Amir Johnson - Detroit Piston Tracker

The problem there is sort of threefold.

1.) Amir doesn't play close enough to 40 minutes for that stat to mean anything, while McDyess does.

2.) McDyess is getting his numbers against starting centers and power forwards, while plenty of Amirs boards have been wrangled against the opposing squads dregs during the waning moments of an already decided game.

3.) Flip actually sees these two go head to head in practice. For all we know McDyess is the more successful of the two when it comes to their head to head matchups in practice.

In watching the games, I can tell you that:

1) Amir skies about 40% higher for rebounds vs. Dyess, stats be darned.

2) Amir gets his boards just as readily against the other teams starters when they come back in for the last half of the 2nd quarter while Amir is still out there.

3) In actual NBA games, we see that the guys Dyess can't guard (a very numerous group) are easily guarded by Amir. Take last nights game. His teammates all around him were scoring like fiends, and yet Dyess was minus for the game. This is because he was a doormat on defense for the other team. In contrast, Amir so totally shut down the same players Dyess could not guard that it resulted in the Clips barely being able to score at all while Amir was in the game. Thus the plus 25 for Amir. (In contrast to the minus 1 for Dyess.)

Just one other thought on Amir's defense. The guy is putting up incredible defensive numbers and he shares a ton of minutes with Jarvis Hayes, Maxiell, and Stuckey (our 3 worst defensive players statistically). That makes me think that if he was playing with the starters more, it would be even more obvious.

It is relevant to rebounding. Amir is by far the better defender, while also getting more rebounds per minute than Dyess. What if Amir slacked off on his defense some, maybe all the way down to Dyess's level, and just concentrated on rebounds?

As far as rebounding goes, I think it is just about a draw between McDyess and Amir. Dyess gets 14 rebounds per 48 minutes while Amir grabs 15.

The main difference is that Amir gets 40% of his boards on the offensive end while McDyess only gets 29% of his rebounds on the offensive glass.

I didn't catch the over the last month bit. To Flip's credit, it looks like he is right.

In February, Dyess is #3 in the NBA with 16.9 rebounds per 40 minutes.

Amir Johnson is about #30 with 13.7.

Webber got 12.6
Maxiell got 12.4

And here is the sad part. Sheed checked in at a tie for 123rd with Bresec with 10.4.

We can all agree that Sheed should be a better rebounder than big bird if he was really trying, right?


Anyways, touche Flip. You are more on top of the numbers that I would have given you credit for.

You have to consider how different players rebound when they have other strong rebounders on the floor. It is rare that you ever get two guys on the floor with 10+ rebounds... this is a team game and good rebounders will level each other out in the stat department.


I think McDyess has taken it upon himself to rebound like crazy this year, allowing Sheed to have some slack in the area. Without having to bang all the time, Sheed can focus on better offense and post defense. I like it.

It's a good point. If you look at the top 25 NBA rebounders, for example, you will only see 3 pairs of teammates:

Phoenix (pre-trade): Marion (9.8), Stoudemire (9.3)
New Orleans: Chandler (12.1), West (9.1)
Cleveland (post-trade): Ilgauskas (9.6), Ben Wallace (8.8)

Just checked out the old +/- stats.

Chauncey is #2 in the league behind Paul Pierce.

However, Amir Johnson really stands out if you look at the last 10 games. In that span, he is #11 in the NBA in gross +/- at +93. On a per minute basis, he is easily #1 with +.520 per minute. (He could very well lead the league in +/- per minute for the year, but for some reason, I can't get that figure.)

Anytime you lead the 450 players in the league in a positive stat, it is something to put on your resume.

You're probably wondering about blocks/48 minutes, right?
Well, Amir is 1 block away from taking the #1 spot in the NBA.

Right now, Camby gets 5.34 per 48 and Amir gets 5.33 per 48 min.


Rebounds per 40?
He is 0.5 away from having the top spot. Okafor gets 15.9, and Amir gets 15.4.


Remember when Joe deemed him untouchable? That was a good decision.

It's ridiculous that he's still only 20.

I can't help but wonder if he'll be making more than Chauncey in four years...

The story of the game in Pistons red, white and blue
– Johnson finished with just five points to go with eight rebounds and two blocks, but numbers barely hint at his effect. After Seattle’s 82 percent first quarter, the Sonics went 0 for 14 to open the second quarter – a streak begun, and not coincidentally, when Johnson entered the game. In the final few minutes, he got his hand on a missed Hamilton shot to keep it alive, then made a diving slap at the ball to steer it toward Tayshaun Prince; then blocked a shot by Kevin Durant (20 points); and scored the game’s key basket when he took a Billups feed and went up over Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green to score with 31 seconds left.
JOHNSON: “I’m glad I stayed in there and helped the team win. … I was supposed to be a distraction (on the play where he scored) and roll to the basket. Tayshaun was coming up, but (Billups) hit me with a great pass and I had a great finish.”
BILLUPS: “I get my most athletic player on the team a shot at the basket, I’ll take it. He took advantage of it. He made the right play.”





PISTONS: Pistons 100, Seattle 97






Excellent PISTONS: Wallpaper 080304 800

Amir's performance last night made a big impact on his numbers for the year.

Now, he allows 97.4 points per 100 possessions when on the court and we score 111.6. His defensive points allowed was first on the team when it was at 99. Now, his 14.2 spread between points scored and points allowed is also #1 on the team.

It's gotta be the help D. He's not strong like Ben Wallace, but he is very quick and he seems to be putting the fear into the minds of those driving into the lane.

I was thinking about the Ben comparisons as well when Amir was getting a bunch of "Bens"

Bens are plays that basically don't show up, putting up a brick wall when a guy drives and forcing him to spaz out and throw the ball away, funnling a guy to another shot blocker, keeping the ball alive, tapping out a ball to keep it alive, forcing jump balls, or things that do show up that break the other teams back like big rebounds/blocks LATE IN THE GAME.

I dig the term st8!

...To bad for Ben that he doesn't even lead his own team in "Bens" anymore. I'd have to guess that he's #2 behind Sideshow Bob.

Does air-balling a free throw also count as a "Ben"?

I guess they are similar to Tommy Points.

Amir would have racked up about 5 Ben's last night I would say. The double tip on the jump ball after diving to the floor in the first place to get the jump call. Diving to the floor to tip out the offensive rebound. Sprinting back on the fast break to help stop a sure score. The crucial lay in while getting poked in the eye to give us some breathing room.

I'm really struggling to stay realistic about this guy. I just feel like he is the type of young player that we never get the chance to have on the Pistons. Now that we have him and he's tied up for a few years, I just want to see him utilized. Lately, it really has been happening and it is making the game very exciting. You can tell that the other players (Chauncey for example) are also energized by this development.

Only when they are in a Cavs or Bulls uni.