Amir- from Draft Day to Present Day

[Multipaul]

Hi Guys

I was reading this article on Amir today from Draft Express, wayyy back in the day (love the Amir high school photo). It's interesting to read the scouting analysis of Amir from back then. They said at best he woudl be a "poor man's Jermaine O'Neal". I thought that was interesting. Personally, I think Amir can be better than J-O in his uninjured prime. They do critique his akward jump shot motion in the article too, but I think Coach English has done a pretty good job cleaning that up. They also mention his tremendous hustle and knack for finding loose balls under the rim (that sounded perverted a bit eh..)

What do you guys think? How has Amir fared compared to this report from years back? I think he has exceeded expectations, but still has a ways to go (injuries don't help matters)

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Amir-Johnson-293/

PS- the link takes a second to load, for some reason it comes up all black and then then everything will appear

[Employee]

J-O in his uninjured prime was freakin awesome. One year he was like 3rd or 4th in mvp voting. If Amir ever got that good I would be very happy but extremely surprised.

[WhatWhat]

I don't think Amir's game is like J O'Neal's at all. Or perhaps I have those fadeaway bricks from left of the key burned into my brain. I think that Davis is far more similar to him, except he'll end up being an efficient offensive player and stuff.

[Multipaul]

I don't think Amir's game is like J O'Neal's at all. Or perhaps I have those fadeaway bricks from left of the key burned into my brain. I think that Davis is far more similar to him, except he'll end up being an efficient offensive player and stuff.

That's actually interesting, when you think about his development since 2005 when the article was written. Maybe he didn't end up in the same "mould" that ppl thought he would

[Joey]

Nice find. That picture of him is awesome.

I think from his time in Detroit til now he absolutely has grown into a semblance of the legit Hustle Big Man alot of people thought they'd see. I do agree he has a long way to go, but thankfully, he is only 23 years old.

You don't find too many guys with the engine that Amir has.
It's just too bad he's playing with a Kia for a body.

[raptorsking]

i feel like this thread is a hidden jab at amir johnson by multipaul but i could be wrong....

[Joey]

i feel like this thread is a hidden jab at amir johnson by multipaul but i could be wrong....

Just go with it.

[Brasky]

I've said it before, but his upside is more like a Horace Grant. He just needs more man strength.

[j bean]

I agree he has exceeded expectations, especially the talk of him not being worth his contract. His foul prone issues aren't as bad as they were, he knows his game, doesn't try and do more and his jumper from 10-15 ft has become pretty solid. He has played well enough that a lot of fans would rather see him and Davis start over Bargs and who would have predicted that at the start of the year?

[webcrawler89]

Well clearly, Amir has improved greatly from what most people expected of him.

Shows decent touch on his hook shot, but rushes it too often to be effective.

From DraftExpress.com http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/...#ixzz1Ic2q8RDt
http://www.draftexpress.com


I really think he's improved his hook shot a lot. Not much else I can think of saying except that, if he could play like JO did in his prime, for more than just a few years, then trading Delfino for him will look like a steal (although, Delfino is still playin well).

[Multipaul]

Ultimately, Delfino is a better fit with us. As you may know, we are last in 3 pt shooting in the league, he could've helped with that. His outside threat surpasses Amir's inside threat.

[webcrawler89]

we're also last in defence, I don't see you complaining about that.

[Multipaul]

we're also last in defence, I don't see you complaining about that.

I think that sucks actually. We have to blame the whole team, and the coaching staff.

[Bendit]

I believe some are taking the JO comparison in the article as much too positively. I believe it was noted as "a poor man's JO". I typically take this as half as good....which would be accurate imo (to prime JO). But then again I think AJ has a bit more of improvement left in him.

[Raptors_]

I think that sucks actually. We have to blame the whole team, and the coaching staff.

its mostly bargnani and calderon. The rest of our players are average defenders. Coaching staff has partly to do with it aswell.