Kevin Seraphin

[The Consiglieri]

I would too, I just tend to doubt Booker would get us a ton back. I don't think he'd get much back period. There'd be some value, but nothing special, he's another example of an asset that's more valuable for us to keep in house, than to deal, because we'd never get as much back as he offers to us.

All that being said, I'm sure Robinson is on our board, and my guess is at slot 5.

[WizarDynasty]

Kevin Seraphin is definiely the type of low post player i have been screaming for during the last ten years and i finally got to see one this year. Fantastic. Now crossing my fingers for Drummond.

[GhostsOfGil]

talk about improving:



^ http://i44.tinypic.com/x5y0yx.jpg

[veji1]

great interview from Seraphin in the latest issue of the french magazine BasketNews. I am too lazy to translate it but a few interesting tidbits :
1/ he is obsessed with Olajuwon, he asked for a 30 minutes long mixtape of all his moves and basically watches it non stop at home. He has been working hard with Sam Cassel who keeps telling him how Hakeem did this or that and taught him how to use small feints. He jokes that now he has a "shake" too. He would love to train with Hakeem and has asked Sam and Shard (who is from Houston) to help him set it up.
2/ He watches tape of all other big guys in the league and tries to mimick what they do he mentions Horford, Howard, Love but also Shaq and Rodman. He says that the hardes guy to defend on is Al Jefferson because he uses both hand perfectly and you never know where he will go (recalls a game where Al scored 4 straight possession on him). He says starting to get recognition from those guys is big, as recentyl Howard congratulated him on his improved use of his left hand.
3/ Says that all this year he had confidence he could show his abilities. He understood not playing much the first year, saying he was injured to begin with and lost. But says that he worked hard with the french team and Vittoria, and learnt a lot from Ivanovic the coach there. He says the game there is so so crisp, you have to move and move the ball and that this experience massively raised his awareness on the court. As an example he says that when Orlando trapped in in the first half he would not force it and get it out, burning them a few times and they didn't do it in the second time.
4/ Although he doesn't say it clearly, you can feel the rancour against Saunders. He said he worked hard and didn't understand why he didn't get a chance, than in January had 8 minutes against the Bulls where he went 0 for 4 and Saunders told him : " you had your chance and didn't take it". Says this is the only time he really questioned if he had a future in the NBA.
5/ Credits Wittman with his play saying that he always encouraged and pushed him while still being critical, saying that once when he was still an assistant and the team had played a dreadful game he said in the locker that "he would fight to get thos that work hard some PT" looking at Seraphin while saying so and this gave him confidence. Your really feel that he is 100% behind Wittman.
6/ Says he is super close with Nene who advises him and suppports him. Says that during his recent play where he has been having big PT Nene would forbid him from going out between matchs to rest and be ready, and that he follows his advice. Basically Nene took him under his wing.
7/ Last point, he says that the team has a newfound pride and that the goal these last few games has been to show other teams in the league that they are not a bunch of losers anymore and will play to win next season.

VEry interesting read where he really seems like a thoughtful hard working guy.

[nate33]

^
Great stuff, veji1

Man, every single thing you wrote is really good news. Seraphin seems like a real student of the game. I love that he watches a lot of film and tries hard to learn from other good players. His comments about Al Jefferson are really interesting because Seraphin has made great strides with his left hand in the past few months. Posting up isn't that complicated. If you are strong enough to get deep position, and if you are equally good going to your left or right, there's really no way anybody can stop you. Seraphin really seems to be embracing this concept.

Some interesting stuff about Saunders/Wittman too. As many of us have suspected all along, Saunders was not the right coach for this group. Saunders is a good coach with veteran players (which was why he was brought it), but developing young talent is not his strong suit.

And you gotta love Nene.

[fishercob]

I've got wood. I can't wait for next season.

[Severn Hoos]

veji - Thank you so much for posting, this is great stuff!

great interview from Seraphin in the latest issue of the french magazine BasketNews. I am too lazy to translate it but a few interesting tidbits :
1/ he is obsessed with Olajuwon, he asked for a 30 minutes long mixtape of all his moves and basically watches it non stop at home. He has been working hard with Sam Cassel who keeps telling him how Hakeem did this or that and taught him how to use small feints. He jokes that now he has a "shake" too. He would love to train with Hakeem and has asked Sam and Shard (who is from Houston) to help him set it up.

Glad to hear he's fashioning his game after Olajuwon. Remember, Hakeem was never really close to the 7' tall he was listed, but he had such good footwork and fundamentals that he was among the best of his era. Good model for KSera. And also glad to hear Sam is involved - maybe good to keep him around?

2/ He watches tape of all other big guys in the league and tries to mimick what they do he mentions Horford, Howard, Love but also Shaq and Rodman. He says that the hardes guy to defend on is Al Jefferson because he uses both hand perfectly and you never know where he will go (recalls a game where Al scored 4 straight possession on him). He says starting to get recognition from those guys is big, as recentyl Howard congratulated him on his improved use of his left hand.

Al Jefferson would also be a nice player to model himself after. Similar size, would love for Kevin to develop interior scoring skills like Big Al.

3/ Says that all this year he had confidence he could show his abilities. He understood not playing much the first year, saying he was injured to begin with and lost. But says that he worked hard with the french team and Vittoria, and learnt a lot from Ivanovic the coach there. He says the game there is so so crisp, you have to move and move the ball and that this experience massively raised his awareness on the court. As an example he says that when Orlando trapped in in the first half he would not force it and get it out, burning them a few times and they didn't do it in the second time.
4/ Although he doesn't say it clearly, you can feel the rancour against Saunders. He said he worked hard and didn't understand why he didn't get a chance, than in January had 8 minutes against the Bulls where he went 0 for 4 and Saunders told him : " you had your chance and didn't take it". Says this is the only time he really questioned if he had a future in the NBA.
5/ Credits Wittman with his play saying that he always encouraged and pushed him while still being critical, saying that once when he was still an assistant and the team had played a dreadful game he said in the locker that "he would fight to get thos that work hard some PT" looking at Seraphin while saying so and this gave him confidence. Your really feel that he is 100% behind Wittman.

Unfortunate to hear this, but goes to show that replacing Flip was the right move. Might make me start to reconsider the possibility of keeping Witt.

6/ Says he is super close with Nene who advises him and suppports him. Says that during his recent play where he has been having big PT Nene would forbid him from going out between matchs to rest and be ready, and that he follows his advice. Basically Nene took him under his wing.

Great to read this! Yet another reason why the trade was a good one. Nene's impact could be felt long after his contract expires, if he transfers some of his skills to Kevin.

7/ Last point, he says that the team has a newfound pride and that the goal these last few games has been to show other teams in the league that they are not a bunch of losers anymore and will play to win next season.

Definitely love the attitude he shows, and I believe it is the primary mindset in the locker room now. This is why I am worried about the possibility of bringing Blatche back. But I do think that this team can & should challenge for a playoff spot next year, given reasonably good health.

Very interesting read where he really seems like a thoughtful hard working guy.

Agree 100%! Thanks again!

[GUYANNAGRIZZLI]

Nene is back and i think he would be a great 6 man comming from the bench playing 25 min per games and like this you will keep the complementary jan and kevin to start because theirs defense are great and there are improving game by game. Nene won't improve anymore and he is a solid player with experience who is able to be as effictive comming from the bench than a starter which is not the case yet for KS and VES.
And you can notice that since Ves and even more KS are starters Wiz are becoming a much better team both bringing respectively athleticism, size rebound and the other strength, hard defense and productive post ups.
I hope KS will continue to start every games just because KS is better than nene in defense and as good in offense and also KS is going to improve in offense for sure more precisely under the basket where strangely he misses some easy basket.
But KS learns fast and his very talented and for the good of the team Wittman if he stays next year will keep Ks as a starter or a important bench player (more than 25 minutes).
Wittman consider KS as a center because he took him out of court for Nene :
Is it possible to see Nene and KS starters and playing together?
Would Blatch or Booker come back and interfer on KS good work (3wins in the last 5 games where KS score 17.2 ppg, 8 rebounds, 3blks in 37 minutes) ?
KS is a very solid guy on each side of the court and more KS is on th court and more WIZ will win, it's as simple as that.

[veji1]

Wow wow wow.. I think you might want to slow down here. The team is certainly not paying Nene 13Mil per year off the bench. Even if the Wizards get Davis in the draft, starting next season, barring injury, Nene will start. To have him coming of the bench for the last few games of the season, maybe although it doesn't make much sense. But next season he starts.

Now the question is do you start Nene and Seraphin together, start Nene and Ves or Nene and the draft rookie if you draft Davis or Robinson or Drummond ?

At this stage I think Seraphin and Nene together is worth testing. Together they may like height and rebounding might prove to be a structural issue if they don't make a massive effort, but they give you a strong interior positional defense if not super duper shot blocking, and offensively you have to versatile low post weapons, although it is likely that Nene would play more like a 4, from the elbow and Seraphin deeper in the post.

In the middle term, except if Seraphin keeps improving to the point where him not being a starter is absurd, it might make sense to use Seraphin for 25/30 minutes per night as the first interior off the bench, basically the frontcourts's sixth man. He would bring immediate low post offense.

But to me ideally, except if Davis is drafted, the team would want to try out Seraphin and Nene together at the beginning of next season to see what they got. Jan better work his ass off otherwise his minutes might well get squeezed some...

[montestewart]

I've got wood. I can't wait for next season.

Wizards say get a fleshlight.

Thanks for the summary veji1. Especially like hearing how he's tuned into successful models, including undersized bigs, trying to learn how to maximize his skills.

Maybe KS is an example of EG balancing speculative potential with basketball IQ and coachability. KS seems quite a student of the game, which might have softened some of the criticism of him had that been more known.

[GUYANNAGRIZZLI]

Wow wow wow.. I think you might want to slow down here. The team is certainly not paying Nene 13Mil per year off the bench. Even if the Wizards get Davis in the draft, starting next season, barring injury, Nene will start. To have him coming of the bench for the last few games of the season, maybe although it doesn't make much sense. But next season he starts.

Now the question is do you start Nene and Seraphin together, start Nene and Ves or Nene and the draft rookie if you draft Davis or Robinson or Drummond ?

At this stage I think Seraphin and Nene together is worth testing. Together they may like height and rebounding might prove to be a structural issue if they don't make a massive effort, but they give you a strong interior positional defense if not super duper shot blocking, and offensively you have to versatile low post weapons, although it is likely that Nene would play more like a 4, from the elbow and Seraphin deeper in the post.

In the middle term, except if Seraphin keeps improving to the point where him not being a starter is absurd, it might make sense to use Seraphin for 25/30 minutes per night as the first interior off the bench, basically the frontcourts's sixth man. He would bring immediate low post offense.

But to me ideally, except if Davis is drafted, the team would want to try out Seraphin and Nene together at the beginning of next season to see what they got. Jan better work his ass off otherwise his minutes might well get squeezed some...

If they draft Davis it's because they have the first pick overall but if they have pick 2,3,4,5 they won't draft a big guy and i think the priority isn't the low post.
Also what is the profil of Davis? can he changes a team to a point that Wiz can win a title very soon like a Tim Duncan ?

If Davis won't come what about Booker he can also take back his place in the five for next year? or KS and in a lesser way Ves are in front of him in the rotation?
And Andray Blatch they want him away or not?

[nate33]

Our best big man is Nene. Our second best big man is Seraphin. Our third best big man is Booker. Our fourth best big man is Vesely (though Vesely may eventually surpass Booker). I'm ignoring James Singleton for the sake of this discussion.

The lineup seems pretty easy to me. You make sure Nene and Seraphin get all the minutes they can handle, and you give Booker the bulk of the remaining minutes, with Vesely getting the scraps. I figure that's about 30-32 minutes a piece for Nene and Seraphin, 20-24 or so for Booker, and 8-15 for Vesely. The only other detail is to make sure that one of Nene/Seraphin is on the floor at all times to man the center position.

The starters versus bench debate doesn't concern me much. It's the minute totals that matter. I figure Nene definitely starts and everything else is fungible. Seraphin could start alongside Nene, but it makes it a bit harder to ensure that one of Nene/Seraphin remain at the center position at all times. For that reason, it wouldn't bother me if Booker started, even though Seraphin is a better player. As long as Seraphin gets his 30 minutes, it's all good.

[verbal8]

I definitely think Seraphin looks promising. I think Al Horford might be a decent comparison, although if he falls a little short he still would be a good contributor. One 2nd year player that was similar was Etan Thomas(almost identical PER).

The Etan similarity doesn't really bother me too much. Etan with a jumper and without the injuries would have been a much different story, even if he won't be the rebounder that Etan was. Also Etan(and Gortat) were 24 in their second season.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... 01&y4=2003

[nate33]

Etan always had a very negative on/off differential (or maybe it was just that Haywood's was always so positive). Seraphin has the best on/off differential on the team. That's what sets him so far apart from Etan. Seraphin's stats clearly aren't empty.

[dobrojim]

I've got wood. I can't wait for next season.

Kevin seems like such a great kid. So happy for his success now
that he has been given the opportunity. Did I mention that
he is really huge even sitting down at a table? He is a beast,
a Sasquatch of a MAN.

I love the way he has learned the 'pull the chair' defense.
That's a great tool to have in your toolbox.

thanks for the quotes from the french interview. Like Nate said,
this is all really good news especially his study habits.

[dobrojim]

On the post game last night Consor was talking about how the french guys
working with Kevin are saying that by training camp they will have him
so much better sculpted and conditioned he'll be like a different guy.
Could be down right scary.

I smile big time every time I see him pull the chair on an offensive
player trying to back him down. He did it again last night vs CHA
on route to another double figure night in scoring. Yeah it was against
CHA yada yada

[hands11]

Keveen.

The bus keeps rolling.

Double digit pts in every game this month.

http://espn.go.com/nba/player/gamelog/_ ... n-seraphin

Can wait to see how plays next year.

[Severn Hoos]

Seraphin finishes the season with 16 consecutive double-digit scoring games. Last time a Washington Center had even 10 double-digit scoring games? Gheorghe. Unbelievable. Definitely looking forward to next year!

[veji1]

Next season's priority : Make the best use of his beastliness by being aggressive on offense, going for the rim and the foul, and rebounding like a madman. He is young, the work with the french team during the olympics will again do him a world of good. Add to that a real training camp and preseason to improve while knowing his role and he could be downright scary...

[closg00]

Next season's priority : Make the best use of his beastliness by being aggressive on offense, going for the rim and the foul, and rebounding like a madman. He is young, the work with the french team during the olympics will again do him a world of good. Add to that a real training camp and preseason to improve while knowing his role and he could be downright scary...

THIS next-year please.