Heat captain James Johnson is being honest about his play this season. “I’m killing myself every night, every day,” he said Thursday before Miami traveled to Washington D.C. for Friday’s game against the Wizards. “It’s just been terrible performances out of me and not just from an offensive standpoint, the defense. I can put my prints on the game better on the defensive end. Our second unit, Tyler (Johnson) and me we should come in and have that same affect we had last year and we haven’t been able to do that.”
Point guard, and fellow captain, Goran Dragic, believes the 6-foot-8 Johnson is pressing, possibly trying to live up to the four-year, $60 million contract he signed this summer. “He’s putting too much pressure on himself and that’s what we want to eliminate, those thoughts. Just go out there, don’t think too much, play free and only good things are going to happen,” Dragic said. “I talk to him a lot, I already tell him ‘Don’t put pressure on yourself.’ He’s set, he signed the deal and we need him to be back to his old JJ, not to put too much pressure about the contract or what people expect. I already told him ‘Be you, how you (were) last year, that’s how you should play. Relax like you did last year, try to make plays on defense, offense.’ We feel like he’s closer every game.” – via Palm Beach Post