Still Lacking Steam! Fire More Coal! Wizards 96, Kings 86

Draft watch has started with obvious focus on bigs…

Who did you like? Favors? Lawal? Henson, Davis, Patterson?

Specialists (like brockman) can always do what they did in college in the league. He’s a decent rebounder as well.

We need a big. We have some parts to trade. Can Petrie do it? Fact is, Hawes and JT play too much alike one another (as has been said before here). Hawes or JT has to go, or make room for a defensive – rebounding – post liking center (if one exists). And there’s no way I want to lose JT.

Having a big scorer like Martin comeback after being away is good and tough on the kings. The good part is we get our leading scorer, veteran, and game finisher back. On the tough side, now everyone’s minutes will be affected and players have to get adjusted to playing with Kevin. In about 3-4 more games the team should be in more rhythm, and we will definitely not come up empty on this road trip. Just my thoughts.

They’re now 1-7 with K-mart in the lineup. He’s still shooting under 42%.. seems to bring down most of his teammates’ confidence and energy when he’s on the floor.. he lacks toughness, he’s apathetic on defense. It doesn’t seem like his teammates have fun playing with him.
Stellar free throw shooting doesn’t make up for being an all-around chemistry killer.

Donte Greene, Jon Brockman, Beno Udrih, Tyreke Evans, Omri Casspi, Jason Thompson- Those are the only keepers. If Spencer Hawes can learn not to get stripped every time he goes to the basket, he’d be great coming off the bench.

      If I am Casspi, Green, Beno, or Brockman here is my sick thinking. We more than held the fort down while you were hurt again and you just step in and start? Oh, let me welcome you back so I can spend more minutes on the bench. Frustrations set in.
      Just because you get a leading scorer back does make everything all rosy. Do you think Orlando would rather have Vince or Hedo now? Vince scores more points, big deal.
      If Washington called and said Haywood and Young for Martin, I’m pulling the trigger.
      I’m not buying all the hype about Martin and Evans and the great backcourt pair they can make. I would prefer a Doug Christie type shooting guard who will defend, take a charge, and make the bullet pass from the top of the key to under the basket.
      More scorers and more offense do not solve everything. If they did, Phoenix would have would several rings by now.
      Hell, I’m frustrated. Better shut up before I make more stupid comments

This was the only game this season I’ll attend, so forgive me if I get somewhat long-winded in sharing thoughts and impressions.

Overall: It seemed like a very lethargic game; the only people on either side who struck me as playing with great energy were Greene, Nick Young, and Earl Boykins. There were a number of balls going out of bounds that might have been saved by diving, but I didn’t see anyone hit the floor. I was hoping that part of our new tough scrappy identity would be a bobbyjacksonesque willingness to do anything for a loose ball, but I didn’t see that in effect. Perhaps I should chalk that up to the fact that both teams had just played the night before.

Tyreke Evans: In the first quarter, we were down 6-14. Sacramento called time out, then Tyreke then went on a personal 9-2 run (as in, he scored the next 9 Kings points while the Wizards only answered with 2). During that run, he went behind his back in traffic on a drive that drew ooh’s from the Washington crowd. To see this coming from one of the youngest rookies in the league is just beautiful. There was no other stretch in the game when he was this impressive, but he looked like an all-star then.

He is certainly a competent ball handler (aside from the fact that he carries his dribble a little high at times), and by that measure he could certainly be our point guard if we want him to. But it seems like he tends to walk the ball up court (I remember only one possession when he jogged it up court, and that was in the final two minutes of the game) and it sometimes takes a while for him to initiate offensive sets. There are some advantages to taking your time (less risk of turnovers), but I feel like there’s more good in getting into an offensive set quickly (the chance to reset a broken play without a 24-second violation, a better chance at catching the defense off guard or forcing mismatches). I think that if the team ever moves Tyreke to full-time 2-guard, it will be because they feel that someone else can consistently initiate effective offensive sets more quickly without draining Tyreke’s energy too much.

Kevin Martin: Again, what impressed me more than anything about him was how smart he is— he always knows how to make the high-yield easy plays. Once in the second quarter, there was a Sacramento missed shot. It looked like Washington had the rebound, but they were bobbling it. Most of both teams started moving to the other end of the court, but a few seconds later, Evans came up with the ball. Kevin was standing under the basket for the easy lay-up. He always seems to make intelligent plays, and that is as much of a skill as his shooting prowess.

He certainly seemed to play unselfishly— he consistently passed the ball quickly when he didn’t have a great look at a shot or a drive. Still, he used up a lot of offensive possessions— 17 shots plus five possessions in which he drew fouls (not and-ones). This was the most on the team— Evans used 21 possessions. I consider myself to be in the pro-Kevin Martin camp, but I would like him best if he weren’t our first offensive option. I feel that his skills— using his cleverness and shooting to exploit holes in the unsuspecting defense— are best used when the defense is primarily keying in on someone else on any given possession. There is strong consensus on this site that in a perfect world, Kevin Martin should be a second banana, but I have seen little definition of exactly what that should mean. I would like to suggest that it not only means that someone else should be the vocal leader, but also that someone else should be taking more shots on a consistent basis. I don’t mean he should be an offensive afterthought, but that I’d rather see him using 15 possessions a game than 20. This will allow Kevin to be even more efficient when he does shoot.

No look at Martin would be complete without a few words about defense. There were very few plays when he impressed me as either good or bad on that end of the floor. Once, he was alone in the corner with Nick Young and did a very poor job of positioning himself to seal off the baseline. Overall, though, he didn’t strike me as a glaring liability.

Hawes: I still like him and I still could see him grow into being a starter on a contending team. Twice, he got the ball low in awkward position with weird angles, and he deftly put it in, showing touch that not many big men have. The fact that he has great footwork and great touch down low at the age of 21 (aside from being a good shooter and passer) gives me hope that if he can grow in some of his many weaknesses (rebounding, strength/conditioning, turnovers, the propensity to try to do too much, the propensity to get down when things don’t go well), he’ll become a valuable contributor. All of this depends on him to start to approach the game (and his offseason preparation) with a higher level of commitment and seriousness than we’ve seen from him in the past. I think this is not only possible but likely for a 21-year-old. We need him to turn that corner, but it’s a corner that can be turned.

Thompson: Here (as in my view of Hawes), I think my view is in the minority here. I love JT as hustle, muscle, and rebounding off the bench. I don’t love him as an eventual starting 4 on a contender. Perhaps this is because I see too much of my own game in him.

I’m a little over 6’6", so I’m one of the tallest guys on the average pick-up court. I play with a lot of energy down low, so I tend to earn my keep with points and rebounds. But then when I’m matched up against someone who really knows the game (like, someone who played serious college ball), they can absolutely shut me down.

I feel like JT earns his points and rebounds by being tall, strong, and energetic. That will be enough in the average game against Philly in January, and he will have enough of those games to have very good season averages if he plays a starter’s minutes. But if we ever go deep in the playoffs, he will be matched up against some of the league’s better bigs in games that really matter. I feel that the things he does well are able to be neutralized in these kinds of games, when it matters most.

Does this mean I hate him or think we should get rid of him? No. Someone on this site (was it Ayksis?) has likened him to Antonio McDyess. McDyess was a hugely important cog for the contending Pistons— off the bench. I just feel that we’re in more need of a long-term solution to start at the four than at the five. I mean, JT will be 24 this summer. Don’t most very good power forwards show more than this by the time they’re 24?

Back to the game at hand.

Casspi: I think I saw about four Israeli flags around the stadium. Casspi will probably have a devoted contingent of fans at every arena in the league. He seems like he’d be a fan favorite in Sacramento regardless of his nationality.

Greene: Last year, Greene was matched up against Antawn Jamison at the 4 for a few defensive possessions. Jamison abused Greene to the point where it wasn’t funny. On Saturday, Greene was matched up on Jamison for two defensive possessions at the end of the game. Jamison scored both times (taking it from a two-point Washington lead with under two minutes to go to a six-point Washington lead with under a minute to go), but at least it didn’t look as easy this time. Donté then responded by missing a 3.

He did show encouraging signs throughout, though, from an improving shot selection to a budding understanding of how to use his energy within the team’s defensive and offensive schemes. His ’oop from Tyreke at the end of the first half was awesome. I continue to love Greene, but (as with Spencer) I love him for what I hope he will become rather than for what he already is.

Udoka: Every time I saw him, this was all I could think of.

Washington: Bill Simmons recently wrote:

Only one ticket-related statistic matters in professional sports: net gate receipts. (The attendance number doesn’t matter because it’s so easy to manipulate; teams either fib or boost the total by giving tickets away for absurdly low prices, hoping to recoup some of it through concessions and merchandise sales.)

I went to this game because a friend from church who goes to a number of Wizards games had received some sort of complimentary customer’s appreciation pass for two seats at the WAS-SAC game. My wife and I went, and they gave us the best two tickets I’ve ever had— $99 dollar seats in the middle of the lower deck. There was a sizable pile of redeemed certificates for complimentary tickets. I’m sure this is happening all over the country, but the team finances can’t be doing well.

Building on my admiration that began at the WAS-SAC game last year, I would love to have JaVale McGee. He’s young and he changed the game defensively when he was in. He had four blocks in 13 minutes, and he would have had a fifth if it weren’t for Evans’ brilliance in drawing a foul from a good shot blocker. His ‘oop coming out of a time out was almost as awesome as Greene’s ’oop. He still has to figure it out offensively, but he has all the tools plus a great attitude.

Some commenter above said they’d trade Martin for Haywood and Young. Personally, I’m not sure if I’d want those two for free. Haywood is an effective center, but he’s 30 and he looks like he’s goofing off while he’s on the court. Nick Young scores points, but I can’t remember ever seeing him doing anything well besides isolation plays. If Washington were ever listening to offers for McGee, though, I’d hope Petrie would at least give it a try.