Washington Wizards Blog

Comment from millie mill
Time July 29, 2010 at 1:18 PM

I really hope Mcgee plays like that next season. Check out the second play and look at the other players reaction.

Comment from Jaba
Time July 29, 2010 at 2:01 PM

I still question his basketball IQ…..but he certainly has all the physical tools to be an all star player! Hope he progresses fast!

Comment from doclinkin
Time July 29, 2010 at 2:45 PM

I really hope that Seraphin will be a big contributor to the Wizards future, but at 6?9? 265 lbs. I just don’t see him being able to compete with 7?+ NBA centers. Many Euro League players have looked good in that league where defense usually consists of pushing and shoving.

Better standing reach than Al Horford, which is the key ‘measurable’ for NBA defense (where height matters most). 265 lbs strong and athletic means he can compete at the 5-spot.

But in Flip’s offense his role is merely to set strong picks and crash the board from the baseline. The Ervin Johnson role to Dray’s KG.

On defense, his favorite player and role model is Ben Wallace (speaking of underheight strong players who manage some success). Fact is though he was earning significant minutes in a championship team in a pro league overseas on a team with 3 quality Bigs with a ton of experience. And was showing his best game late in the season when they were scrapping for playoff wins (until he hurt the knee).

By contrast, as far as measurables are concerned we have JaVale, with the best standing reach in the league, who simply will not do the work in the paint. I suspect as he puts a bit of weight in his diaper he’ll improve in his low-post game (once he gets some weigh on his posterior, he’ll improve on the interior). But as for now you simply cannot survive with heavy minutes given to players who are scared of the paint and allergic to contact. You might want to call McGee your Center due to all the measurables, he still sorta wants to play as the Small Forward. Or at least play in the Dray (KG/Sheed) role as your Mid-Post Skilled Four, taking the first pass from the key and playing the Pivot position from there.

Doesn’t matter whether you call him a Four or a Center, Seraphin looks to have the muscle and the aptitude to fill the lane and make space. He’ll take a few minutes to adjust, but as of right now he’s the only player we have who is willing to do the work down there. Unless you plan to play Trevor Booker at Center. Or Unless Hamady N’Diaye makes the team and proves to be better than a total freakshow on offense.

Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time July 29, 2010 at 2:48 PM

More of ESPN’s pandering to LeBronze:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/2010/07/29/2010-07-29_espns_decision_pull_lebron_story.html

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 29, 2010 at 3:01 PM

LOL…Which also explains why atl was so quick to push hortford to the 4 if shaq was coming to atl…..you can get past a few teams with an under-sized center, but you’re not going to get to the nba promised land….denver is another casualty. They have a bunch of power forwards but not really a center.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 29, 2010 at 3:03 PM

but we shall see, i’m just ready for everything to be on the hard-wood, more-so than the blog…..

Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time July 29, 2010 at 3:08 PM

“By contrast, as far as measurables are concerned we have JaVale, with the best standing reach in the league, who simply will not do the work in the paint.” –

“But as for now you simply cannot survive with heavy minutes given to players who are scared of the paint and allergic to contact. ”

doc – this is the first time that I can remember seeing a post from you that was not factual. Those two statement are completely subjective. It is your opinion that JaVale simply will not do the work in the paint; and it is your opinion that he is scared of the paint and allergic to contact.

It is my opinion that neither of those statements is true. He finally got some serious game minutes last year and responded well. I believe that he worked hard this summer on his strength. Having said that, I also believe that he has no shot. Unless he has a dunk, he simply throws the ball toward the basket. He needs to develop a low post, back-to-the-basket offense, and he needs to learn to play defense that does not simply mean blocking shots. His assets are his athleticism and his willingness to run-the-floor. This is his third year. He got zip coaching in his first year; he got a half-year coaching last year. He’ll keep getting better. He’s a real asset. He’ll do the work and he’s not afraid of contact.

Comment from neal
Time July 29, 2010 at 3:19 PM

I agree gotabig. I think McGee works hard and I don’t think he avoids contact, although he isn’t good at muscling people. I think he does shoot, rather than just throw the ball up, but he needs to lessen the types of shots he takes and concentrate on a 2-3 “can’t miss” ones.

So much depends on how well we develop our young guys. I hope our coaching staff is good at that. Any opinions?

Howard will be ready earlier than I thought, and he will help this year. However, his signing makes it look like Booker will not be in the normal rotation, and I don’t like that.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 29, 2010 at 4:22 PM

does kareem have a school? Either he should have been in a big man school or hired a personal big man coach…His mom is pam mcgee for crying out loud, use her for your betterment!!!!!!!!!

Kobe went to Olajuwon (sp). I could care less if he worked out with westbrook or whomever this summer. Westbrook is a point guard. or was that someone else that worked out with westbrook? The point is, that’s what we want to hear about our team. What are you doing meaningful in your off-time to make us support you. Being drafted on the team is not enough. Show us that you want it, we don’t want to see the same mistakes each season. we don’t want to hear that “you’re still raw, or you’re not ready” we want to see it for ourselves. Forget all the lipservice….we want to see ya between the lines

ALL in ALL, we want to have a team and players to support, but as fans we are continuously fed smokes and mirrors and given false hope. We need a change!!!

Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time July 29, 2010 at 5:03 PM

McGee is a third year player. He played in the NBA summer league and was picked as the 1st team center on that All-Star team. He progressed nicely last year as he got playing minutes. He’ll continue to improve.

dcb, why so down on the team?

Comment from gray16
Time July 29, 2010 at 5:18 PM

ok. my final thing on the josh howard situation. i’ve come to the conclusion that somewhere in flip’s and/or eg’s mind, they feel this team just might make the playoffs, and josh is there to help in case that happens. i just hope if we are losing games, playing josh more isn’t the option they choose, but instead to start playing the young guys. no need to play to win and wind up losing more ways that one. i’m not saying tank the season, i’m saying try to win with young guys that could be a part of the future.

BUT if josh howard leads to wins, you won’t see me complaining, you can write that down and take a picture lol.

as for javale aka mr funstrating, i don’t think he will ever reach his true potential. flip just needs to cuss him out all day and night until the kid realizes that flashy plays are cool and all, but they aren’t what you are playing for. if they are what mcgee is playing for, sit him, no matter what. if we have to put josh howard at center, don’t play mcgee if that’s what he’s playing for. if he doesn’t get over it, bye bye.

as for seraphin, european players are my weakness. i actually try to watch as much euroleague as possible, but it’s hard to study all the players like i can in the nba or college. i hope he turns out to be great, and doclin makes it seem like he probably will, but i don’t know much of anything about him so i won’t give my opinion on that.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 29, 2010 at 5:20 PM

In the last thread, dcbutler didn’t see anything special in the Seraphin vids. I wrote:

“You didn’t see him do anything special, dcbutler? In one sequence, Seraphin blocks Cousins at one end, hustles out to the other end and dunks, then hustles back and blocks John Wall’s layup.

I don’t know if that qualifies as “special,” but I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do it!”

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 29, 2010 at 5:21 PM

Doc says Seraphin is key to our future.

Given that I have liked Seraphin *a lot* and hoped we could get him ever since I first saw footage on the guy in the Spring, and given that I have mucho respect for doclinkin’s analyses — I am of the exact same counsel. This kid could be very big for us.

On Josh Howard: Now that I understand that his contract protects us from a late return and against an early departure due to a subsequent injury, I feel different about the signing. I’m fine with it. No, I don’t think Howard either did anything special for us in his 3 games plus 7 minutes, and no I don’t think he’ll do anything special this year either, but he is *certainly* better than the veteran minimum type guy I expected to sign.

And, Rick, you are right that for this role we needed a veteran not a rookie on the draft bubble.

So… my bad on the Josh Howard signing.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 29, 2010 at 5:42 PM

TomM,

i don’t expect you to do it, you’re not in the nba, and you’re not an elite player. I saw that, McGee can dunk and block and look at him. Cousins and Wall aren’t my measuring stick yet. I saw Seraphin clips over seas and he didn’t go through anyone. Get the NBA package and you’ll see why watching this franchise has been hard on the eyes and other teams make you say dang, did we get a discount for our GM and why are raw and unqualified players starting at your center and small forward spot, when they couldn’t start anywhere else??

Hmmm, 4 million a year….what FAs received 4million a year this year. One year or not, you’re going to have to pay a FA…lol….unless you get one like HA that didn’t even show up on the FA listing…LOL

This is where i’m at with this team…get your scouting team up to par with the PR team and we’ll have a playoff team…lol….no doubt. Until then, wake me when we get a new gm

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 29, 2010 at 5:45 PM

Gotabig — I thought your response on JaVale was as subjective as Doc’s post. You seem to have a highlight reel in your mind on players you like — maybe we all do? — and that’s what you base your analysis on, with the counter-examples never coming up. Like JaVale getting *pushed around* repeatedly by most 5s he faced.

When Colangelo says JaVale is “very raw, he’s very young. He’s still a babe in terms of the game” — a judgment that reflects not just his take but Coach K’s as well, are you hearing that as an experienced and objective judgment? When he *doesn’t* make the team over Brook Lopez, do you accept that reflects a simple fact — Lopez plays better basketball than JaVale McGee?

Team USA didn’t invite JaVale until Robin Lopez decided he couldn’t come and Amar’e declined as well. Based on last year’s work, *Robin*, not just his twin, is a better basketball player than JaVale — though I thought JM outplayed him their rookie season.

But Colangelo also said “he’s very young, … and he has a real future.” That seems very true as well. From his first games in the league, the things his pure athleticism and size allow him to do made it possible for him to be somewhat productive. But he was no better last year than his rookie year — he did about the same things in the same ways.

Javale is only 22. I expect him to improve this year, though I don’t know how much. If he could play against “Tillie” (whoever he was) and Samhan as he did in SL he wouldn’t need to learn the game — those guys are raw too and he outclasses them in size, speed and athleticism. But when you watch Marc Gasol abuse him, you know that he has a road to travel to become a reliable NBA player.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 29, 2010 at 5:49 PM

one last thing, look at the salaries of playoff teams, you are going to have to pay to play. Just have mgmt that is smart enough to know who to pay and who not to pay. also get someone or some people that can put together a whole team…u know the same ole stuff that i’ve been saying since we never were able to get a big man, and had to deal with pretenders……four years?

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 29, 2010 at 5:52 PM

dcbutler — you are almost as cranky a blogger as I am!!

What affected my take on the Howard signing was understanding that it seems *not* to be $4m. That is, he makes $4m based on performance targets. So when he *isn’t* back in October, that takes away from the pay. And if he gets re-injured, ditto (not that I want him to be hurt again).

Under those circumstances — and we are still waiting to know whether that’s true — it’s not a dismal signing. That is, it doesn’t reflect lack of plan or professionalism. In fact the opposite. As I say above, I don’t think JH is all that, but he is better than Keith Bogans, and I was saying I’d be ok if we signed him to 1 year.

If you expected that we’d sign a stud, I don’t know what you were thinking. We’re not, and anyway they’re all signed — you wanted to give Rudy Gay a max contract? Yikes!

Comment from doclinkin
Time July 29, 2010 at 5:56 PM

Go-Big:

I love McGee like a nephew, but occasionally I get peeved at him, and expect better of him than he gives. Watch him close and you’ll notice he rarely establishes inside position either on offense or defense. He prefers to swoop in from out of no where and challenge for a block (on D) or float free from the moshpit on offense then soar in from out of nowhere for the lob-dunk.

He’s done this for years, since high school, and I understand the genesis: he was an 190-lb seven footer coming out of high school, with a high center of gravity. That tends to mean you will be leveraged out of position and shoved away from the basket by the burly thugs who thrive in the paint.

He and his mom expect him to be an ‘evolutionary’ Big Man, which seems to be interpreted as a perimeter Big with fancy handles and the like.

I track down footage even of Summer Ball at the Goodman League in Cali where he has played the last few years, and you’ll forever see JaVale outside trying to dribbledrive down the lane. YMCA caliber scrubs get position on him, shove him away from the basket with little effort and if it weren’t for the fact that he can legally get away with over-the-back no-calls (due to his Mr Fantastic elastic length, invading the airspace waaay over peoples heads) he’d never get a rebound at all.

Yes he spends time getting a little bigger in the offseason. Great, he also spends an inordinate amount of time goofing around on the perimeter as a pseudo-Nick Young. As a guy who admires the play of quality Bigs, it offends the sensibilities a little bit. Not so much that he tries it, but that he’s built a few bad habits from it and often ignores his ‘job’ on the interior: establish position, challenge the shot, collect the board.

The on/off numbers showed that our defense was significantly worse every time he stepped on the court. That should NEVER happen with your athletic seven footer.

Now he hasn’t yet realized his full size and man strength, as he does I expect he’ll enjoy bringing out his inner Bully. He’s gonna get even bigger and stronger. True Bigs often don’t fully develop until late, I wan thim here for his entire career since he’s gonna be a monster once he settles down and knows the game, isn’t quite so impressed with himself.

But he’s not there yet. I have way high hopes for the kid, but that means I will ride him harder than if he were Calvin Booth or whatever. He has all the talent in the world, still has some evident bad habits.

Hopeful signs from Summer league:

He was committing to his picks. Somebody (Sammy) had a talk with him about it, clearly. He used to float away from the pick, committing early to the roll, which does nothing to slow down the opponent and merely bungles offensive timing for everybody.

He wasn’t a foul machine. Someone also clearly reminded him that he doesn’t have to hop every time someone fakes the jumper. He’s still taller than Paul Bunyan just standing still.

He quit the silly salute, since he has way more than enough dunks and positive plays to have to celebrate every one.

Next habit to work on: he still leaks out on the perimeter, and tries to sprint ahead anticipating the transition break while the ball is still ‘live’ at the defensive end. Doesn’t take full responsibility for the idea that it’s mostly his job to secure that ball first, then get out and go.

And yes, from winding and rewinding and watching closely: He doesn’t love contact, shies away from the paint. He’ll get better, I fully expect he will, but when he’s still flinching away from his primary jobs and getting a little too pretty out there, then I’m still gonna ride him about it. Virtually. Out here in Internets land. You ain’t the only one been watching for some players willing to put on they Big Boy pants and man up.

Mostly I’d love to see the practice match-up of two conflicting styles: McGee’s unmatched combination of size and near-grace vs the shove and bang and thump of a man-ox like Seraphin. Should be fun to watch.

[Fact is (HINT HINT WIZBOARD STAFFERS) this promises to be a really interesting team behind the scenes and in practice. Who wouldn't want to see Johnny Ballgame and Hibachi going head-to-head like Michael v. Scottie. I'll watch every minute of footage I can get.]

As for the contrast in styles: Seraphin has surprisingly good footwork for his size, and has a far more highly developed back-to-basket game than he does a face-up game. I’ve been starved to see that, and it’s a really good fit for what Flip looks for in his frontcourt utility players. That’s my primary concern with McGee’s game: if he can only play when Dray is offcourt then he has lesser utility and may try too hard to impress when he is on court. Looking for sportcenter loops, not winning minutes. They can’t both play the finesse Big role at the same time. Somebody’s got to do the dirty work.

Comment from neal
Time July 29, 2010 at 6:35 PM

I’m not concerned with paying Howard $4M. We have it to spare. I’m concerned with his taking minutes away from younger players. I guess I can hope Howard will show them enough to compensate.

Comment from gray16
Time July 29, 2010 at 7:13 PM

what’s the deal on seraphin’s health? will he be ready for training camp?

Comment from draftazoid
Time July 29, 2010 at 7:21 PM

Javale did awesome during both summer leage and the USA tryouts.
Politcs have a funny way of showing up.
It has been pointed out on numerous times that Brook Lopez has not played well.
Team USA has him on their group of selected players. Javale is not.
It would not look good to Colangelo if a non-Team USA player was put on the team and a player that they already committed too was cut.
You just can’t get the politics junk out of anything this big these days.
Hands down Javale outpolayed Lopez.
But hey, we will get the Nets this year.

Comment from gray16
Time July 29, 2010 at 7:37 PM

tom, i have a question for you: (this is something i have asked you about before.)

first, watch the javale mcgee tape if you haven’t already:

ok, when watching that tape, pay attention to the misses wall had there. now if you look on the stat sheet and see 3-10 shooting you assume he’s not doing well tonight.

BUT

if you were watching the game and saw that 3 of those misses had the defense chasing you down while leaving javale there to clean up all three misses, you wouldn’t be saying wall is having a bad night.

do you agree that those misses didn’t hurt the team, and in a way helped the team?

this just goes back to why i say stats don’t tell the entire story. this is something iverson would do ALLLLL the time back in the day. even when he missed, he drew so much defense that the big man was able to get the rebound. it’s just one example of why i say, stat’s shouldn’t be relied on to tell you how a player’s playing. watching the games is the true way of studying a player’s game. (of course this is all my opinion)

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 29, 2010 at 7:48 PM

Neal,

We have about 5 mill in cap space left.if we spend the money and it helps the team, im all for it. If it has so much red tape, and we only pay 2-3 mill and don’t use his services that much, we may as well have went and picked up an undrafted wing that can fill a role the whole year, OR save that $ and go get the three point shooter that the lakers are shopping, and get a draft pick to boot. Wall and Gil will need a spot-up three point shooter with their penetration and it would be a win-win situation.

So, if we didn’t sign him, we would get the lakers pick and a three point shooter for a year, or get a low-cost undrafted player and save the $$ to get an expiring contract that someone is trying to unload. We shouldn’t spend it just because we have it, but spend it wisely.

I don’t know who keeps introducing this go get rudy gay nonsense….lol…or any other max player, get a decent role player and keep it moving.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 29, 2010 at 7:50 PM

besides, we already have a max player….lol….he’s just not playing to the max yet…lol….but he does a lot of other stuff to the max

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 29, 2010 at 7:52 PM

last note….has Gil and Wall even spoken to each other yet, or gotten to know each other yet. Last I heard on JThompson is that they haven’t. If they are the dynamic duo, when is the bonding going to take place? Enuff of the chatter, show us that we ARE a team.

Comment from gray16
Time July 29, 2010 at 8:16 PM

gil is weird, i wouldn’t be surprised if he just wanted to be to himself at the moment (and with tim grover of course). he might just need an escape.

when he gets back to d.c. is when we’ll find out how they’ll bond. not saying it to be a good thing, but one thing wall could always bond with gilbert about is the death of their parents (gil’s mom recently and wall’s dad in the past). sometimes having a friend that can relate to you in that way and can understand your feelings on the matter can make you closer to anyone else. we shall see though how they bond. we are all hoping for the best…

but if gil could still get along with crittenton after (jokingly) threatening him with guns, i think he can get along with anyone lol. on the court, it will probably take at least a half season if not more for them to really gel.

Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time July 29, 2010 at 8:37 PM

That last doclinkin post was what I have become accustomed to seeing. Analytical and on-the-money. I don’t disagree, but I also believe that McGee’s upside is too great to ignore by putting him on the bench. He has to play to learn, and he has demonstrated progress with playing time.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time July 29, 2010 at 11:06 PM

I think JaVale is going to “start to get” his positioning when he plays against Seraphin in training camp. Seraphin is one Big Dude. JaVale will learn. And will have a true “banger” to teach him.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time July 29, 2010 at 11:10 PM

It sounds like Josh Howard wants to make every effort to ensure he stays in the NBA. I really hope everything works out for him… especially physically. It seems he has made more than a few concessions to remain a Wizard. I like that. It’s nice when a player of his talent level “wants” to play for you. I wish him the very best in his rehab. He is too good a player to be done so soon. I just hope he gives himself the time to heal and doesn’t worry so much about the “coming back on time” clause.

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time July 29, 2010 at 11:15 PM

Oh… and if JaVale “doesn’t” learn…. he is going to have multiple butt bruises

It seems both Seraphin and Booker like to knock people down

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time July 29, 2010 at 11:24 PM

If we sign Seraphin (I’m assuming that’s a done deal… minus formalities) and Howard. That gives us 12 players. Who do you guys think get the last two spots? (I’m assuming the 15th spot is going to remain open for now for flexability)

Comment from GrifonRacing
Time July 29, 2010 at 11:28 PM

I’ve been waiting a long time for all of his atheletic talent to turn into something…anything. Does “Anyone” think that Nick will finally get it.. a part of it… a sliver of it? I’d really like to see him do something beside the teams laundry this year.

Comment from neal
Time July 30, 2010 at 12:01 AM

dcbutler, I agree with you, I think. I don’t have knowledge of what’s going on with other teams, but we’ve needed more 3-point ability for years and I’d rather give minutes to younger players.

UNLESS, we need some glue to keep the team competitive and not let the younger players get used to losing all the time. I really can’t judge how important that is but it surely has to be considered.

Comment from dcbutler357
Time July 30, 2010 at 7:29 AM

I REALLY hope this POTENTIAL comes into being. After these last two years, I feel like a clippers fan.

What we have on the roster, is what we have on the roster. I’m ready for them to hit the court

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 30, 2010 at 7:47 AM

Gotabig, you write: “McGee’s upside is too great to ignore by putting him on the bench. He has to play to learn, and he has demonstrated progress with playing time.”

I agree w/ the first clause — he needs minutes. But he needs to show in practice that he is *trying* to learn, that he is coachable; he has to *earn* those minutes in other words.

I’m not as sure of what you say in the last clause. I mean, *of course* he has progressed since first stepping on an NBA court — it would be hard for him not to. But has the lightbulb really come on? Has he worked on *changing* his negatives? I don’t know for sure obviously, but if so we’re not yet seeing the results in the way he positions himself and works on the court.

Describing what he was doing with his minutes at the Team USA camp, he said he was just trying to “do my thing” in the minutes he had. I’d a lot rather have heard that he was trying to soak up coaching, learn from watching and playing against Tyson Chandler and other veterans, etc.

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 30, 2010 at 7:53 AM

gray16 —

1. John shot .375 in SL; if he’d shot .475 that would have been better right? That’s all it means to say .375 isn’t very good. There’s room for improvement.

2. No one in his right mind thinks that stats tell you everything about the game or a player! No need to make the point.

3. As to taking/missing tough shots in a way that helps your bigs get rebounds, something you claim Iverson did — so the bigs that played with AI would have higher rebound numbers than when they played on other teams, right? You’ve checked that? You’re not just running a highlight reel in your head or anything, are you?

Comment from Tom Mandel
Time July 30, 2010 at 8:00 AM

A tweet:

“Alex Kennedy: The Wizards have invited Kevin Palmer to training camp, according to sources. Palmer averaged 8 points and 3 rebounds during Summer League.”

Comment from neal
Time July 30, 2010 at 8:09 AM

Someone tell me more about Palmer.

Comment from Gotabigboyoffense
Time July 30, 2010 at 9:29 AM

“Gotabig — I thought your response on JaVale was as subjective as Doc’s post.” – Tom M.

That’s true Tom. It is also why I stated that up front:
“It is my opinion that neither of those statements is true.”

Comment from gray16
Time July 30, 2010 at 12:23 PM

tom, i agree there is definitely room for improvement. but if you did not see those games, would you know where there was improvement to be made?

my only point is that shooting percentage doesn’t tell you how much a person is contributing all the time. for instance, mike miller would shoot a good percentage most of the time, but at times he still wasn’t helping the team (with his shooting). if he would pass up a open shot and give the ball to someone else with time down on the clock, the person that misses the shot get’s the bad mark on the paper when mike deserves the bad mark for the play. this is just one example of shooting percentage =/= contribution.

but i think we agree on a lot of things here, just not completely. i just feel that looking at a stat sheet to determine how good a player is doing is not the correct way to go about it. i see it as more of a tool, but the main way to determine is by watching the games. that’s second to none imo.

as for iverson, i don’t know if his teammates rebounds went up because of him, i just know that there were nights when he wasn’t shooting well at times but still drawing so much attention with his shots taken that it would still help the team, and not just from offensive rebounds. these are just my opinions from playing and watching the game.

Comment from dlts20
Time July 30, 2010 at 12:26 PM

F The Starters, I Like The Bench

1st off let me say that I think our starting group will be very good and will be able to hold its own. However, I tend to think that Howard will atleast start out on the bench. I think he will be just coming back and they like his energy there anyways. They will probably bring him along slowly. Also, I think we would have enough scoring in the 1st unit anyways if Dray is right by then so you dont really need Josh.

The fact is that I cant remember the time we had a good consistent bench. We either always have a ton of young guys who dont know nothing or play like crap because they are scared they will be bench after every little mistake, or we have old washed up vetrans who were barely good in the 1st place. I have always a nice mix of vetran & young guys on the bench who have a style that you can count on and play with energy.

Its been forever and the same thing, where the starters go to the bench and we get outscored by 10. Now we will be coming off the bench possibly with a great vetrean 3sum of Hinrich, Howard, & Yi sprinkled in with some NY who I think would play well between 2 guys like Kirk & Howard. Even if you just stay with the 1st 3, its still great if youre going to keep in Gil & Dray or whoever. I just think it keeps us consistent all game long. I wouldnt trust Al off the bench as much as Howard but that would still be alot better than the past. For some reason, I think Seraphin & Booker can give you some solid minutes without the thought of them overstepping there boundaries