The Javale McGee Appreciation thread - part deux

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #241 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:22 am

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYZFqZac9UI[/youtube[/youtube]

Too bad that guy will NEVER get it.

Post #242 » by **miller31time** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 4:12 am

Goodbye, JaVale. With as many WTF's as you provided, you were an extremely entertaining player to watch.

I'll always say that to all those who love to post the WTF-moment-videos from youtube, it's just as easy to find a video of JaVale that has you mesmerized by the pure athletic talent the kid has -- stuff that almost no other player in the league could even attempt, let alone finish.

I hope he gets it. I hope he succeeds in Denver. He seems like a good kid.

crackhed · Post #243 » by **crackhed** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 4:42 am

bigs are notoriously slow to figure it out so frustrating as he was i'd have given javale a bit more time. hard to deny he was a special talent. meanwhile the wizards are yet to invest in a top tier big man coaching/development system.

MF23 · Post #244 » by **MF23** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:12 am

I'm going to say this. McGee put up empty stats on a 9 win team. His PER and usage ratings mean nothing to anyone who really understands the game. He has to do it on a competitive team which he's never done in his entire career of playing basketball. People who complain about him rotating or playing the P&R either don't understand basketball or only focused on McGee. This team plays defense like a piece of crap where players are always lost and finding their man is consistently a problem.

About McGee, personally I would have kept him and in the right environment I expect him to grow up. He's not going to reach his potential because there is a competitive edge that he lacks. That's a absolute which I don't like to use but it's the truth. Now another truth is McGee is going to be a fine center. He has enough balance, coordination, ability to catch, length and ability to out leap everyone that he'll always be effective. I've seen him do everything correctly which means he doesn't concentrate or listen because he can't repeat these things over and over. He's never been consistent and he always loses concentration. I don't' blame the Wizards for moving him because it's infuriating to deal with somebody like that. I'm not going to bet on his time in Den because I don't enough about what their doing over there. I know there's some nepotism in that front office which means it might be dysfunctional. Aside from that, barring injury McGee is going to be a quality starting center in a few years. I don't think the fans in Washington knew how little McGee understood of being a functional bigman. It's not an excuse for him it's just something to note.

To sum it up Javale McGee was a jackass while he was in Washington. I don't care what the circumstances were surrounding him at the end of the day he was a fool. That's why he was traded. McGee's a good kid though. He always rooted for his teammates, played with a high motor and always conducted himself like a professional off the court. I'll be rooting for him and I think there's a great chance the Wizards will regret moving him like this.

Silvie Lysandra · Post #245 » by **Silvie Lysandra** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 5:43 am

always conducted himself like a professional off the court

oh man you made my sides hurt

Anyway, my current sig is pretty much Javale McGee's career in a nutshell. Unintelligent "talent' that remains unintelligent.

MF23 · Post #246 » by **MF23** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 1:43 pm

Other than defending his friend when Andre Blatche tried to fight him at a night club what else has he done in 4 yrs? Try not to be a moron or don't respond to my post.

closg00 · Post #247 » by **closg00** » Mon May 14, 2012 11:48 pm

McGee 'Honored' To Be Member Of Nuggets
May 14, 2012 10:36 AM EDT

JaVale McGee is happy to be in a winning situation after experiencing four losing seasons with the Wizards.

"I'm just excited to be part of a great organization," said McGee, who averaged 9.6 rebounds, 8.6 points and 3.1 blocked shots in the Nuggets’ first round series against the Lakers, his first postseason after playing for Washington. "(Playing for the Nuggets) was the best experience I've ever had in basketball.

"It's just an honor to be a part of this team. This was a great team before I came, so I just tried to add to it. It's a great organization and coaching staff. They put me in more situations that were more suitable for my game."

Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri intends to extend McGee's contract this summer.

"Our intent was to get JaVale for the future, not just for three months," Ujiri said.

Read more: http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... z1utH5rNUF

closg00 · Post #248 » by **closg00** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 2:23 pm

The fact that McGee spent three weeks with Olajuwon, training for three hours each day, shows he wants to go very high. That's the longest time a player has ever spent working out one-on-one with Olajuwon at the gymnasium on his 400-acre ranch outside of Houston. Bryant's famous workout with Olajuwon lasted just four hours, James' a few days, Howard's a week, and Amare Stoudemire's two-and-a-half weeks.
>SNIP<
"We haven't had one problem with him," Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri said. "Not once have I needed to sit JaVale down in my office. He's always on time, he loves the gym. I think he's growing up and maturing. Some of the things we did when we were younger were not the right things to do at the time, but young guys are going to be that way. But he's a good kid. There are no complaints about him from any of the players or the coaches."

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/ ... 012-13-nba

Updated Brussard article on JaVale for those who might be interested.

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #249 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 3:15 pm

MF23 wrote:I'm going to say this. McGee put up empty stats on a 9 win team. His PER and usage ratings mean nothing to anyone who really understands the game. He has to do it on a competitive team which he's never done in his entire career of playing basketball. People who complain about him rotating or playing the P&R either don't understand basketball or only focused on McGee. This team plays defense like a piece of crap where players are always lost and finding their man is consistently a problem.

About McGee, personally I would have kept him and in the right environment I expect him to grow up. He's not going to reach his potential because there is a competitive edge that he lacks. That's a absolute which I don't like to use but it's the truth. Now another truth is McGee is going to be a fine center. He has enough balance, coordination, ability to catch, length and ability to out leap everyone that he'll always be effective. I've seen him do everything correctly which means he doesn't concentrate or listen because he can't repeat these things over and over. He's never been consistent and he always loses concentration. I don't' blame the Wizards for moving him because it's infuriating to deal with somebody like that. I'm not going to bet on his time in Den because I don't enough about what their doing over there. I know there's some nepotism in that front office which means it might be dysfunctional. Aside from that, barring injury McGee is going to be a quality starting center in a few years. I don't think the fans in Washington knew how little McGee understood of being a functional bigman. It's not an excuse for him it's just something to note.

To sum it up Javale McGee was a jackass while he was in Washington. I don't care what the circumstances were surrounding him at the end of the day he was a fool. That's why he was traded. McGee's a good kid though. He always rooted for his teammates, played with a high motor and always conducted himself like a professional off the court. I'll be rooting for him and I think there's a great chance the Wizards will regret moving him like this.

+1

hands11 · Post #250 » by **hands11** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:24 pm

He is doing what he should be doing and I expect we will see progress this year. But that isn't a surprise, he got better ever year he was here as well. The problem was were he didn't get better fast enough in the area we needed, which was reliable defense that could anchor a team and a mature front count leader.

This will be a huge learning year for McGee. Not only with on the court production, but in maturity.

He still has to learn to be a reliable consistent starting defensive center and screen setter. Its more about that then his offense. If he can end the year as that player this year, then he can have a productive complete year next year. And in two or three years, maybe he is mature enough to lead a front court.

I hope he does it. And if he does, I still wouldn't see trading him as a mistake for the Wizards. They need what McGee might be in 2 or 3 years, this year. Timing in everything. What the Wiz needed going into this season was a player like Nene. It all boils down to Nene staying healthy. Nene can not only anchor and lead the front court, you can put the ball in his hands at the end of the game and expect he will either score or make the right decision. He is also a leader in and out of the locker room.

I wish McGee would have developed faster here because obviously he is younger so when he does eventually maximize his talent, it would have set the Wizards up nicely long term.

And lets not forget, we still some young front court players to develop. In two years Kevin S and Ves both will be a whopping 24 years old. Same age as Wall. Beal, he will be 21. That's their ages in TWO YEARS. lol

McGee for Nene was a bridge trade. So was the move for Okafor and Trevor for Lewis. They wanted to establish a core team maturity/talent level. This year for the Wizards is about turning things around and establishing themselves. Its about redefining the organization from joke to legit on the right path. They can do that for one or two years with the roster they have and at the end of that, they will still be very young and ready to build to the next level.

McGee may be a good kid. A little goofy and childish but a good kid none the less. There is a big cavern between that and a personality of a Nene who is a leader on this team. This team needed leaders. Specially in the front court. Its not about what McGee does in numbers in Denver, its about what the Wizards do with Nene here. Its about Wall, Beal, Ves, Singleton, Booker, Nene and a few other questions like Martin, Crawford and Webster.

I still think it was a smart trade for the team and the rebuild. Whatever number McGee may post, he is no where near Nene as a complete package, maturity and leadership. You think Keven S would use McGee as a mentor ? Not likely.

Post #251 » by **nate33** » Sun Sep 16, 2012 11:12 pm

I just don't believe that McGee would ever have "turned the corner" in a Wizards uniform. We just didn't have the infrastructure, traditions and team leadership to make it happen. Hopefully, in a couple of years, we will have the kind of organization that could groom a player like McGee.

closg00 · Post #252 » by **closg00** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:25 am

nate33 wrote:I just don't believe that McGee would ever have "turned the corner" in a Wizards uniform. We just didn't have the infrastructure, traditions and team leadership to make it happen. Hopefully, in a couple of years, we will have the kind of organization that could groom a player like McGee.

+1 You summed it up nicely.

tontoz · Post #253 » by **tontoz** » Thu Sep 20, 2012 4:05 pm

MF23 wrote:People who complain about him rotating or playing the P&R either don't understand basketball or only focused on McGee. This team plays defense like a piece of crap where players are always lost and finding their man is consistently a problem.

Funny how their defense went from crap to very good as soon as McGee left.

TGW · Post #254 » by **TGW** » Thu Sep 20, 2012 5:34 pm

tontoz wrote:
MF23 wrote:People who complain about him rotating or playing the P&R either don't understand basketball or only focused on McGee. This team plays defense like a piece of crap where players are always lost and finding their man is consistently a problem.

Funny how their defense went from crap to very good as soon as McGee left.

Pretty much. Javale was a terrible defender both on and off the ball. Still is.

MF23 · Post #255 » by **MF23** » Thu Sep 20, 2012 8:56 pm

Hilario is the best pick and role defending big man in the world. Denver always switched him onto the ball handler. He's great at that. That being said the Wizards majorly were bad defenders the entire season. It's funny some didn't see that.

Javale, Nick and the rest of the team had too many mental lapses on D. Maybe as a team they concentrated better after the trades but they were still majorly a poor defensive team.

People are dumbfounded by this magical win streak at the end of last season. Get over it, this team stunk last season and they have a lot of improvement to make.

tontoz · Post #256 » by **tontoz** » Thu Sep 20, 2012 9:40 pm

MF23 wrote:Hilario is the best pick and role defending big man in the world. Denver always switched him onto the ball handler. He's great at that. That being said the Wizards majorly were bad defenders the entire season. It's funny some didn't see that.

Javale, Nick and the rest of the team had too many mental lapses on D. Maybe as a team they concentrated better after the trades but they were still majorly a poor defensive team.

People are dumbfounded by this magical win streak at the end of last season. Get over it, this team stunk last season and they have a lot of improvement to make.

In the first 12 games after the trade only one opponent scored 100 points (Atlanta with 102). Six of those opponents were held under 90.

In the 12 games immediately prior to the trade the Wizards held their opponent under 100 only once and that was against the Cavs who scored 98.

Post #257 » by **nate33** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 1:31 pm

MF23 wrote:People are dumbfounded by this magical win streak at the end of last season. Get over it, this team stunk last season and they have a lot of improvement to make.

I don't know how this narrative keeps coming up. The Wizards improvement did not take place merely over the last 6 games of the season, it took place the moment McGee was traded.

Our point differential prior to the Nene trade was -9.0 and our defensive rating was 106.9 (29th in the league). If you look at just the games after the Nene trade but exclude all 6 of the final games of the season, our point differential was -3.1 and our defensive efficiency was 102.2 (good for 16th best in the league). That's a massive improvement. And in those 19 games, Nene played in just 6.

Heck, if you just look at the games without Nene, and also ignore that one New York debocle (because that one blowout makes a huge impact on such a sample size) the post McGee team posted an on/off differential of just -2.8. That's right. A team consisting essentially of Wall, Crawford, Martin, Singleton, Booker, Vesely and Seraphin posted an on/off differential of just -2.8 over a 12-game sample size. We're going to take that same team, add a potentially All-Star (in the East) caliber center, plus Okafor, Ariza and Beal; and presumably substantial improvement from Wall and Vesely.

Nivek · Post #258 » by **Nivek** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 2:02 pm

Posted this in another thread, but it's relevant here too:

I wrote:I'm a bit less optimistic than nate about the team's defensive performance at the end of last season. The schedule they played the last 25 games of the season was weaker than average offensively -- average 103.4 pts per 100 possessions. They allowed 102, which is a little better than average. Throw out that last Miami game where the Heat didn't play anyone, and they allowed 103 pts per 100 possessions, which is average for the schedule they played).

That's WAY better than what they did in the preceding 41 games, and I'll take average as a step forward. And maybe they can take a step to top 10 defensively with Okafor and Ariza and good health (for a change). So, there's reason to hope they can get to the playoffs in the next season or two.

payitforward · Post #259 » by **payitforward** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 2:36 pm

nate33 wrote:
MF23 wrote:People are dumbfounded by this magical win streak at the end of last season. Get over it, this team stunk last season and they have a lot of improvement to make.

I don't know how this narrative keeps coming up. The Wizards improvement did not take place merely over the last 6 games of the season, it took place the moment McGee was traded.

Our point differential prior to the Nene trade was -9.0 and our defensive rating was 106.9 (29th in the league). If you look at just the games after the Nene trade but exclude all 6 of the final games of the season, our point differential was -3.1 and our defensive efficiency was 102.2 (good for 16th best in the league). That's a massive improvement. And in those 19 games, Nene played in just 6.

Heck, if you just look at the games without Nene, and also ignore that one New York debocle (because that one blowout makes a huge impact on such a sample size) the post McGee team posted an on/off differential of just -2.8. That's right. A team consisting essentially of Wall, Crawford, Martin, Singleton, Booker, Vesely and Seraphin posted an on/off differential of just -2.8 over a 12-game sample size. We're going to take that same team, add a potentially All-Star (in the East) caliber center, plus Okafor, Ariza and Beal; and presumably substantial improvement from Wall and Vesely.

You are leaving out the contributions of James Singleton. And, because of the small sample size, there were exceptional contributions by Mason, Evans and others. Not to mention that in at least some of those games we were playing against mostly bench players.

It's still better to win, better to play better than worse. But it is impossible to conclude anything from the short stretch after McGee was traded.

Post #260 » by **nate33** » Fri Sep 21, 2012 2:45 pm

There is no question that it was a small sample size and one must be careful extrapolating too much going forward. All I'm saying is that the Wizards didn't just look good over the last 6 games of the season. They showed dramatic improvement immediately after the McGee trade - even when Nene wasn't on the floor. There is no doubt in my mind that the character of the team is entirely different without McGee and Young around, and with all the remaining players accepting that this is Wittman's team.