The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[Dukes and Skins]

No offense man and please dont take it the wrong way, but comparing a 6'9 Robinson to a 7'0 Dwight Howard is wrong.

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

No offense man and please dont take it the wrong way, but comparing a 6'9 Robinson to a 7'0 Dwight Howard is wrong.

Beat me to it. I like Robinson but it's not close. Robinson is a man among boys in the NCAA. Dwight is a man among boys in the NBA. Robinson won't be that.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I don't want Davis at #1 or #2. I'd rather have Robinson and then MKG. Robinson fights. He is only 6'9" but he has a big frame. I still wonder if MKG is a biproduct of having Davis on his team.

Jesus Christ, that is idiotic.

What I found amazing about Davis were:

1. His rebounding instincts. It's one thing to be the biggest guy on the court and just grab the ball before it reaches everyone else. He always finds the ball. He's on the proper side of the rim and just engulfs it.

2. How many of his blocks led directly to fast breaks. This is a lost art in the NBA where most bigs either spike the ball or send it into the third row.

3. His basketball IQ. He really reminds me of Duncan on that end. Granted, Duncan had a far more polished offensive game when he came out, but Davis just gets basketball. (Actually, everyone on that Kentucky team gets it. I think the team's basketball IQ was higher than Calipari's - who still doesn't know how to manage a second half worth a damn.

[hunterx]

2. How many of his blocks led directly to fast breaks. This is a lost art in the NBA where most bigs either spike the ball or send it into the third row.

Although unnecessarily rude, especially considering these last few weeks on this thread in my few posts I have expressed ignorance and am trying to figure them out....Good point about the fast breaks off blocks. It also does get the fans and team energized from blocks.

Most everyone here thinks he would be a great pick, and acknowledging my lack of knowledge on that, I can't debate. I just think we need a guy down low who can score. We really haven't had that in a while. Hopefully he can learn how to put up some points, too.

[RonArtest15]

Jesus Christ, that is idiotic.

What I found amazing about Davis were:

1. His rebounding instincts. It's one thing to be the biggest guy on the court and just grab the ball before it reaches everyone else. He always finds the ball. He's on the proper side of the rim and just engulfs it.

2. How many of his blocks led directly to fast breaks. This is a lost art in the NBA where most bigs either spike the ball or send it into the third row.

3. His basketball IQ. He really reminds me of Duncan on that end. Granted, Duncan had a far more polished offensive game when he came out, but Davis just gets basketball. (Actually, everyone on that Kentucky team gets it. I think the team's basketball IQ was higher than Calipari's - who still doesn't know how to manage a second half worth a damn.

Agreed w. all 3 of your points....IMO, he reminds me more of Kevin Garnett. This guy is going to be an absolute STUD in the NBA. If the basketball Gods *cough* david stern *cough* are with us, PLEASE let the Wizards get the #1 overall!!!! Shoot, it worked for Orlando back in the day...so maybe we'll have the same luck LOL.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Agreed w. all 3 of your points....IMO, he reminds me more of Kevin Garnett.

I think he has the chance to be what Garnett became. I really don't remember Garnett's first few seasons because I was kind of out of the NBA loop for a bit and he was in the Northern Wastes. Were his defensive instincts this good out of high school? I honestly don't remember.

The one thing Garnett has that Davis does not yet have (though I think he can get it) is that jumper. Garnett was damn near automatic inside of 18 feet in his prime.

---------- Post added April-3rd-2012 at 11:20 AM ----------

I'm sorry, didn't mean to insult. I have said that I don't know much about the college players, and have really only watched them in the tournament. I see Robinson's all around game similar to Dwight Howard, and we need someone who can put up 15 points and come down with 12 boards.

A. I don't see how on earth you are comparing a 6'9 forward to a 7'1 center who happens to be a defensive savant.
B. Davis should get you 18 and 12 every night - at worse - if he just keeps on the same developmental line. And he will be a Garnett-esque force on the defensive end.

Guys like Robinson come out every year. Christ, the Jazz seem to produce them on an assembly line.

[StillUnknown]

The only thing that concerns me about Davis is that he appears to be unselfish to a fault on the offensive end.

He was ridiculously efficient in the opportunities he got on the offensive end, but never seemed to demand the ball. I realize Kentucky is a talent laden squad and its remarkable nobody seems to care about getting their touches, but I would like to see Davis more assertive on the offensive end. He doesn't seem to have the personality to demand anything on the offensive end, its like he's comfortable just taking what comes his way.

[stevemcqueen1]

I'm sorry, didn't mean to insult. I have said that I don't know much about the college players, and have really only watched them in the tournament. I see Robinson's all around game similar to Dwight Howard, and we need someone who can put up 15 points and come down with 12 boards. We have so much inconsistency with scoring and rebounding. As for MKG, I never said he feeds off Davis' Brilliance. I just don't know how he would be without another big man down low like Davis, and vice versa. Robinson seems to do it down low by himself, and looks like he takes up a lot of the paint with his long arms.

Do you want Davis if he gives you 12 PPG and 6-8 blocks a game? We can't say that those 6-8 blocks would account for 16 points, as some of those blocked shots may not have even been a score.

But, as I have said before, I don't watch college basketball except for the tournament. I also haven't watched the Wizards this year. I live in Florida and don't have the NBA TV thing this year. I look at box scores, read articles or what people post. I don't know as much as you guys who watch.

Go gentle on me, I am just here to learn more.

I didn't mean to come off harsh in my post and I apologize for the tone. I wasn't insulted at all. You'll have to try a lot harder than offering an honest opinion about a basketball player to insult me.

I see what you're saying about MKG in that there are two great players making things easier for each other. But understand that Davis is clearly the best player there, and if anyone is riding coattails, it's everyone on Kentucky riding his. He won the Naismith award and final four MVP including a game where he made only one field goal. To me that was a moment of triumph of basketball knowledge for the media voters, demonstrating they look beyond the PPG totals to assess value. I think MKG takes the offensive burden off of Davis like no one else can for TRob on Kansas. Davis doesn't have to score at all and Kentucky can beat a good team so long as he passes well and does his thing on the other end--basically what happened last night. It's all of the other stuff Davis brings to the table that Kentucky rides to wins.

I've been a huge supporter and fan of Davis since the Nike Hoops Summit game, which happened about this time last year. That was the first time I saw him in live format, and that's the first time I understood how good he was. Since then, I've never seen him in a game where he hasn't been the obvious best player on the court that's had flashes of amazingness where you're like, GD this kid is good.

But I've always thought that Davis is the kind of player whose brilliance you can't understand without watching first hand. You just can't get his defensive brilliance from thinking about it and reading about him. You have to see him with your own eyes, and then it's just obvious how much he impacts the game. But you need that live context to appreciate how many things he does throughout the course of a game to make his team win. If you get a chance, maybe download some Kentucky games from throughout the season and I guarantee you'll be impressed. There is some spectacular stuff there. If not, there are some pretty good youtube cutups from his games this season, and you can at least see the really big plays.

Tangent: does anyone else find it interesting that UNC was on the receiving end of two spectacular clutch plays from brilliant freshmen this season? The Austin Rivers 3 and the Davis block.

Anyway, 6-8 blocks per game is an unrealistically high number. 3 BPG is a really good number in the NBA and that kind of season only rarely comes around, and it's usually never more than one player in a year that can do it. Also, I think you're over thinking it in trying to convert blocks into corresponding point totals. It's less complicated than that.

If you want to think about value in terms of points, posit it as a net total in your mind. There are two fundamental ways to impact a basketball game--to score points and to keep the opponent from scoring points. Obviously, there are a lot of other important nuances--rebounding, assisting, etc., but I'm only talking about the two most basic and important things that determine the final score. Both of those things are equally impactful. But in the NBA, there are many more guys who can do the former at a high caliber than guys who can do the latter--particularly among the bigs. A big like Anthony Davis can alter 20-25% of the shots inside the arc that the opposing team takes. That number climbs drastically the closer the shot is to the rim. The easiest buckets come at and around the rim. His ability to prevent the success of those shots makes it so hard for opponents to score. And even beyond the shots he directly alters is the psychological effect he has on most opponents. They speed up their process when they know he's lurking and it throws them off mechanically so that they start missing on their own. Eventually some opponents just give up and cede the paint to him and start settling for jumpers all night, and it's at this point that they're usually doomed. They've lost their edge physically, won't wear the other team down, won't get to the line, and jump shooting teams are always streaky and live and die by the bounces they get.

Davis is giving your team so many extra possessions every game with his defensive genius that his impact on the final score of the game is tremendous even if he never scores a single basket on his own.

But he's a big time talent with some core mechanics that project a very efficient and high level offensive skill set down the line. He's got amazing hands and length, is super quick, dribbles the ball well for his size (better than Tim Duncan's comic looking open court ball handling for instance), can already pull up and shoot jumpers fairly well for his size, shoots FTs well, and has amazingly good touch around the basket. He'll eventually develop an offensive game that works for him and I could see him becoming a 16+ PPG PF down the line.

Regarding Robinson, I actually don't think you are as far off base with a Dwight Howard comparison as others have said, because TRob, like Dwight, is built like Superman and is a terrific athlete for his size with a gift for rebounding. But the point remains that TRob doesn't have Dwight's length, and he's also significantly older than Dwight was when he came into the league. Those are important differences to acknowledge in any comparison.

Dwight ain't no seven footer though. He's like 6'9 without shoes on, and isn't THAT much taller than TRob. His arms are freakishly long though, like 7'5 wingspan which gives him four inches on TRob, he carries a legit 260 pounds around like it's nothing, and is a freakishly good leaper. TRob is probably about 240 or so and his frame is ideal right now. He won't be able to carry Dwight's strength and bulk without losing quickness and conditioning. Thus, he'll never be as powerful as Dwight, and as able to bully around NBA dudes.

Also, TRob isn't likely to demonstrate the tremendous growth as a player that Dwight did when he came in as an 18/19 year old rookie to where he's at as a 26 year old powerhouse today. At TRob's age, his skillset is a lot more defined--what you see now is much more likely to be what you're going to get. I don't think he ever becomes that 22 PPG, 14 RPG monster in the NBA that Dwight is.

[Fight4RGIII]

You think Davis is scary now...wait until he puts on about 20-25 more pounds of muscle while losing no speed or explosiveness. Good God...

[stevemcqueen1]

Although unnecessarily rude, especially considering these last few weeks on this thread in my few posts I have expressed ignorance and am trying to figure them out....Good point about the fast breaks off blocks. It also does get the fans and team energized from blocks.

Most everyone here thinks he would be a great pick, and acknowledging my lack of knowledge on that, I can't debate. I just think we need a guy down low who can score. We really haven't had that in a while. Hopefully he can learn how to put up some points, too.

Nene can score down low. Don't forget about him. He's got a fantastic level of offensive polish, and on a team with few other scoring options like the Wizards, Nene can seriously be a 16 to 18 PPG scorer with his skillset.

Seraphin has also shown the seeds of a pretty good offensive game here the last several weeks.

[Destino]

The only thing that concerns me about Davis is that he appears to be unselfish to a fault on the offensive end.

He was ridiculously efficient in the opportunities he got on the offensive end, but never seemed to demand the ball. I realize Kentucky is a talent laden squad and its remarkable nobody seems to care about getting their touches, but I would like to see Davis more assertive on the offensive end. He doesn't seem to have the personality to demand anything on the offensive end, its like he's comfortable just taking what comes his way.

I think it's because he has very little individual offensive game. His scoring is mostly put backs, lobs, dunks, and the occasional shot off of a screen. Last night there were a few times when he tried to create a shot against Withey and it was ugly. Especially when you saw him getting pushed around a bit the 235 pound 7 footer.

Make no mistake about it, for Davis to succeed in the NBA offensively his strength will need to improve by a very large margin. There are thin NBA bigs but Davis is WEAK not just thin.

[stevemcqueen1]

The only thing that concerns me about Davis is that he appears to be unselfish to a fault on the offensive end.

He was ridiculously efficient in the opportunities he got on the offensive end, but never seemed to demand the ball. I realize Kentucky is a talent laden squad and its remarkable nobody seems to care about getting their touches, but I would like to see Davis more assertive on the offensive end. He doesn't seem to have the personality to demand anything on the offensive end, its like he's comfortable just taking what comes his way.

I think it's the system and the college atmosphere. Kentucky relied on unselfish play from its stars to forge ahead as a team. Davis will get more touches and opportunities (and more minutes) and the next level.

So far the only big thing about Davis that scares me is his weight. He's skinny for a college player, much less an NBA power forward. Without the ability to muscle NBA bigs out of their spots, is he going to get negated by foul trouble early in his career?

[Destino]

Although unnecessarily rude, especially considering these last few weeks on this thread in my few posts I have expressed ignorance and am trying to figure them out....Good point about the fast breaks off blocks. It also does get the fans and team energized from blocks.

Most everyone here thinks he would be a great pick, and acknowledging my lack of knowledge on that, I can't debate. I just think we need a guy down low who can score. We really haven't had that in a while. Hopefully he can learn how to put up some points, too.

It's not just a guy that can score that the Wizards need. They need a PRIMARY scoring option because John Wall hasn't shown any reason to think he will ever become that. He is incredibly limited in what he can do in the half court and that is where primary scorers have to thrive. I don't know if Davis can ever be that but you can't ignore everything else. If he gets stronger his presence on defense and on the boards will impact the scoreboard.

[Fight4RGIII]

Brandon Rush might not be a bad signing in FA. Not sure if he is restricted or unrestricted but he is a wing player whose 3 point shot has gotten a lot better. He could be reaching some of his potential over the next few years after breaking out a bit this year.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

I will join the others in saying that the only thing that can hold Davis back is his strength. But he's not Shawn Bradley. Keep in mind that he's grown about a foot in the last four years. I don't think his body has figured itself out yet (that's science!)

In a weird way, out of all the Kentucky guys, he might be best served by sticking around another year, but that's obviously silly.

Everyone was worried about Noah when he came out of Florida. He's gotten bigger and stronger every year. I think Davis will too.

And I completely disagree about him having no offensive game. The little hook shots he was hitting against Ohio State showed a lot of skill. He has a lovely little baseline jumper. He has incredible hands and finishes strong at the rim. And he's a pretty good free throw shooter.

He had some trouble with Withey last night, but Withey is a pretty damn good defensive center. How many times in his life has Davis faced a 7-footer who can actually move?