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nate33 wrote:

fishercob wrote: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.

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.

doclinkin wrote:

nate33 wrote:

fishercob wrote: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.

fishercob wrote: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.

The Wizards’ struggles without Wall last season made finding a backup imperative but the former VCU standout has played so poorly that he has left many wondering why President Ernie Grunfeld was in such a rush to give him a two-year, $4.1 million contract, with the second year a player option – especially when alternatives such as Mo Williams, C.J. Watson, Nate Robinson and Darren Collison were available at a similar price tag. Players who filled in for Wall last season – Shelvin Mack and Shaun Livingston – are both having more productive seasons as more than half the cost.

Maynor’s lack of productivity has placed a heavy burden on Wall and the rest of the team to dig out the holes that occur under his watch. The Wizards (9-11) have been outscored by 113 points in Maynor’s 196 minutes on the floor this season. Wall has the best plus-minus at positive-93 in his team-leading 755 minutes played, but Washington has a negative differential this season of negative-0.8. Maynor’s plus-minus per 48 minutes is negative-27.7.

nate33 wrote:Good point, fishercob. Mike deserves some credit for writing these things in the Post, although it's really just a rehashing of what Prada put out on BulletsForever a few days ago, which is just a rehashing of what we've discussed on this board for weeks.

It is indeed notable that there is now a fairly direct pipeline starting from intelligent, informed fans like us and leading directly to the mainstream press.

His last possession before getting benched for the rest of the night was an eyesore that ended with him firing a one-handed shot from the “W” on the “Wizards” near center court that went about five feet to the left of the basket and was batted down by referee Eddie Rush to protect the cameraman seated along the baseline.

tontoz wrote:Pretty rare to see stuff like that in the paper.

His last possession before getting benched for the rest of the night was an eyesore that ended with him firing a one-handed shot from the “W” on the “Wizards” near center court that went about five feet to the left of the basket and was batted down by referee Eddie Rush to protect the cameraman seated along the baseline.

Ben Mehic (New York)

Hey Chad: What's going on with the Wizards? They've had an up and down season thus far, but they've managed to stay out of the trade rumor mll.
Chad Ford (1:23 PM)

Ernie Grunfeld looks at the standings, sees the Wizards as a 5 seed, knows given the Hawks injury woes and Toronto's willingness to keep dumping players that a 3 seed is in reach. Looks at his owner and says mission accomplished.

fishercob wrote:Chad Ford with a great shot at Ernie in today's chat!

Ben Mehic (New York)

Hey Chad: What's going on with the Wizards? They've had an up and down season thus far, but they've managed to stay out of the trade rumor mll.
Chad Ford (1:23 PM)

Ernie Grunfeld looks at the standings, sees the Wizards as a 5 seed, knows given the Hawks injury woes and Toronto's willingness to keep dumping players that a 3 seed is in reach. Looks at his owner and says mission accomplished.

The guard has also paid more attention to his online persona than many other notable athletes. He launched a new website a year ago with the help of Los Angeles-based digital agency NCLUSIVE, Inc., which has consistently been updated with fresh content and is directly tapped into Wall’s social media platforms. Wall has almost 500,000 followers on Instagram, 1.4 million Likes on Facebook and 1.01 million followers on Twitter. It is unique for any person to attract that type of following on all three major social networks – John Wall does it with precision.

Perhaps the most important element to John Wall’s future off-court success is the fact that he has not over-saturated himself with partnerships and associated himself with companies he does not admire. The doors will be swinging wide open as Wall continues to contribute exceptionally on the court, build his online persona and excel in competitions like the Slam Dunk Contest. It would not hurt for the Wizards to become a competitive team, but it is not necessary for Wall to take his brand to the next level. The kicker is that while Wall is turning into one of the most prominent players in the league, his cost is still relatively low. He is not yet on the top 10 list of NBA endorsers, but it may not be long before Wall cracks the list. Companies would be wise to see his “buy rating” and act now.

keynote wrote:Forbes.com article on the upside of John Wall's brand:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitn ... a-players/

It's not an in-depth or well-written article -- it's kind of a Mad Money-level of analysis, and a typo currently has Wall averaging 8.3 rebounds/game this season -- but it's shine for Wall nonetheless:

The guard has also paid more attention to his online persona than many other notable athletes. He launched a new website a year ago with the help of Los Angeles-based digital agency NCLUSIVE, Inc., which has consistently been updated with fresh content and is directly tapped into Wall’s social media platforms. Wall has almost 500,000 followers on Instagram, 1.4 million Likes on Facebook and 1.01 million followers on Twitter. It is unique for any person to attract that type of following on all three major social networks – John Wall does it with precision.

Perhaps the most important element to John Wall’s future off-court success is the fact that he has not over-saturated himself with partnerships and associated himself with companies he does not admire. The doors will be swinging wide open as Wall continues to contribute exceptionally on the court, build his online persona and excel in competitions like the Slam Dunk Contest. It would not hurt for the Wizards to become a competitive team, but it is not necessary for Wall to take his brand to the next level. The kicker is that while Wall is turning into one of the most prominent players in the league, his cost is still relatively low. He is not yet on the top 10 list of NBA endorsers, but it may not be long before Wall cracks the list. Companies would be wise to see his “buy rating” and act now.