The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Hersh]

I wonder if the Wiz are considering any trades using the #3 pick and expiring contracts. I don't mean for roll players, but for any all-star caliber players that might not be the happiest on their team. NO, I'm not talking about Cousins cause it's been talked about enough, but who knew Harden would be moved last year like he did.

[@DCGoldPants]

What all-star player wants to come to Washington. They need to fix the culture 1st. If you're a top tier guy and are told that Washington is interested, isn't your agent saying they don't have a coach or GM worth ****?

[Destino]

His ankles are really slender too.  He's got narrow joints which seems like an indication he will never get very big.

 

But he doesn't have to in order to get strong.  Joakim Noah is 230 for example.

 

But Noel is clearly a long way from that in that picture.

 

And his knee is really bad looking.  Yikes.  There definitely is an Odenesque vibe about Noel.  He's a big time talent, but that knee scares me.  Starting to feel like taking a big man with a knee that looks ruined is asking for trouble.  We're the Wizards.

 

 

Everything about Noel's body looks like a red flag to me, from a wizards perspective.  This team has a medical staff that the mob wouldn't use and players here don't seem to be put on any sort of training program, they are left to figure that stuff out on their own.  Knees are supported by the muscles around them.  Noel's legs are frighteningly underdeveloped and they are supporting badly damaged knees and resting on narrow ankles.  

 

If we were a team with a decent GM and a pattern of patient intelligent development of players I'd like Noel a lot more.  He's an explosive athlete with great hands and that is a combination that could turn into something special.  With the wizards though I think he'd be a walking injury disaster and gain weight his upper body like McGee did, never developing a strong base and lower body.  

[pjfootballer]

Just Say No....to Noel.

[Going Commando]

I'll get excited about Noel's talent if we pick him.  I'll just be terrified for his knee for the next five years or so.

[StillUnknown]

I don't have any faith in our franchise to properly develop Noel. For his sake and ours, I hope he gets drafted somewhere else.

[StillUnknown]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2013/06/19/john-walls-offseason-tattoos/

 

look likes Wall going the Durant approach with tattoos

[Going Commando]

Those are pretty cool.  I think it's smart to keep them out of sight to maintain a clean image.

 

It's cool that he's working with KD's shooting coach.

 

I would kill to have those two play together in DC.  Can you imagine how incredible they could be?

[Going Commando]

Can you imagine how much DC people would love KD if he played here?  Everyone loves him already, but there would be mass creaming of jeans if he played here.

 

He would have single-handedly transform the Wizards into the coolest brand in the area.  Become the most beloved DC athlete ever probably.  Saying anything bad about him would be fighting words.

 

So I'm pretty excited that Wall seems to be talking with him and trying to follow him.

[Burgold]

I don't think Durant would supplant RGIII

[Going Commando]

I don't think Durant would supplant RGIII

 

I don't know, KD is the hometown hero.  People love him here and he plays in OKC.  Plus NBA player celebrity for guys like Durant and LeBron gets bigger the celebrity in other American sports.  It's global in reach.  Like European footballers.

[nuposse87]

I can understand reservations with regards to Noel cause of the raw offensive game...I can't understand how you would dismiss him cause of his injury. I would hope those people who are against Noel realize the redskins employ a starting QB who has torn his ACL twice...and there aren't many people calling for us to trade him or anything. His ACL should be a non issue assuming he passes a physical. 

[Thinking Skins]

I can understand reservations with regards to Noel cause of the raw offensive game...I can't understand how you would dismiss him cause of his injury. I would hope those people who are against Noel realize the redskins employ a starting QB who has torn his ACL twice...and there aren't many people calling for us to trade him or anything. His ACL should be a non issue assuming he passes a physical. 

 

I don't think you can separate the two. I'd have no problem with us drafting Noel, but I can definitely understand the doubters. We're talking about a Cursed Franchise here. RG3 was a guy who everybody expected to be a dominant QB. People were talking about how he'd change the QB position because he was an athletic QB who looked to pass first, unlike most of the past. His game was never in question. His injury has only been in question as of late when he was hurt against the Ravens.

 

But also, the Skins GM has a much stronger reputation; the Skins coach has a history with QBs and two championships on his resume (where he was the head man and some others where he was an assistant) as well as an overall winning percentage above .500. Then the offensive coordinator is a guy who's had success in Houston. That's a much stronger foundation to build from than a GM and coach that may be fired at any minute and a LONG history of just making the wrong move. I'd argue that too often we haven't taken risks, but that's for another debate.

 

And like the Skins, I think the worse thing that we could do is try to rush Noel back from recovery, which a coach/GM playing for his job may try to do.

[Thinking Skins]

 

 

Everything about Noel's body looks like a red flag to me, from a wizards perspective.  This team has a medical staff that the mob wouldn't use and players here don't seem to be put on any sort of training program, they are left to figure that stuff out on their own.  Knees are supported by the muscles around them.  Noel's legs are frighteningly underdeveloped and they are supporting badly damaged knees and resting on narrow ankles.  

 

If we were a team with a decent GM and a pattern of patient intelligent development of players I'd like Noel a lot more.  He's an explosive athlete with great hands and that is a combination that could turn into something special.  With the wizards though I think he'd be a walking injury disaster and gain weight his upper body like McGee did, never developing a strong base and lower body.  

 

See, I'd defend the lack of development of some players like Booker, Seraphin, Young, McGee, Blatche, Singleton, Mack, etc. because you have to look at the clay we were working with. I mean other than McGee none of those were highly touted players. The best any of them had (has) was potential to be a high energy guy off the bench. And with McGee, we drafted him and one of the biggest question marks was his maturity. He never could shoot free throws, he never had any real inside moves. Everything about him (even defense) was potential, which is why he went mid first instead of top 5.

 

The other guys are all high character, but other than energy don't do anything well. And I don't mean this to sound like the Otto Porter critics, I mean to sound like perfect mentality for bench guys. Guys who can come in when the starters need a break. But none were known for their shooting, rebounding, dribbling, passing, getting to the line, free throws, etc. Singleton was known for his defense and I'm pretty sad that he didn't turn out like Kawhi Leonard (I remember that discussion a few years back). I mean, I had hopes for him, but very little offensively.

[CrypticVillain]

I don't think Durant would supplant RGIII

I don't know about VA, but in Maryland and DC, Kevin Durant is probably the only person that can touch RG3 as far as popularity goes.

 

I honestly don't care who the Wizards draft. Just as long as it isn't Noel. I just don't want us to have the next Greg Oden.

[nuposse87]

I don't think Durant would supplant RGIII

I don't know about VA, but in Maryland and DC, Kevin Durant is probably the only person that can touch RG3 as far as popularity goes.

 

I honestly don't care who the Wizards draft. Just as long as it isn't Noel. I just don't want us to have the next Greg Oden.

 

So you must be ok with our football franchise having a starting QB with questionable healt, right? People can't have it both ways. 

 

If Noel passes a physical there is no reason to harbor any injury concern prejudices against him. 

[Destino]

I can understand reservations with regards to Noel cause of the raw offensive game...I can't understand how you would dismiss him cause of his injury. I would hope those people who are against Noel realize the redskins employ a starting QB who has torn his ACL twice...and there aren't many people calling for us to trade him or anything. His ACL should be a non issue assuming he passes a physical. 

 

I don't think you can equate the two situations.  The one thing you don't want to do with knee injuries is twist and a basketball player is going to do that on virtually every possession on both sides of the court.  RG3 is 6-2 and weighs more than Nerlens Noel and his lower body strength is well known.  That strength is key in preventing knee injuries.  Noels legs look like two Q-tips put together and he's going to have guys far stronger and heavier looking to knock his lower body around.  That's in addition to the fact that his entire game replies on explosive leaping, which in turn leads to high impact landing.  

 

While the NFL is absolutely more violent than the NBA RG3 can do a lot more to minimize risk than an NBA center can do.  

[Destino]

I don't think Durant would supplant RGIII

I don't know about VA, but in Maryland and DC, Kevin Durant is probably the only person that can touch RG3 as far as popularity goes.

 

I honestly don't care who the Wizards draft. Just as long as it isn't Noel. I just don't want us to have the next Greg Oden.

 

it would all come down to success and the Redskins would always have the advantage.  In other words if they both went to the playoffs and lost RG3 would have the edge.  If Durant won a title here and RG3 didn't, Durant would probably be bigger.  

[CrypticVillain]

So you must be ok with our football franchise having a starting QB with questionable healt, right? People can't have it both ways.

It's different with basketball man. And you know this. RG3 isn't that tall and doesn't weigh as much as Noel. And Noel will be doing a lot more jumping, running, cutting, than RG3.

[Destino]

So you must be ok with our football franchise having a starting QB with questionable healt, right? People can't have it both ways.

It's different with basketball man. And you know this. RG3 isn't that tall and doesn't weigh as much as Noel. And Noel will be doing a lot more jumping, running, cutting, than RG3.

 

RG3 weighs more.  

[CrypticVillain]

 

So you must be ok with our football franchise having a starting QB with questionable healt, right? People can't have it both ways.

It's different with basketball man. And you know this. RG3 isn't that tall and doesn't weigh as much as Noel. And Noel will be doing a lot more jumping, running, cutting, than RG3.

 

RG3 weighs more.  

lol Man, I was thinking that, but I just knew it wasn't true.

 

But still, Playing center and Playing QB is two different styles of playing.

Edited June 20, 2013 by MLSKINS

[lovetoaster]

 

I don't think Durant would supplant RGIII

I don't know about VA, but in Maryland and DC, Kevin Durant is probably the only person that can touch RG3 as far as popularity goes.

 

I honestly don't care who the Wizards draft. Just as long as it isn't Noel. I just don't want us to have the next Greg Oden.

 

So you must be ok with our football franchise having a starting QB with questionable healt, right? People can't have it both ways. 

 

If Noel passes a physical there is no reason to harbor any injury concern prejudices against him. 

It's not like the knee is the only question about Noel. RGIII was a pretty well-known entity even before he came into the league. Yes, there were injury concerns, but there was little question about his play and his ability to lead a team. With Noel...who knows? He is a hell of an athlete, but he has a very unrefined game. He was an excellent defender in high school and for two-thirds of a season in college and I am sure that would mostly equate to the pros. But with the banging a post player takes, I don't know how well he is going to handle it.

 

His slight frame and limited offensive game concern me. Those are two concerns we did not have about RGIII coming out of college. So regardless of the differences between the two sports, Noel is still a project in many aspects, where RGIII never was.  

[Hersh]

Forget Noel's injury because the real question is how would he make the Wizards better? I don't think he does much because this team is desperately in need of efficient offensive players. Rebounding and defense weren't a big problem last year. The biggest problem is scoring. Who in the draft best fits that need for the Wiz?

[nuposse87]

I can understand reservations with regards to Noel cause of the raw offensive game...I can't understand how you would dismiss him cause of his injury. I would hope those people who are against Noel realize the redskins employ a starting QB who has torn his ACL twice...and there aren't many people calling for us to trade him or anything. His ACL should be a non issue assuming he passes a physical. 

 

I don't think you can equate the two situations.  The one thing you don't want to do with knee injuries is twist and a basketball player is going to do that on virtually every possession on both sides of the court.  RG3 is 6-2 and weighs more than Nerlens Noel and his lower body strength is well known.  That strength is key in preventing knee injuries.  Noels legs look like two Q-tips put together and he's going to have guys far stronger and heavier looking to knock his lower body around.  That's in addition to the fact that his entire game replies on explosive leaping, which in turn leads to high impact landing.  

 

While the NFL is absolutely more violent than the NBA RG3 can do a lot more to minimize risk than an NBA center can do.  

 

Noel's injury seemed to be an unfortunate landing to me, kind of a freak instance. I don't think its reasonable to assume a guy who played with the same style and played effectively for most of the college season is due for an ACL tear once a year. 

 

For the record, I'm glad we have RG III and absolutely root for him succeed but he isn't a "strong" qb, he's tough but to a fault. His style of play is conducive to building up injuries over time. If you believe RG III can make his style of play more constructive in fostering long term health I'm sure Noel will be more careful in how he leaps out of bounds. Young guys can improve their style of play. And you don't seriously think RG III would be AS effective sans his athleticism...do you? He's a good passer but lets not make him out to be top 5 or anything. 

 

Also, RG III is 23...and probably filled out as much as he's going to. Noel still has 3-4 years of development weight he can add on healthy increments. He can get stronger. I'm not buying that Noel is any more risky then RG III, if the doctors clear them both they're fine. 

So you must be ok with our football franchise having a starting QB with questionable healt, right? People can't have it both ways.

It's different with basketball man. And you know this. RG3 isn't that tall and doesn't weigh as much as Noel. And Noel will be doing a lot more jumping, running, cutting, than RG3.

 

And noel is like 19...he is going to get stronger. Just cause a guy has an ACL tear doesn't mean you completely discount his talent IF the doctors clear him. 

 

Also look at a lot of Noel's block, he isn't jumping that high IMO, he has elite blocking instincts. I think he'll be just as good defensively even when he's 30 and his leaping has left him. 

 

 

I don't think Durant would supplant RGIII

I don't know about VA, but in Maryland and DC, Kevin Durant is probably the only person that can touch RG3 as far as popularity goes.

 

I honestly don't care who the Wizards draft. Just as long as it isn't Noel. I just don't want us to have the next Greg Oden.

 

So you must be ok with our football franchise having a starting QB with questionable healt, right? People can't have it both ways. 

 

If Noel passes a physical there is no reason to harbor any injury concern prejudices against him. 

It's not like the knee is the only question about Noel. RGIII was a pretty well-known entity even before he came into the league. Yes, there were injury concerns, but there was little question about his play and his ability to lead a team. With Noel...who knows? He is a hell of an athlete, but he has a very unrefined game. He was an excellent defender in high school and for two-thirds of a season in college and I am sure that would mostly equate to the pros. But with the banging a post player takes, I don't know how well he is going to handle it.

 

His slight frame and limited offensive game concern me. Those are two concerns we did not have about RGIII coming out of college. So regardless of the differences between the two sports, Noel is still a project in many aspects, where RGIII never was.  

I never said I didn't have a problem with people saying to pass on Noel cause of his lack of offensive game...people saying to pass on him cause of his ACL tear just sounds like hypocritical bull **** to me. People also need to stop acting like he's going to weigh 218 for his entire career. He isn't freaking tyrus thomas. He's already stated that his goal is to get up to by 230 by nov/dec. 

 

Also, Anthony Davis was 220 last season...people don't have much concern there for some reason. Point is both players will fill out and develop. Noel doesn't come off as a malcontent either...I'm not so sure why it isn't reasonable to assume that someone with his pedigree will improve offensively. 

[pjfootballer]

65%, 20 TDs, only 5 INTs and 8.14 average per pass means he's a "good" passer but not top 5?  Sheesh, tough crowd.