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

[Rafael122]

He's pushing the right buttons. We have to understand something, the oldest player on this team is 28 years old. OK? Blatche should have been fresh out of college like 2 years ago, Wall is 20. Seraphin has 5 years of basketball experience. This is a young team, and Flip seems to have different...what's the word, the buttons he pushes on different players varies. I guarantee you if we had a squad as old as Boston's or less so, we wouldn't hear him say much to the media.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It's just a matter of Mr. Cause working in conjunction with his associate, Mr. Effect. If Armstrong gives good effort and plays to the best of his ability, he gets applauded by his coach - to show him that that behavior is appreciated. If Mr. McGee loses concentration (some would call that laziness, but... How dare they.) on the defensive end too often - failing to use his outstanding tools, he gets the opposite of applause from his coach - hence, Mssrs Cause and Effect.

Hmm, remember that before Flip commented about the rebounding, the rebounding stunk? And after Flip commented about it, it improved by a ton? Flip, how dare you.

Instead of having self-motivated, very high IQ players like Mssrs Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker; Flip has talented kids at "developing stages of maturity" - such as Mssrs McGee, Young, and Blatche - and he's dealing with it. How dare you, Flip Wilson Saunders. Don't tell me - The devil made you do it?

No, Ruz. I've been checking McGee's rebounding rate all preseason. He's been tearing it up on the boards consistently, even more than Yi. If you check right now, McGee's 9th in rebounds per-48. Adrien (limited mins.),Love, Griffin, Cousins, Pops Mensah Bonsu (lim. mins), Lee, Blair, Hickson, and then Javale.

http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Re ... plitDD=All Teams

Flip's words didn't suddenly make McGee start rebounding.

Frankly, I think over the course of 82 games Flip has a much better chance of losing a bunch of games again with negativity like he did last season than he does inspiring a team to believe in themselves and that they can win.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

He's pushing the right buttons. We have to understand something, the oldest player on this team is 28 years old. OK? Blatche should have been fresh out of college like 2 years ago, Wall is 20. Seraphin has 5 years of basketball experience. This is a young team, and Flip seems to have different...what's the word, the buttons he pushes on different players varies. I guarantee you if we had a squad as old as Boston's or less so, we wouldn't hear him say much to the media.

He does acknowledge this group is receptive and teachable. I do sense he's pushing buttons. Raffy, obviously Flip can only do this with a young team.

I'm just doubtful this will work in the long haul.

[hands11]

Ok, just got back from an event at Redskins park and I'm a little buzzed but here we go.

We are rebuilding. So that is my focus. Who should stay and how should go.

Looks like AT laid a big fat egg but I don't think we can give up on him just yet. That said, as of now, he is trade deadline piece until he step up more.

I'm ok with keeping Armstrong for now. 7 minutes and 4 rebounds, 1 block, 1 steal. Works for me.
Booker while very raw still managed 18 minutes 7 pts and 12 boards even it he did get 5 fouls. He is going to get better and foul less.

Yi needs to get his big butt down by the hoop more.

Who I'm pretty clear I don't want here is Nick and Ammo. Nick just doesn't fit mentally. Ammo doesn't fit physically and ala the hair. I'm not sure I can watch this team if Ammo is on the roster.

Still not sure if Gil is going to fit longer team but he is her until we can figure that out.

Hudson and Martin can stick around a little longer. I like their energy and focus. Hudson seem to have a leg up between the two but Martin is more needed if Nick isn't here.

But back to rebuilding. Who stays to start the season is up in the air depending on the strategy for moving that player at peak value and opportunity in a trade. Not being the owner or GM, I can't see the picture the way they do but I do know I want Nick gone. I just can't envision him being a part, even on the bench, of a winning playoff team so lets move him when we can.

What is clear. We have a starting PG. Long term.
What is mostly clear, we have some staring player short term. Gil and Howard - could stay longer.
What is also clear, we have some roll players who could stick on a winning team.
What is less clear, who are the other starter LT on a playoff team. Dray.. McGee

I think if this organization is smart they wont try to win every game over trying to evaluate and develop talent. This team has a lot of questions but short term and long term.

As such, I think it is easier to say who needs to go while you figure out how stays longer term.

Nick and Ammo need to go. I'm pretty sure about that.

[verbal8]

Looks like AT laid a big fat egg but I don't think we can give up on him just yet. That said, as of now, he is trade deadline piece until he step up more.

I think Thornton has a role as back-up SF if the team is good. But otherwise, I think he might just be getting in the way of Booker get minutes to develop.

Yi needs to get his big butt down by the hoop more.

Who I'm pretty clear I don't want here is Nick and Ammo.

I think Ammo was just brought in as training camp fodder(at least I hope so). I would not expect a tremendous return, but I think dealing a package of Thornton and Nick Young could be a good move. I think there are a number of teams that will struggle offensively and a scorer like Nick Young, who can also defend will be a useful piece.

Yi seems like he needs to get significant minutes to produce like Nick Young. I don't think both can get major minutes on a good team. I think Yi has the edge for the guy to keep due to his size and passing ability.

Still not sure if Gil is going to fit longer team but he is her until we can figure that out.

Hudson and Martin can stick around a little longer. I like their energy and focus. Hudson seem to have a leg up between the two but Martin is more needed if Nick isn't here.

Martin barely played the final game. I wonder if that means he has a spot and they didn't need to evaluate more or if he won't make the cuts. He certainly would be ahead of Ammo and there is space to keep both Martin and Hudson.

[Rafael122]

Me thinks Flip is only going to go with an 8 or 9 man rotation anyway. Guys like Martin and Hudson probably won't see much PT during the season.

Starting 5: Wall/Arenas/Howard/Blatche/McGee

Bench: Yi, Hinrich, Thornton, Young

Booker is probably going to get minutes as well.

[gesa2]

The Spurs waived Gist. It's really lat in training camp, but should we be interested? I'd rather have him than Ammo for sure, and I'd be on the fence with him vs. Martin or even Thornton. Better athletic ability than Martin (but not as good a 3 point shooter) and better hoops IQ than Thornton.

EDITED to add: oops, tried to sneak a quick look at the board at work and had a brain fart. I was thinking of GEE not GIST. Nevermind! (unless/until the Spurs waive Gee)

[Ruzious]

It's just a matter of Mr. Cause working in conjunction with his associate, Mr. Effect. If Armstrong gives good effort and plays to the best of his ability, he gets applauded by his coach - to show him that that behavior is appreciated. If Mr. McGee loses concentration (some would call that laziness, but... How dare they.) on the defensive end too often - failing to use his outstanding tools, he gets the opposite of applause from his coach - hence, Mssrs Cause and Effect.

Hmm, remember that before Flip commented about the rebounding, the rebounding stunk? And after Flip commented about it, it improved by a ton? Flip, how dare you.

Instead of having self-motivated, very high IQ players like Mssrs Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker; Flip has talented kids at "developing stages of maturity" - such as Mssrs McGee, Young, and Blatche - and he's dealing with it. How dare you, Flip Wilson Saunders. Don't tell me - The devil made you do it?

No, Ruz. I've been checking McGee's rebounding rate all preseason. He's been tearing it up on the boards consistently, even more than Yi. If you check right now, McGee's 9th in rebounds per-48. Adrien (limited mins.),Love, Griffin, Cousins, Pops Mensah Bonsu (lim. mins), Lee, Blair, Hickson, and then Javale.

http://www.nba.com/statistics/player/Re ... plitDD=All Teams

Flip's words didn't suddenly make McGee start rebounding.

Frankly, I think over the course of 82 games Flip has a much better chance of losing a bunch of games again with negativity like he did last season than he does inspiring a team to believe in themselves and that they can win.

CCJ, this is what I said - "Hmm, remember that before Flip commented about the rebounding, the rebounding stunk? And after Flip commented about it, it improved by a ton?" Ok, so I checked, and it was after the Chicago game that Flip made his rant about the TEAM's rebounding. He didn't single out McGee - at least not in the article I read. Correct if I'm wrong about that.

In the first 3 exhibition games, the Wiz got out-rebounded horribly - 39/46, 41/52, and v. Chicago 32/48. After his comments to the media, the Wiz have out-rebounded their opponents every game - 39/31, 46/42, 53/47, and 45/37.

[Ruzious]

The Spurs waived Gist. It's really lat in training camp, but should we be interested? I'd rather have him than Ammo for sure, and I'd be on the fence with him vs. Martin or even Thornton. Better athletic ability than Martin (but not as good a 3 point shooter) and better hoops IQ than Thornton.

Tweener. He's a helluvan athlete, but... he doesn't have the frame to play PF or the skills to play the 3. He's got to prove he can play the 3 - in the NBADL.

[nate33]

pace-adjusted per-36 numbers for the preseason:

Code: Select all

Player           PTS  REB  AST  STL  BLK   TO   PF eFG%  TS%  PER
wall,john       15.7  2.6  7.9  2.1  0.4  3.9  2.0 .431 .480 17.1
arenas,gilbert  18.0  5.3  4.0  1.8  0.4  1.8  1.8 .609 .584 21.1
thornton,al     12.5  5.3  2.1  0.7  2.1  1.4  1.4 .444 .535 17.4
blatche,andray  19.8  8.5  2.3  1.7  0.6  2.9  3.5 .474 .491 18.7
mcgee,javale    17.2 11.9  0.2  1.7  4.2  3.2  4.0 .563 .594 24.0
hinrich,kirk    12.6  4.8  4.8  1.3  0.0  1.9  2.5 .577 .585 16.1
jianlian,yi     14.2  9.1  2.6  0.5  1.2  1.6  4.0 .463 .500 15.8
armstrong,hilto  5.1  8.9  0.6  3.2  1.9  3.8  6.4 .750 .602  7.0
young,nick      18.1  2.5  0.7  0.7  0.5  1.4  3.7 .500 .518 13.2
booker,trevor    7.3 11.7  1.6  2.4  1.2  3.2  7.3 .250 .317  6.3
martin,cartier  10.0  5.2  1.3  1.7  0.0  2.2  5.2 .688 .681 10.4
hudson,lester   15.9  3.7  6.9  1.6  0.5  4.2  3.2 .414 .474 13.7
seraphin,kevin   4.7  7.1  0.0  1.2  2.4  5.9 13.1 .250 .225 -9.1

Note, I'd disregard those PER's to some degree. PER is relative to the league average, so the numbers are a bit inflated since much of the preseason is played by end-of-benchers. PER numbers are valid when comparing against other preseason PER numbers, but don't compare it to regular season PER numbers.

Wall is about what I expected for a rookie with one year of college experience.. He'll score and pass well, but his shooting is a bit poor and his turnovers too high.

McGee has been terrific - statistically speaking. His in-game impact is much better as well. His defensive awareness is improving and he's not biting on every pump fake.

Blatche's efficiency is disappointing, but everything else looks in-line with last season after accounting for fewer touches.

Arenas' numbers are actually perfect for what we need from our starting SG spot. Maybe he can raise that 18 points per 36 up to about 21, but other than that, I'm thrilled. He shooting with high efficiency, he passes well, rebounds well, and doesn't turn it over.

Yi is basically a poor man's Blatche. Well-rounded but not efficient enough.

I didn't realize Hinrich has been so efficient. Much if it was helped by his lights-out shooting last night. If he does that all year, he'll be a great addition.

Young's numbers are in line with what he did last seaon, but a lot of that is due to stat padding during a blowout win. His numbers are much poorer in high pressure situations.

Thornton's numbers aren't as bad as what I expected. They're not starting-caliber, but they're decent enough for a role player off the bench.

Booker's numbers are much better than I expected. His shooting is horrific and his turnovers are too high, but his rebounding, passing, steals and blocks are great. I was really surprised to see that he is rebounding so well (much of that was due to the Detroit game). Flip has to find a way to hide him in the offense for now. It should be workable given that our big men are pretty offensively inclined.

Cartier Martin looks like a better fit for our needs than Lestor Hudson. I like Hudson but I just don't see a role for him because he's 4th on the PG depth chart behind Wall, Hinrich and Arenas. If Wall, Hinrich and Young are hurt or in foul trouble, I think we would be better off playing Arenas at point alongside Martin than we would be playing Hudson at point alongside Arenas.

Hilton Armstrong has some nice numbers in the steals and blocks, but his turnovers are high, his foul rate is high and his rebounding is mediocre. He looks like he could be serviceable at backup center but we definitely need to upgrade eventually.

Seraphin has been terrible so far.

[pancakes3]

i will never say another bad thing of mcgee if he can stay on the court for 36 mins for that production. generating 6 steasl+blocks a game is Hakeem-esque.

i think wall and blatche are the only ones who are putting up closest to what their regular season stats would be. gil's will be much higher, mcgee's much lower.

[Dat2U]

pace-adjusted per-36 numbers for the preseason:
---
Seraphin has been terrible so far.

The best thing that can be said about rookies is that they can eventually improve.

But right now, can we name a 1st round pick from this draft that's more raw and further away from contributing than Seraphin?

I have more regrets about us drafting Seraphin than I do about Booker at this stage.

I've been trying to hold myself back from saying it for a while now but I think we completely whiffed on the 17th pick.

[Zonkerbl]

But Wall's Assist/TO ratio is about 2.0, isn't that about the average for starting PG's? Or am I thinking college?

[closg00]

pace-adjusted per-36 numbers for the preseason:
---
Seraphin has been terrible so far.

The best thing that can be said about rookies is that they can eventually improve.

But right now, can we name a 1st round pick from this draft that's more raw and further away from contributing than Seraphin?

I have more regrets about us drafting Seraphin than I do about Booker at this stage.

I've been trying to hold myself back from saying it for a while now but I think we completely whiffed on the 17th pick.

The teams that would have drafted Seraphin (or were reportedly interested) Portland & OKC? could afford to stash Sera away for years w/o feeling any pain. We really, really need some front-court depth now. I thought on draft night that we should have walked away with an upgrade for Nick, an upgrade/prospect SF, and front court help. Seraphin is front-court help, but he may not be a rotational player for years. It's frustrating that now we have to pin all of our hope on Booker being able to help this year.

[Illuminaire]

Why, exactly, do we need frontcourt help right now? Are we competing for a championship this year? Next? =p

Nah. We can easily afford a three or even four year growth cycle for Seraphin. It's going to take Wall that long to reach his potential, and our window to be truly competitive as a playoff team doesn't start until then anyways. Seraphin may end up being a bust, but we should be patient in figuring that out - there is no need for him to be anything but a bench scrub learning the NBA game this year, and maybe next.

[TheGreatWall]

Why do we need front-court depth now? The Wizards aren't contending for a title this year, so Seraphin being ready for minutes or not really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The decision to bring him over, I assume, was based largely on whether the FO felt he would develop here or in France faster. For a guy who's admittedly out-of-shape and doesn't speak the language well, I think bringing him over was a logical move.

Now if you don't like the pick, then that's a different story altogether. Right now, I'm split on Serpahin. On one hand, I see an out-of-shape, ultra-raw, bigman with language/communication issues. On the other hand, I saw a guy who outplayed Demarcus Cousins, dunked on Cole Aldrich, and blocked a John Wall layup attempt Ben Wallace-style all in the same game. So in the span of time between Seraphin doing those things, and where he is now...there's a disconnect. It's up to this staff to bring all those good things back because they made the choice to develop him here as opposed to leaving his French team with those responsibilities.

[fishercob]

Agreed with Illuminaire and TGW.

[Hoopalotta]

I'm almost sure we brought him over at least in part due to the pending lockout. If he didn't come over this year, it would've been two years at the earliest and you leave yourself vulnerable to his contractual situation getting messy. And if he'd already stayed two years, he would have been inclined for three as that would've knocked him off of the rookie salary scale.

But I agree that the front court depth wasn't particularly pressing at this moment.

[Ruzious]

Agreed with Illuminaire and TGW.

Me 4. It'd be nice if he contributes this season, but years 2, 3, and beyond are much more important. It's too early to tell if he's a good or bad pick.

[closg00]

Why, exactly, do we need frontcourt help right now? Are we competing for a championship this year? Next? =p

Nah. We can easily afford a three or even four year growth cycle for Seraphin. It's going to take Wall that long to reach his potential, and our window to be truly competitive as a playoff team doesn't start until then anyways. Seraphin may end up being a bust, but we should be patient in figuring that out - there is no need for him to be anything but a bench scrub learning the NBA game this year, and maybe next.

Why do we need front court help now? How about a decent front court, we signed Hilton Armstrong and Sean Marks & Yi & Blatche like to hang around the perimeter. I suppose if you want to tank the season signing Armstrong & Marks might suit that purpose.