Armon Johnson
Armon Johnson played his best game in a Blazer uniform tonight, Summer League included. His on-ball defense has been very good all preseason. Johnson was probably chest-to-chest with the doctor after his mother delivered him. "I bet you want to walk across the hall to check on that other woman who is delivering a baby, don't you? Sorry, but you'll have to go through me to do that, Doc. That's just the way I am wired."
Aside from the defense, Johnson showed he has been listening to McMillan preach the past few weeks about five guys hitting the glass on both ends. Johnson had 5 rebounds in 17 minutes, a number of them in traffic, the kind of rebounds that make you slap yourself on the forehead and say, "Man, that's a great rebound for a point guard," and then slap yourself again for boring yourself with such a self-evident observation. Johnson also hit a three-pointer (!), a sweet pull-up jumper and a memorable runner to the basket.
Add it up: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 turnovers on 5-8 shooting. A coach's dream, for a night. Areas of concern or needed development for Johnson at this point: consistent decision-making, running the pick-and-roll sets more smoothly and increasing his familiarity with Portland's best players. He is challenging Cunningham for title of "Hungriest Blazer".
