Some also call Zach, “El Toro”

{he had 19 total rebounds, 6 offensive}

The duo of Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol were too much for the Wizards to handle. They combined for 43 points and 30 rebounds.

Washington doesn’t have a guy who can take up space in the paint, and that hurts them on both offense and defense. Brendan Haywood has size, but is not agile. Antawn Jamison put up a good fight against Randolph the Bull, but just doesn’t have the size.

The Wizards are missing a dependable post player who can play with his back to the basket and pass (think the Kevin Garnett Flip had in Minnesota or the Rasheed Wallace he had in Detroit).

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Wizards player evaluations for ‘08-09 continue, up fourth is Javaris Crittenton. My thoughts are below, you can check on the full report on Bullets Forever.

[Previously: Oleksiy Pecherov | Juan Dixon | Etan Thomas]

I really like the move Ernie Grunfeld made to get Javaris Crittenton, even if he doesn’t pan out. GM Gruns turned an over-hyped 2002 40th draft pick, who probably would have barely lasted with the Wizards, as he did with the Grizzlies, into a still developing/promising young point guard taken 19th in the ’07 draft.*

It’s funny, because I think the Wizards need a long distance shooter like Juan Carlos Navarro aka “La Bomba”. And JCN did hit just under two treys per game en route to making the ’07-08 NBA All-Rookie second team, but got those attempting 5.3 in just under 26 minutes per game. So it’s probably good that the Wiz opted out of a gunner who can’t really play defense. Not playing D should only be reserved for starters like Arenas, Jamison and Butler.

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If you like John Hollinger’s vaunted PER rating, you might believe that 2007-08 was the best season of Brendan Haywood’s career, his 7th in the NBA. Haywood’s PER rating 0f 18.3 was 1.1 points higher than his previous career best of 17.2, achieved his third season in the league, and 23.6% higher than the average PER (14.8) in his first six seasons.

It’s been my opinion that last season was a “breakout” year for Haywood, not only statistically speaking, but also in terms of maturity level. He and Eddie Jordan, also aided by the diplomacy of Randy Ayers, were able to bury the hatchet of past disputes, and Haywood showed up ready to play.

It’s also been my opinion that in previous seasons, Haywood has been a big ol’ softie. He earned the moniker “Brenda” and many shared the same qualitative observation. Since, I’ve stopped referring to Haywood as “Brenda” and have blogged a letter of apology in my ’07-’08 player evaluation of him.

However, some have contested that Haywood, statistically speaking, was good the whole time, and that his production was seemingly low because he didn’t get enough minutes, and Eddie Jordan was being a big ol’ meanie. Sorry, I can’t help but be facetious here … reason being, I’ve been in a semi-spirited discussion at Bullets Forever with the Pradamaster and Rook6980 over this very subject. I’m of the opinion that a man, and not necessarily the coach, controls his own destiny. I’ve also always thought Eddie Jordan to be a fair individual, and compliant EEOC style.

Part of the issue is with the definition of ‘breakout‘. Statistically speaking, and Prada and Rook have made a good arguments with cited numbers, perhaps the difference between Haywood last year and Haywood before is not huge.

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