Jump to content
Washington Football Team Logo
Extremeskins

The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc


BRAVEONAWARPATH

Recommended Posts

I'm a believer in Whiteside's game. For the right coach, and on the right team, I think he could win a DPOY. There is a reason the guys who win it always play for great teams that have a bunch of other excellent defenders on it. He's a good enough individual defender to do it should he find the right situation. The reason I like him over Gortat for us (even though Gortat's consistency and his mastery of the PnR game have a lot of quiet value for our roster) is because Whiteside is such a better rim protector. Gortat is pretty average, he's not covering up for the defensive failings of his teammates. Gortat necessitates finding a back up C who is a shot blocker so we can add that element to our rotation. Whiteside would let us get by with anyone as a back up C. We'd be fine with a Zaza Pachulia.

But damned if the thought of committing max money to him doesn't make your sphincter clench up real right. Can there just once be a high end big man hit the market who 1.) isn't crazy, or 2.) doesn't immediately get snapped up by a team like the Spurs?

I have literally heard nothing about Whiteside's preferred destinations if he leaves Miami. Who is in the running for him? I doubt he's even considered DC at this point, but if we make our pitch, I think he'd listen.

Re: Sato,

Yeah I think that'd be big if we got him to come over. I think Scotty would play him. He and Oubre would be seventh and eighth men. They'd be playing quite a bit of minutes because Beal is going to miss games and Otto will play some PF.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

need to see what the terms would look like on Sato's contract before I judge. To be ok with it, you have to be comfortable with Ernie Grunfeld paying good money to an Ernie Grunfeld 2nd round pick.

 

 

too many ernie grunfeld's in that equation for my liking

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why is Sato worried about the backup point guard if he's 6-7? This team hasn't had a consistent backup SG since Webster got injured and SF hasn't exactly been settled. He could have been playing 30 minutes a night for the last two seasons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why is Sato worried about the backup point guard if he's 6-7? This team hasn't had a consistent backup SG since Webster got injured and SF hasn't exactly been settled. He could have been playing 30 minutes a night for the last two seasons.

 

Sato seem to have a hefty sense of entitlement to him. I guess he thinks that he can leverage the fact he enjoys Spain with the fact that Grunfeld is an idiot to get more dollars and more defined role.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sato seem to have a hefty sense of entitlement to him. I guess he thinks that he can leverage the fact he enjoys Spain with the fact that Grunfeld is an idiot to get more dollars and more defined role.

 

Agreed.  This guy has a hell of an ego on him for a 2nd round pick.  I'm not sure I trust a guy that is only willing to come to the NBA on his own terms being that most will scratch and claw their way into the league any way they can.  They believe in themselves and their ability to climb a depth chart, Sato needing guaranteed money and less competition doesn't really inspire confidence. 

 

And he's being rewarded for all this because, like you say, Ernie is idiot and every agent on the planet knows it.   

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why is Sato worried about the backup point guard if he's 6-7? This team hasn't had a consistent backup SG since Webster got injured and SF hasn't exactly been settled. He could have been playing 30 minutes a night for the last two seasons.

The Wizards envision him as Wall's backup.

Edited by BRAVEONAWARPATH
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sato can keep his ass in Spain with all of that drama. You're either joining the team or you're not. If you deserve to be a starter or compete for a certain position than prove it on the court. With Beal's health here, he's guaranteed to get major burn and significant starts. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is an all-in year. The money will fly and multi yea contracts will be had. I said earlier this year Sato would be an upgrade over Sessions, and I still believe it. His playmaking ability as a pg is better for the team than sessions iso change up. I'm still shocked that it's a possibility before our plan b is even in play.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sato is a rookie 2nd round pick. If he earns minutes at all he'll stand out as a rarity here. Declaring he'll be instantly better than a veteran like Session is bold. I wouldn't be surprised if he struggles to defend NBA point guards and shoots in the .300s. He's not much of a shooter right? That was the story long ago, not sure if he added a shot to his game.

A 6'7 Euro guarding the 1 in a point guard rich league? I'll need to see that to believe it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sato is a rookie 2nd round pick. If he earns minutes at all it's a win. Declaring he'll be instantly better than a veteran like Session is bold. I wouldn't be surprised if he struggles to defend NBA point guards and shoots in the .300s.

 

I'm intrigued by Sato, but I'm struggling to decipher why people seem so confident in him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He's a tall pg who has phenomenal athleticism, good bb smarts, and has improved each year in the second best league in the world. Morotic and others come out on fire in year one. His game is getting others involved, something sessions rarely did. Additionally this is not the Wittman redshirt freshman offense.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The excitement about Sato is because he's now the best guard prospect outside the NBA. Skin'em is right that the situation is similar to the one with Mirotic in 2014. Mirotic was a 24 year old rookie too, and he had an immediate and major role in a deep Bulls front court for Thibs, who was just as cagey about playing young players in Chicago as Randy was here. Scotty Brooks is different. He's not going to be afraid to give Sato a major role if the kid can handle it.

A lot of these new Euros are different than the old ones. They are much more acclimated to NBA culture, much more aggressive and confident. The difference between Bogdanovich, Fournier, Mirotic, Porzingis, etc. is night and day from how Vesely and Tskitishvili were.

Sato is such an aggressive player that it would be fun to see him and Oubre get run together.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Based on.....?

He doesn't need facts or anything to base his comments on. He just likes going thread to thread spouting negative comments about everything. Read the caps thread holy ****. He's "done" every 2 minutes but somehow always back posting in it.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ironically, I believe Ves has value in the nba still. Witt and company completely botched his development, killed his confidence, and scapegoated him in the end. The EG/Witt trifecta. He should have had only 2 moves on the court: slash and alleyoop. Then focused primarily on help defense and rebound tap outs, things he did quite well. Was he a starter? Nah. But a situational role player on a good team? Sure.

And I was a huge Ves antagonist. Hated him when he was here and didn't hold back on trashing the dude. I didn't realize Witt's futility when it comes to young guys at the time. Watching him neuter Otto and Seraphin ( and to a lesser extent, Oubre) opened my eyes and changed my opinion fast.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ironically, I believe Ves has value in the nba still. Witt and company completely botched his development, killed his confidence, and scapegoated him in the end. The EG/Witt trifecta. He should have had only 2 moves on the court: slash and alleyoop. Then focused primarily on help defense and rebound tap outs, things he did quite well. Was he a starter? Nah. But a situational role player on a good team? Sure.

And I was a huge Ves antagonist. Hated him when he was here and didn't hold back on trashing the dude. I didn't realize Witt's futility when it comes to young guys at the time. Watching him neuter Otto and Seraphin ( and to a lesser extent, Oubre) opened my eyes and changed my opinion fast.

 

I'll go one step further and say I hope he comes back to the Wizards. I think he would fit in as a small ball Center nicely.

 

He is a lob machine in the pick and roll (John wasn't nearly the passer then he is now and Ves wasn't exactly inspiring people to get lobs thrown his way) when he gets to play with space. He has done it in Eurobasket 2015 and with Fenehrbance (although he does play some PF for them). With his athleticism, he is faster than most bigs screening out in the high pick and roll and way taller and springier than most smaller players. He is able to use this to get balls that few athletes can, allowing him to finish at a high rate. 

 

He has shown over in Europe that his FT issues were mostly Randy and his short leash on development and not knowing what matchups to play him in. Not that he would ever be good, but he isn't Drummond bad, more like Nene :D .

 

He is a natural athlete playing out on the perimeter due to his experience playing SF in his youth (passing, cutting, defending / switching the pick and roll.. the things Humphries failed to do out in space.

 

When we were getting rocked by Atlanta in the playoffs last year because Gortat couldn't defend out in space, Vesely would have been a useful bench tool to counteract some of these issues. 

 

Here is a clip of him him hedging on the pick and roll out at the 3 pt line, then recovering to block his man at the rim off of a hockey assist pass.

 

 

This next video has a few examples of his defensive skills (chasedown / help blocks and steals), but I am going to use it to show one particular play. This play (@ 1:04) highlights the disruptive nature that his length causes on the perimeter and with his okay handles and good speed for a 5, he is able to finish the play.

 

 

It might have been shown in the video above, but if not, he also often cleaned up the glass in transition when John Wall would go 1 man fast break. People that watched a lot of 2011 Wizards basketball might remember that, but they might have tried to purge it from their memories.

 

Now I don't mean this to be a gushfest, he is very clearly a flawed player or he would have found a way to make it work in spite of the system. His primary flaws are poor defensive rebounding for a 5 and post defense.

 

The post defense deficiency can be seen in the following video vs a good nba post player:

 

 

.. But the solution is you just take him off the court vs those guys.

 

I believe that his defensive rebounding issues could be offset by a lineup that includes plus or average rebounders at our other positions.. something like Vesely/Morris/Porter/Oubre/Sato.

Edited by Weganator
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jan is never coming back here. Neither side wants that.

And I do think that Randy didn't like Vesely and never took any interest in developing him. I also think Vesely lacked a position in the NBA and did not have the skills needed to make up for that lack of natural position.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't doubt there would be some scars about the arena and possibly the fans getting behind him.

 

But in terms of situations where he would:

 

1) Likely run the type of system he requires

2) Have willing passers on the team to facilitate his offensive game (Wall, Porter, Sato?).

3) An opportunity with a dearth of big depth, needing to get younger and more athletic w/o the draft as a means to gain assets.

4?) His friend and running mate from the Czech National team.

 

Edit: 5) The opportunity for EG to do some sort of "see it wasn't such a completely horrible pick" type of redemption move. (Note: I'm not an idiot, it was a terrible, terrible pick.)

 

Probably won't happen still, but never is a strong word.

Edited by Weganator
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...