Comparing Front-courts

[barelyawake]

No Dat, it goes well beyond the idea that we need a "defensive anchor." The author of the article is correctly stating we need both a star and a leader in the frontcourt. You seem to blow that off to mean we need a Kendrick Perkins type. Far from. We need a true star. And that star isn't coming with a late first round pick. I'm sorry if you think I'm repeating myself but being the lone voice of reason in a swamp of hyperbolic insanity has it's challenges.

[Wizardspride]

No Dat, it goes well beyond the idea that we need a "defensive anchor." The author of the article is correctly stating we need both a star and a leader in the frontcourt. You seem to blow that off to mean we need a Kendrick Perkins type. Far from. We need a true star. And that star isn't coming with a late first round pick. I'm sorry if you think I'm repeating myself but being the lone voice of reason in a swamp of hyperbolic insanity has it's challenges.

You could be correct and many of us could be crazy.

But I hope you're willing to consider the possibility that you're the "lone" voice because you're wrong.

Just something to consider.....

[barelyawake]

Please get the fact that I am the lone voice on this board reflecting the majority of the league. In no way am I the lone voice expressing such an opinion. The problem is, once again, this board is so removed from reality that it doesn't understand overwhelming truth... Yet again... Trust me, I can walk us through many a time when thus was the case...

[Induveca]

We also need a Carmelo Anthony, like every other team in the league but one likely isn't available to us.......so we are making due and if some game changing player pops up we can get I'm sure we'd do it......until then we roll with what we have and hope for the best.

We're not winning a championship anytime soon, and no one is trading us Pau Gasol or Dwight Howard. So we'll be competitive and hope Blatche keeps progressing and whatever extra poise we can squeeze out of McGee catapults him to a very solid defensive center. It also makes no sense to "tank" and hope to draft a "game changing big" as we have no clue if one is even available, and winning the lottery is no guaranteed means of success (see Oden, Griffin, Kwame Brown etc). Shaqs and Duncans only appear once every 10 years, and just doing the math on tanking, getting the #1 out of all the lottery teams is a mind boggling algorithm and leaves us with a less than 10% chance of getting that game changing big even if we tanked every single year for 20 years. It makes no sense to follow that strategy. We made a huge splash getting John Wall, let's see what he becomes. Between the Pistons of the 80s and the Nets of the early 2000s I see a couple of models there we could emulate to a point and be successful with the right moves.

A star in the low post obviously is a prerequisite to winning a championship (with the exception of a few championships). But just hoping for one beyond hope with odds that are equivalent to scratch off lottery tickets is not the approach to take. That approach has kept us at the bottom of the barrel during the Pollin years and it's time to have a new philosophy.

Beyond that, I think most on here are being logical when we are saying it's time to compete and truly begin grooming our youth not only with "experience" but real competition. The past few years have been brutal on our youth, it's time to try to win some games. No more lip service. We have the talent to compete, maybe not be elite, but we have a shot to beat every team in the league on any given night not in the playoffs.

Nothing wrong with that, and with another lucky bounce in free agency, trade or another sudden contribution/vast improvement from an existing player we can jump higher.

[pancakes3]

as one of the first posters to derail this thread, i guess i'll apologize. however, BA... you're not the lone voice of sanity. you're not even a lone voice of that opinion. it's common knowledge that our FC is weak, i won't deny that. i just don't think it was the weakest in the league.

as for us getting a FC superstar? to quote induveca - it "obviously is a prerequisite to winning a championship (with the exception of a few championships)." but i find it hardly engaging forum banter to constantly shout "we need tim duncan" over and over again until we get one. then once we land tim duncan to shout "we need kobe bryant" repeatedly.

however, i guess i'm in the minority that a championship, i can take it or leave it, as long as the wiz are playing pretty basketball. i would rather have 15 seasons like the suns have gone through - consistently thrilling basketball being played - than the boom bust cycle the pistons are currently going through.

[doclinkin]

Please get the fact that I am the lone voice on this board reflecting the majority of the league. In no way am I the lone voice expressing such an opinion. The problem is, once again, this board is so removed from reality that it doesn't understand overwhelming truth... Yet again... Trust me, I can walk us through many a time when thus was the case...

You overlook one essential fact: this is the offseason. Wizards fans reserve their right to swooping loop-de-loops of giddy optimism the few times that the schedule allows it. As of right now we have a .500 record, no wins sure, but ZERO losses against any Eastern Conference teams. That's pretty good, man. Jeez, have you forgotten how to be a Wiz fan? This is the offseason man! Crushing reality comes eventually, everything in its own time dude.

What's funny is somehow my man BA has gotten even more riled up AFTER we landed John Wall, when last year he was saying: 'we need to tank and trade for draft picks so we can ensure we land John Wall...'

And years before that he was saying (as was I) 'this franchise will go nowhere until Ted Leonsis is our owner'.

My man: we landed John Wall! Step one accomplished! Of course we ain't finished yet. No doubt, no doubt, but shoot, we got Teddy on board! We haven't had this much untapped possibility since, well since the last time we drafted a #1 overall player!!! The possibilities are endless! Until the season starts! Then we can get back to the old doom and gloom! Or maybe not! You don't know, never know, maybe we suddenly got lucky for a while! Yi Jian Lian buddy, he could be a supastaaah!

Woo! Go Wiz!

[closg00]

Mavericks Planning Roster Battle At Center
"We have some different options there. We're long, athletic and I do think we'll have some intensity there."

The Mavericks have Tyson Chandler, Brendan Haywood, Alexis Ajinca and Ian Mahinmi to bang in the paint.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/68790/20100821/mavericks_planning_roster_battle_at_center/#ixzz0xHyjN15T

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Chandler and Haywood are bound to get into it at some point. Stay tuned.

[keynote]

How many seasons in Haywood's career has his role as a starter or as a bench player been set in stone at the start of the season? It seems like he coming into uncertainty and/or a dogfight almost every year.

[hands11]

Jamison can't guard SFs well. However, he kills them on boards and he posts them up at will.

If I could coach an idea I would have explored for the Wizards last season is Jamison at SF, Oberto at PF, Haywood at C. Oberto was a very crafty defender. His lack of rebounds and scoring could have been mitigated somewhat by having Jamison shooting all the time at SF, while being a dominate rebounder at SF.

Wiz could have probably been even better with Jamison, Blatche, Haywood.

True. Its about mismatch. There are several ways a SF can look.

[hands11]

No Dat, it goes well beyond the idea that we need a "defensive anchor." The author of the article is correctly stating we need both a star and a leader in the frontcourt. You seem to blow that off to mean we need a Kendrick Perkins type. Far from. We need a true star. And that star isn't coming with a late first round pick. I'm sorry if you think I'm repeating myself but being the lone voice of reason in a swamp of hyperbolic insanity has it's challenges.

I don't see as a matter of the board not thinking we need a star there. I think its just..the next right move is to see what we have. See what Dray does and the other players we have here.

Logic being are assets are cheaply valued right now and people think that they will be worth more by the trade deadline.

So we run with what we have then evaluate the situation.

My target star still includes Melo until that option is off the table. But there isnt anything we can probably do about that right now.

[Kanyewest]

as one of the first posters to derail this thread, i guess i'll apologize. however, BA... you're not the lone voice of sanity. you're not even a lone voice of that opinion. it's common knowledge that our FC is weak, i won't deny that. i just don't think it was the weakest in the league.

as for us getting a FC superstar? to quote induveca - it "obviously is a prerequisite to winning a championship (with the exception of a few championships)." but i find it hardly engaging forum banter to constantly shout "we need tim duncan" over and over again until we get one. then once we land tim duncan to shout "we need kobe bryant" repeatedly.

however, i guess i'm in the minority that a championship, i can take it or leave it, as long as the wiz are playing pretty basketball. i would rather have 15 seasons like the suns have gone through - consistently thrilling basketball being played - than the boom bust cycle the pistons are currently going through.

Didn't the Pistons go to 5 Straight Conference Finals? I'll take that!

[closg00]

Under-sized PF watch, Jeff Adrien with the GSW camp invite, he was ok in SL play.

[dobrojim]

Chandler and Haywood are bound to get into it at some point. Stay tuned.

yeah, they probably like each other less than Etan and Wood.

re our front court (which I interpret to include BOTH fwds)
and the rest of our team for that matter - it seems to me
that McGee is the one HUGE question mark with the recovery
of Howard also being a potential question.

I do not have much in the way of doubts about Dray. He'll
be fine unless the foot thing becomes chronic. If healthy,
he'll be pretty good or possibly better than that.

our backcourt figures to be among the best in the league, top 5
by the end of the season.

[closg00]

Ranking the power forwards, 30 through 21
21.Andray Blatche, Washington Wizards (last year: unranked)

This is a glass-half-full ranking.

If Blatche really gets into Flip Saunders' offense, plays hard and keeps his attitude in the right place? He'll have a great year, possibly better (I'm not going to get too optimistic, considering his defense) than a few of the players ranked ahead of him.

It's not likely to go that way. He'll have good stretches and bad. Which is unfortunate, because he remains a tantalizing talent.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_d ... nba-264844

Don't know why LaMarcus Aldridge is ranked 11th and Andray 21st, but at-least AB is inching forward in respectability.

[nate33]

It's tough to see how a guy who could average 22 and 9 with a 53% TS% over 30 games last year could rank behind Udonis Haslem, but I won't get too worked up about it.

[pancakes3]

i hate to see what he'd be ranked if it was half-empty.

[Zonkerbl]

Wha? Blatche plays bad defense? Who says? Dude plays a few games out of position at center and all of a sudden he's a lousy defender.

[Dat2U]

I'm not surprised to see Blatche ranked so low. Personally I'd put him 15th or so. Definitely ahead of Haslem and without a doubt ahead of Antawn Jamison.

As far as NBA centers go, I'd rank McGee somewhere in the 25 to 30 range.

[pancakes3]

possibly lower. there are some backup centers like chandler/haywood who are better than mcgee.