Actually, those were from after the Clippers game and don't count the Seattle game. 82games.com only updates every few days or so.
There is one other player in the entire league that has similar +/- offensive and defensive stats as AJ. Amir: 111.6 on offense 97.4 on defense Mystery Player: 112.4 on offense 97.8 on defense As FreshPrince pointed out, Amir's #'s should change for the better once yesterday' lockdown is factored in. Any guesses on who the mystery player is? Here's a hint. He made approximately $20 Million more in salary than Amir this year. That's a quarter Mill more per game... about $6K per minute... $100 per second... etc.
Well, it helped...LOL. But with the reasonable assumption that you were talking about an elite-level MVP type, KG seemed like the best guess to match those gaudy +/- numbers, which is more or less the main case for his MVP candidacy.
I thought Amir did a decent job on KG, he forced a miss which Boston O boarded, and the foul where he blocked KG's shot L handed was fairly weak. Obviously when he went for the steal and got dunked on that wasn't so good... But KG did the same thing and gave up a dunk guarding Ra. It appeared to me that KG mostly scored on the other Big when Amir was in the game. Sheed has got to stay out of foul trouble so you can put Amir on 'the other big' if we play Boston again and don't get our asses kicked by Cle or Orl.
Well, I sure didn't think Amir was up to the task of guarding KG, but it's a lot to ask from a guy who still barely has any meaningful NBA experience. But Amir did a lot better early on in the 4th quarter when KG wasn't on the floor, and that (which could be a pretty significant contribution) seems like the best we can hope for from AJ in a conference finals matchup with Boston.
The amazing thing to me was that when Sheed and Amir were both in the game, it was up to Amir to guard KG. In reality, Sheed is the only one on the team who can guard Garnett, and he would have to apply maximum effort and somehow avoid the ref's whistle.
Sheed started out on KG but Big Baby and Perkins were just backing AJ down into the paint. Sheed also had a couple of fouls so they figured that switching was a better match up. AJ got schooled by the vet on the old up and under move early but it was a good learning experience for him.
Fantastic article in the FreeP on AJ, the bench situation, and Flip Energy boost for Pistons: Make Amir Johnson a starter | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press Only part of it, definately worth the read
Finally a Detroit sports writer has the stones to question Flip Saunders. I expect Drew Sharp to turn up missing any day now just like Jimmy Hoffa did. Good lookin' out Drew!
Seems to be jumping to conclusions a bit in that article. Just because Dixon replaced Afflalo does not mean that Theo will replace Amir. It could be that Theo's mins will be taken from Dyess and Maxiel leaving Amir uneffected. That seems more likely given Amir's high upside although that DNP from the Utah game does weigh in. We will see. As far as the starting line being bored and uninspired. It can't be that bad if you are heading to a near 60 win season.
