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James Johnson

His family are MMA trainers, I.don't think he'll have any trouble staying in shape. Still crazy to. believe he can do a standing back flip at his height
 
Other than the obvious, JJ was my favorite player during my time as a student. Just a really nice guy who is so athletically gifted.
 
deacphan said:
the irony from a poster named strickland is strong.

i don't get the "bad shape" critique. he was never a physical specimen. i think his lack of success in the nba had more to do with doing everything ok but nothing great. it's just pretty awful that when any of those 3 come up we get "jj's lazy," "teague's a pouter and unclutch," and "afa shouldve stayed longer." give me a fucking break.
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The irony is not lost on me in the slightest. Trent is one of my favorite Deacs of all time, but that dude played himself out of a lot of money by not taking his craft as seriously as he could.

I agree with you that JJ was never a physical specimen, but he was a heck of an athlete when he was lighter. Putting on a ton of weight between his freshman and sophomore year, and letting himself get even bigger after the fact (whether it was muscle for fat, idk) definitely took m down a notch in my book. Add to that the fact that he never got his jumper or handles on par with his belief that he was a wing, and you've got a career deferred.

I'm sorry that you think those critiques are lazy. I agree with you about the AFA and Teague ones. Teague, especially, is ridiculous. I'm guessing that it's the same culture club who doesn't realize that he's blossomed into one of the leagues top point guards making most of those claims. Could be wrong, but that's my hunch.

Also, I'm guessing that most critics of AFA don't really watch him play, either. Maybe he should have stayed, but he didn't and he's been fine. I still love watching that guy play basketball, messiness and all.

That said, give me a break with the JJ tears. Dude was a top-20 pick, landed in three positions in which a solid work ethic would have earned him starting minutes (see: Butler, Jimmy, Anderson, Alan, or any wing getting rotation minutes for the Kings) and he squandered it away in three stops for almost the exact same reasons. Dude is solid with with minutes and touches, but he never really gotten better, never seemed to give it his all on the floor or over the summer and I think it's shown thus far in his career trajectory. Plenty of guys are willing to scrap to earn end of rotation minutes. JJ's just not that guy right now.
 
JJ - Didn't work hard, and that was always his problem

Strickland - Didn't take his craft seriously

I don't understand criticism like the 2 above which have come out of this thread. How do you know these things? How do you know how 'serious' strickland took his craft?
 
Guys, lots of lazy players average 15/8 from day one in the ACC. Duh.
 
Trent was a goofball but still worked pretty hard. 500 to 1,000 jumpshots everyday in the offseason/summer. Just never could get the hitch out of his J. And sloppy handles.
 
I wish James well. He is an amazing athlete and was a good player as a Deac. On the other hand he has never entirely matured, and he is not too smart. Those are difficult handicaps that only very hard work can overcome.
 
Strickland33 said:
The irony is not lost on me in the slightest. Trent is one of my favorite Deacs of all time, but that dude played himself out of a lot of money by not taking his craft as seriously as he could.

I agree with you that JJ was never a physical specimen, but he was a heck of an athlete when he was lighter. Putting on a ton of weight between his freshman and sophomore year, and letting himself get even bigger after the fact (whether it was muscle for fat, idk) definitely took m down a notch in my book. Add to that the fact that he never got his jumper or handles on par with his belief that he was a wing, and you've got a career deferred.

I'm sorry that you think those critiques are lazy. I agree with you about the AFA and Teague ones. Teague, especially, is ridiculous. I'm guessing that it's the same culture club who doesn't realize that he's blossomed into one of the leagues top point guards making most of those claims. Could be wrong, but that's my hunch.

Also, I'm guessing that most critics of AFA don't really watch him play, either. Maybe he should have stayed, but he didn't and he's been fine. I still love watching that guy play basketball, messiness and all.

That said, give me a break with the JJ tears. Dude was a top-20 pick, landed in three positions in which a solid work ethic would have earned him starting minutes (see: Butler, Jimmy, Anderson, Alan, or any wing getting rotation minutes for the Kings) and he squandered it away in three stops for almost the exact same reasons. Dude is solid with with minutes and touches, but he never really gotten better, never seemed to give it his all on the floor or over the summer and I think it's shown thus far in his career trajectory. Plenty of guys are willing to scrap to earn end of rotation minutes. JJ's just not that guy right now.
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or maybe a guy that was a 20 yo frosh had little upside because his game was where it was going to be.
 
Strickland33 said:
The irony is not lost on me in the slightest. Trent is one of my favorite Deacs of all time, but that dude played himself out of a lot of money by not taking his craft as seriously as he could.

I agree with you that JJ was never a physical specimen, but he was a heck of an athlete when he was lighter. Putting on a ton of weight between his freshman and sophomore year, and letting himself get even bigger after the fact (whether it was muscle for fat, idk) definitely took m down a notch in my book. Add to that the fact that he never got his jumper or handles on par with his belief that he was a wing, and you've got a career deferred.

I'm sorry that you think those critiques are lazy. I agree with you about the AFA and Teague ones. Teague, especially, is ridiculous. I'm guessing that it's the same culture club who doesn't realize that he's blossomed into one of the leagues top point guards making most of those claims. Could be wrong, but that's my hunch.

Also, I'm guessing that most critics of AFA don't really watch him play, either. Maybe he should have stayed, but he didn't and he's been fine. I still love watching that guy play basketball, messiness and all.

That said, give me a break with the JJ tears. Dude was a top-20 pick, landed in three positions in which a solid work ethic would have earned him starting minutes (see: Butler, Jimmy, Anderson, Alan, or any wing getting rotation minutes for the Kings) and he squandered it away in three stops for almost the exact same reasons. Dude is solid with with minutes and touches, but he never really gotten better, never seemed to give it his all on the floor or over the summer and I think it's shown thus far in his career trajectory. Plenty of guys are willing to scrap to earn end of rotation minutes. JJ's just not that guy right now.
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So you are certain that James could have been a better player, had a better jumper, etc if had just worked harder? How do you know this? What if he just didn't have a passion for the game but he was able to make a solid chunk of cash and then move on in life to do what he loved more like kickboxing or knitting or being a sculptor?
 
Look like decent shape to me. If all you had to do was work hard enough and you would be Lebron or CP3, then more people would do it. CP is not in as good of shape as JJ. He just has the skillz.


tumblr_mimwhzjI6J1rspt4fo1_250.jpg
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
His family are MMA trainers, I.don't think he'll have any trouble staying in shape. Still crazy to. believe he can do a standing back flip at his height
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Height has little to do with it. I'd guess that most NBA players could do a standing back flip if they practiced it (and their contracts permitted such things). Most of them have insane hops. It's just about getting up in the air and throwing yourself backwards with no fear of snapping your neck. Shit, I did a few very ugly ones in high school, and I have zero jumping ability (and granted, I don't think I ever had an attempt where I didn't end up falling forward on my hands upon landing).

ETA this pretty cool video...

 
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tbpnwe said:
Pretty sad he is no longer in the NBA--a lot of wasted talent. Anyone know what he is doing now?
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Why is he 'wasted' talent? He was on a College team in the ACC that reached No. 1 at one point, he was drafted into the NBA and made millions of dollars. Did I miss something? You do realize the NBA is for the best of te best of the best in basketball....not everyone is good enough.
 
PhillyDeac said:
Why is he 'wasted' talent? He was on a College team in the ACC that reached No. 1 at one point, he was drafted into the NBA and made millions of dollars. Did I miss something? You do realize the NBA is for the best of te best of the best in basketball....not everyone is good enough.
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Good point. Would be easy to list dozens of "can't miss" basketball phenoms that were top 25 HS recruits, played at UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Kansas etc., that did not play 4 full NBA seasons and earn $7 million (plus a pension) before the age of 27. Making an NBA roster is really hard; far harder than any other team sport as the rosters are a fraction of the size of MLB, NFL or even NHL rosters. While I fully expect JJ to again draw an NBA salary, he already beat the odds as 1st round pick and a 4 year NBA vet.

As for the trying hard part, quite an assumption to make that JJ is lazy or has dogged it. Probably more accurate that the league is really competitive and that JJ has had 4 years to establish the limits of his potential, and that he is a fringe NBA basketball player -- which in and of itself is a great accomplishment -- and that NBA teams gave preference to players that have had less of an opportunity to establish their potential.
 
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Great post, Pilch.
 
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