Wizards in the Media Thread

[fishercob]

Zach Lowe again.

This time on those Israeli heat-seeking cameras that Ted has blogged about a few times.

The article is dense, but it provides some insight into how these cameras are useful. And a wiz mention (oy).

Hilarious confirmation of the eye test: If Kevin Seraphin gets the ball in the post, he’s shooting — 66 percent of the time, to be exact. He’s dished only six assists from the post in recorded games, and almost never draws fouls.

Tom Ziller gave the article this shout-out this morning:

Most interesting to me were two items. The first is that there are still only 15 teams using the service. And something tells me the other 15 franchises don't have their own rig and staff doing the same thing. I'm not sure it's a huge advantage for the teams that subscribe, but it's certainly an advantage. Yet so many of the worst teams in the league (Charlotte, Sacramento, Detroit, the Lakers) don't utilize it. It's not cheap. But when you're dropping $50 million on a set of players at the low end, any other investment pales. The second interesting point: teams are on average more efficient on drives (defined as when a player dribbles a ball from at least 20 feet from the rim to within 10 feet) than on non-drives, even when not including transition possessions. Having watched the Kings so closely, I would have thought the exact opposite!

The Lowe piece talks about how drives really seem to help even with the turnover factor (hi John Wall). The Ziller piece actually initially focus on the Wiz, sure to enrage many here given the ages of Okafor and Nene:

good things happen when Nene, Emeka Okafor and John Wall play together. The crew has 200 minutes under its belt now, and is outscoring opponents by five points per 100 possessions in that time. Particularly important for Okafor has been Nene's presence: Emeka is a +3 overall but a +7 with Nene. The Brazilian has an off-the-charts plus-minus (+15), thanks largely to how stunningly awful (-10) the Wizards have been when Nene sits. Wall is a +14 after 400 minutes, including a +6 when playing.

Forget about Beal for a second. Just those three core Wizards -- with the shot creation and scoring of Wall, the efficient scoring and defense of Nene and the defense of Okafor -- are making a big difference for the team. Based on the numbers, which are admittedly limited due to Wall's long injury recovery, the Wizards can be a good team with this three-man core, barring injury.

Lots to discuss!

[tontoz]

The problem with the Wall/Nene/Okafor trio is that none of them are reliable jump shooters. They need other guys to be making jumpers otherwise the offense can really bog down.

[fishercob]

You play 5 guys at a time though. Adding Beal and Webster -- and maybe some more shooters this summer -- and it seems to work ok.

[tontoz]

You play 5 guys at a time though. Adding Beal and Webster -- and maybe some more shooters this summer -- and it seems to work ok.

If the two guys are hot from 3 it can work. If they have an off game the spacing can be a mess. I think this is why Randy frequently goes small late in games, to open up the floor. Three non-shooters in the same lineup can make the spacing tough.

Defensively obviously that trio brings it.

[nate33]

You play 5 guys at a time though. Adding Beal and Webster -- and maybe some more shooters this summer -- and it seems to work ok.

I still think the solution is to get a quality stretch-four and start him. Play Nene off the bench to carry the second unit, and bring him back with the starters during crunch time at the end of the 2nd and 4th quarters. He would still average about 28-30 minutes a game a la Manu Ginobili.

[Kanyewest]

Jordan Crawford was interviewed on the Dan LeBatard show. His conversation starts at 9:51.

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/play?id=8928234

[doclinkin]

You play 5 guys at a time though. Adding Beal and Webster -- and maybe some more shooters this summer -- and it seems to work ok.

I still think the solution is to get a quality stretch-four and start him. Play Nene off the bench to carry the second unit, and bring him back with the starters during crunch time at the end of the 2nd and 4th quarters. He would still average about 28-30 minutes a game a la Manu Ginobili.

Or a similar back-up big with range and passing skill. I'd take a flyer on Mike Muscala of Bucknell with a 2nd round pick.

[closg00]

http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2013/02/2 ... asing-500/

[fishercob]

From Rob Mahoney at SI.com:

Examining the habits of the league’s most potent shooters

You know, guys like Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Ryan Anderson....and Martell Webster:

Webster has proved to be one of this season’s most pleasant surprises. He’s rebounded wonderfully from a season of injury and underwhelming outside shooting in Minnesota to become one of Washington’s most important players. Nothing that Webster does may seem all that crucial to the casual observer, but his ability to space the floor has been essential for a team that often uses a range-less point guard (John Wall) alongside two conventional, basket-centric big men (Emeka Okafor and, to a lesser extent, Nene).

He accomplishes that feat largely by camping out in the right corner, a valuable piece of real estate for right-handed shooters to take advantage of the slightly shorter bend of the three-point arc. In a league with many skilled long-range threats, Webster ranks as the most accurate shooter from the right corner, according to Vorped, making an astounding 59.7 percent from that spot. Durant’s return on every attempted above-the-break three may have been impressive, but Webster in the right corner is so efficient that it’s batty. Set him up with a look from that tiny hardwood nook and Webster offers a jaw-dropping 1.8 points per shot in return — as sure a bet as you’re likely to find in the NBA this season.

Paired with Bradley Beal on the opposite wing (who, interestingly enough, leads the league in accuracy from the left corner), Webster opens up tons of room for Wall to work off the dribble. Coach Randy Wittman still has some spacing kinks to work out before these Wizards can climb above the league average on offense, but Webster helps contribute to a terrific foundation — provided that Washington can re-sign him as a free agent this summer.

Amazing about Webster's accuracy from the right corner and Beal's from the left. Also another mention of spacing issues. Would love to nab Ilyasova and execute nate's plan of bringing Nene off the bench.

[Nivek]

You play 5 guys at a time though. Adding Beal and Webster -- and maybe some more shooters this summer -- and it seems to work ok.

I still think the solution is to get a quality stretch-four and start him. Play Nene off the bench to carry the second unit, and bring him back with the starters during crunch time at the end of the 2nd and 4th quarters. He would still average about 28-30 minutes a game a la Manu Ginobili.

Or a similar back-up big with range and passing skill. I'd take a flyer on Mike Muscala of Bucknell with a 2nd round pick.

Even if Muscala ends up below average in length, strength, leaping and agility, he'd still rate as being worth a 2nd round pick in YODA. He made a big jump from his freshman and sophomore seasons.

[DCZards]

You play 5 guys at a time though. Adding Beal and Webster -- and maybe some more shooters this summer -- and it seems to work ok.

There you go. I think the Zards have built a decent nucleus...especially if you add Ariza, assuming he doesn't opt out. There's a definite need for more depth and that stretch 4 posters here keep talking about. And, of course, it would be nice if Booker, Ves or Seraphin could become a solid contributor off the bench. But what I've seen the last couple of months has indeed been encouraging.

It's noteworthy that the Zards seem to be getting a lot of good press lately, particularly Wall and Beal.