Joe Johnson Toasts Paul Pierce With Some Fancy Dribbling

Do you like Allen Iverson?  If so, you’re going to love this series of moves from Joe Johnson.  Though he didn’t employ the type of body movement that Iverson so often did when executing basketball’s most famous killer crossover, Johnson did resort to his own air-tight, lighting-quick dribbling skills to elude Paul Pierce with an Answer-esque now-you-see-it-now-you-dont act that left Boston’s ten-time All-Star wondering where in the hell the rock had disappeared to.  Hey, Paul, here’s a hint: check the bottom of the net!

The first thing I thought of when I saw this move — and I was lucky enough to catch it live — was a certain concoction of ankle-wrecking nastiness that Iverson once cooked up to serve Chauncey Billups.  Notice how both Johnson and Iverson kept the ball extremely close to the floor as they crossed the defender in and out, back and forth, and every other which way.  It’s an effective technique that requires elite coordination and quickness of the hands, and Allen always did it so well.  To see JJ do something similar made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

As for you, Paul Pierce: quit reachin’.  That’s what they want you to do.  Keep doing it and you’re going to need some crutches and a chiropractor.