Line-ups, rotation, analysis thread.

[penbeast0]

Curious, what is Passing Versatility Index measuring and how does it measure it?

[payitforward]

BY way of counterpoint to Kuz being a "complete disaster". While it didn't show in his individual stats, and is perhaps countered by his TO's by some metrics he made the team better by creating better chances for his teammates.

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/photo/3

Maybe he was only an incomplete disaster.

The context matters, too. When you have a team full of guys who struggle to self-create, and Brad only playing 40 games, someone had to pick up the playmaking slack, even if that means the occasional high-turnover game. I would think that with Poole giving us more than 40 games (knock on wood), some of that playmaking pressure on Kuz abates a bit. And if Deni can give us more driving left, that opens up the offense more, too.

"Context" can explain why Kuz was a complete disaster on offense, or at least help explain it, but it can't change the fact that he was one.

If for every 25 shots a guy takes, he misses almost 14 of them while also turning the ball over 4 times... he's a disaster on offense. & that's exactly what Kuz did last year.

Still, it's true that had he not been relied on for offensive volume, he would have been better. In fact, if you looked only at his rebounding, assists, blocks, steals & fouls last year -- i.e. leave out absolutely everything to do with his shooting/scoring & turnovers -- Kuz was solid. Not "special" -- but at least solid.

Thus, Kuz's best year - by a lot -- was '20-21, when he played w/ Lebron & AD.
Even though he didn't score any more efficiently, he took fewer shots -- hence his inefficiency didn't hurt him (or the team) as much. Plus, b/c the ball was in his hands less often, he also committed fewer turnovers, & was in a position to get more offensive boards.

[remi_222]

How many min Bilal should get at the begining of the season ? i didnt watch Wiz for a long time, dont know what's the hierarchy

[9 and 20]

Kyle Kuzma with his rainbow hair hears the haters. Poole and Kuzma indomitable swag season coming up.

[9 and 20]

How many min Bilal should get at the begining of the season ? i didnt watch Wiz for a long time, dont know what's the hierarchy

Probably about a minute and half to start the season. They will need to sort out which of Deni or Kispert will get most of the minutes at 3. And the new front office may not be ready to completely write off Johnny Davis so he will get a lot of minutes at 2. Shamet may also get some minutes at 2.

[nate33]

How many min Bilal should get at the begining of the season ? i didnt watch Wiz for a long time, dont know what's the hierarchy

Kuzma, Kispert and Avdija will definitely be ahead of him on the depth chart.

I think the key factor in Bilal's minutes will be Gallinari. Is Gallinari going to get 20 minutes a night at PF? If so, that means Kuzma and Gallinari get all the PF minutes, and all of Deni's minutes will come from the SF spot. Kispert will get the rest of the SF minutes plus maybe a little extra time at SG. There will be no minutes at all for Bilal.

But if Gallo plays sparingly, or mostly just plays smallball 5, then Avdija will play some PF minutes which might free up 8-10 minutes at SF for Bilal.

My guess is that Bilal is not in the regular rotation for the first 10-15 games of the season. It's going to take an injury or maybe an early-season trade of Gallinari to free up a spot for him.

[payitforward]

Kyle Kuzma with his rainbow hair hears the haters. Poole and Kuzma indomitable swag season coming up.

I really dislike the use of the term "haters."

For example, I don't "hate" Kyle Kuzma at all. Not a bit. In fact, I like him a lot. He's smart, he's personable, he seems to be a terrific teammate, he's generous, & he's an outstandingly clever brand-builder.

Thus, when I called him a "disaster" on offense last year it didn't represent any kind of "opinion" about Kuz -- & certainly nothing emotional, which being "a hater" would indicate. I just pointed at facts. Period.

Those facts -- the numbers Kuz put up -- would make any player, whatever his name, "a disaster on offense." Got nothing to do w/ who it was.

Of course, if I had misstated the facts (TS%, TOs, etc.) then I would have been wrong. But... I didn't misstate the facts.

[doclinkin]

Watch on YouTube

Relevant to the Kuzma conversation. When asked what difference Tyus Jones will have on the team Kuzma says:

"He's a good dude. Has a sense of calmness on the court. That's going to help all of us. I know for me sometimes I can be sporadic on the court. Same thing with Jordan, so having that ballhandler that can have everyone breathe, calm, be at your spot, come off a screen, deliver the ball, come off a pick and roll and hit (you).. that's fun to play with. He's a team guy, he's not out there hunting assists holding the ball too long, he's decisive. Plays the right way, wants to win."

I like Kuz' recognition of his own shortcoming in shot selection and helter-skelter decision-making. I appreciate that he starts the season with appreciation for his point guard to keep things organized. Exactly what I have been hoping for once we landed Jones, hopefully that understanding carries over into game play.

I also like the vision that to best use this roster it will help to play uptempo. Speed is one area where we do have a mismatch against many teams. If we have a quick thinking PG to take advantage of it, then players like Deni can become a mismatch in our favor instead of having to stand around waiting for the ball to uncork a catch and shoot with a faulty jumper.

[payitforward]

I hope we see some of that, doc -- for sure.

Otoh, please... let's not find a way to go 35-47. Again. Let's get one of the top 3 picks please....

[doclinkin]

I hope we see some of that, doc -- for sure.

Otoh, please... let's not find a way to go 35-47. Again. Let's get one of the top 3 picks please....

Why. Who do you like in the top 3?

This year (and this early) I don't see a ton of separation between the guys mocked at the top half of the lotto. I'm seeing players I like mocked as low as 9. Some years there is a clear jump-out talent. This year going into the season various mocks disagree. I think we can show growth and improvement from our retooled roster and still get good talent in the draft.

(I know: Ironic for me to take this position in debate with you )

I mean okay yeah, we lose our pick if we fall out of the lottery. But regardless if we are over-performing, I expect the team will shop productive veterans to contending teams. And salvage a few strategic losses out of the fact that we are not subject to the load restriction rules. (Unless somehow multiple players on this roster end up Allstars this year --unlikely but who would complain in that case?). And, you know, no danger, we are starting the season with a 20 min/game center, talking about him being backed up by various undersized veterans not known for intimidating defense. We can score, I don't see how we will stop anyone though.

Anyway, moot point, clearly what will happen is that the Suns will totally fall apart and we will swap picks with them to pick a franchise player.

[9 and 20]

Kyle Kuzma with his rainbow hair hears the haters. Poole and Kuzma indomitable swag season coming up.

I really dislike the use of the term "haters."

For example, I don't "hate" Kyle Kuzma at all. Not a bit. In fact, I like him a lot. He's smart, he's personable, he seems to be a terrific teammate, he's generous, & he's an outstandingly clever brand-builder.

Thus, when I called him a "disaster" on offense last year it didn't represent any kind of "opinion" about Kuz -- & certainly nothing emotional, which being "a hater" would indicate. I just pointed at facts. Period.

Those facts -- the numbers Kuz put up -- would make any player, whatever his name, "a disaster on offense." Got nothing to do w/ who it was.

Of course, if I had misstated the facts (TS%, TOs, etc.) then I would have been wrong. But... I didn't misstate the facts.

Who else on the Wizards should have used Kuz's possessions, given everyone else's stats? I don't think you can just give the ball to the guy with the best TS% every time down the court. Kuz is not Lebron, but we didn't have a Lebron on the team.

Pulling a few facts without context is kinda on the opinion spectrum, and imho, makes one a hater.

[Frichuela]

Kyle Kuzma with his rainbow hair hears the haters. Poole and Kuzma indomitable swag season coming up.

I really dislike the use of the term "haters."

For example, I don't "hate" Kyle Kuzma at all. Not a bit. In fact, I like him a lot. He's smart, he's personable, he seems to be a terrific teammate, he's generous, & he's an outstandingly clever brand-builder.

Thus, when I called him a "disaster" on offense last year it didn't represent any kind of "opinion" about Kuz -- & certainly nothing emotional, which being "a hater" would indicate. I just pointed at facts. Period.

Those facts -- the numbers Kuz put up -- would make any player, whatever his name, "a disaster on offense." Got nothing to do w/ who it was.

Of course, if I had misstated the facts (TS%, TOs, etc.) then I would have been wrong. But... I didn't misstate the facts.

Who else on the Wizards should have used Kuz's possessions, given everyone else's stats? I don't think you can just give the ball to the guy with the best TS% every time down the court. Kuz is not Lebron, but we didn't have a Lebron on the team.

Pulling a few facts without context is kinda on the opinion spectrum, and imho, makes one a hater.

I sympathize with this point. However, it's clear Kuz took a number of bad shots last season. In particular, those early in the clock (e.g. a few crazy step back 3s) were infuriating, even if they amused my 8-year old son an his friends .

Perhaps, his turnovers will be minimized and shot selection improve now that we have a solid steady hand in Tyus Jones. Ideally, this means Kuz should be used more as a spot-up shooter vs. last season, and I trust Tyus can give him the ball at his favorite spots.

[DCZards]

I don't consider PIF to be a "hater." Although I also often push back on his frequent reliance on numbers in the absence of role and context when evaluating a player's performance.

But, in fairness to PIF, he did just provide some context when writing that Kuz was a "complete disaster" on offense last season. Here's that context.

Still, it's true that had he not been relied on for offensive volume, he would have been better. In fact, if you looked only at his rebounding, assists, blocks, steals & fouls last year -- i.e. leave out absolutely everything to do with his shooting/scoring & turnovers -- Kuz was solid. Not "special" -- but at least solid.

Thus, Kuz's best year - by a lot -- was '20-21, when he played w/ Lebron & AD.
Even though he didn't score any more efficiently, he took fewer shots -- hence his inefficiency didn't hurt him (or the team) as much. Plus, b/c the ball was in his hands less often, he also committed fewer turnovers, & was in a position to get more offensive boards.

.

[penbeast0]

Who else on the Wizards should have used Kuz's possessions, given everyone else's stats?...

Let's see. How about everyone (or everyone but Will Barton)? Of our rotation players last year (Porzingis, Kispert, Avdija, Morris, Beal, Gafford), everyone scored more effectively than Kuzma except Avdija and I'd rather have had Avdija working on developing game than Kuz chucking so much. Work the ball a bit more, don't chuck so early in the shot clock, and try to get it to the real shooters on the team (Poringis, Kispert, Beal) or to Morris who could find a better target even if he didn't shoot it himself with his outstanding A/T ratio.

Maybe Kuzma was a better option than a Jordan Goodwin or Johnny Davis, though again, I'd rather see them trying to work on their game while Kuzma is a vet, but even the deeper bench consistently scored more effectively than Kuzma.

[payitforward]

...Pulling a few facts without context is kinda on the opinion spectrum, and imho, makes one a hater.

You're entitled to any humble opinion you like. But your humble opinion doesn't make me a hater.

Kuz is a great guy, & I have repeatedly predicted a much improved 23-24 season for him.

You do make a valid point that the lack of other good options on offense might help explain his numbers. Context. Then again, as I've already pointed out, even though Kuz's best numbers overall came when he was playing w/ Lebron & Davis, his shooting that year was no better than his shooting last season -- consistent, in fact, with every year in his career. He's never had a good year shooting the ball.

[9 and 20]

...Pulling a few facts without context is kinda on the opinion spectrum, and imho, makes one a hater.

You're entitled to any humble opinion you like. But your humble opinion doesn't make me a hater.

Agree to disagree, but +1!

[wewillnevertank]

Starting to think about where our offense is gonna come from off the bench if Corey is starting. I wouldn't hate Rollins playing that instant O role, especially while Shamet is out.

[tweet]1709621938778263885{/tweet}

[wewillnevertank]

Starting to think about where our offense is gonna come from off the bench if Corey is starting. I wouldn't hate Rollins playing that instant O role, especially while Shamet is out.

https://x.com/chasedcsports/status/1709621938778263885?s=20

[wewillnevertank]

[quote="wewillnevertank"]Starting to think about where our offense is gonna come from off the bench if Corey is starting. I wouldn't hate Rollins playing that instant O role, especially while Shamet is out.

Read on Twitter

?s=20

[wewillnevertank]

Starting to think about where our offense is gonna come from off the bench if Corey is starting. I wouldn't hate Rollins playing that instant O role, especially while Shamet is out.

Read on Twitter