hands11 wrote:Kanyewest wrote:Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:I used to think Wall is not too bright. I think Gortat's version is on point. He's been the same player. Now that he's not restricted to be utilized in a way that limits his touches and running lanes, Wall is finding him more.
Hands, that's a great analogy about the wide receiver. I do believe Wall wanted more physical toughness from Gortat. Marcin Gortat has an ego. A huge one. He started speaking out more as the Wizards slumped.
You and I agree 100% on Wittman and his stubborn resistance to use Gooden and his preferred Nene over Drew and Marcin. It's no surprise the offense got better once Randy Wittman switched to using Gortat with Gooden or Pierce at PF. Now Wall and Gortat are in sync.
They have a healthy relationship IMO. Disagreement at least means both speak out. Gortat's play commands respect. So does Wall's.
The guy I am happy with in all of this is Nene. He hit the boards hard last round, despite playing around the same minutes as Gooden. Nene accepted the backup C role.
I will say that small ball has worked and stretching out the floor has been better. Still, there are games where Nene has been better than Gortat. For instance in game 1, the Wizards lost the lead in the 4th quarter with Gortat on the floor and Nene on the bench. Nene stepped in for Gortat in overtime and the Wizards held the Raptors scoreless until less than 30 seconds left in the overtime period.
Nene and Gortat also played well together in game 4, then again so did everyone in the blowout but it was still impressive.
I also don't think Wittman was stubborn not to use Gooden. He simply wasn't as good as Humphries early in the season. As the season has progressed, Gooden has played himself into better shape, started knocking down 3s, and he also picked up his defense.
He pretty much didnt play from Fri 11/7 to Mon 2/9
He was 3-7 from 3 to start the year before riding the pins and the team was 4-2
He made 3s when he got regular minutes and they played him more with the starter.
You pretty much just made up a story without any data or actually observation to support it.
Hey. I enjoyed the Hump mid range game, hustle and rebonding. But he doesn't shoot 3s. Nor does Nene. Nor does Kevin. Nor does Gortat.
Gooden does. And he is 6-10 250 and does lots the same stuff Hump does. He hustles. Gooden get more tip backs. Both take charges. Both rebound though Hump is probably more consistent there.
And before I hear about Humps big rebounding game.
Without looking. You know what Gooden season high was. Write down the number and then look here.Spoiler:
How about his season average from 3Spoiler:
We needed a S4. We had a S4/S5.. not hind sight. We know that going into the season. And I have projected line ups with it before he season.
Randy missed it.
And along with Randy, lots of the board missed it as well calling Gooden trash. It seems some are still missing it and making excuses for why Randy missed it. Is Gooden an AS? No. Did he have a lower TS then Hump .. yes. That isn't the point. The point is Gooden stretched the floor in way Hum didn't because Hump refused to step behind the 3 line.
And a S4 behind the 3 line at the top of the key, that opened the offense.
Its no secret Randy is old school. Has an old school offense and that he is stubborn as a mule. No reason to make excuses for that.
Humphries posted a higher TS%, better offensive rating, and better defensive rating than Gooden in the regular season. And of course Humphries is a better rebounder than Gooden while Gooden is a better passer.
I agree that Gooden is the better player now but to say that he was better than Humphries before is 20/20 hindsight that wasn't backed up by the data IMO.
I am happy that Gooden did pick up his play to close out the season. For now, he's a better option going forward then Humphries if he can keep it up.
