Foul Factory- Amir Johnson

[Multipaul]

I would be remiss to call last nights game a "heartbreaker". That would imply that Bibby's dagger was what did us in. In reality, the reason we lost was due to, as Arsenalist stated, "boneheaded" mental errors, by JT, DD, and mainly, AJ. The game was ours to lose with 3 mins left, and we succeeded mightily in that task.

DD should get a bit of a "get out of jail free card", he's in his 2nd year, and he laid it all out there as best he could. That foul on the 3 brought back painful memories of Jamario Moon vs Portland though...

Forgetting about Coach Cracker Jack ("what the f**k ya gonna do"), that brings us to AJ.5 years in the league, and his fouls not only cause us to go into fits of rage, but they also lose us games. It wasn't just his series of absurd fouls late in the game. It was during the entire game.

AJ's fouls kill momentum, stifle our offense, and mire our team in a cloud of ineptitude.

That late game screen foul was insane. Although if we were Boston or LA the refs never would have called it, it WAS a foul, and it cost us 2 pts, a bigger lead, and possibly a trip to the charity stripe.

Amir did not exclusively lose us the game, but his fouls held us back all night. Not just last night either.

So what to do with Amir? 5 years in the league and while extremely talented, seems to revert to a grade school basketball IQ in crunch time situations.

Overpaid? Overated? Great? Starter? Human Foul Factory?

[Apollo]

I was skeptical when he signed his contract. I did not believe then that he could stay out of foul trouble long enough impact on a level worthy of his contract. If the new CBA cuts the cap significantly without slashing current contracts then his deal becomes a real killer. Amir is a good bench player. That's his best role and when Ed Davis is ready that's what Amir Johnson will find himself doing for the rest of his time in Toronto. On the bench his foul troubles aren't as big an issue and he could provide a spark from time to time. That said, he's probably going to be always viewed as greatly overpaid unless his can fix his foul woes without reducing his impact.

[J-Roc]

I wonder if it's too soon to hope for ED to take over starting PF duties by next season. But long term for sure Amir is great off the bench.

I wonder how Raps Nation would react if it were Bargnani making boneheaded plays to pick up fouls. With Bargs it's not as noticeable for the average fan if he misses a rotation.

[Multipaul]

I wonder if it's too soon to hope for ED to take over starting PF duties by next season. But long term for sure Amir is great off the bench.

I wonder how Raps Nation would react if it were Bargnani making boneheaded plays to pick up fouls. With Bargs it's not as noticeable for the average fan if he misses a rotation.

Here's the thing. People hate on Bargs for not rebounding enough, missing rotations, etc. I understand that. But BONEHEADED plays, ie- stupid fouls, are something he does not do. Bargs saved our ass against SAC and ATL with his dagger 3s. Amir killed us with his dagger F's.

[Brasky]

Bring him off the bench for 20+ minutes per game. Simple as that. He needs to be on the floor, because he plays winning basketball. I'll take the good with the bad, and there's a lot of good coming from Amir.

[Brasky]

Here's the thing. People hate on Bargs for not rebounding enough, missing rotations, etc. I understand that. But BONEHEADED plays, ie- stupid fouls, are something he does not do. Bargs saved our ass against SAC and ATL with his dagger 3s. Amir killed us with his dagger F's.

His defense on Josh Smith was fantastic. He played a very efficient game other than the fouls. You can't look at one or two bad timed fouls and discount his other contributions. Or we could talk about how Bargnani had a 1:4 assist to turnover ratio, had a pathetic 3 rebounds and let Horford eat him alive down low. He did hit some timely shots though, so I guess that's all we need to mention.

[pistol pete]

His defense on Josh Smith was fantastic. He played a very efficient game other than the fouls. You can't look at one or two bad timed fouls and discount his other contributions. Or we could talk about how Bargnani had a 1:4 assist to turnover ratio, had a pathetic 3 rebounds and let Horford eat him alive down low. He did hit some timely shots though, so I guess that's all we need to mention.

Is it you with a new nickname, Buddahfan?

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

Is it you with a new nickname, Buddahfan?

hahaha nice. the main issue with these guys is CONSISTENCY.
one game theyre monsters, the next theyre pussies.
and its not the opponent, i mean they went toe to toe with boston, orlando, lakers, atl
but then got their asses kicked by detroit, bobcats, gsw
it baffles me sometimes.

[Multipaul]

His defense on Josh Smith was fantastic. He played a very efficient game other than the fouls. You can't look at one or two bad timed fouls and discount his other contributions. Or we could talk about how Bargnani had a 1:4 assist to turnover ratio, had a pathetic 3 rebounds and let Horford eat him alive down low. He did hit some timely shots though, so I guess that's all we need to mention.

Umm..did you see Horford's statline? bargs owned him. Buddhafan.

[Bendit]

I wonder if it's too soon to hope for ED to take over starting PF duties by next season. But long term for sure Amir is great off the bench.

I wonder how Raps Nation would react if it were Bargnani making boneheaded plays to pick up fouls. With Bargs it's not as noticeable for the average fan if he misses a rotation.

The conundrum is that AJ overplays on defense drawing the unnecessary fouls while AB underplays (purposeful or not) and can end games playing 40 mins. with 1-2 fouls. Now if we can get both to work their defensive game to the middle we might have something! The question really is...would we like to see a passive AJ on defense? The answer is obviously "no". He plays hard every night and that I cant fault him. Timing is his problem.

[Brasky]

Umm..did you see Horford's statline? bargs owned him. Buddhafan.

If you want to talk stats, Bargs had a decent line, and he's on my fantasy team. I could have used Horford's boards and efficiency more than Bargnani's 26 pts on 22 shots with 4 turnovers and little else.

[Raptoronto]

I was skeptical when he signed his contract. I did not believe then that he could stay out of foul trouble long enough impact on a level worthy of his contract. If the new CBA cuts the cap significantly without slashing current contracts then his deal becomes a real killer. Amir is a good bench player. That's his best role and when Ed Davis is ready that's what Amir Johnson will find himself doing for the rest of his time in Toronto. On the bench his foul troubles aren't as big an issue and he could provide a spark from time to time. That said, he's probably going to be always viewed as greatly overpaid unless his can fix his foul woes without reducing his impact.

I can't really see a 6m contract (barely over vet minimum) being a cap killer for a 23 year old PF who can rebound and play D with a decent pick and roll game and a great work ethic (in a league very weak in talent at his position). I admit the foul rate is a concern going ito his 5th (?) season and you gotta hope that he improved there with playing time (he has improved slightly this season). He still has 3 to 5 years before he starts to plateau and I think he can easily be moved at any point in his contract barring injuries.

[Pizzaman]

Amir is pretty much a foul factory and made some bone head fouls last night, however he should and will eventually come off the bench as he is not a starter and I will cut him some slack as I like his overall game, and it's not his fault right now that he is pressed into as many minutes as he sees.
I blame last nights loss on Triano for continuing to let the DeRozan experiment go without discipline or recourse. DeRozan does whatever he wants when he wants without recourse, and still plays the most minutes on the team. He absolutely stinks on defence and last night got torched. His offence stinks too, unless you are impressed by the odd slam, and occasionl good drive to the hoop around his man. Most times he is driving to the hoop out of control into bigger better players hoping for a call, when there were better options, or he is trying hi one move the spin which yesterday he tripped on himself and looked for a call.
He rarely ever sets screens, or looks to involve his teamates, and he is so very predictable that whenever any real team or player wants to shut him down he's done

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

I think JT should just let Amir play his game.
He's not dispensable, but not indispensable either.
If he get his 2 fouls in the 1st qtr, so what? you got davis, dorsey and evans (when he returns)
he has to learn to keep his fouls in check
but he knows when he gets those early fouls, JT will sub him out and put him in the game sparingly, which totally ruins the flow for other players.
i say let him play, if he fouls out, so be it.

[TheGloveinRapsUniform]

I can't really see a 6m contract (barely over vet minimum) being a cap killer for a 23 year old PF who can rebound and play D with a decent pick and roll game and a great work ethic (in a league very weak in talent at his position). I admit the foul rate is a concern going ito his 5th (?) season and you gotta hope that he improved there with playing time (he has improved slightly this season). He still has 3 to 5 years before he starts to plateau and I think he can easily be moved at any point in his contract barring injuries.

totally agree. the problem that the raps have is they have a collection of very solid backup players, but no solid starters.
IMO, most of the raps players are very coveted because they are cheap, and are able to contribute when starters need to rest, case and point bonner, AP, Humphries....all of which were recent raptors who are doing quite well as backups to their new teams.