Clip v. Wiz. GT of FAIL

[jivelikenice]

I am beginning to change my tune on Yi also. I freely admit I wanted him out 1 month ago but I'm ready to re-think that. He absolutely seems like he gets better and plays more fluidly the more PT he gets. IMO he is never going to be a good bench player. At the start of a game he seems to be more mechanical and plays more textbook, but as the game progresses and he gets a feel for whats going on, his natural skills begin to take over and he plays more aggressively. I like him at the 4 though, and not at all at the 5.

I'm really hoping they shut Blatche down so we can see how a YI/McGee front court looks like a larger sample size.

[hands11]

Wow, what an enjoyable game. It's been a long long time since I've enjoyed watching a Wizards game.

Wall, McGee, Crawford and even Yi (shockingly) have played well.

that might have been the single most surprising thing about the game.
Yi played solid. So how much should we offer him next year?

(runs ducking for cover)

Right. As the rocks all fly at once.

He could be a good role player for some team. Just not a good fit here. This team needs more show up ever day types. Yi is one of those players who still may get it one day, but he just is not reliable enough. Not a good fit here for his role which is a bench player. For that role, you need to bring it ever night. It doesn't have to be awesome, but you have to do something well and do it pretty consistent. For Yi, that would have to be solid rebounding and that mid range. He does neither consistent enough though.

[dobrojim]

I just wanted Booker to get some more burn--especially on D, and Yi looked exhausted. Much like rec league ball (which I'm sure translates perfectly to the NBA) I like to get guys a minute or two rest on the bench, which Steve Buckhantz insists on calling a "blow."

back in the late 70s/early 80s, the league probably had to prohibit that.
They had an image to rehab as well as some players.

[dobrojim]

I like both Buck and Phil, but whenever he mentions that "Crawford is coming into to give Wall a blow" my wife goes into hysterics and interupts my serious basketball analysis. OTOH, it is my wife's only entertainment during Wiz games.

my older daughter gets all excited/peeved when the PA announcer
at the home game calls, "time out ON THE FLOOR". Like where
else would the time out be?

[dobrojim]

actually I was thinking the same as Kev wrt to Yi - one year vet min, 12/13th guy.
Maybe he will get better from there. That said, our expectations for him this
year were quite low, even after his solid WorldChamp play. And he pretty much
met those really low expectations.

[FAH1223]

Yi is still horrible, we shouldn't have him on the roster. Last night was luck... but he still doesn't play defense or box out consistently to be given a contract.

Griffin got way too many dunks because Yi didn't put a body on him

[Nivek]

The Clippers booth team includes Don MacClean, one of my all time favorite Wizards. That guy NEVER missed that 15-foot pull up jumper.

close

pretty sure (without looking) that it's MacLean. But yeah,
American Pie.

But for a guy that played defense at a near Jamison level, he
was still a fun player for us for about 1.5 years. I'm not sure I
ever got the full story, but it sounded like ibuprofen abuse
shortened his career.

Calling Don MacLean's defense "near Jamison level" is an insult to Jamison.

[W. Unseld]

The problem with keeping Yi around is that Saunders might play him.

[closg00]

Yi is still horrible, we shouldn't have him on the roster. Last night was luck... but he still doesn't play defense or box out consistently to be given a contract.

Griffin got way too many dunks because Yi didn't put a body on him

Didn't see the game, but did see the highlights where Yi was not boxing out. Not boxing-out is one of the biggest problems with this team.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The problem with keeping Yi around is that Saunders might play him.

This.

Man, if they need a vet at PF, before resigning Yi, I say go to Europe and get Richard Hendrix for the vet minimum. Rebounds and scores and is tough as nails. Yi is a tease. I sorta KNOW the guy can play, but he's not into contact and has been injury prone. He's a perimeter player and just the sort of player that Flip cannot resist at PF. Yi can defend a bit. He looks like a player, but the longer he plays the more the team gets whipped inside and other boards. Yi looked great but then again how many other times has Blake Griffin got triple doubles?

Flip would play Yi a ton of minutes, just like he played Oberto. Is that what anybody wants?

[nate33]

For the record, I didn't mean to imply that MacLean was a good overall player. I just really enjoyed his offense in that one fluke season when he couldn't miss. It was awesome because his game was total garbage except he had an impossibly fast release on his jumper and it always went in.

[Ruzious]

Tease is the perfect noun to describe Yi, CCJ. As much as I (and others) complain about Javale and Blatche under-achieving, Yi is probably the biggest under-achiever on the team. It's just that our expectations for him were never very high - so that's why we haven't dwelled on him. But he's got so much going for him physically and has a fine jump shot, doesn't seem like a slacker... but he just plays a low percentage game and doesn't get physical out there. He passes all the eye tests, but his heart doesn't seem to be into being a pro basketball player.

[WizarDynasty]

the problem with Yi is that he has slow reaction skills and small hands for a big. He often times fumbles the ball in traffic and you almost never see him snare a rebound with one hand. Secondly, He is ahead of the game mentally meaning he still doesn't the offer teams offense and he can't recognize what his role is when another teams second and third options have been stopped.
He reminds of what Javale used to be except Java always had a excellent hands and could execute dunks with one hand. Yi needs both of his hands every time he takes a shot inside which makes him predictable. He is getting better though.

I like him on the team if we can figure out a way to improve his defensive reaction speed by making him work through simulations that force him to improve his split second reaction skills and his ability to diagnose another teams offense and immediately understand what everyone's roles is to stop a teams second and third options. He needs to be familiar with all of the teams on our schedules offensive playbooks. I think the language barrier is what keeps this from happening any time soon but anything is possible with Ted the savior leading the way.

[Ruzious]

For the record, I didn't mean to imply that MacLean was a good overall player. I just really enjoyed his offense in that one fluke season when he couldn't miss. It was awesome because his game was total garbage except he had an impossibly fast release on his jumper and it always went in.

And McDonalds named a deluxe hamburger after him.

He was fun to watch when shooting, and he had a mean streak to him on the court.

[Zonkerbl]

I am firmly against PFs that float around the perimeter. You're taking up space for your genuine perimeter players to operate, you're not drawing fouls on the opponents bigs, you're not taking high percentage shots, you're not in position to rebound... you're essentially useless. Only Dirk Nowitzki is effective at it. The only effective place for a jump shooting big is on the pick and pop because it can draw the other big away from the basket, and then you only have to be enough of a threat to force the big to come out or force a switch. But just malingering around out there waiting for the ball to pop out is a loser's strategy. A coach that lets you do that deserves to get fired.

[hands11]

The problem with keeping Yi around is that Saunders might play him.

This.

Man, if they need a vet at PF, before resigning Yi, I say go to Europe and get Richard Hendrix for the vet minimum. Rebounds and scores and is tough as nails. Yi is a tease. I sorta KNOW the guy can play, but he's not into contact and has been injury prone. He's a perimeter player and just the sort of player that Flip cannot resist at PF. Yi can defend a bit. He looks like a player, but the longer he plays the more the team gets whipped inside and other boards. Yi looked great but then again how many other times has Blake Griffin got triple doubles?

Flip would play Yi a ton of minutes, just like he played Oberto. Is that what anybody wants?

I don't believe that. He played and now plays him for three reasons.

1) he has no other choice
2) he has no other choice and he can sometimes hit an outside shot and not many on this current healthy list can.
3) he has no other choice and at one point they were evaluating if coaching would fix what he is missing.

Don't go blaming Yi playing on Flip.

I would say the chances of Yi being back at slim. He is just the wrong player for this specific team that already has its share of projects to work on. I would be surprised if he get anything more than the min for a player with his NBA years. If he is smart he signs for 1 year and really work is rss off this summer.

[hands11]

OK, I'll chime in on loser status.

I just microwaved a Red Baron french bread pepperoni pizza and sat down to watch this on my DVR
because I missed some last night.

By the way, if any of you'll haven't tried the Red Baron french bread pizza, it's awesome right out of the microwave. 2:20 min and perfect. It has a microwave thing that makes it like it was in the oven instead.

[Scabs304]

Still so mad i got hooked in after that 3rd quarter and stayed up and watched this BS. SFOBV we were going to lose....