Second-hand info from Ernie

[fishercob]

Mods, feel free to merge this as you see necessary, but I thought this was deserving of it's own thread for now.

A good friend of mine coaches at one of the local colleges and ran in to Ernie recently. They chatted for a few minutes about the state of the Wiz, and I found some of what Ernie said to be extremely interesting.

- He called Songaila a "total hack" and a "foul waiting to happen." They know he's playing out of position and out of role, if you will.

- They love McGee, and are trying to protect him from long stretches of failure, which is why he's not getting more minutes. They're keenly aware that the team around him sucks, and they don't want him internalizing too much negativity.

- They can't run many plays with the young guys, b/c the kids don't know the offense very well. He didn't say if it was due to inexperience or them being slow learners (I'd guess a combo of the two).

That's all I got. Nothing about their long-term faith in Gil, Antawn or Caron, offseason plans or anything. But I thought this was all pretty interesting, and a nice reminder that Ernie's a very bright guy and sees a lot of what we all see.

[JWizmentality]

Something smells funny. I think you're trying to bait me fish. I'm not falling for that one yup yup.

[miller31time]

I wonder why the Grizzlies aren't benching Mayo and why the Thunder didn't bench Durant last year. God forbid they actually had to participate on a losing ball-club. I bet they're damaged for life.

[FreeBalling]

Nice post FC, I'll take this as a grain of sand on the beach for now. This is not directed at anyone but EG and Fire TAP.

He called Songaila a "total hack" and a "foul waiting to happen." They know he's playing out of position and out of role, if you will.

DSong players out of position against elite players and does a nice job, nothing great but very respectable. I've said he's got the best basketball IQ on the team.

- They love McGee, and are trying to protect him from long stretches of failure, which is why he's not getting more minutes. They're keenly aware that the team around him sucks, and they don't want him internalizing too much negativity.

McGee is advancing his skill unlike OPEC, McGee is nothing but electric.

- They can't run many plays with the young guys, b/c the kids don't know the offense very well. He didn't say if it was due to inexperience or them being slow learners (I'd guess a combo of the two).

I have to disagree with this point, the young guys can't learn any plays sitting on the bench, run the plays let them fail, what could happen to us, best case is they learn and we are far better next year. We've set the record for most losses, lowest points scored and last year most 3 points scored on D.

So with that said, run the plays, if they fail run them again, and again until they get it right. We have until mid April. We're not going to have this time next year!!!!!!!

Cheers.

[fishercob]

Hypnotic boobies....er, I mean FreeBalling, you're misunderstanding the comment. The point was when the young guys play (and they do play, though in varying amounts and less than some would like) the coaches can't call many offensive plays b/c the kids can't execute/don't know them. Asking them to run plays they don't know in a game setting is recip[e for disaster. That's what practice, playbooks, and summer work are for. And as we've seen with this offense, it does take some time.

[Benjammin]

Hypnotic boobies....er, I mean FreeBalling, you're misunderstanding the comment. The point was when the young guys play (and they do play, though in varying amounts and less than some would like) the coaches can't call many offensive plays b/c the kids can't execute/don't know them. Asking them to run plays they don't know in a game setting is recip[e for disaster. That's what practice, playbooks, and summer work are for. And as we've seen with this offense, it does take some time.

Moreover, the new coach will likely have a new offensive system and I certainly pray for a new defensive system.

[Rafael122]

You mean the "running around like a chicken with its head cut off" defense isn't working?

This team can't even defend the pick and roll right. THE PICK AND ROLL!

[hands11]

I can believe what was said about McGee maybe. This team will be instantly better the second Haywood gets on the court so they can bring McGee along and they have. That said, 10 minutes last game made no sense. He was 3-3 and had 1 foul. Now if they are trying to mold him and pulled him because he had zero rebounds in 10 mins, then MAYBE that makes some sense. It's not like they care about winning anymore so you can't afford to mold a young player like this in a season like this. Just a wild guess because nothing else would really make sense. I don't think Tapps is an idiot like some, so that is at least a logical stab in the dark of a reason.

DSong.
Hard to believe that was the sum total of the conversation about DSong. I have no bad words for DSong. He is a warrior and does more with less that any other player on this team. Great basketball IQ. He is a solid bench player on a good team and he has a solid shot. If he had a 3 ball, he would be a lot more valuable. I would take a DSong on my team. You can't make a team of players like him but there is a spot for him or something similar on a 12 man roster. He does what is asked of him and brings it most nights. He is a professional.

- He called Songaila a "total hack" and a "foul waiting to happen."

I have a hard time believing EG said that unless he was drinking with a buddy and goofing around.

I have a lot of respect for DSong.


Looks like this team has a lot of fouls waiting to happen

http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/WAS/2009.html

The good news is that

Blatche is down almost 1 whole foul per 36 minutes since last year.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... can01.html
Sadly, his rebounds and blocks have dropped also.

[fishercob]

hands, nothing good you or anyone else said about Songaila is mutually exclusive with him being a hack on D. He's a nice player for what god gave him, sure. But I think Ernie's comment demonstrates the simple truth that any team that has Songaila playing big minutes just isn't very good.

[pancakes3]

like a hack in the most literal sense of the word?

[Donkey McDonkerton]

like a hack in the most literal sense of the word?

No, more like

[hands11]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=290309016

29min 0 fouls 8-9 FG 3-4 FT

Oh, the irony

[FreeBalling]

Hypnotic boobies....er, I mean FreeBalling, you're misunderstanding the comment. The point was when the young guys play (and they do play, though in varying amounts and less than some would like) the coaches can't call many offensive plays b/c the kids can't execute/don't know them. Asking them to run plays they don't know in a game setting is recip[e for disaster. That's what practice, playbooks, and summer work are for. And as we've seen with this offense, it does take some time.

I saw it the same way, no misunderstanding, my point is about opportunity. We have several types, the most lucrative for the Wizards is to gain experience for the 2nd team.

Summer league offers limited competition, D-League type as now we have All-Star talent.

Call the rest of the regular season games what you want, if I was GM, I would treat them as a preseason, scrimmage, pick up game. Like I said run the plays, if they fail run them again. It's all about the 2nd team for next year. (I'm not saying to run back to back to back plays.)

The one thing life has taught me, TIME you can never get it back, so use it for future gain.

[FreeBalling]

- He called Songaila a "total hack" and a "foul waiting to happen."

THe only guy on the team that sounds like this is Blatche, I have a lot of respect for DSong as well.