Comment from aznzero
Time October 9, 2008 at 7:29 AM

obviously haywood is going to be missed after having a great year last year. on the good side you gotta love mcgees confidence. for a rookie he’s not afraid to do what he knows he can do. this kid got a birght future. speaking of future, andray is showing that he is stepping up this year into what we expected him to be.

its a relief to know that jamison’s injury is not that serious. i say sit him out of pre season and let the young exciting guys play. too bad we have yet to see nick young play. get well soon wizards!

Comment from Rook
Time October 9, 2008 at 8:16 AM

where is the post game audio?

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 9, 2008 at 8:21 AM

JaVale had a great game last night; only the pre-season, but you love what he brings.

Dee and Dom also had excellent games — in both cases except for shooting, although Dee made a couple of 3 pointers, so his shooting was adequate. Dominic can be a big-time player in this league if he shoots at a respectable clip. He doesn’t need to be a scorer to excel, but he needs to keep people honest.

Again, it’s only pre-season, but DerMarr does seem to be making a case for himself.

Nice to get a win — especially w/ most of the minutes coming from the reserves.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 9, 2008 at 8:30 AM

I know everybody thinks Haywood had a career year last year, but really the only thing that changed was his FT %. Otherwise, his numbers were consistent w/ the previous years. This is actually a *good* thing, since career years don’t usually repeat, but once the FT % is up, it’s likely to stay up.

Based on the numbers, Etan and Brendan have been about equally productive over the years. Brendan is probably a more imposing defender, alters more shots. Still, not a lot of difference. Where losing Brendan will affect us is the bench. Etan is a solid backup center; now we have a question at that spot.

JaVale has played well so far, and Andray can play that spot too — although he fouls too much. I wonder whether we are hampering Dray’s development by forcing him into the 5, where his advantages over opponents are countered by theirs over him.

Oh well, we’ll see. Wizards basketball is *always* interesting, that’s for sure!

Comment from neal
Time October 9, 2008 at 9:08 AM

Yes, it will really be interesting to see how things play out. Is our backup C now Blatche or McGee? Will McGuire show enough to be the one to spell Butler or will Blatche have to do that? Will Pecherov manage to crack the rotation?

Comment from wiz123
Time October 9, 2008 at 9:13 AM

i honestly think we should take a good hard look at the medical team…haywood was originally diagnosed with a sprain….now he needs surgery???

i’m sick of this…..someone needs to be accountable for these injuries…

Comment from TAG FLIP
Time October 9, 2008 at 9:33 AM

good win last night. some of our hurt guys like tawn and gil should probably not make the trip to europe, instead they should just stay back and rehab..

Comment from VJSballer
Time October 9, 2008 at 10:37 AM

Wizards had a Great WIN LAST NIGHT and our season is looking bright.
I Want to wish a Happy Birthday to Juan Dixon.
The Wizards have so much talent and experience.
We need to get Juan Dixon the ball and playing time.
He is crazy good when he’s on the court. He’s got shooting power and good defense. The reason his numbers have not been up is because of his limited playing time. Ever since the wizards traded Juan Dixon, They have only been to the 1st round of the playoffs and that’s it. When Juan Dixon was there, we got to the second round with his 35 point performance. I knew Juan Dixon would come back someday to the Wizards and now we have him again. Use him. He’s Good. Have you seen how beast he is when he’s on the court. I Believe that the wizards are great when we are working together, and just Gilbert Arenas taking 25 shots a game is not that. We have no bench, Period. When one of our starters gets hurt, we suck. Nobody can fill that spot. Juan dixon deserves much more playing time. If we do this, we will be successful and win an NBA Championship.
I want to get back to the days when the wizards would win we would call it “PURE ENERGY.” I have so much respect for the wizards but i would hate to see another bad season with so much talent on the team. This is Only my Opinion and i hope i did not offend anybody. I am sorry. Happy Birthday Juan again.

Comment from dmac
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:32 AM

It is unfortunate about BH injury and surgery but I believe we will be ok. As you all have stated certain players like Dray will have to step up. Seems like Juan and Dermarr will be on the opening day roster. Songalia is another player who will have to step up big time.
Unless EG finds somebody on the waiver wire we will have to dig deep and persevere.

Comment from dmac
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:46 AM

The only serviceable backup centers who are centers that may can help us are Michael Doleac and Jake Voskhul. David Harrison just signed with Minnesota according to some reports.
Then again we may not need a backup if ET, AB and McGee can compliment each other at the 5 spot.

Comment from doclinkin
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:47 AM

dmac–

either Juan or DerMarr will be on the opening day roster. Not both. We only have two open slots and Dee Brown is sure to take one of ‘em.

Everyone else has guaranteed roster spots that would count against the lux tax if we cut them. So the benefit would have to be an obvious upgrade at that spot. I don’t see any player we could cut who would be bad enough that they would be worth the cost of both their contract plus the cost of (either DerMarr or Juan).

The question for me is if DerMarr has performed well enough that his upside is better than our memory of Juan. It was nice to ‘see’ him backing down OJ Mayo in the post, etc. Juan cain’t do that. Juan has become a better passer and knows the offense, that’s in his favor (on top of past positives). But Eddie has been playing some really BIG lines out there, and we lack depth at the swing-guard 2-3 position. Remember coming from JKidd in Jersey and Magic/Worthy in LA– Eddie said he likes having Big guards (one reason why Jarvis was drafted and got play).

Today was supposed to be ‘cut’ day. I wish Juan was healthy enough to have played head to head. Tough to make your cut based on injury alone. Or to keep a guy based on lack of head to head data.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:50 AM

VJSballer… I certainly took no offense. You are obviously a Juan Dixon fan voicing your thoughts. That is what this blog is all about. Welcome to the blog.

Guys… It may be a little tough to keep JaVale on the bench if he keeps playing like he is. Lousy news about Brendan! I hope he gets the wrist “properly” repaired and comes back to us strong. (I’ll let the comment go I’d like to make here … wiz123).

This may be the first year in a very long time we will have a productive bench. With Guys like Dee, Dominic, Andray, JaVale, and maybe even Pesh we are looking like a fairly deep team. If Nick has a better year it would be huge. I hate missing Gil and Brendan, but, this year we may be able to overcome because of the back up talent.

Comment from TAG FLIP
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:54 AM

dmac – yes that is unfortunate about BH. all we can do is wish for a speedy recovery and rehab.

VJSballer said: “We have no bench, Period. When one of our starters gets hurt, we suck.”

Our bench is deep but very inexperienced. At the moment, our starting lineup is daniels, stevenson, thomas, butler, and jamison. at the moment our only 2 experienced (and under contract) reserves are d-song and dray (ok dray is still young but he’s played well in 2 preseason games so far). that leaves our young guys of mcguire, young, pecherov, and javale.. and then you have linton and dermarr johnson, dee brown, taj, and juan all fighting for that last roster spot (cuz of BH and gilbert). this is what i think the final roster of 15 will be:

0 – Gilbert Arenas (injured)
1 – Nick Young
2 – DeShawn Stevension (S)
3 – Caron Butler (S)
4 – Antawn Jamison (S)
5 – Dominic McGuire
6 – Antonio Daniels (S)
(insert Roger Mason Jr. here… man i wish we kept him)
9 – Darius Songaila
12 – Juan Dixon
14 – Oleksiy Pecherov
32 – Andray Blatche
33 – Brendan Haywood (injured)
34 – JaVale McGee
36 – Etan Thomas (S)

realistically, i don’t see dermarr, linton, and taj making the cuts. i didn’t put dee on there because although he has shown promise in training camp and 2 preseason games, juan dixon has more knowledge of the princeton offense after having played from 2003-05 under eddie. but we’ll see what happens.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:55 AM

Doc… is today cut day? I thought Eddie would probably take the entire team through until after Friday’s game at home. I figure he will make his cuts before they head to Europe.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 12:00 PM

Tag Flip… you can add Dee or whomever you want to your list. you only listed 14

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time October 9, 2008 at 12:07 PM

12 noon..Dave Johnson checking in. Post game audio report is up on the front page and there is actually a link in the paragraph I posted early this AM. As we sort out the roster it is interesting. Today is not any cut day. And Eddie indicated last week he would keep the traing camp squad together for the first three pre-season games. Hard decisions because we appear to be full but last night I watched guys like DerMarr Johnson create and Linton Johnon get after it on defense it and I could see how they could help an NBA team.

Comment from TAG FLIP
Time October 9, 2008 at 12:11 PM

ahhh touche grif.. the whole insert mason thing was meant just to be a joke and it joked me! haha well i will add dee then.

17 – Dee Brown

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 12:21 PM

As far as Roger… we are going to miss him a lot. San Antonio looked at our salaries and made the offer to Roger “just” out of our grasp. They wanted him the year before and lost. This year they made darned sure they were going to “get their man”.

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 9, 2008 at 12:48 PM

Another year of adversity. It wouldn’t be fun unless we hurt would it. Let’s go wiz. Mason was great, but like I’ve said before it would be better if everyone moved on. All we can do now is root for Roger as a Spur and wish him the best of luck cause he’s a great guy.

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time October 9, 2008 at 1:11 PM

i love the way Haywood played last year.. i think we all did i know its going to be hard going with out him and i think we should start all games in padded rooms with foam balls lol for some funny reason i don’t even think that would help! but like every one here i think McGee will do a good job in spot min. we get to see AB a lot more this year and as Tom is always quick to point out the numbers on Haywood and ET even out in the most part

Comment from Rick
Time October 9, 2008 at 1:12 PM

I agree with Tom. Other than his FT shooting last year, Brendan’s game didn’t seem to me to take any big strides. But making those free-throws is pretty big. It certainly helped his scoring avg and helped keep opposing teams honest in tight situations.

That said, we’ve got young talented bigs in Blatche (who is definitely a 4) and McGee, and Etan is showing that he is recovered. So I am less concerned about the 5 spot than about the backcourt.

Will Nick Young be able to step it up? Will Dee Brown keep Daniels from wearing himself out? Will we keep DerMarr?

Comment from gbkdc
Time October 9, 2008 at 1:14 PM

I am so excited about JaVale McGee! What a night he had! And I have free tix to tomorrow’s game, too, so that will be fun.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 1:21 PM

Hmmm let the Roger thing go? Heck we haven’t gotten over the Rasheed Wallace or Rip Hamilton things yet lol.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 1:45 PM

gbkdc…. you have free tix to tomorrow’s game? Very Cool.

I liked Dee and I liked JaVale….. BUT… together Wow they are becoming a Force. Dee has great passing abilities! With Dee and JaVale in synch as they are this is going to be fun to watch!

Comment from dmac
Time October 9, 2008 at 1:49 PM

Thanks for the correction Doclinkin. I don’t why I thought if Gil and BH were on the injured list that the Wiz could keep an extra player.
The Lindy, Athlon and Sporting News basketball magazines have the Wiz really being a threat in the east this season. Of course this was before Gil’s and BH injuries took them out the lineup.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 1:49 PM

Who were Hibbert and Speights again?

Comment from Rick
Time October 9, 2008 at 1:56 PM

McGee looks good to me. How’s this sound for a “future” lineup.

Gilbert
Nick
Caron
Andray
JaVale

Swap Dee Brown with Gilbert and we can put that team on the floor soon.

Comment from Rook
Time October 9, 2008 at 2:00 PM

TAG FLIP – I disagree with your roster…

I think Dermarr Johnson, at 6’9″, will make the roster instead of Juan Dixon….

And here’s why:
Juan Dixon only brings scoring off the bench. Dermarr brings much more. He can score (including hit the 3-point shot), but he also can defend, play multiple wing positions, and rebound. In a pinch, he could even play PF against certain teams. Dermarr has had a good Training Camp and two nice exhibition games. Juan has been injured.

Juan is a 6-year vet ($998,398 minimum salary), Dermarr is a 7-year vet ($1,070,118 minimum salary)- so the minimum salaries are about the same…. although keeping Dermarr would cost about $70K more per year… so if the Wizards are THAT close to the Luxury Tax, that could sway the decision.

Comment from Rook
Time October 9, 2008 at 2:05 PM

The question is, where is the need the greatest…. and where are there question marks…?

I think that, with Gilbert out, there was a question about who could be Antonio’s backup at PG… but I think that Dee Brown has resoundingly answered that question.

Other questions are whether Nick Young can step up and backup Stevenson now that Roger Mason is gone ?… and whether Dominic McGuire can step up and backup Butler at the Small Forward?

Keeping Dermarr Johnson mitigates any risk from either question, as he can play both SG and SF.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 2:37 PM

Quite a few of us were lobbying for a back up 2/3 pretty much all summer. That does seem to be what the team needs. I wasn’t expecting to get one then they invited Demarr. After a few people, who’s opinion I respect on here, didn’t give such a glowing review of Demarr’s talents I thought it was a done deal and we wouldn’t get our back up 2/3. In the games so far Demarr has pretty much excelled and unfortunately Juan has not been able to showcase his talents. It is going to be a very tough decision management will have to make as they already know what Juan can do.

Comment from Rick
Time October 9, 2008 at 2:40 PM

Dermarr is the clear choice. He can score like Juan, but he can also defend. And he has size that you cannot teach or develop.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 2:44 PM

Rick.. it seems like it so far. Demarr has been in the league 7 years and hasn’t “stuck” anywhere. There has to be a reason for that. I’m hoping his first two games as a Wizard aren’t just a fluke. He sure looks like that guy we need right now.

Comment from jeffmalone1990
Time October 9, 2008 at 3:02 PM

Not sure that I agree that Juan is on the bubble, I believe he will be on the final day roster. And it would not suprise me if DeMarr is there as well, guys have not locked up anything yet. I know as fans we would love to think that changes to the roster will not me made, however I believe it is an open audition for everbody that could be a trade or us letting somebody go if we think whomever can help us win this year.

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 9, 2008 at 3:51 PM

Jeff, it’s true that nothing is locked up. But of the three serious candidates Dee is in the safest position.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 9, 2008 at 4:08 PM

Dee is looking extremely solid; he has had two very good preseason games following a good training camp. He backs up the point, and we need someone there. I can’t imagine him going anywhere. In fact, I can see him getting significant minutes.

Juan puts people in the seats — other than that, he really doesn’t offer much. He has fallen in the league to where he had no other offers. Talent evaluators in the NBA are very good; there’s a reason he was available.

You could say the same thing about DerMarr — he was the 9th pick in the draft, and he hasn’t been able to find a role in the league. How good can he be? Still, he does fit our needs better than Juan.

Part of Juan’s salary is guarantee, and that part will count towards the luxury tax ceiling, although we don’t know how much it is (nor how close we are to the ceiling). On the other hand, veteran minimum salaries are partly paid by the league rather than the team, and that part does *not* count against cap or tax.

If DerMarr can play the 2 reliably, he is a more valuable player than Juan. But $$ will figure into the decision — in ways we don’t have the info to understand.

Comment from Rick
Time October 9, 2008 at 4:24 PM

i dont think $$ are really a consideration in this decision. the amounts just aren’t significant.

imho, juan is not going to sell many tickets if the team isn’t winning.

further, juan simply cannot give us any minutes at the 3 spot while dermarr can. mcguire is an iffy backup at best to caron, and he’s really the only other natural option on the roster. i saw eddie’s comments about playing blatche at the 3, and that might work against certain teams/lineups, but he is a much more natural 4.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 9, 2008 at 4:40 PM

The amounts are only significant if one or another decision causes us to graze the Lux tax ceiling. Then they are *very* significant.

But, you are right in thinking that this is unlikely.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 9, 2008 at 4:56 PM

If we compare Juan and DerMarr to an average shooting guard in the league, we see that they are both below average, but DerMarr is *much* better than Juan:

Shooting Guard Average Juan DerMarr
Points per shot 0.96 0.93 0.96
Adj. FG % 0.481 0.463 0.463
FT % 0.8 0.95 0.95
FGA 17.5 19.6 15.2
FTA 4.9 3.9 3.2
Points 20.8 21.3 17.2
Rebounds 5.6 4.7 6.3
Steals 1.8 1.9 1.6
TO 2.8 3.1 2.8
Net Possessions 4.6 3.5 5.1
Blocks 0.5 0.1 1.2
Assists 4.6 4.1 2.4
PFs 3.7 4.1 4.8
Win Score: 6.15 3.33 4.87

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 9, 2008 at 4:58 PM

Win Score is a statistical measure of a player’s productivity. Calculate it as follows:

Points + Rebounds + Steals + ½*Assists + ½*Blocked Shots – Field Goal Attempts – Turnovers – ½*Free Throw Attempts – ½*Personal Fouls

Net possessions = rebounds plus steals minus turnovers.

Comment from Rick
Time October 9, 2008 at 5:04 PM

very nice comparison. but those numbers don’t really tell the whole story. they may lean slightly in dermarr’s direction, but when you layer on top of them the extra size dermarr brings, then i think he makes a compelling case.

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time October 9, 2008 at 5:10 PM

Gil has a new blog up if you guys did not already know!

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 9, 2008 at 5:13 PM

As you can see, Juan is an extremely unproductive player. DerMarr is below average for a shooting guard (and further below average for a 3), but he is not as unproductive as Juan.

DerMarr’s shooting is about average, and his rebounding is better than average. His problem is too many fouls, not enough assists, and he doesn’t get to the line enough.

This will start the usual firestorm about “clutch shooting” etc. (there is no such thing — if you made it in the 1st quarter, you wouldn’t need to make it in the 4th. Why is one more important than the other)

(note that I got both their ft % wrong. .8 for dermarr, .83 for juan)

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 9, 2008 at 5:19 PM

The only story those numbers tell is the player’s contribution to winning games over his career. They don’t tell any other story. Teams whose players have better numbers measured by win score *win more games.* Teams whose players have *worse* numbers measured by win score *lose more games.* It’s pretty unambiguous.

Comment from ChenierFan
Time October 9, 2008 at 5:39 PM

The Haywood injury is terrible news. It is very sad, really. Unlike some of the bloggers on this site I think he did have a career year last year. The dramatic improvement in his free throw shooting gave him more confidence to make plays on the offensive side without fear of letting the team down at the free throw line. And that got him more involved in the game on the defensive side. Although his stats weren’t that much different from the year before, I noticed a significant improvement. He was a main reason the Wiz could compete without Arenas. The big problem with him gone is that Brendan didn’t need double team help down low. The backup centers do need help defending down low.

With this latest injury to the team, I can’t help but think that rather than schedule the first practice of camp for Sunday morning, Jordan instead should have taken the team to church to pray together for a healthy season. My high school coach did that and the only injury we had in two years was a broken nose.

Comment from TAG FLIP
Time October 9, 2008 at 7:18 PM

imho, i still think juan has a better shot at cracking the rotation than dermarr, simply because of his knowledge of the princeton offense.

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 9, 2008 at 7:21 PM

ChenierFan, I’m with you on your sentiment to Haywood’s injury.

Tom, it’s hard to argue with numbers but I’m with you anyway. Hard to think they would have given Juan all his press without the intention of keeping him but there’s always hoping DerMarr makes the team.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 9, 2008 at 8:44 PM

I’m not for one or the other person — I’m just for putting together the best possible team.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time October 9, 2008 at 10:40 PM

Tom… did your stats between Juan and Demarr include minutes per game? I think it might be of value to know how many minutes each averaged per game. The more court time the better the player will adapt.

Maybe Demarr is our poor man’s Bonzi?

Comment from slwiz
Time October 9, 2008 at 10:51 PM

anybody still on tonight; just peeking in for a few moments before I call it a day;
is CSN in DC area channel 69?

Comment from zxhoya
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:13 PM

TAG FLIP Says:

October 9th, 2008 at 7:18 PM
imho, i still think juan has a better shot at cracking the rotation than dermarr, simply because of his knowledge of the Princeton offense.

Tag Flip, it’s not rocket science it’s the Princeton offense. To think Juan will make the team simply because he knows the offense is ludacris. (no offence0
As far as Demarr goes many forget his talent when he came into this league and if not for the serious car accident he probably would have been a outstanding player in the league. At this point in their careers I pick Demarr over Juan hands down and I don’t see anyway the Wiz will keep both.
Dee Brown has definitely made the team.

Comment from slwiz
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:24 PM

“it is borwn stevenson linton johnson blatche and mcgee” Okay; I’ll risk it; on the discussion of dee, demarr, and juan being the 3 to fill the 15 spot; I think the consensus is dee is in (thank god for Illinois fans) so now it’s down to demarr and juan.

The above line-up of brown, stevenson, LINTON JOHNSON, Blatch and McGee; seemed to spark the offense; get the transition D going; and created points fast; and got the defense out of sync. So I wonder if juan and demarr BOTH might be let go for linton.

I don’t understand the salary or luxary so is that a part of letting linton go and not being a good choice? Linton is a forward; do we need deeper guards without Gil; or maybe we can trust major injuries won’t occur to AD-Dee Brown; CB3-Nick Young; once Gil comes back.

So regardless of filling seats; or knowledge of the princeton offense; maybe just chemistry of the bench is what Coach is looking at? is what I’m trying to suggest. Ah, right, knock me over; cause this is my first attempt to try and suggest something. I think I’ve got some knowledge; let’s test me and see what I’ve not thought of…LOL

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:46 PM

Tough night in SA for Roger. Hope he settles in.

Comment from Bridge
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:55 PM

Personally I don’t really care about the unknown right now because throughout all of this we still have our main people (which is what I was originally hoping for), sans Roger Mason – who I wish were still with us – call me crazy (I really don’t care), but all I really want is for Gil, Twan and Haywood to come back healthy; for Daniels to start over Dee (or whomever else is expected to be on the roster); for D-Song and Blatche to prove people wrong so that people could just shut-up; for D-Mac to get more time and appreciation; for the DC/VA/MD areas to appreciate their sports teams a bit more. I understand that the economy is sucking right now and that people are frustrated, but these players are playing because they’ve earned it – it’s just like working for a raise or working for that position or degree…I’m not saying that we should be the “minions” of these athletes, I’m just saying that we should show a bit more spirit. We have season ticket holders complaining…but loving the game means being there regardless. Sorry for going off on a tangent – I just want this team to succeed and to see people healthy and stuff.

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 9, 2008 at 11:55 PM

slwiz, that is a good suggestion. Juan is apparently a great locker room guy and in general a great guy.

zxhoya, that’s how I see it too but maybe not how the coaches see it. We’ll find out soon enough.

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 10, 2008 at 12:15 AM

Ok… if these posts make it… then… screw it! Stupid post lag.

Comment from GlingGling
Time October 10, 2008 at 12:17 AM

Very tangential Bridge. I don’t think there is any question that Daniels will start. I’m fairly certain that Darius played splendidly last year, I don’t think he has anything to prove. Blatche on other hand can get to work on that.

In DC/VA/MD there are two types of people (with regards to sports). Those who are fans of the local teams and those who aren’t. I personally don’t know anyone in between. With the skins we know why that is (with the exception of this year). The Wizards as well to some extent because of the first round curse. People either have faith or they aren’t strong enough to hold on. I could care less about whiny season ticket holders. If they are true fans they shouldn’t be carrying on about injuries (unless our doctors/trainers do actually suck).

“sans Roger Mason” – You made a pun! Sans/San Antonio.

(I figured out the problem, no foul language allowed apparently)

Comment from Rick
Time October 10, 2008 at 9:15 AM

slwiz, everyone who comes to the wizards talks about how loose and fun the locker room is and how everyone gets along. that was true last year without Juan and will be true this year with or without him as well. i can’t imagine grunfeld and jordan agreeing to keep juan around because he’s good in the locker room, i hope they will focus on what players can bring on the court.

Comment from AUNDRA
Time October 10, 2008 at 9:58 AM

We pretty much had our reserves in against Memphis and still kicked butt. I am so proud of Jermar Johnson,Mcgee and Blatche for excelling in there craft. Now lets get down to business, we had great ball movement with 19 assists. I liked our defensive mode with 8 huge block shots. I was especially impresseed with the rebounding and toughness.However our total team shooting percentage was lower than I expected.I like to shoot for 50 % with extremely low turnovers. By the way we improved a little in the turnovers but Blatche has to recieve the No Brainer Award for turnovers this game! The freethrows has been our weak spot the last 4 years so everyone needs to get with Hopla for a refresher on the right mindset to freethrow shooting! Overall with the limited bodies playing on our side I give a B+ for the performance.

Comment from slwiz
Time October 10, 2008 at 1:27 PM

I am way behind…sorry…still have tons to do today but will post in the new Game Day Piston a small hi….

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time October 10, 2008 at 3:02 PM

Slwiz — it’s not the cap or tax that affects whom we keep; we can only keep 15 players, so it’s 2 of the following 4: Dee, Juan, DerMarr and Linton. Assuming, as I think we can, that Dee has made the club, that means it comes down to 1 of 3.

Juan has in his favor that he is a local legend and knows the offense. DerMarr has in his favor that he is a more productive player than Juan and can back up the 3 as well as the 2 if needed. Linton has in his favor that he has pretty good stats, but he is a pure forward — no help at the 2.