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as yall know we have a lot of guards on this team. too many. a lot of people have been predicting that Foye will start at the two, or some people think MM will. some people even think it will be Nick Young who starts at the two.

i am pretty sure Deshawn "Mr. Fifty" Stevenson is going to start for us. Not only does he play lockdown defense on some of the toughest defensive assignments (LeBich, Kobe, DeWayne, etc) he is also the team's coolest player. With Tawn, Gilbert and Tuff Juice already written in as starters, Flip is going to need someone to play defense along with Brenda, as opposed to adding another one dimensional scorer like Nick. Nick is the natural scorer that struggles to grasp EVERYTHING else. DeShawn is a consumate role player who can knock down open 3's. If DS comes back healthy in 07 form, Nick may be coming off the bench. According to Flip, "Deshawn isn't gonna just give away a starting job he has held for three years."

sCoTTYwIN wrote: According to Flip, "Deshawn isn't gonna just give away a starting job he has held for three years."

Link...???

Flip said it on his radio interview with the Junkies on 106.7. I dont have a transcript. I know someone probably made one over at www.wizardsextreme.com if you dare search through the threads in that joke of a forum. Basically the Junkies asked who was going to start at the two and he said that he doesn't decide who starts-- the players do-- but that it was going to be an exciting training camp and that "Deshawn isn't gonna just give away a starting job he has held for three years."

You can't name 5 starting shooting guards in this league worse than Deshawn. He shouldn't start unless he has improved considerably from his 2006/07 form.

Deshawn may not want to give away the starting job, but that doesn't mean he's going to start. I find it hard to believe that EG would sacrifice the #5 pick and DSong in order to acquire Foye and Miller, only to play them for 15-20 minutes per game as backups.

If Stevenson starts, it is a complete failure.

Even at his absolute peak, in terms of value, he is easilly worse than Miller, and a bit worse than Young or Foye. So, even if he returns at his best, he still should be at least third string (as the team isn't going to sit the guy they just traded a lottery pick for behind him), and fourth is probably more appropriate (as Young is only going to get better going forward).

If he does not return at his peak, then there's not even a hint of room for debate in my mind: he is the worst option at SG on the roster, and depending on just what level he comes in at, may not even be worth an active roster spot.

As I've mentioned before, I could see us playing him say 10-12 MPG for the first few weeks of the season, just to see how he has recovered and get a better read on what we have with him. If he plays well (ie 2007), then he could possibly stay in that role. If he doesn't, then we should deactivate him.

Everytime DeShawn bricks a jumper, a cute little puppy gets mutilated. Do you really want that to this little guy ?

Dat2U wrote:Everytime DeShawn bricks a jumper, a cute little puppy gets mutilated. Do you really want that to this little guy ?

If that is the case,then Debrickashawn has caused more canine misery than even Mike Vick.

Benjammin wrote:

Dat2U wrote:Everytime DeShawn bricks a jumper, a cute little puppy gets mutilated. Do you really want that to this little guy ?

If that is the case,then Debrickashawn has caused more canine misery than even Mike Vick.

jeez, really? ibtl lol

I welcome you all to remember, at one point Deshawns swag was phenomenal... sure , his swag has declined greatly since 2 seasons ago.. but ill take his 11 ppg and solid defense in the starting unit... let him have a role similar to dominic mcguires last season... have him play 12-18 mpg, he can stay in for first 6-8 minutes of 1st quarter, then sub in miller or foye and have one of them stay in until halftime... Deshawn isnt BAD... we do remember his game winner against the hornets, and the 30 plus points in the playoffs against LeBitch where he shut him down... Deshawn has given his heart to this team, i dont think its fair to just write him off... he is a savy veteran and he deserves a chance to start for this team next season.. having said that, starting doesnt mean playing the majority of the minutes at his position, just let him come in and set the tone defensively and knock down a couple open 3's... the end.

Paulomanv8 wrote:I welcome you all to remember, at one point Deshawns swag was phenomenal... sure , his swag has declined greatly since 2 seasons ago.. but ill take his 11 ppg and solid defense in the starting unit... let him have a role similar to dominic mcguires last season... have him play 12-18 mpg, he can stay in for first 6-8 minutes of 1st quarter, then sub in miller or foye and have one of them stay in until halftime... Deshawn isnt BAD... we do remember his game winner against the hornets, and the 30 plus points in the playoffs against LeBitch where he shut him down... Deshawn has given his heart to this team, i dont think its fair to just write him off... he is a savy veteran and he deserves a chance to start for this team next season.. having said that, starting doesnt mean playing the majority of the minutes at his position, just let him come in and set the tone defensively and knock down a couple open 3's... the end.

Deshawn has never scored more than 19 points in a playoff game in a Wizards' uniform. In 2007/08, he managed a somewhat respectable 12 points per game with an eFG% of 48%. The year before he was historically bad, averaging just 6 points per game with an eFG% of 23.5%.

Paulomanv8 wrote:I welcome you all to remember, at one point Deshawns swag was phenomenal... sure , his swag has declined greatly since 2 seasons ago.. but ill take his 11 ppg and solid defense in the starting unit... let him have a role similar to dominic mcguires last season... have him play 12-18 mpg, he can stay in for first 6-8 minutes of 1st quarter, then sub in miller or foye and have one of them stay in until halftime... Deshawn isnt BAD... we do remember his game winner against the hornets, and the 30 plus points in the playoffs against LeBitch where he shut him down... Deshawn has given his heart to this team, i dont think its fair to just write him off... he is a savy veteran and he deserves a chance to start for this team next season.. having said that, starting doesnt mean playing the majority of the minutes at his position, just let him come in and set the tone defensively and knock down a couple open 3's... the end.

I agree. No, DeShawn is not the prototypical offensive shooting guard, but on this team, he carved out a great role for him. Defender/open shooter. Sounds to me like Bruce Bowen to me. Here is the difference, Bowen was given more leeway from the refs to play defense and not call every foul. A luxury the wizards have never had. Also, the toughest player on the Wizards is not Caron. It is DeShawn, no doubt. DeShawn is more durable than Caron, plays thru injuries more, and has more thug in him.

I'm not sure I remember DS scoring 30 points in any game (if he did, sorry I don't remember because it should be etched in my brain). I like his game alright when he's healthy and his shots (including FTs) are dropping, but I don't get the push for him to start.

Others have already pointed to the trade for Foye and Miller, both play SG at least PT, and I don't know enough about their games to say they will be horrible defensively. Despite the continuing disappointment of Young, I still think he has a lot of potential, including (with his physical abilities) on defense.

If DS can come back from injuries and recapture some of his form, he will be a tough defensive sub (mostly because he tries) that can help offensively by hitting an occasional 3, demonstrating his value to the Wizards or in a trade.

DeShawn has had explosive spurts. He did not score 30, but he did score more than 25 points a couple of times. These are games in which he hit multiple 3's in a quarter. He is capable of averaging 12-4 a game alongside a healthy Big 3. His value is on the defensive side though on this team.

As for Miller, he would help free up the Big 3 as you can't leave him open like you can Caron, but with the Big 3, offense is not the problem. Brendan and DeShawn can help balance the starting 5 with some defense to go with the offense.

i am sick of ppl hating on deshawn. he shot 40% from behind the arc his first two seasons with us. last year he was INJURED. hes also the coolest guy on the team and the best backcourt defender we have. i realize that Mike miller can shoot better and Foye is younger, but neither of them are good defenders. flip flip is gonna want him out on the floor, trust me, im a season ticket holder. he also OWNS lebytch.

also, he has scored over 30 multiple times and he took 2nd in the 2001 dunk contest (and he was robbed anyays, should have been first )

nate33 wrote:You can't name 5 starting shooting guards in this league worse than Deshawn.

rofl ur an idiot. how did u get to me a mod on here again?

first of all, calling other players "worse" than other players is relative. deshawn needs to be on the floor for his defense. and Miller and Foye are WORSE than deshawn stevenson at defense. and in the east he would have started for:

Cleveland (who finished number 1) -- would have started over delonte
Orlando (finished 3rd) -- would have started over courtney lee
Chicago
Indiana
Charlotte
the Bucks
knicks
raptors

pwned rofl

sCoTTYwIN wrote:

nate33 wrote:You can't name 5 starting shooting guards in this league worse than Deshawn.

rofl ur an idiot. how did u get to me a mod on here again?

first of all, calling other players "worse" than other players is relative. deshawn needs to be on the floor for his defense. and Miller and Foye are WORSE than deshawn stevenson at defense. and in the east he would have started for:

Cleveland (who finished number 1) -- would have started over delonte
Orlando (finished 3rd) -- would have started over courtney lee
Chicago
Indiana
Charlotte
the Bucks
knicks
raptors

pwned rofl

Are you serious...??? I like Stevenson, but he simply isn't that good of an player... And no, calling better players than him isn't relative... It's pure facts...

Delonte is a better player than DS, both on offense and defense...
Salmons will probably start for the Bulls at SG, and he is much better than DS...
Lee is better than DS...
Redd is better...
Nate...
Derozan...
Raja Bell...

You get the point...

I can't believe I wasted my time replying to you... I hope your future post are more constructive...

sCoTTYwIN wrote:i am sick of ppl hating on deshawn. he shot 40% from behind the arc his first two seasons with us. last year he was INJURED. hes also the coolest guy on the team and the best backcourt defender we have. i realize that Mike miller can shoot better and Foye is younger, but neither of them are good defenders. flip flip is gonna want him out on the floor, trust me, im a season ticket holder. he also OWNS lebytch.

also, he has scored over 30 multiple times and he took 2nd in the 2001 dunk contest (and he was robbed anyays, should have been first )

Stevenson has scored over 30 once in his entire career: on Feb. 25, 2008 against New Orleans. That's one time out of 581 career games. Let's not make it sound like the guy can score with ease and voluntarily chooses to defer to other players. Stevenson is a really bad offensive player for a shooting guard.

Just for kicks, I ran a screen of role playing starting shooting guards. I looked only at players between 6-4 and 6-6 who average at least 25 minutes per game but averaged 12 or fewer field goal attempts per game. I took the results from the 2006/07 and 2007/08 seasons (Deshawn's best seasons) and ranked them by TS%. Of the 23 player-seasons that qualified, Deshawn's TS% ranked him 15th and 18th. So basically, even if you only look at low-usage role players, Deshawn's scoring efficiency is pretty darn poor - and that's in his best seasons.

I agree that Stevenson is an above-average defender, but he's absolutely not a lockdown defender. He's real good at chasing Ray Allen/Rip Hamiltion types around off the ball, but his on-the-ball defense isn't much better than average.

I think, given the right defensive system and coaching, the defensive gap between Foye/Miller/Young and Stevenson is small, much smaller than the offensive gap between them. Unless something goes horribly wrong, I don't see much of a role for Stevenson except as a situational substitution guy against certain matchups.

sCoTTYwIN wrote: hes also the coolest guy on the team

I think you'll find Mike Miller is a very cool dude. And of course there's Haywood and Agent0. So that's 3 right off the top of my head...

sCoTTYwIN wrote:

nate33 wrote:You can't name 5 starting shooting guards in this league worse than Deshawn.

rofl ur an idiot. how did u get to me a mod on here again?

first of all, calling other players "worse" than other players is relative. deshawn needs to be on the floor for his defense. and Miller and Foye are WORSE than deshawn stevenson at defense. and in the east he would have started for:

Cleveland (who finished number 1) -- would have started over delonte
Orlando (finished 3rd) -- would have started over courtney lee
Chicago
Indiana
Charlotte
the Bucks
knicks
raptors

pwned rofl

Cleveland: West is better than Stevenson
Orlando: Lee and Pietrus are both better than Stevenson
Chicago: Salmons is better than Stevenson
Indiana: Deshawn would have a shot here - he and Marquis Daniels are about even
Charlotte: Bell is better than Stevenson
Bucks: Redd is miles better than Stevenson. Stevenson might have started when Redd was hurt.
Knicks: Hughes and Stevenson are about equal. D'Antoni would probably take Hughes in his system.
Raptors: Anthony Parker is better than Stevenson.

You can make a case for Indiana and Knicks. There's also Houston while TMac was out (though I'd rather start Battier out-of-position at SG than Stevenson). That's about it.