nate33 wrote:Cam Whitmore: To make an instant impact on the floor offensively and defensively which I kind of stand out in the league from the defensive end you know? So as long as we’re dialed in on the defensive end then I mean we’re good.
What does he mean by this? Is he saying he stood out as a bad defender and wants to change that? Or is he saying that he stood out as a good defender?
I think it’s a bit of word salad in the interview. Catching a guy at the end of the camp he hosted.
I think he’s saying he *can* be a standout defender if he’s dialed in on that end. It’s aspirational. Though my impression is he thinks like a playground baller, like defense is only shutting down your man or jumping lanes for steals.
I also got the sense in the past if he’s not featured on offense he checks out on D. But having heard about it from Udoka to the point of being traded, now he’s ready to take it more seriously. Part of the process of becoming a veteran. Sometimes it takes a minute to get it. And if the new team values you, you’re willing to give more effort instead of gunning to impress them with highlights to earn PT.
- What is your main goal for yourself and the Wizards heading into this season?
Cam Whitmore: I’m not gonna lie I’m really trying to win some games! I want to turn this whole organization around into a positive organization where fans will want to come to the games and fans will want to watch the Wizards play basketball but first we gotta win. Really my goal is to win 35 least 40 games at the max but the Eastern Conference is up for grabs and anybody can kind of get in but a Play-In wouldn’t be too bad either.
It's easy to forget how differently we see things from a fan's standpoint versus how players see things. These guys really want to win and they will refuse to accept the notion that we don't want to finish outside the bottom 5 or 6. It's a tough needle to thread as a coach and GM. How do you keep these guys motivated while still landing that pick? And make no mistake, we MUST land that pick. This is a strong draft and our Phoenix pick swap gives that top 8 pick a lot more value.
That’s the benefit of 13 guys on rookie contracts though. We have a lot of developmental minutes to test out. CJ and Middleton can endanger it a bit. But I bet we limit them, bring them off the bench and experiment with various line ups that keep us both competitive and losing. All in the guise of giving young guys playing time.
We still have only one rebounder on the team and no true starting center. One PG (besides CJ) still developing. That plus Youth and a weak front court should limit us.
I don’t mind subbing Cam for Poole as a high usage player. Though Tre will take those reps as well. Cam could improve a bunch on Defense and still be a liability. I’ll take better, and not expect good.
if we can limit CJ and KMidd the real danger to our tank lies in swapping Kuz out and Champagnie in. So if we can keep JC benched by playing all the other young forwards we should be able to squeeze out a few extra losses.
We can hope for incremental improvement elsewhere, a few flashes, but only 1-2 players max showing signs of a breakout. Bilal and Cam being the most likely candidates here. And even then, if players tend to start peaking age 23-27, we can rely on youth being youth. I fully expect with all the rookie contract players the team can play as hard as they want and still lose.
