Otto Porter

[hands11]

Good points stevemcqueen1 and tontoz - and maybe you should always draft BPA - no matter where you are.

Well I think it gets muddled after a certain point. You're ranking players in tiers mostly, and then prioritizing the ones that will fill useful roles for your team within that tier.

BPA is a good guide, but I think you also have to have a plan for every player you draft or sign. You need to know what role you want them to fill.

Very true.

If BPA is in a higher tier, thats one thing.

But if you are in the same tier, may as well go for fit.

But keep in mind, Otto was picked knowing TA would be a FA this year and not knowing A) he would ball like this in 2013/14 and B) if he would stay.

Otto at a min was stored value to them. Anyone they drafted wasn't going to start.

But there were other picks they could have gone with that could have worked. Len, Zeller, Burke. They all could have contributed. Even with Burke being a PG like Wall, they could have traded him later.

But they picked Otto so I want to see him play well.

[leswizards]

I could see Zeller rotting away on the bench if he was on the Wizards. It may have to do more with the coach (9 man rotations) than with Porter.

Exactly, folks shouldn't get it twisted. Remember how bad Zeller looked early on? Witt likely wouldn't have been giving consistent minutes to Zeller for him to develop, much like what has occurred with Porter.

Same goes for Len, he would have been glued to the bench. Why would Witt play him when he can play Al Harrington at C? Plus the Phoenix medical staff spent months getting Len to the point where he could physically play. Not sure he'd be a good health risk with our staff.

Vesely played 470 minutes for the Wizards. Kevin has played 556 minutes. It would have been much easier for Zeller and Len to get minutes. Plus had one of those players been drafted, the Gooden signing might have been unnecessary, meaning even more minutes for one of those players had they been drafted.

[tontoz]

Tonight he scored 54 points per 36 minutes.

[hands11]

I could see Zeller rotting away on the bench if he was on the Wizards. It may have to do more with the coach (9 man rotations) than with Porter.

Exactly, folks shouldn't get it twisted. Remember how bad Zeller looked early on? Witt likely wouldn't have been giving consistent minutes to Zeller for him to develop, much like what has occurred with Porter.

Same goes for Len, he would have been glued to the bench. Why would Witt play him when he can play Al Harrington at C? Plus the Phoenix medical staff spent months getting Len to the point where he could physically play. Not sure he'd be a good health risk with our staff.

Vesely played 470 minutes for the Wizards. Kevin has played 556 minutes. It would have been much easier for Zeller and Len to get minutes. Plus had one of those players been drafted, the Gooden signing might have been unnecessary, meaning even more minutes for one of those players had they been drafted.

DAT is telling the truth. Randy wouldn't have likely played anyone they drafted. But no way to turn back time and see for sure. That logic of Zeller getting minutes was one reason he was on my list. Same with Burke. But they might have felt if TA leaves, Otto was the best long term fit.

I can follow the logic.

[mohammed10]

Tonight he scored 54 points per 36 minutes.

Either way, it's a new career high for Otto...

[fishercob]

I could see Zeller rotting away on the bench if he was on the Wizards. It may have to do more with the coach (9 man rotations) than with Porter.

Exactly, folks shouldn't get it twisted. Remember how bad Zeller looked early on? Witt likely wouldn't have been giving consistent minutes to Zeller for him to develop, much like what has occurred with Porter.

Same goes for Len, he would have been glued to the bench. Why would Witt play him when he can play Al Harrington at C? Plus the Phoenix medical staff spent months getting Len to the point where he could physically play. Not sure he'd be a good health risk with our staff.

Vesely played 470 minutes for the Wizards. Kevin has played 556 minutes. It would have been much easier for Zeller and Len to get minutes. Plus had one of those players been drafted, the Gooden signing might have been unnecessary, meaning even more minutes for one of those players had they been drafted.

I think Witt and Grunfeld can share the blame on this one. As you point out, Witt has made no effort to get Otto into the flow of this team so that he might contribute down the stretch (remember how great Tayshaun Prince was as a rook in the playoffs?). When Witt got tossed (against Toronto?) several weeks ago, the first thing Newman did was to go small with Ariza at the 4 and it worked really well. So yeah, Witt has messed this up, IMO.

At the same time, if Grunfeld had so much faith in Porter, maybe he shouldn't have built a roster with 2 guys in front of him. Maybe he should have moved Webster during the season.

[pancakes3]

1) I still think Porter's got a ton of potential and isn't a bust. Like many have said, he just needs game minutes and teammates who "get" him and his princetonian game.

2) With Respect to Grunfeld, while I like Otto, I don't even think he was the most "ready to contribute" guy in the draft. I think Oladipo was. Lower ceiling (at the time) for sure but in terms of ready to contribute, as well as fulfilling a need at guard.

3) With respect to Witt, I agree that playing extended minutes of Ariza at the 4 is a much better use of our talent especially now that we have the Three Oldsketeers to anchor the bench. Booker at the 4 to me is vestigial of wanting to run the same game plan as we did with Nene rather than being adaptive to the talent at hand. Philosophical differences between management and coaching perhaps?

4) I think ultimately this is good for Porter because instead of forcing his teammates to adapt to Otto, this is forcing Otto to adapt to the team. He's not going to get fed backdoor cuts, or get the ball to create in the league. Not now, and possibly not ever. He needed to learn the 3 and D role and I think slowly but surely he's turning into that type of player. I think Andre Miller has a lot to do with that because I'm assuming he's better at articulating to people where to be than Wall. Where Cassell fits into this conversation, I'm not entirely sure.

[DCZards]

Vesely played 470 minutes for the Wizards. Kevin has played 556 minutes. It would have been much easier for Zeller and Len to get minutes. Plus had one of those players been drafted, the Gooden signing might have been unnecessary, meaning even more minutes for one of those players had they been drafted.

The Zards would have still signed Gooden even if they had drafted Zeller and Len. Both Len and Zeller would have been seen as too raw and inexperienced to be a first or second big off the bench when you're trying to make the playoffs and maybe win a round or two.

[tontoz]

2) With Respect to Grunfeld, while I like Otto, I don't even think he was the most "ready to contribute" guy in the draft. I think Oladipo was. Lower ceiling (at the time) for sure but in terms of ready to contribute, as well as fulfilling a need at guard.

Dipo wasn't an option for us. He was picked at 2.

[Rafael122]

On that fast break late in the game, it didn't look he was running full speed. IDK...I think he's still hurt.

[Knighthonor]

Wow I saw glimpse of greatness last night with Porter....

Sent from my LG-VS410PP using Tapatalk 2

[FAH1223]

On that fast break late in the game, it didn't look he was running full speed. IDK...I think he's still hurt.

Impossible.

[jivelikenice]

On that fast break late in the game, it didn't look he was running full speed. IDK...I think he's still hurt.

I think because of his length he may not always look fluid but he actually seems to cover more ground than it appears.

Since ppl jumped to the conclusion he was a bust based on a microscopic sample size, I'm going to go the opposite way on a similar small sample size. In his last 6 games (47 minutes) he has 19 pts/ 6 rebounds on 63% shooting including 60% from the 3-pt line...

[DCZards]

On that fast break late in the game, it didn't look he was running full speed. IDK...I think he's still hurt.

My recall from watching Otto play pretty much every game at G'Town is that he often looks like he's not running full speed. It may because, as has been pointed out, Otto is not an elite athlete. But the kid has an exceptionally high B'ball IQ (trained by a mom and pop who were both outstanding college players) with great court awareness. So he'll usually be in the right place at the right time...something that guys with superior speed and athleticism don't always know how to do.

[jivelikenice]

On that fast break late in the game, it didn't look he was running full speed. IDK...I think he's still hurt.

My recall from watching Otto play pretty much every game at G'Town is that he often looks like he's not running full speed. It may because, as has been pointed out, Otto is not an elite athlete. But the kid has an exceptionally high B'ball IQ (trained by a mom and pop who were both outstanding college players) with great court awareness. So he'll usually be in the right place at the right time...something that guys with superior speed and athleticism don't always know how to do.

His bucket off the tight curl is a perfect example of that. Plenty of superior athletes run that play but don't create the opening for a quality shot like that.

[Wizkids12345]

Is it just me or does Ottos shot form look incredibly better than it did in college? It really looks like he can knock down the nba three now. Looking a lot less like a crossbow. Good lift and release on the three ball, one motion shot and it's surprisingly smooth. I was concerned with the way he shot the nba three would be tough but he is obviously a hard worker. He even knocked down another three last game after a moving pick that looked gorgeous. Very impressed with this. If he can knock down the three consistently he will be a very good nba player.

[Dark Faze]

9 points in 6 minutes

dat struggle to get playing time

Randy still says " No "

[tontoz]

Porter's shooting elbow is pointed at an odd angle but at least it seems to be mostly a wrist shot. I would have to see it more but from what i have seem i am not too concerned.

[jivelikenice]

I hope he gets a start or two before the end of the season. I guess it all depends on how the standings play out.

[dckingsfan]

Starting games this season, averaging 30 mpg, very positive reaction.

Maybe a good SL and being able to contribute next year... would that be positive or negative?