Game Thread: Jazz @ Wizards (1-17-11)

[closg00]

I understand that some of the alternatives weren't nice, but Nick was pretty painful to watch last year for the most part. He had some good games sprinkled around and came on late, but he really hadn't learned how to integrate himself into team basketball and gave an awful lot of those shimmy left-shimmy right-fadeaway iso moves with 12 seconds left on the shot clock. I really found him to be our most frustrating player - aside from Butler - until this year. The main thing is, now he works off the ball, attacks/shoots decisively and passes out of bad situations; it really makes all the difference and I don't consider him to be the same player.

I know Stevenson was awful, but at least he had some appreciation for the offensive hierarchy and knew his limitations (and they were many). The thing I was wondering with the rotation at 2-guard last year was why Saunders wouldn't play Foye there at certain points.

Edit --> OK, here's a good quote on the general subject from Gil via. Mike Prada earlier on this year:

Arenas had this to say about Nick Young: "I used to talk to Eddie Jordan about it. I said that, when he gets in, you can't treat him like the rest of us. You can't put him in plays like the rest of us. His basketball skill is straight raw, so you have to treat him like D-Wade. You have to say, 'Okay, I'll bring up the ball, let him get the ball and do pick-and-roll and ISO plays.' He's a great one-on-one player, and I think when you put him in offense and have him sit in the corner, you lose him. He's one of those guys you have to keep talking to -- say 'Come on, I'm looking for you' -- so he can stay in the game. Needless to say, I'm not so thrilled that Gil thinks this.

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2010/10/1 ... rdays-game

He's specifically referencing his first and second year's there, but he wasn't so different last year and you can see how Jerry Sloan isn't wildly enthused by that sort of talk.

Understood, but continuing a Washington tradition dating back to the EJ era, Stevenson was PLAYING INJURED, he had no-biz being out on the court, yet Flip would repeatedly play him over Young which was far-worse in than giving Young then opportunity to be coached/developed. Flip also played Ross over Young - Unforgiveable in my book.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

closg00, I am happy with the present but you are absolutely right about Flip not using Young enough in the past.

I choose to move forward because now the right guys are playing nearly the right number of minutes. Flip still prefers to go small and he still would rather bench McGee than anyone else, but the team is winning and that's what matters most to me.

[closg00]

closg00, I am happy with the present but you are absolutely right about Flip not using Young enough in the past.

I choose to move forward because now the right guys are playing nearly the right number of minutes. Flip still prefers to go small and he still would rather bench McGee than anyone else, but the team is winning and that's what matters most to me.

I agree CCJ. Rotation-stabilization and road wins are probably a priority for Flip. After we get some road-wins under our belt, I would like to see Flip get Booker & Seraphin involved - or even use them when the match-ups call for them.

[Kanyewest]

And like Nate said, he's a thousand times better at the catch and shoot game than he used to be. He sets his feet real well and has a very quick release. This just wasn't part of his game before, and now he's great at it.

Young has certainly become more efficient although I'd argue that his improvement had started even under Flip's first year. Where Caron failed to adjust to the role, Young slowly improved throughout the whole season. In the final month of the season when he was starting, Young was producing at a decent clip (45.5% from the floor and over 40% from 3. Of course it took awhile for Young to surface with the Wizards deep backcourt with guys like Butler, Stevenson, Miller, Foye, and later Ross all getting playing time at that position.

Sorry, cannot let you post this un-challenged. "It took awhile" ? Why was that? Who made the decision to play an injured Stevenson and at times Ross (rental) over Nick Young?

Actually, this move may have turned out to be an effective decision. I bet the decision had at times to do with "who do I want to guard Joe Johnson" down the stretch. Bottomline, Young has developed better defensive habits under Flip Saunders, knowing that he would have to learn how to play good defense to earn playing time. Again, at the time, Young used to be a liability out there because his defensive rotation were spotty and his lack of rebounding and assist numbers. As Young got better, he eventually started playing over 30 mpg in the month of April.

I also forgot to mention a few others who bit into Young's playing time; a healthy Josh Howard and Alonzo Gee who were playing out of their minds. Yes they weren't around that much they bit into at least a month of Young's playing time.