Posts for category ‘juan dixon’

(flickr/coolgates)

There was a mini-spike in Randy Foye news last week. On Monday, after watching a video about Foye on NBA.com, I wondered if he could be ‘the’ difference maker.

On Wednesday, the WaPost’s Michael Lee put together a nice piece on Foye off his notes from a previous meeting. Here, we learned of a potential style conflict between Foye and former T-Wolves head coach, current Wizards assistant, Randy Wittman. Lee also related something Kevin McHale once told Foye before a matchup against Dwyane Wade, “Anything he can do, you can do.” Foye battled and finished with 29 points to Wade’s 31. The game came down to a last second foul call that Foye did not get … Wade probably would have.

Predating Wade-Foye comparisons, looking back into John Hollinger’s vault, we find Foye associated with Vinny Del Negro. Before he was drafted in ’06, ESPN compared Foye to Ben Gordon, while NBADraft.net to Chauncey Billups. But it was DraftExpress FTL … in their ‘best’ case, Randy Foye is Mike James; worst case, Juan Dixon. Yuck.

Clearly it’s time to use historical record to compare Foye. Here are the requirements that I plugged into Basketball-Reference.com:

Looking for a season in which a player was: Read more »

Player evaluations for ’08-09 are in full effect, up second is Juan Dixon. My thoughts are below, you can check on the full report on Bullets Forever.

[Previously: Oleksiy Pecherov]

Juan Dixon seemingly fell into the right opportunity last year … well, for him, not the Wizards. Gilbert Arenas goes down and signing Dixon, local kid made good via prevailing under abysmal childhood circumstances and a Maryland Terrapins national championship, seemed the perfect fit.

Dixon knew the system, having previously played for the Wiz under Eddie Jordan, and would presumably provide the same veteran guard skills and bench scoring punch that was vacated by Roger Mason, Jr. (or not really).

Unfortunately, so went the season, so went Dixon’s recognizable contributions to the team. His play, when it saw the court, was inconsistent, and his lack of veteran poise drew the ire of many on Bullets Forever, especially after an embarrassing five turnover effort in a late season loss against Toronto. What did we expect from the guy? Well, we kind of expected better.

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The Wizards beat an inferior Timberwolves squad, 110-99, Minny’s 10th loss in a row, thanks to veteran swag and strong contributions from the mostly youthful bench.

The four oldest players available (Jamison – 32, Dixon – 30, Songaila – 30, and Butler – 28) combined to score 81 points, 73.6% of the total.

But that doesn’t take away from what Blatche, McGee, Crittenton, Young and McGuire contributed in the win. In fact, Young and McGee led the team in +/-, both finishing +11.

The Wizards bench outscored the Wolves bench 26-16 and also contributed 16 of the team’s 46 total rebounds.

Paced By A Lithuanian

Darius Songaila came out on fire…..before you knew it, he had 11 points in the first 4:34, finishing the game on 8-9 FGs and 19 points, four off his career high.

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I watched most of the Wizards game before heading out for the night. They simply didn’t entice me to stay with their lack of energy, effort, and patience/ball movement on offense. So, watching the rest of the game on Sunday, I pick the game blog up here:

5:00 left in the 3rd, the Wizards are down 13 on the road….do they have what it takes?

Well, to start off, Songaila is scrapping, in the paint on the floor, in the midst of a fray of humanity, and comes away with the ball for an assist from his back to Caron Butler for a dunk. 72-61 Bucks.

4:16: Wiz get another turnover….Butler jets down the court, goes straight under the rim, puts Charlie Bell on his back and becomes a very easy target for a pass from Mike James. 73-63 Bucks.

Mbah a Moute muscles Butler under the rim…Blatche goes to help and that leaves Gadzuric available for the put-back. 75-63 Bucks.

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Back to reality? We’ll see.

Q1

Wow, the Phillips looks emptier that the Verizon these days. The Hawks have the 4th best record in the East…..sad to say, Atlanta doesn’t deserve an NBA team.

11:45: Caron misses his assignment to protect the hoop after Songaila goes to double Joe Johnson and Horford gets an easy dunk on Atlanta’s first possession.

Hmm….long missed jumpers from Caron, bad P&R defense from Mike James….S.O.S. (Groundhog Day) – 6-1 Hawks.

9:00: Yep, it’s 9-1 when Tapscott decides to take timeout #1.

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Caron Butler is out again (I guess this is the “tanking it” that many have been calling for — you know and I know that if this game meant something, Tuff Juice would be spilling himself on the court.)

Q1

11:48: Andray v. Yao….Ming stars off with a fade away miss, Blatche played decent D on him the last time out.

11:00: Instead of staying with Battier,Young zones to Scola with the ball….Jamison is there, but could stand to be closer as Scola can shoot…..Who’s Your Daddy Battier is open in the corner for the swing pass…..three ball. 3-2 Houston.

10:46: Andray takes a college three (top of key) with 15 on the shot clock — don’t care if you’re open Andray — No, No, NO!!

9:50: Houston is letting Andray have the open 16 footer….and for good reason, he misses again.

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A couple weeks ago, Rob Mahoney of Upside and Motor released an NBA Archetype Hierarchy chart [click on the link to check out the full blog post and explanations]. Here is Rob’s actual chart:

[click here for a larger view]

So naturally, I wanted to categorize each Wizard in primary and secondary roles. But before I get to that, here’s a Rob’s chart with the archetypes the Wizards do not have grayed out (the Wiz obviously have neither an elite point guard nor a refined big man):
And now, a fancy graphic representing Wizards players and their primary and secondary archetypes:
If you don’t like graphics, here’s the listing:

1. Gilbert Arenas – Surreal Scorer; Megalomaniacal small guard
2. Andray Blatche – Question mark; Skilled, but flawed post
3. Caron Butler – Salad Bar; Renaissance man
4. Javaris Crittenton – Question mark; Scoring ‘combo guard’
5. Juan Dixon – Scoring ‘combo guard’; Chucker
6. Brendan Haywood – Interior defensive presence; Skilled, but flawed post
7. Mike James – Scoring ‘combo guard’; Chucker
8. Antawn Jamison – Renaissance Man; Locker room chemist
9. JaVale McGee – Raw, project center; Under construction
10. Dominic McGuire – Intangible role player; Wing stopper
11. Oleksiy Pecherov – Three-point shooting big; Under construction
12. Darius Songaila – Hustle Player; Intangible role player
13. DeShawn Stevenson – Chucker; wing stopper
14. Etan Thomas – Brute rebounder; Question mark
15. Nick Young – High talent, low IQ wing player; Chucker

And finally, some explanatory bullets:
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Hey…..did you guys know that the Wizards beat the Pistons [game blog on Bullets Forever]? In the midst of yesterday’s trade frenzy, I was unable to get down any thoughts on the game.

Once again, the Wiz had to claw their way back. In the first meeting with Detroit, they had to fight back just to be down 10, 31-21, at the end of the first quarter (the Wiz had been down 17 at the 3:30 mark). So, after putting themselves in a 29-14 hole after one quarter on Tuesday, you’ll have to excuse me if I wasn’t exactly confident in the ability to get a win.

But the team kept fighting, and that’s the main reason why people are saying that the Wizards are a much better team than their 4-15 record.

The Washington Post’s Ivan Carter especially noted Darius Songaila’s bucket to put the Wiz up 6 with 2:08 in the 4th as the turning point. I guess timeouts work because it wasn’t 20 seconds prior that the Pistons got three chances at the hoop, converting on the third, capping a quick 8-2 run in 2:15 to bring the Pistons within two points. But Tapscott halted play, Wes Unseld Jr. drew it up, and D-Song came to the rescue.

To withstand a final push from the Pistons and live to tell about it was huge for the psyche of the team.

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Q1

JaVale McGee starts off:

• Blocking a Gooden hook shot on help side.
• Blocking a Derrick Rose layup attempt and then Rose’s jump shot on a recovery.
• We haven’t played a minute yet.

10:37: Deng blows by Butler, slashing to the basket in transition. Caron, in my opinion, exerts a minimal amount of effort. 4-3 Bulls.

9:33: McGee closes out fast and gets a 4th block on Gooden’s jumper.

Halfway through the first quarter, the Wizards have gotten some decent looks, just not all of them are falling. The Bulls have made Washington pay in transition. At the six minute mark, the score is tied at 14 after Stevenson hits another long two near the Bulls bench……A guy with the 10th best PER on a team that is 3-15 has the gall to give Chicago’s bench a gnarly stare. Way to go DeShawn.

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If a letter from Steve Buckhantz to The Dagger can’t help the Wizards win, then nothing will.

At the end of game blog #8, I felt compelled to write this as a knee-jerk reaction:

Do I feel the same way today? The jury is still out. I certainly won’t staunchly stand by the theory that nothing matters…..of course a variety of factors add up to results. However, when it comes to the equation of Wizards and losing, I simply can’t put my finger on the root. Maybe I’m just looking to lower expectations in order to minimize disappointment. Either way, I’m at a loss. But I’ve invested a lot of time in this franchise over the years, and exponentially more in the past 14 months…..so, I’m not giving up on the team I love, neither now, nor ever.

The Buzz: Eddie Jordan’s Quote (via The Washington Post):

“This team is built for Gilbert Arenas to lead us, this team is built for our all-star forwards to do certain offensive things for us and for Brendan Haywood to have a career year manning the middle for us,” Jordan said. “We don’t have those things. You’re asking people to do things that they are not capable of doing. They are not capable of carrying the load for us like a Dwyane Wade, like a Gilbert Arenas. You’ve got young guys who aren’t going to make veteran plays night in, night out. They’re going to be good here and there, so to be in the game is a credit to everyone in our organization right now. It’s eight games into the season and you’ve got to be positive but you’ve also got to be realistic about things. That’s where we are.”

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“Nothing is missing; guys have just got to take pride in what they’re doing. I can take guys playing hard for 48 minutes and the other team finding a way to get it done, but we’ve got to have some pride. To let them play as physical as they did and outrebound us the way they did … that’s not what this team is all about…..So, nothing is missing – guys just aren’t doing it. Nothing is missing at all – and that comes not from the coaches, not from the front office. I have to get these guys to play night in and night out.” -A fuming Antawn Jamison via The Washington Times

“The truth is told out there. If you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing out there, you’ll play. . . . Everybody knows. People can see who is playing well and who isn’t.” -Caron Butler on accountability via The Washington Post

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Frustration, depression, and finger pointing are being constructed in Wizards Nation. It’s not a huge project, and it can be torn down at any minute, but right now, building losses are wasting the time of all those involved.

The veteran contractors, as quoted above, are starting to speak out in the local rags. But the quandary is who’s the focus of the ‘not pulling their weight’ accusations. The likes of Antawn Jamison are more than willing to shoulder the load of motivational responsibility…..but the reality is, you win and lose as a team.

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[photo credit: flickr/Celia Hippie]

Q1

Playing in a high school gym atmosphere tonight….Miami is worse than LA when it comes to late arriving crowds….and much worse than DC (yes, we are bad too).

Etan Thomas missed his first shot…ok, there’s my 180, bench him (kidding).

Well….the Heat have three layups on their first four baskets: Wade in transition, Beasley drive on a gamble steal attempt by Wiz, Chalmers steal and sweet dunk on Dixon. 8-2 Heat.

The Wiz have settled for a bunch of jumpers, luckily they’ve made a couple, including a quick DeShawn Stevenson trey on a long board and shot clock reset….can’t blame Stevenson too much for taking the shot that fast, he was wide open and uncontested. 10-7 Heat.

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Ok….I’m not one to throw in the towel, but I couldn’t help feeling as I watched the Wizards-Bucks game that a win would be a bonus, and not anything to expect. I don’t want to get into deep analysis on the game three loss, so here are some bulleted observations:

• Andray Blatche is getting his fair share of chances and is not taking advantage of them.

• He severely lacks blocking-out fundamentals — Somebody teach him….PLEASE!! Tony Massenburg? Wes Unseld?
• Blatche is trying to do too much — I’m not sure what needs to happen for Andray to let the game come to him.

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Bridge to Nowhere in Milwaukee? flickr/Zack K

NEW FEATURE: Andray Blatche Threat Level Color Coded Alert System.

Ok….I’m glad they’re starting Andray Blatche (Etan Thomas is out with an ankle….Michael Redd is also out for the Bucks with an ankle). I still got hope for the kid and this time, it’s hope that this elevated status, and past poor performance of course, drive him to succeed.

If I could think of the perfect two words to describe Scott Skiles, it would be ‘piss ant’

Q1

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Walter Herrmann on Fire – flickr/Vedia

Flickr tells me that the above picture is none other than Walter Herrmann….and I have to believe it. Something tells me that old school Walter Herrmann would totally have a hair-doo like Guile from Street Fighter only to go with the ‘Fabio’ look we’re graced with today.

So a guy with a pony-tail goes off on the Wizards and everyone becomes a drama queen. I mean just look at the picture….the guy is about to dunk with a ball on f-ing fire! It’s no wonder that Herrmann was hitting trey balls and finger rolls on the Wiz. For all we know, he could be the Argentinian Chuck Norris.

Plus, the dude has been through a TON in his life that not many can imagine. In July 2003, Herrmann lost his mother, younger sister, and girlfriend all in the same car crash. Exactly a year later, he had one of the best games of his career, 38 points and 11 rebounds, in leading Argentina in the South American Championships. After the game, he found out that his father had died of a heart-attack.

So, from a guy who almost quit the game of basketball, but was encouraged not to by his older sister, to starring in the NBA today. If such a game had to happen against the Wizards, then so be it.

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