Kevin Seraphin

[doclinkin]

My biggest reasons for liking Seraphin come down to doclinkin and Draft Express. doc loves him and doc tends to be right a whole lot of the time. DX had him there number one international.

Whereas my rose-colored glasses come in part from the names of the teams who were rumored to be pursuing trades to land him: Portland, OKC, Houston if I recall correctly. I'd trust their scouts far better than my own necessarily thin-sliced snap judgment.

I've seen little of the kid. I like what I see, and like that he improved late season sufficient to earn the starter role for a few games for the eventual French League champions (and would have taken the role more even into the playoffs if he hadn't tweaked his knee). I like that he has the build to add real strength to his raw power, and I like that his footwork is more highly developed than his jumper. He's young, has room to improve, is new enough to the game that he has no entrenched bad habits, and has the right emphasis to help the team where we need it most: defense and rebounding first.

I'm willing to wait on the rest, but I think he has the raw tools for John Wall to make him look mighty good. And my read is that he'll prove a good foil to play off of and with our finesse Bigs. I'm not impatient for him to develop at all. But defensively he's got the tools that JaVale lacks right now: a strong foundation and a willingness to take a bruise.

As for the C vs PF debate. I like him to find minutes regardless whatever you call him since our starting PF is six-foot-twelve and long armed. The team can afford to stick an undertall guy with a wide wingspan out there so long as he can hold his ground in the paint. Same way San Antonio can afford to call Timmy a PF and play him next to Oberto. If our PF were Jamison I wouldn't like the line-up quite as much. I just see where he plugs into the playbook, setting baseline screens and finishing the dump-off buckets at close range.

[Rafael122]

Wow, did anyone else feel a bit down after reading that? He sounds really really raw. I thought, based on what I've read, and the DX report, that with his defense he should be able to come in and give us maybe 8 minutes or so off the bench. But even that may be a bit optimistic. I'm not expecting much from him this year, maybe garbage minutes. Definitely should bring in another big.

[REDardWIZskin]

I remember that CCJ really wanted Blair last yr, I did too. This could be a bit of a compensation except for the fact that he is taller. I think that he will atleast be able to recognize english phrases by the end of training camp. Being around people who are speaking it 24-7 provides a quick learning curve. N'daiye also serves the purpose as a translator as well, maybe he should get a bonus

Seems like he can do about as much a Perkins can do just from size and strength which isnt bad in my opinion, the key would be defensive rotation. Perkins knows where to be on the floor every time. Doesn't seem like it would hurt bringing back singleton for cheap tho

[Surfman]

Don't worry about the kid's English. I travel a lot, usually out of the country at least 3 months a year, and I constantly hear people tell me there English is "very bad". Then when I talk with them they speak english just fine. Much better then most Americans speak another language. I bet his English is just fine for conversation. My not read it and write it well, but probably speaks it good enough to get by rite now. Can't wait to see the kid play. I think some people are underestimating the kid. I bet he's ready to play 10 - 20 minutes a game rite from the get go. Just look at the other French players who have come into the league lately. He's gonna be a beast for us.


His English. I think the language barrier is overstated.[/quote]
Me too. Young people in most European and Asian countries get a lot of exposure to the English language.[/quote]

[Ruzious]

My biggest reasons for liking Seraphin come down to doclinkin and Draft Express. doc loves him and doc tends to be right a whole lot of the time. DX had him there number one international.

I like that he's an aggressive, mobile, apparently tough dude.

However, until I see his basketball skills I am thinking Dat2Us Jahidi comparison is an upper limit to what Seraphin can bring. Right now, I do not see him being quite as prolific a rebounder as even Jahidi (based on my knowledge of Seraphin's rebounding stats to date). He really reminds me of former Terp, Ben Coleman. He has similar footwork and nifty moves around the basket. Shoots the ball the same way, lots of half hooks from what I've seen video of. I'd say Kevin's a cross between Coleman and Jahidi White. Maybe Seraphin is quicker than either of those guys, but he's not as strong as Jahidi. He's not quite as skilled as Ben Coleman was, either. Since he's only 20 or so he might have decent upside.

Seraphin has impressed people enough that they wanted him mid round one.

EG did hit it out the park with Blatche and he's seemingly right about McGee. Nick Young went about where he should have. I trust he has seen the goods in Seraphin.

I just hope doc, DX and others are right about Seraphin. He's the possibly the difference in the Wizards being decent to be pretty good, IMO. McGee and Armstrong are going to need some help in the paint.

Ben Coleman? Ben went to MD when I was a student at MD, and even I barely remember him. He was a solid college player, but I think/hope Seraphin has much more ability. And Jahidi - very gifted athlete but worst hands of any NBA player I've ever seen - not to mention he was always overweight - which led to lots of knee problems and under-achievement throughout his G-town and NBA careers. Those are odd comparisons, imo.

[dobrojim]

+1

let's hope Seraphin has a more productive NBA career than Coleman.
If he doesn't, paying Hinrich those big bucks is gonna be a lot more painful.

[Jericho]

+1

let's hope Seraphin has a more productive NBA career than Coleman.
If he doesn't, paying Hinrich those big bucks is gonna be a lot more painful.

Painful for Leonsis. But the rest of the DC area won't care. It's not like mid-first round picks make or break a team. Most of them never pan out anyways.

[dobrojim]

I was thinking more of a rebuilding plan/cap mgmt pov

Mr Leonsis will be OK either way

[Ji]

is he the next Ben Coleman or the next Ben Wallace?

[Ruzious]

is he the next Ben Coleman or the next Ben Wallace?

Yes.

[Dat2U]

+1

let's hope Seraphin has a more productive NBA career than Coleman.
If he doesn't, paying Hinrich those big bucks is gonna be a lot more painful.

Painful for Leonsis. But the rest of the DC area won't care. It's not like mid-first round picks make or break a team. Most of them never pan out anyways.

Painful for EG too. I think its make or break for him. As much as we paid for Seraphin, at minimum he better damn well turn into a rotation player.

[fishercob]

Yeah, I think it's important for Ernie -- especially if players drafted near or after Seraphin turn out to be successes. Ted's strategy is predicated on drafting well. If Ernie can't succeed given the opportunities, he won't be around forever.

[hands11]

I'm not worried yet. Kid seems to have good one on one defense but needs to learn how to do it in a system. That is to be expected. That is where experience and desire come in.

Looks good in transition and has some good post moves if he is in the right spot. At least he has post moves.

With Wall and Kirk helping him to know where to be, that won't be so much of a problem. They just won't feed him in a post if he isn't good at dealing with. That is what a PG does for a team and it's not like he will be the first option.

A lot of players have holes.

It was a good article. Almost a scouting report but there was enough there to work with.

The biggest thing to work on is his team defense. They can get him the ball in the right place on the floor for post moves and again, his transition offense seems fine and we should be running.

5 hrs a day and the kid has drive. I think he will be more than fine.

I'm more worried that McGee picks up something about defense on team USA. If we get an improved more mature McGee and Armstrong is our back up, this could get really interesting really fast when you add Seraphin. Center and more specifically center D if the key to this team. If we have that, we won't be a top team but we will be way more than average. I would put them as good as any Gil, CB, AJ team, with the upside of being even better.

Still maybe no better than a 7th or 8th seed but finishing the season on a roll and we show well in the playoffs. After two years off, I would take that on a team that is retooled and young.

[sfam]

Still maybe no better than a 7th or 8th seed but finishing the season on a roll and we show well in the playoffs. After two years off, I would take that on a team that is retooled and young.

What an awesome fantasy it would be if Washington as the 8th seed met Miami as the #1 seed and beat them! This would only happen if significant injuries took place...then again, Lebron is known to have fantasy injuries at inopportune times!

[hands11]

Still maybe no better than a 7th or 8th seed but finishing the season on a roll and we show well in the playoffs. After two years off, I would take that on a team that is retooled and young.

What an awesome fantasy it would be if Washington as the 8th seed met Miami as the #1 seed and beat them! This would only happen if significant injuries took place...then again, Lebron is known to have fantasy injuries at inopportune times!

Book mark that. We will come back to it later.

If it happens, we can play the creepy music later.

[JonathanJoseph]

+1

let's hope Seraphin has a more productive NBA career than Coleman.
If he doesn't, paying Hinrich those big bucks is gonna be a lot more painful.

Painful for Leonsis. But the rest of the DC area won't care. It's not like mid-first round picks make or break a team. Most of them never pan out anyways.

Painful for EG too. I think its make or break for him. As much as we paid for Seraphin, at minimum he better damn well turn into a rotation player.

Mindblowing.

We paid NOTHING for Seraphin. We got him for free.

Hinrich is a good player and a backup PG. Had we not traded for Hinrich, we would have paid the same $17M to a worse backup PG with a longer contract.

This was NOT a BOYD trade. EG got a player he wanted.

[DCZards]

Mindblowing.

We paid NOTHING for Seraphin. We got him for free.

Hinrich is a good player and a backup PG. Had we not traded for Hinrich, we would have paid the same $17M to a worse backup PG with a longer contract.

This was NOT a BOYD trade. EG got a player he wanted.

Actually, Erine got two players he wanted--Hinrich and Seraphin. If these two, along with Booker and Howard, perform like I think they might, this could turn out to be one of EG's best offseasons ever. On top of drafting JWall.

[Dat2U]

Had we not traded for Hinrich, we would have paid the same $17M to a worse backup PG with a longer contract.

You know what? Your right, I can't even argue against this type of logic.

Thank goodness we didn't give Chris Duhon all that money.

[verbal8]

Still maybe no better than a 7th or 8th seed but finishing the season on a roll and we show well in the playoffs. After two years off, I would take that on a team that is retooled and young.

What an awesome fantasy it would be if Washington as the 8th seed met Miami as the #1 seed and beat them! This would only happen if significant injuries took place...then again, Lebron is known to have fantasy injuries at inopportune times!

I think the key to Miami winning a championship is the health of DWade. Bosh and LeBron are great players, but they don't seem to be able to lead a team the way Wade does. You can't really stop LeBron, but if you can match Bosh and contain Bosh the Heat's lack of depth will become apparent. With a healthy Wade they become very close to unstoppable.

I wouldn't favor the Wizards over the Heat without Wade, but I think they would make it a good series and could possibly pull it out with a little bit of luck. I think the options at SF could contain LeBron and I think the Heat would have trouble stopping Wall and Arenas without Wade. I think Blatche can come close to matching Bosh's production and McGee would have to step up, but he would be big problem for the Heat too.

[Ruzious]

Had we not traded for Hinrich, we would have paid the same $17M to a worse backup PG with a longer contract.

You know what? Your right, I can't even argue against this type of logic.

Thank goodness we didn't give Chris Duhon all that money.

...or Josh Childress' 33/5 or Al Harrington's 34/5 or Drew Gooden's 32/5 or Luis Scola's 47/5 or Richard Jefferson's 39/4.