The Toronto Raptors sound like they really miss Amir Johnson

by **bobheckler** Fri Oct 02, 2015 5:48 pm

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/10/the_toronto_raptors_really_sou.html#incart_story_package

The Toronto Raptors sound like they really miss Amir Johnson

Print Email Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com

on October 02, 2015 at 1:25 PM

The Toronto Raptors miss Amir Johnson already. And they miss him a lot.

Head coach Dwane Casey recently told the Toronto Sun ( http://www.torontosun.com/2015/09/30/derozan-is-going-to-miss-amir ) the Raptors "can't replace" everything Johnson gave them over the past six seasons. The big man signed with the Boston Celtics as a free agent this summer.

"You miss the continuity that Amir brought," Casey said. "You knew what you were getting from Amir each and every night. You will never change that and you can't replace that. He was just like an old blanket. Always there and we will miss him. His continuity and his closeness with DeMar and the rest of the guys is unprecedented. He will always be loved in the city because of his love for the city."

Former teammate DeMar DeRozan also spoke highly of Johnson, saying the Raptors will "miss a lot without him."

"Just his attitude and demeanor, being a great guy and a great teammate, that rubs off on people," DeRozan said. "He will definitely be missed."

bob
MY NOTE: Last year we were very up and down, especially in the first half of the season. That's not surprising considering how young we were but it explains why Danny and Brad both thought we were too young. If Amir (and Lee for that matter) is steady as Gibraltar we should pull out another win or two this year just from not having those quarters where we look like we've never seen a basketball before. Considering we lost 16 games last season by 5 points or less, that modest improvement might make a big difference. If we pull just half of those games out from being steadier and not digging ourselves into a deep hole, we have a 48 win record this season. 16 games! I didn't realize it was that many until I counted them, and there were one or two more we lost by 6 points. 6 points means 2 possessions just like 5 points...

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