The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Great post Des. The model to emulate that I've had in my mind ever since we won the lottery, is the Bad Boy Pistons. That was the last team to win a championship whose franchise player was a point guard (Zeke). I think we saw Ernie moving in just that direction with the drafting of Booker and Seraphin after Wall.

[Fergasun]

Next season is going to suck also. Two years of roster churn and lets see what happens.

McGee is immature, but could mature the next two years.

Blatche is immature and most likely will benefit from getting shipped out (imho one contract too late).

Crawford looks like he might be a decent shooter.

Just like most of the other horrible teams in the league they are young.

At least they have Wall.

Can someone remind me what the Wizards got in exchange for Caron Butler and Haywood? It wouldn't be bad to have Haywood on the team still.

Is Rashard Lewis done or will he be contributing next season?

So here's the Wizards next year:

Starting 5:

John Wall

Nick Young (assumes he stays via RFA)

Rashard Lewis

Booker*

McGee*

Jordon Crawford

'Dray Blatche

Kevin Seraphin

Rookie

Rookie

Journeyman

Rookie

Random Roster Filler

Josh Howard (?)

That's the reason I'm a Bullets fan!

At least half of the roster has some what I'd call "random upside potential", Wall, Booker, Crawford, Seraphin (scared to write McGee in here because of the bookmark threat!).

Best case scenario, look like the Clippers this year and in 2012-2013 look like the 76ers.

Edited March 15, 2011 by Fergasun
I forgot about potentially Josh Howard

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Bookmarked.

---------- Post added March-15th-2011 at 03:48 AM ----------

Na, I'm just ****ing with you. Pretty good breakdown. We traded Haywood, Caron and D Steezy to the Mavs for Josh Howard, Drew Gooden (bought out) and James Singleton and someone else who isn't here anymore. So basically nothing. But I really don't have a problem with that. We desperately needed to turn the page on that entire team and we might have done such in record breaking time. I was actually pretty impressed at how fast they blew it up.

EDIT:Oh and Rashard has one more year left. 1 year, and I think just $9 mil after he fails to reach certain incentives numbers this year. Howard is a UFA though. Depending on what we do in the draft, I wouldn't be shocked if we brought him back on another modest one or two year deal. I imagine he wants to get paid though after using this year to rehab. But anyway, we're waaaaaay under the cap next year and for the foreseeable future.

Also I think Hamady Ndiaye is back next year too.

Edited March 15, 2011 by G.A.C.O.L.B.

[Fergasun]

Damn you.

I didn't defend anything they did.

I even penciled in Booker as a starter over Blatche.

You want my to write in a potential front-court of Rookie+Booker with McGee coming off the bench?

McGee is too young to 100'% write off at this point. That's just my point. Maybe one day he'll be walking down the road in Chinatown and some herbal medicine guy will provide him with some herbs that increase his basketball IQ. Perhaps his parents will talk to him about going to the next level in the NBA. Maybe he'll get it. Right now he's young, and he doesn't fully get it. He's immature and he even looks like the whiny type of team-mate you wouldn't like to play with because he gets discouraged at every mistake, gets upset when he doesn't get the pass and when he does get the pass fumbles it out of bounds.

The solution next year will be to make sure Blatche and McGee don't stay on the floor together (not sure if they did this season).

Blech!

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

There there, young fellow. Don't cry. I said I was just kidding. I'm mainly just taking bookmarking a couple of people based on a) tone and those defending both Blatche and McGee. (Spring break baby.)

.....

You know, I wrote a few paragraphs about McGee and his basketball IQ for this post, but I came across some old pieces and interviews from his college days and the draft. I think I gotta rethink this a little. I mean it's like a puzzle or a riddle or something: "Where in the World is Javale McGee's Basketball IQ?" **** really doesn't make sense. At all.

I hate to say it (especially after the Fab Five doc made me feel like **** for hating Juwan Howard) but I think Javale's parent's are part of the problem. I mean when I read stuff like this:

McGee, who will wear uniform No. 34, was exposed to the game at such an early age, he joked that he first picked up a basketball "when I came out of the womb." When he plays in his first NBA game, he will become the first player whose mother once played in the WNBA.

When Pamela played professionally in Italy, she'd take her toddler son along and he'd watch from a stroller at courtside. When she returned to the United States to play for the Sacramento Monarchs in 1997, young JaVale would tag along for practices and games.

and this

After Pamela McGee helped USC win back-to-back national championships in the early 1980s and then won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics, she coached in the WNBA and applied many of the coaching and training techniques she picked up as a player in Europe to instructional sessions with her son.

"He comes from a basketball environment where people care about the game and he went to practices and saw the hard work," Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld said. "I think those things

all help."

but then my eyes see what they see, night after night on the court, what other conclusion can I come to? I always had a feeling about it, and said so many times on here. But I wonder what happens if McGee gets older and is able to really be independent and do his own thing? Maybe all is not lost. Or maybe he's Buster from Arrested Development.

The quitting thing is a whole other issue. I don't feel like ranting on that right now.

Oh and don't get twisted, it's still F Baltche

Edited March 15, 2011 by G.A.C.O.L.B.

[Fergasun]

With McGee its almost like he has this attitude "I play basketball because of my parents, but I really don't love playing basketball. Its a job, and it provides for me." Is there passion in his game? Just a theory I'm kicking around. I don't know if ESPN or someone else has done stories on this... (for some reason I think RIcky Williams had this attitude in the NFL?). It would not surprise me to find a non-insignificant number of athletes in pro-sports are doing it because its a job and not because they have a passion for ballin. There's nothing wrong with that so long as they are willing to find employment, although from a fan's perspective its pretty 'f'ed up.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

He definitely has a passion for looking good. But personally, I don't see a passion for winning.

Edited March 15, 2011 by G.A.C.O.L.B.

[SiCkSoULjA]

The problem with this team there are no winners, there no structure it's just a bunch of young guys playing street ball. Next year won't be better cause we are doing nothing but getting more young guys in drafting rookies. Blatche and nick young should not be your top scorers period

When I look at McGee I see a raw player that has no one on the team too teach him how too be a winner he needs too come off the bench and provide energy. Nick Young the same way and pass the ball sometime, Blatche role needs too be reduced some the offense should not run through Blatche that's crazy.

We need to open the check book on a couple good vets as of right now following this keep drafting players and adding young guys on this team we are going too turn into the clippers a few years ago.

[Burgold]

The problem with this team there are no winners, there no structure it's just a bunch of young guys playing street ball. Next year won't be better cause we are doing nothing but getting more young guys in drafting rookies. Blatche and nick young should not be your top scorers period

When I look at McGee I see a raw player that has no one on the team too teach him how too be a winner he needs too come off the bench and provide energy. Nick Young the same way and pass the ball sometime, Blatche role needs too be reduced some the offense should not run through Blatche that's crazy.

We need to open the check book on a couple good vets as of right now following this keep drafting players and adding young guys on this team we are going too turn into the clippers a few years ago.

How long is Nick Young going to be "young" He's been in the team for several years and sat behind good players such as Jameson, Butler, and even Arenas. At this point, if Nick isn't ready to pick up the reins why should we think he ever would be. Honestly, same for Blatche. He's been in the league how many years? McGee has something of an excuse this is "only" his third year, but still he's been in the NBA for three years! How long does it take!

[No Excuses]

I actually don't mind the fact that Young is in a slump. He's still a good defender and an excellent three point shooter. I think we'll be able to sign him somewhere between 4-5M which is just about right for a role player.

[SiCkSoULjA]

How long is Nick Young going to be "young" He's been in the team for several years and sat behind good players such as Jameson, Butler, and even Arenas. At this point, if Nick isn't ready to pick up the reins why should we think he ever would be. Honestly, same for Blatche. He's been in the league how many years? McGee has something of an excuse this is "only" his third year, but still he's been in the NBA for three years! How long does it take!

I dont think Nick Young is starting material he brings nothing to the table besides occasionally getting hot and can score. We need starters that can play defenese that has a good basketball IQ not just shoot every time you get the ball but make your team mates better. At this point I think Crawford has the ability too be a better pro than Young he's streaky just like him but can also pass the ball. If Young is having a bad shooting night then he's worthless and hurting the team.

Talk potential if Wall if he's having a bad shooting game he can do other things like rack up assist or get steals rebounds just overall be productive some how.

McGee has the highest per on the team his flaws stand out big time we expect him too rebound play d and block shots and score a few times. Is he doing it All right now no at least he shows potential

Blatche can score he can also rebound

Booker plays hard scores, rebound and defends

Young can only score he's a one trick pony teams see him running around screens now teams adjusted and take that away from him and make him make tough shots. Nick Young needs too add more too his game or all he is ever going to turnout out too be is a 6th man which can come in and bring energy and an scoring burst which isnt a bad thing there's great players that can come off the bench and do the 1 thing there good at.

I have been hard on Wall but after the all-star break he brought new things too the table he's now brought hesitation moves, and learned too change speeds some.

[No Excuses]

True or False:

Trevor Booker is the 2nd best player on this team behind Wall.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I'd come up with a package of players and our later first round pick. The only guys on the roster I'd attempt to hang on to are Wall, Young, Booker, and McGee. But if I was confident in Kanter and knew I could get him (top 3 choice), I'd put McGee on the block too. Between the enormous amount of cap room we have, plus the desirable contract of Blatche and a few promising younger players like Crawford/Seraphin/McGee, we should have some pretty decent trade chips.

I'm late to this conversation, but why on earth would you want more top ten picks in what may be the weakest draft class in decades that is going to occur before a near certain lockout.

You are going to get two okayish players who are going to sit on their asses until February. I'd almost be tempted to trade out and wait a year.

[Going Commando]

This team needs TWO STARS or at least 1.5 more than it has now. Wall doesn't look like a scoring point guard to me which means that to succeed the team is likely to need one 20+ and one 16+ consistent scoring threat. Currently our scoring threats are Andre Blatche (~16ppg) and Nick Young (~18ppg). Blatche quits and Nick Young is the definition of inefficient. The upgrades are mostly going to be needed along the front court as superior point guard function better with competent big men than they seem to with a superior shooting guard (i can't think of any great teams with great back courts and weak front courts off the top of my head).

Big picture - this team doesn't need two stars. The Bulls are great without two stars and their PG is their best player. The Spurs are great without any top 20 players, the Mavericks are great with only one real star and franchise caliber player. It's nice to have a team with multiple stars like the Heat or the Lakers but they have their structural weaknesses too.

Addressing the more general negativity in this thread:

I'll tell everyone what the biggest problem with our team is right now: inexperience and lack of cohesion. Other than that, the source of all of the negativity from fans around here is pretty obvious--you all have unrealistic expectations for the moment. You all are posting with the bitterness of fans expecting their team to win right now and disappointed that we're losing. It sucks, but clearly we're going to lose a ton of games, in embarrassing fashion right now. We're rebuilding remember? We're also tanking and just trying to get our young guys time at this point. I agree that it's hard to stomach, but we're the fools if we actually get discouraged by momentary setbacks or small picture failures. Almost half our roster is composed of rookies. We've got three players on the roster who were here this time last year (four if you count Josh Howard). Blatche is our most experienced holdover and he doesn't even have a full season as a starter yet. Young and McGee are both first year starters. Completely giving up on the three of them this early into their careers is just stupid and utterly short-sighted. There has been a cataclysmic amount of turnover and rebuilding in a tiny amount of time.

Of course, this team has absolutely no cohesion. Of course it has no experience when 3/4ths of the roster is under 25 and has less than three years of veterancy. It's going to take a lot of time to get good, but that's kind of assumed when you've got a rebuild on your hands.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Isn't this your first year following the Wizards? Or am I thinking of someone else?

[StillUnknown]

No Blatche, Lewis, or Young tonight

we might not crack 60pts

[Going Commando]

I'm late to this conversation' date=' but why on earth would you want more top ten picks in what may be the weakest draft class in decades that is going to occur before a near certain lockout.

You are going to get two okayish players who are going to sit on their asses until February. I'd almost be tempted to trade out and wait a year.[/quote']

The class itself is weak but we can still get two really good players who fit with two picks in the top 6 or 7 choices. My ideal would have been if we'd landed a top 3 selection with our choice--drafted Sullinger--and then traded up to 6 or 7 and drafted Barnes. But Barnes is hot right now and could play his way to the first overall choice unfortunately. Another good combination might be Sullinger and Kanter, which I think could be done with picks at 3 and 6 or so. If you grab that as your future frontcourt, you're free to decrease McGee's minutes and move Blatche for compensation because I think both rookies are potential long term upgrades. Kanter + Terrence/Perry Jones is also another good combination. Sullinger plus those two forwards would be still another.

A potential lockout doesn't effect my long term strategy because we're a young team who won't be good for a few years anyway. It'd be nice to get both of our key starting forwards in this year's draft though. Then you can have them playing with Wall sooner rather than later and you can put your team building plan on a fast track. Any combination of Barnes / Sullinger / Kanter is my ideal because I think you get two excellent starters out of that group. I assume it would take either Blatche or McGee and our Atlanta first round pick to achieve that. Each are high IQ tough players with a high floor. None are franchise caliber superstars, but that's not what we need now that we have Wall. But they'd be the type of pieces you need to be a contender.

A Barnes/Sullinger class with a Blatche trade gives you a core consisting of them, Wall, Crawford/Young at the 2, Booker in rotation at 3 & 4, McGee and Seraphin in a rotation at the 4 & 5. That's a good group who should have an extremely large window of contention once they mature because they're all about the same age (and very young).

A Sullinger/Kanter class with a Blatche trade gives you about the same core only you'd have a better and deeper front court rotation since Kanter would be your starting center and McGee would come off the bench as needed as your 4 or 5. You'd still be thin at SF with Trevor Booker as your only real long term option unless you went small with Young as your 3. But then the draft class of 2012 already looks very heavy at the top with 2s and 3s so we could find a 3 in that class.

Two of Sullinger/Barnes/Kanter gives you an excellent half court game with two big time scorers for Wall to facilitate and at least one tremendous rebounder.

---------- Post added March-15th-2011 at 08:01 PM ----------

Isn't this your first year following the Wizards? Or am I thinking of someone else?

This is my first year following them day to day. I'd lurked around the Wizards for the past two or three years but followed the NBA more generally since I was a kid (I followed players and not teams because I was a basketball player).

I understand the years of bitterness. I am a Redskins fan. But you have to keep in mind this is a different team than you've ever seen before. It's got a new owner and almost entirely new roster. You can't damn them for the failures of the past. You also can't expect them to figure it out and start winning right away because that's virtually impossible given our current roster construction. As fans, the only sensible thing we can do is watch and wait. I agree with those who have said it: I wouldn't pay to go see a ton of games for a team that is actively tanking. But I also won't give myself a conniption fit over them or let this year make me bitter. I'm just trying to make the best of a bad situation by enjoying the spectacular flashes from the youngsters and trying to figure out how the team can improve on my own.

Watching last night's pasting was frustrating but it's easier to take when you keep the big picture in mind. Three years ago that same team that crushed us was in our position and now look at them.

I personally think there is genuine reason to be excited about this group's ability over a long term because of the quality of it's young players. To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't have chosen to start following this team if this weren't the case. Also, nothing that has happened this year has really dampened my optimism over the long term. The rebuild isn't done yet and this team still has important needs to fill. But I think they've got the resources to fill them over time and this year's lottery pick will be an interesting step.

[Skin'emAlive]

We're also tanking and just trying to get our young guys time at this point.

You are in denial if you think we are tanking. We arent tanking. We suck. We suck big jammers. We couldnt win if we were spotted 20 and tried. We have a ton of young players, and almost none of them seem to have any starting ability other than Wall. The rest are subs at best. Our bigs cant play defense or rebound. Our shooters are streaky at best. Half the team takes low percentage shots. Everyone on the team has zero basketball IQ. We could scrap 3/4ths of the roster, pick up guys from the D league, and come up with the same result and just as much as of a future. When we were playing well in 2000, how many of those players were homegrown youngsters? Arenas, jamison, and butler were all FA pickups. So was Stevenson, our best defender and serviceable perimeter shooter. Only Haywood, and Etan Thomas were homegrown, and they were never good when it mattered. We can rebuild all we want, but if we dont have any talent, we will always suck. Right now we have one guy with talent, and then a bunch of over achieving gym class heros.

Take a look at the Clippers. They have been stocking up on youngsters since the beginning of time. Hasnt made them any better. Atleast not until they got a superstar.

Edited March 16, 2011 by Skin'emAlive

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Can we all agree that Yi stinks?

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Yi sucks monkey ass

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Crawford is beasting

[StillUnknown]

keeping the score much closer than I anticipated

Crawford & McGee played well that half

Edited March 16, 2011 by StillUnknown

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

End of the 1st half

Crawford - 21 points, 1 shy of his career high

[CrypticVillain]

True or False:

Trevor Booker is the 2nd best player on this team behind Wall.

True and False. Young is good, he is just in a funk. Booker is my man though.

---------- Post added March-15th-2011 at 09:12 PM ----------

End of the 1st half

Crawford - 21 points, 1 shy of his career high

I remember when I first saw him play when he was with Atlanta. He was shooting the ball good and I saw Crawford on the jersey so I thought he was Jamal Crawford. It will be interesting to see how he plays for the rest of the season.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Jordan Crawford has my interest

Edited March 16, 2011 by BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93