The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Weganator]

2 minutes ago, CRobi21 said:

 

Gotta Photoshop the Stanley cup in there so he can be extra obnoxious and talk down to us even further.

[Renegade7]

The opposite of looking what is working with the capitals and applying it to the Wizards is insisting since the Caps are winning he knows what he's doing with the Wizards.  I won't know which one until we get done with FA.

 

They could've addressed front court, but instead went after positions (backup SG and PG) that they normally trade for (rentals).  This will backfire if they don't pull something off to upgrade center, I can see why they did this, but I don't like the idea of drafting players you don't expect to start, especially with a first rounder.

[StillUnknown]

he still hasn't answered for anything that happened last year. any media that covers this team ever ask Grunfeld how it feels to have to sign his extension in secret?

 

seems like the secret extension got signed and everybody just forgot to ask questions about it and he gets to pop up like he deserves his position

[CRobi21]

Pretty sure Kyle O'Quinn opted out of his contract. Serviceable big man..

[Renegade7]

14 minutes ago, Destino said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/wizards-add-to-a-position-of-strength-take-versatile-troy-brown-jr-at-no-15/2018/06/21/6a39cd7e-7583-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html?utm_term=.0793117c8188

 

Maybe that explains it, Brooks needed a guy in the organization that knows how to draw up a play.

 

Well, F it, lets just put him in charge, can't be much worse, especially close out situations:

 

Edited June 22, 2018 by Renegade7

[LetMeSeeYourWarFace21]

16 minutes ago, Destino said:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/wizards-add-to-a-position-of-strength-take-versatile-troy-brown-jr-at-no-15/2018/06/21/6a39cd7e-7583-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html?utm_term=.0793117c8188

 

Maybe that explains it, Brooks needed a guy in the organization that knows how to draw up a play.

 

Great, me and dude share the same birthday.....WTF, FML.........

[Burgold]

So, no word on Gortat? Trade never happened?

[Weganator]

Quote

While addressing reporters, Grunfeld was reminded about the handful of wings already on the roster and quipped, “Now we have one more.”

What a total jerk. If he had even a modicum of success, he could pull off the Pop interview style. But he is so bad it's just embarrassing.

[Weganator]

Last bit of venting / ranting before bed.. but don't the Capital City GoGo start playing this year?

 

Couldn't we actually draft somebody with a shot at playing this year with our own d league team as a fall back plan instead of euro stash?

Edited June 22, 2018 by Weganator

[Going Commando]

I wanted Robert Williams, but I've been wrong about bigs like him before.  I also wanted Thomas Robinson in 2012.

 

Brown looks pretty good.  18 years old.  High bball IQ.  Tight right hand.  NBA body.  Competitive and clean.  I'm reading that his only real weakness is shooting.  I saw video of his jumper, it's deliberate looking and an adventure.  He might never be a knock down guy, but you can work on your jumper.  It's really hard to win with dumb players.  The Cleveland Cavs can attest to that.

 

I think the best possible outcome of this pick is Andre Iguodala.  Iggy was a more polished prospect.  He was a star as a sophomore at Arizona and he was a more explosive athlete and better ball handler, including passer.  But he wasn't as good as a Freshman as Brown was, and I think that's important to consider.  And there are a lot of similarities between them, including body type and the cerebral, all-around style of play they share.

 

Iggy is one of my favorite players and he's the type of guy that you win with.  If Brown can become that type of player, I will be totally satisfied with this pick.  I'm actually optimistic about this player.  He brings some stuff to the table that Otto and Kelly lack.  He's tougher and more aggressive than Otto and he's a lot smarter than Kelly.

[SuperBash]

[justice98]

Even if they trade Gortat, there's no real reason to expect next year to be any different than this one with the roster makeup. Barely over .500 record, first round exit.  

[StillUnknown]

19 minutes ago, justice98 said:

Even if they trade Gortat, there's no real reason to expect next year to be any different than this one with the roster makeup. Barely over .500 record, first round exit.  

 

and that would be enough to justify another extension

[Going Commando]

15 minutes ago, justice98 said:

Even if they trade Gortat, there's no real reason to expect next year to be any different than this one with the roster makeup. Barely over .500 record, first round exit.  

 

Depends on whether or not John stays healthy IMO.  Last year was a lost season.  They puttered around .500 without John.  Then they matched up with the one seed in the first round and Otto got hurt and was significantly diminished until he was eventually shut down.

 

It was a **** season where we had awful injury luck and there were chemistry problems in the locker room.

 

We're thin in critical areas and yes, we really really need some fresh legs at center.  We need somebody who is hungry and can play with some vigor.  But we've got good talent on the perimeter.  If John, Brad, and Otto stay healthy, then we should be much better next season.  Moving Gortat will help solve some of the chemical issues because I don't think he's buying in any more.

 

I also wouldn't rule out the team making a drastic change.  Drafting Troy Brown makes it a lot easier for the team to trade Otto.  And DeMarcus Cousins is just sitting there in free agency.  I'm not saying I want us to go down this path, but I could certainly see us doing it.

[SuperBash]

Have they gone after any undrafted free agents yet?

[Going Commando]

52 minutes ago, Fight4RGIII said:

Ron Swanson meme

 

I've been watching Brown cut ups and highlight videos and to me it looks like Brown is a big 2 and that he'll start out his career backing up Beal.  He's a ball handler who pushes it in transition, drives and kicks, triggers pick and rolls, and attacks the rim in traffic looking to finish.  He's more like Beal than he is like Kelly and Otto.  They are much more traditional three and D small forwards whereas Brown seems to play more like a traditional off guard.

 

I see him as a strong bodied 2 who will probably slide in between Sato and Oubre and play most of his minutes at that position.

 

As far as the criticism of his shot goes, catching and shooting threes is one of the few things where a player can massively improve once they hit the NBA.  For comparison, Otto Porter was another guy who got converted to the wing relatively late in his basketball career as he played center growing up.  He shot .226 from three as a college freshman, and he really didn't have NBA three point range when he got to the league.  But within three seasons he became one of the best catch and shooters in the NBA.

 

Brown is young for his class, like Otto was, and he grew up playing on the ball as a point guard.  His off ball catch and shoot game is less developed.  But he can get a lot better.  I don't think he'll shoot as well as Otto does now, Otto's stroke looked good in college, it was just a matter of extending his range.  But Brown has a good pull up jumper game and I think he can clean up his stroke on the catch and become a confident shooter.

 

And shooting isn't everything when it comes to wings.  IMO passing, ball handling ability, and defense are undervalued now, but they are keys to playing winning basketball.  Nick Young is a vastly better shooter than Andre Iguodala, but he's absolute trash compared to Iggy.  Brown has a strong foundation of good traits.

[Going Commando]

I know it's disappointing to not take the highly regarded big, and then seeing him fall to Boston on top of that.  But I think you guys are going to end up really liking Troy Brown.  I love his well-rounded, team-ball style.  He reminds me of one of my favorite players in Iguodala, and he's a natural fit for the way the game is played today.  Guys like him and Satoransky are necessary glue players that get "everybody eats" to work.

[SuperBash]

All jokes aside, I think the pick will end up just fine. You can never have too many wings and a lot of our wings are assets now for possible trades.

 

I’ll be really disappointed if nothing happens with the PF/C situation on this team. The next few weeks will be interesting.

[justice98]

25 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

Depends on whether or not John stays healthy IMO.  Last year was a lost season.  They puttered around .500 without John.  Then they matched up with the one seed in the first round and Otto got hurt and was significantly diminished until he was eventually shut down.

 

It was a **** season where we had awful injury luck and there were chemistry problems in the locker room.

 

We're thin in critical areas and yes, we really really need some fresh legs at center.  We need somebody who is hungry and can play with some vigor.  But we've got good talent on the perimeter.  If John, Brad, and Otto stay healthy, then we should be much better next season.  Moving Gortat will help solve some of the chemical issues because I don't think he's buying in any more.

 

I also wouldn't rule out the team making a drastic change.  Drafting Troy Brown makes it a lot easier for the team to trade Otto.  And DeMarcus Cousins is just sitting there in free agency.  I'm not saying I want us to go down this path, but I could certainly see us doing it.

 

This team maxed out at 49 wins in '16-'17 when John was healthy.  I dont see where the improvement is to get to, say, 50-55.  I'm not really sure who they're jumping in the East. CLE, Milwaukee perhaps.  It's not a big list.

 

Oubre and Sato are better, but Gortat is worse and will be gone with no obvious upgrade, Mike Scott may be gone, it's basically a wash unless something drastic happens.

[Going Commando]

2 minutes ago, Fight4RGIII said:

I’ll be really disappointed if nothing happens with the PF/C situation on this team. The next few weeks will be interesting.

 

We need legit finishers inside.  We've got so much perimeter talent, our roster is just begging for a guy like Robert Williams who is a ferocious rim protector and inside finisher.  All they have to be able to do on offense is screen and roll and then get up above the rim and finish.  We're now two deep at every other position and have the floor spacers at both forward spots on both lines.  We just need a 5 man who isn't completely broken down and soft.  We got that from Mahinmi about once every seven games, and when it happened, everything just worked.  We need someone who gives you 9 and 9 & 2 and plays within himself and does his friggin job on defense.

 

We're paying 35 million a year for garbage center play and that is by far the biggest reason why we underachieve every year.

[Going Commando]

3 minutes ago, justice98 said:

Oubre and Sato are better, but Gortat is worse and will be gone with no obvious upgrade, Mike Scott may be gone, it's basically a wash unless something drastic happens.

 

It's true that Gortat fell off a cliff and we don't have any obvious upgrade for him.  But don't sleep on how impactful the emergence of Sato and Oubre was for us.  I honestly don't know if we stay at .500 and make the playoffs last season if not for that.  They're going to keep getting better too.  Mike Scott played really well for us last season and it would be a shame to lose him, but he's also a pretty replaceable guy.  Undersized gunner 4 who doesn't rebound or defend well and doesn't make his teammates better.  It wouldn't be the worst thing for us if he walked.  But I would also try and keep him if we can because he's found a home here and been successful.

 

The bench generally looked like it was fixed last season, it was the games lost from John and some of the other starters that really depressed our record.  If we can get the kind of health we had in '16-'17 from John and Brad plus the quality bench play we had this season, then they should be better than they were in '16-'17 next year.

 

But I do think something drastic might happen.  John's grumbling about the big man situation is going to force our hands IMO. 

 

Regardless, whether or not we're better next season is mostly going to come down to the health of John and Brad.  I don't think John's peaked at all, and I don't think the basketball world has any clue about how good he really is.  A healthy John can carry us pretty far.

[Going Commando]

My issue with DeMarcus Cousins is that he doesn't play team ball.  He takes a ton of stupid shots.  He's a willing passer who makes some spectacular passes but he's a turnover machine who is just way too careless.  You can't survive 5 turnovers a game from your friggin center.  And he quits on defense.  When he's locked in he's a force of nature but he will absolutely kill you if he's mad and doesn't feel like playing team ball that night.

 

He's just got a ****ty, childish attitude.  And on top of those issues, he's not healthy.  An Achilles rupture at 6'11 and 300 pounds is no joke.  I've never heard of anyone that size coming back from that injury and being good again.  If we get Cousins, you know we're not getting the 25 and 12 player he used to be.  We will probably get the soft, barely walking version of him who averages 19 PPG on 44 % shooting with like 8 RPG and a ton of turnovers and blown defensive assignments.

 

We need a young center who has some spring in his legs.  Someone fresh.  Someone who will do the dirty work to rebound and protect the rim and who has the vigor to finish hard over an opposing defender.

[StillUnknown]

Without a trade, its hard to see how Brown makes sense on a team that needs help now. 

 

In a vacuum, Brown has traits that seem like he'll be a solid role player down the line, but its not much immediate help and does little to fix the more immediate holes on the team. He seems like a better version of Satoransky, which would be fine if we didn't have a coach who looked for reasons not to play Satoransky

 

i'll probably talk myself into the pick by later today because what the **** else am I supposed to do, but this reeks of more of the same from our visionless leadership

[Bozo the kKklown]

[Going Commando]

My hope is that you can make enough "good in a vacuum" moves to eventually have the pieces fall into place and become good.  It's kind of what Toronto and Boston have been doing for a while.  Boston's position-less philosophy seems to be the cutting edge model.  If we can move to a more position-less style of play where we don't rely on the two-big line up, then Brown makes a lot more sense in the scheme of the current team.

 

I want a big though.  I want us to have a Clint Capela type player at the five.  Having a big like that pushes a team that is otherwise built around guards and wings over the top.