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I never thought Marvin Bagley's redemption story would end up on my bingo card for reasons why I still tune in to Wizard games, but here we are and I'm not complaining.

He actually is worth watching out there! He looks talented. Excellent trade from us.

The rebounding has been amazing. His TRB% as a Wizards is 20.4%. That would rank 6th overall in the league in rebound rate behind only: Nurkic, Capela, Gobert, Duren and Zubac. If this holds up (and I doubt it will), it could be a game changer.

For comparison, Gafford ranks 28th in TRB% at just 15.3%. Avdija is 54th at 12.0%. Kuzma is 61st at 11.2%. Our guards are all awful rebounders, ranking worse than 180th at 5.5% or lower.

Need to keep things in perspective. What Bagley is doing is unprecedented for him. It will likely regress to the mean at some point.

I wonder if there is some maturation going on here. I seem to recall that he had problems in Sacto due to complaints about playing time and friction with teammates. His father was also outspoken and poured fuel on the fire.

https://balldurham.com/2021/01/05/father-duke-basketball-standout-makes-startling-demand/

Maybe now that he has been humbled a bit, and is two teams removed from all the drama of being the #2 pick, he is figuring out how to be a professional.

It’s Bagley’s board work that I’ve been the most impressed with. He’s not the athlete or high flyer that Gaff is but he’s much better than Gaff at “positioning” himself to grab rebounds.

GoneShammGone wrote:I wonder if there is some maturation going on here. I seem to recall that he had problems in Sacto due to complaints about playing time and friction with teammates. His father was also outspoken and poured fuel on the fire.

https://balldurham.com/2021/01/05/father-duke-basketball-standout-makes-startling-demand/

Maybe now that he has been humbled a bit, and is two teams removed from all the drama of being the #2 pick, he is figuring out how to be a professional.

Yeah, it's possible. Sometimes players, especially high draft picks, turn things around once they hit a level of maturity and are humbled a bit by the league.

Bagley (#2 pick) is 24.
Wiggins (#1 pick) turned things around at age 25.
Aaron Gordon (#4 pick) turned things around at age 25.
Colin Sexton (#8 pick) made a huge leap at age 24.

I think to a degree he was a victim of his draft position. If he was drafted at 20 instead of 2 (right before Luka) I think he would be viewed differently.

still arguably early but right now it seems clear who won the trade.

Bravo front office

I do think there is a level of maturation that has taken place. Did anyone catch his after-game interview? He seemed introspective and thoughtful in his answers.
I hope what we are seeing now is his new baseline. A 15pt 10rbs player is a good addition, especially one who rebounds a lot on the offensive side, as we have tons of opportunities for 2nd chance points.

I saw a few posters that were upset that he tried to dunk that fastbreak attempt over Gobert instead of passing it. I had no problem with it. He was being aggressive and he had a pretty clear path to the basket. I also don't think he saw the traliers behind him.

?s=46&t=6CVL2FqokLq9crFyKe2QSg

Bags has had a huge involvement in this statistic.

WallToWall wrote:

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=6CVL2FqokLq9crFyKe2QSg

Bags has had a huge involvement in this statistic.

Yeah. Not only has Bagley been pretty darn good in this respect, but he has replaced the backup center duo of Gallinari and Muscala, easily the worst rebounding "centers" in the league among those getting regular minutes.

Yeah, but CM is still a hopeless/clueless shill. He's an NBA playxplay guy who doesn't know
the difference between a corner 3 and a 3 at the break (It appears he thinks any 3 taken from
along the sideline is a 'corner' 3 and he doesn't appear to know the meaning of 'extendced'
when he refers to shots in the FT circle as FT line "extended'. Hey Chris! See that line in the circle?
That's the line, not the 'extended line'.

dobrojim wrote:Yeah, but CM is still a hopeless/clueless shill. He's an NBA playxplay guy who doesn't know
the difference between a corner 3 and a 3 at the break (It appears he thinks any 3 taken from
along the sideline is a 'corner' 3 and he doesn't appear to know the meaning of 'extendced'
when he refers to shots in the FT circle as FT line "extended'. Hey Chris! See that line in the circle?
That's the line, not the 'extended line'.

I will go out on a limb and guess you don't have League Pass.

Our announcers are pretty good in comparison. Some of these other announcers can be so lifeless/negative and crying about the refs all the time. Our guys stay pretty positive and upbeat in spite of covering a crap team.

One announcer for the Hornets likes to make up his own words and repeat them constantly which is just bizarre.

tontoz wrote:

dobrojim wrote:Yeah, but CM is still a hopeless/clueless shill. He's an NBA playxplay guy who doesn't know
the difference between a corner 3 and a 3 at the break (It appears he thinks any 3 taken from
along the sideline is a 'corner' 3 and he doesn't appear to know the meaning of 'extendced'
when he refers to shots in the FT circle as FT line "extended'. Hey Chris! See that line in the circle?
That's the line, not the 'extended line'.

I will go out on a limb and guess you don't have League Pass.

Our announcers are pretty good in comparison. Some of these other announcers can be so lifeless/negative and crying about the refs all the time. Our guys stay pretty positive and upbeat in spite of covering a crap team.

One announcer for the Hornets likes to make up his own words and repeat them constantly which is just bizarre.

We beat up on the Zards announcing team of Miller and Gooden but, you’re right, those of us with League Pass know that they are far from the worse broadcasting team.

I’m often amazed at the homerism and extreme partiality of some teams’ broadcasters.

What I find grating:

Calling our power forward “Cal Kuzma.” Game after game of this. “Cal Kuzma with the 3!”

And it’s both of them. Chris Miller and Drew Gooden both.

The other grating thing:

They both say “Bih-LAAAL,” as opposed to “Bih-LAHL.”

I get it. Southerners.

But still: grating.

Liking that we now have a predictable C rotation of Gafford/Bagley.

badinage wrote:What I find grating:

Calling our power forward “Cal Kuzma.” Game after game of this. “Cal Kuzma with the 3!”

And it’s both of them. Chris Miller and Drew Gooden both.

The other grating thing:

They both say “Bih-LAAAL,” as opposed to “Bih-LAHL.”

I get it. Southerners.

But still: grating.

I'll take that over..

"Humdidleydee"

I am not making that up.

https://youtube.com/shorts/epRWwZ2wm6s?si=VpyAbExfkz6LD1fb

there are so many kids that get drafted into difficult situations with coaches that don't prioritize their development or fail to put them in positions to succeed and let them pass/fail playing them to their strengths. He had injuries that made things more difficult but like us with Davis, the Kings and Pistons could have done a much better job. The whole draft position and Luka thing didn't help either I'm sure.

I think we could get the same amount of production out of him as we do Kuzma but he's much cheaper and we would be building up his trade value at the same time. Hopefully if/when Kuzma gets moved that's what happens. Maybe with a longer leash, given more trust and usage, over time his confidence rises and his three ball becoming respectable.