Game Thread - Wiz/Hawks 02/10/09

[Wizards2Lottery]

LOL at Jamison criticizing McGee's pick and roll defense. What's next...Songaila criticzing McGee's rebounding?

exactly what I was thinking. I'm beginning to believe Jamison is under the delusion that he's a good defender

[miller31time]

LOL at Jamison criticizing McGee's pick and roll defense. What's next...Songaila criticzing McGee's rebounding?

exactly what I was thinking. I'm beginning to believe Jamison is under the delusion that he's a good defender

I'm taking a "Psychology of Sport" class right now. It actually answers some of these questions.

According to what I've read, elite-level athletes (meaning every NBA player) ascribe success to stable and internal factors (meaning the reason they are elite is because of themselves, their hard work, their talent, etc) but they also ascribe failure to unstable and external factors (meaning if they fail, they see the other team as "lucky", while the failure is not theirs).

Jamison reinforces these psychological principles.

[nate33]

To be fair, there's a difference between doing the wrong things mentally on defense, and doing the wrong things physically on defense. Jamison is generally in the right spot on defensive rotations, he just lacks the length and athleticism to do much about it when a big man is rolling to the lane.

But that doesn't mean he shoudn't call McGee out given that he isn't even in the right spot half the time.

I take exception to Jamison constantly blaming the "young guys" because I don't think all of the young guys are to blame. Blatche, Young and DMac, in particular, are doing a better job defensively than Jamison. But Jamison should feel free to call out McGee. McGee makes a ton of mistakes out there.

[wizards-fan]

What do you see as Crittenton's upside? In other words, can you venture what player he will most resemble once he gains experience? Also, what kind of stats do you think he is capable of?

I don't know if this is the best place, but I have to say this -- I love Crittendon's game. He's a drive-and-dish point guard like we haven't seen here in a long time. With his quickness and pass-first mentality I can see a Steve Nash-like upside (before you laugh check out how long it took Steve Nash to become Steve Nash). Crittendon is always looking to push the ball in transition, and in the half-court he's by his man in an instant and in the lane looking to dish to open cutters and shooters. He's got the quickness of a pre-injury Arenas, but with a pass-first mentality in a big way. Unfortunately nobody other than McGee seems to be willing or able to run with him on the break!

Once he learns to play under control more, I believe he's going to be a force and a valuable commodity. Unfortunately, with his size and skills he's more of a traditional PG so I don't see it working with Gilbert at this point. Especially since defensively he's not very strong. But out of all the young guys I feel like nobody is improving as much week to week as Crittendon.

One last thing: he's competing. Attacking the basket, initiating contact. Scrapping. When even Tough Juice is settling for jumpers and jogging out to jump shooters, Javaris is trying to make the most of his opportunity and win the game. I appreciate that.

[yungal07]

Critt was an excellent addition to the team...kudos to Ernie for nabbing this kid. He's already better than Mike James IMO, and he's (needless to say) better than AD too. That pick could have materialized into nothing, so GMEG did well. People have been dogging GMEG for his moves (or lackof) the past few months, but he nabbed Critt and McGee without giving up much of anything.

[nate33]

Crittenton's game reminds me of Robert Pack. Big, strong guy. Hard-nosed defender. Can get into the lane. Crittenton is not a gifted passer though. He's improving in that regard and may ultimately turn out to be a pure PG, but he's no Steve Nash.

[wizards-fan]

It took 8 seasons in the NBA before Nash even averaged 8 assists per game. Give Crittenton some time. I think he has that potential, he was the #1 rated PG for a reason:
http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/ ... a_key=1012

Crittenton makes some great passes in the lane and he's constantly looking to make that pass, but I don't think defense (outside of steals) will ever be a strong point to his game which I think adds to the Nash comparison.

[dandridge 10]

I don't see Critt ever becoming a Nash type player...although Critt's jump shot might improve some, I don't see him as an offensive threat like Nash and he doesn't have the same vision. However, I do see Critt as a Rondo type player, a good compliment to our big three. He can't shoot like Rondo, but he can push the ball up the court, keep the offense organized, and hit the open man. Plus, he's not bad on defense and has the size and quickness to guard PG and SG's alike. I think he will be fine next to Arenas. Kind of like AD except much quicker and better defender. Plus, he's still young and developing.

[Dat2U]

Critt was an excellent addition to the team...kudos to Ernie for nabbing this kid. He's already better than Mike James IMO, and he's (needless to say) better than AD too. That pick could have materialized into nothing, so GMEG did well. People have been dogging GMEG for his moves (or lackof) the past few months, but he nabbed Critt and McGee without giving up much of anything.

That's not exactly a ringing endorsement.

Mike James is right now one the worse PGs in the league along with Sebastian Telfair & Earl Watson.

Antonio Daniels is done, finished and throughly cooked, although AD's skeletal remains right now is still better than Mike James.

Critt has flashed some potential but right now he's still shown nothing more than the ability to be a reserve PG worthy of spot minutes on any real team. I like his rebounding & quickness but the reason he's a pass first guard is because he can't throw it in the ocean.

[nate33]

It took 8 seasons in the NBA before Nash even averaged 8 assists per game. Give Crittenton some time. I think he has that potential, he was the #1 rated PG for a reason:
http://basketballrecruiting.rivals.com/ ... a_key=1012

Crittenton makes some great passes in the lane and he's constantly looking to make that pass, but I don't think defense (outside of steals) will ever be a strong point to his game which I think adds to the Nash comparison.

By that logic, every young NBA PG can be like Nash.

Nash was a highly unusual late-bloomer. Nash also had the misfortune of playing behind Kidd and KJ, which understandably restricted his playing time. When he did play, he often played as more of a shooting guard since that was the only place where minutes were available.

[wizards-fan]

You know I'm looking at some of the draft writeup's and it occurs to me that the NBA projections for Crittenton are all over the map. Nobody knows for sure what his ceiling is going to be, and after just one year in college and a disjointed stint in the NBA the jury is definitely still out.

We've got my Nash comparison (admit it's far premature), Robert Pack, Rajon Rondo, AD ... both draftexpress and nbadraft.net compared him to Steve Francis! It doesn't make sense. Nbadraft.net compares him to Francis and then goes on to say he's got great heart, is unselfish to a fault, and has "a great attitude." LOL

The consensus is he's got tremendous tools but needs to learn how to play at less than full speed and improve decision-making. His skills don't necessarily interfere with Gilbert, and they are both in the 6-4 range, but even if Crittenton lives up to his potential the question to me is how good will they be in combination if they both need the ball in their hands?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Crittenton like Nash? Why stop there?

Maybe he's a combination of Jason Kidd, Oscar Robertson, and Magic Johnson. All in their prime, of course. Might as well go way over the top in comparions.

Right now he looks like a good backup, perhaps more down the line to me.

[Dat2U]

LOL at Jamison criticizing McGee's pick and roll defense. What's next...Songaila criticzing McGee's rebounding?

exactly what I was thinking. I'm beginning to believe Jamison is under the delusion that he's a good defender

I can't believe that we've come to the day where Antawn "freaking great leader of men" Jamison is calling out teammates for their defensive mistakes.

The same Antawn Jamison that gave up the baseline to LeBron in the playoffs like a two buck stripper giving it up at a closed door freak party.

I've lost all respect for Antawn. This dude has made a career of being a complete shill on defense.

Please don't give me this crap about him trying but not having the ability to defend. The same way he can rack up double/doubles, is the same way he could at least be a passable defender. Dude was blessed with lightning fast hands and while he's no leaper, he gets off the ground very quickly.

Hell if Wally Szcerbiak can be a passable defender for Cleveland then there's no excuse for Antawn.

Him constantly throwing his teammates under the bus night after night to the media is quite pathetic. He needs a reality check. Too bad there's no real veteran on the roster or a real coach on the bench to give it to 'em.

[wizards-fan]

Crittenton like Nash? Why stop there?

Maybe he's a combination of Jason Kidd, Oscar Robertson, and Magic Johnson. All in their prime, of course. Might as well go way over the top in comparions.

Right now he looks like a good backup, perhaps more down the line to me.

Ha! Obviously, I'm a fan of the kid. That's pretty obvious. I'm not trying to be objective. I hope he becomes half the player Nash is and takes the Wiz to the Finals!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Please don't give me this crap about him trying but not having the ability to defend. The same way he can rack up double/doubles, is the same way he could at least be a passable defender. Dude was blessed with lightning fast hands and while he's no leaper, he gets off the ground very quickly.

Hell if Wally Szcerbiak can be a passable defender for Cleveland then there's no excuse for Antawn.

Him constantly throwing his teammates under the bus night after night to the media is quite pathetic. He needs a reality check. Too bad there's no real veteran on the roster or a real coach on the bench to give it to 'em.

I believe Jamison has shown glimpses of good defense. I recall a game where he had 3 blocks, at least a couple on Lebron. I know am in the minority on this, but I think at SF Jamison's superior rebounding and his adequate post up shops makes up for his defense. I think Jamison at SF is the answer to the Wizards' defensive woes, except for the fact Caron's at SF.

Last, Jamison IMO conserves 95% of his energy for offense and rebounding. I bet in practice and when he wants to be Jamison can defend decently. Just like he can still sky way above the rim when it suits him, I think Jamison can defend at least adequately for long stretches.

Last, Dat I think Jamison's 100% out of line calling out young guys or anyone about bad defense. He's tripping on this one.