2016-17 Season Tracker -- big picture stuff

[fishercob]

We usually have one of these threads and I couldn't find any place to dump these thoughts, so here you go.

I've watched decent chunks of three preseason games and have some eye-test impressions of several players, things. So here goes:

Kelly Oubre: Seems to have "it." He hasn't put everything together yet, but attacks the basket hard, has a knack for drawing fouls, and shooting stroke looks good. Need to continue to improve his ballhandling and his non-existent passing. He's an absolute b*tch to play against when he's on D. He has limbs everywhere and he's fearless. He could prove to be a very good player.

Otto: Looks great. Just makes winning plays over and over. He and Oubre would be an absolute nightmare defensive tandem on the wings.

Satoransky: Clearly a viable rotation player. Whether he can shoot/score consistently will determine his offensive upside, but he can do so much else. I would expect him to take some time to find his jumper, but when he does, he'll help!

Beal: I am thoroughly unimpressed. Once the trade deadline passed without the Wizards (reportedly) so much as entertain moving Beal before his free agency, I was of the mid that the Wizards were better off maxing Beal than letting him walk. Ruzious argued otherwise, and now I am worrying that he is right. Brad seems to have worked really hard on his handle so he can free himself to to shoot foul line jumpers. He's not big/long/skilled/quick/strong enough to get to and finish at the rim regularly. He really needs to focus on shooting tons of 3's and making them at a high clip. That max salary is going to be a problem for his production and I hope that Oubre/Otto/Sato (and maybe McLellan) play well enough that Ernie will consider moving him in a few months. He can still bring back a positive net return, even if that's in the form of significant cap space and draft considerations. I'm down on him and hopes he proves me all wrong.

Markieff: You get what you pay for. Everyone crowing about how much of a bargain his contract is needs to acknowledge his flaws. You're not winning anything important if he's your starting four, unless he's surrounded by stars. He's got some Nene in him -- solid defensively, offensively inefficient, nice passer for a big. He also seems to be a huge a**hole who gets into foul trouble easily and gets a lot of techs. The post iso's and stepback jumpers are the height of stupidity and lack of awareness. If he would eliminate those, he could be decent! He's nice to use in the high screen game because he can create as a roll man like Draymond Green. He can make the secondary pass or get all the way to the cup. You can live with him shooting some stand still jumpers. But he seems to have no idea (or care) as to what he really does well and what's important. Power forward is going to be a big weakness for this team. Man, Horford would have been perfect here. Maybe we can use Beal to address it somehow.

Nicholson: Seems like a tough stylistic fit with guys like Wall, Oubre, and Otto who want to pressure defensively. Can he not get destroyed in the pick and roll game? Can he rebound? Can he make enough 3's to compensate for the fact that he isn't a "playmaking 4" in Zach Lowe parlance?

Jason Smith: Waste of a signing for 3/$15M. He's eminently replaceable.

Trey Burke: Seems to have some Maynor in him. Hopefully he's better. Would have much rather had Brandon Jennings or Seth Curry without giving up a pick. Ernie was clearly swayed by where Burke was drafted 3 years ago. The clinical word for that line of thinking is "stupid."

Gortat: Looks solid. The same. He and Mahinmi should make for a nice center combo.

Scott Brooks: Something about him rubs me the wrong way. He doesn't give me confidence that he knows what he's doing. I worry about the offense being Randy 2.0, though I do like him emphasizing getting to the line. In OKC he was able to rely on transcendent talent to generate offense. Obviously doesn't have that luxury here. I have visions of him standing hands-on-hops with a bewildered stare in to the abyss for the next 4 years.

As usual, I think there's going to be enough to keep me interested, but that the team just isn't going to be that good. Mediocre. Fine, if you will.

[AFM]

Good stuff all around, fish. Are we going to start a new thread for season predictions?

I really wish Kev was here this year. He just abruptly stopped posting.

[payitforward]

A couple of other "big picture" questions:

1. Last year we were at best an average team. Are we going to be worse, better, or about the same this year?

2. Are we set up to become significantly better than average over the next 3-4 seasons?

I'd answer "worse" to #1 and "no" to #2. Other points of view?

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Only saw 2nd half last night but was really impressed by our defensive intensity. So there's that.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I hope to get back to DC soon. Fishercob is a good dude! Him, montestewart, and Nivek are peeps I really enjoy!




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