Wesley Johnson - Taking his "Talents" Across the Hall, Min. Deal w/Clipps

he was the one guy i didnt want to get the rebound for free throws

 

This is going to sound incredibly mean, so forgive me. But I'm really wondering if Johnson is intelligent enough to play at this level. 8 turnovers. 2 missed free throws down the stretch. Way too many blown defensive assignments on shooters. He just doesn't seem to have it between the ears.

On the plus side, he shot extremely well tonight and those back to back three pointers towards the end of the OT almost redeemed him. Almost . . .

 

I am officially with you. I've wanted Wes here and I've been more patient with him than most others... but the truth is he's a dingbat. The majority of his turnovers weren't only unforced, but just plainly stupid or incompetent passes.

He's a gamer. I think when the chips are down offensively, he's going to come through pretty often. But is that enough? I don't think so. He's too dumb to figure it out and if he hasn't done it yet he won't do it.

I give up on him. His pros don't come close to making up for his cons right now.

 

^^ I'm sorry realdeal. You've been one of if not his biggest supporter here and at CL. We've talked about his potential and at times he's been almost there. But man, the mental part of this game is so much more important than people give it credit for. As Chicky baby was fond of saying euphemistically: "those plays weren't exactly Phi Beta Kappa."

Speaking of Coop, is it too late to get this guy studying up with Michael Cooper on defense? That's who should be tutoring him. Teach him some of that No Slack philosophy!

 

Yeah it's a bummer, but the guy isn't going to figure it out. I thought if he'd play with Kobe more and had a strict coach he'd get his head screwed on straight, but I don't see it happening.

I've been calling for Cooper's tutelage for over a year now. I don't know why it hasn't been done yet unless Coop just can't spare the time. I know he's coaching in the WNBA again. I just don't understand why he can't embrace his role from two games ago. Defense, fast break, dunk, open shot. Stop handling the ball. Stop forcing passes. Play SMART... He doesn't get it. I just don't think he will.

 

^^ Yep. I don't know if I've absolutely thrown the towel in yet. I did like the fact that he came back with those three pointers in the OT and was really trying to make up for his errors. But, man, I just don't know if he has enough smarts to play this game. It's a legitimate concern.

 

As soon as Young gets healthy he should take more minutes from Wesley and with that production hopefully Wes's downfalls aren't so obvious. For now though we're relying on him to do too much and it's a real problem. We all worried about SF depth (some were even willing to take on Beasley), but if Wes is going to continue regressing it could get worse out there.

 

Luke and Wes are on opposite ends of the suck spectrum. Luke had no athleticism, but he had a high BBall IQ, and played his role for the most part. Didn't try to do more than his skills allowed. Wes has all the physical tools to be a great player, but a really low BBall IQ and because of that, tries to do more than he should.

I would take Luke in that comparison any day of the week.