Frontcourt duo: (C)Seraphin+(PF)Nene or (C)Nene+(PF)Booker?

[tontoz]

Friends: This is your quarterly reminder that Trevor Booker cannot play small forward. Thank you.

Neither can anyone else on the roster. The only reason Singleton gets minutes there is because he is the right size.

[gesa2]

Friends: This is your quarterly reminder that Trevor Booker cannot play small forward. Thank you.

Neither can anyone else on the roster. The only reason Singleton gets minutes there is because he is the right size.

+1
It's not that Booker can play SF, it's that we have no viable NBA SF on the roster. You can argue for Singleton or Vesely from a developmental standpoint, but their production stinks. Ubiles might actually be our best option if we wanted to actually win games.

[closg00]

We have Edwin Ubiles in for an audition, he's your SF.

[tontoz]

For next year i would rather see Seraphin start at C with Nene next to him. A Nene/Booker combo is lacking in shotblocking. Seraphin is our best shotblocker by far.

[Illuminaire]

This is a developmental year. We're tanking. Production is secondary to guys getting reps and the front office seeing what they can do. So yeah, we can stick with loser scrubs at SF for this season.

[gesa2]

This is a developmental year. We're tanking. Production is secondary to guys getting reps and the front office seeing what they can do. So yeah, we can stick with loser scrubs at SF for this season.

Agreed. But I think we have as much to learn from spending 8-10 minutes a game with a front line of Seraphin, Nene and Book as we do using Vesely or Mason at 3 behind Singleton.

[tontoz]

There are only 4 guys (Ibaka, Javale, BB and Jordan) who get more blocks on a per minute basis than Seraphin (assuming i am not missing someone who doesn't show on the rankings due to lack of playing time).

[forbes20]

Booker is the exact same size as artest, and as athletic, if not more so. Booker actually shot 1 3pter a game in college at about 30%. He is starting to show some range this year. I bet he could be a stop gap sf if needed. I like nene / serephin combo, but booker has earned playing time. Neither booker or serephin ate likely to be stars, but solid players until we have a better alternative.

[leswizards]

With this roster i wouldn't have a problem playing Booker at the 3.

Singleton is a total self-check on offense. He is averaging only 7.2 pts per 36 minutes with a TS of 45%. That is horrible. He is ranked 25th among 3s in rebounding and his defense has been off and on. He really doesn't deserve to be on the court right now.

In very limited minutes as a PF, Chris Singleton has 16.3 per against an opposition per of 14.8. If I were the coach, I would have Singleton and Booker on the Court at the same time with Singelton as the PF and Booker as the SF just to see what happens. If it works, great. If not, abandon it.

[dlts20]

Screw that. Singleton was great at the start and then came back to reality big time. He's played better of late but he's still bad and his good play only lasted for a few games. Im honestly sick of him getting minutes over JV. I think if you pick a guy that high then you should let him play, espically on a bad team. Atleast give him a try at the 3.

Now its going to be that times 10 with Nene here. I think Seraphin has earned his spot also and I think he will be better as a starter. Therefore give Book a try at the 3. Again, what does Singelton really do for us on O that the others cant. I said the same thing about Shard but atleast he has a rep. Still, Shard couldnt make a J to save his life anymore and Singelton is even worst so they are not spreading the floor at all.

Id rather let Book do that. Espically, if youre going to give Cook more run. Just start Seraphin at 5, Nene at 4, Book at 3, and have them backed up by JV, Cook, and Singelton. Screw Dray for the rest of the year. I dont have time to wait for him to get in shape which he wont anyways

[fishercob]

Come on, guys. I really, really like Trevor Booker. But on a great team he's a third big providing phsyicality, energy, and some scoring/rebounding pop. He can't create off the dribble at all. He can only shoot jumpers from a stand still and has no 3pt range. Defensively, he doesn't have the lateral quickness to stick 3's on the perimeter. He's a banger inside, and that;s fine.

Just because Singleton isn't very good doesn't mean Booker should play SF. Our SF of the future likely isn't on the roster. Let's allow Booker to focus on what he has already begun to improve. He still has a lot of work to do on the glass, defensive positioning, that outside shot, etc.

At the 2 and 3 we need shooters who can also slash to the basket and defender their position. We guys who can do things like Deng, Harden, Granger, Joe Johnson, Jeff Hornacek, Hersey Hawkins, Glen Rice, Ro Blackmon, Chris Mullin, Joe Dumars, etc (yes I know there are some HOF names on that list). Trevor Booker could be a really nice player, but he's not an answer -- short or long term -- on the wing.

[nate33]

Come on, guys. I really, really like Trevor Booker. But on a great team he's a third big providing phsyicality, energy, and some scoring/rebounding pop. He can't create off the dribble at all. He can only shoot jumpers from a stand still and has no 3pt range. Defensively, he doesn't have the lateral quickness to stick 3's on the perimeter. He's a banger inside, and that;s fine.

Just because Singleton isn't very good doesn't mean Booker should play SF. Our SF of the future likely isn't on the roster. Let's allow Booker to focus on what he has already begun to improve. He still has a lot of work to do on the glass, defensive positioning, that outside shot, etc.

At the 2 and 3 we need shooters who can also slash to the basket and defender their position. We guys who can do things like Deng, Harden, Granger, Joe Johnson, Jeff Hornacek, Hersey Hawkins, Glen Rice, Ro Blackmon, Chris Mullin, Joe Dumars, etc (yes I know there are some HOF names on that list). Trevor Booker could be a really nice player, but he's not an answer -- short or long term -- on the wing.

Yeah, it would be one thing if we were so overloaded with talent at PF that we were really desperate to find minutes for Booker. But we're not. We have 3 legit 2-way players on the team: Wall, Nene and Booker. Let's at least play them in their position of comfort. (Seraphin may be on his way to being a 4th legit player, we shall see. But even so, there's enough minutes behind Booker and Nene for Seraphin to get his fill.)

This boils down to whether or not we want to give more minutes to Singleton or Vesely. If we play Vesely, we've got to play Booker out of position. If we play Singleton, we can play Booker in his natural position. Is Vesely at PF so much better of an option than Singleton at SF that it's worth moving Booker out of position? I think not.

[tontoz]

It isn't about position. Shelden Mack isn't a 2 guard but he has played there. Young and Crawford aren't small forwards but they have played there.

The only legit reason for Vesely or Singleton to be on the court is for tanking purposes. They suck. Booker at the 2 would be better than Singleton at the 3 because Singleton sucks.

[dlts20]

Well again, play JV. I just hate watching the same stupid Wiz coaches every year. Lets be honest, JV is never going to jump over Seraphin, Book, Nene, and we might ad another big next year. Atleast give him a try at the 3. No one would complain. Its just about Singelton. How he gets guaranteed minutes every game is a joke. Whats even more a joke is that I watched him at FSU and he played PF all the time. How is he such a sure thing to start at the 3? He played the 4 more at FSU then JV played the 4 overseas.

JV has more experince at the 3 than him yet he gets the guaranteed minutes there? EG is an idiot for allowing our coaches to bench our high draft picks every year when we suck anyways and when the player starting over them also sucks. I may agree with the Book is not a 3 thing. I do think that Seraphin is a better starter than backup. I actually would trust Book more off the bench than Seraphin because of there games but again, we wont bench Book. Its just always going to be messed up with this team

[nate33]

It isn't about position. Shelden Mack isn't a 2 guard but he has played there. Young and Crawford aren't small forwards but they have played there.

The only legit reason for Vesely or Singleton to be on the court is for tanking purposes. They suck. Booker at the 2 would be better than Singleton at the 3 because Singleton sucks.

It IS about position. Players should play in their best position if at all possible. In this case, it is possible if we simply play Singleton over Vesely. I see no evidence that Vesely is a better player than Singleton so I don't have a problem with doing so.

[fishercob]

Given where everyone is developmentally, I think we're looking at this for the 96 PF-C minutes next season:

Nene: 30-32
Booker: 25-28
Seraphin: 20-24
Vesely: 12-18
Vet Minimum guy: spot minutes

The three beef brothers could be good for Vesely; beside any one of them he could play against the opposing physically weaker 4/5.

Nene needs to return to form and all three of these guys need to improve, including on the boards. But that could be a pretty fun foursome to watch.

[tontoz]

It isn't about position. Shelden Mack isn't a 2 guard but he has played there. Young and Crawford aren't small forwards but they have played there.

The only legit reason for Vesely or Singleton to be on the court is for tanking purposes. They suck. Booker at the 2 would be better than Singleton at the 3 because Singleton sucks.

It IS about position. Players should play in their best position if at all possible. In this case, it is possible if we simply play Singleton over Vesely. I see no evidence that Vesely is a better player than Singleton so I don't have a problem with doing so.

I disagree. I think the best players should be on the court even if they have to be out of position, especially if the gap is as big as it is between Booker and Vesely/Singleton. Booker is better than those guys by a mile. So is Seraphin.

Booker is also the most athletic guy on the team and has the best chance of being able to handle a position change like this. Young has spent a lot of time at the 3 even though he is unsuited for the position. Why? because he is a better player than anyone we have at the 3.

You say you see no evidence that Vesely is better than Singleton but the reverse can be said as well. They both suck. Neither has earned time on the court.

As far as i am concerned we should be playing Booker/Seraphin/Nene as much as they can handle and let Singleton and Vesely get the leftovers, if any.

[nate33]

It isn't about position. Shelden Mack isn't a 2 guard but he has played there. Young and Crawford aren't small forwards but they have played there.

The only legit reason for Vesely or Singleton to be on the court is for tanking purposes. They suck. Booker at the 2 would be better than Singleton at the 3 because Singleton sucks.

It IS about position. Players should play in their best position if at all possible. In this case, it is possible if we simply play Singleton over Vesely. I see no evidence that Vesely is a better player than Singleton so I don't have a problem with doing so.

I disagree. I think the best players should be on the court even if they have to be out of position, especially if the gap is as big as it is between Booker and Vesely/Singleton. Booker is better than those guys by a mile. So is Seraphin.

Booker is also the most athletic guy on the team and has the best chance of being able to handle a position change like this. Young has spent a lot of time at the 3 even though he is unsuited for the position. Why? because he is a better player than anyone we have at the 3.

You say you see no evidence that Vesely is better than Singleton but the reverse can be said as well. They both suck. Neither has earned time on the court.

As far as i am concerned we should be playing Booker/Seraphin/Nene as much as they can handle and let Singleton and Vesely get the leftovers, if any.

I don't disagree with this. All I'm saying is that we can give Booker, Seraphin and Nene all the minutes they can handle without any of them being out of position. They can split all of the PF and C minutes between them, with Vesely getting scraps when one or more of them are in foul trouble or having an off night. It doesn't mean that we have to play Booker at SF.

By doing so, we may end up limiting Vesely's minutes more so than Singleton, but so be it. The goal should be to maximize our good players' minutes at their position of comfort. I don't care so much about who gets more minutes between Vesely and Singleton.

[tontoz]

^If you are talking about this season then you are assuming that

-Blatche doesn't play at all
-Vesely doesn't get time just because he was the 6th pick.

I think those are very iffy assumptions. I think Wittman has to play Ves to appease EG and i think Blatche will play in the hope that some fool GM will see enough to possibly take him in a trade this summer.

Singleton gets time strictly by default. Young is a bad rebounder at the 2. His weakness was only magnified at the 3. He also didn't have the size to guard many 3s. But he played there anyway because he is a much better player than Singleton.

So is Booker.

[nate33]

Well, we've talked this to death. I'm confident that Wittman is going to side with me and not you. Booker is much better at PF then at SF. He will play there. There's still plenty of minutes remaining for Nene and Seraphin so that's not a problem. The only problem is that it leaves only 10 or so minutes at PF to be split by Vesely and Blatche. Wittman will probably play Blatche when he thinks he needs offense. He'll play Vesely when he thinks he needs defense.

Vesely might also get a few minutes at SF. If that happens while alongside Booker, then one might consider Booker the SF and Vesely the PF. But whatever the case, I seriously doubt we'll see Booker, Nene and Seraphin on the court at the same time.