Link I really don't know if Johnson has played far beneath his level or not. It's possible that he's really atrocious, but we won't know until we see, and we know that Taj or 20+ minutes of Lindsey Hunter over the next couple weeks is going to be pretty atrocious too. So I agree, the downside is pretty limited, and it's not like it couldn't be limited by yanking him if he really needs to be yanked.
The real problem is he didn't play in the blowouts, as if the bulls were going to have a chance against the lakers or portland. Playing close for 20-30 minutes isn't the goal. That kind of mentality is one reason why Thabo is on the Thunder.
Up to this point I had figured that the situation with our depth was so obviously bad, management must have had an obvious reason not to play him (ie, he sucks) rather than it being about 'right way' stuff. Even if 'right way' is your MO, it still defies reason to keep him on the bench if we're getting pounded every night and he can play.
I guess I don't understand the "right way" MO at the basic level, because I don't get, at all, what the Bulls are trying to accomplish here. Part of bringing along a basketball player is developing them in game situations. I mean, I understand the concept of why players practice. I understand why you wouldn't play a guy if he doesn't practice well. To some extent. But to a larger extent, it just doesn't make any sense. I was reading up on Ronnie Brewer because I saw someone say that Jerry Sloan never plays rookies. Well, turns out it wasn't true. By this time in his rookie year, Ronnie Brewer had played significant minutes in about half the Jazz' games, and had started 10 of them.
