The first round of the playoffs were a coming out party for Pistons’ rookie Stanley Johnson as he made a name for himself matching up against LeBron James.
Stanley Johnson, small forward
Points per game: 8.1
Rebounds per game: 4.2
Field goal percentage: 37.5 percent
Three-point percentage: 30.7 percent
Season in review
Stanley Johnson had a season full of peaks and valleys for the Detroit Pistons in 2015-16. The eighth overall pick in the NBA draft, the 19-year old Johnson showed flashes of brilliance in training camp and the preseason, but it took him longer than most fans hoped to grasp the game at the NBA level.
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Observers believed that by the All-Star break, Johnson would have usurped the starting small forward position from Marcus Morris, but that was nowhere close to happening. Johnson wasn’t ready, and Morris turned out to be much better than anybody could have hoped, and that was his spot by a wide margin all season long.
Once the playoffs rolled around, Johnson’s role shifted to that of LeBron-stopper. While you can’t stop LeBron, per se, you can slow him down and batter him one-on-one with elite defenders, preventing his drive to the basket which collapses the defense and opens up Cleveland’s deadly perimeter shooters.
One of the reasons that the Pistons were able to keep close is that LeBron didn’t spend much time free, operating in space or with clear driving or passing lanes. Johnson checking James straight up in key moments was a big reason why.
2016-17 season outlook
The sky may very well be the limit for Stanley Johnson. At the age of 19 years old, he stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 245 lbs. He’s already a full grown man with athleticism to spare.
Johnson seemed to be coming into his own during a 19 game stretch from January 14th until he suffered a sprained shoulder on February 22nd which hampered him for the rest of the season. During that stretch, he played 27 minutes per game, averaging 11.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from long range.
Without a doubt, that stretch was more indicative of what we should be able to expect from Johnson than his late season struggles in which he received DNP-Coach’s Decision twice in the season’s final week. The shoulder injury was very likely responsible for his apparent regression, and his aggressive and tenacious defense against LeBron James in the playoffs makes that seem all the more likely.