Wizards Summer League 2013 - Mini Camp 8th Games July 13

[GhostsOfGil]

Another Quote about Porter over at TAI:

Otto Porter, Jr. No, its not time to push the atomic panic button just yet, but the Otto Porter the Wizards thought they had drafted has yet to arrive in Vegas. Porter’s stat line was deceptive in that he looked productive, but he spent most of the game getting tossed around by the Knicks bigs and was in the process of getting torched by Tim Hardaway Jr. before Hardaway injured his hand. At this point, the weaknesses in Porter’s game are much more apparent than his strengths.

Most worryingly is the “Antawn Jamisoniness” of his game. For the second consecutive day he relied on weird floaters in the paint rather than attempting to finish at the rim. Unlike Jamison, Porter doesn’t possess the craftiness (yet) to make that part of his game work. Nor can one be pleased with the “Nick Youngitis” of fading back on jumpers rather than catching and shooting. Many of these issues are going to be solved when he finally gets the chance to work with a real point guard and not a group of third raters who can’t get him the ball where he wants it. The problem is that at this moment, however brief it is, Porter looks like a rotation player rather a foundation piece.

—Sean Fagan (@McCarrick)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Regardless of how Porter looks, I would rip the hell out of the coaches first.

[Nivek]

Here's an area where I think complaints about the Wizards player development process are valid: playing Porter out of position to "test the limits of his versatility." To me, the smart way to go about that kind of thing is to get a guy acclimated to his primary position first -- what you expect him to do most often. Then expand his responsibilities as he gains experience in the league. Leave the "versatility" stuff to the veterans unless it becomes necessary.

[nate33]

You've watched a lot more of Otto than I have, jivelikenice. However, in all my criticism and wishing Otto was better in this summer league setting, I've said much the same.

--He will be better with Wall. I think it time he will be at least an above average NBA player. I agree that Otto Porter seems like the type to get better and better over time. --

[deneem4]

We expect to much of otto here... hes a role player for a contender...hes not a foundation piece for a rebuilding, I think thats what analysis meant when speaking of otto...hes nba ready to contribute, not shoulder the load with wall and beal

[nate33]

I think Cassell is a phenomenal coach for a guy that got a 700 SAT.

Math or verbal?

[The Consiglieri]

While obviously 2 games is not indicative of the player he is. I find it silly, people get irritated by the mere motion of discussing his struggles.

Eh, I don't think "Wow, Porter is struggling, but it is only SL so let's see what happens." posts would irritate anybody. It's the "See! See! I told you the Wizards were idiots for taking this guy! The past 2 games proves it!" posts that we're mocking.

Three guys I remember fitting that gloss: Desmond Howard, reported quote after the first post draft mini camp practice from a vet, "He can't play,", my brothers comment after seeing Shuler start against the Rams in LA in '94, "the little midget can't throw, he's an epic bust," and this entire board watching Vesely, "mega bust," from the jump.

I think it's way too early to condemn anybody for anything, but I do think Porter looking just as underwhelming and mediocre as many expected is a worry to some extent. Still, I don't think he should be judged as an emphatic bust until at least 1 or 2 seasons with us are in the books with a healthy squad around him, and right now, he shouldn't be judged as anything other than a prospect that some of us found fault with from the start, and seeing said faults show up in games, makes us even more weary, while the Otto defenders, who shredded Bennett, and bought into the ludicrous justification for passing on Noel (NBA Ready, not the injury which is somewhat reasonable) are being defensive.

Both sides have plenty of ammo to justify said positions, the Otto bashers are being to quick to judge by a ridiculous degree (unless you think you can thin slice summer league a la Gladwell), and the Otto boosters oversold his stock consistently from the jump and habitually ignored and glossed over the very real concerns.

Hopefully the boosters are right, Im sick of being right about Wizard moves that I thought were idiotic, too many were far too important at the time, and far too destructive in retrospect (Sheed Trade, Webber trade, Rip trade, Jeffries selection, Jamison trade, '09 trade, '12 cap killing Okariza trade, being the biggest wt-? moves in recent memory), luckily sometimes I'm wrong, and am hoping this is one of those.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

You've watched a lot more of Otto than I have, jivelikenice. However, in all my criticism and wishing Otto was better in this summer league setting, I've said much the same.

--He will be better with Wall. I think it time he will be at least an above average NBA player. I agree that Otto Porter seems like the type to get better and better over time. --

[The Consiglieri]

Dumbest thing to do is to force a young player to do what's unnatural for them.

Porter obviously isn't comfortable in his ball-handling and slashing to play the 2. He played the 3/4 in college. let him play the 3/4 in the pros until he starts to develop that comfort.

I'm not surprised he's being forced into a role he's not comfortable in...this is typical Wizards shenanigans.

Agreed, the guys who are actually most relevant in this group are:

2: Rice Jr
3: Porter, Singleton
4: Vesely, Singleton

and that should be the priority, play them in their natural positions, see what happens, don't try to force Porter to get used to a position Beal, Temple, and Rice Jr would be eating the bulk of the minutes in anyway. Play him where he likes to play so he can be comfortable. Its like baseball, whenever you move a players fielding position in baseball, it's a truism that his batting production will falter because of the attention and mental effort it takes to try and change something he's done forever. Let Porter get comfortable at 3 in the NBA, and worry about positional flexibility down the line after he's got his feet plenty wet.

I really hate the way this team is run, it just feels monstrously idiotic and foolish, we blew up whatever potential Vesely had mishandling him, we've basically got zilch out of every rebuild draft pick that wasn't easy bake ready made thus far (Wall and Beal), maybe we should stop trying to force it, and let the game come to the player by providing and environment where its comfortable to learn? Disequilibrium can be important in learning, but not sabotaging a players comfort and confidence.

[Rafael122]

We expect to much of otto here... hes a role player for a contender...hes not a foundation piece for a rebuilding, I think thats what analysis meant when speaking of otto...hes nba ready to contribute, not shoulder the load with wall and beal

Don't think it's the expectation part. I see him as a 12-3 ppg/6-7rebound/1 steal/1 block per game type of player. The problem I have is two fold:

a. Genius Sam Cassell playing a 3 guy at the 2 just to see what he can do. How asinine is this?

b. Said complaints about the guy when it seems like the facts aren't being looked at, asking him to do something he's not accustomed to doing (playing at the shooting guard spot).

I wouldn't be surprised if they see Porter as a backup 2 guard to Beal. It will be the only way he gets on the court.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think Cassell is a phenomenal coach for a guy that got a 700 SAT.

Math or verbal?

Just gave me a terrible thought: Making coaches take the SAT.

I heard some debate over allowing NFL players who are not attending classes to attend pro day at their college and also the draft combine. I can test with the best of them but that didn't make me a great athlete or coach. I do think intelligence can help, but how do you measure what it takes to be a good player or coach? Not the SAT. I don't know how I feel about the academic/athletic thing. Some people were made to be brain surgeons. Others can run and jump and play a team sport very well. They can push their bodies throw pain and do great stuff. Don't ask them the Pythagorean theorem and the length of a hypotenuse ...

Personally, I don't care if Sam had the worst SAT score. I want him to have critical thinking skills, people skills, and to be a good coach. Some coaches blend and manage egos, challenge players in a way that doesn't strip their confidence, and are also strong with Xs and Os needed to be a successful coach. They don't create crises or react as much as they are proactive.

You're not going to have Brad Stevens throwing guys into duress. Never will happen. Not saying he's perfect but I bet he's better than that.

[fishercob]

I think Cassell is a phenomenal coach for a guy that got a 700 SAT.

Math or verbal?

Yes.

[Kanyewest]

I remember when they had Jared Jeffries running the point right after he was drafted. Silliest thing I've ever seen in retrospect. The guy was a 4 in college, and then some genius in the front office thought it was okay for him to man the point in summer league to show off his "versatility."

Biggest fail ever.

Actually, that worked out well enough. Jeffries developed enough ball handling skills and ended up playing shooting guard which allowed Butler to play small forward.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

We expect to much of otto here... hes a role player for a contender...hes not a foundation piece for a rebuilding, I think thats what analysis meant when speaking of otto...hes nba ready to contribute, not shoulder the load with wall and beal

The only things I'm thinking about Otto are fluidity and strength need to be developed. He knows how to play. He's got to grow into a frame that will let him do things well at this level.

[deneem4]

OTTO WAS PLAYIN 2 BECAUSE HE WAS TOO WEAK TO TAKE THE SF TO THE BASKET

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Cassell has been running the offense. Newman has been running the defense.

Cassell leading the offense has been nothing short of an abject disaster. The only thing we've mastered offensively is disorganization.

I think he's clearly shown he's not ready to be a head coach anywhere at this stage.

Shaq loves to say when the general stays calm the soldiers don't panic.

PG play and execution should be better with a former PG coaching the team.

[Kanyewest]

"Otto Porter Searching For His Game In Vegas"
http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page ... daily-dime

What I noticed is Otto is playing a step slow. It looks like he's trying to process and figure things out and that works against his instinctive skills. He's a cerebral player forced to learn on the spot and it's been a tough adjustment.

I know the 2/3 is interchangeable in the Wizards system but I don't see much utility out of putting Otto against smaller quicker 2s where his skill wouldn't really stand out. Also, it would have been real nice if we had a game manager on the court with the ability to at least get the Wizards into their sets and provide some organization. The PG play has been abominable thus far.

I agree that Porter looks a bit slow out there. On the positive side, Porter generally does not seem to be forcing the action when it isn't there (only averaging 1 turnover per game). Perhaps he will become more assertive over time with more practice and experience.

Point guard play has been terrible although Haynes has been a slight improvement over Gaines. At least in game 2 Porter has been getting open and clean looks but he just hasn't been knocking it down his jumper. I would like to see Porter try to attack the rim and get more free throw attempts.

I hope that the jumper will come with time. In the summer league, guys like Beal and Young (who doesn't do the little things that Porter does) both struggled with their perimeter shots in summer league. 2 games is a small sample size- and Porter should see a rise in his efficiency of play once he starts playing with Wall or NBA caliber guards.

[dckingsfan]

I think he's clearly shown he's not ready to be a head coach anywhere at this stage.

Or an assistant coach -- just kidding - kind of...

[LyricalRico]

I wouldn't be surprised if they see Porter as a backup 2 guard to Beal. It will be the only way he gets on the court.

Whoa, that would make zero sense if they did that. I'd rather they get less than full value back in an Ariza trade to open up frontcourt minutes than waste a year of Porter's development by playing him out of position (could waste 2 years if it takes him awhile to "unlearn" the SG spot).

Even I would turn on the front office if that happened. My goodness...

[fishercob]

OTTO WAS PLAYIN 2 BECAUSE HE WAS TOO WEAK TO TAKE THE SF TO THE BASKET

Explain in more detail. This is interesting.