The Javale McGee Appreciation Thread

[Jimmy Recard]

Latest quote from Javale:

"I have to continue to talk to my teammates at the defensive end. I learned that from Brendan Haywood. He was always talking."

—JaVale McGee on communicating at the back of the defense

I always liked Brendan. Perfect example why its important to have a veteran who plays the right way around your young guys when they're still developing. Wish Brendan was still here (in a limited role). But definitely sounds like Javale is starting to get it.

[Ruzious]

Latest quote from Javale:

"I have to continue to talk to my teammates at the defensive end. I learned that from Brendan Haywood. He was always talking."

—JaVale McGee on communicating at the back of the defense

I always liked Brendan. Perfect example why its important to have a veteran who plays the right way around your young guys when they're still developing. Wish Brendan was still here (in a limited role). But definitely sounds like Javale is starting to get it.

Haywood might not actually be the perfect role model for our kids. This is from The Wiretap via ESPN:

The Mavericks suspended center Brendan Haywood for Friday night's game against the Spurs for a violation of team rules.

Haywood will be eligible to face the Heat on Saturday night.

"I'm not going to expound it any more than that. It's going to remain an internal matter," Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said.

"The only thing that I'll say, in two-plus years here one of the things I've grown to respect and admire about [owner] Mark [Cuban] and his franchise is that everyone's treated great, but everyone's held to a high level of accountability, and we expect a lot. We're going to make sure things are right."

[Wizards2Lottery]

Seems like he's pouting about being second fiddle again. He didn't take it nicely when it happened because of ET and now he doesn't like it because of Tyson Chandler.

Good for Tyson Chandler that he doesn't have dread locks. Looks like Brenda Haywood is making a return.

[AceDegenerate]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYqdGFc8KhI[/youtube]

[Hoopalotta]

These numbers haven't been adjusted since the 22nd, but this seems to be a bit of the Javale affect combined with certain flaws to our interior:

Opponents field goal percentage at the rim: 71% - 30th in the NBA
Opponents field goal Attempts at the rim: 24.2 - 25th in the NBA
Assist percentage on Opponents field goal at the rim: 53.4% - 22nd in NBA (and much closer by percentage to 27th or 29th than to 15th)

Opponents field goal percentage for shot's inside 10 feet: 39.1% - 3rd in the NBA
Opponents field goal Attempts for shot's inside 10 feet: 13.0 - 11th in NBA

http://hoopdata.com/oteamshotlocs.aspx

That's basically about what Javale does combined with how the team compliments him (or rather, doesn't compliment him).

So....

A) take the number of times those assisted shots at the rim are based on when Javale picks up penetration and said player makes a pass without any further help from the rest of the team (the Charlotte game sticks in my mind here)
B) the number of times where those at the rim shots are based on someone missing from >10' when Javale picks them up and grabs an O-Board without anyone else boxing out (Philly, I'm thinking of you)

.....and I think we've accounted for a lot of the terrible at the rim numbers (transition defense has an affect too, obviously). There's also just bad reads in general and times when Javale gets overpowered by a guy like Shaq, but

If you took Javale with Reggie Evans and Andre Kirelenko, I bet the vast majority of these issues would evaporate (well, except then you couldn't score, but you see what I'm saying).

I'd would complete these thoughts, but the games starting, so I'll stop there....

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Don't get me wrong Hands, I love McGee. I think he might be the most interesting and exciting player to watch in the NBA. McGee and Wall as the future will be hella fun to watch even if they aren't a championship core. I'm just saying, he's gonna have to learn how to man up opposing centers if we're going to go anywhere with him.

Much as I've been posting that I don't want a return of Brendan Haywood, I wonder if McGee could play PF with Haywood at C? I'm not saying do anything with Blatche, just speculating....

How much worse a defender at PF would Javale be than Dirk, LaMarcus Aldridge, or other taller players; if he had a guy like Haywood covering C defensively?

What we know is McGee can block shots and rebound. My speculation is if the game slows down for him, he can also score.

The Wizards aren't going anywhere, correct Mr. Grundle, until they man up in the paint for sure.

[queridiculo]

The light has definitely gone on for Javale. Great effort against Howard and a complete 180 from the previous Magic matchup.

[Benjammin]

During one the game chats the question was asked, who would you rather have than JaVale going forward with the hope he continues to develop? I made this list of guys some would consider. Almost all of these guys make significantly more money:

Dwight Howard—uh, yeah
Yao Ming—too many injuries
Al Horford—yes, not a true center but a heck of a player
Joakim Noah—yes, he's playing at a high level already, although McGee has more physical gifts
Roy Hibbert-tough choice, probably roll the dice with McGee
Brook Lopez—better offensively, not playing that well this year
Andrew Bogut—more polished overall defensively, some injury issues perhaps
Marc Gasol—different kind of player, more of a sure thing, less potential
Nene-no
Chris Kaman—no
Demarcus Cousins—very talented, but a long way to go--connection with Wall is nice, but at this point I'd roll with JaVale

[Wizards2Lottery]

Brook Lopez is a pathetic rebounder. He plays 35 minutes a night and only grabs 6 boards a game.

[nate33]

During one the game chats the question was asked, who would you rather have than JaVale going forward with the hope he continues to develop? I made this list of guys some would consider. Almost all of these guys make significantly more money:

Dwight Howard—uh, yeah
Yao Ming—too many injuries
Al Horford—yes, not a true center but a heck of a player
Joakim Noah—yes, he's playing at a high level already, although McGee has more physical gifts
Roy Hibbert-tough choice, probably roll the dice with McGee
Brook Lopez—better offensively, not playing that well this year
Andrew Bogut—more polished overall defensively, some injury issues perhaps
Marc Gasol—different kind of player, more of a sure thing, less potential
Nene-no
Chris Kaman—no
Demarcus Cousins—very talented, but a long way to go--connection with Wall is nice, but at this point I'd roll with JaVale

Over the next 5 years, I'd take Howard, Noah, Horford, Bogut and Hibbert over McGee. That's it.

[pancakes3]

and hibbert is by a fairly small margin. oden should be considered but i wouldn't trade for him either. monroe is another "also-ran" for this list. aldrich is on his way to bustville.

[Benjammin]

Over the next 5 years, I'd take Howard, Noah, Horford, Bogut and Hibbert over McGee. That's it.

That's pretty much what I concluded, except for Hibbert. I guess it's whether you're happy with a double or you want to hit a home run, but you might strike out. It's looking and less likely that McGee will strike out so that's rather important.

Brook Lopez is just not a very good defender or rebounder so I have no problem preferring McGee to him. Bogut is an interesting one. His defense is really outstanding. He can block shots, take charges, and he rebounds well. Horford is just so good and polished. Noah is what we would hope McGee becomes. Howard, there's no comment necessary.

[507Mack]

It's rare that skinny big men can be effective when guarding beefier and skilled big men, one-on-one. The only guys I can really think of that can do this effectively are Garnett, Camby, and Noah. Before, I didn't think McGee was capable of good one-on-one, position defense like those guys and was simply a really good weakside defender that would ultimately always fall for pump fakes. In fact, his first few fouls last night were pretty dumb.

However, I feel like he grew up right before our eyes in last night's game. Realizing that Dwight Howard isn't really all that skilled offensively, he started playing position defense and raised his arms up high whenever a jump hook went up. I feel like he finally understood that Dwight Howard has no touch on those hooks, yet it's pointless to try to block the shot and possibly bail him out with a foul. That guy is probably the toughest cover in the NBA for a big man, and McGee held his own. It had a synergistic effect on the rest of the team and raised everyone's confidence. A beautiful thing.

[hands11]

It have been a few games now since McGee took the tough fall. I would expect him to look nearly fully recovered in tonight games. And with PHX not having great front court players, I hope McGee goes off for a 20 rebound game.

As for the team, I found this nice to see.

http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics

McGee #2 in blocks and in 2nd by only .003 per game
McGee #4 in FG % .591
McGee #20 rebounds 8.7 - I think he can crack the top 10 where he needs 9.6
Wall #2 in steals 2.50
Wall #7 in assists at 8.4 I think he will crack the top 5 where he needs to get past 9.0 a game

Nice to see two of our young stars making the charts. Specially considering both had to fight though injuries already. McGee to a lesser extent but he was out of sorts after the fall. Hopefully he is back to full speed because the kid was breaking out when he got clobbered.

I'm still hopefully for this young talented team THIS YEAR. They have had individuals breaking out and they have had small but significant injuries already. Hopefully now we get to see everyone one the floor and healthy at the same time. Time for Flip to start to put the pieces together instead of managing the rotation based on who he doesn't have or who is just coming off injury.

Now is the time to see if they can hit on all cylinders at the same time and go on a run.

If everyone can brings out their best they have played this year, they could beat some good teams.

[Hoopalotta]

Possibly Javale's best metric is offensive rebound rate: he's grabbing 15.9% of available O-Boards while he's on the court which is third in the league behind Reggie Evans and Dan Gadzuric.

Evans will soon be disqualified from the list due to his foot being plum broked and Gadzukes is probably going to go the way of the DNP-CD once the Warrior's lottery pick, Epic Uh'Doh!, comes back from injury. So, Javale has an outside shot at leading the league in ORR%.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinge ... eboundRate

[pancakes3]

what elite company! Reggie Evans and Dan Gadzuric!

[hands11]

what elite company! Reggie Evans and Dan Gadzuric!

What does that mean exactly ? You would rather he didn't rank high in ORR ?

Looking at the whole list, he is above Blair, Love, Noah, and Blake.

What he does need to improve is his DRR though. He falls off page one at 20.0
He is 22nd for Total RR at 17.8

Wow. K Love had a 31 rebound game and several 20 rebound games.

I hope what we have heard from McGee is true and his new fire. Rebounds and defense. If he goes all out with this as his focus, he is still going to get his points with put back and FTs. Hopefully Flip is feeding him this message and McGee is buying into it. His goal should be to be the best rebounder in the league. He got to 18 one game. Now he needs to break 20.

[hands11]

The extra days of rest should have been good for McGee also since he was recovering from that tough fall were he had headaches.

McGee had a min break out earlier this year. Hopefully we see that level of play again.

[pancakes3]

what elite company! Reggie Evans and Dan Gadzuric!

What does that mean exactly ? You would rather he didn't rank high in ORR ?

Looking at the whole list, he is above Blair, Love, Noah, and Blake.

um, yeah. top 3 in the league with evans and gadzuric at the 1 and 2 means he beats out... everyone not named evans and gadzuric. that includes... GASOL, DUNCAN, and HOWARD as well.

my point is that while nice, it really amounts to a hill of beans if Gadzuric is #2. I'll give props to evans though. he was doing his best jayson williams/danny fortson impersonation before he got injured. however that doesn't change the fact that Gasol, Duncan, Howard, and other truly elite big men let their talents shine on the defensive rebounding arena. first, you nail down the defensive boards. the offensive rebounds are of a secondary concern (in the rebounding department).

[Induveca]

Saw this on the GB, and literally had me laughing.......a quote from Ron Artest last night about Javale McGee......gotta love Artest.

"He potentially could be a really good player," Artest said of McGee. "I think he got to go to school a little bit more. He's got to work on that IQ a little bit. He got to watch more tape. I don't think he watches tape. I think he plays video games. I do. I don't think he watches tape. I think he plays video games and I think he could possibly have an Atari. He should upgrade to a PlayStation."