In doing research for this description, I found out that you can watch highlights of James Johnson scoring 20 points (against the Heat, I’m pretty sure that was the reason they gave him his current contract) as a rookie for the Bulls. He looks springy! Also the guy who uploaded it has a bunch of D-Rose highlights from that season so I think I know what I’m doing for the next couple hours while I mourn for what I could have been.
Johnson only scored two more points tonight than he did in that game all those years ago, but he looks a lot more controlled out there. He’s slowly added pieces to the puzzle of his game over time, and now he’s only a few short of the full picture. His three-point shooting which was a nice surprise last year has regressed, so if he could figure that out again he’d be a complete player. As it stands, we’ll have to deal with the high-jumping, handles-having, jumper-shooting, assist-dishing, defense-playing guy who looks sort of like a homeless dude.