JaVale McGee

Halcyon · Post #21 » by **Halcyon** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 2:54 am

Ok so on the bright side, it looks like he can block shots, and it doesn't look like he fouls that much, which is a nice change from Blatche. At the very least he can be an energy player off the bench, and play 5-10 minutes and rotate in with our current bigs, depending on matchups.

clubbing_caveman · Post #22 » by **clubbing_caveman** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 2:59 am

Halcyon wrote:Ok so on the bright side, it looks like he can block shots, and it doesn't look like he fouls that much, which is a nice change from Blatche. At the very least he can be an energy player off the bench, and play 5-10 minutes and rotate in with our current bigs, depending on matchups.

Interesting you mention Blatche.... if we keep McGee, I wonder what it means for Blatche...?
We've got 5 bigs who can play center now...
AB, V-dub, BH, Etan, Pech

Wizards2Lottery · Post #23 » by **Wizards2Lottery** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:00 am

Halcyon wrote:Ok so on the bright side, it looks like he can block shots, and it doesn't look like he fouls that much, which is a nice change from Blatche. At the very least he can be an energy player off the bench, and play 5-10 minutes and rotate in with our current bigs, depending on matchups.

lol matchups. Did you forget who coaches this team?

I am very dissapointed to know that next year the first two bigs of the bench will be Etan Thomas and Darius Songaila. We are going to get creamed once again in the playoffs for being a soft finesse team. Can't wait to see Darius and ET guard Big Z again.

Ji · Post #24 » by Ji » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:00 am

Halcyon wrote:Ok so on the bright side, it looks like he can block shots, and it doesn't look like he fouls that much, which is a nice change from Blatche. At the very least he can be an energy player off the bench, and play 5-10 minutes and rotate in with our current bigs, depending on matchups.

he is 7-2...he has to block shots

Soup's Uncle · Post #25 » by **Soup's Uncle** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:06 am

Ugh...I really didn't like this pick at first. I just don't think he'll get the PT. I really wish we could have gotten Hibbert. It looks to me like he did okay in a pretty week conference in college. However, he swats shots so...

If we trade away Etan Thomas than I am okay with this pick. IF we still have Etan, this dude isn't getting any PT.

My confidence in EG has been greatly shaken.

Wizards2Lottery · Post #26 » by **Wizards2Lottery** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:08 am

Etan Thomas is garbage. I can't believe people are naming him our banger. He is a black hole on offense and out of position on defense.

We keep drafting big men and none of them can crack the rotation with consistent minutes. We need a new big man coach.

Post #27 » by **nate33** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:14 am

Been watching some of his highlights on youtube.

I like that he stays on the block on offense. He has the ability to shoot 3's, but he spends most of his time fighting for position on the low post. I also like that he keeps the ball high when he catches it and he tries to throw it down whenever possible. I didn't really see any weak layups. He also runs the floor hard, he can handle well, and he even made a few sweet passes. He's certainly more skilled offensively than a Brendan Haywood was as a sophomore in college.

He definitely needs to add bulk. 10 rebounds per 40 minutes isn't all that impressive for a guy his size against that competition. The scouting report says he's a horrible man defender. (Of course, you can't tell that from highlights.)

I'm not upset with the pick. McGee certainly has the potential to be a 10-year center in this league. You never really know until you see him against competition his size.

sascha · Post #28 » by **sascha** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:16 am

Here's a list of the draft picks EG has made in his career as a GM:

1994 (NY) - Monty Williams (24th); Charlie Ward (26th)
1995 (NY) - no picks
1996 (NY) - John Wallace (18th); Walter McCarty (19th); Dontae Jones (23rd)
1997 (NY) - no picks
1998 (NY) - Demarco Johnson (38th); Sean Marks (44th)
1999 - NA (not a GM at the time)
2000 (Mil) - Joel Przybilla (9th); Michael Redd (44th pick); Jason Hart (49th)
2001 (Mil) - Andre Hutson (52nd)
2002 (Mil) - Marcus Haislip (13th); Dan Gadzuric (34th); Flip Murray (42nd); Jamal Sampson (47th)
2003 (Mil, although I'm not sure what EG's status was in the organization at the time) - TJ Ford (8th); Szymon Szewczyk (35th); Keith Bogans (43rd)
2004 (Wiz) - PJ Ramos (33rd)
2005 (Wiz) - Andray Blatche (49th)
2006 (Wiz) - Opec (18th); Veremeenko (48th)
2007 (Wiz) - NY (16th); D-Mac (47th)

It's an interesting collection of picks that doesn't yield much of a pattern. There's one off-the-charts selection (Redd at 44th), a few solid value selections (Charlie Ward at 26th, Flip Murray at 42nd, Blatche at 49th), a bunch of low picks that, unsurprisingly, didn't pan out (Andre Hutson, Jamal Sampson, and others), and a couple lottery picks that could've been better (Przybilla at 9th and Haislip at 13th, although neither of them were in very deep draft classes). I reserve judgment on the 2006 and 2007 picks, although it's pretty clear that D-Mac was a good value pick and NY wasn't a bad pick.

What does all this tell us? I think that the main thing it tells us is that EG doesn't really build his teams through the draft. I think that Redd is the only guy on this list that's clearly a building block type of player. Perhaps that's because EG's teams are rarely drafting very high, or perhaps it's because he thinks the draft is a crapshoot. Either way, I think it's clear that EG builds teams through trades. With the Knicks, he traded Charles Oakley for Marcus Camby and John Starks for Latrell Sprewell. With the Bucks, he traded Ray Allen for Gary Payton (whose deal was expiring) + Desmond Mason (not sure this was such a good deal, but I'm including it just to be fair). And with the Wiz, he's traded the #4 pick + Stack for AJ, and he dealt Kwame for Caron.

I think the bottom line is that it was inevitable that nothing really exciting was going to happen for us tonight. EG is not a draft-oriented GM and, as others have mentioned, the #18 pick isn't much of an asset, so the only possible exciting event tonight would've been a trade. It doesn't look like any trades are happening for us, so now we're stuck wondering about this kid McGee. I have no clue whether this was a good pick, but I'm pretty sure it can't be a terrible pick because, let's face it, getting nothing out of a #18 pick is close to par for the course.

I think we need to focus on the bigger issues we're facing. What do we do with Gil and AJ? If they somehow both leave, what do we with our cap space? Can we convince Abe to shell out more money so that we can be the team trading questionable parts for a player of Richard Jefferson's caliber?

Arenas4Three · Post #29 » by **Arenas4Three** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 3:18 am

Just got back from work saw our pick and i am about to jump off a cliff.

So much for grabbing someone that can help us win NOW.

yungal07 · Post #30 » by **yungal07** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:04 am

Arenas4Three wrote:Just got back from work saw our pick and i am about to jump off a cliff.

So much for grabbing someone that can help us win NOW.

Alright...amuse me because i need a good laugh.

Who exactly is a future hof'er that was available at out pick? please, tell me because i'm dying to know.

Post #31 » by **miller31time** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:08 am

Just got back from the rehearsal dinner...

I'm not depressed over this pick, but I am not happy that we didn't A) trade down, especially with Greene falling to 27, or B) trade out and acquire an immediate impact player.

FreeBalling · Post #32 » by **FreeBalling** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:09 am

Ji wrote:
Halcyon wrote:Ok so on the bright side, it looks like he can block shots, and it doesn't look like he fouls that much, which is a nice change from Blatche. At the very least he can be an energy player off the bench, and play 5-10 minutes and rotate in with our current bigs, depending on matchups.

he is 7-2...he has to block shots

I've got 7-0, is 7-2 a reach...................

yungal07 · Post #33 » by **yungal07** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:16 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSh4w-UPUk4

ok...this kid is not a stiff, that's for sure. i see why ernie picked him - he has a good skilset and he's long. he reminds alot of blatche - skinny, raw, but a nice skillset nonetheless. he's definitely more athletic than roy hibbs, that's for sure. roy is more polished, and has a higher IQ and is a better defender, but this kid creams roy in the "potential" department.

fugop · Post #34 » by **fugop** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:31 am

In Haywood and McGee, we now have two of the three tallest standing reaches in the NBA. McGee is second to Yao, Haywood is tied for third with Deandre Jordan. I like the pick, if we had a different coach.

Post #35 » by **W. Unseld** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:31 am

Everyone is going to come out of any draft disappointed b/c everyone has players they have fallen in love with and when they don't get picked you're inevitably disappointed. I have composed myself on this pick, I really don't think it's terrible for the 18th pick (often a crap shoot) even though I would have preferred N. Batum or even Courtney Lee. I think the Javale clearly has huge upside potential and pedigree to boot, so I can certainly live w/him at 18.

By contrast the 2nd round pick for $$ bothers me b/c i)I'm a whiner and I wanted Hendrix ii)it signals to me that Abe is trying to save up $$ for Gil and Etan. It's his moolah, I can't blame him but I'm leery of throwing a max or near max deal at a guy who last 2-3 times we checked over the course of the past year and several months was injured. I'm back on the reservation on JaVale McGee though, he looks to have loads of potential, no "stiff" worries there and at a minimum he's insurance for the Blatch knucklehead factor.

Halcyon · Post #36 » by **Halcyon** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:32 am

yungal07 wrote:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSh4w-UPUk4

ok...this kid is not a stiff, that's for sure. i see why ernie picked him - he has a good skilset and he's long. he reminds alot of blatche - skinny, raw, but a nice skillset nonetheless. he's definitely more athletic than roy hibbs, that's for sure. roy is more polished, and has a higher IQ and is a better defender, but this kid creams roy in the "potential" department.

I agree, from the youtube videos I can definitely see him as a more athletic Blatche, and his jumper looks smoother in terms of his form. I have a feeling they'll be able to fix his FT shooting problems, or at least make him respectable.

Again I just don't think anybody we would have picked would have cracked the rotation unless he was a SF or a PG, but none of the guys left probably could have been as good as this guy will.

That's my hope anyway, heh.

Wizards2Lottery · Post #37 » by **Wizards2Lottery** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:36 am

he looks taller than Haywood

Post #38 » by **miller31time** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:50 am

With all of the skills he possesses and displays, why such completely unimpressive numbers against non-NBA competition?

yungal07 · Post #39 » by **yungal07** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:57 am

miller31time wrote:With all of the skills he possesses and displays, why such completely unimpressive numbers against non-NBA competition?

i'm definitely not an expert on this kid's game, but my guess is simply that he's raw as hell. He doesn't have a go to move, and while he's physically long as hell, he just isn't built to bang. with that being said, his numbers are no more unimpressive than hibbert's or arthur's numbers, granted he didn't play as the competition they played.

i figure it's gonna take a couple of seasons before we get a good idea of what we have here.

RickRoll_inDC · Post #40 » by **RickRoll_inDC** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:00 am

I like the pick. I would've rather had Batum, Greene, or Jordan, but I'm not too concerned.

I recall a game that McGee had against my local team- Northern Iowa. He dominated the post offensively and defensively against our best bigs, who were some of the best in the conference. Freakishly athletic with incredibly long arms. He also runs the floor INCREDIBLY well for a big.

I have a good feeling that this pick means that ET is on his way out.