Yes, it’s only the preseason, but that hasn’t stopped some fans from nit-picking Michael Curry’s rotation, and in particular Amir Johnson’s minutes. As Curry pointed out this morning, though, he’s been impressed by Johnson’s performance. From Dana Gauruder of the Daily Tribune:
Johnson, a likely starter, had a fast-break dunk in the opening minutes but that was his only field goal. He committed two fouls in the span of 14 seconds midway through the first and wound up with as many turnovers as rebounds (two).“I thought he was a little nervous tonight and rightfully so,” Curry said. “He gets a chance to start for the first time at home, even though it’s the preseason. The kid has been battling for three years, and now this being his fourth year, trying to get on the court.
“Throw his stat line out the window,” Curry continued. “If you saw the intensity in which he plays, the speed and the athletic ability he brings to the starting unit, we’ve just got to work with the rest of the guys so they can pick up the pace a little bit more.”
Curry has been particularly impressed with Johnson’s defense. From A. Sherrod Blakely:
Curry has a grading system which focuses on every offensive and defensive possession. Following Thursday morning’s practice, Curry said the offensive grades had yet to be posted, but “defensive grades, he (Johnson) really scores well,” Curry said. “He usually follows the game plan. The problem that he has, is sometimes he gets caught up under the basket and doesn’t box and doesn’t get the guy out the paint.”
What’s this grading system Curry speaks of? He explained it to Blakely in a little more detail before last night’s game when talking about Rasheed Wallace’s notorious tendency to rack up techs:
Curry added, “We grade out. So a possession in which Rasheed gets a technical, he’ll get a minus on that possession. It’s no different than a possession when someone doesn’t close out and contest a shot. And so, with that being said, the guys are always trying to score the highest, or grade out at the highest possible grade they can. It also puts awareness to him that this is important, try to take care of it. But he is an emotional guy. Some of that comes with him, as well as some of the other guys. We want them to be able to control themselves, but also you’re going to have some emotional outbursts at times.”
Arron Afflalo turned in an outstanding performance last night, hitting 6-7 from the field, including 3-3 from long-distance. Just to put that in perspective, he hit 10 three-pointers all of last season. After the game, Curry had this to say:
“I thought Arron played really good,” coach Michael Curry said. “He’s actually struggled some throughout camp. He’s been getting after it defensively, but he has struggled to find any kind of rhythm offensively.
“What we’ve been telling him is let your defense keep you out on the court and eventually you will have offensive opportunities.”
Back during the summer league in Las Vegas, it was obvious that Afflalo was more comfortable with the ball in his hands. Instead of deferring, he seems more confident taking a shot anytime he’s open. As Afflalo told ASB, that’s not a coincidence:
Known for his defense at UCLA and now in the NBA, Afflalo admits he used to try his best to prove he was more than just a defender.
“It used to be (important), but I’m just going to let my game speak for itself,” Afflalo said. “That used to be something that was on my mind. But I’m going to go out there and defend my heart out, and try to take advantage of the things that I can do offensively.”
Does this mean all the Assistant coaches will be grading players during the games?
Amir’s going to make a billion mistakes, but Curry SHOULD love him and Maxiell and Afflalo because they are the live-wired energy players that Curry seeks to employ for more pressure on defense. Tayshaun has cooled to Rasheed’s level of intelligence-concentrated D - the youthful abandon has left both guys, no matter how many yelps and words Rasheed bellows in disagreement. Both are better defenders than what Amir, Afflalo, or Maxiell can achieve, but the energy by the latter three will make up for their inexperience. If Curry’s even a half-point more adept at substitutions than Flip Saunders, then this team could lead the league in a 03-04 kind of way - the key word of the goal is “smothering” … that word’s been missing since Flip appeared.
As a fan it takes a little while to get used to the thinking of a new coach and how he works with the players, grades them formally or informally and doles out their minutes.
Fans got to get used to a new coach just like the players do.
Its nice to see MC say some nice things about Amir.
Am I allowed to say I have a man-crush on this entire team?
The problem that he has, is sometimes he gets caught up under the basket and doesn’t box and doesn’t get the guy out the paint>>
Boxing is positioning and strength and quickness
Getting the guy out of the paint is strength.
I think that Amir can improve his boxing out abilities with experience and coaching.
Getting the guy out of the paint will require a lot more protein and carbs in the diet and a lot more work in the weight room. That will take a couple of years.
I found this on Need4Sheed. I guess they just posted it.
Curry to Amir - Eat, Rest and Lift Weights
October 9th, 2008
Written by: Natalie Sitto
The halftime feature during The Pistons pre-season win against The Bucks was quite interesting. It was a video of Michael Curry’s practices during the summer. The focus……Amir Johnson
Check out the video
http://need4sheed.com/
I found this on Need4Sheed. There is s related video too.
Curry to Amir - Eat, Rest and Lift Weights
October 9th, 2008
Written by: Natalie Sitto
The halftime feature during The Pistons pre-season win against The Bucks was quite interesting. It was a video of Michael Curry’s practices during the summer. The focus……Amir Johnson
@Garrett:
Not if I beat you to it!
Sometimes writers will go to any length to support their position be it correct or not. I have been guilty of same.
However it should be noted that of Amir’s fouls (3)
1. The first was due to Rip pushing him into a defender while Amir was attempting to set a screen for him.
2. The 3rd was called on a blocked shot with which Champion, Mahorn and the Palace crowd all vehemently disagreed.
As far as rebounds go an objective observer would look at how MC is using Amir on defense. Obviously if he is playing away from the basket pressuring the ball he isn’t going to get a lot of rebounds.