Amir to the Bench, Start AB-ED

[smushmush]

I would call you a moron, but that would be redundant.

I hate guys that name-call, the reason I called you a troll is that you are really one(I am telling you the uneqivocal truth, even Tim W. and some others agree with me you are a troll). I am also putting you on ignore because of the troll you have become and pulling out stats that don't exist at all. Thank you(see I am a gentleman but I don't take disrespect).

[Multipaul]

Thank you Tim! finally somone else feels like i do. i cant stand this BS anymore and people just spit out random things that dont even exist to try and proove their point that is completely false to begin with. Multipaul is a TROLL. If you want a reference im sure other posters and myself can gather alot of them.

Wow, so someone disagrees with you, and they are a troll. Very intelligent.

[Multipaul]

Dont blame everyone, I never said that. I knew this was a Multi-Paul thread lol. The problem with Andrea was never scoring, its on defense. Trade the guy.

You may have noticed when Dre was injured that the team had NOBODY that could provided offense. Literally, who else do we have? Barbosa and DD in my opinion, but neither one caused trouble with other teams defenses.

Love how you guys take 27-30 pts a game for granted like any "YMCA" or "Spoiled" player could do it.

Just stupid really.

[Multipaul]

Go to guy getting 21 points on 18 shots lmao - that means any YMCA player too can be a ``go-to`` player lol. Multipaul, you are approaching troll status(stop it if it is a joke) with your defense of Bargs and the lies you continually spill out every day to support him lol. Bargs is the poster child for a spoilt and untouchable basketball player that feels no need to improve his atrocious rebounding and defense in the NBA and his role is only to score(which is not even efficient by the way for a ``scorer``). ``Nuff said.

I would call you a moron, but that would be redundant.

[Ambidextrious]

Amir's still a better player than Davis right now, so he should still be starting. I'm still holding out that Davis becomes strong enough to bang with Cs, so then we could start both of them.

Very slim chance. Realistically, it would be an improvement that no player has ever done. For us to succeed as a team (assuming that improvement doesn't come), White Swan needs to be coming off of the bench or traded. Personally, I think he would be great off the bench, but I'd be shopping him heavily on draft day.

If BC can't trade the guy, at least bring him off the bench and limit him to 15-20 mins a night. When he shows to be a big defensive liability. Maybe that will wake him up.

[Ambidextrious]

It is priceless to see Raps fan reaction here. Amir plays solid for 5 games and no peeps about him. Has a bad game, send him to the bench.

Davis has a great game - start him.

Bargnani goes through a rough stretch and calls to trade him, or worse yet, string him up in the town square are rampant. 3 pretty good games in a row, nothing but crickets.

DD has gone from career potential of back up SG to All-Star in the last few weeks.

"What have you done for me within the last 24hrs?" should be the new motto of the forums.

Dont blame everyone, I never said that. I knew this was a Multi-Paul thread lol. The problem with Andrea was never scoring, its on defense. Trade the guy.

[RaptorsFan4Life]

Did what's-his-name really say that Amir has been in foul trouble the last few games, misses easy layups and turns the ball over like crazy???

And no one called him on it?

These are completely and utterly false accusations. You might as say that Bargnani can't shoot.

Amir Johnson has not been in foul trouble the last few games

Before the Clipper game, in 4 out of last 5 games, Amir played more than 36 minutes. Hard to do if you're in foul trouble. And since New Years, Amir has averaged 30 mpg. Again, hard to do if you're constantly in foul trouble.

Amir Johnson shoots a higher percentage in close than Bargnani.

From 82games.com...

Bargnani
Close .558
Dunk .900
Tips .250
Inside .576

Amir
Close .607
Dunk .920
Tips .621
Inside .658

Amir shoots a better percentage on EVERYTHING inside, especially tip-ins. And Amir is 4th in the entire league in field goal percentage. Hard to do if you miss a lot of layups.

Amir does NOT turn the ball over like crazy.

Per 36 minutes, Amir turns the ball 1.4 times a game as compared to Bargnani's 2.5 per game. Amir also has a positive assist to turnover ratio, as compared to a negative one for Bargnani.

Now you could argue that Bargnani has the ball more than Amir, so he's going to turn over the ball more. Well, that's partially true. Amir's turnover percentage (turnovers per 100 plays) is 11.3, only slightly more than Bargnani's 10.9.

So if Amir turns the ball over like crazy, then Bargnani must, as well.

It's one thing to blindly praise a completely flawed player, but if you want to argue about something.....

DON'T MAKE THINGS UP!

(This post is not in response to the above quote, but I have Multipaul on ignore, so don't see most of his posts)

You can't really compare the 2. Most of Amirs shots are wide open while Bargs gets double teamed and guarded really well.

[mcHAPPY]

Did what's-his-name really say that Amir has been in foul trouble the last few games, misses easy layups and turns the ball over like crazy???

And no one called him on it?

I made reference and provided a link for his game stats via ESPN. I disagreed with the fouls of late and the easy layups.

I still think Davis will be the starting 4 in the future and eventually Amir will serve the team off the bench. I hope he embraces this role because he will cause terror for opposing teams second unit.

[pesterm1]

Thank you Tim! finally somone else feels like i do. i cant stand this BS anymore and people just spit out random things that dont even exist to try and proove their point that is completely false to begin with. Multipaul is a TROLL. If you want a reference im sure other posters and myself can gather alot of them.

[Tim W.]

i dont recall a game where amir has been in that bad of foul trouble in a long time other then the clippers game(and can you blame him he was playing d on griffin, alot of the fouls were brutal too and its obvious griffin is already getting "kobe" calls). Amir has been playing great lately and at this point he is the clear starter IMO. maybe by next season or if amir is injured and ed breaks out then Ed should start. at this point i think your just kinda making stuff up. how could u say the things ur saying but not think bargnani should have been in the second unit when he was playing like garbage a week ago. at this point these guys are playing for minutes and i think thats a possotive thing for them.

Lately bargs is playing better but i think thats only cause he is starting to see that if he doesnt try harder he will be out. Ed at C and Amir at PF, thats bargs worst nightmare lol so now he fnally tries on both ends. They said it best on raps post game Bargnani doesnt have to be the best defender, no one expects that. but he has to be better. I think bargs is finally realizing that and i personally see him putting out more effort and hustling.

Did what's-his-name really say that Amir has been in foul trouble the last few games, misses easy layups and turns the ball over like crazy???

And no one called him on it?

These are completely and utterly false accusations. You might as say that Bargnani can't shoot.

Amir Johnson has not been in foul trouble the last few games

Before the Clipper game, in 4 out of last 5 games, Amir played more than 36 minutes. Hard to do if you're in foul trouble. And since New Years, Amir has averaged 30 mpg. Again, hard to do if you're constantly in foul trouble.

Amir Johnson shoots a higher percentage in close than Bargnani.

From 82games.com...

Bargnani
Close .558
Dunk .900
Tips .250
Inside .576

Amir
Close .607
Dunk .920
Tips .621
Inside .658

Amir shoots a better percentage on EVERYTHING inside, especially tip-ins. And Amir is 4th in the entire league in field goal percentage. Hard to do if you miss a lot of layups.

Amir does NOT turn the ball over like crazy.

Per 36 minutes, Amir turns the ball 1.4 times a game as compared to Bargnani's 2.5 per game. Amir also has a positive assist to turnover ratio, as compared to a negative one for Bargnani.

Now you could argue that Bargnani has the ball more than Amir, so he's going to turn over the ball more. Well, that's partially true. Amir's turnover percentage (turnovers per 100 plays) is 11.3, only slightly more than Bargnani's 10.9.

So if Amir turns the ball over like crazy, then Bargnani must, as well.

It's one thing to blindly praise a completely flawed player, but if you want to argue about something.....

DON'T MAKE THINGS UP!

(This post is not in response to the above quote, but I have Multipaul on ignore, so don't see most of his posts)

[smushmush]

LOL, come on man, Amir and Bargs is apples and oranges. Bargs is on a much higher level, he is a "go to" guy, puts up like 30 pts a game. You can't even compare.

PS- if Amir played better in DET he wouldve got more playing time.

Go to guy getting 21 points on 18 shots lmao - that means any YMCA player too can be a ``go-to`` player lol. Multipaul, you are approaching troll status(stop it if it is a joke) with your defense of Bargs and the lies you continually spill out every day to support him lol. Bargs is the poster child for a spoilt and untouchable basketball player that feels no need to improve his atrocious rebounding and defense in the NBA and his role is only to score(which is not even efficient by the way for a ``scorer``). ``Nuff said.

[JoePanini]

How is he the obvious better choice?

FT Shooting: Amir Amir
Jump shop: Amir Amir, for now
Overall Offense: Amir Davis, he actually has a nice post shot and will develop a lot IMO
Reb: Amir (by a bit) Davis
BLK: Ed Davis
Def: Amir (Ed is good but he gets pushed around) Davis, by a lot, considering it's his first year and he was injured for the first part of the season.

And what you said about fouling is completely untrue. Amir has been doing a MUCH better job of handling fouls as of late.

BTW Amir has been in the league 5 years but has really only got to play the last year and this year.

Davis is a better overall player than Amir is. Amir brings energy and all, but Ed has really got the fundamentals.

[JoePanini]

Ed Davis is going to be the Raptors' starter for sure, if not this year, next year. Bargnani is going to be starter until we get a center which is better than him. Johnson is good, plays defense, plays hard, but is not going to start in Davis' place come October.

[smushmush]

I don't know, I think amir is the raps most well rounded player. Foul trouble was a serious issue last year but he's curbed that problem for the most part this year. Also there's something to be said about a young team with a 4 who can run the floor like amir.

I'd like Bargs to stick around. I do think he's more of a PF than a C and he's got the moves of a top tier guard, unfortunately he's also got the rebounding numbers of one too.

if i had a chance to "fix" the raptors I'd move Bargs to the starting 4 and trade amir (I love the dude but his back problems are worrisome) I'd do what i could to pick up a strong defensive SF to help neutralize all the crazy good 3s in the NBA and last but not least I'd try to pick up a strong in the post and on the glass Centre. I think that would fill up some of the defensive gaps the raptors have and would actually give toronto a chance to make some noise in the east. If you guys are curious i'd say my untradeables in this scenario are Davis, Derozan, Bargs, Calderon and Bayless(i still got faith in this kid).


Any good Cs or SFs coming up for free agency this summer?

Now that is bad GMing on your part(on Khan`s level in Minnesota) lol. So you tell me you would trade Amir and start Bargs at the 4 when it should be the opposite way lol. Getting a center next to Bargs is not going to mask Bargs terrible defense(both man to man and help) as they will keep going at him(anybody notice teams go against Bargs in the clutch when they really need a bucket lol? Yeah, I thought so lmao) and don`t tell me about the Dirk Nowitzki case(he is miles ahead of Andrea in defense even though his defense too is atrocious but are we seriously having this discussion lmao?).

[smushmush]

I think that is a bit of an impulse move based on a small sample. Amir's history is what it is but he is showing big improvement in his game. I'd say a few of the calls against Amir were of the Blake Griffin's Blake Griffin variety and there was probably more strategic use of the fouls as well. Ed was great but there have been several games where he has been a non-factor. This is not a problem yet with Amir and Ed in tandem at the 4, but there will come a time when Ed will become the starter at that position. Bargnani was great on D yesterday but that is not something you see everyday. Once there is reason to be confident in consistent performances from Amir, Ed and Andrea then you can more easily determine who should be where.

+1 on the Blake Griffin superstar calls on Amir(2 imo were like that) but we know this is a David Stern league where superstars are good for 3 callls to the free throw line even if you only breath on them lol(say it with me they are called superstar calls). I can`t wait for us to trade Bargs too. Start one of Ed Davis or Amir, get a good center in Pryzbilla, Marc Gasol or Dalemebert and backup center in Hasheem Thabeet once he can do the things required of a center which is the dirty work for this team to win(one of Solomon Alabi and Alexis Ajinca needs to go as both are real projects lol - I am leaning towards the latter as Ajinca is another soft center that shoots jumpshots like Andrea(just the way BC likes his bigs - finesse, in my opinion, the Ajinca trade is now looking like a head scratcher lmao) to shore up our bigs position once and for all.