Comment from datonypony
Time September 29, 2009 at 4:32 PM

Hey this might be a pretty stupid question but why don’t the teams just do camp in their arenas? Like, just do it in the practice courts?

Comment from GlingGling
Time September 29, 2009 at 4:33 PM

I just read through the previous post. WONDERFUL coverage team! Wonderful Blogging TEAM! There is a lot of optimism and confidence in the air.

On another note, I had a dream that the Wizards tied their first game (uhmm). In my dream I said to myself, “At least they didn’t lose.”

Comment from Aj
Time September 29, 2009 at 4:39 PM

Tied, that’s funny. Thanks Mr. Johnson for the practice footage, I can’t wait to see them scrimmage.

Comment from VTnWizFan
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:19 PM

Sportzwiz or Dave do you know how long they are doing two-a-days for?

Comment from SportzWiz
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:23 PM

VTn the schedule is subject to change, but right now they are scheduled to have two-a-days on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:31 PM

datonypony it is not a stupid question….but it is better to get away…it brings the team together….here at VCU we have three courts….. at Verizon Center there is the commotion of other events from concerts to hockey….so even though the practice court would be available there would be other distraction and activity….we actually have more space.. here

Comment from Rick
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:31 PM

@datonypony — i think they get out of town and away from families and friends and other distractions to just focus on basketball.

I’m still struggling to figure out who is going to be left out of the 8 or 9 man rotation. I see three categories going into camp (barring injury of course):

OBVIOUSLY IN ROTATION
——————————–
Arenas
Butler
Jamison
Haywood

LIKELY IN ROTATION
————————–
Miller
Blatche
Foye
Oberto

FIGHTING FOR MINUTES
—————————–
Young
McGuire
Stevenson
McGee
Crittendon
James

Then again, some people are calling for Nick Young to start, and Dominic was a starter most of last season. So who knows… I wish I could be a fly on the wall at VCU!

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:37 PM

on the subject of team bonding…the team had hypnotist come in last night and it was fun for the guys

DeShawn Stevenson and Caron Butler would not be hypnotized….what happened has been kept a pretty good secret..or as Mike Miller said “What happens in hypnosis stays in hypnosis” But the word is the hypnotist had Nick Young going around the room like he was riding a horse

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:38 PM

and rick you make a good point…because players who had a lot of minutes last year will be in tight competition to come close to those same minutes

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:45 PM

PM practice underway….ggoing through strecting routine after Flip just reviewed some of his baci offensive and defensive principles

Comment from neal
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:46 PM

Rick, I agree but I would substitute McGee for Oberto.

Comment from neal
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:47 PM

And Miller is obviously in the rotation IMO.

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:48 PM

I thought it was interesting this AM as Flip talked about being aggressive on defense ..he noted that the Spurs and Pistons are among the leaders in fewest fouls commited

Comment from zxhoya
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:51 PM

Rick, in that scenario, Oberto would be Haywood’s primary back-up. I think McGee will make a strong push for those minutes and being a true 7 footer with his ability to block shots and run the floor, I see him backing up Haywood.

Nick Young says he wants to start but a scorer like him may be better suited coming off the bench as a 6th man because the starters have enough scoring as is.

This is the good thing about this team that we are so deep that the coaches will have a tough time dividing minutes, can’t wait.

I’ll be down there for the 1st pre-season game and I looking forward to seeing the team live.

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:53 PM

striking for this am is that Miller and Foye were just so happy to be getting ready for a season where they are playing for something

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:54 PM

i think what is fun about the conevsion …we have going now..as long as there is good health…there wlll be healthy competition for minutes….DeShawn talked about that this AM where it seems there is a log jam at two guard

Comment from zxhoya
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:58 PM

Comment from neal
Time September 29, 2009 at 5:47 PM

“And Miller is obviously in the rotation IMO.”

Exactly, to only have 4 players in the “OBVIOUSLY IN ROTATION” category when you know he’s playing at least 8-9 is invalid.

My OBVIOUSLY IN ROTATION:

Arenas
Butler
Jamison
Haywood
Miller
Foye
Young
McGee
Oberto

The rest will have to earn game time with their practice play or it will be situational game to game. imo

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:08 PM

competitive shooting drill at each end of the court

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:10 PM

and the losers running..inclduing assistant gene banks

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:11 PM

now into offensive sets pick and roll

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:18 PM

cool to see Sam Casell guarding guards and Gene Banks working on the post on this drill

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:21 PM

setting screens now on offense

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:32 PM

runnign the floor…setting good screens …good spacing on offense…..again the practices move fast ….segue from one thing to the next

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:33 PM

now into a 2v1 into a 3 v 2

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:34 PM

as we talk about who will get the minutes…Flip nting this morning that it will alos be about who plays well with a particualr group of guys… he even gave an exmaple of when he coached in the CBA…he had six bench players called up to the NBA

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:36 PM

Nick Young nice driving slam on the break

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:38 PM

intense now 5 v5… up and down not a scrimmage….flip calling out situations..good d by dominic on caron

gil dom dray nick and and javaris

against oberto deshawn foye caron and paul davis

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:39 PM

interesting drill how it evolves from 2 on 1 to 3 on 2…to a 5 on 5

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:41 PM

there is now a five grouped together that includes mike miller mike james anatawn javale and vincent grier

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:42 PM

Javale nice glide on the baseline and then an up and under

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:43 PM

referees are here

Comment from SportzWiz
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:45 PM

pictures from tonight

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:46 PM

gilbert sweet no look pass to dray intially denied by javale but then dray weaved a round javale for the bucket

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:47 PM

5 v5 wokring on pick and roll defense…only get a point on a defensive stop….offensive rebound lose a point

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:49 PM

only defensive team gets points…offense goes to defense on made basket

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:52 PM

rotating three teams of five in

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:55 PM

SCRIMMAGE TIME….WHITE TEAM HAS CARON PAUL DAVIS FOYE FABRICIO AND DESHAWN

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:55 PM

BLUE TEAMS HAS JAVALE MIKE MILLER VINCENT GRIER MIKE JAMES AND ANTAWN

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:56 PM

8 minute scrimmage

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:58 PM

foye good stroing drive in the lane….to get to the line missed free throw…it is one free throw for 2 points

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:58 PM

caron chrisens game with jumper just inside the arc

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 6:59 PM

and then antawn drive and one

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:00 PM

javale nice swish on open 15 footer followed by deshawn 3 from the corner

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:02 PM

oberto showing his passing skill nice feed to caron for a 3 point play

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:02 PM

blue leads 11-8 right now

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:03 PM

flip just noted Javale has changed 3 shots and blocked 2

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:06 PM

13 all now

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:08 PM

just saw one of those head down antawnj drives to the basket to get a foul

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:10 PM

16 seconds leftblue up 17-14

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:11 PM

Blue wins

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:12 PM

NOW BLACK JERSEYS PLAY BLUE

BLACK HAS HAYWOOD DRAY NICK DOMENIC AND GILBERT

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:17 PM

black leads 4-2 jumpers by nick and dray

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:17 PM

wow gilbert nice pass up coirt to dray on break no look pass to cutting haywood for the slam

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:18 PM

arenas who has been flawless with his passing hits a top of the key jumper to make it 8-2

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:19 PM

another gil pass on the break leads to nick young bucket after brendan denied a cutting javale

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:24 PM

Black wins it 16-7….so now Black against white

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:27 PM

dom the flying slam on the break….black now up 6-2

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:28 PM

nice steal by javaris who is in for black

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:29 PM

nice drive by caron for whote team they trail 12-7

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:31 PM

sam cassell coaching black team in regular season form working the refs

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:33 PM

good block by dom on caron that led to fast break finish by nick black leads 20-9

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:35 PM

Black wins….now into a rebounding drill

Comment from DJ-WizardsRadio
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:38 PM

that’s a wrap now free throws in short intense day

Comment from JayP
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:38 PM

My thoughts on the rotation are
Starters:GIL,CARON,MILLER,ANTAWN,HAYWOOD
Back UP Rotation:Nick,Andray,Foye,Javale,Dom,Deshawn
Fighting 4 Min:Oberto,Javaris,James

Comment from llballa19
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:41 PM

i like this live blogging of training camp!!

Comment from llballa19
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:43 PM

i hope all this competition pushed nick young to become a starter or first off the bench every game. he just has to be consistent every game. his game is nice though.

Comment from llballa19
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:45 PM

If Andray does not show any toughness, then I see Oberto quickly taking his minutes. We are trying to make a run we need some toughness down low.

Comment from Aj
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:45 PM

Thanks for the commentary it was great.

Comment from gray16
Time September 29, 2009 at 7:48 PM

i love the sound of gil looking to set up other people. if he does that, watch out.

sounds like dom was doing well on defense, and from the picks, he looks to be in great shape.

like i said, nick has all the potential in the world, and if he plays hard every game, watch out.

and i love the things i’m hearing about javale. many of us doubted him when the wizards picked him, but he’s turning out to be a hard working, super athletic, confident young man.

can’t wait for the season to start.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time September 29, 2009 at 8:22 PM

Wow, really fun!

Rotation — well, it’s hard to imagine Mike Miller not being a starter (plus the obvious of Gil, Caron, Antawn, and Brendan).

With his versatility, defensive skills, and ability to fill the stat sheet everywhere but shooting (of which we have *plenty* in other guys), it’s hard not to see Dominic in the rotation. He’ll help this team win games pure and simple.

That should leave something like 7000 minutes across the season for the other 8 guys. Out of those minutes, for starters, how will the team back up the point guard and center positions?

Oberto or McGee at Center? One thing it depends on is how quickly JaVale stops making the myriad mistakes he made last year. Another is how many minutes Oberto, who is 36, can take? Last year, he averaged 12.6m/game for the Spurs. That would give him @1000 minutes for the season. I wouldn’t think he’d play more than that. That leaves minutes for JaVale w/o thinking of them as competing w/ each other.

How about Point? A healthy Gil is likely to play 2600 minutes. Who gets the rest of those minutes? Critt? Foye? The one is unproven, the other has shown he is more productive at the 2. I think this is the biggest question on the team.

The other big question is where Nick fits. Some people think he’ll start by the time the season is a few games old — but, then, there were people who thought that last year too. And even a few who predicted that his rookie year.

I would guess Dray will have about the same number of minutes this year as last, and about the same role.

Assuming James doesn’t play much, that leaves Stevenson and returns us to the unknown of who backs up the 2 and how it’s handled.

I guess I’m saying… I have *no idea* who is gonna be in the rotation!!

Comment from neal
Time September 29, 2009 at 8:49 PM

zyhoya, did you leave Blatche out of your 9 man rotation on purpose? I can’t agree with that.

I like a lot about Oberto. He shoots a higher % from the field and gets more assists than any of our other bigs. But he’s not a good rebounder or free throw shooter, and he gets charged for more fouls per minute than any other Wizard. I expect McGee to be Haywood’s primary backup if he improves by a “normal” amount from his rookie year.

Yes, as Tom says, the most intriguing thing about the rotation IMO will be who backs up Arenas and Miller.

Comment from Rick
Time September 29, 2009 at 9:07 PM

I don’t think Oberto will take minutes from Dray. Rather, I think Oberto will backup Haywood (unless McGee really shows some improvement over last year) and allow Dray to play minutes at his more natural PF position. I’m sure he’ll see some minutes at center. but I hope not nearly as many as last year.

Comment from Wizards4Life
Time September 29, 2009 at 9:44 PM

i just love the fact that we have so much talent that we dont know who is starting and who is coming off the bench thats the best problem you could have in the NBA IMO and i dont see how you can’t put Miller in the Starting spot play Caron at 2 and let the season answer all the ?s about the bench

Comment from Wizfan4life
Time September 29, 2009 at 10:00 PM

Imagine if our team could successfully have only 2-3 true starters start the game, then have the other people that would typically start come off the bench!

1. Arenas
2. Young
3. Butler
4. Blatche
5. McGee

then have Foye, Jamison, Miller, and Haywood all come off the bench, either individually, in a group, or all together! I think a starting lineup with those 4 anyways is still about as equal to our original starting 5 (and by that I mean when we were all healthy) when we had the lineup look like this:

1. Arenas
2. Stevenson
3. Butler
4. Jamison
5. Haywood

Comment from GlingGling
Time September 29, 2009 at 10:30 PM

Great Day 1 coverage. Top notch stuff. If we get this all season long we’ll be some pretty lucky fans. Kind of gets you right there in the game. I could care less about the projected rotation, let’s put our focus on the great media coverage we’re getting.

Like in the second set of pictures Caron’s triceps are huge. It looks like he was cutting it up this summer.

Comment from Rick
Time September 29, 2009 at 10:31 PM

@wizfan4life, although i disagree that we should only have 2-3 starters begin every game, i could conceive of a situation where it makes sense to start nick young and have miller come off the bench. Nick is a streaky shooter and you could run him off some picks early to see if he is hot. If not, you can bring in the steadier Miller. Plus, I think from a confidence perspective it will help Nick to start, whereas Miller doesn’t care. Still, Nick could not even find his way into the starting lineup last year with little competition, so he will have to have progressed a significant piece this summer.

Comment from jazzy1
Time September 29, 2009 at 10:58 PM

I would hope we’d play Javale and Haywood together some. We could use javale’s quickness to cover the court defensively and use haywoods size to rebound put jamison at 3 Butler at 2 and Arenas at point.

I don’t wanna see as many small line ups this season. I’m looking forward to seeing Foye play I think his game could be tracking very similar to how Billups game came around in his career. Foye is the same type of personality to me very calm and poised.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time September 29, 2009 at 11:06 PM

SportzWiz thank you for the videos and pics. Great stuff!

Thanks Dave
Great coverage as usual. It’s really nice of you to take your time to keep us informed. After not being able to be on a computer all day I really appreciate coming on here and getting a complete run down of what happened.

I have to agree with GlingGling. We have so much talent at almost every spot who really cares who starts and at what position. I’m sure Flip will decide what players interact with each other the best and go from there. If we are all honest about it we don’t really care who plays as long as we win

Comment from dmac
Time September 29, 2009 at 11:25 PM

Dave thanks for a great day. I am most interested in how Deshawn looks and if he is completely healthy.
Does he look 70-80-90 percent back to his old defensive ways. Also concerned about Javarris Critttenton and his progress as a point guard.
I believe a healthy competition in the back court may make some players available to other teams and we may be able to package M.James and another player to bring in additional front court help. Just a thought.

Comment from GlingGling
Time September 30, 2009 at 12:24 AM

dmac, I think they want to keep M.James. We have a lot of resigning to do and not a lot of money to do it with.

Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 12:37 AM

Consider the possibility that Flip is dangling the 8-man concept as an incentive to spur players to work harder.

His primary justification for a short bench has been that it’s difficult for players to get into a flow with shorter stints on court and minimal minutes. Well maybe, but that justification flies right out the window if you’re getting highly productive minutes out of all players.

One thing I appreciate most about Flip is his ability to adjust to his personnel. Long-term and in-game. If it turns out this group manages the minutes-shuffle well — scoring efficiently, communicating and adjusting well on defense, giving maximum effort per minute– then I suspect he’ll see the value of extending the bench: makes for a harder gameplan for opposing scouts and Coaches; defensive players can give maximum effort in limited minutes. Whomever is hot will then see more minutes; whomever has the match-up that night, and so on.

Essentially that 8-9 man rotation can afford to flipflop on any given night then, giving rest to dinged up players or key workhorses on back-to-backs, etc.

Depth has more benefit than a deep bench in any given game: rest for starters, replacement for injuries, stockpiled assets for trade. But if anyone can turn versatility and variation into a weapon, it’s Flip. You can run 6-10 different squads– with a few support-beam players probable in each one.

Brendan Haywood is the only core player whose role is tough to adjust. Everyone else has a competent back-up behind them and sufficient versatility that they can play on variations within the system.

Okay I expect to see Gil playing heavy minutes with the ball as the focal point PG– but can he run off-ball and whip around screens and the elbows and knees of Oberto/Dom/Haywood, ala Nick, Rip Hamilton, etc? Put it this way: If he did, could anyone in the league keep up with him?

If teams try to load up and double Gil to trap him with the ball or prevent and deny him touches (as has proven occasionally effective in the past) well then Flip has Foye on the opposite side, as a capable ballhandler, and can run Gil around that minefield of picks and screens to punish pursuit.

There are plays available with this squad that Flip hasn’t yet inked on the proverbial cocktail napkin. I’m most excited for when JaVale has developed enough that he can start in on some of the KG wrinkles. Flip hasn’t had the alley oop threat with the passing lanes above all player’s reach.

In any case, I fully expect deep use of that roster depending, if not in every game, then on a night to night basis depending on the match-up.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time September 30, 2009 at 2:39 AM

Dmac…. this Paul Davis guy that Tom knew all about, while I thought he was a folk singer, seems to have a little game. From the videos he seems to have good positioning and pretty good hops. We do have a “spot” open for a good cheap post player?

Comment from datonypony
Time September 30, 2009 at 3:28 AM

@Rick: Seeing if Nick hits his first couple of shots and then keeping him on or benching him for the rest of the game seems quite harsh haha. Imagine if that happens, how much pressure would he have lol.

I WANT THE SEASON TO START NOW! But at least this is WAYYY better than the other off season blogging!

Comment from dmac
Time September 30, 2009 at 6:13 AM

GrifonRacing you made a good point about Paul Davis. He was a pretty good college player at Michigan State. He is mobile and has good offensive moves. The rap on him since he has been in the league is he is soft inside and does not get many rebounds or block shots. I do believe he is a better tryout to possibly make the team than Josh Heyfelt.

Comment from dmac
Time September 30, 2009 at 6:15 AM

Hey DJ looks like the pre- season and season may start out with replacement refs. Any chance they will be working with any of the teams during camp?

Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 7:50 AM

Consider the possibility that Flip is dangling the 8-man concept as an incentive to spur players to work harder.

His primary justification for a short bench has been that it’s difficult for players to get into a flow with shorter stints on court and minimal minutes. Well maybe, but that justification flies right out the window if you’re getting highly productive minutes out of all players.

One thing I appreciate most about Flip is his ability to adjust to his personnel. Long-term and in-game. If it turns out this group manages the minutes-shuffle well — scoring efficiently, communicating and adjusting well on defense, giving maximum effort per minute– then I suspect he’ll see the value of extending the bench: makes for a harder gameplan for opposing scouts and Coaches; defensive players can give maximum effort in limited minutes. Whomever is hot will then see more minutes; whomever has the match-up that night, and so on.

Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 7:51 AM

Essentially that 8-9 man rotation can afford to flipflop on any given night then, giving rest to dinged up players or key workhorses on back-to-backs, etc.

Depth has more benefit than a deep bench in any given game: rest for starters, replacement for injuries, stockpiled assets for trade. But if anyone can turn versatility and variation into a weapon, it’s Flip. You can run 6-10 different squads– with a few support-beam players probable in each one.

Brendan Haywood is the only core player whose role is tough to adjust. Everyone else has a competent back-up behind them and sufficient versatility that they can play on variations within the system.

Okay I expect to see Gil playing heavy minutes with the ball as the focal point PG– but can he run off-ball and whip around screens and the elbows and knees of Oberto/Dom/Haywood, ala Nick, Rip Hamilton, etc? Put it this way: If he did, could anyone in the league keep up with him?

If teams try to load up and double Gil to trap him with the ball or prevent and deny him touches (as has proven occasionally effective in the past) well then Flip has Foye on the opposite side, as a capable ballhandler, and can run Gil around that minefield of picks and screens to punish pursuit.

There are plays available with this squad that Flip hasn’t yet inked on the proverbial cocktail napkin. I’m most excited for when JaVale has developed enough that he can start in on some of the KG wrinkles. Flip hasn’t had the alley oop threat with the passing lanes above all player’s reach.

In any case, I fully expect deep use of that roster, if not in every game, then on a night to night basis depending on the match-up.

Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 7:52 AM

Essentially that 8-9 man rotation can afford to flipflop on any given night then, giving rest to dinged up players or key workhorses on back-to-backs, etc.

Depth has more benefit than a deep bench in any given game: rest for starters, replacement for injuries, stockpiled assets for trade. But if anyone can turn versatility and variation into a weapon, it’s Flip. You can run 6-10 different squads– with a few support-beam players probable in each one.

Brendan Haywood is the only core player whose role is tough to adjust. Everyone else has a competent back-up behind them and sufficient versatility that they can play on variations within the system.

Okay I expect to see Gil playing heavy minutes with the ball as the focal point PG– but can he run off-ball and whip around screens and the elbows and knees of Oberto/Dom/Haywood, ala Nick, Rip Hamilton, etc? Put it this way: If he did, could anyone in the league keep up with him?

If teams try to load up and double Gil to trap him with the ball or prevent and deny him touches (as has proven occasionally effective in the past) well then Flip has Foye on the opposite side, as a capable ballhandler, and can run Gil around that minefield of picks and screens to punish pursuit.

There are plays available with this squad that Flip hasn’t yet inked on the proverbial napkin. I’m most excited for when JaVale has developed enough that he can start in on some of the KG wrinkles. Flip hasn’t had the alley oop threat with the passing lanes above all player’s reach.

In any case, I fully expect deep use of that roster, if not in every game, then on a night to night basis depending on the match-up.

Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 8:39 AM

(took me a while to sneak that post past the censor-software. I figured out that the auto-block bot doesn’t like the name for little square napkins that you use at a bar…)

Comment from doclinkin
Time September 30, 2009 at 9:30 AM

Essentially I see it like this. If everyone’s healthy:

PG — Gilbert, backed up by Foye.

SG-SF mix — Caron, Mike Miller.
Plus two of: Nick Young, Randy Foye, DeShawn, Dom — depending on match-up, need, and who is playing well.

Flip has always found minutes for a Trenton Hassel type of defender, so DSteve and Dom are battling each other for that role.

Nick has the ideal size and length for the off-ball motion guard that Flip likes, if he’s average or better on defense then he’ll play every minute his talent allows, until he stops running hard, or starts trying to dribble and showboat.

Jamison may also find time in the SF role if one of the young Bigs is playing remarkably well at Four, especially on defense. His quickshot catch and shoot means he’ll play well as that motion player. In that configuration it should be confusing for opponents trying to figure out which of Jamison, Mike Millions, or Caron is the 2-guard and which is the SF.

Gilbert off the ball as described above, if teams load up on him at PG. Though he can play this role with or without Foye on court since hte team has good passers elsewhere.

PF — Jamison by default though he’s not the best fit for Flip’s defensive scheme. Backed up by Dray.

A healthy Oberto is in the mix if one of the young longbodies is at center –the squad needs the savvy, screening and defense that Haywood and Oberto bring to the court. If Haywood is resting we’ll probably see more Oberto than we expect, at least until the young pups show signs of maturity.

If he develops remarkably quickly JaVale may get in the mix at four eventually, but I doubt he does this year. His talent will force Flip to look at him and try him on court, but Flip loves reliable veterans in his support-role players, and hasn’t developed a playbook yet that would funnel through JaVale as a focal point. Still JaVale next to Haywood is really pretty from the standpoint of intimidating size. Defensively that will be a nice option once JaVale is more execution than inexperience.

Still Dray next to Haywood is plenty big, defensively.

C — Haywood. Oberto if he’s healthy and playing well. JaVale and Dray battle for time here, though for now I think Dray has the edge.

…..

Basically the only players who are sure to wait their chance from a bench position, regularly on the inactive list, are Mike James and JCritt.

JCritt can force the issue of he becomes a defensive pest. Mike James is only active if we have significant backcourt injuries.