Bean Burrito / Nick Young Appreciation Thread.

[Illuminaire]

With the steady improvement in his stats since the start of the season, I think given the benefit of the experience he got this year along with another offseason, he can really average 20 points, 4 rebounds and around 4 assists a game. Add that along with his solid defense, that's a really productive SG.

For a team that has as much talent issues as we do, we really can't afford to be picky in regards to who we keep and who we don't.

I'm skeptical that he can get to 4 assists/game without pressing things and turning the ball over more too. However, even if he keeps it in the 2-3/game range, that's respectable enough for his role. I'd really like to see him keep working on the rebounds though. As a team, we need guard help on the boards, and he has tremendous athleticism going up for the ball.

I <3 Nick's defense.

[hands11]

I mention the other stat categories because they have a bearing on whether he could stay on the floor for a good team.

I'd like to be wrong, but I don't see Nick entering even the star level you're describing. He's a good scorer on a bad team. I don't think he has the mental makeup to do the same on a good team.

This year has been all about Nick's mental growth. He could always shoot and dunk and he was a good man defender last year.

As for Nick doing more than just shoot. That has been a topic for a long time and it is why I like seeing stuff like this. I see him making progress.

Filling the Stats Game 1
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=310115027

Filling the Stats Game 2
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=301229027

Career Highs in Every Category This Year. All of them in the last month.
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/nick_young/career_stats.html

Most notable are.
Total Rebounds 9 vs. Indiana 12/29/10
Assists 5 vs. New Jersey 01/07/11 - done it 3 times.
Blocks 2 @ Atlanta 11/25/10 done it 6 times

Nick put in the work this summer and earned a consistent role off the bench. He got mentally set
Gil got traded and they moved him to a starter - He got mentally set
Now they ramped up his minutes - He is still producing and getting mentally set
Now he set a career high in pts so that expands his mind. You can do it

Seems the next step for Nick is to be able to take his show on the road. I think that goes hand in hand with him standing up to the challenge of teams playing him more physical. I see him answering that call but no doubt teams get away with more physical play on the road than in the Booth. He can do it on the road in LA, but that is like his home away from home. But with Nick, all his limits are mental, not physical or talent. The kid is slowly growing into his skin. The road production will come and with it, a better Wizards W/L record.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/s ... yerId=3243

At home 48% FG
On Road 43% FG

But he shoots 3 less shots on the road. 43% isn't that bad. Specially for this team. I say he doesn't need to shoot less on the road, but he need to shoot the same or even move. Not all the players are struggling on the road but the team is. They score 4.5 less on the road. Well Nick score 5.5 less on the road. Would it really be this simply. Nick shots an extra 3-5 shots and gets mentally adjusted to the road and we start winning more ? McGee score 2 less also.

Tuesday seems to be Nick best day to play. He shoots 53% and averages 25 pts. But for some reason, he suck on Fridays 35% and 9.7 pts. Wow. What is that all about ? Sunday is his third best day.

Had to check. Dray does ok on Friday but Saturday is an off night for him. 8 games 36.441% 13 pts

[hands11]

The Bean is officially the teams leading scorer.

Next stop, replacing Gils mug on the stat page.

http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/nam ... on-wizards

Since becoming the starter, he has had 4 bad road games and 2 ok/good ones.

His last two road games have not been good. And of all the road games, he shoot less on the road. I hope his 1-8 start last games helps him to understand that even with a bad start, he can turn it around. He ended up 10-19 that game.

For Jan he is averaging 22 pts on .491 % and .459 from 3. 3 rebounds and 2.6 assists with a game of 43 pts and one of 29 pts. At home he averages around 19 shots a game. He needs to take that many on the road and probably a few more even.

Hopefully he cranks out a few more of this so he can take his rightful play on the player stat page as the teams featured scorer.

[DallasShalDune]

How many dime-a-dozen scorers like NY defend as well as he does?

[nate33]

How many dime-a-dozen scorers like NY defend as well as he does?

And I like that his defense isn't flashy. He doesn't get a ton of steals or chase-down blocks. He just keeps his man in front of him because he is quick on his feet, and he contests shots with his long reach. He only rarely bites on pump fakes.

He's not a lock down defender. Really good scorers will still score some points on him. But he doesn't make it easy.

[hands11]

DAGGERRRRRRR


Amazing patience and never forced his game.

25 pts 7-12 FG 3-5 3FG 8-8 FT 3RB, 2 AST 1BLK 37 MIN. GTFOOH

Did it by the FT line to start the game and opened it up later.

FEED THE NICK

Main that felt good watching them beat a good team.

Now take it on the road Nick.

[The Fax]

EG has to lock NY up asap, somewhere in the range of 5yr/50mil. When can we offer him an extension? Imagine how devastating would it be if he walks this summer...

[Hoopalotta]

EG has to lock NY up asap, somewhere in the range of 5yr/50mil. When can we offer him an extension? Imagine how devastating would it be if he walks this summer...

The window closed on extensions on Halloween night for guys in the last year of their rookie deals, but he is at least a restricted free agent, so he he can't walk outright unless the CBA rescinds restricted status (which is actually how Shaq went to the Lakers).

I think we'd blink if the bidding got up to 5 years @ $50 million, though. That's just huge dollars.

[hands11]

I think we have to wait and see how he plays out the rest of the year before we make that judgment call.

With Nick, it was never about his shot, his handles, his leaps, etc. He is good, great or amazing in all those areas.

It was always about his focus, his mental toughness, decision making, and would get good instruction and listen enough to grow his game. And could he do enough of that to earn the minutes he needed to grow his game and test it against the best in live action so he could grow to the next level.

The kid did enough. He earned not only the right to start but his coach in busting out his teammates at halftime saying, WE NEED TO GET NICK THE BALL.

He played an amazing patient and mature game. Never forced it. And scored 22 of his 25 points in the second half.

That my friend is a who new category. Time for everyone to take the limits off of Nick and just watch and see what he actually does and how and when he does it. And for how long.

[Zonkerbl]

NICK YOUNG -- BETTER THAN GILBERT ARENAS

discuss

[DaRealHibachi]

NICK YOUNG -- BETTER THAN GILBERT ARENAS

discuss

Better than post-injury Gilbert Arenas, that's for sure...

[Hoopalotta]

.....certainly a better fit with John Wall.

[tontoz]

As a starter Nick is averaging 21 ppg shooting 46% from the field and from 3.

[hands11]

NICK YOUNG -- BETTER THAN GILBERT ARENAS

discuss

Better than post-injury Gilbert Arenas, that's for sure...

Not really a fair comparison. One was a SG/PG who dominated the ball the other a pure SG who isn't.

Gil has two really productive years here when he was like 23 and 24 and he got to the line 8-10 times a game. Nick is just cranking it up at 25. Hopefully it is the start of a nice 4 year run. Maybe longer. Its not like he as a lot of minutes on his legs only averaging around 1300 minutes a year his first years.

Gil best 2 years a USG% 27.3 % & 30.5 and TS of .565 & .581 and eFG .498 and .507, PER 21.3 & 23.8
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/s ... ayerId=974
http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... agi01.html

Nicks number haven't caught up with his recent production but still his eFG and TS should be there.
USG% 23.9 and TS of .573 and eFG .530 PER 16.1

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/s ... yerId=3243
http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... gni01.html

Nick is more efficient and has already topped Gils best eFG and one of best TS%'s.
His PER is still a little low. Not sure what it would be adjusted for his starting role and what it is as a starter at home vs away.

Nicks numbers should still be on the rise. They are being pulled down by his poor road production which I think is about to end. That said, his Jan numbers are looking pretty sweet. FG% .500 3FG .476 and 22.5 PTS

FEED THE NICK

[Zonkerbl]

Nick's advantage over Arenas on defense is more than Arenas' advantage over Nick on offense. Arenas' main superstar advantage was clutch shooting.

But I think the relevant comparison is post-injury Arenas.

[TGW]

Noodles isn't Noodles anymore. I just really noticed.

[nate33]

NICK YOUNG -- BETTER THAN GILBERT ARENAS

discuss

Better than post-injury Gilbert Arenas, that's for sure...

Yeah. Better than post-injury Arenas, but not close to pre-injury Arenas.

Let's not forget that Arenas was averaging 28-29 points, 6 assists and about 4 boards during his peak; and he did so with a TS% around .570 and a PER of 24 while also being supremely clutch.

Young has been a revelation, but he's averaging just 21 points, 2 assists and 3 boards as a starter. Young's TS% is comparable though (now at .576 as a starter). Young's D is better than Arenas', but I don't think that makes up for his lack of overall floor game and his substantially lower usage rate. Young's PER as a starter is just over 15.

[Nivek]

Young is having a nice season, but Arenas was one of the league's elite offensive weapons. Gilbert had 3 consecutive seasons with a usage rate of 27% or higher and an offensive rating of 115 (ortg accounts for shooting from the field, free throws, assists, turnovers and offensive rebounds).

Young's usage is lower (23.9% this season) and his ortg is 112 so far. So, for Young to be as effective as Arenas on the offensive end, he'd have to boost his usage by 5-6% while also boosting his efficiency by another 3 points per 100 possessions.

Nice season, but let's not get carried away.

[fishercob]

To be clear, I don't think anyone was making the argument that Young was at all comparable to pre-injury Arenas -- nor does he need to be in order to be of value. A lot depends on what kind of contract he commands this summer.

Edit: Nick is making $2.7M this year. I'm guessing when the new CBA shakes out that we'll be able to retain him for somewhere in the 4 yr/$16-18M range.

[dlts20]

Well the post injury argument is 2 differnt things because I always say that Gil was still super explosive after the 1st sugery and Gil was still super explosive after the 2nd surgery. The 3rd surgery is the one that killed him. Thats why I would say that NY is not better then the post 1 & 2 sugery Arenas but is better then the 3rd surgery Arenas. Still, alot of Gil's stiff is just menatl. He has alot more ability then he's showing. He just doesnt believe in himself right now. He just thinks that he cant, despite what he says in his interviews