Bear Down Wildcats

gumby wrote:All of these guys have things going on we don't know about. That's why it's dumb to take a game personally, or to read too much into a quote or two. We (and I'm guilty, too) tend to expound too much on the snippets we learn, forgetting that it's just a sliver of the whole picture.

Well put my friend. It is just a game indeed.

That said, T.J. Leaf ... grrr!

All Stan from 1:55 - 3:46, on fire from deep. Interview at 6:50

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/story/2 ... onzo-trier


Pistons rookie Stanley Johnson apologizes for pointing toy gun at friend in Snapchat video
Kami Mattioli's


Pistons rookie Stanley Johnson apologized Wednesday morning after a Snapchat video posted Tuesday evening surfaced in which he jokingly pointed what he said was a toy air gun at a friend.

"Last night I was hanging out with some friends and we were joking around with a toy. I really apologize for the way it looks and of course understand it's a sensitive subject matter. I honestly meant no harm," Johnson said in a statement to Sporting News.

The video was posted to Snapchat on Tuesday evening by Allonzo Trier, an incoming freshman shooting guard at the University of Arizona, and has since been removed.

Trier, Johnson and another young man whom Sporting News was unable to identify were gathered in a bedroom hanging out when Johnson pulled the toy gun out and pointed it in the third young man's face. The trio began to laugh.

A mention of the video first surfaced on Reddit's college basketball channel, posted by user BelligerentBacteria. Sporting News accessed the video through Trier's feed before it was deleted Wednesday morning.

The Pistons did not immediately respond to a Sporting News request for comment.

Detroit drafted Johnson out of Arizona with the eighth pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.

nm

Dumb, not a good look either way.

Lets all just be grateful that social media was not around, or in a much smaller capacity, when we were 18 and 19.

Justin Simon looks absolutely terrified and fearing for his life from that air pellet gun doesn't he? I get how incidents like today in Virginia makes everyone overly sensitive (for good reason), but come on. Does context mean nothing anymore?

Helping out at practice. Gabe rockin the dirty sanchez

Looks like Stanimal really was torn about leaving college.

I've said it before, I truly believe he only left early because he wanted his mom to see him get drafted in the NBA before she passed. Helped that the was predicted to be a high pick, but I think without that situation he stays. Says a lot about what he values and how good of a kid he is. Gave up a piece of his youth for the woman who helped him become who he is.

Rated 1 point higher than Devin Booker. Lol.

Holy crap that picture for the game looks great. I can't believe how far the graphics for video games have come.

I literally thought I was looking at a pic of Stanimal before I saw the 2K16

Stanley played PG in practice today.

http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/detr ... ice-100515" target="_blank

Stanimal drops 26 in his Piston debut playing part of the time at pg.

Think that was the only game not televised or on league pass. Wonder how he did defensively at point?

The Pistons had their best stretch of the evening at the start of the second half, when Van Gundy went with Stanley Johnson at point guard to go along with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Andre Drummond, Reggie Bullock and Marcus Morris.

The Pistons were more active and scored 39 points in the quarter, taking a six-point lead into the fourth.

"That's probably, right now, the best defensive lineup we could put on the floor," Van Gundy said. "It wasn't really a shock that that's the best we played the whole night, because we were doing a better job at the defensive end of the floor."

“You saw a real competitive guy,” Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I think that’s the main thing. The guy’s really, really competitive. He’s a competitor, a winner and the whole thing. The mistakes, we’ll keep working. I thought his will was so strong that at times he was forcing plays. But again, I’d rather deal with that. He’s a tough guy. I think that showed through.”

Johnson felt he could have played better, but was glad to get a chance to get some NBA experience.

“I think anytime you get on the court and you’re able to get a NBA game feeling, it’s always positive. Playing against a superstar in Paul George, kind of seeing what that’s like is always positive and just playing on the court. I think knowledge is power and your best teacher is experience. The more experience I get, the faster I can learn, the faster I can be great.”

Due to injuries to point guards Reggie Jackson (Achilles strain), Steve Blake (concussion) and Brandon Jennings (Achilles), Johnson had to play some point guard. Johnson did have six turnovers, some which Van Gundy took the blame for, but Van Gundy felt the team’s best defensive unit was with Johnson at the point.

“He ended up playing 33 minutes. Our best stretch in the game was when he was playing the point,” Van Gundy said.



















Might have to buy League Pass...

Looks like a young Kobe in those highlights. What is his ceiling? Not a big fan of Stan VG but I think with Stan's attitude, the sky is the limit. What a jewel we had.

SVG will be great for Stanley. Defensive guru and Stanley has shown he is a very solid defender when he wants to be. He will only get better under him. Peak years, I see Stanley as a borderline all NBA defensive team player, 19-22 ppg, maybe a little more on a bad team, grab you 6 boards and give you 4 assists. I think he goes to multiple all star games.

34 mins 26pts 3rebs 4asts 2 stls 6 TOs 5 fouls

8/17 FGs
3/6 3PTs
7/9 FTs
+8 +/-

Played against Rondae last night

29mins 12pts 7rebs 2 asts 2stls 2blks 2 TOs

He's looking good so far. Huge buzz with Pistons fans, they are super excited about this kid on the message boards and in social media.

Such a great story for this great Cat----Mater Dei to a terrific Piston prospective in one year. And the development key---a year with Sean Miller---in the middle. Hard to say what Stan's League potential is, but I suggest it'll be up there.

I hope JJ looks at Stan as a career development model.

Not a bad 1st game for Stanimal

7 point, 4 rebs, 3 assists in 24 min off the bench.

Forgive me if this was already posted somewhere (I don't think it was)

Stanley Johnson and Frank Kaminsky to be Featured Hosts on SiriusXM NBA Radio's "Year One"

Tobias Harris traded to Detroit. Going to take some of Stanley's playing time?

Jefe wrote:Tobias Harris traded to Detroit. Going to take some of Stanley's playing time?

Create room for Aaron Gordon?

Probably not. Harris is a tweener forward and Stan is a pure wing. If he cuts Stan's minutes, there's a bigger issue.

Jefe wrote:Tobias Harris traded to Detroit. Going to take some of Stanley's playing time?

Harris just wasnt a good fit in Orlando. Hes young, getting paid and is basically be relied upon to be a top offensive option. That is something he isnt capable of, but he fits into Detroit's timeline and can act as a 3rd option there and play the 4 next to Drummond.

The big news here is what Stan Van Gundy is doing in Detroit. I was pretty happy Stanley ended up there on draft night and now you can see why. Hes a good fit at the 3 there and SVG now has 4 guys who can basically switch between 2-3-4 defensively.

Also, Skiles is going to give Gordon the chance to develop at the 3. Hes been getting around 30 MPG the last month and nearly putting up a double-double.

Yeah Gordon is basically a rookie this year due to injury. He's got a phenomenal future. And it has nothing to do with the dunk contest, just go look at his numbers this year when he gets starters minutes.

http://tucson.com/sports/blogs/pascoe/a ... 6ac0b.html" target="_blank

While Stanley Johnson, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and T.J. McConnell all visited UA over the weekend, Miller said he was surprised to find Johnson still in town Monday.

“I was worried that he wasn’t going to leave,” Miller said. “I walked in the locker room and he was playing video games. You forget Stanley’s 19 years old. He’s at a place where he’s comfortable. He’s at a place where he had a wonderful experience. A lot of his friends went to school here, not just ones on the team, but away from the court as well.

“Like he said to me so eloquently when I asked him why he was still here: I said where do you want to be, `Detroit or Tucson right now.’ He said, `Coach, right now it’s like five degrees in Detroit.”

Miller said Johnson went through some of the skills portion of UA’s practice on Monday, and that it was “remarkable” to see how physically strong he was.

“To think he played the two for us. No wonder we won 34 games,” Miller said. “He wanted a workout and it’s always great for our guys to see him working and how he goes about it, what his shot looks like, how fast he is. And I think he passed the test.”

How awesome is Stanley? I don't think there are too many one and done players that love visiting their school so much the coach is wondering why he's still here instead of going back to his NBA team. A nice reminder of just how tough a decision it was for him to leave.

Nice article by Pascoe

19 yrs old, and still remains connected to Tucson/Arizona and Coach Miller. Wonderful to witness a real Player's Program. I hope that JJ and RA are taking notes.

“To think he played the two for us. No wonder we won 34 games,” Miller said. “He wanted a workout and it’s always great for our guys to see him working and how he goes about it, what his shot looks like, how fast he is. And I think he passed the test.”

Yeah, I think it's obvious how close he was to staying for one more year.

Could u imagine him on the wing w this team .........!but I digress.

What a talent and what a kid, he will go on to do big things in the NBA at some point. Outside of maybe Gordon, his future is the brightest concerning NBA prospects , at least until JJ steps on campus.

Interesting. Let's put SJ on this year's team and see how it stacks up:

2015 > 2016
TJMC >> KA Tough to argue, I think.
SJ > AT Stanley provided more rebounding and more defense with similar offensive numbers. Trier is improving though.
RHJ < SJ Going to give SJ with another year of experience the nod over last year's RHJ. Last year the two were almost identical in every advanced metric.
BA < RA Closer than you might think. Bash was a good all around player for us last year and provided spacing that RA doesn't. RA is simply a statistical beast this year.
Tarc = Tarc Tarc's playing better this year when he's healthy, but he's been out a lot. Last year's advanced stats are actually better for Tarc.

I think point guard play would put the 2015 team over this one with Stanley, but I like the fluidity that Trier brings to the offense. When things break down, this year's team seems much better to handle a short clock.

Also worth noting that stat comparisons between last year and this are complicated by the shot clock changes.

I think York is starting this year no matter what, whether Trier comes off bench or we go two combo guards in York and Trier I'm not sure.

One thing is for sure that you forgot to mention .......

2016 bench >>>>>>>>>> 2015 bench assuming SJ is here this year.

Trier is a much more effective player statistically, so I stuck him in over York. You're probably right that Miller would start York, though.

2016 bench would be PJC, York, Ristic, Tolly. 2015 bench was Pitts plus younger versions of PJC, York, and Ristic. Yup, hard to argue about the bench, PZ20.

Regardless of who starts, you have a log jam with who is out there in crunch time. You have to have Zeus out there, you have to have Ryan out there (so no moving Stanley to the 4), you have to have Stanley out there... So where does that leave Gabe and Trier? You dont want either on the bench but you have to unless Gabe slides over to the 1, which I would be fine with in most situations.

If SJ had stayed, we would have had arguably the best offensive team Arizona has EVER had. SJ, AT, RA and Zeus are as high efficiency players as we've ever had at the core. Defensively, we would have some dropoff, but jeez that would be an unreal offensive team.

Gabe was a part-time starter for two seasons. No way he sees the bench as a senior if Stanley had returned. Full-time starter at the 2.

Trier would have either developed a lot earlier as a point guard, battling with Kadeem and PJC for time there, or he simply would've had to wait his turn before assuming a starting role as a sophomore.

Craig Victor wasn't willing to do that. Some guys aren't.

Point guard play would've been the chink in our armor, but the way Stanley handled the ball sometimes in crunch time, that's a chink I don't think would've stopped such a team from reaching the Final Four.

As a wing, he would've become that good of an on-floor leader and defensive stopper--on a team that, as we have seen, has really needed one this year, as it has turned out.

Don't get me wrong, I love our gutty little group of overachievers as it stands now. But Stanley Johnson would have filled a huge role on this team, the biggest of anyone.

Stanley comes back, and I don't see how we aren't #1 in the polls even with the bad luck injuries we have had. Who do we lose to? Certainly not the USC/UCLA games on the road. We don't lose to Providence. We don't lose to Cal (have fun w Stanley, Jaylen Brown). So maybe the Oregon game? Have a hard time thinking Stanley lets his team and himself perform so flat in a huge home game. So quite possibly undefeated. And watch how Stanley is defending NBA players this year. At times he has looked like the best perimeter defender on that team. Hell, just take Stanley's d and put it in one perimeter player's body, a healthy Trier or Gabe. I think that alone is significant enough to have us as one of the top 4 teams in the country right now. But we have been playing the what if game the last few years

Just once, I'd like one of our one-and-dones to actually come back for a second year, just to see what would happen.

If there was a direct competition between Trier and Gabe, Trier would win. Trier is efficient at a level Gabe will never be on offense.

Yep agreed, Spiff.

To CG97's point: you're probably right about Gabe starting because he's a senior and Miller values that. However, I was pencilling-in the best five players, and Trier is superior to Gabe in any efficiency measure.

But imo, Trier + York is superior to KA + AT as the starting backcourt.

Maybe not vs a team like WVU that presses all game but w Stanley at the 3 I think we'd be fine. And once we get into the half court (80% of possessions) it's a team thing when it comes to assists. It's not like our base offense is a pick and roll O in the NBA.

Also, I do agree that possibly a healthy Ray Smith may have been a better fit for this team than a returning Stanley Johnson.

Ray would have allowed us so much lineup flexibility. You can go small w either PG, York, Trier, RA and Zeus, go REALLY SMALL w same lineup accept RS and RA as ur 4 and 5 for spurts (against a team like Oregon for example so we could guard them)

Go big w Trier as the 6th man and a frontline of RS, RA, and Zeus. Play the twin towers w RS at the 3 and overwhelm teams w length.

A 3/4 like Ray would be a better fit than a 2/3 like Stanley this year for lineup flexibility. Although no one could come close to replacing Stanley's perimeter D which is also sorely lacking at times on this squad. Especially someone to not allow the blow by, which SJ would not.

But a 3/4 like Smith is a great fit for this year. Or even a pure 3 like Lee if he wasn't swindled by scumbag Pitino who convinced him to play his last year I a truly meaningless season (I see u Newport) would get this team over the top.

I know I've beaten this dead horse before , but I truly feel like we are just one of those guys away from being a Bonafide natty title contender like the last two years. I like Tolly but he should just be further down the bench on a team w legit natty aspirations. (Or maybe doesn't come , certainly if Lee did)

Just one of those 3 things go our way, Stan goes w his heart and plays one more year like Marcus Smart ...... Lee chooses his choice B in Zona that actually can play in March, or Ray doesn't pull a D Rose right before the season ...... And we r every bit the powerhouse we were the last two seasons.

Only difference is there r no other powerhouses this year like last. If you put last years team v this years competition, u might see a Kentucky like crowning when they had Davis.

At least w the wide open race this year our team might say Fck it anyways and pull a UConn and win the whole damn thing regardless. Gonna be an exciting homestretch boys !!

PennZona20 wrote: At least w the wide open race this year our team might say Fck it anyways and pull a UConn and win the whole damn thing regardless. Gonna be an exciting homestretch boys !!

THIS, PLEASE LORD THIS

Not sure I agree with that Pennzona. Stanley only gives up an inch on Ray Smith in height, and Stanley has an inch on him with wingspan. He is also stronger, bigger bodied, more experienced, and is probably a far superior defender (we never got to see Ray, but a very safe assumption). Ray Smith can play the 3 and 4, but Stanley can guard or switch on positions 1-4 in college. Stanley is a 3 and the only reason he played the 2 last year was because of our massive size with Rondae, Bash and Zeus at the 3-5. Ray may have been an all Pac 12 selection, but Stanley would have been Pac12 POY, an All American, and would have had a legit shot at the Naismith. He would have been a man among boys this year. Plus the fact he is an elite defender, which this team sure could use, especially at that position which has been the weakest link defensively. And with the offensive help around him (the 3 bigs down low, Gabe having to shoot less, Trier), you wouldn't have to be scared to put Stanley on a team's best scoring wing, because if he gets in a little foul trouble its not the end of the world and there are still plenty of other guys who can put the ball in the hoop. This team with Stanley added is a national champion, no doubt in my mind.

Yeah, I don't take a freshman Ray Smith over a sophomore Stanley Johnson under any circumstance. Nothing against Ray.

rgdeuce wrote:Not sure I agree with that Pennzona. Stanley only gives up an inch on Ray Smith in height, and Stanley has an inch on him with wingspan. He is also stronger, bigger bodied, more experienced, and is probably a far superior defender (we never got to see Ray, but a very safe assumption). Ray Smith can play the 3 and 4, but Stanley can guard or switch on positions 1-4 in college. Stanley is a 3 and the only reason he played the 2 last year was because of our massive size with Rondae, Bash and Zeus at the 3-5. Ray may have been an all Pac 12 selection, but Stanley would have been Pac12 POY, an All American, and would have had a legit shot at the Naismith. He would have been a man among boys this year. Plus the fact he is an elite defender, which this team sure could use, especially at that position which has been the weakest link defensively. And with the offensive help around him (the 3 bigs down low, Gabe having to shoot less, Trier), you wouldn't have to be scared to put Stanley on a team's best scoring wing, because if he gets in a little foul trouble its not the end of the world and there are still plenty of other guys who can put the ball in the hoop. This team with Stanley added is a national champion, no doubt in my mind.

Yeah I would concede this thinking about it. If I could have any of those 3 things go our way ..... I'd take Stanley coming back one more year. I would start Gabe , Trier, Stan, RA, and Zeus. Unless getting the ball up the court became a serious issue. That offense would be absurd. And the D all of a sudden becomes good-great too.

Then you have PjC, KA, DR, and RT as depth. JS and CC for emergencies or more likely blowouts.

That team is cutting down the nets , at the very least getting to a FF