Wiz 2010 General Season Tracker - Grading - How we doing ?

[AceDegenerate]

I didn't get a chance to see the midnight practice. From what i'm hearing Gil looked like he was in great shape. Does he have his speed/athleticism back?

In shape? Yes. Straight line speed? I'd also say Yes.

But he looked a lot like the first part of last season where he could get to the rim but didn't have the explosion to finish like 2006.

I'm calling complete BS on this. Why are you the only person anywhere to have this assessment? I wasn't there but I know what I saw on TV and this is complete crap. He looked WAY more explosive than he did the beginning of last season.

Gilbert has never gotten to the rim and dunked over people. He gets to the rim, absorbs contact and finishes for the And-1. I saw him get to the line plenty last night, more than anybody else on the floor.

Haters gonna hate.

[jimij]

I'm with Krisko on this. Gil would occasionally rise up and throw it down when he drove the lane pre-injury but the vast majority of the time he was laying it in or drawing fouls.

IMO he certainly looked quicker last night than he did last season. His biggest problem last year was that he seemed to have lost the "benefit of the doubt" calls from the refs. Last November his legs weren't really there but by December he was starting to get it going again before he decided to act like an idiot with the guns but he looks even better right now.

I'm really looking forward to watching our new big three plus McGee develop this year but any true success still starts with gilbert because he's still by far our best player. He may not dunk much any more but if he can get the refs to blow their whistles he can be just as effective as he was before the knee problems started.

[Dat2U]

I didn't get a chance to see the midnight practice. From what i'm hearing Gil looked like he was in great shape. Does he have his speed/athleticism back?

In shape? Yes. Straight line speed? I'd also say Yes.

But he looked a lot like the first part of last season where he could get to the rim but didn't have the explosion to finish like 2006.

Gil's biggest problem last year was his timing & touch around the basket. That and the fact he didn't get much respect from the refs. I don't think Gil can explode at the rim like he did 4 years ago but neither can Kobe Bryant. But Gil's game was never predicated on rising over people to finish. It's always based more on changing speeds and using skill & guile. Also few were better at finishing around the rim with contact. So Gil's new physique should really offer some benefits in that aspect.

Still it was the first day of training camp so we can't draw full conclusions off a brief scrimmage with a summer-league like atmosphere. But I suspect Gil will be the least of our worries this year as long as that knee of his remains healthy.

[Hoopalotta]

I think last year Gil's whole "does he still have the quickness?" deal was variable on a night in-night out basis. I believe that if you took Gil's games last year from a physical standpoint and laid 'em out, you'd have a really big swing between the good and the bad. At his best, he was quite explosive and at his worst, he was 'not' quite explosive.

My theory is that it just came down to the grinding dingers that one gets playing ball professionally without having his body continually conditioned for it. To just start doing it again after a long layoff is not even close to ideal. So, he effectively still had nice innate quickness, but at least last year that could get stripped away on a given night before coming back later. I would also suggest that Gil was a little more halfcourt oriented last year, and that *could* fit in with the above theory, though there could be other reasons there too (he obviously had a lot to think about with implementing a new system and we were hardly Speed Racer as a team).

The question is, how is that going to play out over time? You'd definitely expect some change, but the truth is there's a lot of variables and we'll just have to wait and see.

[crackhed]

i dont know, i'm not as optmistic as most.
several things have to line up for this unit to be successful this year...
- andray returns to prev form (likely)
- javale finally gets it and becomes a starting caliber presence in the middle (unlikely)
- gil can play the off-guard spot (defensively i doubt it)
- yi finds his game (unlikely)
- armstrong finds his game (unlikely)
- morrison finds his game (unlikely)
- howard returns to prev form in time to have solid impact this season (unlikely)
- nick young finally becomes consistent (unlikely)
- ksera has an impact this season (unlikely)
- hamady has an impact (unlikely)
- booker has an impact (unlikely imo)
i hope i'm wrong but i dont see this unit doing much this yr.

[Dat2U]

i dont know, i'm not as optmistic as most.
several things have to line up for this unit to be successful this year...
- andray returns to prev form (likely)
- javale finally gets it and becomes a starting caliber presence in the middle (unlikely)
- gil can play the off-guard spot (defensively i doubt it)
- yi finds his game (unlikely)
- armstrong finds his game (unlikely)
- morrison finds his game (unlikely)
- howard returns to prev form in time to have solid impact this season (unlikely)
- nick young finally becomes consistent (unlikely)
- ksera has an impact this season (unlikely)
- hamady has an impact (unlikely)
- booker has an impact (unlikely imo)
i hope i'm wrong but i dont see this unit doing much this yr.

Wow, does all that have to happen for us to achieve mediocrity or to win a championship?

Personally I agree, I don't expect much of the above to happen with the exception of Andray growing from last year and being productive and Gil being able to play the SG position. I suspect Gil will have his issues defensively but no more than he would at PG.

It all boils down to 4 or 5 players IMO. You don't have to be a deep team to be successful, but injuries will likely impact us more than it would impact a team with solid depth.

To me our success this coming season will mainly revolve around 3 aspects.

1. Can Gil/Wall develop chemistry in the backcourt and learn to play off each other?

2. Can Blatche return to being 7-day Dray and bring forth a solid effort most nights as our best low post option even if he's not getting a chance to put up big numbers as a #1 option?

3. Can Blatche/McGee and the rest attack the defensive glass and allow Wall to do what he does best. Push tempo and be his own one-man fast break?

I feel confident about one & two. I think three will be the biggest question mark and will determine whether we can make a playoff run or end up with 30-35 wins.

[eitanr]

i dont know, i'm not as optmistic as most.
several things have to line up for this unit to be successful this year...
- andray returns to prev form (likely)
- javale finally gets it and becomes a starting caliber presence in the middle (unlikely)
- gil can play the off-guard spot (defensively i doubt it)
- yi finds his game (unlikely)
- armstrong finds his game (unlikely)
- morrison finds his game (unlikely)
- howard returns to prev form in time to have solid impact this season (unlikely)
- nick young finally becomes consistent (unlikely)
- ksera has an impact this season (unlikely)
- hamady has an impact (unlikely)
- booker has an impact (unlikely imo)
i hope i'm wrong but i dont see this unit doing much this yr.

Wow, does all that have to happen for us to achieve mediocrity or to win a championship?

Personally I agree, I don't expect much of the above to happen with the exception of Andray growing from last year and being productive and Gil being able to play the SG position. I suspect Gil will have his issues defensively but no more than he would at PG.

It all boils down to 4 or 5 players IMO. You don't have to be a deep team to be successful, but injuries will likely impact us more than it would impact a team with solid depth.

To me our success this coming season will mainly revolve around 3 aspects.

1. Can Gil/Wall develop chemistry in the backcourt and learn to play off each other?

2. Can Blatche return to being 7-day Dray and bring forth a solid effort most nights as our best low post option even if he's not getting a chance to put up big numbers as a #1 option?

3. Can Blatche/McGee and the rest attack the defensive glass and allow Wall to do what he does best. Push tempo and be his own one-man fast break?

I feel confident about one & two. I think three will be the biggest question mark and will determine whether we can make a playoff run or end up with 30-35 wins.

I'd agree with you as well with those 3 items being the most important. 1 and 2 are likely, 3 doesn't seem so. There's no question that the team's biggest weakness seems to be defensive rebounding. I think if Kevin Seraphin isn't ready to contribute right away (which is hard to expect from him) and we are left handing out tons of minutes to Yi Jainlain, I mean you're talking easily the worst defensive rebounding 4/5 3 man rotation in Blatche/McGee/Yi in the entire league.

With that being the case, I just can't see McGee and Blatche transforming their games to the extent that they also bang the defensive boards. So, unless the Wizards add an impact big that can defend and clean the glass, it will be a concern at least for this season. Does that mean they are not a playoff team?

Well I do agree that you really need a strong 8 man rotation to be successful. That being the case Washington does have plenty of injury prone guys in Arenas, McGee, Yi, Josh Howard. So depth is a concern because the other rooks may not be ready to contribute immediatley. Then on top of that this is suppose to be a run and gun team potentially, which can be done with three players capable of playing big minutes at the 1....but can it be done with a skimpy 7-8 man rotation when healthy? Unsure.

[Jimmy Recard]

Not sure if already been posted but something positive from the Wiz Team Report off Yahoo Sports.

When asked what he'd been focusing on in the Summer:

“It has been a good summer for me. I have played a lot. I’ve been concentrating on my defense more than anything. That’s what coach told me to do.”—G Nick Young

Player Notes:

• G Nick Young has finally added regular weightlifting to his workouts. Young wants to get stronger because a good part of his offensive game includes driving to the basket, where he absorbs punishment.

• F Josh Howard said he expects to be a leader this year. Howard, coming off of knee surgery, isn’t expected to be at full strength until midseason. “That’s OK. I can still lead by example,” Howard said.

Looking good so far at the 3 spot

[nate33]

I think if Kevin Seraphin isn't ready to contribute right away (which is hard to expect from him) and we are left handing out tons of minutes to Yi Jainlain, I mean you're talking easily the worst defensive rebounding 4/5 3 man rotation in Blatche/McGee/Yi in the entire league.

We need to dispell the myth that Blatche is an awful rebounder. Yes, after the all star break of last season, Blatche averaged just 8.3 boards per 36 minutes, which is pretty bad. But let's not forget that he was playing almost 38 minutes per game as the #1 (and only) offensive option. He was 3rd in the league in usage rate after the all-star break so I'm sure he was tired. 38 minutes is a lot for any big man, and it's a whole lot for a guy who was used to playing 20 minutes a night as a role player. In his 2nd and 3rd seasons, Blatche averaged 9.7 boards per 36 minutes, which is very good for a PF. This year he is stronger and more focused. I think the possibility exists that he can average double-digit rebounds, or close to it.

By the way, McGee averaged 10.1 boards per 36 minutes post all-star break (after his asthma was diagnosed). That's actually better than any of Haywood's seasons except last season.

Yi is indeed an amazingly sucky rebounder.

[doclinkin]

Well I do agree that you really need a strong 8 man rotation to be successful. That being the case Washington does have plenty of injury prone guys in Arenas, McGee, Yi, Josh Howard. So depth is a concern because the other rooks may not be ready to contribute immediatley. Then on top of that this is suppose to be a run and gun team potentially, which can be done with three players capable of playing big minutes at the 1....but can it be done with a skimpy 7-8 man rotation when healthy? Unsure.

The hell? How is JaVale injury prone? Dude has never missed a game due to injury. He's posted zero minutes plenty of times (played 75 games last year, 60 games as a rook) but all were DNP-CD. His only handicap here is that he pissed off coaches by breaking their schemes and being unreliable on defense or unwilling to change: ie immature.

As for Arenas, in essence he's had one major Crash Wallace-induced injury, now two full years of rehab away. Before that he proved pretty durable. Basically if we can avoid playing Gerald Wallace (took out Josh Howard's knee as well) we should be okay...

[doclinkin]

I think if Kevin Seraphin isn't ready to contribute right away (which is hard to expect from him) and we are left handing out tons of minutes to Yi Jainlain, I mean you're talking easily the worst defensive rebounding 4/5 3 man rotation in Blatche/McGee/Yi in the entire league.

We need to dispell the myth that Blatche is an awful rebounder. Yes, after the all star break of last season, Blatche averaged just 8.3 boards per 36 minutes, which is pretty bad. But let's not forget that he was playing almost 38 minutes per game as the #1 (and only) offensive option. He was 3rd in the league in usage rate after the all-star break so I'm sure he was tired. 38 minutes is a lot for any big man, and it's a whole lot for a guy who was used to playing 20 minutes a night as a role player. In his 2nd and 3rd seasons, Blatche averaged 9.7 boards per 36 minutes, which is very good for a PF. This year he is stronger and more focused. I think the possibility exists that he can average double-digit rebounds, or close to it.

The primary drop-off in Dray rebounding has been in his offensive boards. And that's a direct result of Flip's system. Dray got posted on the baseline off-block or the high post more often than not, to leave room underneath the basket and to take advantage of Dray's best game. Dray's midrange game is well more advanced than his low-post power game. He works best when he can draw bigs away from the basket and use his footwork and handle to escape for a jumper or to shake them for a drive.

Shifting Dray to the primary attack position means he's often out of range for the weakside putback, where he previously did just fine. This is where I had hopes for either of Ksera or McGee to step up and play a role. McGee with a bit of muscle and confidence will probably improve; Seraphin just needs to earn spot minutes with effort but should fill his role ably by year's end. Role being: set a pick down low, box out, go get the ball when it bounces out, and stop the opponent from getting to the paint. Maybe dunk if they feed you an easy one. That all seems to be well within his skillset.

Granted though, one or more of Seraphin, McGee or Booker will need to step up defensive boardwork for the team to be successful as an uptempo team. (Hilton? Yi? could one surprise?). We'll run regardless, we have positive speed mismatches at every position, that's our primary strength. But we need to be able to run on both make and miss, which means no second chance buckets for the opponent.

With Flip's preferred zone forcing alot of long 2pt shots, our midrange rebounders (SF's and offguard) will also have to be alert and active as well. But the reward of easy uptempo buckets ought to be incentive enough to go get the rock and start the jailbreak-- for everybody but JaVale who constantly tries to leak out early to cherry pick a highlight dunk. That's the primary thing that got him benched in the past. He needs to commit to bigging up. The team doesn't have the luxury of him sitting in the doghouse now. Otherwise we're seeing heavy minutes with Hilton Armstrong. Which no offense to Hilton, is nothing by a failure on the part of our 7 foot supertalent.

[Ruzious]

Not sure if already been posted but something positive from the Wiz Team Report off Yahoo Sports.

When asked what he'd been focusing on in the Summer:

“It has been a good summer for me. I have played a lot. I’ve been concentrating on my defense more than anything. That’s what coach told me to do.”—G Nick Young

Player Notes:

• G Nick Young has finally added regular weightlifting to his workouts. Young wants to get stronger because a good part of his offensive game includes driving to the basket, where he absorbs punishment.

• F Josh Howard said he expects to be a leader this year. Howard, coming off of knee surgery, isn’t expected to be at full strength until midseason. “That’s OK. I can still lead by example,” Howard said.

Looking good so far at the 3 spot

While I'm glad he's doing it now, how has weight-lifting not been a part of Nick's regular workouts? Do the Zards rely on the players to determine their own workout regimes??? I'd hope they have a staff of physical trainers that determine and monitor their progress on a daily basis.

[REDardWIZskin]

Good point Ruzious,

As far as Dray's off Reb being down, Its quite obvious that you wont get the rebounds when your taking most of the shots much like Nate and Donk hinted to. His Rebs will increase maybe to the high 9 range. And i don't see why Serph getting 13 minutes a night seems so unfathomable to people, He will not be easily scored on, he's going to foul and take up position. Things that could prove valuable for this team. And if he doesn't so what? his presence or lack there of will not have a major impact on the season.

I saw also that someone asked if Morrison will finally get it, well i don't know about you guys but i don't think he will even make the team. He doesn't fit into the tempo and style of play that Wizards will run this yr. Martin Looked much better on the break. Morrison's one successful play was when he had a mismatch and was able to take his defender off the dribble in the half court to draw the foul. Something he will never get a chance to do in the structure of the offense.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think if Kevin Seraphin isn't ready to contribute right away (which is hard to expect from him) and we are left handing out tons of minutes to Yi Jainlain, I mean you're talking easily the worst defensive rebounding 4/5 3 man rotation in Blatche/McGee/Yi in the entire league.

We need to dispell the myth that Blatche is an awful rebounder. Yes, after the all star break of last season, Blatche averaged just 8.3 boards per 36 minutes, which is pretty bad. But let's not forget that he was playing almost 38 minutes per game as the #1 (and only) offensive option. He was 3rd in the league in usage rate after the all-star break so I'm sure he was tired. 38 minutes is a lot for any big man, and it's a whole lot for a guy who was used to playing 20 minutes a night as a role player. In his 2nd and 3rd seasons, Blatche averaged 9.7 boards per 36 minutes, which is very good for a PF. This year he is stronger and more focused. I think the possibility exists that he can average double-digit rebounds, or close to it.

By the way, McGee averaged 10.1 boards per 36 minutes post all-star break (after his asthma was diagnosed). That's actually better than any of Haywood's seasons except last season.

Yi is indeed an amazingly sucky rebounder.

For his career, Yi's at 7.9 rebounds per 36 minutes. (Posted 8.3 and 8.1 the past 2 seasons). Blatche's career: 8.5 rebounds per 36 minutes. McGee's career: 9.2 rebounds per 36 minutes.

If I were Wizards coach I'd occasionally run a lineup of Wall, Arenas, Yi, Blatche, and McGee. I'd zone up the bigs and hope their length causes some misses. Defensive boards shouldn't be a problem with that lineup.

[REDardWIZskin]

We should get into the habit of all five crashing the defensive board, we have enough speed that it wont hurt us on the fast break as much as it would other teams, and we may find it necessary.

[Ruzious]

We should get into the habit of all five crashing the defensive board, we have enough speed that it wont hurt us on the fast break as much as it would other teams, and we may find it necessary.

I think so. With Wall and Arenas having great speed with the ball, I concur. They don't need to cheat up court to start a fast break.

[Shanghai Kid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYymeJxy ... re=related

Gilbert still has his range, he's shooting those 3s pretty effortlessly I'd say.

[hands11]

Deferring in the sense that he wasn't the floor leading PG that he seemed to be when he was flying solo. More tentative and more willing to wait and see what Gil would do before he started doing his own thing.

Wall is a smart young man.

That is the why he should be approaching it right now.

See what everyone else has, then step into the voids that are left.

Smart is what is going to separate this kid from the pack.

[hands11]

I'm with Krisko on this. Gil would occasionally rise up and throw it down when he drove the lane pre-injury but the vast majority of the time he was laying it in or drawing fouls.

IMO he certainly looked quicker last night than he did last season. His biggest problem last year was that he seemed to have lost the "benefit of the doubt" calls from the refs. Last November his legs weren't really there but by December he was starting to get it going again before he decided to act like an idiot with the guns but he looks even better right now.

I'm really looking forward to watching our new big three plus McGee develop this year but any true success still starts with gilbert because he's still by far our best player. He may not dunk much any more but if he can get the refs to blow their whistles he can be just as effective as he was before the knee problems started.

Is he ? That would be an interesting debate. I think you could argue that Dray is our best player. Some would call it a tie. But if we are lucky, before to long, we will have three really good players and hopefully a great supporting cast.

We are going to find out soon enough.

[hands11]

I think if Kevin Seraphin isn't ready to contribute right away (which is hard to expect from him) and we are left handing out tons of minutes to Yi Jainlain, I mean you're talking easily the worst defensive rebounding 4/5 3 man rotation in Blatche/McGee/Yi in the entire league.

We need to dispell the myth that Blatche is an awful rebounder. Yes, after the all star break of last season, Blatche averaged just 8.3 boards per 36 minutes, which is pretty bad. But let's not forget that he was playing almost 38 minutes per game as the #1 (and only) offensive option. He was 3rd in the league in usage rate after the all-star break so I'm sure he was tired. 38 minutes is a lot for any big man, and it's a whole lot for a guy who was used to playing 20 minutes a night as a role player. In his 2nd and 3rd seasons, Blatche averaged 9.7 boards per 36 minutes, which is very good for a PF. This year he is stronger and more focused. I think the possibility exists that he can average double-digit rebounds, or close to it.

By the way, McGee averaged 10.1 boards per 36 minutes post all-star break (after his asthma was diagnosed). That's actually better than any of Haywood's seasons except last season.

Yi is indeed an amazingly sucky rebounder.

For his career, Yi's at 7.9 rebounds per 36 minutes. (Posted 8.3 and 8.1 the past 2 seasons). Blatche's career: 8.5 rebounds per 36 minutes. McGee's career: 9.2 rebounds per 36 minutes.

If I were Wizards coach I'd occasionally run a lineup of Wall, Arenas, Yi, Blatche, and McGee. I'd zone up the bigs and hope their length causes some misses. Defensive boards shouldn't be a problem with that lineup.

occasionally ?

That could well end up being our starting line up.