Knicks · Darius Johnson-Odom (page 1)

http://www.theknicksblog.com/2012/05/24/...

Darius Johnson-Odom is an interesting option for the Knicks. My guess is he’ll be there for when they pick, but whether or not they want to go in this direction is the question.

As a prospect, he’s labeled a combo-guard. Does NY need another one? I’m not so sure. However, he’s more trustworthy with the ball than Toney Douglas, he’s a disciplined defender, and frankly he’s a better option at the point then any reserve on the roster.

DJO is undersized, but all 6’3 of him is brute strength. He’s fearless. Consistently focused. Off the dribble he’s at full force attacking north/south, capable of absorbing contact and finishing despite it. But where he’d help the Knicks out the most is on the perimeter. Johnson-Odom is a fine shooter, and a polished one at that. In three years at Marquette, DJO shot a combined 221 for 549 from downtown (40%). He’s never shot below 36% from three in a season, attempting over 5 threes a game over his collegiate career. That’s a pretty large sample size, which reflects consistency and reliability. But what’s intriguing about his stroke is that it comes both off the catch and off the bounce. Johnson-Odom can step up and make guards pay for going under screens, which is significant when you consider he’d be handling the ball.

I’ve covered DJO closely over the past few years, and the one word I think of when describing him is “sturdy”. He won’t wow you with creativity. But he’s a constant. A fixture. You know what you’re getting with him- no unpredictability attached, rare to say for a guard. This year he scored at least 15 points in 28 of his 34 games played with only a high of 26. He won’t dominate the ball, nor does he need to. Which is what makes him an interesting option at #48 for NY.

Hard not to like this kid. Gritty, proven, underrated athleticism and a consistent threat behind the arc. And you know how I feel about Marquette players recently.

Jonathan Wasserman provides his draft input in great detail for NBAdraftnet. He does a tremendous job and TKB is thankful to have him aboard as we approach the draft next month.

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I swear, I bet scouts, and analyst read this board, with so many people here making great assessment of players with potential, especially with Briggs.
Think we just might have boosted up him up to late 1st round/early 2nd round at latest....

No reason why this kidd cannot be the next making of.....

Monta Ellis
Brandon Jennings
JJ Barea

LOL Next Monta or Jennings? Keep dreaming.

Monta came out of HIGHSCHOOL.

AnubisADL wrote:LOL Next Monta or Jennings? Keep dreaming.

Monta came out of HIGHSCHOOL.

Allen Iverson, Larry Hughes, and Gilbert Areana's created a new bread of hybrids as the "combo" guards.
I have always liked Monta Ellis and thought he was much better than AI, with his athleticism and strength.

A player like this would really add to our ability to penetrate and create open shots off it.
We don't have any players that can use speed/quickness off the dribble other than Lin, with no post presence, the biggest reasons why we fail to shoot a high % and take open shots.
I am sick of watching Laundry Fields pump fake and pump fake, while no one is biting.

We need to have the ability to attack, spread the floor, and move the ball like how OKC can and The Spurs do with great spacing and ball movement.
When we try to move the ball without penetration and post up players, IT DOESN'T go anywhere...

JJ Barea was a big part of what Dallas did when they won the championship last year, with Terry, and Dirk all as #1,2,3 options.
Barea's ability to use the PnR (with Tyson Chandler's great picks), penetration with the ability to finish strong, shoot the 3pointer, and break down the opponents defense
that the PnR forces. They had great shooters and average defenders, something we are similar to in some sense.

Rather than Kidd, Nash, or Dragic, we have a chance to acquire a player that is younger and much more explosive.
We can use w/e is left with our exemptions to fill our other holes, while those guys might not even be entertained with the MLE with exception to Kidd.

So you don't think Odom can be as good as good as Monta or Jennings?
What about a more explosive Barea?
I don't see what is so funny....

AnubisADL, I believe your one of the believers that Fields would be the starting SG of our future last summer.
Comparing him to Marion, with his rebounds, athleticism, and all around game.
Now, that is funny!

He's definitely an interesting guy, and I think I'd be pretty happy if we drafted him. I just don't see how he falls to us at 48.

RonRon wrote:So you don't think Odom can be as good as good as Monta or Jennings?
What about a more explosive Barea?
I don't see what is so funny....

AnubisADL, I believe your one of the believers that Fields would be the starting SG of our future last summer.
Comparing him to Marion, with his rebounds, athleticism, and all around game.
Now, that is funny!

Another Barea? Maybe. Jennings and Ellis? Nope.

I have been saying since day 1 he is a SF. Others who shall remain nameless said he was our future SG even though he had weak handle and no jumper.

AnubisADL wrote:

RonRon wrote:So you don't think Odom can be as good as good as Monta or Jennings?
What about a more explosive Barea?
I don't see what is so funny....

AnubisADL, I believe your one of the believers that Fields would be the starting SG of our future last summer.
Comparing him to Marion, with his rebounds, athleticism, and all around game.
Now, that is funny!

Another Barea? Maybe. Jennings and Ellis? Nope.

I have been saying since day 1 he is a SF. Others who shall remain nameless said he was our future SG even though he had weak handle and no jumper.

Really? He shot 40% from three during his college career.

AnubisADL wrote:

RonRon wrote:So you don't think Odom can be as good as good as Monta or Jennings?
What about a more explosive Barea?
I don't see what is so funny....

AnubisADL, I believe your one of the believers that Fields would be the starting SG of our future last summer.
Comparing him to Marion, with his rebounds, athleticism, and all around game.
Now, that is funny!

Another Barea? Maybe. Jennings and Ellis? Nope.

I have been saying since day 1 he is a SF. Others who shall remain nameless said he was our future SG even though he had weak handle and no jumper.

If he can be a more JJ Barea, I think that is very solid already.
But he looks much more explosive, stronger, and athletic to me.
What makes JJ Barea deadly, is his ability to penetrate, with speed and quickness, stop and quickly accelerating, and he is very crafty.
I am not sure what his speed his, but he sure is strong and explosive for his size.

Positions are over rated, I know he played SF in college, but you can't compare that to the pros.
You have to think if their games can translate to the pro level and I can't see why Darius Johnson-Odom can not.
And after that it is based on potential and how they develop, which no one can fully guarantee.
Didn't Westbrook play PF in college, Battier Center and PF, and Dunleavy SG-C.
There are so many players that played different positions.

I think his game will translate, its whether he will be another combo guard, PG, or undersized SG.
Regardless, we need players that have the ability to penetrate, to initiate the offense, and break our opponents defense down.

As for Fields, I hate to say it, but I told you so, for all these people that swore he was the SG of the future.....
I am sorry for accusing you, since you weren't one of them.

and

What about all the people that crapped on me for trying to package Amare for KG, when the season first started?
I was put on full blast by many, while KG looks like he is 10x the player he is right now and is an expiring at the end of the year.
Or at least make him our 2nd Unit, as our trio didn't work well together?

and

For all the people that said that argued back n forth about why Lin wasn't playing b4 Linsanity?

w/e my point is, I make a lot of good analysis of our Knicks, give me a little respect for what I have to say...

I think you just described Derrick Fisher

Wouldn't mind him at 48th, decent value for a PG, and good defender as shown at the combine.

The only things that stood out are that he's a freak athlete and he has a high dribble.

Ok RonRon, I'm on board.
What you don't see in these videos is his defensive ability/tenacity. That is very intriguing. Bonn, you don't also see that shooting ability? Especially with a hand in his face? He seems to have a natural ability once at the rim, but in the pros at 6'3", that won't happen nearly as much as it did at Marquette. But that's ok. It will force him to learn.

But Bonn, you're right about that high dribble, that can't stay like that at pro level.

Besides the defense, second most impressive thing IMO is his strength. He has that in spades. And that makes him very versatile as a combo. And yes, I think NY needs that. Really we need a PG, but with his strength he can do both, and with the small rotations Woody liked to run, with fields at 3 and melo at 4, Lin and DJO in the back together could cause some havoc for defenses at times.

Problem. He might not be around at 48 if we keep talking about him and ESPN keeps doing interviews with him. So I say we STFU about him, or even better, start threads about how much he sucks.

AnubisADL wrote:LOL Next Monta or Jennings? Keep dreaming.

True.
He plays more like Shumpert. It's like you compress Shump's length, then put Kanye's face on him, you got DJO. Haha

Bonn1997 wrote:The only things that stood out are that he's a freak athlete and he has a high dribble.

From the last scouting piece on him he's your kinda guy Bronn. He was super efficient as a sophomore and pretty good as a senior. He is a catch and shoot player who has improve his shooting off the dribble in his last season.

DraftXpress currently has him listed as the selection just before we pick. Now the question in my mind is which is more of a position of need and that greatly depends on the Jeremy Lin situation and the ruling. Which happens first?

"Bird and Early Bird rights are among the most valuable rights that players have under the Collective Bargaining Agreement," union executive director Billy Hunter said in a statement. "These rights simply cannot be extinguished in the absence of an affirmative decision by a player to select a team through free agency. We will ask the arbitrator to resolve this dispute on an expedited basis and prior to the commencement of free agency." http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20120521/SPORTS/120529957

This should be resolved soon since they have asked for an 'expedition'.

With free agency to begin July 1, 2012 and the draft set tenetavily for 6/28/2012 http://www.insidehoops.com/calendar.shtml

With current roster personnel a lot depends on the Lin situation. If it turns out the Knicks can retain those rights I would expect SG or SF to be the target. That said at pick 40+ something and only one pick you take the best player available even if he might be a project. I would expect the Knicks to buy another second round pick if possible.

O/T- About Stephen A's "State of Mind" does anyone else feel as I do that he has pretty much lost his mind? and his credibility. I enjoy some of what comes out of Barkeley's mouth since it so off the wall and oblique at times but I am not real fond of the 'proclamations' either utter. NBA reminds more of the WWF everyday.

RonRon wrote:

AnubisADL wrote:LOL Next Monta or Jennings? Keep dreaming.

Monta came out of HIGHSCHOOL.

Allen Iverson, Larry Hughes, and Gilbert Areana's created a new bread of hybrids as the "combo" guards.
I have always liked Monta Ellis and thought he was much better than AI, with his athleticism and strength.

A player like this would really add to our ability to penetrate and create open shots off it.
We don't have any players that can use speed/quickness off the dribble other than Lin, with no post presence, the biggest reasons why we fail to shoot a high % and take open shots.
I am sick of watching Laundry Fields pump fake and pump fake, while no one is biting.

We need to have the ability to attack, spread the floor, and move the ball like how OKC can and The Spurs do with great spacing and ball movement.
When we try to move the ball without penetration and post up players, IT DOESN'T go anywhere...

JJ Barea was a big part of what Dallas did when they won the championship last year, with Terry, and Dirk all as #1,2,3 options.
Barea's ability to use the PnR (with Tyson Chandler's great picks), penetration with the ability to finish strong, shoot the 3pointer, and break down the opponents defense
that the PnR forces. They had great shooters and average defenders, something we are similar to in some sense.

Rather than Kidd, Nash, or Dragic, we have a chance to acquire a player that is younger and much more explosive.
We can use w/e is left with our exemptions to fill our other holes, while those guys might not even be entertained with the MLE with exception to Kidd.

So you don't think Odom can be as good as good as Monta or Jennings?
What about a more explosive Barea?
I don't see what is so funny....

AnubisADL, I believe your one of the believers that Fields would be the starting SG of our future last summer.
Comparing him to Marion, with his rebounds, athleticism, and all around game.
Now, that is funny!

I like Darius Johnson-Odom but not as much as you do. I wouldn't trade up for him. Scoop Jardine, Scott Machado and Tyshawn Taylor are more realistic options. How can you even think Monta is better than AI. Monta is not the scorer AI was, Monta is not as feared. Monta is not as good defensively, and Monta just doesn't have the heart that AI has. AI led a mediocre 76ers team to the Finals, Monta Ellis has never even led his team to the playoffs.

Anji wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:The only things that stood out are that he's a freak athlete and he has a high dribble.

From the last scouting piece on him he's your kinda guy Bronn. He was super efficient as a sophomore and pretty good as a senior. He is a catch and shoot player who has improve his shooting off the dribble in his last season.

Your right; his point per shot and 3 PT% are excellent.

im a DJO fan however hes not what the knicks need. hes an undersized 2G trapped in a PG's body. plays hard and is aggressive but hes a streaky outside shooter. Hopefully, knix can trade toney douglas (yet another 2G trapped in a PG body) and get a higher 2nd rd draft pick. I'm not sure how much talent there is in this draft let alone the 2nd round.