James Wiseman 2021/2022

[giberish]

If he's not good enough to play 12-15 mpg without being a liability at the NBA level then he needs to be in Santa Cruz until he improves to that point.

As he first comes back from injury he'll definitely need to be at Santa Cruz for at least a few games getting back into condition. I could see him staying longer as he's had incredibly few 5 on 5 reps since high school at any level. Just get used to playing competitive 5 on 5 basketball.

[parsnips33]

Last thing I want for him is to get stuck in the G League. He needs structure and vets - Santa Cruz might as well be the Wild West.

I think he'll learn more on the bench in the NBA than he would on the floor in the G League

[SpreeChokeJob]

He needs to play with the vets on the second unit. That is the best place for him as the vets can direct him more.

He was brought in to be a switching center for Curry, but that’s not going to happen this year. He would do better playing against other bench players and having the defense be more simpler playing with the vets than when playing with Curry.

Either way he won’t be playoff ready by the time they need him. They need to recruit another experienced defender.

[FNQ]

I dont get why people are drawing finite lines in the sand.. he "needs to play with NBA players"... why? Is his offense, one of the reasons we drafted him, so polished that he doesn't need to be a good decision maker with the ball?

He needs work everywhere. And I know its greatly oversimplifying it, but the GLeague is where he can build his offense and confidence. The NBA is where he can refine his defense. He is not going to refine his defense in the GLeague, and he's not going to build his offense/confidence in the NBA

If we prepare him to be a Javale then thats what he's going to be going forward and I dont think we invested a #2 pick in someone who could basically have been a late 2nd rounder like Charles Bassey. The long game involves developing him as a 2 way C like he's supposed to be. Unless Bjelica or Looney gets hurt early, there's no reason to throw him back into the fire that burnt him into a crisp last year

[Money_]

G league, big league. Let the big fella play! He needs reps...
he's a youngster, therefore not too special to go to the g league and learn a thing or two.
But they will need to see him take a few steps forward this season on an NBA court.
So he will get minutes.

[a8bil]

I dont get why people are drawing finite lines in the sand.. he "needs to play with NBA players"... why? Is his offense, one of the reasons we drafted him, so polished that he doesn't need to be a good decision maker with the ball?

He needs work everywhere. And I know its greatly oversimplifying it, but the GLeague is where he can build his offense and confidence. The NBA is where he can refine his defense. He is not going to refine his defense in the GLeague, and he's not going to build his offense/confidence in the NBA

If we prepare him to be a Javale then thats what he's going to be going forward and I dont think we invested a #2 pick in someone who could basically have been a late 2nd rounder like Charles Bassey. The long game involves developing him as a 2 way C like he's supposed to be. Unless Bjelica or Looney gets hurt early, there's no reason to throw him back into the fire that burnt him into a crisp last year

All of this is true...but I don't think JW gets meaningful minutes with the NBA team without his defense shoring up. that has to be the early focus to make him usable....once he becomes a net+ on defense they can start expanding his offense.

[Sam Lowry Jr]

Some excerpts from today's great Athletic article about Wiseman. https://theathletic.com/2867750/2021/10/14/the-warriors-second-season-plan-for-james-wiseman-and-how-dejan-milojevic-factors-into-it/

It’s a tricky situation and a blessed situation,” Milojević said.” Most lottery picks — first, second, third, fourth, fifth — are going to teams that are not winning games. He’s blessed coming to a team with several superstars. But he has to figure out, with our help of course, how to help them and them to help him and to fit in a game. I’m sure it’s going to be a better experience for him in the long run (rather) than getting 30 shots per game, allowed to be careless, maybe his numbers would look great, but I don’t think it’s the same benefit as being here, playing with our superstars.”

Even once it comes, Wiseman won’t get thrust right back into games. This will be a slow buildup. I’ve heard a full clearance is expected in the next couple of weeks. He was spotted after shootaround in Los Angeles running the court end-to-end at near-full speed under the watchful eye of Celebrini.

A couple of days earlier, he was working on his mid-post catch-and-spin moves with Milojević and, because of increased force as the workout progressed, Celebrini had to come out and tell Wiseman and Milojević to ease up a few times. He’s itching to get back and clearly feeling good enough to rev it to the limit of what the trainers allow.

In a few weeks, Santa Cruz is an option, either for scrimmages behind closed doors or full G League games, I’m told. He could use all the low-stakes game reps he can get and those are more available in Santa Cruz, where an NBA playoff chase isn’t happening. But there’s a chance, considering their thin frontcourt and lack of a lob threat, the Warriors’ coaching staff may prefer having Wiseman as a rotation option as immediately as possible, even for a tiny role.

Barring an early-season slump or a wave of frontcourt injuries, he isn’t expected to return to a starting role. It seems unlikely, for now, that Wiseman will get many early minutes with Steph Curry or Draymond Green. Those are the Warriors’ most valuable chunks of the game and Kerr — “chasing wins” — will be reluctant to weigh those down for developmental purposes until Wiseman proves he should be in them for winning purposes.

But don’t expect regular DNPs, either. The early indications, before any of this has been firmly charted out by the coaching staff, is that Wiseman will arrive back to a spot in the second unit, paired as a regular pick-and-roll partner with the emerging Jordan Poole while Curry and Draymond sit at the top of the second and fourth quarters.

Young bigs, really all bigs, need to be rewarded to stay engaged. Iguodala knows this and already has made it a point to pump Wiseman’s confidence up. He has singled out Wiseman three times already in his handful of media availabilities as the young player he’s most looking forward to helping guide, saying one of the early on-court lessons he’s trying to impart on Wiseman is that slower and more patient can sometimes work better than fast and frantic.

Simplify is the term nearly everyone around the organization is using, while also cautioning that they believe Year 3 will be the season Wiseman should take the most significant leap. But there are expectations and an internal need for him to help in this second season, however unfair, if the Warriors want to reach contender status.

“I’m not going to try (to turn him into Jokic),” Milojević said. “I’m going to make him James. And it’s not me. It’s the whole organization. Yeah, I’m the guy working with him before and after practice, but we all have a job here, discuss as a team and make decisions as a team. Looney also!”

[watch1958]

It’s weird. I think everyone would have loved for him to get work in the Summer League. Everyone would have loved for him to play in pre-season, even against scrubs and camp invites.

But as soon as Santa Cruz is mentioned, it’s like suggesting exile to Elba.

[Twinkie defense]

Last season the Warriors were catering their system to James Wiseman. This season I want to see Wiseman fit into the Warriors system - even if that makes him a role player, blocking shots, running the court, and finishing lobs - that's what I want to see.

[FNQ]

I dont get why people are drawing finite lines in the sand.. he "needs to play with NBA players"... why? Is his offense, one of the reasons we drafted him, so polished that he doesn't need to be a good decision maker with the ball?

He needs work everywhere. And I know its greatly oversimplifying it, but the GLeague is where he can build his offense and confidence. The NBA is where he can refine his defense. He is not going to refine his defense in the GLeague, and he's not going to build his offense/confidence in the NBA

If we prepare him to be a Javale then thats what he's going to be going forward and I dont think we invested a #2 pick in someone who could basically have been a late 2nd rounder like Charles Bassey. The long game involves developing him as a 2 way C like he's supposed to be. Unless Bjelica or Looney gets hurt early, there's no reason to throw him back into the fire that burnt him into a crisp last year

All of this is true...but I don't think JW gets meaningful minutes with the NBA team without his defense shoring up. that has to be the early focus to make him usable....once he becomes a net+ on defense they can start expanding his offense.

I'd go in the exact opposite direction. I dont think he's got any chance of expanding his offense while exclusively playing at the NBA level. And say he did succeed on being even a neutral defender... how does his offense improve? Can't send him to GLeague while he's improved his defense in the NBA.. I don't see it working. If we consider his rookie season to be his 'college freshman' year, and he's a raw big that's missed the entire offseason and likely the beginning of the season, I'd kind of expect him to be in the GLeague to start, alongside Kuminga now that he's injured too

[FNQ]

Simplify is the term nearly everyone around the organization is using, while also cautioning that they believe Year 3 will be the season Wiseman should take the most significant leap. But there are expectations and an internal need for him to help in this second season, however unfair, if the Warriors want to reach contender status.

This stands out to me.. if this is the case, he almost has to go to the GLeague. If we are thinking the big leap comes next year, then this is all a learning year for him. And I'm fine with that, because a lot has to go right for us to be true contenders. I'd rather invest more in year 3 Wiseman being a 2-way player than keeping him on the main roster to do PnRs with Poole.. at least not until he's proven himself to be far less mechanical in the GLeague on offense

[Twinkie defense]

expect heavy doses of pick and roll with Poole

[SinceGatlingWasARookie]

I think JW thinks too much. He needs to react quicker and more decisively. He should be the aggressor imposing his will and should be not be afraid of making mistakes. Let him dominate in G League and make mistakes in G League. Missing college can be a problem because he had no time to develop his game against people who are better than high school but not NBA caliber.

[watch1958]

In camp, he did a lot of work on the basics around the basket & passing out of the post. Not sure how that sticks if he never gets to use it in games.

[Twinkie defense]

Wiseman needs to learn... how to simplify his game and how to be McGee

This.

[Twinkie defense]

improvise might be a bad descriptor, because he seemed to decide what he was going to do before he even got the ball, which was extremely disruptive to our offense.

Very mechanical, when the Warriors are all about flow.

[Sleepy51]

Simplify is the term nearly everyone around the organization is using, while also cautioning that they believe Year 3 will be the season Wiseman should take the most significant leap. But there are expectations and an internal need for him to help in this second season, however unfair, if the Warriors want to reach contender status.

This stands out to me.. if this is the case, he almost has to go to the GLeague. If we are thinking the big leap comes next year, then this is all a learning year for him. And I'm fine with that, because a lot has to go right for us to be true contenders. I'd rather invest more in year 3 Wiseman being a 2-way player than keeping him on the main roster to do PnRs with Poole.. at least not until he's proven himself to be far less mechanical in the GLeague on offense

He was learning last year. The take that playing in the NBA was an abject failure for him last year is false. He made improvements and was trending up right when injury ended his season. I get that we can’t invest the same amount of minutes in him this year with a legitimate contention campaign almost within reach, but he can develop in practice and film, and he could even play the few D league games that feature an opposing credible big man, but for my entire lifetime, rookies and 2nd year players have developed in the NBA with infrequent minutes and earning more opportunity by succeeding.

My biggest problem with a long d league assignment is that he will play too many games/minutes against shrimps. Big men don’t learn how to play by playing against short people. It doesn’t work. It’s why lots of good NCAA upper class Bigs wash out of the NBA in relatively few seasons. Players learn A LOT of bad habits by succeeding in inapplicable circumstances or against inferior competition.

If they strategically target the Santa Cruz schedule where he would face NBA bound big men then playing those games makes sense. Playing against midgets is only going to make him a worse player.

[FNQ]

He was learning last year. The take that playing in the NBA was an abject failure for him last year is false. He made improvements and was trending up right when injury ended his season

Every time he came back from injury, didn't he come back just as raw when he started, and then had to rebuild his way up? What makes this time any different?

Fundamentally disagree that he needs to go against NBA caliber big men in the GLeague.. this isnt about his post game. He has legit has no idea what to do with the ball when he gets it. He decides as hes catching what hes going to do... how many times do you remember him reacting to defense and making a smart play? His BBIQ is just abysmal at this point, he has to learn how the game is played and how to react to the basics.. the guy is just pure raw talent at this point. And we've made far less talented players work, but you cant fix someone who doesn't know the basics.

[Sleepy51]

He needs to play organized basketball and he needs to play where he has to contend with opponent hands at his altitude. I’m not taking about post ups either. I’m talking about protecting the paint, rebounding, catch and protecting the ball. The comp doesn’t need to be NBA caliber per se, but if he’s playing against 6’7 guys playing center he is going to learn more bad habits than good.

I disagree that he went back to square one every time. He took steps back, but not to the beginning and he was WAY ahead of where he started by his last 2021 appearance.

I’ve adjusted my no-D league stance to “at least make sure the D league games he plays will be in some way NBA relevant.” I don’t want him playing in glorified 24 hour fitness runs. The things that will work for him in those games will be a detriment to his NBA prospects. Otherwise he can learn the way 19 and 20 year old big men have learned for about a century…in practice

[Onus]

He needs to play organized basketball and he needs to play where he has to contend with opponent hands at his altitude. I’m not taking about post ups either. I’m talking about protecting the paint, rebounding, catch and protecting the ball. The comp doesn’t need to be NBA caliber per se, but if he’s playing against 6’7 guys playing center he is going to learn more bad habits than good.

I disagree that he went back to square one every time. He took steps back, but not to the beginning and he was WAY ahead of where he started by his last 2021 appearance.

I’ve adjusted my no-D league stance to “at least make sure the D league games he plays will be in some way NBA relevant.” I don’t want him playing in glorified 24 hour fitness runs. The things that will work for him in those games will be a detriment to his NBA prospects. Otherwise he can learn the way 19 and 20 year old big men have learned for about a century…in practice

But who is he going against in practice? A bunch of guys 6'9'' or shorter?