Oct 21, 2014
Lewenberg: Raptors aim to keep Johnson healthy for stretch run
At the ripe old age of 27-years-old Amir Johnson, the final player to have entered the league straight out of high school, finds himself in an unfamiliar situation as his 10th NBA season approaches. As Josh Lewenberg of TSN Radio 1050 writes, Johnson has never been one to pace himself, that's what has made him so valuable to the Raptors and as a result, he's taken a beating physically.
TORONTO - At the ripe old age of 27-years-old Amir Johnson, the final player to have entered the league straight out of high school, finds himself in an unfamiliar situation as his 10th NBA season approaches.
Johnson has never been one to pace himself, that's what has made him so valuable to the Raptors throughout his years in Toronto, and as a result he's taken a beating physically.
Since coming to the Raptors, he's been remarkably durable, especially when you factor in the countless rolls of tape used on his troublesome ankles and time spent on the trainers table each season. He's missed just 18 games in five years but by late March and April you can expect him to be hobbling around on one good ankle, if that.
Up until last season's surprising run to the playoffs it hadn't really mattered.
A second-round pick out of Westchester high school in Los Angeles, Johnson began his career playing sparingly for a contending Pistons team. Eventually he transitioned to a complimentary role in Detroit before playing out four losing campaigns as a Raptor. By the spring many of his teammates would shut it down, mentally or physically or both, but Johnson kept chugging along.
Last year was supposed to be much of the same, but that's not how it turned out and now here he is, participating in his 10th NBA training camp, but first in which he's expected to play a significant role for a playoff-bound club.
He's graduated from X-factor status, a tag that implicates one's game with the unreliability commonly associated with younger players.
"Amir's notoriously our glue guy," said Dwane Casey, a far more appropriate label for a player that has anchored Toronto's defence and produced efficient offence for years. "We know who he is."
More than ever before, the Raptors need him on the court, as close to 100 per cent as possible during the stretch run and into the post-season if they're to top last year's accomplishments.
The question is, how do you slow down a player who has been so effective operating at one speed?
"Amir, if he doesn't play with energy or if he tries to pace himself, that doesn't help him and it doesn't help us," Casey said. "He's an old pro and he knows how to play. I'm not really concerned about him wearing down. He's just got to stay healthy."
The onus, at least to some degree, will be on Casey and the coaching staff to monitor Johnson's usage and perhaps scale back his minutes, not excessively but sporadically throughout the year, something they implemented last March as the forward battled a series of late-season aches and pains.
The team's added depth and versatility should help Casey ensure that all of his regulars - including Johnson, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry - are kept fresh. Patrick Patterson was one of the league's premier reserves after last season's trade and figures to have an expanded role in his first full campaign with the Raptors. Tyler Hansbrough has earned praise in camp, having added a jump shot and improving his spacing and overall court awareness. James Johnson can also shift over to power forward, something Casey has experimented with in camp and feels comfortable deploying when they play small.
"We'll watch his minutes," said Casey, "but no one's playing that [many] minutes at the position to be overly taxed energy-wise."
Johnson is doing his part to prepare for what could be his most grueling year, beginning with his work and innovative approach during the summer. The Raptors' forward did not require surgery on either of his tender ankles, to his relief, instead he spent time at the P3 training facility in Santa Barbara, Calif. to help prevent the recurrence of similar injuries.
"It started with football players and now they expanded to a bunch of basketball players," he said of the cutting-edge sports clinic. "What they do is strap you into these little light bulb suits, like they do in video games, and they have a screen where they show you every movement you do."
"So I was jumping up and down, sliding, seeing which way I land and they break it down to where you can see your skeleton and your bones move in slow motion, when you land and how you land. It could be something where you can just adjust your foot and kind of turn it a different way and that prevents you from maybe rolling an ankle or hurting your back."
There, Johnson received feedback on how to refine some bad habits in his movement on the court - running, jumping, landing, etc. It's something he still works on implementing ahead of games and before practice. "It takes repetition, but you can get used to it."
"So I did that this summer and I think it worked out great for me," he said, having also worked with Hall-of-Famer Hakeem Olajuwon on his post moves. "I've been working, strengthening, conditioning and keeping my body healthy."
It didn't take long for Johnson to give the Raptors their first scare of the young campaign - if you can even call it a 'scare', given how often he hits the deck and pops back up. Johnson went down, battling for a rebound late in the second quarter of Friday's exhibition win over the Thunder.
"It wasn't my ankle, it was actually my foot," he clarified after sitting out the remainder of that game as a precaution. "But I'm fine."
Perhaps his new and improved footwork, coupled with the possibility of reduced playing time, will lesson the threat of injury for Johnson in this all-important upcoming season - it's also a contract year for him - but that risk will always be a factor and presumably higher than most on account of the way he plays the game.
Whether they're used to it or not, his teammates and coaches will always cringe when they see Johnson sprawled out on the court, but it's par for the course. He may end up their intentionally - after diving for a loose ball or taking a charge - or otherwise, but as long as he continues to pop back up, the Raptors will live with the frequent scare. He's that valuable.