Now I like the guy, he's a hustle player and puts up big numbers but is he really a game changer? His defense and passing isn't really all that great. He's like a young Elton Brand clone with Brand having a better outside shot. I just think his less than stellar defense gets overshadowed by his big numbers he puts up and hustle play. JJ Hickson is a perfect example of "buy low, sell high"
Not every player can be a "game changer", but I think Hickson's rebounding is game changing. Last night he was dominating the Knicks in the first half, and that's a team with Tyson Chandler and Marcus Camby. For some reason Stotts didn't play him much in the second half, but he was a huge difference maker in the first half.
Yeah, his rebounding is definitely "game changing". Also, he's getting very high percentage shots. I love having a big guy who understands how to roll to the hoop after setting a pick. That side P/R with Nic is becoming a very nice tool for some easy points. And just having a hustle guy is game changing. I'm trying to think of the last time we had a guy like this and I'm coming up with Ruben Patterson - very different players, but both extremely valuable for their tenacity. I can't blame his defense on him - he's guarding guys as best he can, and is doing a fair job at it, but he shouldn't be guarding Cs. But until Leonard develops, or we make a trade, we don't have anybody who can guard Cs and protect the basket. Because of that I think Hickson is doing as well as - or better than - expected.
I think it had more to do with the matchups. The Knicks went small for a large part of that 2nd half.
I think Hickson's defense is a lot better than he gets credit for (not good or great.... but at least it is passible). I also don't see that there is a large difference between Aldridge's defense and Hickson's. They let Aldridge defend the "weaker" post position and give Hickson the more challenging one.
I dunno. Do you? I would guess that it has to do with a combination of things. Match-ups Flow of the game Increasing outside shooting Foul trouble Stotts is trying to give Leonard AND Freeland some minutes - he surely isn't going to reduce LMA's minutes to play these guys. I suppose that my guess as to the biggest reason for his limited minutes is that Stotts wants more outside shooters on the floor, coupled with the fact that Leonard/Freeland are taking minutes from Hickson. I certainly don't think that Stotts is limiting his minutes because of poor defense - rebounding is part of defense, so Hickson IS our best interior defender.
No, Hickson didn't play much in the second half because of foul trouble. Funny thing is..... Hickson may not provide a ton of inside defense, but if you watched the game, everything else he was contributing was a big reason we were up big early. He was out of his rhythm in the second half because he was being called for ticky-tack fouls (though that one at the very end was dumb). Hickson is doing what helped Z-Bo earn minutes here initially. You don't need to call plays for JJ. You just run your offense through the guys that need the ball, and he's going to get his by cleaning up. He's a high-energy guy. He's agressive, and his teammates clearly feed off the agressiveness and energy. He needs to put some of that energy and aggressiveness into his effort on the defensive end, and then he'll be alright. That being said, I don't necessarily disagree with your buy-low, sell-high idea. But it really depends on what we can get for him (or "sell" him for). If we can truly sell high and improve the team, I'm all for it. I have the same belief with anyone on our roster, generally, though.
Hickson has a better PER, ORtg, DRtg, WS/48 than Nic Batum The users that adore weird advanced statistics like these should be in love with him.
He's playing himself out of the Blazers price range. I think he's a prime candidate to be dealt before the deadline.
wat you overlook is the fact that no matter what we have to pay (fair market value) I doubt that there is another player available as good as JJ, and we know he fits in here..
I agree. Unless we trade LMA - then that has the possibility of opening up a WHOLE LOT MORE cap space and then we'd be able to afford to keep Hickson.
This probably isn't fair to JJ, but i have a bad feeling he would get a big payday and then stop trying. I think Hibbert is kind of doing that now, Hedo really dropped off after the Raptors saved us from signing him.
