Posts in month: May, 2008

Round 4 of the 07-08 Wizards player evaluations……(the previous entries are: Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov & Dominic McGuire). My thoughts are below, be sure and head to Bullets Forever for complete coverage from the Pradamaster and JakeTheSnake.

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Some call Nick Young The City, but he’ll always be the Bean Burrito to me……and to him I suppose since Nick gave himself that AKA. It seems like I got on the kid like a disappointed father many times this year….but in the end, just like dad, I gotta like him.

The Good: Nick Young has that mid-range step back J that can be NBA-dangerous, and he’s very fluid in his motions. While his handles are nice, he seemed to rely on his cross-over as the first option too much. We know Young can slam it on some fools and some crybabies. (Sidebar: How about the guy saying “very athletic” at the end of the slam on LeBron YouTube? Sounds like who black comedians impersonate when they do their white guy voice.) While tied with Blatche for 8th on the team in average ppg, Nick was 4th among Wizards in points per 40 minutes. March was by far Young’s best month (10.6 ppg, 2.1 reb, 51.9 fg%, 50% 3p%), so he clearly gained offensive confidence towards the end of the season.

The Bad: Nick Young is not very strong….but what would you expect from a lengthy rookie? Still, to take advantage of his mid-range game, he’s going to have to learn to move better off the ball, and that requires strength to get separation. Nick never really showed the intensity to be a constant mover, a la Rip Hamilton. But maybe he is not that type of player (also the Reggie Miller mold)…..So, if Young’s not distracting the defense with movement, he’s got to be creating for others, right? No, not really (just check Nick Young’s assist rating (9.1), terrible [knickerblogger.net]). To be a player in this league, you can’t just score buckets. As a guard, you also need the ability to get your teammates the ball, especially in Eddie Jordan’s offense……else you’ll just be another JR Rider or Harold Miner (yes, I realize a criminal and a recluse are horrible comparisons, and I am sorry for that).

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Phil Jackson…..you sly dog, you.

Did you see it? Phil’s moment at the end of the 3rd quarter of game 5 against the Spurs? I love NBA mic’d up and the required between quarter interviews.

Fresh off pleading his “case” to Steve Javie, Phil turned to chat with TNT’s Craig Sager. Sager asked Phil about his talk with Javie (most think it’s spelled ‘Javy’, and NBA Draft.net thinks he looks like Martha Plimpton)….Phil exclaimed that the refs gave Kurt Thomas an extra FT. Thomas made a bucket, was fouled, and sent to the line for an And1 opportunity with just under a minute left in the third. Phil said he wasn’t paying attention, making a sub, and that Kurt Thomas missed his initial FT attempt, but then was given a second, which he made.

Marv Albert and Doug Collins did a double-take……and checked the replay. No dice Zen Master, didn’t happen. But did Phil Jackson really believe that Kurt Thomas shot an extra free-throw?

We are all aware of Coach Jackson’s mind games, on and off the court, with referees, opponents, the media, and even his own players (in a homeless man’s Clockwork Orange kind of way). He’s already called the Zen Master, now I’m adding the title of Minister of Mental Trickery (in a Saddam Hussein era Iraqi Minister kind of way - they had a ton of those guys)…..and maybe Jedi should be added to the moniker list as well.

I must admit that I might be suffering from ‘boy who cried wolf’ syndrome, as it’s to the point where I simply assume that everything that comes out of Phil Jackson’s mouth is some sort of trickery, or at least serving a purpose.

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Round three of the Wizards 07-08 player evaluations is on. Bullets Forever is the head honcho on this whole thing, so be sure and check out the thoughts of the Pradamaster and JakeTheSnake on Dominic McGuire (as well as my thoughts….which are also below).

Previous Entries: Etan Thomas, Oleksiy Pecherov
Up Next: Nick Young

Dominic McGuire….Code Name: The Cleaner. I really liked this kid’s energy coming off the bench. He always seemed ready to contribute with his full effort, while learning on the job. I didn’t watch all of his goof-around videos with Nick Young, but every observation of McGuire on the court led me to believe that he’s a mature, composed guy, ready to be coached.

The Cleaner earned his moniker by doing just that…..cleaning the glass for rebounds. McGuire really amazed me at times with his ability to sky for the ball in traffic….something he’ll be able to do with more authority once he adds some NBA strength. Dominic leaves a ton to be desired on offense, and his turnover rate is horrible (20.3), but his handles are adequate and hopefully hard off-season work with Dave Hopla will lead to an improved jumper….a lot of work (38.3 eFG% and 43.8 FT% in 07-08).

McGuire transferred from Cal to Fresno State after the 04-05 season. Draft Express has relayed that there were some “minor off the court rumblings” in terms of maturity level from his days in Berkley. Other reports say that it was Ben Braun’s “system” which led to D-Mac’s departure. Still, more say that with blue-chip recruit Leon Powe joining the Golden Bears, the writing in regard to McGuire’s dwindling playing time was the wall. Research on further fodder became too meticulous. Regardless, I think Ernie Grunfeld got himself a helluva steal by taking McGuire with the 47th pick.

D-Mac has been compared to several NBA players: Andrei Kirilenko (CBS Sportsline); Trevor Ariza (NBADraft.net); to Danny Granger [best case] and Rolando Balkman [worst case] (Draft Express). I once considered the possibility that D-Mac could be the next Shawn Marion…I’m not so sure now as D-Mac needs to be able to stay with small forwards/big guards on D, along with the ability to knock down the trey, to meet the Marion comparison (along with that of Danny Granger). The defensive part is attainable…..in regards to a jumper, I’d be ecstatic if Dominic McGuire could develop a similar shot to Darius Songaila. Keep an eye on The Cleaner in the summer league.

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Yesterday, Dan Steinberg had a post entitled Gilbert’s Magnets on the DC Sports Bog. Essentially, Steinberg pointed out the fact that our friend Agent Zero is peddling some magnets in his official web store. One has a (perhaps altered) quote from Gilbert’s blog. Another has cut-outs with Arenas sayings such as ‘Hibachi’ (actually a Brendan Haywood saying), and ‘Quality Shot.’

All of this made me ponder…..Gilbert has so many other potential-filled quotes and comments, just from 2008. Perhaps I can offer some additional product design suggestions…..for magnets, t-shirts, plastic cups, collector’s plates from the Franklin Mint…whatever. So here goes:

Item #1 – Saved by Young Jeezy

From Gilbert Arenas’ blog [March 25, 2008]
“It was just me and my car … speeding — something that I shouldn’t be doing. Then I got that thought that I know everybody gets once in a while, I was like, “You know, what if I just ran my car into this pole right here?” I don’t know why I thought that, but I kept going with it. “Then I can jump off the road into this lake and just swim … or drown. Whichever one comes first.” It was really devastating. I was thinking, “Mannn, again?!” But I listened to Young Jeezy’s verse in “They Know” to get me past those bad thoughts … plus, I’m sane. I’m a sane person, I wouldn’t do that to myself.

Wow…..must be a special song, huh? You can check the lyrics to Shawty Lo’s They Know (featuring Young Jeezy) here…..in addition to the YouTube linked in Gilbert’s quote.

What words of salvation….maybe it’s this line that saved Agent Zero from himself: I’m in my cool whip insides jello; Hop up out that pretty muthaf*cka like hello.

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The 2007-2008 Washington Wizards player evaluations have begun on Bullets Forever. Second up to bat, Oleksiy Pecherov. My thoughts are below…..be sure and check out those of Prada and Jake the Snake as well.

Good ol’ Oleksiy Pecherov……the fun-loving Euro cut-up whom many have compared to Stewie from Family Guy. Personally, I like to think of O-Pech as the Ukrainian Balki Bartokomous…..a much more fitting, obliviously foolish, type of character than Stewie (although O-Pech and the youngest Griffin do favor each other in looks).

I think a player with Pecherov’s skills is necessary for the Wizards offensive style. You need a big man who can spread the floor and nail the long jumper off a pick-and-pop. Songaila currently fills this need, but Pecherov has more range.

I know many have clamored for Pecherov to get more time, sacrificing Songaila’s minutes…….let’s just calm down on that thought – or as Balki would say, “Don’t be ridiculous!” I admire Oleksiy’s lack of jump shot conscience, as killer instinct is always wanted. I also have been pleased with his aggression and desire in terms of rebounding.

However, as much as people talk about those who contribute positive intangibles which do not show up in the box score, there are those who bring unseen negative intangibles to the table. Right now, Pecherov lacks the strength to secure defensive rebounds, the lateral quickness to on-ball defend his man, and the basketball IQ to limit turnovers and make intelligent contributions to the system…..among other adverse traits.

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The 2007-2008 season Washington Wizards player evaluations have begun on Bullets Forever. First up to bat, Etan Thomas. My thoughts are below…..be sure and check out those of Prada and Jake the Snake as well.


Etan Thomas’ future is about as unpredictable as tagging along with Pac Man Jones for a night out on the town. The big question mark surrounds The Poet’s heart….and in this case, no news is not necessarily good news. He tried to come back in mid-February, sported a chest protector, got hit in practice……and the next thing we know, the season is over and the word from Grunfeld is that Etan will make a full recovery by training camp. Not so says CBS Sportsline where Etan is listed as “questionable” for the 08-09 training camp (of course, that was last updated on 5/3). Basketball-Reference.com has taken the liberty of un-bolding Etan’s name (even Penny Hardaway’s name is bolded…ok, he played 14 games in Nov. and two in Dec.). What does this all mean? It means that Thomas coming back healthy is one thing, coming back as a contributor is another.

Etan Thomas does not first come to mind when you think of painted area defensive stopper, but maybe he doesn’t have to be. Memory serves me that Etan is more agile than Brendan Haywood. Thus, in the Wizards match-up zone, Thomas has the potential to better play the passing lanes and defend the pick and roll. Etan is not going to match Haywood’s output when the Wizards have the ball, as his Usage% has dropped in recent years…..(while his D-rating has increased ). If all systems are go in Europe in October , the Wizards would most importantly need Etan Thomas to be dominant on the defensive boards (which is easier to do in a match-up zone than a regular zone), contend for offensive boards, and keep track of his assignments on D.

Outlook: I’d rather Etan be the throw-in on an ingenious Ernie Grunfeld trade than depend on him to fill championship needs in 08-09.

Up Next: Oleksiy Pecherov Read more »

The precursor to this post, ‘Washington Wizards Defense: is there any good news?’ statistically assessed whether or not the Wizards defense really improved in 2007-2008. Many per game statistical changes from year to year hinge on game pace, the average number of offensive and defensive possessions. According to KnickerBlogger.net, in 06-07, the Wizards ranked 5th in the NBA in pace at 92.9 total possessions per game. In 07-08, the Wizards dropped to 26th with 88.3. The previous post outlined that the slowed down pace was not significantly affected by improved defense.
So it had to be the offense, right?

We all know that Antonio Daniels, as admirable as his job at the point was with Gilbert Arenas out, isn’t made for the transition game. He’s not enough of an offensive threat to get teams focusing on him…..leading to open teammates and increased ball movement. Let me illustrate:

As goes the theory with defense, the earlier an attempt occurs in the shot clock, the better the Wizards shoot. The numbers below from 82games.com illustrate the averages for offensive shot clock usage during Eddie Jordan’s 5-year tenure at the helm.

>> Shot clock time elapsed: Wizards eFG%

0-10 seconds: 0.531
11-15 seconds: 0.453
16-20 seconds: 0.448
21+ seconds: 0.413

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Avidly watching (and blogging) the Wizards this past season, I came to the conclusion that while meaningfully improved, team defense still had a long way to go, especially in terms of guarding the perimeter. Since the end of the 07-08 season, there have been differing opinions on whether the Wizards defense had really improved from 06-07.

First came the Washington Times Wizards beat writer, Mike Jones, citing a “dramatic transformation” resulting from the debut of Randy Ayers’ defensive philosophy. Jones’ main statistical argument was that the Wizards went from allowing a league worst 104.9 points per game in 06-07 to 99.2 ppg in 07-08, 12th in the NBA. Mike Jones also pointed out that the Wizards went from getting out-rebounded by 1.8 boards per game to having the edge over opponents by 0.4 rpg.

Kevin Broom, in a polite counter-point on RealGM.com, concluded that the theory of Wizards defensive improvement was a fallacy. Broom was correct to write that per game statistics should not be used as a true indicator of improvement as game pace (the average offensive and defensive possessions) helps to tell the true story. In 06-07, the Wizards played at the 5th fastest pace in the NBA. In 07-08, Washington was the 4th slowest. As Kevin Broom puts it:

What happens if this season’s Wizards played at the same pace as last season’s? Their points allowed per game would rise from 99.2 to 104.3. In other words, this “improved” defense that Jones and mainstream media are celebrating is in reality an “improvement” of just 0.6 points per game.

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There’s been a couple comments on this blog and on Bullets Forever pertaining to the Wizards attempting to acquire Elton Brand, who has the choice to opt of the last year of his contract just like Gilbert Arenas. Well, let’s explore some hypothetical scenarios.

The first question you must ask is will Elton Brand even opt-out. He’s been quoted in the papers that he is thinking “more and more about his future,” and that “if negotiations go right between the team and David Falk, his agent, that he will return. If so, it will probably be under a new contract.”

Brand knows another injury could be just around the corner and wants to secure his financial future. He also knows that at the age of 29, he’s still a hot commodity. Sounds like a guy who wants to opt-out and get a fat 6-year contract to me. If Brand decides not to opt-out, he stays with the Clippers for 1-year at $16,440,000 million.

It’s also worth mentioning Corey Maggette, as he could also come into play. He’s more likely to opt-out as he’s desperate to get paid and feels he’s worth more than the $7 milli he would get next year. Maggette has also had issues with Mike Dunleavy, citing lack of defense. But Dunleavy has gone on record saying that he wants Maggette back.

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LeBron James’ words to his mother: “Sit yo ass down.” Sure, she didn’t have to be as involved in a LeBron-Paul Pierce off-the-court, wrap-up-foul scrum. And of course LeBron was in the heat of the moment. Still, he barked at Gloria with the command of a bread-winner. The thing is, any mom might have been concerned and up in the mix, but not any son would tell her to sit her ass down (perhaps moms was simply under the influence). Even K.G. was like, “Hey man, you can’t be talkin’ yo mama like that.”

Back to the baby who needs to be put in the corner.

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