Nick Young

[fishercob]

And JCN's two 28 point games.

[nate33]

Sorry, the website I used doesn't screen by number of years in the league. It only screens by age. I just looked up anybody 23 or younger. It turns out that Thornton is 24. JCN is 27. I guess I should amend my original post.

[tontoz]

I caught the second half and OT of the Lakers game. Young put on quite a show. I think the last two plays should have been for Butler though.

[fugop]

In my opinion, if Young pans out in a real way, we should at least consider shopping him. I haven't given much thought to it, but games like last night's give us a valuable player, both on the court and around the league. Having a great offensive guard would be nice, but there's an argument that we could use the talent more at other positions.

[Bickerstaff]

In my opinion, if Young pans out in a real way, we should at least consider shopping him. I haven't given much thought to it, but games like last night's give us a valuable player, both on the court and around the league. Having a great offensive guard would be nice, but there's an argument that we could use the talent more at other positions.

Maybe, but that doesn't mean they don't need a creative scorer off the bench. Also, if you trade him for, say, a rebounding big man, you still need to replace him--assuming Mason leaves, the only guards would be GA, AD, and DS.

[dorianwrite]

I'm still convinced that Nick Young is the second coming of Cortney Alexander. Please argue me out of this belief.

[jmrosenth]

I'm still convinced that Nick Young is the second coming of Cortney Alexander. Please argue me out of this belief.

I can see why people would think that, although N1 has contributed to a pretty good team and one who's games mean a lot. That's all Alexander ever did was have one good month in garbage time for the Wizards.

I think he's just plain better, period.

[doclinkin]

I'm still convinced that Nick Young is the second coming of Cortney Alexander. Please argue me out of this belief.

Really? No way. Courtney Alexander never scored an easy basket in his life. It would take him like 15-16 shots per game to score 14 points. Ugly shot, short arms, awkward dribble. He could jump, but had no body control once he was up there. And it seemed like he played scared.

Nick Young is goofy, distractible, easygoing-- but scoring is something he does instinctively. He dribbles without thought, splits defenders, adjusts in traffic and hits impossible shots when no one else is hitting. He's even started to make the smart pass and fit into the offense. In a very short period of time, in a very complex offense. His defense has improved. Shoot he's even put on muscle, take a look at USC footage and compare how much weight he's put on just since the start of the season. As a rookie his true shooting percentage is better than Courtney Alexander's career best.

There's few positions we need more than an offensive option off the bench. No way am I trying to trade him right now. There's nothing that helps us more than that right now.

[Wizards2Lottery]

We haven't had a reliable bench scorer since ummm.... hmmmm..... ughhhhh.....

yeah. Juan Dixon was the closest thing we had over the past several years. Their is no way you trade someone with Youngs skills even if we need help at other positions.

I do think we are in a position to trade one of our future first round picks because we already have enough young talent as it is. We could use a veteran rebounder/defender.

[fugop]

I mentioned in the "what's it take" thread that the only way to win a championship without a dominant (offensive) interior presence is to have good defensive big men and ridiculous production from the wings.

The guy I've gotten obsessed with is Josh Howard. Butler's become a good enough distributer and ball handler that I think we'd be okay on the offensive end with another G/F in the starting lineup. He gets to the line, he hits jumpers. And he plays defense. Butler's strong enough, and Howard's long enough, to be ridiculous on the perimeter.

Howard is going to be 28 at the end of April. He's the same age as Butler and Haywood, a couple years older than Gilbert. He's having trouble fitting in the the post-trade Mavs, and there seems to be some sentiment that he should be traded for a shooting guard better at creating his own offense (though the tension between Kidd-Avery is pretty much determinative here).

The Arenas-Young-Butler trio may be good enough to provide the wing production we need to contend. But if we could deal, say Etan and Young for Howard in the offseason, it's something I'd seriously consider. Deshawn could be the third guard, providing more defense and perimeter shooting off the bench. He could spell Arenas, Howard, and Butler, and occasionally play beside all three with Howard and Butler at the big positions when we go small-ball.

We'd still need a defensive PF, and the odds of Blatche becoming that guy are a bit up in the air. Maybe Joey Dorsey is the answer, maybe somebody else in the draft.

[dobrojim]

re fugop's point that maybe we should consider shopping him
for greater need at another position.

problem I see with that is that I think SG is our weakest position.
We have got tandem AllStar fwds and a very high value C on a
per dollar basis. Exactly who's minutes are in greater need of
replacing? DS has exceeded expectations and done a great job
with Gil missing essentially all year and Caron for an extended
period, but when you consider Gil and 2 AllStar fwds, both of whom
play heavy minutes whether you believe they should or not, I'd
consider shopping him in the same sense that everything I own
is for sale, at the right price. But I have my doubts that
we could get a player more useful to us. The athletic stud PF
would be nice, but we could end up panicing too soon on AB not
developing, or even OPec. I like our roster like it is not that it
would be impossible to conceive of improving it.

[Ruzious]

If we draft a PG - as some have said is a must (not me) and re-sign Mason, there will be glut of guards next season.

[Rafael122]

Ruz - which is why I think Mason is a goner. Mason cannot play the point guard. As much as Nate says we can sign Mason b/c we have luxury tax room, it's best if he signed with someone else. Young can immediately fill the void as the back up 2 guard.

Point Guard, cannot stress this enough is a MUST this offseason.

[Ruzious]

Raf, I don't feel that way. BPA is always the best policy, imo - unless it's real close.

Also, I think we have to assume that Arenas will be back as our PG for the next 5 years. We have Daniels, and it's not hard to get a 3rd PG like Wilks if you have any cap room. And when Butler's healthy, you can go with a backcourt of Stephenson and either Mason or Young, because Butler can do the distributing.

[Rafael122]

Thing is Wilks is 5'10'' and he's not going to amount to anything. Nick Young was BPA and he filled a position of need. If Collison is there, you take him. No need to re-sign Mason just because. I think EJ's system has proven that you can pluck any guard into the 2 spot and he'll be successful.

[no D in Hibachi]

Mason is not a point guard and when he tries to play point guard the offense is stale beyond words. Take for instance tonight against the Jazz. No movement or penetration. Its just bring the ball down the court, dribble at the top of the key and hoist a long two. Heck, Stevenson is a better point guard than Mason.

Mason has been serviceable, but I really want nothing to do with Mason when Arenas gets back. The Wizards need to draft a point guard this year who can handle the ball and actually run an offense. Mason can't, and don't try to convince me that him coming down the floor and shooting j's is running an offense.

He's not even a real option as the back up 2-guard next year because N1 is a better player than him, will be cheaper, and EG believes in him. Mason's done well this year, but he is very limited and his defense is overrated because it's compared to AD's too often. He's earned his raise now be gone with him.

[Ruzious]

I'm still convinced that Nick Young is the second coming of Cortney Alexander. Please argue me out of this belief.

Here's NBAdraft.net's scouting report of CA when he was coming out:

#32
Stats
Courtney Alexander
Birthdate: 4/27/77
NBA Position: Shooting Guard
College: Fresno St.
Class: Senior
Ht: 6-6
Wt: 210
Hometown: Durham, NC
High School: Jordan
Team Profile

Athleticism: 9 Size: 8
Defense: 8 Strength: 7
Quickness: 8 Leadership: 8
Jump Shot: 8 NBA Ready: 10
Passing: 7 Potential: 9
Ball Handling: 8 Intangibles: 7

Overall: 97
NBA Comparison: Allan Houston

Strengths: A scorer. Can stroke it from outside and has a great first step. Smart ballplayer. Should come in and contribute immediately, challenge for ROY. Has experience. Good passer. Very fast in the open floor. Exciting player. Very good size and strength. Ended Tark's Tournament drought.

Weaknesses: Defense is good not great. Forces things at times. Ball handling is good but needs improvement.

Stats:

G FG% FT% 3P% BPG SPG RPG APG PPG
95-96 Virginia 27 .487 .768 .429 0.3 0.8 4.5 1.3 13.8
96-97 Virginia 26 .420 .759 .444 0.0 0.8 2.7 1.4 14.8
97-98 Fresno St. ---------------------- Tranfer Student ------
98-99 Fresno St. 32 .469 .757 .310 0.2 1.6 3.8 2.6 21.4
99-00 Fresno St. 27 .447 .781 .331 0.1 1.4 4.7 3.5 24.8
Totals 112 .456 .767 .356 0.2 1.1 3.9 2.2 18.8

Kinda scary, idn't it?

[yungal07]

CA and Jarvis Hayes are the ones who are similar. Neither had consistent jumpshots and neither can handle the ball worth a damn.

Nick's handles are very good. Sometimes he's sloppy with it, but he's got a nice wiggle and he doesn't have to look down when he dribbles like CA and Arvis did.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

CA and Jarvis Hayes are the ones who are similar. Neither had consistent jumpshots and neither can handle the ball worth a damn.

Nick's handles are very good. Sometimes he's sloppy with it, but he's got a nice wiggle and he doesn't have to look down when he dribbles like CA and Arvis did.

No doubt. Arvis is one of the worst ballhandlers per his position(s) that I've ever seen stick in the league. It wasn't just his bricking, but his ballhandling and incredible inability to break on a basketball (offensively or defensively) that made him the sucky one.

[dfreshbfresh]

Nick young is gonna be a beast. We need to get him some playing time in the playoffs