Popular Post GameTime Posted January 4 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 4 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Popular Post Wretch Posted January 4 Premium Member Popular Post Report Share Posted January 4 On 8/17/2021 at 9:02 PM, Wretch said: I'm glad this post is here... One, so I can get my opinion recorded for future reference and two, because it validates how I felt watching him in Summer League. And let me just say...holy sheeet. Yes, it's summer league. Yes, he's young. Yes, we have a small sample size. I hear you guys and I respect the calls to temper our expectations...but the ol' eyeball test on JJ was something else. For a 19 year old, 6'9" 220lb wing/forward...with only 2tsp's of college ball on his resume...I didn't see a whole lot of flaws. What I did see was a damn swiss army knife. That kid can handle the ball. He can pass the ball. He can shoot the ball. He can post up. He can face up. He's got dribble penetration. He's athletic. He's a rim runner. He has tremendous energy and hustle. He moves down the floor with a purpose and looks like he can effectively defend all 5 positions. It's hard trying to keep my enthusiasm in check because he just did everything well, every time he stepped on the court. He consistently looked like the most talented player out there. Not necessarily the best shooter or passer or even best scorer...but he looked like the guy with the most facets to his game and everything he did looked smooth and effortless and FAST. Which is another thing: there was zero hesitation about any of it. Just...ball got in his hands, he instantly went to work. Ball went up...he was on the glass. Ball came down, he was the first one down the court...or if he grabbed the rebound, he was pushing the break. Or if he grabbed the rebound and there was a guard there, he'd take half a second to assess the defense and then the ball would be in the facilitator's hands. I'm not going to call him the 2nd or 3rd most talented Hawk or the guy with the most potential, but if this skill translates and he improves...he's coming for somebody's minutes. Which, honestly... He's looking like a 3/4. His frame looks like he'll put on some muscle and he's a mirror of JC's pre-draft measurements. 6'9" height... 6'11" wingspan... 220-ish lbs. (though I've seen him listed 220 in some places and 206 in others). Hold on. Say what now @Wretch...? Oh. Yeah, that's what I thought Wretch said. Wait... Did I just refer to myself in 3rd person? Well yeah but before that you tagged yourself. Dude, who are you talking to? Who are YOU talking to? (Awkward silence) I dunno honestly. I was just coming to this thread to find something I thought I said and toot my own damn horn...but it's just gotten weird now. Jalen Johnson is dope y'all. 2 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Final_quest Posted January 4 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 4 6 hours ago, Wretch said: Hold on. Say what now @Wretch...? Oh. Yeah, that's what I thought Wretch said. Wait... Did I just refer to myself in 3rd person? Well yeah but before that you tagged yourself. Dude, who are you talking to? Who are YOU talking to? (Awkward silence) I dunno honestly. I was just coming to this thread to find something I thought I said and toot my own damn horn...but it's just gotten weird now. Jalen Johnson is dope y'all. We all need that self love, and why not make it weird in front of a community? I’m pretty much in love with my early takes on Jalen as well and I was announcing Cam’s flaws when there was peak love for Cam in the same post. I stood by Trae during his struggles. I predicted the need for a second star directly after the ECF run. Let’s just ignore what I said about Justin Holiday. Oops. At least I only wanted him to work for a year. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Popular Post JayBirdHawk Posted January 4 Premium Member Popular Post Report Share Posted January 4 So this is what we doing for the new year? Self love Speaking in 3rd person Making things weird Mmmmmm...let me look up all my great takes: Spoiler I got nothing 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalamchops Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 jj took and made so many easy looks last night, it's so refreshing to see the team get easy buckets. Those are so necessary to keep the lead and pressure on the other team's D. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member JayBirdHawk Posted January 4 Premium Member Report Share Posted January 4 15 minutes ago, Final_quest said: Let’s just ignore what I said about Justin Holiday. Oops. At least I only wanted him to work for a year. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bird_dirt Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 7 hours ago, Wretch said: Hold on. Say what now @Wretch...? Oh. Yeah, that's what I thought Wretch said. Wait... Did I just refer to myself in 3rd person? Well yeah but before that you tagged yourself. Dude, who are you talking to? Who are YOU talking to? (Awkward silence) I dunno honestly. I was just coming to this thread to find something I thought I said and toot my own damn horn...but it's just gotten weird now. Jalen Johnson is dope y'all. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post kg01 Posted January 4 Popular Post Report Share Posted January 4 8 hours ago, Wretch said: Hold on. Say what now @Wretch...? Oh. Yeah, that's what I thought Wretch said. Wait... Did I just refer to myself in 3rd person? Well yeah but before that you tagged yourself. Dude, who are you talking to? Who are YOU talking to? (Awkward silence) I dunno honestly. I was just coming to this thread to find something I thought I said and toot my own damn horn...but it's just gotten weird now. Jalen Johnson is dope y'all. Guys .... hes finally losing it. Slow. Clap. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecampster Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 1 hour ago, dalamchops said: jj took and made so many easy looks last night, it's so refreshing to see the team get easy buckets. Those are so necessary to keep the lead and pressure on the other team's D. I counted 5 times he passed to someone who missed a wide open look. He easily could/should have had 5 more assists. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Popular Post Diesel Posted January 4 Premium Member Popular Post Report Share Posted January 4 11 hours ago, GameTime said: The Look on SGA's face after JJ dunked over Holmgren.... Says it all. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spud2nique Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said: Making things weird 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Popular Post Diesel Posted January 4 Premium Member Popular Post Report Share Posted January 4 Hawks fans watching JJ saying... Wretch out here sounding like Morpheus in the second movie! 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spud2nique Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 9 hours ago, Wretch said: Jalen Johnson is dope y'all. I’m sorry but he has exceeded EVERYBODY’S expectations not just s(tump)puddy! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecampster Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 49 minutes ago, Spud2nique said: I’m sorry but he has exceeded EVERYBODY’S expectations not just s(tump)puddy! Mine??? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators macdaddy Posted January 4 Moderators Report Share Posted January 4 Jalen steals = points. Last one is hilarious steals vs okc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kg01 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 1 hour ago, Spud2nique said: I’m sorry but he has exceeded EVERYBODY’S expectations not just s(tump)puddy! Not mine! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kg01 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 1 hour ago, Diesel said: Hawks fans watching JJ saying... That's also how I'm looking at @Spud2nique 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kg01 Posted January 4 Report Share Posted January 4 10 minutes ago, macdaddy said: Jalen steals = points. Last one is hilarious steals vs okc JJ had Giddey feelin' like he walked into the jail cafeteria and got his lunch stolen..... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Popular Post Sothron Posted January 4 Premium Member Popular Post Report Share Posted January 4 Jalen is Josh Smith 2.0. He's not the elite shot blocker but he has the passing, the moves and the freak athletic ability. The biggest improvement in Smoove 2.0 is that he actually takes good shots and isn't addicted to long two's. I really feel that what you see in Jalen is if Josh just listened to coaches a little bit more. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Atlantaholic Posted January 4 Premium Member Report Share Posted January 4 11 minutes ago, Sothron said: Jalen is Josh Smith 2.0. He's not the elite shot blocker but he has the passing, the moves and the freak athletic ability. The biggest improvement in Smoove 2.0 is that he actually takes good shots and isn't addicted to long two's. I really feel that what you see in Jalen is if Josh just listened to coaches a little bit more. Jalen is smoother (ironically), there was always some Jank to J-Smoove, with his loose handles and while he had the highlight passes he was also the type of passer that would occasionally throw the worst pass you've ever seen. I think Jalen is much more refined offensively overall, it took several years to get Josh to look like he knew what he was doing on that end. Josh's brunt of his value always was defense, he was a legit force from the first day he stepped on the court on that end. It's why when his athletic ability (and shotblocking) started declining, he found himself out of the league. Jalen's shooting splits all over the court already put peak Josh to absolute shame. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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