The Spurs are starting to remind me of Whottt's Dynasty League 1 team.
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The Spurs are starting to remind me of Whottt's Dynasty League 1 team.
:lolQuote:
Originally Posted by Spurminator
An interesting part of an article - 2005? - about Johnson's journey in B-Ball
Opportunity is once again knocking for DerMarr Johnson
By Dan Tolzman Nuggets.com Correspondent
Johnson, a 6-9, 201 lb. guard, signed a contract with the Nuggets on October 18. Denver will be his fourth stop in five seasons since leaving the University of Cincinnati in 2000. Johnson’s journey to the Mile High City has been an unconventional one to say the least.
After a terrific freshman season at UC, one in which DerMarr was named a Freshman All-American, Johnson made himself eligible for the NBA Draft. He was selected sixth overall by Atlanta, the starting point of his amazing journey.
As a rookie with the Hawks, DerMarr was used sparingly and only managed an average of 5.1 ppg in 16.8 minutes of play.
“My first year was pretty much up and down,” said Johnson. “Although I didn’t play much, I tried to show flashes of what I could do if given the opportunity.”
During his second year in the NBA, Johnson was finally given that opportunity and he took advantage of it. He started 46 games for the Hawks and averaged 8.4 ppg on the season. The full season statistics don’t do him much justice because the majority of his numbers came during the second half of the year. Needless to say, Johnson closed out his second NBA season with a great deal of promise as Atlanta’s starting shooting guard.
That summer Johnson worked harder then ever before in an attempt to tighten his grip on the starting spot. He put on 18 pounds of muscle and, more importantly, strengthened the relationship between he and the Hawks coaching staff.
“I was looking forward to having a great third year. It was going to be my breakout,” claimed Johnson. “But then,” he paused, “I had my accident.”
The car accident that DerMarr Johnson is referring to not only cost him his starting position, it nearly cost him his life. Johnson fractured four vertebrae in his neck, causing him to lose all right to left movement of his head. For the seven weeks that followed, DerMarr was forced to wear a stabilizing halo around his head while his neck healed.
“I never got any surgery, so I had to just wait for the bones to heel themselves,” said Johnson while rubbing the back of his neck. “The rest of my body felt fine, I just couldn’t move my head.”
Johnson’s breakout year in the NBA was put on hold indefinitely. He spent the entire 2002-03 season on the sidelines working to return to NBA form, not to mention the Hawks starting line-up. However, at the conclusion of the season, Atlanta let Johnson go. He was now forced to prove that he could make a full recovery to unfamiliar faces.
The first part of last season, Johnson played semi-professional basketball to prove to scouts that everything was back to normal. Eventually the New York Knicks picked him up for the remainder of the 2003-04 season. Despite averaging 5.4 ppg in only 13.7 minutes a game with the Knicks, Johnson was once again a free agent without a home at the end of the year.
While at Cincinnati, Johnson played alongside a little known player by the name of Kenyon Martin. He and Martin have remained the closest of friends since their days of wearing the black and red together. So, when it turned out that Martin would be heading to the West for a new opportunity, Johnson saw a new beginning on the horizon for himself as well.
“As soon as the [Kenyon Martin] trade went down, he called me up and asked me what my plans were,” said Johnson as Martin, his new teammate, walked by and jokingly poked fun at him. “So, he kind of pushed for me to come out here and join him.”
The way things are beginning to shape up, Johnson is sure glad that he did.
“This is the best training camp I’ve been in and the best team that I’ve ever been on,” Johnson admitted. “I think this team can go far.”
It seems as if the reuniting of Martin and Johnson might be the Nuggets good luck charm for this season. DerMarr joked that the only other time the two of them played together their team was ranked number one in the country.
“It looks like five years later and now we could be in the same situation again,” laughed Johnson.
In addition to all his hopes for the team this upcoming season, Johnson still has a much more serious goal burning inside of him.
“I just want to show everybody that I still could be a good player in this league. I was a sixth overall pick, but haven’t done much yet,” stated Johnson. “It’s my goal to turn that around.”
This season with the Nuggets, the opportunity is once again there for DerMarr Johnson. All he has to do now is take advantage of it.
WTF? Reminds of a man thrashing around treading water.
:lol
rollercoster in San Antonio
Spurs picking up anybody they can and taking them on a ride
Preseason IS over, right?
Looks like the Spurs missed the memo last night, too.
I hope it's not what happens.Quote:
Originally Posted by timvp
To me, the only explanation that makes some sense, aside of some stories with players' agents, is the following :
Spurs were first interested in Johnson but he didn't want to sign with them without some guarantees of making the team for more than a couple of weeks. Spurs couldn't give him this guarantee because of their luxury tax situation.
Spurs second choice was Langford but he was injured so Spurs go after their third choice with Marcus Williams.
Spurs waive Washington before his contract became guaranteed to sign Langford who was their second choice.
Spurs have learned today that a team will take Washington from waivers and because of that, they are now able to give some guarantee to Johnson.
It's just a pure speculation that is likely wrong.
The Warriors are the team I thought might claim Washington off waivers. And now this:Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
With Hudson out for the season, Washington would work rather well in Golden State.Quote:
The Warriors signed Troy Hudson on Sept. 24 to a one-year deal worth the league minimum of $1.2 million as a backup to Baron Davis. With 15 players on the roster, the Warriors would have to create room for another point guard. One possibility is to waive center DJ Mbenga, whose contract won't be guaranteed until Jan. 10. Another is to cut loose Hudson.
My friend's cousin's Mom's neighbor's kid told me that Bobby likes Sandy. :dizzy
I guess it's silly to speculate about anything else until January 10.
Maybe we should figure the odds of the Spurs waiving these two guys and calling up Justin Bowen and Squeaky Johnson next week.
I'm lost in all those cap's salaries and CIA's
All I care is basketball
Good that we have here on the board guys like Bruno Chump or timvp
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
...another knock on him during his time in Denver is that he took a lot of ill-advised shots...and made a very low percentage of them.
To the Spurs FO:
Enough with the musical chairs. Make a freakin' decision and stick with it, please!
Can't really say that about his stint with the Toros. Might have something to do with all the double teams and collapses Ian causes.Quote:
Originally Posted by SenorSpur
I'm fine with these two if the Spurs are limiting their choices to Toros.Quote:
Originally Posted by SenorSpur
With sufficient playing time playing with Duncan, he WILL get all the open 3's he could ever want.Quote:
Originally Posted by ChumpDumper
Here's the grub: Ian has asked the Spurs to sign his new buddy, DerMarr Johnson. Ian Mahinmi is calling the shots now.
With all these players called up from Austin, won't Toros have again the priority to get a player from the pool of available D-League player ?Quote:
Originally Posted by ChumpDumper
Maybe they will be able to get a quality guard because their backcourt is now quite weak.
Yes, they are up at the top again. Marcus will probably be back, so I don't think they are too desperate at this time. They could waive Dawson and still be able to get him back when he's healthy in a month or so - it's strange that they didn't do that a long time ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bruno
Guillermo Diaz is out there, but I don't think they want another ballhog. Maybe they'll bring Patrick Fields or Majic Dorsey back. I haven't really heard of anyone else coming back to the states at this time.
Proexposure says the Toros picked up Justin Reed. Maybe he just didn't make it to Austin last night.
We must be waiving one or two big men soon.
If convention holds form here, I expect the Spurs to waive Langford and bring back Williams within the next 5 days.
Is Keith Langford on the Spurs? Haven't been keeping up to date with the flurry of Spurs FO moves, but Yahoo.com has him listed as signed with the Spurs in recent transactions.
Yes he is signed... http:www.nba.com/spurs/news/langford_071228.htmlQuote:
Originally Posted by E20
http://www.nba.com/spurs/roster/keith_langford.html
NVM He is, I just saw the posting on the forum.
Sweet. Another Long Small Forward :elephantQuote:
Originally Posted by ChumpDumper
I like Reed. He's a super high energy, good defensive small forward who can also rebound pretty well. His weakness is his offense -- specifically his outside shooting, but this guy is a relatively good prospect. He's very similar to Ronald Dupree and Theron Smith.
Using the Toros as a factory to find a Jamario Moon type small forward and an under the radar Darrell-Armstrong-circa-2001 backup point guard is the way to go.
:tu
You know, some of these roster convulsions could have been done in part to put and keep the Toros at the top of the acquisition list at this time. I read several reports about Lang's waiting for the right opportunity in the D-League. Maybe Reed was doing the same. Austin has always been an attractive destination for minor league players, the Spurs' heavy involvement and support since the sale has probably made it even moreso.