What the fuck has Armon Johnson done to move ahead of anybody? He has only had one good pre season game so far, and that was against Golden State.
Not that I'm agreeing with what the person says, but to answer your question: 1. You don't have to play well to move ahead, just better than the person in front of you, and 2. We don't know what he's doing in practice.
Could Johnson really be better than Bayless? If so, we should try and move Bayless while he still has decent value around the league. When it comes to Nate, I wonder if being a "Nate guy" isn't more important than being good.
I think that's the case with a good many coaches. You can have talent, but if you don't fit in a coaches system, and can't run his system, and someone else can better, then they are likely to play over you.
I haven't listened to the radio at all today, who said this stuff? A caller, one of the hosts, Jason Quick?
I just have a real hard time believing a 2nd round draft pick from a college team that did not make the tournament is better than Bayless. Nevada had 2 players drafted and that team did not make the NCAA tournament. From time to time there is a player who translates to the Pro's much better than college (Wesley Mathews is a prime example). I could also see where they let Armon Johnson play out the pre season just to let players rest. But moving ahead of him in the rotation? I have a hard time buying that one.
I agree...and it's not necessarily a bad thing. I would get nervous if the "non-nate guy" has way more talent, but I don't know if thats the case here. Johnson has a big advantage in that he is a natural PG, while Bayless is not. We simply have too many SGs on our team, and not enough PGs or healthy bigs. Even it out, Cho!
He plays defense willingly (as in he enjoys it) and he can pass the ball (willingly) or finish at the rim. Is Bayless more athletic, can he draw free throws better, was he more highly touted coming out of the U of A? Yes, yes and yes, but is Bayless really a point guard? I don't know.
Armon over Bayless? That was my prediction in my 'State your bold predictions' thread a few weeks ago.
I think Bayless is likely more talented. Sometimes, it's just an issue of being on the right team. I still like him, and think he could be good for us. I know if or when he goes elsewhere and succeeds, people will bash Nate, but he's a scoring guard who needs the ball in his hands and needs to be attacking to be truly effective. That can easily work for 20 PPG on quite a few teams in the league. Just not alongside Brandon, really. His defense is very over rated, IMO. He uses his hands WAY too much. And it could be an issue of being able to D up, be in the right place, and make plays when necessary that gets Johnson ahead of Jerryd, even if Jerryd could score 20 a night, and Armon likely can't.
Oh, so now we know whom to send Jerryd to, when he comes looking for the person who maybe cost him his gig.
Another question is though, does Bayless need to be a point guard to play with Roy? Or does Roy need an off guard who can play some point, who can score really fast when Roy feeds him a flaming bag pass when isolation breaks down?
Those are fair points, but is Jerryd really all that adept at scoring given his fairly weak inside and outside shooting percentages? When he doesn't draw a foul he gets capped and misses more sub 5ft shots than I'm comfortable in my bailout scorer getting. In any case I don't think anybody is talking about promoting Armon to the starting lineup and that's he's somehow the PGOTF -- maybe he's just the backup PGOTF? -- it's possible that Nate just wants to use him in a second unit where guys like Matthews, Rudy and Dante need a guard who can set them up. Bayless' shooting percentages by location: http://www.82games.com/0910/09POR5.HTM
I have only seen Armon playing 3 games or so - but in each and everyone of them - I loved what I saw - his willingness to play defense and how in control he seems to be on offense. Kid might be a real gem of a pick. I do not think he will ever be as explosive a scorer as JB - but I think he will be a better defender and quite possibly, a better PG.
In regards to his shot location, at the rim, he only shoots 54%. league average is 61%. 54 was the worst on our team last year, outside of Travis, and he only played in 11 games.
It was Jay Allen reporting what he heard from the coaching staff. I've had a feeling this was coming when he put Patty Mills to shame and you could see just how good he was raw out of college. Bayless just hasn't been a perfect fit and Armon seems to fit like a glove with that group. I wouldn't be shocked if we start seeing Armon playing with the starting group at some point by the all-star game.
