Our Projected Depth Chart

[closg00]

+1 ^

[Dat2U]

As far as I'm concerned, Booker is 6-9 with a neck deficiency.

and plays quite big as a PF, with long arms and good lift. Could maybe even pull off C in a pinch against the right team. I haven't seen much outside shot or handle (well, you could say that about the whole team in game 1) and despite his quickness and explosiveness, most SFs could speed right around him. I'd put him about 6th on the SF depth chart. I'd probably try Crawford there before him.

Boy, I wish I could see what you guys see. To me, he looks like a very short PF who cannot match up with most PFs at either end of the court for more than a few minutes at a time.

Agreed. Booker is what he is. He came into the league as one of the older prospects and his value was in the fact he was expected to contribute sooner than later. He proved that, but to me, there isn't a ton of upside there. The chances he develops a mid-range game are there, but even so, he's more Malik Rose than anything else. And that still makes him a 15-20 minute backup in a best case scenario. He may have had the 4th best PER of all the rookies last year, but there's a good 12-15 prospects that I would clearly take over him.

And he's certainly a PF only. No way he can play C, unless you think Darius Songalia and Michael Ruffin could play C. And there's no small forward skill whatsoever in his game so that notion probably should be put to rest.

[Nivek]

I don't think Booker will be a starting quality PF, but I'd rather roll with him at PF than Blatche. At least with Booker you know you're going to get his best effort. At least he'll work hard on defense and that he'll hit the boards. And, he won't jack up idiotic jumpers then blame the coaching staff for not getting him the ball where he thinks he should get it (and where he would get it if he'd work harder and if he was in shape).

[theboomking]

I don't think Booker will be a starting quality PF, but I'd rather roll with him at PF than Blatche. At least with Booker you know you're going to get his best effort. At least he'll work hard on defense and that he'll hit the boards. And, he won't jack up idiotic jumpers then blame the coaching staff for not getting him the ball where he thinks he should get it (and where he would get it if he'd work harder and if he was in shape).

Agreed. Flip is killing us by pstarting Blatche. Andray posted 4 points and 4 rebounds on 2/13 shooting last night. He was just as bad against the Nets. It's like we are playing 4 on 5 out there.

It's like we're trying to tank. I think it is fairly obvious to anyone that has followed this team that we ought to start

Wall
Young
Singleton
Anyone but Blatche
McGee

That team has a much better shot at being competitive.

[WIZKID]

Agreed Boomking

PG-Wall
SG-Young
SF-Singleton
PF-Turief or Vessely
C-Mcgee

Can the Wiz amnesty Blatche?? His value is sinking by the minute

Has Flip lost this team? He doesn't seem to get through to them, maybe he is too nice?

Between the Arenas and Blatche disasters Ernie may want to start packing his personal items in his
office.

Ring, Ring, Hello is Larry Brown there?, Yes this is Larry. Hi Larry Ted Leonsis here may I speak with you? Before you offer me the job, I won't even discuss it with you until you tell me that Blatche will
be gone upon my arrival. Larry consider it done. Ted I'm on my way

[nate33]

After 2 preseason games and 2 regular season games, I think we are seeing a consensus that Wall, Young and Singleton should start at the 1, 2 and 3. I figure we should continue to roll with McGee at C even though his on/off numbers stink. He may be a bonehead, but he's all we've got at center. If nothing else, we can showcase him for trades.

The question is at PF. Should we continue to start Blatche? Or move Lewis there to improve the perimeter shooting? Or maybe Booker or Turiaf to provide unselfish grunt work? Or Vesely?

At this point, I think our best option is Turiaf. He'd add some unselfishness to the lineup and he'd free up Blatche to come in as a scorer off the bench (since Young would be starting). Turiaf also provides some passing (the one thing Blatche provides that I'd miss). Blatche and Booker could play together on the 2nd unit. On nights that Blatche plays well, he could steal some of Turiaf's or McGee's minutes down the stretch.

Vesely remains a wildcard. If he can hold his own at the PF position despite his size, it could make things interesting. I think we'll have to wait a year for him to bulk up some though.

[LyricalRico]

Any chance Flip actually likes Young's scoring off the bench? Not saying I would agree, just that he might want that element in reserve.

[MJG]

I really hope not. The idea of bringing a superior player off the bench to better balance your rotations is not a luxury afforded to arguably the league's worst team.

[nate33]

Any chance Flip actually likes Young's scoring off the bench? Not saying I would agree, just that he might want that element in reserve.

Not when there's no scoring in the starting lineup either. It's just stupid to bench a guy who is arguably our best player just because we want scoring punch off the bench.

Any fool can see that Young is a much better fit as a starter, and Crawford is a much better fit as a ball-dominant combo guard on the second unit. I think Flip's opinion of Crawford was inflated during preseason because Crawford was going up against a washed up Roger Mason and a disorganized defense. Now that he's playing against NBA caliber players, we can see how much of a project he is.

While were on the subject, all the talk of Roger Mason playing well in preseason should give us concern, not hope. How bad is our D that a castaway like Mason is lighting us up?

[fishercob]

I'm concerned with how Booker has started. Given how terrible Dray has been, I'd really like to have seen Trev make a strong case to steal minutes or take the starting job. He hasn't done that yet.

That said, I would start Vesely. Yes, he will he be physically overmatched some nights. But if he can handle the pressure cooker of the Serbian fans, he can handle himself here. Let Booker back him up. Blatche isn't part of this team's future. Time to start planning for it.

[dobrojim]

JV ain't bulky and muscular but I don't think that means
he can't play PF. He will be overpowered sometimes by
some players. Okay, most times by most players but...
I think for now we should just live with that
and throw him out there. From what we know, his
strengths compliment Wall's.

It'd be a revelation just to see someone bust their
tail 100% of the time and make good fundamental
basketball plays.

Booker has to avoid excessive fouls before we can
count on him for anything. 2 of the fouls that got
ATL in the penalty with ~ 9 min to play in the 2ndQ
last night were by Booker. Them getting all those
FTs and us being handicapped from playing agressively
really helped them hold us off.

[Ruzious]

Yeah, at this point we might as well go with Booker and Vesely at PF. They'll at least give a good effort and get their feet wet. The only reason to play Blatche would be to hope he plays well enough so that another team would take him off our hands.

[sfam]

Unless Blatche gets in shape in the next few weeks, I think even EG will agree that he needs to be coming off the bench. Unfortunately Booker really isn't ready for prime time right now - don't know if its injuries or what. That leaves Turiaf and Vesely by default. I'd say Turiaf in the short term as a glue guy who hopefully will improve McGee's play, with Vesely moving in by February or so.

Bottom line though, a Blatche/McGee lineup almost ensures we end up down out of our minds at the end of the first quarter.

[hands11]

JV ain't bulky and muscular but I don't think that means
he can't play PF. He will be overpowered sometimes by
some players. Okay, most times by most players but...
I think for now we should just live with that
and throw him out there. From what we know, his
strengths compliment Wall's.

It'd be a revelation just to see someone bust their
tail 100% of the time and make good fundamental
basketball plays.

Booker has to avoid excessive fouls before we can
count on him for anything. 2 of the fouls that got
ATL in the penalty with ~ 9 min to play in the 2ndQ
last night were by Booker. Them getting all those
FTs and us being handicapped from playing agressively
really helped them hold us off.

I saw nothing in Vesely's game that showed me he is going to get overpowered. 6-11 240 is not light. And strength can look different on different players. Some people are wirery strong. Ves looked like he knows how to use his lower body strength. And he looked far from skinny up top.

And in basketball, body position and leverage means a great deal.

I wouldn't count this kid as someone who is going to get puked around. Actually, from what I saw, I doubt it happens. The kid also has to much heart to stand for it.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

At this time I'm liking Wall, Young, Singleton, Blatche, McGee as the starting 5. I like that mix with Singleton as the defender... kinda seeing him as the linebacker, with McGee as the safety. I think Singleton could help cover some of the deficiencies of the other starters. I'd also like to see McGee as more of a go to on offense, with Young and Blatche to also be counted on to score.

With that starting 5 we can go with C Turiaf, PF Booker, SF Lewis, PG/SG Crawford as a 9-man rotation. And it would be a good thing to see Vesely work his way into the rotation, but as of this moment he is still a question mark. But I like the reserve setup with Turiaf and Booker as the defensive subs and Lewis and Crawford for offense. And it's also a versatile bench with Turiaf able to enter for either McGee or Blatche, Lewis for either Blatche or Singleton, Crawford for Young or Wall.

[closg00]

It's not popular here, but I would like to see a little more of Seraphin, even at PF paired with McGee. He did make some improvements in Europe and we getting out-rebounded badly each game.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

I'd like to see Flip tighten the rotation at this point. I believe it helps a struggling team. But I'd like to see Flip stick to 8 as much as possible right now. And I'd go McGee, Blatche, Singleton, Young, Wall to start, with Booker, Lewis, Crawford off the bench. I think Singleton's D and energy are needed with the starters, and Lewis brings stability and O off the bench along with Crawford. Blatche would slide up to C when McGee comes out, with Booker and/or Lewis in at F with Singleton, which I think is fine especially with our size at SF (Singleton or Lewis). Crawford in at either G spot, with Young also able to move up to SF at times. Guys like Seraphin, Mason, Vesely, Mack, will continue to contribute of course, but this is the 8 I'd like to see out there as much as possible.

McGee, Blatche, Singleton, Young, Wall

McGee, Booker, Singleton, Young, Crawford
McGee, Singleton, Young, Crawford, Wall
Blatche, Booker, Lewis, Young, Wall
Blatche, Lewis, Young, Crawford, Wall
McGee, Lewis, Singleton, Young, Crawford
McGee, Blatche, Lewis, Young, Wall

etc....

[hands11]

Actually, I think adding Vesely is just going to open things up more. I think they are going to go 10 plus players a game and even going 12 deep some days.

Wall/Craw/Mack
Nick/Mason/Craw
Lewis/Singleton/Booker
Dray/Vesely/Booker/Seraphin
McGee/Seraphin/Dray

I think the player most hurt by Vesely getting added will be Booker. He will have to fight for scraps between PF and SF. His main competition is now clearly Singleton. That should make for some good competition.

But I agree, it would be good to start Singleton or Booker and bring Lewis off the bench but then again, they need Lewis to start hitting his three to help spread the floor with Nick. Specially if Drays outside shot isn't going. Several players still need to establish an outside game for this team to get better. Lewis, Dray and Singleton are the easiest ones to see this happening. It will be a God sent if Vesely can actually show some range.

If Booker could find a J, that would really really help. Same with Seraphin. Nothing that is money. Just something they can hit so they are some threat. But Booker will get minutes if Seraphin can't cover at center. That will push Dray there earlier and that will open up some minutes for Book at PF.

[hands11]

Next up. New York..

They played 11 players against ORL which is good for now. Everyone needs court time. They are so young. Booker got 23 mins. CS got 22 min. KS got 17 mins. Mack got a few with 4 min ( something is better then nothing at this point). Now Jes will get added to the mix.

Agreed. No band-aids right now. Leave the wound open and let it heal from the inside out.

These guys have to feel the pain so they can lift themselves up from their own boot straps.

There is something everyone of them can do better. This is what they need to go through in order to grow up. No one is going to save you. Look in the mirror first then get on the same page as a team. They need to be accountable to each other. Sometimes you have to let things break so that it can be fixed.

Patience. I see improvement for players and the team in each game since the first couple disasters. It is way to early to panic. Example. Booker hitting from outside. Singleton continuing to take quality 3 balls and hitting. Wall playing more like a PG general. Progress is in this macro mess.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wi ... story.html

But it is time to get more serious and refocus after 6 games. It is a process. My montra has been that these players need to learn their roles. They need to know where their good shots are and what they need to do first, second and third. Everytime someone does something outside themselves it pull everyone down. Example. McGee making progress on offense is great, but he needs to defend the pain and rebound first and second. Flip has been telling him that for years and he seems to finally be getting it. As that gets worked out, they will trust each other more and the momentum will build. A player like Crawford should have a really short leash right now. They can not afford a chucker. That is poison for this team. They need all quality shots.

Play the right way first. The wins will follow. So many players on this team need more experience, but they need the right kind of experience. They need experience playing the right way and with in themselves. And they need to know what the team needs them to win as a team and they need to focus on doing those things first.

Simply said, it is time for everyone to listen to what their coach has been trying to teach them. Time to grow up.

More rotation adjustment on the way over the next 5 games as they get players back.

[Nivek]

I know Flip said they'll "go the same way" (probably with the same results), but I'd like a lineup change.

Here's what I'd try for the next 5-6 games:

PG - Wall - Mack
SG - Young - Crawford
SF - Singleton - Lewis
PF - Booker - Blatche/Vesely
C - McGee - Blatche/Seraphin

I don't envy Flip. There is no worse feeling a coach can have than to know that you need to bench a guy, and then look down your roster and see there's no one better.