Nothing Thread--only one opinion counts-LOCK ME

[dobrojim]

we need more dobros



one of my biggest heroes, Jerry Douglas, a NEA awardee and 12x grammy winner

[The Consiglieri]

The most surprising player in this draft has been Greg Monroe.

I wouldn't really agree with that. I know a number of people are surprised by him but a lot of scouts and writers and ex-NBA'ers form my sketchy memories seemed to have had fairly high hopes for him. Nobody thought he was going to turn into Dwight Howard, but from what I recall a ton of well informed folks saw in him a highly intelligent, professional with fantastic hands, and a great passer in the post, like one of the best passing big men to be available in forever. The main issue seems to be he could have turned into a courtney brown (NFL, #1 overall draft pick, 2000) who Joepa and others argued was better than Arrington largely because he was dominant and college and nice and smart. The problem with Courtney was he lacked the edge and the hunger typically associated with successful players on D, he was basically what Charles Mann was like, if Charles Mann hadn't been good. He did not possess a mean streak, an edgyness, or a hunger to be the best, and there does seem to have been sentiment that Monroe was basically a nice Beta-Dog, who was smart, and gifted, and technically very sound, but not supremely athletic, not tough as nails, and definitely not an alpha dog that wanted to destroy people on his way to the top. And sometimes, as Im sure you guys feared, guys like that simply don't have the hunger or desire to become great, and it ends up resulting in disappointing careers.

Monroe was a calculated risk, a player who might not be very special, and might be flat out invisible, but a guy who had unique skills and talents that if harnessed and directed with confidence would result in an excellent NBA career.

The guys I was petrified of being saddled w/were huge risk, lower upside guys like Aminu, Aldrich, and the true dread for me, Wes Johnson (admittedly I viewed him as more impressive than Aldrich, but he was exactly why i was desperate for us to get a top 4 pick, I dreaded being left with all the big 4 gone and only Johnson on the board).

The big surprise to me has been Evan Turner, I figured w/what he'd been through, and his crazy array of skills he'd be more productive. On another team that might have happened, and he's supposedly improved a lot since an inauspicious start, but I definitely think his lack of elite impact has been the biggest shock. Monroe is basically doing what everyone would have expected from him if his issues w/assertiveness and being beta were rendered irrelevant.

[closg00]

I guess this is the official Tracking the 2010 Draft Picks thread Tonight Lazar Hayward's stat-line
22min 5-7 2-4 4-6 +19 and 16 points. Dexter Pittman had been progressing nicely until he got injured in the D-League. The Knicks stashed Jerome Jordan overseas and they may be bringing him back next year.
It is too-early to close the book on the 2010 draft picks.

[tontoz]

I just noticed that Wall was 3rd in the league among pgs in defensive rebounding ratio. Hopefully his commitment to the defensive glass will rub off on the bigs but that is probably just wishful thinking.

[theboomking]

I just noticed that Wall was 3rd in the league among pgs in defensive rebounding ratio. Hopefully his commitment to the defensive glass will rub off on the bigs but that is probably just wishful thinking.

He has been a beast rebounder recently, averaging 7.1 rebounds a game in March. In the last 6 games, Wall has had 11 rebounds twice, and 9 once. We're going to see a lot of triple doubles if we ever surround him with skilled scorers.

I'd still give up a lot to get Cousins though. McGee, our unprotected 1st, and Atlanta's pick?

BTW, every time I see the Player Comparison thread, I think that Wall reminds me a bit of Desean Jackson, not mentally, where Jackson is a flake, but physically.

[Ruzious]

Wall's been doing it ever since I posted that the Wiz guards have to help on the boards. I take full credit for his improvement there.

[Wizardspride]

This might sound crazy but I think Blatche would/could be very effective playing next to Cousins,

Seems like thier respective styles of play would complement each other.

Just a thought...........

[Nivek]

This might sound crazy but I think Blatche would/could be very effective playing next to Cousins,

Seems like thier respective styles of play would complement each other.

Just a thought...........

I'm all for it -- just so long as it doesn't happen with them in Wizards uniforms. Let someone else try that experiment.

[theboomking]

Today, Wall played 38 minutes and had 26pts on .500 shooting, with 6 boards, 8 assists, 4 steals and 4TO. He lead the team in scoring, assists, and steals, and played a huge role in helping the Wizards to a come from behind win.

Cousins played 21 minutes, scored 3 points, had 1 rebound and 4 assists with no steals or blocks and 4TO. Cousins was ejected in the third quarter for shoving an opposing player, and after he left, his team scored 21 unanswered points to blow the game open.

[Dat2U]

Our much maligned Andray Blatche, aka the scourge, aka the team killer, aka DC's Most Hated, has a higher PER, a higher TS%, is far less turnover prone, has a higher AST rate and is a lower usage player than the chosen one, the great DeMarcus Cousins. Both do have the same number of fights against teammates but Cousins has surged ahead in team suspensions.

At least Cousins has a bigger impact on his team. The Kings are a whopping 4.7 points better when Cousins is OFF the court while the Wizards are a measly 3.0 points better with Blatche ON the court.

Obviously this tell us we need to do everything in our power to dump Blatche at all costs and give up everything under the sun to acquire Cousins.

If we had only drafted Cousins instead of Wall.

I posted this on 2/27. Funny how it was totally ignored by the Cousins' supporters/Wall bashers.

Would we have really been so much better off with Cousins & another player (insert scrub draft pick.. i.e. Anderson or Babbitt) as opposed to Wall? The Kings are a horrible team and are still better off when Cousins doesn't play.

I thank God that we got the right guy from the University of Kentucky. If we think the rebuilding is ugly now, imagine how bad it would have been without Wall in the mix. How long would have taken for Blatche & Cousins to duke it out. Or how long would have taken Cousins to deck Flip? Record wise, we'd probably be worse than Cleveland at this stage and maybe even historically bad.

[Rafael122]

Where IS Luke Babbitt anyway?

[nate33]

Our much maligned Andray Blatche, aka the scourge, aka the team killer, aka DC's Most Hated, has a higher PER, a higher TS%, is far less turnover prone, has a higher AST rate and is a lower usage player than the chosen one, the great DeMarcus Cousins. Both do have the same number of fights against teammates but Cousins has surged ahead in team suspensions.

At least Cousins has a bigger impact on his team. The Kings are a whopping 4.7 points better when Cousins is OFF the court while the Wizards are a measly 3.0 points better with Blatche ON the court.

Obviously this tell us we need to do everything in our power to dump Blatche at all costs and give up everything under the sun to acquire Cousins.

If we had only drafted Cousins instead of Wall.

I posted this on 2/27. Funny how it was totally ignored by the Cousins' supporters/Wall bashers.

Would we have really been so much better off with Cousins & another player (insert scrub draft pick.. i.e. Anderson or Babbitt) as opposed to Wall? The Kings are a horrible team and are still better off when Cousins doesn't play.

I thank God that we got the right guy from the University of Kentucky. If we think the rebuilding is ugly now, imagine how bad it would have been without Wall in the mix. How long would have taken for Blatche & Cousins to duke it out. Or how long would have taken Cousins to deck Flip? Record wise, we'd probably be worse than Cleveland at this stage and maybe even historically bad.

+1. With Cousins instead of Wall, there would have been a very real possibility of a total implosion of the team and mutiny of the players. At best, it would have been like it is now, but without that late-season surge in effort led by the rookies Wall, Booker and Crawford.

[theboomking]

Our much maligned Andray Blatche, aka the scourge, aka the team killer, aka DC's Most Hated, has a higher PER, a higher TS%, is far less turnover prone, has a higher AST rate and is a lower usage player than the chosen one, the great DeMarcus Cousins. Both do have the same number of fights against teammates but Cousins has surged ahead in team suspensions.

At least Cousins has a bigger impact on his team. The Kings are a whopping 4.7 points better when Cousins is OFF the court while the Wizards are a measly 3.0 points better with Blatche ON the court.

Obviously this tell us we need to do everything in our power to dump Blatche at all costs and give up everything under the sun to acquire Cousins.

If we had only drafted Cousins instead of Wall.

I posted this on 2/27. Funny how it was totally ignored by the Cousins' supporters/Wall bashers.

Would we have really been so much better off with Cousins & another player (insert scrub draft pick.. i.e. Anderson or Babbitt) as opposed to Wall? The Kings are a horrible team and are still better off when Cousins doesn't play.

I thank God that we got the right guy from the University of Kentucky. If we think the rebuilding is ugly now, imagine how bad it would have been without Wall in the mix. How long would have taken for Blatche & Cousins to duke it out. Or how long would have taken Cousins to deck Flip? Record wise, we'd probably be worse than Cleveland at this stage and maybe even historically bad.

I agree that we're better off Dat, but don't you think we would have been more likely to get the 2010 draft pick plus the 2011 draft pick? That would have been Cousins plus a top 5 pick this year. I'm not saying Cousins and Barnes is better than Wall, but it is certainly better than Cousins and Babbit.

It would also have been pretty interesting to see Wall paired with Tyreke Evans. They would have been a poor match I think. Evans has to have the ball in his hands a lot, and isn't a great outside shooter. Wall and Evans complement each other pretty poorly. Sacremento and Washington are probably better off how things went. I like Evans, Cousins and a top 5 2011 pick better than Wall and Evans...maybe.

I'd kill to see Cousins fight Blatche though. They'd have to pick up a lot of tiny pieces of Andray afterwards.

[DCZards]

Statwise Wall has had a very impressive rookie season. And his athletic ability and upside are as good as advertised, imo. But even if you set the stats and potential aside, it's obvious that Wall has "IT." Effort, leadership, charisma, swag, a winning (and marketable) smile and attitude...you name it.

The Wizards would be kicking themselves in the butt if they had taken anyone other than Wall in last year's draft. I'm surprised people are still even trying to come up with scenarios that suggest that trading the pick and drafting someone other than Wall MIGHT have been the way to go.

[Kanyewest]

Only problem with Wall is that he friends with LeBron.

[tontoz]

Statwise Wall has had a very impressive rookie season. And his athletic ability and upside are as good as advertised, imo. But even if you set the stats and potential aside, it's obvious that Wall has "IT." Effort, leadership, charisma, swag, a winning (and marketable) smile and attitude...you name it.

The Wizards would be kicking themselves in the butt if they had taken anyone other than Wall in last year's draft. I'm surprised people are still even trying to come up with scenarios that suggest that trading the pick and drafting someone other than Wall MIGHT have been the way to go.

I don't understand the continued fascination that some people have with Cousins. He is a low efficiency low IQ fat ass with a major attitude problem. No thanks

[Halcyon]

Statwise Wall has had a very impressive rookie season. And his athletic ability and upside are as good as advertised, imo. But even if you set the stats and potential aside, it's obvious that Wall has "IT." Effort, leadership, charisma, swag, a winning (and marketable) smile and attitude...you name it.

The Wizards would be kicking themselves in the butt if they had taken anyone other than Wall in last year's draft. I'm surprised people are still even trying to come up with scenarios that suggest that trading the pick and drafting someone other than Wall MIGHT have been the way to go.

I don't understand the continued fascination that some people have with Cousins. He is a low efficiency low IQ fat ass with a major attitude problem. No thanks

We may be ready for a Cousins + Wall reunion in a few years down the road. Right now, no thanks. We just can't afford to deal with the growing pains associated with Cousins right now, we have enough problems on the plate already.

[Dark Faze]

Is this thread a joke thread? Wall is one of the rawest kids I've ever seen and look at his stats right now.

Cousins will be good but I don't know what's even being discussed in this thread...

[fishercob]

.

[theboomking]

Statwise Wall has had a very impressive rookie season. And his athletic ability and upside are as good as advertised, imo. But even if you set the stats and potential aside, it's obvious that Wall has "IT." Effort, leadership, charisma, swag, a winning (and marketable) smile and attitude...you name it.

The Wizards would be kicking themselves in the butt if they had taken anyone other than Wall in last year's draft. I'm surprised people are still even trying to come up with scenarios that suggest that trading the pick and drafting someone other than Wall MIGHT have been the way to go.

I don't understand the continued fascination that some people have with Cousins. He is a low efficiency low IQ fat ass with a major attitude problem. No thanks

The fascination with Cousins is his ceiling. Who was the last rookie center that could come in and go toe to toe with Dwight Howard, eventually fouling Howard out. Cousins is huge and skilled, and could he a top ten player in the league. His kind of physical presence is exactly what the Wizards are missing, AND, Cousins has already played with Wall and recently commented that that year was too short a time to get to spend playing with Wall. I like Wall better, but think that together they could make a dynamic core. I'm not sure how likely Cousins is to reach his ceiling, but he could be a great one if he does.