Zach Lowe tidbits on the Wiz

[mhd]

Lowe is the best NBA writer on the net. Love his impartial take:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/901 ... -teams-nba

The Good:
"Another team that should be all-in for a playoff spot next season, because they capped themselves out with the Trevor Ariza/Emeka Okafor deal, and have ridden a surprisingly stingy defense to a 15-11 surge since their embarrassing 4-28 start. But here's the thing: John Wall is shooting 41 percent, with one 3-pointer, a very bad turnover rate, and a habit of descending into freneticism on both ends of the floor. He has boosted Washington's league-worst offense and handed a bucket of corner 3s to the improving Bradley Beal, but even with Wall on the floor, Washington is scoring at a rate that would rank about 25th overall.1 Wall has to get better to even approach justifying the max deal he'll surely demand when he hits free agency after next season — or the max extension he may push for in October.

Any advance in getting Nene healthy would also be huge. The Nene-Okafor front line has been productive on both ends, and Nene's ability to do just about everything at a B-plus level greases the wheels on offense. The Wiz need him productive so he can help on the court and up his trade value, in case the Wizards decide to try to move him at some point."

Of note:
"Time will tell if that stat is misleading. The most-used lineup featuring Wall has scored at a top-10 rate in 119 minutes so far, per NBA.com. Lesser lineups are sinking Wall's overall on-court/off-court splits, but even 119 minutes is a tiny sample size."

The Bad:
"2. The Demise of Chris Singleton, Jan Vesely, Trevor Booker, and Kevin Seraphin

John Wall is back, Bradley Beal looks like a borderline All-Star in the making, and the Wiz have been playing better than .500 ball for a while now. Lost in the happiness: Four recent first-round picks, including one lottery pick (Vesely) and two who fell just below the lottery, have failed to show any meaningful development at all. Singleton can't shoot, which torpedoes his chances of working as an effective small-ball power forward, and Vesely was out of the rotation until suddenly replacing Singleton over the weekend. Seraphin always shoots, usually misses, and never gets to the line. Booker has been a nonentity. This is bad. Let's hope it changes."


I kind of disagree on Booker b/c he's a good player when healthy and Vasquez is the only player picked after him who is a better player.

[nate33]

Booker was a good player last year. He has been a real disappointment this year. Last year, he posted a PER of 15.4 and a TS% of .549. This year, his TS% is down to .476 which has dragged down his PER to 12.3.

The Booker of last year was a solid, 15-20 MPG backup-caliber PF. That's a good pick at #23. The Booker of this year is a totally replaceable player. Factor the injuries and he has little worth in this league and is destined to become a vet-minimum journeyman (rendering the time spent developing him to be a waste).

[hands11]

Lowe is the best NBA writer on the net. Love his impartial take:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/901 ... -teams-nba

The Good:
"Another team that should be all-in for a playoff spot next season, because they capped themselves out with the Trevor Ariza/Emeka Okafor deal, and have ridden a surprisingly stingy defense to a 15-11 surge since their embarrassing 4-28 start. But here's the thing: John Wall is shooting 41 percent, with one 3-pointer, a very bad turnover rate, and a habit of descending into freneticism on both ends of the floor. He has boosted Washington's league-worst offense and handed a bucket of corner 3s to the improving Bradley Beal, but even with Wall on the floor, Washington is scoring at a rate that would rank about 25th overall.1 Wall has to get better to even approach justifying the max deal he'll surely demand when he hits free agency after next season — or the max extension he may push for in October.

Any advance in getting Nene healthy would also be huge. The Nene-Okafor front line has been productive on both ends, and Nene's ability to do just about everything at a B-plus level greases the wheels on offense. The Wiz need him productive so he can help on the court and up his trade value, in case the Wizards decide to try to move him at some point."

Of note:
"Time will tell if that stat is misleading. The most-used lineup featuring Wall has scored at a top-10 rate in 119 minutes so far, per NBA.com. Lesser lineups are sinking Wall's overall on-court/off-court splits, but even 119 minutes is a tiny sample size."

The Bad:
"2. The Demise of Chris Singleton, Jan Vesely, Trevor Booker, and Kevin Seraphin

John Wall is back, Bradley Beal looks like a borderline All-Star in the making, and the Wiz have been playing better than .500 ball for a while now. Lost in the happiness: Four recent first-round picks, including one lottery pick (Vesely) and two who fell just below the lottery, have failed to show any meaningful development at all. Singleton can't shoot, which torpedoes his chances of working as an effective small-ball power forward, and Vesely was out of the rotation until suddenly replacing Singleton over the weekend. Seraphin always shoots, usually misses, and never gets to the line. Booker has been a nonentity. This is bad. Let's hope it changes."


I kind of disagree on Booker b/c he's a good player when healthy and Vasquez is the only player picked after him who is a better player.

Pretty much nailed it.

Nate, I agree. Bookers window is closing. May as well play Ves who is tall and still might develop. Booker as a mid first has served his role as this rookie contract is running out. Would have been nice to get more out of him, but intimately, injuries have hurt him. He had a golden opportunity last year to really get it going. But he couldn't end the season. Again.

[dangermouse]

Up until very recently, when Singleton was on the floor it appeared he had improved and was becoming an average shooter.

Personally I'd like to see more Singleton and Booker instead of Jan or Seraphin. At least those two rebound, don't get out muscled all the time and actually take smart shots.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Up until very recently, when Singleton was on the floor it appeared he had improved and was becoming an average shooter.

Personally I'd like to see more Singleton and Booker instead of Jan or Seraphin. At least those two rebound, don't get out muscled all the time and actually take smart shots.

Agree with this. Love the way Booker plays. Recall him vs Griffin. Nobody else on this team plays with his physicality and toughness. He's gotta stay healthy though.

Singleton has played really well in spurts. Plays here and there has shown athleticism I didn't realized he had. Game against NY when he got a start I had hopes for him but he was terrible at least offensively missing every shot he took including a missed dunk and a missed layup.

But I do still hold out hope these two could improve with some consistent playing time. I think they have the mentality to keep working and trying to get better. I'm losing that faith in Seraphin, and Vesely I've given up on.

[mhd]

Up until very recently, when Singleton was on the floor it appeared he had improved and was becoming an average shooter.

Personally I'd like to see more Singleton and Booker instead of Jan or Seraphin. At least those two rebound, don't get out muscled all the time and actually take smart shots.

Agree with this. Love the way Booker plays. Recall him vs Griffin. Nobody else on this team plays with his physicality and toughness. He's gotta stay healthy though.

Singleton has played really well in spurts. Plays here and there has shown athleticism I didn't realized he had. Game against NY when he got a start I had hopes for him but he was terrible at least offensively missing every shot he took including a missed dunk and a missed layup.

But I do still hold out hope these two could improve with some consistent playing time. I think they have the mentality to keep working and trying to get better. I'm losing that faith in Seraphin, and Vesely I've given up on.

I'd rather play Singleton than Vesely. At least Singleton isn't a total liability on both ends of the court. When Vesley came in the other night, he was abused on defense and starting passing like bowling. He's an utter waste of a roster spot. Just cut him already.

[dangermouse]

Anything Ves can do, Singleton does much better. He's just a better player full stop, yet...

I just read somewhere that Ves had moved up in the rotation? I can't find the article. All I can ascribe that decision to is:

[dangermouse]

Also, is there a reason people jump all over Wall regarding his terrible 3pt shooting, yet I don't remember Rondo recieving as much of a bashing? Is it just because the Celtics win?

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Mayb

Anything Ves can do, Singleton does much better. He's just a better player full stop, yet...

I just read somewhere that Ves had moved up in the rotation? I can't find the article. All I can ascribe that decision to is:

Maybe Singleton should get another shot at some SF pt... not that he's a solution there, but just to get him some more pt and experience, and to help propel the tank. Plus the more pt Webster gets the higher the price to keep him, and the less pt Ariza gets the more likely he opts out.

[sfam]

So far, our investments in Singleton, Seraphin and Vesely have not panned out. Booker looks like he collects injuries like Rasheed Wallace collects technicals. I think its worth giving Singleton, Seraphin and Vesely another year to see if they can pick up their game. Hopefully one of them breaks through. Bottom line though, is we won't get much for them. If we can get a midlevel first for Seraphin, take it. But aside from that, we're better off waiting to see if they mature or flop completely.

[tontoz]

Singleton and Ves are not worth a roster spot. They should just decline their options and let them go.

This season Singleton is scoring only 10 points per 40 minutes with a TS% of 43.6%. That is just a joke. Vesely has 94 points and 83 fouls on the season. SMFH

[sfam]

Singleton and Ves are not worth a roster spot. They should just decline their options and let them go.

This season Singleton is scoring only 10 points per 40 minutes with a TS% of 43.6%. That is just a joke. Vesely has 94 points and 83 fouls on the season. SMFH

Well again, if you can find a Webster-like talent to replace them with, then fine. But otherwise its still worth a few bucks to see if they can turn the corner and become productive.

[pancakes3]

Also, is there a reason people jump all over Wall regarding his terrible 3pt shooting, yet I don't remember Rondo recieving as much of a bashing? Is it just because the Celtics win?

I don't think you understand the full extent of how bad Wall is at shooting 3's. He was 3 for 42 last season and 1 of 15 this season. Furthermore Rondo plays within himself, shooting in the high 40's and low 50% range whereas wall is a 40-41% shooter. That doesn't even factor in the incredible playmaking Rondo is capable of vs the "descent into freneticism"-style offense that Lowe refers to.

[nate33]

Singleton and Ves are not worth a roster spot. They should just decline their options and let them go.

This season Singleton is scoring only 10 points per 40 minutes with a TS% of 43.6%. That is just a joke. Vesely has 94 points and 83 fouls on the season. SMFH

We should let Vesely go. His option is $4.2M and he's terrible at both ends of the court.

We should probably keep Singleton. His option is merely $2.4M and he's competent at defense and less terrible than Vesely at offense.

[Dat2U]

DP

[Dat2U]

So here's a quick tally of player development from last season to this season:

Wall = regression
Seraphin = regression
Booker = regression

All three were much better last season.

Vesely = complete bust
Singleton = no progression
Mack = released

Yep, things are going swimmingly well.

By the way, that's our 2009, 2010 & 2011 drafts collectively..

Don't forget Jordan Crawford, who improved so much that he got traded for guys who'll never suit up for us.

[Upper Decker]

Don't forget Jordan Crawford, who improved so much that he got traded for guys who'll never suit up for us.

I hope the C's make a nice deep run in the playoffs and Crawdad is paramount to their success. Hopefully the announcers will consistently mention in puzzlement how he was acquired for nothing from a perennially bound lottery team.

[Knighthonor]

Singleton was improving early on and was benched for it. Clear sign of a tanking plan. Both Crawford and Singleton improved this season and were dumped for it.

[Knighthonor]

So here's a quick tally of player development from last season to this season:

Wall = regression
Seraphin = regression
Booker = regression

All three were much better last season.

Vesely = complete bust
Singleton = no progression
Mack = released

Yep, things are going swimmingly well.

By the way, that's our 2009, 2010 & 2011 drafts collectively..

Don't forget Jordan Crawford, who improved so much that he got traded for guys who'll never suit up for us.

Singleton and Jordan were both doing well. Especially Singleton. He was benched for some strange reason for player like Ves (no offense). Didnt make sense to me.

[Knighthonor]

KS was doing well until he got benched early in the season to Nene return. I believe that had something to do with it.
Perhaps Wizards need to pull some package trades to get draft picks in the next season draft (2014).
An extra first rounder would be very useful.
Should have got a pick out of JC. Ether this season draft or next season. That gives the Wizards more chances to trade up picks in the 2014 draft to grab Wiggins and Parker.