I have to break down and get LeaguePass, I need it

Matt enjoyed last night’s Stones game:

pistons are “off the chain” tonight. Stuckey is going to get a 10pt second quarter, including an amir alley-oop, amir is getting mad boards and dunks, and rasheed is nailing threes back to back. i think the bench scoring for each team is pistons 25, trailblazers 0. not bad.

The box score is truly a thing of beauty: ten guys played at least 20 minutes, and no one played more than 27. Plus, Amir was 4-5 from the floor with three blocks.

Even the guys who didn’t play (Herrmann, Hunter, Primoz, Flip) are all legitimate NBA guys. Cheik Samb is only player that’s too raw to bring much to the table on a good team, but I’m optimistic about his future.

In a free agency era, how can a NBA squad be this deep from 1-14? It’s a work of art.

In defense of my defense of Amir Johnson

Kenny brings up the obnoxious truth that my obsession with—and optimism regarding—Amir Johnson is based on very little NBA evidence.

Still, he’s 6′10″, 20 years old, and has incredible athletic ability (not always the Stones’ strongest suit.) A lot of scouts were saying that he’d have been a lottery pick if he came out last year (we got him with one of the last picks in the 2005 draft before they changed the rule about high school guys.) We also locked him up over the summer for three years at a mere four million a year (pocket change!)

Anyway, here’s the meager YouTube highlights that made me purchase his jersey and lets me envision him as the future of the squad:

Where it all began—high school dunk contest:

Lighting up the NBDL:

Extended look at Amir in the NBDL (Shocking news: Los Angeles-raised black guy doesn’t have much to do in Sioux Falls):

In the league:

Hanging out with the guys, spreading holiday cheer:

Hanging out by himself, spreading cheer among the ladies:

Uhhh… so there we have it!