[OhCanada-Participant]

In the offseason the Toronto Raptors Amir Johnson to a 5 year 30 million dollar contract. Over the course of this young season  he has displayed great talents mixed with doubtful inconsistancy and troublesome foul problems. Although he has shown to be a game changer for the Raptors when he is on the court and out of foul trouble. Tonight it seemed Amir Johnson (along with Ed Davis, and Jerryd Bayless) were the only players fighting to keep Toronto in this game.

Amir led the Raptors in scoring (22), rebounds (16), steals (3), blocks (2), field goal percentage (10/14), and minutes (36). Many people often critisize the signing of Amir, but is that the acquisition we should slander?

Linas Klieza has been a horrible addition to this Toronto team. He is the Jose Calderon of hybrid forwards, offensive but an extremely huge defensive liability. His rebounding issues have been more then present and he has bee3n known to have his best games in Toronto losses. Klieza really should not be in the NBA imo. He is too slow for isolation based basketball, too small and unathletic for PF, and  just seems content with sitting back and relaxing. Whenever he is on the court you see a huge let down in Toronto’s productivity. Dont complain about the contract sent to Amir, complain about the one sent to the Lithuanian wonder, linas Kleiza.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Actaully in garbage time Bayless got up to 23 points.

[JJeff6Participant]

Well, yes Amir did play very well, but you gotta think the effort essentially was for nothing except confidence.  They still lost by a bad margian, so it really didnt help the team any.

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

im just glad amare is ballin so far this yr… im a huge amare fan, and will be cheering for the knicks

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

to be honest im surprised of the raptors record… i thougth they would be the worst team by now…

isnt amir only like 22

[esperanzafleet69Participant]

dude did u ever see kleiza play in denver??? those comments about him are stupid… of course he cant play PF because is natural position is SF… he is a great backup forward on any team…

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

saying  klezia shoodnt be in the nba is a bit extreme… if he doesnt belong in the nba so doesnt a whole lot of other players

[OhCanada-Participant]

Did you ever see Klieza play in Toronto? He is not playing great at all, he comes in for Amir Johnson or Sonny Weems, doesnt close out on shooters, gets outhustled for rebounds, misses easy shots. Horrible contract offered especially with the Wright trade and Weems emerging. There is no reason at all that Klieza should play more minutes then Julian Wright except to justify the signing and possibly for more scoring, but his lack of energy lets the team down.

[JJeff6Participant]

Kleiza was very valuable to denver for a couple years.  I still think Kleiza might be getting readjusted to the speed and play of the NBA after missing a year to play in europe.

[OhCanada-Participant]

I didnt mean he isnt NBA calibur, I mean he is better suited for International compitition by a longshot and his skills translate horribly to the NBA. He does not have NBA level athletisism, or defense and therfore teams really should not want him on the court for their team period.

[WizardofOzParticipant]

That putback dunk Amir had was SICK!!!!

[torontoraptors10Participant]

I’m going to have to disagree with you about Kleiza. In the begining of the season Kleiza was playing solid, it wasn’t until he came back from that injury he has slowed down a bit. Just give him more time, I think he is a solid addition.

[BKKnicksfanParticipant]

To give Johnson 5/30mil AND draft Ed Davis was a stupid move IMO. However, he did have a good game.

 

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[Tha_PrinceParticipant]

 I usually agree with you oh canada but saying kleiza has been a bad signing is just rediculous, he makes 5 mil this year, a pretty good price for him. Saying how he should not even be in the NBA? he put up a 41 point game against Utah with Denver a few years back, arguably has been one of the best post up players for the raps as he uses his 245lb frame to over power smaller SF’s. I have been watching the Raps play for close to 8 years now and this signing is a bargain in my eyes. Putting Calderon and him in the same defensive category is just rediculous, kleiza is a good team defender, good weak side rebounder, and can shoot the lights out on any given night

[fgrrghgParticipant]

Im kinda in the middle of these arguments. Ive watched every raps game this year and lately yes kleiza has been absolutely awful and hurts the team when he comes in. But i really just think its how jay uses him. Kleiza is way better in a post up situation against a smaller defender, yet the raps generally refuse to put him in these situations. Also there is a major logjam at the wing positions in toronto and he just can’t get enough mins to get in a groove. imo barbosa needs to go. He is taking mins away from demar sonny and kleiza… why? the guy is not in their long term plans, just jacks shots and doesnt play much D.

I think if kleiza played more alongside sonny or demar he’d be more effective ( if they posted him up  a bit more)… but ya oh canada i can see where your frustrations are coming from, he’s been disgusting lately. Give him a bit of time though, i think he can be valuable if put in the right situation. Im praying for a barbos injury or trade… 

[Toronto16Participant]

 I just think the young guys around Kleiza just stepped up their game, so he doesn’t get as many opportunities.

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