Bean Burrito / Nick Young Appreciation Thread.

[pancakes3]

isn't it common sense to start wall and young and have hinny backing up both guard positions? as long as wall and young start and finish the first and last 8 mins of every game, everything in between is just semantics as far as i'm concerned.

and of course, mcgee needs to play as much as his asthma can handle.

our logjam at forward is just a massive headache. i wish we would have been able to tack on thornton for redick, or booker for duhon in the arenas deal to balance out the roster.

[verbal8]

isn't it common sense to start wall and young and have hinny backing up both guard positions? as long as wall and young start and finish the first and last 8 mins of every game, everything in between is just semantics as far as i'm concerned.

and of course, mcgee needs to play as much as his asthma can handle.

our logjam at forward is just a massive headache. i wish we would have been able to tack on thornton for redick,

That would be reasonable, but I think Orlando values his shooting too much.

or booker for duhon in the arenas deal to balance out the roster.

I think that would be terrible. Duhon is not terribly overpaid, but his deal is too long for his lack of upside.

[Kanyewest]

If Kirk Hinrich was a better guard- I wouldn't have a problem with small ball. Heck the Wizards small ball lineup of Wall, HInrich, Young, Lewis, and Blatche isn't that small anyways.

[hands11]

isn't it common sense to start wall and young and have hinny backing up both guard positions? as long as wall and young start and finish the first and last 8 mins of every game, everything in between is just semantics as far as i'm concerned.

and of course, mcgee needs to play as much as his asthma can handle.

our logjam at forward is just a massive headache. i wish we would have been able to tack on thornton for redick, or booker for duhon in the arenas deal to balance out the roster.

I thought the issues/topics I posted were reasonable to fit their goals. As for common sense. There is nothing common about this situation so there is no common sense. There are only opinions about how to best get to a goal given a completed situation.

But even reasonable can have several answers that fit.

This team has several goals so there are several answers that could fit. Non is right per say. And there is what is likely to happen the next game that can be different then what could happen down the road. Example. People wanted to see Nick starting. Problem, Gil and Wall were hear and Gil needed to get traded. So Nick was brought off the bench even when there was no Gil or Wall for a game. The thinking was Nick with his on again off again, needed to stability of minutes and when those minutes came. As he proved he could consistently produce off the bench in 25 minutes, confidence grow about him. He was no longer considered as someone who wouldn't be there next year but instead as someone who could actually start. Now Gil is gone and he is finally starting and he is still producing. So that was a strategy to develop Nick and it seems to have worked. But before it did, people were bent that he wasn't starting. Maybe he could have started earlier. Maybe it he did get moved to starter then back to bench and everything in between it would have messed him up. Who knows. What we do know is what did actually happened ... worked. But along the way, people didn't like it.

They want to develop the youth.
They want to raise the value of assets that they may move.
They want to instill a winning structure that allows them to most effectively do the first two.

That can be starting Seraphin with McGee off the bench as I laid out. McGee is not likely to magically display the physical type of play that this team needs. Both start Seraphin or McGee fits with the above goals. And McGee is not so entrenched as a vet that coming off the bench would blow a hole in his head. And just because you try it for some period, doesn't mean you have to keep it that way forever.

You can start Kirk and that fits also that fits also.

So there are several ways to do this thing. Mine just so happens to be the best way
But we all think our ways are the best ways.

[hands11]

If Kirk Hinrich was a better guard- I wouldn't have a problem with small ball. Heck the Wizards small ball lineup of Wall, HInrich, Young, Lewis, and Blatche isn't that small anyways.

They may be long, but they are not strong enough and as a SF, Nick doesn't drive, pass or rebound enough. Nick is a great scoring SG. He is an average to below average SF.

Lewis and Dray is a weak front court so adding Nick as a weak SF just doesn't do it for me.
Dray and McGee is a weak front court and Dray is showing slow feet this year.

And Kirk isn't a better guard, right. Nick and Martin are better guards.

Thats what makes this puzzle so complicated. The combination of long term goals, youth, who has the power this team need up front ( rookies Booker/Seraphin) and who is ready to play now along with are they really trying to win or get draft picks makes this kind of a mess.

[Higga]

We need to give Young a long term deal ASAP or he'll dip in FA first chance he gets.

[Nivek]

How would you all explain to a NY hater that he is a legit good player. I hear commentators and talk to friends who think he is garbage because of his assist and rebounding numbers. NY's job is to shoot off screens, create his own shot when we need him to do so, and play solid defense. He does the things that are required of him. Still, it is hard to defend his assist and rebounding numbers. Even if he creates his own shot, why doesn't he create shots for other people as well? Even mid-level SGs can average 3 assists a game.

I'm glad he blossoming this season, for sure.

I wouldn't attempt that explanation because I don't think he's a legit good player. He's a good scorer on a bad team. He might be a solid 8th man for a good team looking for offense off the bench. But I don't think he has a future as an NBA starter. Not for a good team anyway.

I totally disagree with that. He could start for alot of teams. Shoot, Stevenson starts for a great team in Dallas. NY doesnt do a ton of things but 2 things he does do darn well right now is score & defend man to man. What more do you need? You would love to have those other things but any coach would take a guy who score pretty much in any way possible and guard his man. NY is a very underrated defender right now

Interesting comparison. Stevenson "starts" in the sense that he's on the court at the beginning of the game. But, he's averaging just 16.7 minutes per game, which puts him 9th on Dallas in minutes per game. In reality, he's Dallas's 4th guard -- Kidd, Terry and Barrea all play more minutes than Stevenson.

That said, Stevenson is playing the best basketball of his career. His efficiency is ridiculously high -- probably from playing with Kidd, Dirk, etc. He's 10th on the Mavericks in usage, which means he's shooting ONLY when he's open. He's assisted on more than 80% of his FGs this season. Neither guy rebounds much, and neither is much of a passer (although Stevenson gets more than twice as many assists as Young). Stevenson's defense is solid and works well in Carlisle's first-rate defensive schemes.

So, I guess Nick could be a "starter" like Stevenson is, although Stevenson is really the 8th or 9th man.

[tontoz]

We need to give Young a long term deal ASAP or he'll dip in FA first chance he gets.

He can't be resigned until July at the earliest and that is not even taking into account the fact that a new CBA has to be negotiated. The deadline to sign him to an extension was at the start of the season.

Since there is going to be negotiations for a new CBA it could be a loooong time before they have a chance to resign Young.

[hands11]

Appreciated again... Even if we lose, it's never really on him...

Dude is crazy efficient... Last night he was 9-16, 2-3 from downtown...

And just how amazing is it that we can say that ?

Of all the players you thought would never get it. Gives you reason to have hope for McGee. Not saying I think it will happen this year but when you have an amazing athlete with low IQ who is immature and they are young, there is a decent chance they will get it eventually if they have good coaching and time.

As for Nick, I think he is just at the beginning of starting to show what he can do. I just wish they would ride his offense a little more. He didn't even shoot the first quarter last game. Sorry, but that is kind of on Flip. They should have run a few plays for him.

I expect to see him scoring earlier this game. Just like they used to start every game with CB scoring off the left top. They should start by feeding Nick early.

I want to see Nick go for 30 plus tonight. No one should be shooting more then him.

[hands11]

Nope. Hinrich is going to finish darn near every single game. Flip & Ernie love him way too much. You know Wall will also. That means its up to NY on how he's playing that night wether he's at the 3 or on the bench. Welcome to your consistently 4th quarter collapsing Wiz team.

That is the nightmare of this team.

They need to just pick between Wall or Kirk to close the game. If either is playing out of control, off that night, etc., they should be the one to sit to close the game.

This team is to weak down low to deal with being weak at SF also.

Nick is balln at SG so leave him there.

Who finishes up front is the second problem.

Flip needs to get this worked out. Playing Wall, Kirk and Nick is not working it out.

[Kanyewest]

Nick Young had a rebound and then turned it into an assist in transition. He had 5 assists to go along with his 16 points and 2 whole rebounds- amazing!

[Zonkerbl]

N1 isn't "finally getting it." He's playing the same great defense he did last year, it's just he's finally getting credit for it this year. His team defense may be better this year.

Look, the most important skills at SG are scoring and defense. Rebounds and assists are bonuses at that position, N1 provides what you need there. Frustrating because that's the player he's always been, coach finally starts giving him consistent minutes and "oh mi gawd he's so improved!" No he's not, he was always the zard's best option at SG.

[VictorPage44]

@ zonker

Nick Young has never been this consistant. This year N1 is way more assertive than he's been in the past. He just goes to his spots and doesnt "hang around" -- a complete 180 from where his court awareness was as recently as the end of last year. You're arguing it's all because of inconsistant minutes, and I'm sorry that's just not true. Nick checked HIMSELF out mentally of plenty of games up until this year. He has matured mentally and it's obvious to anyone who's been paying attention.

We've known that Nick has always had the physical ability. Nick has always struggled with motivation though. He let little things get him down and he could dissapear for weeks. I'm not going to say Nick gave up, but he wasn't as focused as he is this year-- he's just showing more effort. Remember, he had to EARN the job this year too. He started on the bench the first few weeks.

But his game has improved as well. Shots he's making now are the ones you used to say "what the hell is he doing" because he'd never make them- those crazy pull-up jumpers with a hand in the face. He used to shoot you out of the game. Also, he's pretty much automatic now when left wide open. Again, he's a way more consistant player this year BECAUSE he has improved as a player not because he's just been given more minutes.

Flip has had plenty of options this year with wall/gil/hinrich/even cartier martin/jho/, but Nick is giving great effort on both ends and on every play, so he's playing. He didn't used to give great effort through the course of one rotation not to mention an entire game or over a month's worth of games - which is why he never got consistant minutes.

[hands11]

N1 isn't "finally getting it." He's playing the same great defense he did last year, it's just he's finally getting credit for it this year. His team defense may be better this year.

Look, the most important skills at SG are scoring and defense. Rebounds and assists are bonuses at that position, N1 provides what you need there. Frustrating because that's the player he's always been, coach finally starts giving him consistent minutes and "oh mi gawd he's so improved!" No he's not, he was always the zard's best option at SG.

Are you kidding ? Nick is a much better player now. He is stronger. He is more focused and more serious. He plays better team ball. He is less mentally weak.

Nick used to play about as smart as McGee played. He always had a nice shot and could dunk but he was no way as good a player as he is now.

This isn't simply Nick is getting more minutes.

[verbal8]

Great game for Nick Young. Career high for scoring and on fire from 3 point land.

[hands11]

Appreciated again... Even if we lose, it's never really on him...

Dude is crazy efficient... Last night he was 9-16, 2-3 from downtown...

And just how amazing is it that we can say that ?

Of all the players you thought would never get it. Gives you reason to have hope for McGee. Not saying I think it will happen this year but when you have an amazing athlete with low IQ who is immature and they are young, there is a decent chance they will get it eventually if they have good coaching and time.

As for Nick, I think he is just at the beginning of starting to show what he can do. I just wish they would ride his offense a little more. He didn't even shoot the first quarter last game. Sorry, but that is kind of on Flip. They should have run a few plays for him.

I expect to see him scoring earlier this game. Just like they used to start every game with CB scoring off the left top. They should start by feeding Nick early.

I want to see Nick go for 30 plus tonight. No one should be shooting more then him.

I remember when I was writing this, I wanted to type 40 but I wanted to be reasonable. I wanted to see him hit 30 first.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=310111027

Well, he hit 43 in an OT game. And he was 7-10 from 3 with 4 rebounds and 3 assists and 8-9 FTs

6-7 210 SG

I know Nick has been an immature kid and knucklehead most of his time here, but clearly turned the mental corner easier this year and now he is really starting to turn it on. Adding another 5 pounds of muscle should add the extra power to expanding his game.

This team would be better if would do what they did in the first quarter of the SAC game. Hopefully Wall takes notes of this.

Feed the Nick and feed him early. And feed the hot hand.

No one of this team should be shooting more than Nick.

NY FGA 12.9 FG .462 AFG .53
Lewis FGA 11.5 FG ,461 AFG .53
Wall FGA 13.6 FG ,401 AFG .43
Dray FGA 15.2 FG .417 AFG .42

Dray and Wall need to shoot less and Nick and Lewis more. Some egos need checked at the door.

[Higga]

We need to give Young a long term deal ASAP or he'll dip in FA first chance he gets.

He can't be resigned until July at the earliest and that is not even taking into account the fact that a new CBA has to be negotiated. The deadline to sign him to an extension was at the start of the season.

Since there is going to be negotiations for a new CBA it could be a loooong time before they have a chance to resign Young.

Ah okay, did not know that, thanks for the info. Hopefully we can resign him then as soon as we're allowed to.

But you do have to factor in the whole "contract year" thing. I don't think that's the issue here, because it's not like he was some garbage scrub who just came out of nowhere, he has always shown flashes of brilliance.

[verbal8]

We need to give Young a long term deal ASAP or he'll dip in FA first chance he gets.

He can't be resigned until July at the earliest and that is not even taking into account the fact that a new CBA has to be negotiated. The deadline to sign him to an extension was at the start of the season.

Since there is going to be negotiations for a new CBA it could be a loooong time before they have a chance to resign Young.

Ah okay, did not know that, thanks for the info. Hopefully we can resign him then as soon as we're allowed to.

But you do have to factor in the whole "contract year" thing. I don't think that's the issue here, because it's not like he was some garbage scrub who just came out of nowhere, he has always shown flashes of brilliance.

However Blatche was a similar story. Flashes of brilliance, pretty consistent performance and then a big contract. I think the remedy is not necessarily to try to get him to agree to a below market salary, but to but some non-guaranteed money in the back of the deal.

One thing that this year should illustrate to Young(and his agent hopefully) is that he needs to be in the right situation to succeed. He is young enough that he should get at least one more contract, so he might be better off here doing well than going to a bad situation and getting more money.

[dlts20]

NY for MIP

[DallasShalDune]

NY for MIP

He's going to have to get up to 18ppg and get some national recognition before he can even be considered. Already established players who are playing like superstars like Love and Westbrook will be considered before NY at this point in my opinion.

I think NY can boost his ppg up to 18, personally.