Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:Wolters' body of work after 4 years is tremendous. I think he's as good coming into the pros as Nash or Calderon. Everything I see about his stats says that he's going to be a great PG in the NBA.
I am not trying to convince or persuade, but to my way of thinking the notion of upside shouldn't be restricted to the athleticism a certain player possesses. If a player has a very tight handle, they don't turn the ball over, they score at an elite level, and they also fill a need that player has huge upside.
Without Wall the Wizards suffer. They need a backup PG who can make plays.
They blew an opportunity to get a guy with top-20 or higher talent, but other teams passed on him, too.
...
What I want to leave off saying is this: I like to evaluate talent and play GM. I have been doing this a long time and so have you. I respect your opinions and I don't get personal over any of your ideas.
The reason I got upset is the Wizards passed on a player I think was just right for them. They took on a guy who doesn't fit the direction they say they want to go. That he's just a round two pick belies the fact that Arenas and Boozer and may other great players went in round two.
Wolters is going to be a very good player.
And that's all fair. I liked Wolters too, GRjr was off my radar screen since I tend to scout NCAA stats and there's no track record of DLeague grads other than call-ups. Plus the game is smaller at the lower level.
Fun thing is with Jrue gone from Philly, we'll get a chance to see relatively quickly if Nate is a big gauge player, he'll have opportunity to contest with MCW for that PG spot. If he's good we'll see him 4 times a year plus [cue Jim Mora].
But that said, whatever, regardless of which player proves relatively better, I suspect folks will come to appreciate Glen Rice Jr's effect on court. Good thing about CCJ is if it proves different he's the first to say "I was wrong and I was too hasty and I should have been more open hearted in welcoming a young man to our family and wishing him well'.
I'm hopeful he keeps his nose clean and has learned well from his missteps. Plenty of spoiled college kids make bad decisions relating to alcohol. (He got suspended for letting someone drink and drive his car, then some idiot took a shot while he was driving. Dumb, true. But hell I had friends blowing stuff up with fireworks or whatever). But most college kids do get a chance to turn the bad habits around and become productive adults. And here he was faced with losing the only thing he that gives him identity. Had to ride the buses in the D League. Got no PT until eventually he learned to be a professional and earned the starter's role, then from there his game took off and he led his squad to the Championship with an INSANE stat line.
I admit, I think we're going to get more production from GRjr than we'd get from Kazemi and Wolters. This team needs a combo guard, but the more footage I track down of Glen Rice Jr in college and the DLeague both, the more I like GMoney Deuce. Kid has some Tough Juice to his game. Low-post toughness and footwork. Smart passes. NBA range. Willing defense. And athleticism that Nate Wolters can't touch with any sort of long thing that pokes stuff:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wzLyW2ghkE[/youtube]
He's going to be a crowd pleaser on this squad and the one thing he does add is yet another thing we desperately need: finishing, underneath and from outside. Beal goes down hard a few times a game, a back-up swingman who can score is a need position for us. We'll be very happy we have this kid compared to Jordan Crawford who played that role for us last year. Maybe not as good a character as Mo Evans or Cartier Martin or Garret Temple anyone else who has filled the role for us in past years, but for the "dayum!" effect I think we're gonna all like this kid pretty well.
So let's all pray for him that his past was all fertilizer for what will grow fruitful and wholesome now from his work and efforts.
