The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[skinfan2k]

I picked up Kevin in fantasy and he is absolutely stud!

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

Am I the only one who saw Vesely's alley oop dunk-to-layup and 1 last night? Play of his career and I thought really showed what he's capable of athletically. He also took a few jumpers last night. Didn't make one but they we're close, it didn't look ugly and he didn't hesitate. Also had a sick block on someone. Just a nice game for him. I still have hope.

---------- Post added April-10th-2012 at 08:52 PM ----------

And lol @ anyone who thinks we shouldve went with Kemba Walker over Vesely. Not even close.

[StillUnknown]

Headed towards another victory. Monster game from Seraphin who abused Orlando in the post.

[Destino]

Please let Seraphin develop into Z-Bo and play PF. He's got that soft touch and lower body strength. He just needs to develop the most basic dribble skills and keep working that post game. (assuming we don't draft Davis or Thomas). He's undersized at the 5 but not the 4, he's ideal there.

Question why the hell didn't we have Martin and J Singleton locked up? Martin/Crawford is without question better than Young/Crawford. Singleton is far better than Blatche. Does Ernie even watch games?

It pains me to think that we went younger and dumber than we needed to because EG doesn't know how to build a actual team.

[Skins199021]

Really think Harrison Barnes and his outside game at SF is a perfect match for the team we have

So sick of Singleton

[StillUnknown]

Please let Seraphin develop into Z-Bo and play PF. He's got that soft touch and lower body strength. He just needs to develop the most basic dribble skills and keep working that post game. (assuming we don't draft Davis or Thomas). He's undersized at the 5 but not the 4, he's ideal there.

Question why the hell didn't we have Martin and J Singleton locked up? Martin/Crawford is without question better than Young/Crawford. Singleton is far better than Blatche. Does Ernie even watch games?

It pains me to think that we went younger and dumber than we needed to because EG doesn't know how to build a actual team.

It would be the ultimate irony if those late season signings contributed to Ernie being extended.

[stevemcqueen1]

Please let Seraphin develop into Z-Bo and play PF. He's got that soft touch and lower body strength. He just needs to develop the most basic dribble skills and keep working that post game. (assuming we don't draft Davis or Thomas). He's undersized at the 5 but not the 4, he's ideal there.

Keep at C so he can stay around the basket IMO. At PF, I feel like Kevin has to roam a little too much and has to shoot more jumpers than I'd like.

He's strong enough to play center. He hasn't really struggled with anyone because of a difference in length so far, and done a good job defending the likes of Bynum and Howard. He creates space with his strength and has long arms. If you're really worried about the length, pair him with a long PF.

Man, Kevin has made himself really valuable and is arguably the most promising young player on the team. I hope we lock him up long term. He's going to be so valuable if Nene misses a bunch of time because he can come in and offer quality starting play. I'm a fan of heavily rotating Centers.

You have no idea how much I'm lusting for Anthony Davis and I think he'd be the perfect PF to pair with Seraphin. I truly believe that a Davis, Seraphin, Nene, Booker, Vesely can be one of the BEST front lines in the entire NBA in a season or two. No joke. It gives us a little of everything, and each of those players are quality guys. With a front court like that, I think you can muscle out a low seed in the crappy East with almost nothing added from your back court and perimeter players if you've got a front line that runs five deep in quality. Plus Singleton can play up and defend bigs in the post from time to time.

It pains me to think that we went younger and dumber than we needed to because EG doesn't know how to build a actual team.

Yeah Ernie is just a mess. I think he should be the textbook study for how talent does not equal winning in roster construction. He's actually done a really good job acquiring talent the past two seasons in the draft and with the Hinrich and JaVale trades. But Christ if he hasn't established/prolonged a complete joke of an organizational culture. Here's hoping he just set the table well for a high quality FO to come in and take over and get this group winning.

---------- Post added April-10th-2012 at 10:19 PM ----------

According to reports, Quincy Miller is staying at Baylor.

Too bad. Smart decision for him though. He could use a year of physical maturity and has the kind of talent to work himself into a top five pick in next year's class.

Here's the list NBADraft.net: http://nbadraft.net/2012-early-entry-list

I'm not sure how reliable that is, but they seem to have most of it right at first glance.

I like Evan Fournier. Some of these Euros come into the league with some real savvy. In some ways, I think the Euroleagues can do a better job preparing guys for the NBA than the NCAA does, especially if the guy has a couple years of veterancy and played for his national team too.

---------- Post added April-10th-2012 at 10:34 PM ----------

It would be the ultimate irony if those late season signings contributed to Ernie being extended.

Don't say that. Saying it summons the demon forth. The thought of Ernie getting extended makes me really uneasy about our future and Ted's judgement as an owner.

---------- Post added April-10th-2012 at 10:50 PM ----------

Fascinating article about Shane Battier: http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/77...-espn-magazine

Excerpt:

THE HEEL OF a high-top basketball shoe, when attached to the foot of a large man and applied with force, can mimic a sledgehammer. Shane Battier's big toes, at a rate far exceeding expected odds, have found themselves on the receiving end of those pneumatic heels. Right big toe smashed one week, left big toe smashed the next. Barring the invention of steel-toed basketball shoes, the jackhammering of heel into toe in post-up situations will remain a little-known NBA occupational hazard.

Battier is an 11-year veteran in his first season with the Heat. The 6-foot-8 forward is in the throes of a post-lockout, 66-game compressed schedule, and chronic toe misery is the last thing he needs. Toenail regeneration, for the uninitiated, is both unsightly and lengthy. At the risk of taking you too far down a road you didn't choose: Trauma kills the nail, which gradually decays and blackens over the course of three weeks before falling off entirely. Then a new nail, growing at a rate of around 0.033 of a millimeter per day, eventually fills the raw and exposed nail bed. Which means, in the only terms pertinent to a basketball player, that each hammered toe is at least a five- to six-month nuisance.

Battier doesn't have time for that. There are games to play, charges to take, post-up moves to defend and the occasional spot-up three to knock down, all the while knowing the next piercing, eye-watering hammer blow is but a clumsy drop step away. Still, much as he might want to will away the existence of these savaged toes, they demand his attention. On the final Sunday in January, as Battier and the Heat prepare for a late-afternoon game against the Bulls, feet come first. He arrives at AmericanAirlines Arena roughly two hours before the game and heads immediately to the whirlpool, where he sits on the edge with his feet submerged and begins reading the scouting report for that day's game. He pays specific attention to details on his likely matchups: Ronnie Brewer, Rip Hamilton and Kyle Korver. They help take his focus off the toes. "Warming up my feet," he says. "That's where I start to get my head into game mode."

Battier's feet disappear amid the bubbles; one toenail is in its infancy, sprouting shyly from a grisly, raw nail bed that looks as if it was scooped out with a melon baller. The other is dead and black, in an advanced stage of necrosis. Inspecting it, Battier estimates two or three days will pass before it falls off. "You feel it every step," he says. "Every. Single. Step."

This diversion into the life cycle of the traumatized toenail is meant to elucidate the tribulations of a longtime NBA veteran, one known for a willingness to perform the game's more unsavory tasks, working under the unusual circumstances of a short, game-heavy schedule. Pick your statistic -- two extra games one week, three in three days, five in seven -- it all adds up to far less time for a 33-year-old body like Battier's to recover between poundings. "I knew it would be hard, but it's even worse than I imagined," he says. "There's no time for recovery, no time at all."

More at link.

Reading that gave me an appreciation for how rough the game can be for low post players. It makes me appreciate how important it is to build front court depth and have a nice rotation like I was talking about before.

My favorite part:

To be sure, he is a Heat oddball, the ultimate team guy on the ultimate individual team, the ultimate fundamental player in the ultimate flash city. He wears Peak shoes, the only NBA player to regularly wear the Chinese brand. He says things like, "Bill Russell once said, 'Hustle is skill.'"

Hustle is skill. Man I really like that. John could certainly take that kind of lesson to heart.

[Destino]

I know all about the toe nail thing. Soccer destroys your feet and yes you feel the hit. Grey cloud to black to the point where they just pop off one day. Oh joy.

Btw - "summons the demon forth"... Hilarious!

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

Too bad. Smart decision for him though. He could use a year of physical maturity and has the kind of talent to work himself into a top five pick in next year's class.

Here's the list NBADraft.net: http://nbadraft.net/2012-early-entry-list

I go through this every year so let me just get it out now, nbadraft.net is ONLY good for something like that. A factual list of players who are leaving early. To everyone. please do not post, repeat or have anything to do with any of their "scouting" reports. It's a joke of a site. Use draftexpress.com.


Anyway, to everyone, if you can, after games, listen to 106.7. Glen Consor is a clown 75% of the time but his interviews with the players far exceeds anything you get on CSN. It's great to listen to Wall and Seraphin and Co be interviewed. Really, listening to his post-game interview with Wall tonight really restored some of my faith in the guy. He's far more basketball smart than I think a lot of people realize. I think a lot of his struggles are him learning what is and isn't possible at this level. And it was great to hear him talk shooting and break down the problems with his shot is. He also flat out said, "I don't understand why Singleton and Cartier weren't on the team all year. They better be back next year." And Seraphin is just fun to listen to. He's got an Andre the Giant type of voice, a enjoyable accent and it's fun to listen to him talk about what he's working on. That's just two of the probably seven or eight guys I heard interviewed. Really recommend it.

[stevemcqueen1]

NBAdraft.net barely even qualifies as draft analysis. Their reports are just a rapid fire collection of incomplete sentences with no evidence or real analysis involved whatsoever. DX is better in every way.

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

NBAdraft.net barely even qualifies as draft analysis. Their reports are just a rapid fire collection of incomplete sentences with no evidence or real analysis involved whatsoever. DX is better in every way.

I know you know that. Sorry if that seemed directed at you. I was just putting that out there now since the draft talk is heating up and EVERY SINGLE YEAR someone posts something from nbadraft.net.

---------- Post added April-10th-2012 at 11:26 PM ----------

http://nbadraft.net/players/deshawn-stevenson

That's all anyone needs to know about nbadraft.net

[StillUnknown]

http://nbadraft.net/players/deshawn-stevenson

That's all anyone needs to know about nbadraft.net

this should never be forgotten

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

this should never be forgotten

I can't believe they haven't taken it down. That's like having your facebook profile pic being you hitting a bong and then applying for a government job and not changing it. Props for openness? I guess

[Destino]

http://swishscout.com/ has a lot of videos that aren't simply highlights and their profiles aren't simply links to news articles. I'm not saying they are good at what they do but at least they have things to read and videos to watch.

LoL at that Stevenson link.

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

It's a football draft site, but I actually like watlerfootball.com's NBA draft section. Especially their list of NBA mocks from around the web. It's one of my go to's, for links to other sites and whatnot:

http://walterfootball.com/nbadraftdata.php

Their NBA section is on the left, third group down.