I'll be honest, I really don't how to preface this post, so let's jump past the thin candy shell and right into the ooey-gooey chocolate center of the post shall we?

WHAT THE WIZARDS WOULD BE IF THEY WERE CANDY

Gilbert Arenas = Pixy Stix: The complaints about both are the same: Very sweet, good for a quick thrill, not a whole lot of filling substance.  Yet you rarely see fans of either complain about feeling empty.

Andray Blatche = Twizzlers: Both could benefit from being a little thicker.

Dee Brown = Skittles: In the interest of full disclosure, nothing about Dee Brown's game reminds me of Skittles, but whenever I watch him, he reminds me of a hyper kid running around after eating a whole bag Skittles.

Caron Butler = Snickers: With a Snickers bar, you're getting a nice, diverse package of chocolate, nougat, peanuts, and caramel.  Caron also gives you a little bit of everything and puts it into a sweet package that everyone can enjoy.  (Not to mention, that every so often you see both wrapped in gold.  But let's not talk about the alternate jerseys right now.)

Antonio Daniels = Hershey's: Sure, there's stuff out there that might taste a little better, or have some fancier packaging, but these two give you what you're looking for every single time.

Brendan Haywood = Peanut Brittle: At first look, they both look kind of clumsy.  Brendan isn't exactly Pete Maravich and peanut brittle looks like a rejected batch of semi-processed peanut butter.  But when you get down to it, you realize that both are pretty doggone good.

Antawn Jamison = M&M's: A timeless classic.  And like Jamison's shot, you can find M&M's in just about every variety imaginable.

JaVale McGee = Bacon Bar: At first, they both sound kind of gross (Chocolate flavored bacon?  An athletic 7-footer that has 3 pt. range but struggles with rebounding?) but they're both intriguing enough to make you want to try it out at least once.

Dominic McGuire = Shock Tarts: Need I say more?

Oleksiy Pecherov = Laffy Taffy: They give you some flavor, and they're good for a chuckle.  What more could you ask for?

Darius Songaila = Twix: What? He likes things dipped in chocolate.

DeShawn Stevenson = Everlasting Gobstopper: You can try to wear them down, but you know at the end of the day that they're too durable to let something like saliva or a knee injury keep them from playing.

Etan Thomas = Gourmet Chocolate: It's a decent product, just a little more pricey than it should be.

Nick Young = Airheads: Being the youthful player that he is, Nick Young makes some decisions on the court that make you wonder what's going on in his mind.  But then you remember that one day the maturity will come and then we can stop wondering about his head and we can devote all of our focus to his air.

As the free agent forwards fly off the market, it's looking more likely that the Wizards will enter next season with Dominic McGuire as the backup small forward.  That's not to say that he's the only guy currently on the roster that can fill the role, as Andray Blatche and Antawn Jamison can play the small forward position in a pinch, but he's the natural fit.  If he could provide solid backup minutes as early as next season, it would allow Caron Butler to get much-needed rest and could allow Ernie Grunfeld the luxury of dealing someone like Darius Songaila to free up the frontcourt logjam. 

To fill the role, however, McGuire is going to have to be a lot better than he was last season.  The signs were there, but there are several areas of his game that need improvement from last year's regular season.  We identified most of them in his player evaluation, but to reiterate, here they are:

• Outside shooting, particularly spot-up shooting
• Ball-handling
• Passing
• Moving without the ball
  
• Fouling on defense
• Playing to his strengths, not his weaknesses

It sounds like a lot, but some of these things (e.g. fouling on defense, playing to his strengths) will improve over time no matter what.  He'll get fewer fouls called against him as his reputation grows, and he's already learning how to play to his strengths.  It's the other skills that need to be developed.

So with that in mind, here are some notes I took while tracking him during the game against the Rockets.  I chose this game for several reasons.  First, I think the consensus here is that McGuire had a good Summer League overall, and it's clear that his best overall game was against Houston.  Second, I wanted to see how he was getting his points and rebounds, and because he scored and rebounded well in this game, it afforded me a larger sample size.  Finally, defensively McGuire was switching between defending the burly Mike Harris and the perimeter-oriented Donte Greene.  If McGuire's ceiling is truly a Swiss Army Knife-type of defender, this was the perfect opportunity to see how he could guard different kinds of players. 

As you'll probably see, the report is mostly positive.  Keep in mind that we are talking Summer League, and this is his best game, so expectations should be tempered.  Still, we definitely saw his all-around game on full display.

We're going to organize this by skill rather than chronologically.  Like the McGee evaluation, the time codes are not exact.

Continue reading this post »

Because brevity is the key to good writing...

Andray Blatche: Looks stronger.  Played inside more.  Still struggles finishing.

Dominic McGuire: Displayed mid-range game.  Still a tiger on the glass.

Nick Young: Very concerning performance.  Lacked explosion to change speeds and finish.

Dee Brown: Pushes the ball well.  Was a bit erratic.

JaVale McGee: Very raw, but when he looks good, he looks good.

Gary Forbes: Shot poorly.  Strong defender.  Good finisher.  Bad handles.

Vladimir Veremeeko: Knows how to play.  Too small and slow for NBA.

Jonathan Wallace: Good shooter.  Deceptively quick.  More of a combo guard.

Dontaye Draper: Erratic, poor shot selection, not a Princeton PG.

Frank Elegar: Athletic, plays extremely hard.  Should have received more minutes.

Taj McCullough: Barely noticed him.

Oleksiy Pecherov: Injury meant no buckets.

39-43 - The team's expected win-loss record based on point differential if the summer league had been 82 games long.

3 - Number of Wizards that shot 50% or higher from the field (Dee Brown, Frank Elegar, Dominic McGuire).

2.4 - The average number of assists per game by Dee Brown, tying him for the highest average on the team.  Who does he share that honor with?  Andray Blatche.

44.2% - Field goal percentage for the Wizards as a team.

40.5% - Field goal percentage of the Wizards' opponents.  Even though the Wizards shot nearly 4% better than their opponents, they ended up averaging six less points than their opponents.

35.2% - Nick Young's field goal percentage. it was the second the second lowest on the team.

28.0% - Gary Forbes' field goal percentage.

70.0% - Frank Elegar's field goal percentage.  Despite the large shooting percentage discrepancy, Elegar averaged 7.8 minutes less per game than Forbes.

0 - Number of shots made by Elegar in the second, third, and fourth game of the Summer League.  During that three game stretch, Elegar attempted only 2 shots in 21 minutes.

8 - Blocks recorded by JaVale McGee, tying him with Dominic McGuire for the most on the team.  McGee matched McGuire's mark despite playing 32 less minutes.

6 - Number of fouls picked up by Andray Blatche per game during the Summer League.

7:5 - Dontaye Draper's assist to turnover ratio.  Draper had the highest ratio on the team and was the only player to have more assists than turnovers.

1:9 - JaVale McGee's assist to turnover ratio.

42.9% - Nick Young's 3 point percentage, tying him with Dee Brown for the highest shooting percentage from beyond the arc.

1 - Double-double recorded by a Wizards player during the Summer League (Dominic McGuire vs. the Rockets).

For the players that had a good showing last week, I'd tell to keep building on what they've done so they can make an impact when the real season comes around.  For those that haven't had the best week of their life, just remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

Tonight, the Wizards' Summer League season comes to an end with a game against the Suns.  Other than seeing Darius Songaila playing for Lithuania in the Olympics next month, this will be the last chance that you'll get to see any Wizards in action until October.

I'm doubting that we'll see any dramatic revelations from Nick or JaVale tonight, but I'm still hopeful that I'm wrong.  If nothing else, we get to see more of Andray and Dominic doing their thing and we'll get a look at some of the players that have come through the college ranks in the local area with Jonathan Wallace, DJ Strawberry and Ekene Ibekwe all playing tonight.

This is an open thread, so discuss if a golden opportunity was missed by not using the headline "Tree gets the axe" for this article here.

Go (Summer)WIZARDS!

If you're not planning on watching the game, and you want the game summed up in 3 minutes, hit up the video:

(via Odenized)

You gotta love when the point guard is tipping in the center's missed 3 pointer at the buzzer.  The Summer League: Where reversing conventional basketball wisdom happens.  My thoughts from this especially strange game are pretty disorganized, so enjoy some bullet point thoughts.

• If you've never understood why we have such a man-crush on Dominic McGuire, just watch the tape from tonight.  Taser was all over the place, crashing the boards, getting putbacks, and doing all the other things that make us love him so.  His statline tonight: 18 points (9-13 from the field), 11 rebounds (6 offensive), 3 assists, 2 blocks.
  
• Nick talked with Ivan before the game about forcing things too much in the first three games.  Tonight, I think he went a little too far to the other end and seemed too tentative for most of the game, but he came through nicely in the closing minutes.
• JaVale didn't do a whole lot offensively tonight, but I like that he pulled in 6 boards in 15 minutes of work.  Granted, the Rockets were a little short up front with Joey Dorsey sitting this one out, but I'll take it.
• While I'm thinking of it, I just want to give a shout out to Joey for all his help in this one.  Couldn't have done it without you Goliath!
• I don't know if Dominic has been working with Caron or not this summer, but I've noticed that he's been using that mid-range pull up jumper that Caron relies on a lot this week.  If he can get that to be half as automatic as Caron has, he'll be getting a lot more playing time this season.
• I know that some of you are starting to panic about the Dee Brown signing.  He hasn't done a whole lot so far and tonight he was replaced by Dontaye Draper in the starting lineup.  I wouldn't get too upset just yet.  Let's not forget that he's still learning the offense and he's primarily just trying to leave the playmaking to the guys who know the system.  He'll have the rest of the summer to catch up.  I'll take his six rebound performance (including the tip!) in the meantime.
• There hasn't been a lot to quibble with in regards to Andray's play in Vegas, he's been playing at the level you would expect from a fourth year player.  I'm slightly disappointed that he's not averaging more than 7.3 boards per game, but that's my only quibble.  He's still isn't there quite yet, but he's still coming along and it's clear that he hasn't plateaued.  I'll take it.
  

Over the last few years, lots of new ways have been developed to analyze and express statistics in a lot of different ways.  What's can be lost in all of this is how all of this newfound information translates to the game being played on the court.  Sadly, I haven't been able to find a way to bridge that information gap, but I have managed to find a new, highly scientifical way to chart the mentality of players when they have the ball in the half court.  As you'll see, the courts are color-coded for each mentality shift, so I'll provide a little legend to explain each mentality after the jump.

Of course, this is still a work in progress so I've only been able to test this with our Summer League players.  You may be shocked at what you discover...

Continue reading this post »

Flash back for a second to the summer of 2006.  The Wizards, fresh off their tight playoff loss to Cleveland, were about to enter training camp with a gaping hole at shooting guard.  Starter Jared Jeffries signed a contract with New York that paid him way more than he was worth, but the Wizards had yet to replace him.  It was either start Jarvis Hayes and shudder at the thought or play Antonio Daniels at the point and move Gilbert Arenas off the ball.

But instead of making a panic signing, Ernie Grunfeld waited until the very last possible moment.  While other teams were blowing their mid-level exception on guys like Speedy Claxton, Mike James, Willie Greene, Matt Harpring and the aformentioned Jeffries, Grunfeld let the market dry up, knowing that competent wing players are a dime-a-dozen.  Eventually, he signed a guy for the minimum contract who was pissed off that nobody offered anything remotely close to what he was seeking. 

Of course, that player was DeShawn Stevenson, and the end result was that the Wizards got a solid starter for very little money.  Even his new contract, signed after the 2007 season, is pretty good value. 

By waiting out the market, Grunfeld was able to secure a player who provided a bit of a boost for very little money.

We're seeing the same situation this year.  Although a backup small forward is less of a need than a starting shooting guard, it still is a need for next season that hasn't been filled.  Some players who could have filled the role (James Posey, Mickael Pietrus) are off the market, signed for contracts larger than the Wizards needed,  yet tons of names are still available.  Hell, most of the names we brainstormed a couple weeks ago are still out there. 

Now, the obvious difference is that the Wizards weren't as close to the luxury tax in 2006 as they are right now.  If the Wizards really only have 1.5 million left under the tax, that's not a lot of breathing room.  The situation also gets worse in the coming years because of the nature of everyone's contract. 

But considering how many wings are out there, it shouldn't be hard for Ernie to find somebody willing to play on a one-year deal for very little money with the hopes of cashing in next offseason.  Maybe Matt Barnes is willing to take that chance.  Maybe it'll be someone else.

Either way, though, Ernie's approaching this the right way.  A backup small forward doesn't have to be a huge impact player.  He doesn't even need to be a long-term solution because of the presence of Dominic McGuire.  He just has to be able to plug a hole for one season.

No matter when he signs.

Philly outrebounded the Wiz 41-29.  They grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and scored a ton of second-chance points.  That pretty much sums it all up.

On the bright side, Andray Blatche and Dominic McGuire looked pretty good out there, and Gary Forbes played pretty good defense on Thaddeus Young.  JaVale McGee looked a lot more active, even if he still looks very raw. 

On the down side, Nick Young looked absolutely awful and Dee Brown continues to commit too many turnovers offensively and surrender too many blow-bys defensively.  I like how he pushes the ball offensively and at least tries to pick up full-court defensively, but there really doesn't seem to be much there in terms of production.  He needs to learn how to be more under control.

Also, Frank Elegar needs more than 8 minutes in the next game.

Marreese Speights sure looks nice, doesn't he?

Box Score

Live-blog (scroll down)

Blazers Edge

Truthaboutit was much more optimistic than I and a number of you were last night, but we need to keep this in perspective.  It's certainly frustrating that our Summer League team featuring four guys with NBA experience and two recent draft picks couldn't beat a Portland team that really only had three headliners, but keep in mind that Summer League isn't about results as much as it is about the process.  So, what did we see tonight?

Some good, some bad, and maddening inconsistency.  Some quick thoughts:

Andray Blatche

On the bright side, he was aggressive and showed a renewed ability to finish around the rim.  He did have one shot blocked, but otherwise, he displayed a nice drop step and was able to put home two dunks.  He did shoot a couple long jumpers, but when he had the ball, he tried to drive to the basket instead of settling for crazy floaters.  On occasion, he was out of control, and there were a couple dribble-up-the-court moments, but overall, I thought he was the team's best offensive player. 

Defensively, though, he committed a ton of fouls as Jerryd Bayless kept jumping into him.  He lost concentration a lot on the glass and allowed his man lots of offensive rebounds.  Then, there's the last possession, where he had the ball knocked out of his hands, allowing the Blazers to rebound Bayless' missed free throw.  It encapsulated everything maddening about Blatche.  He can look so physically imposing and yet be so mentally weak.

Still, he picked it up after a bad start, so I'm mostly happy with how he played.  Summer League is a guard's game, so I think some of the criticisms of his play are unfair.  That said, he really needs to pick it up defensively.  I'm cool with him trying to make moves off the dribble, because the team isn't going to run the offense effectively with so few practices, but he needs to show better on the pick and roll and box out his man.

JaVale McGee

There actually was a bright side to McGee's game, believe it or not.  He has the potential to be a great one-on-one defender simply because of his length.  He blocked three shots and altered several more, both on penetration and while playing one-on-one defense.  Offensively, at least we can say he has a nice touch from the outside.  His game has that Brendan Haywood-like awkwardness, but he definitely bothers people defensively and can shoot the ball offensively.  I can see what Ernie and company saw in the kid.

Alas, that was about it.  The craziest stat of the night was that McGee had zero defensive rebounds in the entire game.  Zero!  He should have had one on the final possession, but he allowed the fall to fall out of his fingers.  Project or not, no seven-footers should have zero defensive rebounds in a Summer League game.

Nick Young

Of all the guys, Young probably let me down the most.  I was expecting to see him attacking the basket and showing renewed commitment defensively, but instead, he was breaking plays, shooting fadeaways all over the court and allowing Bayless to blow right by him.  His final stat line looked good, but believe me, he stunk tonight. 

The thing is, if he sticks to running off screens for mid-range jumpers, he won't have to break the offense to get scores.  He hit some contested shots off screens, but I'd rather see him do that than holding the ball and trying to make a one-on-one move.  Hopefully, we'll see more action on screens in the next game.

Lots of people are down on Blatche, but I really expected more from Young last night.

Dominic McGuire

Where was he?  As Blatche and Young took turns forcing shots, McGuire wasn't doing anything to free himself offensively.  He had one drive to the basket, but the ball was poked away.  Defensively, we only saw one Taser moment. 

He looked tired more than anything.  Hopefully, it was just the problems with the plane ride.

Dee Brown

Played well in the first half, but really struggled defensively and with turnovers down the stretch.  His inability to stop Petteri Koponen set the stage for the Blazers' comeback.  To be fair, none of the Wizards' big men were hedging much on the screen.  McGee was too slow to come out too far, and I'd rather see him in the paint anyway.  Blatche tried, but failed most of the time.  That forced Brown to go under the screens, and Koponen was hitting his shot down the stretch.

Other than a random stretch in the third quarter when he dribbled out of bounds and threw a pass away, he ran the offense fairly well.  He kind of looked like Aaron Miles, except a little taller and with a guaranteed contract. 

I'm hoping we see a little more offense from him, but otherwise, he was alright.  The turnovers will probably go away next game.

Vladimir Veremeeko

He missed a layup, then barely made a wide-open left-handed layup when everyone else stopped playing.  I don't think I need to say any more. 

On the plus side, he did show a willingness to mix it up inside and he didn't try to break the offense.  That said, I don't see how he fits into our future.  He's too slow to be a small forward, but too small to be a power forward.

Everyone else

Frank Elegar was really aggressive in his first stint, driving whenever he got the chance and somehow getting to the line eight times.  If everyone else was half as aggressive and smart as Elegar was in his first stint, we'd have won by 30.  Unfortunately, he kind of disappeared in the second half, but I'll be watching him more closely.

Gary Forbes played pretty well, though he was invisible a lot of the time.  Same for Jonathan Wallace. 

Otherwise, while this performance stunk, keep in mind that they literally arrived to the game two hours before it started.  Hopefully, they've gotten that out of their system and can show us a little more next game.