Kris Humphries as a Stretch Four

dckingsfan · Post #101 » by **dckingsfan** » Wed Oct 7, 2015 7:00 pm

Happily resurrected...

fishercob · Post #102 » by **fishercob** » Wed Oct 7, 2015 7:29 pm

dckingsfan wrote:Happily resurrected...

Yep. EVen when the Wizards don't "go small" by playing a wing player at the four spot, they can change the way the play IF Witt sticks with what he did last night: pairing Hump & Gortat and Nene & Gooden.

So many possibilities become unlocked when Nene and Gortat are separated.

This may fit better in the "Problem that is Nene" thread, but he is a massive key for the Wizards this year. If healthy, engaged, and on board, Nene can be the best backup center in the NBA. The best. That's an incredibly valuable player -- who can anchor the D on the second unit and be somewhat of an offensive catalyst with his passing.

I have always felt that Nene's pride has held him back. My hope was that he saw the willing sacrifice Andre Iguodala made in Golden State (on his way to a title and FInals MVP) and realized that his best hope -- in a contract year -- was to re-invent himself and show the league how he could thrive in today's NBA.

I like Nene and Gooden together with Sessions and a couple of our wings. Yeah they'll go through some scoring droughts, but they should be able to lock other second units down.

Illmatic12 · Post #103 » by **Illmatic12** » Thu Oct 8, 2015 9:03 pm

dckingsfan wrote:Happily resurrected...

It was clear from his proficiency with long twos, that Hump would be able to simply take 1-2 steps back and shoot threes. I never doubted for a second 8-)

We now have Hump, Dudley, Gooden who can give us ample minutes at PF while spacing the floor at least to some extent. And I think Wittman is committed to playing Nene at backup C, never having him on the court with Marcin. Our PF position may be better than we expected once Dudley is healthy.

fishercob · Post #104 » by **fishercob** » Thu Oct 8, 2015 9:06 pm

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/652197026927652865[/tweet]

EDIT TO ADD:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/652202834264502273[/tweet]

Illmatic12 · Post #105 » by **Illmatic12** » Thu Oct 8, 2015 9:13 pm

fishercob wrote:[tweet]https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/652197026927652865[/tweet]

It will probably be Dudley once he's healthy. But yes, Hump looks like he can hold down most of those minutes until then.

Also if Lowe is interviewing Wittman, he must be preparing a longform piece on the new Wizards team. Nice

Severn Hoos · Post #106 » by **Severn Hoos** » Thu Oct 8, 2015 9:40 pm

I assume he means multiple starting 4s? Or maybe he means Starting Gortat at C for the first half of the year, and Boogie at C for the second half of the year?

Hi CCJ - how ya doin? ;-)

J-Ves · Post #107 » by **J-Ves** » Thu Oct 8, 2015 9:56 pm

Severn Hoos wrote:I assume he means multiple starting 4s? Or maybe he means Starting Gortat at C for the first half of the year, and Boogie at C for the second half of the year?

Hi CCJ - how ya doin?

He means starting lineups in general

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Post #108 » by **penbeast0** » Fri Oct 9, 2015 10:38 pm

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:
daSwami wrote:I'm wondering why it is that everyone seems to think we need a stretch 4. While I agree that we could use some frontcourt depth, I'm curious to know the origins of this consensus. In my memory, the last time Wizards fans were all in agreement on the needs of this team (and this goes way back to my days on the AOL Wizards/Bullets forum) was when we traded Ben Wallace for Ike Austin because we "needed" a low-post scoring threat. (I think Mike Wilbon played a part in drumming up support for that awful idea.)

Honestly, the best Wizard at 4 IMO could be Dejuan Blair.

Rebounding, blocking out, setting bone-crushing picks would be Blair's job.

Gortat functions as a 5 but he runs like a 4. Blair is a very short 5 who could present a matchup nightmare when coupled with a shotblocking, mobile big--which is exactly what Marcin Gortat is.

The league is going stretch four but IMO the genius move is to replicate what Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld had in the 70s. Wes was a very short C, shorter even than Blair IMO by about a half and inch to an inch. Wes played against Wilt, Nate Thurmond, Kareem, Dave Cowens, Bob Lanier, and Willis Reed. He KICKED THEIR ASSES.

People on this site think I have a stiff one for Blair. They're right (but not sexually--I kind would go Halle Berry, for one).

Swami, I agree that their doesn't HAVE TO BE a stretch four.

At the same time it's clear that Gortat was way better with Gooden than with Nene.

I remember Kareem sweeping the Bullets in the finals because Wes, great as he was, was completely ineffective against him. He didn't play against scoring Wilt, Nate stopped himself consistently because he was in love with his turnaround which made E's look like the skyhook, nor do I remember Wes being that successful against the others either.

What Wes did was GOAT level outlet passing (I showed videos of him grabbing rebounds and throwing that two handed pass without ever bringing the ball down to my team -- which learned nothing from it so far), GOAT level screen setting, outstanding rebounding, and very intelligent play. But he wasn't a shut down man defender in the post like Thurmond was.

Blair gives you offensive rebounding and nice inside scoring, but I've never been impressed by his passing which is below average, nor his defensive rebounding or court intelligence. As for whether the new offense works and if so, can Blair play 4 in that kind of set, we shall see.

tontoz · Post #109 » by **tontoz** » Fri Oct 9, 2015 11:15 pm

Shooting 3s is much more of a mental adjustment than a physical one for Hump. He has already shown he has range on his shot. Over the last two seasons he shot 45% from 18+ feet in over 200 attempts.

But there will be a mental adjustment. He may feel pressure shooting 3s that he never felt shooting a 20 footer.

TGW · Post #110 » by **TGW** » Fri Oct 9, 2015 11:37 pm

He doesn't have the right amount of arc on his jumpshot. It's a bit too flat and that's why we've seen some of his attempts hit the front iron.

The corner 3 might be his bread and butter...he probably won't make them outside of that.

J-Ves · Post #111 » by **J-Ves** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 6:16 am

TGW wrote:He doesn't have the right amount of arc on his jumpshot. It's a bit too flat.

Tell that to Gooden.

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Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #112 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 10:23 am

Severn Hoos wrote:I assume he means multiple starting 4s? Or maybe he means Starting Gortat at C for the first half of the year, and Boogie at C for the second half of the year?

Hi CCJ - how ya doin?

Great. Very busy. Good things are starting to develop. Trying to increase/get bigger acting role. Also, talking a lot on local sports radio. Reconnecting with family and friends--really great stuff after rough couple years.

I hope Washington can come up with a reasonable deal to acquire Boogie.

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #113 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Sat Oct 10, 2015 10:28 am

penbeast0 wrote:
Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:
daSwami wrote:I'm wondering why it is that everyone seems to think we need a stretch 4. While I agree that we could use some frontcourt depth, I'm curious to know the origins of this consensus. In my memory, the last time Wizards fans were all in agreement on the needs of this team (and this goes way back to my days on the AOL Wizards/Bullets forum) was when we traded Ben Wallace for Ike Austin because we "needed" a low-post scoring threat. (I think Mike Wilbon played a part in drumming up support for that awful idea.)

Honestly, the best Wizard at 4 IMO could be Dejuan Blair.

Rebounding, blocking out, setting bone-crushing picks would be Blair's job.

Gortat functions as a 5 but he runs like a 4. Blair is a very short 5 who could present a matchup nightmare when coupled with a shotblocking, mobile big--which is exactly what Marcin Gortat is.

The league is going stretch four but IMO the genius move is to replicate what Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld had in the 70s. Wes was a very short C, shorter even than Blair IMO by about a half and inch to an inch. Wes played against Wilt, Nate Thurmond, Kareem, Dave Cowens, Bob Lanier, and Willis Reed. He KICKED THEIR ASSES.

People on this site think I have a stiff one for Blair. They're right (but not sexually--I kind would go Halle Berry, for one).

Swami, I agree that their doesn't HAVE TO BE a stretch four.

At the same time it's clear that Gortat was way better with Gooden than with Nene.

I remember Kareem sweeping the Bullets in the finals because Wes, great as he was, was completely ineffective against him. He didn't play against scoring Wilt, Nate stopped himself consistently because he was in love with his turnaround which made E's look like the skyhook, nor do I remember Wes being that successful against the others either.

What Wes did was GOAT level outlet passing (I showed videos of him grabbing rebounds and throwing that two handed pass without ever bringing the ball down to my team -- which learned nothing from it so far), GOAT level screen setting, outstanding rebounding, and very intelligent play. But he wasn't a shut down man defender in the post like Thurmond was.

Blair gives you offensive rebounding and nice inside scoring, but I've never been impressed by his passing which is below average, nor his defensive rebounding or court intelligence. As for whether the new offense works and if so, can Blair play 4 in that kind of set, we shall see.

Awesome post, penbeast!

Scoobean · Post #114 » by **Scoobean** » Sun Oct 11, 2015 9:35 pm

Humphries can get very hot and in those situations the Wizards need to ride that. The thing is he can put up 2-3 great games in a row and your thinking this guy can be a major contributor to the team every game and then he will put a few 3-5 point games together.

nuposse04 · Post #115 » by **nuposse04** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 1:42 am

He is hitting enough 3s right now where I think he doesn't detract. You can tell the live ball action is still something he is acclimating to. Ability seems to be there, just needs to believe in his new role. I think he'll finish the season stronger from beyond the arc then when he starts.

Also, I was a huge Drew Gooden hater the moment we signed, but I gotta give the guy some props, he is offensively competent from beyond the arc. Good for him.

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #116 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Mon Oct 12, 2015 5:23 pm

dckingsfan wrote:Happily resurrected...

Jesus? Lazarus? Ezekiel's dry bone, valley buddies?

Oh, this thread.

dckingsfan · Post #117 » by **dckingsfan** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:12 am

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:
dckingsfan wrote:Happily resurrected...

Jesus? Lazarus? Ezekiel's dry bone, valley buddies?

Oh, this thread.

I really hope he gets the hang of it...

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #118 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 2:41 am

nuposse04 wrote:He is hitting enough 3s right now where I think he doesn't detract. You can tell the live ball action is still something he is acclimating to. Ability seems to be there, just needs to believe in his new role. I think he'll finish the season stronger from beyond the arc then when he starts.

Also, I was a huge Drew Gooden hater the moment we signed, but I gotta give the guy some props, he is offensively competent from beyond the arc. Good for him.

Drew Gooden, a guy who was out of the league and shooting around at the Y or something, is solely responsible for shifting the entire offensive philosophy.

He's been very good at spacing the floor.

dangermouse · Post #119 » by **dangermouse** » Tue Oct 13, 2015 3:01 am

I think he should just mix in corner and almost-elbow threes at this stage, with his long two's at the top of the key that were always money last year.

I think I was one of the first posters to make a topic last year questioning whether he could step back just a little and reign threes. Great to see I, and others, were right!