Long Term Plan? (merged threads)

[pancakes3]

Well, I'm not bashing just for the sake of bashing. I wasn't saying Nick, Dom, or McGee were bad players and we should dump them. I was saying they're good players but they're flawed in their own respective ways which makes them tradeable. These guys are actually assets for the team unlike the truly garbage players like DS and Mike James. I was just saying If we could parlay Nick, Dom, or McGee plus etan/james/draft pick into a decent SG like Raja Bell, Ben Gordon, Rudy F, i'd do it.

Nick - lack of rounded game. rebounds and assists are consistently conspicuously low even when he's playing "well". He SHOOTS well, but does he ever play exceedingly well?
http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/ ... i?id=toqCb

Dom - non-shooter unless proven otherwise. it'll take at least an entire summer of him going to the gym and shoots 1000 jumpers a day with coaching for him to get that shot. Easier said than done, even for a dedicated player like Dom.

McGee - head is not on a swivel and gets lost on half court sets both offensively and defensively. It's like he has no peripheral vision and has to stare down the ball just to locate it and thus losing track of his man. I guess this is partially him being a rookie, and partially him just relying on athleticism for much of his life and not really picking up on the nuances of the game. No awareness = repeating mistakes.

Non-Griffin Draft Pick + Stevenson for Rudy would probably be the best case and gives us a lineup of

Arenas/Critt
Young/Rudy
Butler/DMac
AJ/Blatche
Haywood/McGee

and find minutes for DSong wherever you can.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Minutes will be scarce next year, so I advocate swapping McGuire for James Gist, and Crit for Will Conroy. I appreciate the hard work that they have put in, but we would be better off having players who can put up point coming off the bench.

Conroy I'd have no problem with at all. Good leader at Washington and he pretty much has owned the D-League for years. I have no idea why Conroy hasn't stuck with an NBA team.

Gist's rights belongs to SA. He'd be a nice spark off the bench and defensively IMO at SF or PF. I wouldn't move McGuire for Gist, however. Dom's a guy who can play 3 or 4 positions and who looks to be a starter at SG.

The guys I'd move for a Gist trade would be Dixon (if he weren't expiring), James, Thomas, or Stevenson. Maybe even Darius depending on how much Gist has matured overseas. Gist has the athletiicism to be good role player, but Darius can really shoot the ball and knows the tricks.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Count me in on those who are coming around on Young. He's a different guy out there lately - playing with a passion that had been missing from him. Somebody must have gotten through to him.

Dom - he still absolutely needs to show he can hit open jumpers consistently. Otherwise, he's not a starting option on a decent team.

McGee and Blatche - I'm not married to keeping either one of them. I'd slightly prefer to keep McGee over Blatche, but it concerns me that McGee's skills are so raw - considering he comes from a basketball family. Hopefully, physical maturation will take care of some of his problems. I think he has a better attitude than Blatche, but he needs to work harder.

I don't see McGuire that way at all. I think he's a natural defender and that he should benefit from good sound coaching and the presence of Haywood at C. I see him as good enough at every thing else but shooting that he can start next to Gilbert.

I believe McGuire's a huge reason the Wizards beat the Cavs. When the score was 86 all, McGuire drove the lane and scored an and-1 on a reverse layup to put the Wizards up three. They never trailed again.

Dom just needs to attack the rim once or twice a game like that and to practice over the summer on those corner jumpers that he already seems to be hitting more often to become real solid.

I really like McGuire's game a lot despite his shooting.

Because Washington has scorers at other positions I like that McGuire rebounds, defends on the perimeter, and passes very well without turning it over.

[DaRealHibachi]

Count me in on those who are coming around on Young. He's a different guy out there lately - playing with a passion that had been missing from him. Somebody must have gotten through to him.

Dom - he still absolutely needs to show he can hit open jumpers consistently. Otherwise, he's not a starting option on a decent team.

McGee and Blatche - I'm not married to keeping either one of them. I'd slightly prefer to keep McGee over Blatche, but it concerns me that McGee's skills are so raw - considering he comes from a basketball family. Hopefully, physical maturation will take care of some of his problems. I think he has a better attitude than Blatche, but he needs to work harder.

I don't see McGuire that way at all. I think he's a natural defender and that he should benefit from good sound coaching and the presence of Haywood at C. I see him as good enough at every thing else but shooting that he can start next to Gilbert.

I believe McGuire's a huge reason the Wizards beat the Cavs. When the score was 86 all, McGuire drove the lane and scored an and-1 on a reverse layup to put the Wizards up three. They never trailed again.

Dom just needs to attack the rim once or twice a game like that and to practice over the summer on those corner jumpers that he already seems to be hitting more often to become real solid.

I really like McGuire's game a lot despite his shooting.

Because Washington has scorers at other positions I like that McGuire rebounds, defends on the perimeter, and passes very well without turning it over.

Exactly...

We don´t need to have another scorer at SG, I think we´d be better of havin a good defender with great length, who can rebound at a very good rate for his position, pass without having many turnovers, and hit an open jumper... Oh and drive every once and a while... Just to keep defenses honest...

DMac is the perfect fit in our lineup... GA, AJ, CB for scoring, Haywood and DMac for defense...

[daSwami]

Count me in on those who are coming around on Young. He's a different guy out there lately - playing with a passion that had been missing from him. Somebody must have gotten through to him.

Dom - he still absolutely needs to show he can hit open jumpers consistently. Otherwise, he's not a starting option on a decent team.

McGee and Blatche - I'm not married to keeping either one of them. I'd slightly prefer to keep McGee over Blatche, but it concerns me that McGee's skills are so raw - considering he comes from a basketball family. Hopefully, physical maturation will take care of some of his problems. I think he has a better attitude than Blatche, but he needs to work harder.

I don't see McGuire that way at all. I think he's a natural defender and that he should benefit from good sound coaching and the presence of Haywood at C. I see him as good enough at every thing else but shooting that he can start next to Gilbert.

I believe McGuire's a huge reason the Wizards beat the Cavs. When the score was 86 all, McGuire drove the lane and scored an and-1 on a reverse layup to put the Wizards up three. They never trailed again.

Dom just needs to attack the rim once or twice a game like that and to practice over the summer on those corner jumpers that he already seems to be hitting more often to become real solid.

I really like McGuire's game a lot despite his shooting.

Because Washington has scorers at other positions I like that McGuire rebounds, defends on the perimeter, and passes very well without turning it over.

re: the who to keep? Blatche vs. McGee "debate." I think we should keep both unless trading one helps us dump Etan's salary. Speaking of Etan, I really hope that EG or someone Etan respects and trusts sits down with him this summer and has a heart-to-heart with him regarding the possibility of his retiring for medical reasons as soon as possible. I mean, the thought has to have occurred to him. the sooner he does it, the sooner we get cap relief, and any cap room we can get for the 2010 signing frenzy gives us a leg up on the competition. At this point, I think it's really the only honorable thing for Etan to do, given how little value he's offered this franchise in return for his sizeable salary.

I find myself growing more and more disenchanted with McGee. Perhaps its a reflection of our defensive schemes (or lack thereof), but it seems like McGee is routinely out of position on the defensive ends of the court. It's as if he's been given the defensive "green light" to leave his man to help on the ball. It's not uncommon to see him sprint across the court to take a flying leap at a jump shooter. This seems to me to be a high-risk/low-reward philosophy, and counter to the technique that Haywood uses, which has proven to be effective for 3+ seasons (i.e., stay in the paint, use leverage to force your opponent to his weak side, stay out of foul trouble by limiting your shot block attempts to shots you can feasibly alter, talk a lot of smack, get inside your opponent's head.) Ok, maybe I'm over-stating Brendan's efficacy, but I think part of the reason he's evolved into such an effective defender is that he plays within himself.

As for Blatche, I still see a lot a potential there. He's got a Chris Webberish skillset: a combo of size, handles, passing, finesse, and blunt smoking. I doubt he'll ever reach cwebb's level of production, but I could see him fit well into a high-post oriented offense. Especially if he gives up the SF delusions.

DMac, to me, is most intriguing. I could see him developing into a James Posey-type player, especially if his shot continues to develop and he extends his range out to the arc.

[closg00]

^^^^^^
Send McGee to the D-League next-year, he needs lots of playing-time and experience...2-3 years worth.

[nate33]

As for Blatche, I still see a lot a potential there. He's got a Chris Webberish skillset: a combo of size, handles, passing, finesse, and blunt smoking. I doubt he'll ever reach cwebb's level of production, but I could see him fit well into a high-post oriented offense. Especially if he gives up the SF delusions.

[nate33]

^^^^^^
Send McGee to the D-League next-year, he needs lots of playing-time and experience...2-3 years worth.

Good call. If Haywood, Jamison, Blatche and Songaila are all healthy next year, it really does make sense to send Lemonhead to the DLeague.

I love McGee's athleticism, effort and skillset. I just hate the basketball IQ. He really has no idea what he is doing out there and doesn't appear to have improved much over the course of the season. He needs serious remedial training on how to function within the confines of a team system.

With a healthy lineup, we're probably better off with Pecherov as our emergency fifth big than McGee. Pecherov at least knows what he is doing on the rotations. And he brings an added dimension of being a 3-point threat. (Besides, we ought to give Pecherov at least one more shot at contributing before cutting him.)

[nate33]

Speaking of Etan, I really hope that EG or someone Etan respects and trusts sits down with him this summer and has a heart-to-heart with him regarding the possibility of his retiring for medical reasons as soon as possible. I mean, the thought has to have occurred to him. the sooner he does it, the sooner we get cap relief, and any cap room we can get for the 2010 signing frenzy gives us a leg up on the competition. At this point, I think it's really the only honorable thing for Etan to do, given how little value he's offered this franchise in return for his sizeable salary.

Amen.

At the very least, EG can hopefully convince Etan to take a reasonable buyout. Instead of paying him $7.3M to bust his butt in practice and travel with the team all season, just buy him out for $3M and tell him to go take a 6 month vacation in Cancun. That would save Abe at least $6.6M and possibly as much as $10M (if the savings are enough to get us completely under the luxtax).

[Ruzious]

Exactly...

We don´t need to have another scorer at SG, I think we´d be better of havin a good defender with great length, who can rebound at a very good rate for his position, pass without having many turnovers, and hit an open jumper... Oh and drive every once and a while... Just to keep defenses honest...

DMac is the perfect fit in our lineup... GA, AJ, CB for scoring, Haywood and DMac for defense...

No, I don't want him to be much of a scorer. I want him to be able to do to what Bruce Bowen does on offense - hit open 3's - be a threat. Bruce Bowen is about as unskilled as it gets for a swingman, so hopefully that's not too much to ask.

[closg00]

Exactly...

We don´t need to have another scorer at SG, I think we´d be better of havin a good defender with great length, who can rebound at a very good rate for his position, pass without having many turnovers, and hit an open jumper... Oh and drive every once and a while... Just to keep defenses honest...

DMac is the perfect fit in our lineup... GA, AJ, CB for scoring, Haywood and DMac for defense...

No, I don't want him to be much of a scorer. I want him to be able to do to what Bruce Bowen does on offense - hit open 3's - be a threat. Bruce Bowen is about as unskilled as it gets for a swingman, so hopefully that's not too much to ask.

Exactly, everyone on the floor should be a threat to hit shots except the C

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Swami, speaking of blunt smoking I had the thought earlier in the week that the last thing ex-NBAer Corey Blount should be caught doing is marijuana trafficking.

[doclinkin]

Young: I think the prospect of adding Gil back to the roster has helped Nick's attitude a ton. When you has a chance of winning it makes it easier not to seize up in fear overthink and try to do too much. Gilbert challenges him to raise his game while also keeping things loose and fun. Loose and fun is great when you're winning, if not you'll tend to catch hell. Tough for Nick since loose and fun are his primary language even though he's a sensitive kid underneath the goofy exterior. Plus as Gilbert comes back and shows a team-first serious attitude he provides a role-model for how to give up the spotlight in favor of the Wins. Plus, Gil has the on-court ability to recognize a mismatch and tell Nick when and where it's his turn to "Go". Gives the kid confidence when the allstar says 'This one is all you, get him".

Had'nt read this quote from the Wash Times

Either way, for now, Gil says he's looking out for Nick.


"Right now he's trying to see where he fits into the equation," Arenas said. "I've told him as long as I'm out there, I'm going to get him the ball. He doesn't have to try to go out there and beat four players.

[pancakes3]

i'm partial to the part where Haywood dubbing DSong "The White Knight"

[DaRealHibachi]

Lol at Jamison for being upset of Tankscott benching him...

Yo AJ, You just gotta respect the White Knight man!!!!

[Joel Embust]

Good to see Critt's assists numbers were higher than his points, career-high eight. Do you think he will become your starting point guard at some point in the future?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Lol at Jamison for being upset of Tankscott benching him...

Yo AJ, You just gotta respect the White Knight man!!!!

Tapscott showed some stones with that move. Shocked me when he did that.

Turned out to be a great move, too.

[pancakes3]

Good to see Critt's assists numbers were higher than his points, career-high eight. Do you think he will become your starting point guard at some point in the future?

absolutely not

[closg00]

JD is out for the rest of the year with his latest injury, this is a perfect opportunity to give Will Conroy a 10-day contract
http://www.oursportscentral.com/service ... id=3793844

[LyricalRico]

Had'nt read this quote from the Wash Times

Either way, for now, Gil says he's looking out for Nick.


"Right now he's trying to see where he fits into the equation," Arenas said. "I've told him as long as I'm out there, I'm going to get him the ball. He doesn't have to try to go out there and beat four players.

Another quote from the article showing that even Nick Young has officially passed Blatche on the maturity scale:

Also give props to Nick Young, who with 10 points reached double digits for the 12th time in the last 13 games. Tonight was tricky for Nick because he was on the floor with more offensive weapons than he's accustomed to. But he did a good job settling in and playing in the flow of the game. He's starting to relish his sixth-man role. Before the game Andray Blatche was trying to mess with him in the locker room and Nick said "Man leave me alone. And since you're not starting tonight, don't you be coming in corrupting my unit. The second unit's been doing nice, now don't you come in an corrupt my unit!"

Of all our young players, Blatche is the furthest behind mentally. If he was a first or second year guy I'd say keep him. But he's 23 and a 4 year veteran. Continuing to subsidize his clueless-ness is like continuing to breast feed an 8 year old who doesn't want to chew food.

I'm officially done with him, regardless of his upside. He's never going to reach his potential, so let's use him to dump salary and move on.