Deni Avdija

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Guys there is an article in Sport5, Israel, that the Suns wanted Deni, in exchange for Crowder, and Washington refused.
Oh it's also in ESPN.

That would be a EG peak trade. Crowder for Deni is laughable on age alone.

[prime1time]

Very good month of basketball from Avdija. Might have been his best month of basketball in the NBA. The 3 is falling at a higher rate and he is taking on more and more responsibility offensively.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Very good month of basketball from Avdija. Might have been his best month of basketball in the NBA. The 3 is falling at a higher rate and he is taking on more and more responsibility offensively.

He will be even better once the referees show him respect. I love the way he played through several dubious calls that did not go his way.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Very good month of basketball from Avdija. Might have been his best month of basketball in the NBA. The 3 is falling at a higher rate and he is taking on more and more responsibility offensively.

He will be even better once the referees show him respect. I love the way he played through several dubious calls that did not go his way.

Yeah for sure, more love from the refs will help. I've been glad that he's cut out some of the really demonstrative reactions to getting called for fouls, I think it has already helped with refs. Now he still does it, but I remember you could hear him yell "No!" after a ton of calls, which is akin to showing up refs.

[prime1time]

I think Avdija has to adjust his defensive playing style to how the refs call the game. The NBA is a scoring league. Instead of going against the grain he should go with the grain. Draw fouls and play defense without fouling. If he did those two things, he'd already be a very positive player.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

I think Avdija has to adjust his defensive playing style to how the refs call the game. The NBA is a scoring league. Instead of going against the grain he should go with the grain. Draw fouls and play defense without fouling. If he did those two things, he'd already be a very positive player.

I think he has adjusted his defense by-and-large, and that's why we consistently see great defense out of him. Now he does have a game here and there were he gets into foul trouble, but I don't feel like its that big of an issue, say like it has been for Gafford.

[nate33]

I think Avdija has to adjust his defensive playing style to how the refs call the game. The NBA is a scoring league. Instead of going against the grain he should go with the grain. Draw fouls and play defense without fouling. If he did those two things, he'd already be a very positive player.

Agreed. Avdija plays a pretty physical style of defense where he will bump his hip into the offensive player as he is gathering for his shot. Most refs don't call it, so Avdija basically plays shut down defense. But on maybe 1 out of 5 nights, the refs call it tight and Avdija gets into early foul trouble.

I'm not sure there is much more that he can do. He's not going to suddenly grow longer arms and be able to contest without contact. The best he can do is try and recognize when the refs are calling it tight and dial back the physicality a bit, but this will necessarily result in the offensive player scoring more. I'm not sure it's worth it. You can't really predict how the ref will make a call, so Avdija may as well keep doing what he does best and live with the consequences. Frankly, Deni isn't really helping that much on nights when the refs call it tight, so there's no compelling reason to sacrifice defense in order to avoid foul trouble. If Deni can't play defense the way he plays it best, we may as well put Rui or Kispert out there to at least get the offensive benefits.

[Runner300]

Seriously.
Deni can't contribute anything besides his over-aggressive defense?
Please set him free.
Trade him anywhere.

[nate33]

Seriously.
Deni can't contribute anything besides his over-aggressive defense?
Please set him free.
Trade him anywhere.

Way to miss the point.

Deni is NOT as good of an offensive player as Kispert and the recent version of Hachimura. He is definitely better than both of those guys as an overall player, but if the refs don't let him play defense, then his advantage over those other guys is negated. I don't think this is a particularly controversial statement.

This is how basketball works. Different players are good at different things. Most teams only have 2 or 3 guys who are suitable for all in-game situations. The rest of their guys are role players who are situation-dependent. A good coach plays the right situation-dependent role players at the right time.

[tleikheen]

Gaff and Deni both get most of the calls against them ,their young and thats the NBA .But winning games has a way of changing some of those calls. Getting the minutes on the court for more bitching time seems to help and their both getting more minutes on the court.

[Runner300]

Seriously.
Deni can't contribute anything besides his over-aggressive defense?
Please set him free.
Trade him anywhere.

Way to miss the point.

Deni is NOT as good of an offensive player as Kispert and the recent version of Hachimura. He is definitely better than both of those guys as an overall player, but if the refs don't let him play defense, then his advantage over those other guys is negated. I don't think this is a particularly controversial statement.

This is how basketball works. Different players are good at different things. Most teams only have 2 or 3 guys who are suitable for all in-game situations. The rest of their guys are role players who are situation-dependent. A good coach plays the right situation-dependent role players at the right time.

I don't think I'm missing the point.

"Situation-dependent role-player" whose role is to hustle in defense as long as the refs look the other way.
He needs to be moved, for his own sake.

[nate33]

Seriously.
Deni can't contribute anything besides his over-aggressive defense?
Please set him free.
Trade him anywhere.

Way to miss the point.

Deni is NOT as good of an offensive player as Kispert and the recent version of Hachimura. He is definitely better than both of those guys as an overall player, but if the refs don't let him play defense, then his advantage over those other guys is negated. I don't think this is a particularly controversial statement.

This is how basketball works. Different players are good at different things. Most teams only have 2 or 3 guys who are suitable for all in-game situations. The rest of their guys are role players who are situation-dependent. A good coach plays the right situation-dependent role players at the right time.

I don't think I'm missing the point.

"Situation-dependent role-player" whose role is to hustle in defense as long as the refs look the other way.
He needs to be moved, for his own sake.

Yes. At this current moment in his development, Deni Avdija is a situation dependent role player. I like him, and I generally think he belongs on the floor in most situations. But I also think there are situations when there are 5 other guys on the roster who are needed more than he is.

And I expect that would be the case on nearly all teams in the league, so Deni asking for a trade isn't going to improve his circumstances. Deni needs to improve his shooting. I'm sure he understands this and I'm sure he is working on it. Hopefully, things will work out and he becomes one of those indispensable players whom a coach always wants on the floor.

[doclinkin]

Deni is doing fine. With success of Porzingis at forward, we have 4 players pulling minutes at the PF spot. Somebody is going to get squeezed. But Deni is developing swiftly. He has risen to the challenge every time he has been benched, found ways to improve his game. The past string of games saw Deni finally being aggressive on offense and attacking the hoop when he has an opening. That will earn him both minutes on court and respect from Refs. It's an unwritten rule that scorers are given more leeway on defense as well. I've seen fewer instances of Deni complaining about refereeing which will also tend to help.

By next year the likelihood is one of Kuz or Rui will be elsewhere. Minutes will be available and Deni is poised to take all of them. The only trade rumors we have heard about Deni have been that teams asked for him to be included in deals and the Wiz said no. He has been too valuable even coming off the bench. He is useful enough that when our all-star guard is out Deni tends to soak up the extra minutes and secondary playmaking duties. I think the only problem with Deni is that his fans are whiny and expect everything to be handed to him The rest is under his control and he is developing nicely.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Honestly as a big proponent of Deni, I can't say that I really care that Deni is back to the bench with the caveat that I really have liked how WUJ has played him over this past 5-6 game stretch. He plays about 30 minutes a game, plays large swaths of time with our starters and opponents starters, and is in there in crunch time.

This is coming from someone who was apoplectic in how WUJ seemingly singled out Deni and other young guys in certain instances early on in the season when there was a lot of blame to go around. So I give credit where it is due, WUJ has done a much better job as of late with him.

[Wizraeli]

I think the only problem with Deni is that his fans are whiny and expect everything to be handed to him

Who and when asked everything to be handed to him? I don't know what's going on in Twitter or other forums, but in here I didn't see anyone asking something like that, what I saw is mainly people blaming "Deni fans" in that without any reason, I for example got blamed for the same thing when I only asked Deni to be given more opportunities to use his playmaking abilities instead of have him stand in the corner waiting for a 3 point shot, I think it's a very legitimate request and apparently WUJ agrees with me because that's exactly what's happening in the last 2 months, we see Deni more and more getting minutes as a playmaker and I'm quite happy with it, I don't see how asking that a team will use a player's strengths instead of forcing him to be a type of a player he's not is expecting everything to be handed to him and I don't see anything wrong with that.

[wco81]

He has fans?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Deni is doing fine. With success of Porzingis at forward, we have 4 players pulling minutes at the PF spot. Somebody is going to get squeezed. But Deni is developing swiftly. He has risen to the challenge every time he has been benched, found ways to improve his game. The past string of games saw Deni finally being aggressive on offense and attacking the hoop when he has an opening. That will earn him both minutes on court and respect from Refs. It's an unwritten rule that scorers are given more leeway on defense as well. I've seen fewer instances of Deni complaining about refereeing which will also tend to help.

By next year the likelihood is one of Kuz or Rui will be elsewhere. Minutes will be available and Deni is poised to take all of them. The only trade rumors we have heard about Deni have been that teams asked for him to be included in deals and the Wiz said no. He has been too valuable even coming off the bench. He is useful enough that when our all-star guard is out Deni tends to soak up the extra minutes and secondary playmaking duties. I think the only problem with Deni is that his fans are whiny and expect everything to be handed to him The rest is under his control and he is developing nicely.

Remember when Juan Dixon or a very close friend/family responded to the inaugural Amazingly Sucky Juan Dixon thread? It was as if the player himself read everything.

[doclinkin]

I think the only problem with Deni is that his fans are whiny and expect everything to be handed to him

Who and when asked everything to be handed to him? I don't know what's going on in Twitter or other forums, but in here I didn't see anyone asking something like that, what I saw is mainly people blaming "Deni fans" in that without any reason, I for example got blamed for the same thing when I only asked Deni to be given more opportunities to use his playmaking abilities instead of have him stand in the corner waiting for a 3 point shot, I think it's a very legitimate request and apparently WUJ agrees with me because that's exactly what's happening in the last 2 months, we see Deni more and more getting minutes as a playmaker and I'm quite happy with it, I don't see how asking that a team will use a player's strengths instead of forcing him to be a type of a player he's not is expecting everything to be handed to him and I don't see anything wrong with that.

Deni was benched since he could not hit a shot and was scared to take them. He responded really well to the benching by working his tail off and earning his way back into significant minutes.

His fans didn't respond as well. Deni was being mis-used and needed to be traded to someplace where he would be used better. His confidence was ruined and that is why he was missing shots. He was a high usage player in Eurobasket play because he was allowed to make mistakes without being pulled. The coach should adjust his role to allow him to play through all his mistakes. Deni was singled out by the coaching staff and no other player had been treated as poorly as Deni was.

Meanwhile Rui went from starter to bench scorer to low minute player, then back.
Gafford went from starter to pariah and back.
Etc.

I suppose there were some fans who overreacted to these benchings. If so I didn't see it. What I did see is that Deni being a competitive son-of-a-gun responded pretty quickly to the criticism that his play had earned. And now he is playing better and as you say, being used better. Seems to me maybe the Coach of the Wizards knew better than, you know, the fans of the player. Shrug.

Anyway, I appreciate how Deni's game is shaping up. He's on a good trajectory. Playing winning ball, playing in crunch time, earning a rep as a defensive stopper AND now aggressive on offense as well.

[Wizraeli]

Deni was benched since he could not hit a shot and was scared to take them. He responded really well to the benching by working his tail off and earning his way back into significant minutes.

His fans didn't respond as well. Deni was being mis-used and needed to be traded to someplace where he would be used better. His confidence was ruined and that is why he was missing shots. He was a high usage player in Eurobasket play because he was allowed to make mistakes without being pulled. The coach should adjust his role to allow him to play through all his mistakes. Deni was singled out by the coaching staff and no other player had been treated as poorly as Deni was.

I suppose there were some fans who overreacted to these benchings. If so I didn't see it. What I did see is that Deni being a competitive son-of-a-gun responded pretty quickly to the criticism that his play had earned. And now he is playing better and as you say, being used better. Seems to me maybe the Coach of the Wizards knew better than, you know, the fans of the player. Shrug.

Deni was benched because he had 1 game where he made a few of mistakes on defense, namely one where he lost his defender at the last seconds of the first half, not because he couldn't make a shot, and WUJ said it on the post game press conference, which indeed singled him out.

So excluding the "he was singled out" complaint, which he was, nobody said all the things you mentioned because Deni was benched, we, I, them, whomever wrote it, said those things because the Wizards used Deni wrong, for almost 2 years they tried to force him to play as a 3&D and basically didn't really knew what to do with him, when Beal got injured last year it changed a little but then the same thing continued in the start of this season, "Deni's fans" know Deni for many years, he's a recognized name here since he was about 14 and very famous since 17, we know what's his playing style for a long time now, and it's not 3&D and it's not waiting in the corner for a catch and shoot, so when we see the Wizards trying to force him to play like that what do you want us to do? not say anything? of course we'll say something...no one asked him to get minutes he didn't earn and it was never about whether he's coming from the bench or starting, Deni is coming from the bench now and you don't see any Deni fan complaining about it, why? because now the team is using him more in a role that suits him, he also gets a few minutes as a playmaker every game, that's all we asked, nobody asked "everything to be handed to him", if that's what you understood then it was your own interpretation, I never saw anyone ask for something remotely close to it.

If the fans of the player asked for 2 years to stop playing Deni as a limited catch and shoot type of player and start using him as a playmaker and give him more freedom and when the coach finally does it we see that it actually improve Deni's contribution to the team, I really don't understand how you got to the conclusion that "the Coach of the Wizards knew better than the fans of the player", it seems to me that everything we said was right, and that's why, again, you don't see anyone complaining about Deni coming from the bench now.

[DCZards]

The primary reason that Deni was not handed a more prominent playmaking role is because he was often on the court with players who are better suited for that role.

You can’t expect Coach Wes to adjust his game plan to accommodate the skill set of an unproven, inexperienced player like Deni. That player has to learn to adjust and play a role that fits the needs of the team. And, in Deni’s case, that means learning how to be a 3&D…when necessary.

The best thing that the Zards coaching staff can do for Deni—and his career—is to insist that he improve as a player (especially as a shooter) and that he be capable of playing different roles.

I love that Deni can defend, handle and pass at a high level but it’s not unreasonable to ask him to learn to do more and different things.