ChumpDumper
09-27-2004, 12:44 PM
And the board sighs a collective "duh."
Word is the Spurs might use SF Linton Johnson, signed in late August, as a sort of lite version of SF Bruce Bowen. The thought in San Antonio is that Johnson's skills as a defensive stopper on the perimeter are similar to Bowen's but could not be used properly by the defensively challenged Bulls, for whom Johnson played last season.This gives me an excuse to bring up something I find pretty encouraging about the guy: His defensive production per minute is pretty impressive.
As listed on his NBA bio he ranks 18th in the league in steals per 48, his 2.42 rates just a bit higher than Stephen Jackson if you want an obvious comparison (no I'm not saying he's a better player).
Going a bit deeper, his rebounds per 48 is a very strong 12.0, which puts him in the same league as power players like Stromile Swift, Chris Kaman and PJ Brown. Of course these direct comparisons can only go so far, but it is nice to know that Johnson did have six double-digit rebound games through the course of March and April when he received his most regular minutes. In that time he averaged 6.7 rebounds in 25.4 mpg.
During that time, Johnson was also blocking just over one shot per game. His 2.1 blocks per 48 again can only be compared to non SF power players like Bo Outlaw and Amare Stoudamire (of course KG is way higher in these categories if you want to call him an SF).
Of course his offense sucks and he'll have to improve there, but if the stats are any indicator, we could be getting some new dimensions in our perimeter D from LJ3 we haven't had before, not just "Bruce Lite."
Word is the Spurs might use SF Linton Johnson, signed in late August, as a sort of lite version of SF Bruce Bowen. The thought in San Antonio is that Johnson's skills as a defensive stopper on the perimeter are similar to Bowen's but could not be used properly by the defensively challenged Bulls, for whom Johnson played last season.This gives me an excuse to bring up something I find pretty encouraging about the guy: His defensive production per minute is pretty impressive.
As listed on his NBA bio he ranks 18th in the league in steals per 48, his 2.42 rates just a bit higher than Stephen Jackson if you want an obvious comparison (no I'm not saying he's a better player).
Going a bit deeper, his rebounds per 48 is a very strong 12.0, which puts him in the same league as power players like Stromile Swift, Chris Kaman and PJ Brown. Of course these direct comparisons can only go so far, but it is nice to know that Johnson did have six double-digit rebound games through the course of March and April when he received his most regular minutes. In that time he averaged 6.7 rebounds in 25.4 mpg.
During that time, Johnson was also blocking just over one shot per game. His 2.1 blocks per 48 again can only be compared to non SF power players like Bo Outlaw and Amare Stoudamire (of course KG is way higher in these categories if you want to call him an SF).
Of course his offense sucks and he'll have to improve there, but if the stats are any indicator, we could be getting some new dimensions in our perimeter D from LJ3 we haven't had before, not just "Bruce Lite."