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closg00 wrote:DCZards wrote:closg00 wrote:Ricky Rubio, Youngest Pro-Ready Player Ever. 17 years old
More ready to play pro than Lebron was at 17? I'll believe it when I see it.
I said Youngest, not best. Rubio was playing pro-ball at 15, the youngest in pro-basetball history, LeBron was drafted at 18.
Mike Jones of the Moonie Times wrote:JaVale McGee showed off his amazing length and freakish athleticism, going down the lane from the foul line in one step while catching a lob from Dee Brown and easily laying it in. Later he caught a pass on the perimeter, put the ball on the floor and blew baseline past Brendan Haywood for a reverse dunk. And a short time later he stuffed Etan Thomas who was going up under the hoop.
Wisedude42 wrote:Some folks have been saying they have a problem with Jamison being an undersized PF. This is ludicrous. Jamison, Butler and Arenas are the 3 main reasons the Wiz are a playoff team. Without Jamison, the Wiz are not a playoff team and have no chance going further. Arenas would not sign wothout Jamison - what does that tell you? Not to draft Arthur b/c he is too much like Jamison? If every GM in the league would know with a crystal ball that Arthur would be the same productive player as Jamison, he would have been a top 5 pick.
You can have all the 7'0" journeyman B. Haywood's you want. I'll take the All-Star player any day. Noone knows how McGee will turn out except all know is totally raw in every basketball aspect.
Also the pick was made b/c Grunfeld and Jordan are totally desparate for a center. Only time will tell how it all turns out.
ZonkertheBrainless wrote:Picking at the high teens, you basically have a chance to pick up a mediocre player who fills a need but you know ahead of time will never be a starter, or you can take a chance on someone who might develop into a starter or might flop right out of the league (Peter John Ramos, e.g.).
EG apparently believes that backups and known quantities are easy enough to pick up as free agents, and that starters are next to impossible to get good value of through trades, so the only way to really get a starting player on the cheap is to take big chances in the draft.
If you had a chance at making five picks for Jacque Vaughn equivalent players, or five picks, four of which are worthless washouts, and one pick was Gilbert Arenas, which pick would you make?
W. Unseld wrote:Went to the Wizards scrimmage in Richmond on Friday. McGhee didn't do much through the first 3 quarters. Then for the 4th quarter they put 5 and a half minutes on the board and put the starters down by 6 (frankly I think they were down by 6 anyway). McGhee put on a display at that point, if memory serves he went 4 for 5 that quarter and was too much for Etan even when he didn't score. He showed range on his j, smarts to know when to use the glass, hops and he was blowing past some people. He wasn't terrible on defense, he had some blocks and knocked some balls away from dribblers, but he pays too much defense w/his hands and not enough w/his feet. Still, I was very pleased w/what I saw of him in the 4th quarter drill. The second team ended up extending the lead in the 4th quarter over the starters and the starters never really threatened. (Antawn was out and when the lead got out of hand they pulled Caron).
Jordan and his staff have given McGee a concise to-do list.
"Knowing the defensive spacing when he has to help, pick-and-roll defense, transition both ways running the floor," Jordan said. "Right now that's it. We're not looking for him to get touches in the post, although it's going to happen, but we want him to get the defensive system down first."
Although his coaches are working to ensure a smooth transition, it doesn't mean McGee doesn't feel a sense of urgency.
"There's always pressure," McGee said. "I feel like any time I'm in the game, I should be able to grab a rebound, block a shot or even just change someone's shot. So there's always pressure."
That's a big part of why McGee has pushed himself so hard in conditioning and in learning the system. After Saturday's practice, which ended with McGee's gray T-shirt soaked with sweat, the center remained on the court to work on the post-up baseline fadeaway jumper that Patrick Ewing was so successful knocking down during his storied career.
And his hard work has been noticed by McGee's teammates as well as the coaches.
"I think he's doing it," captain Caron Butler said. "He's out there working hard and getting better in all aspects of the game. I saw a drastic improvement from summer league until training camp, and I think it's only going to get better because he's willing to work."
daSwami wrote:McGee reminds me of Jared Jeffries.
Douglar! wrote:It's great and all that McGee can play like a SF and stuff. The only problem is that the Wizards need a big man that can play in the paint, not another rookie that acts out fantasies of being an oversized wing. Is there someone on the coaching staff who tries to teach all of the rookies to play small or does the front office continually looking for the perfect jumpshooting big man?
