Blazers and Wizards scrimmaging right now

[Nikolokolus]

A tasty little nugget from Casey Holdahl:

pdxtrailblazers

Wizards got the better of the first quarter, to be expected considering personnel. Armon holding his own tho, very aggressive going at Wall

Nice.

 

[Nikolokolus]

More:

pdxtrailblazers

Armon back in guarding Wall. Blazers get a steal, Armon leaks out, goes for the dunk and gets fouled hard by Wall from behind

 

[Idog1976]

More:

I'm liking Armon more and more as a pick. Definitely has a Greg Anthony type feel to him.

 

[Fez Hammersticks]

@pdxtrailblazers: Great finish to the quarter for Armon. Wall goes for the steal, ends up in his butt, and Armon his the jumper over him as time expires

Nice

 

[Mediocre Man]

pdxtrailblazers:

Armon held his arm up on the follow through a little longer than usual. That's swag...

 

[BlazerCaravan]

I like this guy.

 

[Idog1976]

I like this guy.

I had a good feeling about him after the draft. Unfortunately, he's under Nate.

Fortunately, it sounds like he's got a bit of Nate in him and not in a "Now bend over this barrel Sergio" kind of way either.

(Here's looking at you Maris )

 

[Wheels]

thanks for those tid-bits guys

 

[Mediocre Man]

Johnson apparently tweaked his foot a bit (Naturally) but no one seems to be too concerned

 

[alex42083]

Yep, thanks for the tweets. I wish they could get some video of this. Very nice to hear Armon keeping up the play for two games and a scrimmage. Armon for backup PG!

 

[Nikolokolus]

Not being able to see the game and how they actually matched up play-by-play it would be foolish to read into anything that a blazers employee reported, but it's certainly better than hearing that Wall tore him a new one.

 

[LJ Ginger]

It would be nice to get a box score even though it's a scrimmage...or at least a full diagnosis of John Wall and Armon Johnson's battle.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Anybody else twittering ("tweeting"?) about the game?

 

[B-Roy]

Blazers hit buzzer beater to win the last scrimmage, and Sam Cassell, who is coaching the Wiz, is HOT. Doesn't think they got the shot off

Lol.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Blazers hit buzzer beater to win the last scrimmage, and Sam Cassell, who is coaching the Wiz, is HOT. Doesn't think they got the shot off

Lol.[/QUOT


Edit: who hit the shot

 

[MickZagger]

Blazers hit buzzer beater to win the last scrimmage, and Sam Cassell, who is coaching the Wiz, is HOT. Doesn't think they got the shot off

Lol.[/QUOT


Edit: who hit the shot

My sources are telling me it was Jimmy Baron.

 

[hasoos]

A player playing well in a scrimmage? JUMP ON THE FUCKING BANDWAGON YOU SLACKERS!

 

[LittleAlex]

Do you mean to tell me a Blazer employee is saying good things about a Blazer player?

That's crazy talk.

 

[Nikolokolus]

Do you mean to tell me a Blazer employee is saying good things about a Blazer player?

That's crazy talk.

If it was Barrett or Rice you'd have a point, Holdahl seems like a pretty even handed guy who isn't afraid to say what he really thinks (at least from the trailblazers.com podcast he does with Dave from Blazersedge). But you're right, take it all with a grain of salt.

 

[maxiep]

My guess is Wall didn't completely destroy Johnson, therefore on the basis of expectations AJ looked pretty good.

 

[Nikolokolus]

That Freeman guy from the Gory-onion:
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindblazersbeat/2010/07/trail_blazers_armon_johnson_ho.html

by the time the scrimmage concluded Wednesday in an underground practice court at Cox Pavilion, Johnson had held his own against the future superstar, revealing in-your-face defense, aggressive offensive instinct and a physical game. If it was a test for the Blazers’ second-round draft pick in his bid to land a roster spot next season, the consensus is Johnson passed.

“I think (the scrimmage was) a continuation of what we’ve seen in the first two games,” said Mike Born, the Blazers’ director of NBA scouting. “I think he did a good job defending. Obviously he’s showing that he’s strong, athletic. I think his mind set; he’s got a defensive mind set and I think he’s done a good job on the offensive end, too, just being patient on the pick and roll and making good reads. When you’re watching him play, you can see how the things he’s doing will transfer to an NBA game.”

Johnson was active and aggressive from the get-go and it was clear he was not wowed or intimidated at the prospect of facing Wall for the first time. Johnson scored the first basket of the game when he patiently maneuvered around a high screen-and-roll to the right wing and drained a pull-up jumper in open space. Later in the quarter, Johnson drove into the lane past Wall and lofted a tough but pretty one-handed shot.

It was far from a perfect outing for Johnson. He once drove on Wall on the left baseline and forced a shot that clanged off the side of the backboard. Another time he unsuccessfully tried to squeeze a pass into the post that was stolen.

But for every miscue their was a highlight, which elicited a positive vide from Born and Blazers’ director of college scouting Chad Buchanan, who were watching from center court. Perhaps the biggest smile came after Johnson nailed a jump shot from the top of the key with Wall laying on his backside on the floor after he unsuccessfully tried to steal the ball.

“It’s definitely a great opportunity just because you’ve been hearing so much about guys like Wall,” Johnson said. “I hadn’t had a chance to play against him, so I was glad to have the opportunity (for the Blazers to) see what I’m made of, see what I have.”

Nice read.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Here's video.

 

[alex42083]

Thanks for the link to the video.
Size-wise, he seems just as big as John Wall. And sounds like with each passing day, he's making a stronger, stronger case for a roster spot. Great to hear.

 

[jlprk]

Not great to hear for Patty Mills. Mills is a really good player and if he doesn't catch on here, I'm sure he will with another NBA team. He'll make some noise around the league like the other 6 footer mini-players do, like Brooks and Nate Robinson. There will be nights he looks great and we wish we had kept him.

It's sad to have to decide, but acquiring Matthews forces it.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

What I don't get, is why weren't Nevada better?

I'm hoping Armon Johnson turns out to be Alvin Williams II. (Does that make Babbitt Tim Thomas II?)

 

[Nikolokolus]

Not great to hear for Patty Mills. Mills is a really good player and if he doesn't catch on here, I'm sure he will with another NBA team. He'll make some noise around the league like the other 6 footer mini-players do, like Brooks and Nate Robinson. There will be nights he looks great and we wish we had kept him.

It's sad to have to decide, but acquiring Matthews forces it.

I'm still holding out hope for the big consolidation move that turns some of this potential into proven production. If they clear enough room I'd have no problem with the team picking up both Armon and Mills and letting them pick up whatever table scraps are left for minutes behind <fill-in-the-blank-stud-pg> Both would give Nate some very different options at the backup 1. Mills would be a pretty good change of pace guy and I think Armon eventually could end up being a pretty strong defender.

Lots left to see this summer.

 

[jlprk]

What I don't get, is why weren't Nevada better?

Looks like their weakness was nonconference games. At home they were 8-1 but away they were 1-6. If you subtract those nonconference games on the road from their 21-13 record, it leaves 20-7, which is more like it.

http://www.nevadawolfpack.com/fls/10000/MBB_Stats/2009-10/teamcume.htm

 

[Nikolokolus]

What I don't get, is why weren't Nevada better?

I'm hoping Armon Johnson turns out to be Alvin Williams II. (Does that make Babbitt Tim Thomas II?)

Ugh. Babbit. Can you just imagine the abuse he's going to get from Batum in practice, not only because Babbitt is a french idiom for cock, but he's going to torch the hell out of him on offense and lock him up like criminal on defense. If nothing else maybe Babbitt will actually get better in time, but I don't have high hopes that guy at all.

 

[STOMP]

Thanks for the link to the video.
Size-wise, he seems just as big as John Wall. And sounds like with each passing day, he's making a stronger, stronger case for a roster spot. Great to hear.

the pre-draft numbers for the two were very similar both in physical measurements and run/jump measurements... Wall was just a slight bit better in both

the big question with Armon is his outside shot

STOMP

 

[jlprk]

Nikolokolus apparently had a different French teacher than I had.