to forego college, Mr. Johnson! Can this guy be any more sensible? Well, there are the pictures on myspace and the youtube videos that pop up, but what a great attitude Amir has. He says all the right things, even if he doesn’t say them in a manner that is grammatically correct.
Are you seriously correcting grammar? Man, if you want to have a field day listen to Scottie Pippen.
As far as Amir is concerned, he’s very level-headed and humble. I really like that. He’s like the Anti-Darko, except he speaks better english. Once he gets those PFs under control he should be set.
Feel free to correct any grammatical errors I have.
LawyerBoy: Ha! You beat me to it. I was totally going to make fun of his grammar. Ah well. Maybe next time.
Brad: Amir as the anti-Darko? Maybe Amir needs more edginess, like this:
I will [expletive] his mother in the mouth, man … if he has a daughter, I will also [expletive] his daughter.
Or maybe he’s fine just the way he is.
@Garret - You beat me to the Darko bit! Except I was going to say that Amir is fluent in all forms of Serbian threats against ones family thanks to Darko’s tutoring.
Nicely played.
And Brad, English should be capitalized.
Garrett,
I completely forgot about the Serbian gangsters swearing tirade in international play. Ahhhhh fond memories.
As for Amir, I really don’t see anything about this guy that I don’t love. For a kid who’s 20 years old playing on the biggest stage in the world, you might expect him to let it all go to his head.
Just seems like his only interest is playing basketball and helping the Pistons win games and if he does it well enough to warrant interviews, extra 0’s at the end of his paycheck, and national attention, then so be it.
In fact I feel like the entire Zoo Crew (I don’t really bundle Jarvis Hayes in that group as much) has that common character trait of being interested only in winning and doing whatever they can to help the Pistons win. Afflalo, Stuckey, Amir, and Maxiell all seem to have their head squarely on their shoulders.
I’m really looking forward to seeing that group of four develop. 3 years from now we may have a starting rotation of stuckey, afflalo, prince, maxiell, and amir…although personally I’d prefer us finding a big time center and moving Amir to the PF and keeping Maxiell on the bench to play significant minutes. I’m still not convinced that Maxiell can be a starting power forward at his size.
And by the way…everytime I make a post on DBB it goes from a quick comment to that ramble above…
i would be fine hearing that tirade from amir as long as he said the word “expletive” in the appropriate spots.
“I’ll expletive those expletives in the expletive so hard…”
speaking of edginess though, i was perusing a couple chicago boards after we beat them and i’m proud to announce that a good many of them desribed maxiell as a “thug”. while i certainly don’t see him that way or think it’s particularly accurate it was nice to see that our max is starting to instill the fear of a baby devouring god into the hearts of our enemies.
Maxiell a thug? That’s pretty funny. Although, give him an black hoody and some timbo’s and he’d make a great back-up in one of those early 90’s Wu-Tang videos.
*a black hoody
So thinking about the future starting five of this squad got me thinking…after next season Rosco is a free agent.
While I could see us signing him to the veteran minimum and having him as a 4th or 5th big man on the bench, I don’t really see his role being much more than 1st big off the bench by the start of the 09 season.
With Rosco having the biggest contract on the books and the one closest to expiring, (Chauncey, Rip, and Tay are locked for 4, 2, and 3 years respectively) what big name center/power forward should we look to acquire?
Personally, I’d love to see how Elton Brand comes back from his knee injury next season as he will be a free agent in 09 and he’ll also be hitting 30 that year. He’d be expecting one more good sized contract and would likely want to go to a contending team where he can get the majority of the minutes at PF.
Do you think we could re-sign Maxiell and have enough cash to sign Brand? Or do we hope that Cheikh develops into a solid bench center, let Maxiell go and have Brand, Amir, Prince, Stuckey, Afflalo with Samb and Rosco coming off the bench?
All assumptions I know but for some reason I’m thinking about this a full year in advance anyways
as much as i really like everyone on the team now i think we have the pieces to pick up a superstar and hardly lose anything. how many other teams can offer up a full, five man roster of talented players? surely it’s a pipe dream, but i’d love to see dwight howard down low with dyess, sheed or maxey.
Brad, can you really be surprised that a community that is known for random haiku thread hijackings would have members eager to correct a player’s grammar?
Amir has upside
But questionable grammar
Worse than foul problem
I can see how correcting his grammar can be viewed as obnoxious (my intent was to be completely in jest), but I work for a literacy organization, so it’s a reflex.
This thread needs to “Stop Snitching”…..
Also, Timbo’s as you call them were NOT big when the Wu were rocking the 90’s, take it from someone who was there and wearing Air Jordans and Chuck Taylors in fly colors.
Wu Tang 4Eva
Maxiell eats babies,
Bulls fans remain terrified,
Baby Bulls BEWARE!
Tayshaun hears Boney
begins to argue with Rip
fight fight fight fight fight!!1!
It’s over. Sauce wins.
The only thing worse than bad grammer is no punctuation. Everything sounds like it’s being spoken by “the great Christopher Walken.”
Also, wink & grin to PG4L for her subtle “stop snitching” reference. I prefer the Pretty Ricky lipsynch video on Youtube, but the stop snitching shirt is quite funny.
“Also, Timbo’s as you call them were NOT big when the Wu were rocking the 90’s, take it from someone who was there and wearing Air Jordans and Chuck Taylors in fly colors.
Wu Tang 4Eva”
Sorry hun, the Wu and them Boot Camp cats had lots of NY dudes wearing timbo’s. Air Jordans were big, but still are. As for the Chuck Taylor’s, nope, them shits had nothing to do with Wu Tang, stop fronting. There weren’t heads on the east coast walking around in Chuck’s. Let me guess, they had to pasue their purple tape because they had to adjust the bottom of their over-sized khaki’s that were getting caught beneath the heal of their Chuck Taylor’s?
You weren’t there, you didn’t do that, sorry. You’d might as well remove the 5-10 Wu Tang tracks you’ve got on your i-pod.
That shit was NOT big in clubs ANYWHERE where I was from 1990 until about 1995, at which point everyone who thought he was a hood started dressing like Raekwon… Look, I wasn’t trying to pick a fight just pointing out that the quote “Wu image” wasn’t popular until AFTER the first round of solo albums RZA produced (especially Only Built For Cuban Lynx). I’m sorry for getting all “technical” about the term “early 90’s” but it WAS a throw away comment about footwear in the early 90’s. I mean in most of the early group shots (Protect Ya Neck video for example) those guys are DEFINATELY wearing low top runners.
As for “Purple Tape”, isn’t that a reference to the packaging on Only Built For Cuban Lynx? As I recall it was Raekwon’s way of identifying his stuff by visual only, much the way .50 refers to the “Purple Tops” phenomina in the crack game in Southside Queens in the early 90’s? I could be wrong, but I SWEAR I heard that in an interview someplace like 10 years ago.
I’m 31 kiddo. I remember when you could still get into Detroit Clubs with fake Canadian I.D. from Windsor and you can DAMN well bet I remember what was considered “Fly” in Detroit nightclubs in the early 90’s because I WAS there and I WAS wearing a pair of black tapped A.J.’s because I couldn’t afford new ones and mine had ripped. I also remember having to stay up after midnight for about TWO WEEKS to finally get a TAPED (you even OLD enough to remember tapping songs oof the radio son?) copy of C.R.E.A.M without the bleeps.
Finally, FYI…. Chuck Taylors have ALWAYS been cool wherever poor people are because your mom would actually BUY those for you. I grew up on Saratoga Ave (not far from 9 and Woodward), a stone’s throw from a junkyard and I can assure you those shoes were EVERYWHERE.
F*ck the East Coast and I think i’ll be keeping ALL the Wu songs on my I-Pod thanks, I’d hate to have to spend all night burning them from the origionals again.
Either way before you flip out and reply all angry, I acknowledge your superior Wu Tang Clan background Techa but I’m still not willing to agree that Timbo’s were popular at all before about 1995..
Seriously though, that was an AWFUL lot of “snap” for a snide comment about “when Timbo’s were cool”…
Wow.
*jaw drops*
This thread just became more interesting than the Philly / Pistons game.
*seconds Sauce’s motion*
Huh.
PISTON GURL 4 EVA IS BACK Y’ALLLLLL ! GO GET THAT ’sHIP!
You really shouldn’t try to explain the Wu references, please, stop. You’re wrong about Wu and those Chuck’s. Only shoe you can really credit them with is Ghost and his Wally’s or any of them and their boots (timbos). Go ahead and play the end of “The Dog Shit”, and then listen to “Duck Season” off of Forever disc 2.
“You gotta get some Chuckas’ fucka!”
“Your shirt look like a dish rag! Nigga, your shirt look like a curtain!”
They weren’t feeling that west coast style of dress.
You said after 95′ no one was rocking that stuff. I was talking about EARLY 90’s! 1995 qualifies as MID-90’s to me. You also talked about clubs. Just because you were out tricking in clubs back then and have progressed to the point of an online junkie, doesn’t mean you have a clue about the shit the Wu was talking about.
Those who know don’t talk and those who talk don’t know a thing.
31 year-old, hollow-headed dame. Just keep it moving sweetie
Actually I said BEFORE 95 nobody was rocking that stuff, glad to know you can read. As for the rest of it, whichever… You were more amusing than the Philly game… you AREN’T more amusing than the Spurs game…
G’Night kiddo
Get lost, “What!”. This isn’t a Wu battle board– PG4L is family here.
“Timbo’s and FUBU, vocabulary pitfall, f#ck all, more clothes than a mall…” Cappadonna (from The Pillage)
Mike, fwiw thanks but honestly I’m not nearly fragile enough to get upset when some twenty year old who’s rap background seems to consist entirely of Wu lyrics insults me…. Seriously, I’m only enough that I remember EXACTLY when kids started dressing like a fat homeless-looking f*cker and calling themselves Thugs… it was the generation behind mine and I have NOTHING but scorn for the image… which as I stated was NOT big until about 1995 when RZA was making the WU Solo albums… That’s the score, fuck what child-boy says.
Let’s all listen to Deltron 3030, and not have this problem.
Hilariously enough I’m actually listening to Common at the moment. No, really. Either way it isn’t even an arguement about music, it’s about CLOTHES… seriously, which is sad. On that note I’d like the bring the discussion back full circle and say what I SHOULD have said in the first place:
“Amir is WAY WAY WAY too sexy/cool to dress like a fat homless kid who thinks he’s a Drug Dealer (see Raekwon).”
I remember Rip said last year that Amir was the worst dressed Piston by FAR. The quote was something like, “He don’t know what he don’t even know, yet!”