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

[hands11]

Dat2U, it looks like your biggest concern is Wall's health. I can't argue there. I'm assuming that Wall will get healthy soon and start playing like he did pre-injury. Obviously, if health is a long term issue, then we're completely screwed as a franchise.

I'm also not as quick to think that McGee has regressed. McGee was awful in Phoenix because Nash just humiliated him with the pick and roll. Then he had a modestly sub-par game in LA against the second-best center in the league. He played fine in Sacramento, just with fewer minutes. I figure he'll have one more bad game against New York because D'Antoni's system is designed to expose poor pick-and-roll defense. After that, I think he'll be back on track posting double doubles and getting 30+ minutes a night.

The real problem here is Blatche's intensity and Arenas' bad shooting and turnover rate. Unfortunately, I'm starting to resign myself to the fact that you can't teach a motor. Blatche's default demeanor is to be a lazy ball-watcher on defense. He'll have spurts when he really concentrates and plays good D, but he'll always relapse. I'm afraid he's destined to be the next Lamar Odom. He'll always tantalize, but he's better off as a bench player because of his inconsistency. I hope I'm wrong.

I'm starting to have serious doubts about Arenas too. He has looked slow out there. He's not a good enough ball handler to get away with playing with the ball in traffic at half speed. Without his explosion, he's a turnover machine.

I can see the Odom comparison. He has more leaps then Dray but Dray is bigger. If Odom was here though, he would be starting as Dray is for the Wiz. As for Dray, my worry like with Wall is regarding his wheels. Dray seemed to me to be prone to ankle injuries. He seems to get dinged at lot. To his credit, he seems to be able to play through it but it does leave him playing at less then his max ability.

I'm less concerned with Gil. In my book, he is still 21 games into a come back in which he had 3 surgeries and one jail cell. I see that he is staying healthy and expanding his game. Considering he has played in several different line ups and has come off the bench, started, then off the bench, then started... I'm not drawing any conclusions yet. He looked good with Wall against LA. That is the line up that matters most right now.

[hands11]

CSNWashington.com's Frank Hanrahan says Flip Saunders has lost the team.

http://www.csnwashington.com/12/09/10/H ... eedID=7433

ESPN980's Jay Glassie blogs on why Ernie should be fired
http://www.espn980.com/includes/blog/in ... st_id=1653

Usually when things like this start coming out, someone takes the fall if there isn't an improvement....could just end-up being ticket sales.

Blah blah blah.

I hope this helps them sell whatever they are selling and I hope it finds it way into the Wizards locker room as motivation. Other than that, it seems like a lot of ignoring what this team is actually doing and the progress some of the individual players have made.

New owner GM front office 21 games into a season of rebuilding of a team who hasn't had it's #1 pick like 7 of the 21 games is no time to draw clear judgments. Stringing together there past two years like this is all part of the same puzzle is short sighted. Acting like our drafts have sucked is the same. Dray, McGee and Nick are all turning out to be good value picks. AT is well worth the 2.8M he is getting. 2.6M for Nick looks like a great value. Howard at 3M should work out to our favor also. McGee at 1.6 is gold. Yi is only a one year deal at 4M. That as crap shoot would could afford so we did it.

Nothing is going to change in the coaching or front office until after the trade deadline or off season if it even does so people like this can blow hot air all they want. Actually, I hope they keep it up. Makes for good locker room press clipping and TP for camping come spring.

Goal this year was to evaluate and to raise the value of their assets while growing some young picks and deciding who to keep for the rebuild. This team still has a lot of flexibility once they get clear on what they want to keep. Its not like we are tied to this roster or cap strung.

Lets see what these some people have to say once we have

Wall, Gil, AT, Dray, McGee
Kirk, Nick, Howard, Booker, Seraphin

As the main rotation.

With our pick of Gee, Martin, Armstrong, Hamady behind them. Oh, and Yi lol

Yeah, we have a really young front court with three rookies in there and a young McGee. Yeah, we knew that going into the season. This is the direction they decided so there would be minutes for them to play, instead of getting a vet at more cost who would get in the way. And they swung for the fences on a 7-0 shoot first SF. We are 24th in the league for salaries with one expensive longer contract. These guys will get the playing time to grow. If they win, great. If not, we get another high pick. I think it is a great strategy. But to evaluate it now like it is a finished picture is just opportunistic so you have something to write about that seems controversial.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

nate, not bothering to quote your last couple posts, I'll just say I agree with your assessment completely. The real problems with the Wizard personnel-wise involve Wall, Arenas, and Blatche. Wall has been injury-prone and I might add out of control on the court. Arenas' shooting has been errant and he is mighty turnover prone of late. Blatche has either lacked a great deal of intensity or he's been injured. For the most part Andray has been really disappointing at both ends, particularly compared to how he ended last season. Those three guys have not been present and/or productive for the Wizards through the first quarter of the season.

Wizards I am pleased with are Young and McGee. Both have taken huge steps forward. Both are playing like decent starters at SG and C. McGee has not fallen off at all IMO Dat. Flip Saunders is just a tool for thinking so IMO. Any time a player improves his offensive rebounding rate by 50% and who improves his overall rebounding rate by 20%, while his foul rate decreases by 25%; that player has improved tremendously. McGee is 2nd in the league behind only Griffin in dunks. His PER, ORtg, DRtg, and WS/48 are all the best on the team.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... eja01.html

IF I WERE A GM I WOULD FIRE FLIP SAUNDERS FOR BENCHING MCGEE THAT ONE GAME. I feel that strongly that the only disappointment with McGee is that his coach continues to be inept at getting more inside shots. Flip Saunders tolerates porous perimeter defense all day long. No turnover from Gil bothers him. Hinrich can dribble all day or fail to finish but they play minutes. I am not disappointed with McGee....

I am pleased Saunders finally played Seraphin. However, I want Seraphin to take all of Yi's and Armstrong's minutes and only a very few of McGee's. I like that Seraphin is very active on defense and that he sets good picks. I also like his form on FTs. Seraphin, like Booker, might be able to hit 10-12 footers consistently once he relaxes. I expect both will score around the basket.

Booker, I like his intensity and play of late.

Thornton has played good defense and can score some. Decent player.

Martin is a really good perimeter shooter and a player who I think might be really decent at SG.

Yi -- expletive, blankety blank. Nothing good to say about him.

Armstrong has played hard and not been totally terrible, but the Wizards would be well served not to play him at all.

Flip Saunders has been more personable, and has not thrown guys under the bus as quickly as in the past. McGee and Young both have gotten better. I know the man cannot be as terrible as I make him out to be. He's probably working his butt off. I just think this is a bad mix of players, too raw and inexperienced for him to win with. I absolutely hate the zone defense. I don't like Flip's fourth quarter substitutions. I hate that Flip plays favorites. Yi and Hinrich are getting way too many minutes. Arenas is getting too many flub ups. Seraphin and Booker should have been banging away from day one, but I kind of respect that Flip gave them 1/4 of the season to get acclimated.

Right now, I hate the job Flip has done because the team's BOUND. They are not playing freely. Too much thinking on the court and the defense is just weak.

I would rather see another coach who rewards hustle and who would be inclined to make a call between Arenas or Hinrich--one has to sit. Nick's outperformed both those guys. Wall was the pick.

I'd like to see Arenas and Hinrich on the bench IF Wall can stay healthy.

[MF23]

I really like the talent EG has put together. It's not his fault Blatche and Arenas are rusty. Yi's supposed to be a 10min guy off the bench who stretches the court. That is Saunders fault in playing him more especially when he's injured and just coming back. Kirk well, he hasn't looked happy to be here and energy level isn't where it's been his entire career.

Now he hired Flip Saunders and that is on him. Flip is not the right coach for young team. He's proving it. This team doesn't play with the similar energy that Scott Brooks and Nate McMillan get out of their teams. I'd sit Blatche and play Booker more if I were him. I think Blatche needs a good 3 weeks of rest and conditioning to get himself into something of an consistent player. He's just so erratic and non explosive that he can't help sustain runs.

I'm hoping Blatche, Arenas and Howard can be back into shape by mid January. This team could also use an attitude adjustment because I don't see winners out there. The guys I'm looking at seem to want to get through the games but not with their full effort for 48 minutes. That's on Flip. He needs to sit people down when they slack.

[LyricalRico]

I really like the talent EG has put together. It's not his fault Blatche and Arenas are rusty. Yi's supposed to be a 10min guy off the bench who stretches the court. That is Saunders fault in playing him more especially when he's injured and just coming back. Kirk well, he hasn't looked happy to be here and energy level isn't where it's been his entire career.

Now he hired Flip Saunders and that is on him. Flip is not the right coach for young team. He's proving it. This team doesn't play with the similar energy that Scott Brooks and Nate McMillan get out of their teams. I'd sit Blatche and play Booker more if I were him. I think Blatche needs a good 3 weeks of rest and conditioning to get himself into something of an consistent player. He's just so erratic and non explosive that he can't help sustain runs.

I'm hoping Blatche, Arenas and Howard can be back into shape by mid January. This team could also use an attitude adjustment because I don't see winners out there. The guys I'm looking at seem to want to get through the games but not with their full effort for 48 minutes. That's on Flip. He needs to sit people down when they slack.

Great stuff, bro. It's amazing how Ernie has been consistently sabotaged by his coaches. They somehow fall in love with bit players who shouldn't play significant roles (Ruffin, Arvis, Yi, Hinrich). If EFJ had played Haywood more, the Big Three era would have been more successful. And if Flip would play his energy guys more, the current team would have at least been more competitive in a lot of games.

And I don't really "blame" Flip per se because he didn't sign up for this. He was hired to coach veterans, not oversee a rebuild. And I would like to think that Leonsis knows that. After the lockout, I expect him to do what he did with the Caps - keep the GM but find a young coach to take over the team.

Go Wiz!

[hands11]

Lyric

Those are good points. I also think Flip gets hammered on to much. I see players getting better this year and player development was a major complaint in the past and a major core focus for this season.

Against the Knicks was the first game he actually had most of this roster available and even then he is missing a player who is a vet All star who plays at a position where we have nothing similar and lots of inconsistency. SF is a huge problem for this team right now.

PG we have Wall #1 pick and Gil AS and Kirk established vet perimeter defender.
SG - again we have Gil and now Nick who is showing serious signs being NBA quality
PF - while some aren't happy with him this year, Dray is still at least a solid starting PF. Problem is, he isn't explosive down there so that mean we need to make up for that somewhere else.

So we have two positions where we are least established. SF and C.

As for Center, we are invested in at least seeing what McGee can do and to Flips credit, McGee is playing much better this year. His minutes are up from 16 to 28. He has started more games (20) already this year than he has in any previous year (19) and his rebounding has gone up from 4.1 to 8.5 And with all those added minutes his fouling has only increased .9 per game. And his FG% has gone from .508 to .567 Flip has done well with him and Nick. My hope is he continues to light a fire under him so he gets to averaging at least a double double. Rebounding and finishing strong at the hoop is what we need from him. Catch, spin, DUNK.

Where people get a little frustrated is, what are working on behind him. Well, it looks like at this moment it is Yi. Seraphin got some burn while Yi and Dray were injured but now that both are back, it looks like they are working on Yi again. So we have lots of work to do with the center position and there are no quick fixes for it. Seraphin is here longer term so I guess they want to see what the more NBA experience Yi can improve on. Maybe it is just to raise his value for a trade. He is 7-0 250. Problem is he plays like a SF or a Drik style PF. Well, we already have enough of that in Dray.

But SF is our biggest hole while at the same time we have the most options. This is why Howard makes such a huge difference. He adds a reliable player at that position. AT is frustrating. He has the body 6-8 235, the shot and the driving moves to give us more of what we need from there and he isn't doing it consistently. We need finishers and SF is one of the positions where you can get that. Strong. Quick. Take it to the rack with an outside shot energy and a body strong enough to take the contact so we can keep our guards healthy.

Gee is this type of energy leaping player so I can see why Flip started him as soon as we got him. But Gee isn't as powerful or as established as we need. Nick is getting some minutes here and I actually like how he finishes with contact but again, not sure he has the power we need yet. Actually, not sure Howard does either. Specially coming off injury.

So it is what it is. Its a team rebuilding trying evaluate, grow the value of players, and fit together the pieces. Dray not being Amare type of finisher creates holes that either need to be addressed by him changing his game if he can or those skills need to be filled with the right kind of complimenting SF. That would be a stronger star quality player like Melo. While Howard may not be that players, he is at least a reliable vet who can shoot and play D and help lead this young team in effort.

What we are missing is a player similar to some of the names on this list.
http://fantasyknuckleheads.com/fantasy- ... rd-top-20/

Problem is, the good ones are usually pretty expensive and the cheaper ones, people don't want to let go of.

Wilson Chandler was looking pretty good.

Maybe the answer is moving Dray out of PF or off the team in a trade that helps bring in a different kind of PF.

We still have our work cut out. This thing is long from finished. While I wanted us to win this year, it may be better that we have a lot of games like we just did against ORL, LA and NY. Play well enough to show progress but get the L so we get another high draft pick. I hate the idea of another big loosing season, but it may be best.

[hands11]

Star Date 2343454

Day Log

Well they are 6-16

J Howard is talking about coming back just before Christmas

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 05936.html

The Wizards (6-16) will likely need more of that spectacular version of Young as they host the two-time defending champion Lakers on Tuesday at Verizon Center. They could possibly be without their three top scorers, with Andray Blatche out because of swelling in his left knee, John Wall "very questionable" with soreness in his right knee and Gilbert Arenas probable after missing practice on Monday with what the team has referred to as "general soreness."

Wall continues to live up to his aka name... FIAT
This guy just can't stay on the court except when he is driving. He visits the court a lot.

Dray. For all of those out there that have been on him this year, he hasnt been healthy in a while. The foot issue held him out over the summer. He has been dealing with this unknown knee issue that swells on him and most recently it was his hip. And for all that, he has only missed two games. Dray is a warrior.

Gils taking a day off regarding soreness was something I expected and it was the smart move. Doesnt sound like anything to worry about for Gil though. This is why the 3 days off was so timely for this team. Problem for Gil is more his injured brain. He was doing so well saying the right stuff and laying low and recently he some comments about just waiting to be traded and now this.

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archi ... _unfairly/

Really, no one knows the real story still. Well whos fault is that Gil?

Wall out.
Dray out. Had knee drained yesterday. He should be ready for another 40 minute game on Thursday

I posted about this a few games ago.

I asked, should they just hold these guys back some so we can get them all healthy when Howard is ready. Instead, Dray logged 40 minutes on his first game back from missing two because of his hip. That game, Seraphin was inactive but Martin and Gee where. Neither Martin or Gee played a min that game nor did Armstrong.

That one is on Flip. Bad move. Now Dray has a swollen knee to go with his hip and recovering foot and it is reported he won't be playing this next game against LA. Reminds me of that year AJ was out for a little while and the AS break was coming that would have bought him like 2.5 or 3 weeks of straight rest but they played him a butt ton of minutes and he injured it further and stayed out longer. I guess this goes to coaching and trainers. Someone has to manage these injuries better. Players will want to play. You have to hold them back and rehab them properly.

People need to keep this in mind when they are questioning how good dray is. He may be a level below how he finished last year but he is still averaging 35 min .441 FG, 7.7 rebounds, 17.1 pts

Well, this should be the Gil and Nick show. At least for a little while.

[MF23]

The Wizards as a whole looks like a team destined for the top of the lottery. I hope things change but as of now I'm disappointed with this teams efforts.

[closg00]

The Wizards as a whole look like a team destined for the top of the lottery. I hope things change but as of now I'm disappointed with this teams efforts.

Call me delusional, but i say if we add another guard and reduce Kirks minutes, I think we can make a run at the 8th spot.

[Hoopalotta]

I'm really hoping that we play Shart mostly at small forward with just a few spot minutes as the stretchy 4. I realize there's problems with his mobility there, but we have too many developmental guys to pinch things any further up front.

We're maybe looking at this with a traditional lineup....

McGee/Armstrong/Blatche/Seraphin/La Di Da Di/Thorpe*
Blatche/Lewis/Booker/Yi/Thorpe*
Howard/Thornton/Gee/Martin/Lewis/Thorpe*
Young/Hinrich/Thorpe*
Wall/Hinrich/Thorpe*

*I don't know who Thorpe is or what position he plays, but someone said we have a guy by that name, so I thought I'd be safe and plug him in everywhere.

Aside from the obvious "we need a guard" position (thorpe?), that is quite tight up front.

Flip did say this:

I thought [Gil-Wall] could work. I think more than anything else, not just with John but with everyone else. They guys who are playing a lot for us like JaVale, and Booker, and Kevin. We're a couple years away. At that would put Gilbert at the end. We also thought we needed a veteran upfront type payer that we could count on who has been through wars, been to the NBA championships...he has been a go to player. In Orlando he has been asked to be a spot up shooter. I played against him a lot in Minnesota and he had the ability to score in the post. We're going to ask him to go back and do that and become a go to type player.

Scoring in the post sounds like something he could do at small forward unless he's matched against J.J. Hickson and there's probably fair pressure coming down from above to develop the youngsters based on Ted's mandates. Nothing would get Ernie fired faster than busting with the draft picks, so hopefully we'll be looking at that pushing Shart down to the small forward.

That might mean everyone's favorite zone defense gets trotted out.

Man, if Thorpe ends up being a small forward, I'll be royally ticked off!

Edit: Though looking at his numbers on 82 games, the small forward isn't particularly encouraging.

[AceDegenerate]

You guys are making it so much easier for me to laugh at you rooting for RASHARD LEWIS than it was for you to laugh at me rooting for Arenas.

[willbcocks]

Who's rooting for Rashard Lewis?

[Hoopalotta]

No idea what Krizko's on about with this as the motivation of the entire post is obviously about Booker and Seraphin being in the rotation for developmental purposes.

[AceDegenerate]

No idea what Krizko's on about with this as the motivation of the entire post is obviously about Booker and Seraphin being in the rotation for developmental purposes.

Anybody plugging Rashard in anywhere on this team except for in the check-cashing line is in for some severe disappointment. We are about to get an up-close look at exactly what a team cancer looks like.

[willbcocks]

There's no life for the cancer to feed on here, it will quickly die of hunger.

[AceDegenerate]

There's no life for the cancer to feed on here, it will quickly die of hunger.

I strongly disagree, there is a 19-year old impressionable Rookie who some were so scared would be influenced by Gil. He is about to learn first hand what it's like to collect the 2nd largest paycheck in the NBA and not have to lift a damn finger for it.

[Hoopalotta]

Anybody plugging Rashard in anywhere on this team except for in the check-cashing line is in for some severe disappointment. We are about to get an up-close look at exactly what a team cancer looks like.

I am as enthused over the idea of a post CBA Allan Houston style buyout on Shart as anyone, but I figure he's here for at least this year and he's almost surely getting some kind of minutes.

I don't predict particularly robust Jersey sales though, no. Actually, I guess we could get a custom one with "Shart" on the back; that's kind of tempting.

[Hoopalotta]

More scoop....

With Arenas being swapped for a 6-foot-10 power forward in Lewis (who will take his physical and likely play against Charlotte on Monday), Grunfeld said that the Wizards would have to sign another point guard. The team waived Lester Hudson earlier this season to sign Alonzo Gee, but now the team is lacking ball handlers. Hinrich played all but six seconds in the Wizards' 95-94 loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday. "We'll probably look to bring in someone to back him up," Grunfeld said. "Because of John's injury situation and the trade, we'll probably have to bring in somebody else. There's nothing structural [with Wall]. But until the pain subsides, we're not going to rush [Wall] back, that's for sure."

Some options include bringing back Hudson, signing free agent Jannero Pargo or Patrick Beverley, or plucking from the NBA Developmental League Mustafa Shakur or Kyle Weaver. But Wall is anxious to get back on the floor and assume his undisputed position within the team. "I've got to be the leader," Wall said. "I've got to get here early, I got to be the last one to leave. I've got to speak up, talk in huddles. They are gong to hold me accountable for more things. I'm going to accept the challenge."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03519.html

That's probably just speculation as to the names of the call-ups by Mike Lee.

[hands11]

Oh kay, well things have been shaken up since my last post.

Out - Gil, Gee
In - Rashard, Hudson
Returning from Injury - Josh Howard
New starter - Nick 2.0
Injured - Wall and Yi

Gil is gone to Orlando for Rasheed 6-10 230
I think that may be the first time the Wizards have ever traded small for tall. History had up on the short side of those trades.

Wall is out with a knee bone bruise so we brought back Hudson as back up PG and Kirk is starting.
In the last two games Kirk has posted two double double and is playing well.
Gee is gone to make room for Hudson.

Nick Young, who has played great of the bench, is now the starting SG and still playing great.
Josh Howard has made his entry onto the seen and has played two games now.

Since the Gil move, we have played two solid games. One, we got robbed against Miami and easily should have one and two, a blow out of a bad team ( Charlotte )

Reshard should see his first action next game against Chicago.

So as of now, looks like the roster is even taller than before with a 6-10 SF, Yi must be so jealous right now. So Flip says Rashard is coming off the bench next game for 20-30 minutes but it sounds like he has him slotted to start soon. I guess Josh may see some SG also and they plan on using Rashard at SF and PF. Looks like a battle for starting SF but with Howard just returning, this gives him some breathing room to take it slower.

Kirk/Hudson
Nick/Martin
Rashard/Howard/AT
Dray/Booker
McGee/Armstrong/Seraphin

Hamady inactive
Wall and Yi injured

You know what. That anent a bad little roster there. That a really tall starting line up and with Howard back and adding Rashard to a really weak position for us, SF just got a huge upgrade and so has the bench.

I think this team just might be able to make a little noise. And while C isn't slotted with established talent like the other 4 positions, it isn't as exposed because of the talent at the other four positions. We have tall in McGee and Beef in Seraphin and something in between in Armstrong. They should be able to cover it.

Plus, with Rashard slotted to post small SFs inside and stretch PFs outside, we have another piece to move defenses around which should everyone.

I like this team as constructed right now compared to where we were. Feels like the pieces fit better and there is less drama.

[hands11]

Well, another year of - As the world turns.

McGee and Dray were suspended one game which was against SA
Armstrong stepped in to start at center and had 13 rebounds. Now Armstrong is out with a foot injury but it doesn't seems serious.

They are on a 0-3 run.

Chi L
@ SAS L - Wall returned and is coming off the bench
@ Houston L

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/

The Wizards have lost all three games with Rashard Lewis in uniform, and they are just 1-4 since Josh Howard returned from his left knee surgery, but could the team be nearing a breakthrough? After defeating the Wizards 100-93 on Monday, Houston Rockets coach Rick Adelman came away impressed with the collection of talent in Washington and felt that a turnaround was possible.

"I'd say that team has Lewis, with [John] Wall coming back, and Josh Howard coming back, and down the road if they don't get hurt again, that team is going to be a lot better team than what their record indicates," Adelman said.

Since Lewis joined the team, the Wizards have utilized three different starting lineups, and will soon make another change whenever Wall is moved back to starting point guard. But they have been more competitive, especially considering that the competition during their three-game losing streak was Chicago (first-place team in the Central Division), San Antonio (holders of the league's best record) and Houston (the hottest team in the NBA, with a five-game winning streak).

"They have talent at every position and now they have some new pieces, so they're trying to find themselves and see how everyone is going to help out," Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks said. "Wall is coming back and playing good basketball. They're a good team."

The Wizards (7-22) have had 14 different starting lineups though the first 29 games, which leads the league, and Coach Flip Saunders has been unable to settle on any consistent rotation. But as the team prepares to play its next two games against the Indiana Pacers, Saunders is hopeful that things will start to settle down.

"We have to keep this group together and get better as a team," Coach Flip Saunders said. "We need to start having some continuity."

Although he is still in search of his first win as a Wizard, Lewis believes that it won't be long. "We're playing well," Lewis said after the loss in Houston. "We're playing good defense. I can definitely say that we're going to start winning ball games. You can tell by the attitude in this locker room."