Golden State Of Mind, a Golden State Warriors community

Story from last week, involving a fan walking past Wesley Johnson getting a manicure in downtown Minneapolis.

Wesley Johnson? Really? What just happened?

Interesting article on draftexpress.com. There is a video in this article too.

I think Wesley Johnson's got the build and the tools to effectively be Rudy Gay, but at an affordable rookie pay scale. He can shoot, rebound, finish at the rim and defend...his only weakness is that he's not a great one-on-one player. You could make a good case for Aminu who is likely the better defender, but I think it's Johnson's shooting that separates them. Youtube highlights

So far, they are. Interesting to note that UK hasn't asked to talk to him yet. Gillispie is well known for waiting until someone is actually available before making a move, but who knows what this means. Johnson certainly could have a better job with this. Just up and leaving like that is not good, and if ISU refuses to release him in retaliation, I'd be hard pressed to say who was more wrong. UPDATE Saturday 24 May 2008: CrossCyed at Clone Chronicles has an excellent, thoughtful riposte to McDermott's apparent posturing. [Hat tip: kykat51]

A few sour grapes got squashed: McDermott says he thinks his coaching was the reason that Johnson decided to leave. "You know my job, and I'm not going to appologize for what I do and how I do it -- is to help young people grow on and off the court. And sometimes that involves doing things and saying things that may not be popular with and 18 or 19-year-old. I mean it's no different from my role as a parent. Sometimes you have to put your foot down and they don't understand it, and they don't get it, and you hope they don't take it personal," McDermott say [sic] McDermott says Johnson didn't handle the coaching well. He says in his opinion, Johnson took some of his coaching personal and could not get passed it. [sic]