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I know what I think, but I'm wondering what you think -- what is the Wizards' single biggest remaining problem? And what are ways you think we could "fix" it?

payitforward wrote:I know what I think, but I'm wondering what you think -- what is the Wizards' single biggest remaining problem? And what are ways you think we could "fix" it?

Besides EG?

I think the biggest flaw with the current roster is the lack of a young talented big man. There are big men with some talent(Nene and Okafor) and ones with some youth(Vesely and Seraphin). Booker is the closest to being both, but he can't stay healthy.

I think they can probably get by with one old Free Agent fill-in, but I think they need to add some size to the young core of Wall, Beal, Porter and Webster.

The top priority would be making strong trade offers for guys like Aldridge, Ilyasova, Monroe and Cousins if it seems worth the risk. Young bigs rarely hit free-agency, so I don't think that is really an option.

I don't know how you do it, but finding the next Greg Smith could be very helpful

EG is definitely the biggest problem but outside of that it's a legitimate two way big.

I think were sorely overrate an adequate big in Okafor who probably couldn't start for more than 6-8 teams in the league at this stage. We'd be a lot better off if we had a guy good enough to push Nene/Okafor to the bench and eliminate the need for significant minutes from any of the current backups.

payitforward wrote:I know what I think, but I'm wondering what you think -- what is the Wizards' single biggest remaining problem? And what are ways you think we could "fix" it?

Ernie.

SEAL Team 6.



http://www.military.com/special-operati ... eam-6.html

Addiction to the Internet? Eternal hope for an often disappointing team?

As far as a cure, I'm hoping Oregon produces a vaccine.

Dat2U wrote:EG is definitely the biggest problem but outside of that it's a legitimate two way big.

I think were sorely overrate an adequate big in Okafor who probably couldn't start for more than 6-8 teams in the league at this stage. We'd be a lot better off if we had a guy good enough to push Nene/Okafor to the bench and eliminate the need for significant minutes from any of the current backups.

Half agree. As bad as Okafor looked at times, I value him highly because he was the most impactful defender on the team.

Hey, that SEAL Team 6 joke was kind of mean. Now, I'll try something (hopefully) funny:

payitforward wrote:I know what I think, but I'm wondering what you think -- what is the Wizards' single biggest remaining problem? And what are ways you think we could "fix" it?

Problem: The Wizards have no white guys who have demonstrated they know how to play NBA basketball well.

Solution: Trade Okafor, Ariza, and Seraphin for Pau Gasol, Steve Blake, and Jordan Hill
http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=q252h6u

Two more white players can make Vesely not so conspicuous. Seriously now, I think they play better with Jan because they pass to him and he can finish. Hill isn't white. Neither is Seraphin. Hill rebounds the ball well, unlike Kevin.

defensive rebounding

not sure how to fix it besides trading Seraphin (among others) for someone
who'll grab boards.

Short term.. Get Wall and Beal playoff experience and keep Nene healthy.

Mid term.. resolve the situation with maybe losing one or more of Trevor A, Okafor and Al along with figuring out the Kevin, Ves, Booker, Singleton situation.

Along with the above, find a way to add a Gasol or Dirk to upgrade the vet experience in the front court. I'm not looking for them to go young with a Cousins type. They already have two other young players are the core in Wall and Beal and now maybe Otto. I think they want more winning experience around them.

Longer term. Bring Kevin Durrant to DC. Wall, Beal and KD would be nasty.

Over riding all of this is making upgrades to the front office as needed.

LeBron James. To fix it, getting a credible two way perimeter players to complement Wall- who can get their numbers. Bigs that can protect the paint is also a plus. The Wizards can't fix everything in one offseason- Porter even though he looked shaky in summer league- has a chance to be one of those players.

Luck.

But that's tricksy to fix. So I'll say:

Talent. Or Players.

By which I mean we need to upgrade each position with players who have transcendent skill, who give mismatches in our favor at both ends of the court, and with whom we stock the bench with quality depth of teammates who consistently play all facets of the game well. If John Wall is your best player, you don't trump their LeBron. KD. etc.

Now we have some pieces for a solid team. But no single player or adjustment would make more of a difference than simply upgrading the team at all positions. Which requires either luck (see above, the right lotto bounce in the right draft) or a front office who plays the chess game well with our roster and assets.

But if we're talking individual positions, which is the greatest area of need? Which has the most room for upgrade, or which upgrade would make the biggest difference?
See 'dominant two-way Big' cited by others above.

Now this doesn't mean we need to funnel the ball into the hands of a power center on a low-post frontloaded imbalanced court. In recent years most teams are winning with an outside-in attack, spreading the floor with shooters and putting the ball in the hands of a dangerous creator and letting them dissect the defense.

That player we have, and we have a few pieces who can shoot from outside when his interior strike is blunted. But the majority of the available points in a game come from interior attacks (including fouls on the drive for exterior attackers). And in the current era the strongest link to wins is the efficiency of offense. And in the no-hand check era this seems to come first from ballhandling perimeter players who can force fouls on their downhill sprint towards the interior. Which they cannot do if their own players are clogging the lanes with muscle and beef.

So what you need then is a long savvy and mobile big who can cover a great deal of ground, and recover swiftly when teammates are beat, to shave % points off opponent interior attacks, or deter them from trying. You need him to get more than his fair share of available rebounds at both ends. And on offense you need him to be able to both finish in traffic and hit an open shot if he drifts away from the basket, to force the match-ups to chase him. Oh it doesn't hurt if he can pass well out of the double, or make the right decision when setting a pick.

A tall order. In the today league only Tim Duncan really still checks most of those boxes, with his savvy and anticipation making up for the age of his wheels. Pau did for a little bit there, while the Lakeshow was winning. And when LeBron plays as a PF he plays a similar role, while also checking the box of creative floor general.

(KG had his year, too bad the rest of his career was spent in the Force Basketball era.)

So no wonder the Spurs Lakers and Heat have divvied up between themselves most of the championships in this era, with the occasional odd Pistons, Mavs, or Celts making an appearance based on chemistry (and the occasional self-destruction of a talented opponent).

We have a talented creator, a mismatch most nights at his position. He needs to shoot better, yes, otherwise teams simply sag back off him and cork the neck of the jug. But that is fixable. We've got at least one shooter elsewhere. What we need most is a big brother for him who can back him up on an every game basis and force teams to divide their attention.

If Nene found the fountain of youth, if he ate platelet-rich plasma cereal and drank HGH shakes for breakfast and had the fire and love for the game that his little partner has, and perhaps improved that jumper a few significant percentage points, well then we'd have something. Our team players really well when we send out a squad of

Wall
Ariza/Beal
Webster
Okafor
Nene

But there are blank spaces next to each of the names on that list. And we can't play that veteran front court each 40 minutes a game, nor 82 games a year. So more than anything we'd be best served by an upgrade in talent as an understudy for either or both of Nene/Okafor. Well yeah, that's really saying something, both Meka and Nene are pretty solid good players. Not dominant, either one, but well better than competent. Hard to find that.

Frontcourt depth. PG depth.

There's next to nothing behind Nene and Okafor. There's next to nothing behind Wall.

Our new biggest problem is hiring former Raptors FO staff who worked under Bryan Colangelo

The team's name sucks.

If i had to pick 1 thing, it'd be John Wall's jump shot

crackhed wrote:If i had to pick 1 thing, it'd be John Wall's jump shot

I'm guessing you didn't watch the last two months of the past season, huh?

Our problem is depth with the bigs. Booker would suffice as a 4 if he could stay healthy...but alas, he hasn't. Singleton could be a young stretch 4...but he couldn't stretch a slinky...Seraphin could be a decent center if he...well if he could rebound and pass out of double teams...And Jan...meh, I still think its a courage thing with him.

doclinkin wrote:Luck.

But that's tricksy to fix. So I'll say:

Talent. Or Players.

By which I mean we need to upgrade each position with players who have transcendent skill, who give mismatches in our favor at both ends of the court, and with whom we stock the bench with quality depth of teammates who consistently play all facets of the game well. If John Wall is your best player, you don't trump their LeBron. KD. etc.

Now we have some pieces for a solid team. But no single player or adjustment would make more of a difference than simply upgrading the team at all positions. Which requires either luck (see above, the right lotto bounce in the right draft) or a front office who plays the chess game well with our roster and assets.

But if we're talking individual positions, which is the greatest area of need? Which has the most room for upgrade, or which upgrade would make the biggest difference?
See 'dominant two-way Big' cited by others above.

Now this doesn't mean we need to funnel the ball into the hands of a power center on a low-post frontloaded imbalanced court. In recent years most teams are winning with an outside-in attack, spreading the floor with shooters and putting the ball in the hands of a dangerous creator and letting them dissect the defense.

That player we have, and we have a few pieces who can shoot from outside when his interior strike is blunted. But the majority of the available points in a game come from interior attacks (including fouls on the drive for exterior attackers). And in the current era the strongest link to wins is the efficiency of offense. And in the no-hand check era this seems to come first from ballhandling perimeter players who can force fouls on their downhill sprint towards the interior. Which they cannot do if their own players are clogging the lanes with muscle and beef.

So what you need then is a long savvy and mobile big who can cover a great deal of ground, and recover swiftly when teammates are beat, to shave % points off opponent interior attacks, or deter them from trying. You need him to get more than his fair share of available rebounds at both ends. And on offense you need him to be able to both finish in traffic and hit an open shot if he drifts away from the basket, to force the match-ups to chase him. Oh it doesn't hurt if he can pass well out of the double, or make the right decision when setting a pick.

A tall order. In the today league only Tim Duncan really still checks most of those boxes, with his savvy and anticipation making up for the age of his wheels. Pau did for a little bit there, while the Lakeshow was winning. And when LeBron plays as a PF he plays a similar role, while also checking the box of creative floor general.

(KG had his year, too bad the rest of his career was spent in the Force Basketball era.)

So no wonder the Spurs Lakers and Heat have divvied up between themselves most of the championships in this era, with the occasional odd Pistons, Mavs, or Celts making an appearance based on chemistry (and the occasional self-destruction of a talented opponent).

We have a talented creator, a mismatch most nights at his position. He needs to shoot better, yes, otherwise teams simply sag back off him and cork the neck of the jug. But that is fixable. We've got at least one shooter elsewhere. What we need most is a big brother for him who can back him up on an every game basis and force teams to divide their attention.

If Nene found the fountain of youth, if he ate platelet-rich plasma cereal and drank HGH shakes for breakfast and had the fire and love for the game that his little partner has, and perhaps improved that jumper a few significant percentage points, well then we'd have something. Our team players really well when we send out a squad of

Wall
Ariza/Beal
Webster
Okafor
Nene

But there are blank spaces next to each of the names on that list. And we can't play that veteran front court each 40 minutes a game, nor 82 games a year. So more than anything we'd be best served by an upgrade in talent as an understudy for either or both of Nene/Okafor. Well yeah, that's really saying something, both Meka and Nene are pretty solid good players. Not dominant, either one, but well better than competent. Hard to find that.

Why is AH not in your equation ?

And why is Ariza in front of Beal at SG?

Yeah, they don't have that player you are talking about, short of Nene having a rebound year. But if they win this year more options should open up for them.

hands11 wrote:Why is AH not in your equation ?

Harrington is no long term puzzle piece that helps us towards a championship. He's a placeholder for a better player we do not yet have.

And why is Ariza in front of Beal at SG?

Happenstance mostly. Alphabetical order. Line-ups with Wall-Webster-Okafor played well together. Line-ups with Wall-Ariza-Okafor played well defensively. Either line with Beal on the floor shot more efficiently, but since Webster showed up in _all_ our best lines offensively I stuck Ariza on the 2-slot.

Yeah, they don't have that player you are talking about, short of Nene having a rebound year. But if they win this year more options should open up for them.

If they win this year one key option closes for them: lotto luck. Transcendent and successful players do not switch teams, mostly. You have to take them with your high picks and grow your own.

Another option that closes: Okafor and Ariza are expiring. We either swap them midseason, re-ink one or the other at a reasonable price or let them go. But suffice to say their contracts are a finite asset. They represent possible cap space.

What options show up if we win? Who?

But In any given year when teams have cap space the majority of teams are disappointed by the plum free agent, and in that case cap space becomes a liability as teams spend what they have regardless of the relative value, you have to pay somebody. Agents play your cap number against you.

Marc Gasol, Roy Hibbert, Joakim Noah, The Brow on the Pelican squad, Derrick Favors potentially, Andre Drummond, Jonas Valanciunas maybe -- these are players who are not switching teams. (Well, any more in the case of Marc).

I don't see where we pick up a dominant two-way big with what we've got in trade: potential cap space and three day old leftover scrambled eggs.

2 things:

John Wall has to play like last March all the time (as in, become a top 5 player in this league rather than merely a "star"). The other is that we need a good, young, two-way big man to replace Okafor.

Health. It would be awesome to get full, healthy seasons out of Wall, Beal, and Nene, especially. With those guys healthy, we wouldn't have to go too deep into the dregs of our bench (i.e., Maynor, Ves, K-Sera, and Singleton).

I know I'm guilty of wearing some seriously rose-colored homer glasses, but I'm pretty happy with the way this roster is presently constructed. For the first time in recent memory, this roster goes a legit 10 deep: Wall, Beal, Nene, Okafor, Webster, Ariza, Porter, Harrington, Booker, Rice, Jr. (I'm only guessing on Rice, Jr. - but I'm optimistic). "Legit," of course, is a relative term, but all of those 10 guys can ball. I'm also glad that last-half of last season this team seemed to (finally) learn to play good defense. I hope that carries over to this season.

I'm thinking/hoping we'll have a trade-deadline dilemma. It stands to reason that teams trying to make a run at Lebron next off-season (Knicks, Nets, Lakers, Rockets, etc.) will covet the cap space that Okariza could provide. If this team is in play-off contention (we should be), EG might not want to pull the trigger on trades. Then again, knowing EG, we'll get the short end of whatever stick we end up with.