Official Thread - Wizards at Heat (11/10/09)

[cdouglas]

Young will become a star on another team. MARK MY WORDS..

[DaRealHibachi]

Young will become a star on another team. MARK MY WORDS..

No he won't...

[queridiculo]

Blowing this team up is the kind of non-sense giddy fans from other teams come up with in hopes of snagging productive veterans for bargain basement prices.

Arenas at 27 (not 28 fyi), is on the cusp of entering his prime as a player. Injury concerns not withstanding rebuilding the roster sans Arenas would be silly. As inconsistent as he's performed this season he's still putting up 24/6 with relative ease.

Why would Washington spend a good 2-3 years developing a lottery pick that may not even come close to replicating that production?

Realistically Washington has 4 tradeable assets right now. The expiring contracts of Miller, James and Haywood, and a two time All-Star in Caron Butler that's on a relatively modest contract.

Haywood, and I doubt you'll find many Wizards fan that disagree with me here, is a major asset to this team. Our defense goes as he goes and without him in the lineup we're not going to be able to contend as last year has proven. Haywood has proven durable over his career and I can see him productive into his mid thirties so no reason to create another hole in the roster.

That leaves us with James, Miller and Butler, and not a team with a sane GM is going to give up draft picks for expirings and a 29 year old All-Star with injury problems.

It's easy to sit there and act as if future All-Stars are just begging to be drafted year in and year out, but realistically maybe 10% of the players in any given draft class will turn into productive players like Jamison, Miller. Haywood and Butler.

Rebuilding isn't the answer for this team. What this team needs is patience, some luck in the health department and a savy GM that can swing a move or two bring in players that augment each other better.

[Severn Hoos]

I'm sure no one wants to hear this, but at the 7:00 mark of the 3rd quarter, the Wiz were leading by 11. Primarily because Dwyane Wade had just 14 points on 6-16 shooting. And who was guarding him that whole time? That would be DeBrickaShawn. Sorry, but no one else on this team - including Dom - would have come close to holding Wade down like that. The guy can still play defense. And if he's surrounded with scorers he's not that much of a liability on the offensive end.

Then Wade went nuclear, Arenas melted down, and it was game over.

Two things to take away from that: First, you can't keep Wade down for a full 48 minutes. And second, DeShawn should never play 35-40 minutes in a game. OK, I guess you guys knew that already - what I meant is that he can be very effective in certain matchups (like Wade) for 15-20 minutes total. Hopefully Flip can recognize when he's effective, when he's not, and get him out before fatigue saps him of his usefulness.

And the more I thought about it, the more I think the best scenario for the Wiz to do is to try and trade DS for an expiring contract to a team who would cut him and let him re-sign back with the Wiz at the vet minimum. I know it's wishful thinking, but if they can sweeten the deal - cash, future pick, Young (please), maybe someone goes for it. The savings next year make it a little easier to sort through the FA options, and DS can still be that aggressive defender when needed.

I know, it'll never happen - alas...

[dobrojim]

Blowing this team up is the kind of non-sense giddy fans from other teams come up with in hopes of snagging productive veterans for bargain basement prices.

Arenas at 27 (not 28 fyi), is on the cusp of entering his prime as a player. Injury concerns not withstanding rebuilding the roster sans Arenas would be silly. As inconsistent as he's performed this season he's still putting up 24/6 with relative ease.

Why would Washington spend a good 2-3 years developing a lottery pick that may not even come close to replicating that production?

Realistically Washington has 4 tradeable assets right now. The expiring contracts of Miller, James and Haywood, and a two time All-Star in Caron Butler that's on a relatively modest contract.

Haywood, and I doubt you'll find many Wizards fan that disagree with me here, is a major asset to this team. Our defense goes as he goes and without him in the lineup we're not going to be able to contend as last year has proven. Haywood has proven durable over his career and I can see him productive into his mid thirties so no reason to create another hole in the roster.

That leaves us with James, Miller and Butler, and not a team with a sane GM is going to give up draft picks for expirings and a 29 year old All-Star with injury problems.

It's easy to sit there and act as if future All-Stars are just begging to be drafted year in and year out, but realistically maybe 10% of the players in any given draft class will turn into productive players like Jamison, Miller. Haywood and Butler.

Rebuilding isn't the answer for this team. What this team needs is patience, some luck in the health department and a savy GM that can swing a move or two bring in players that augment each other better.

I might phrase that a little differently. He's putting up those numbers while
really not playing that well.

The rest of your post was most excellent.

[fishercob]

I'm sure no one wants to hear this, but at the 7:00 mark of the 3rd quarter, the Wiz were leading by 11. Primarily because Dwyane Wade had just 14 points on 6-16 shooting. And who was guarding him that whole time? That would be DeBrickaShawn. Sorry, but no one else on this team - including Dom - would have come close to holding Wade down like that. The guy can still play defense. And if he's surrounded with scorers he's not that much of a liability on the offensive end.

Then Wade went nuclear, Arenas melted down, and it was game over.

Two things to take away from that: First, you can't keep Wade down for a full 48 minutes. And second, DeShawn should never play 35-40 minutes in a game. OK, I guess you guys knew that already - what I meant is that he can be very effective in certain matchups (like Wade) for 15-20 minutes total. Hopefully Flip can recognize when he's effective, when he's not, and get him out before fatigue saps him of his usefulness.

Good post, Sev. The third, and in my mind most important, takeaway is that defense is a team endeavor. Deshawn didn't just have success against Wade in the first half because he was fresh. The other guys were fresh too, namely Haywood and Blatche. So when Deshawn did his job of forcing Wade to the spots on the floor that the defensive scheme calls for, the bigs were there on time to contest and bother the shot. It all broke down in the second half. Everyone got tired, not just Deshawn.