Uh, no. - Bullets Forever

Uh, no.

Eddie Jordan on whether or not JaVale McGee had a chance of cracking the rotation this season.

On the bright side, according to the article Jordan does seem to like his athleticism and his willingness to learn, he says that he's showing "good signs" but he just doesn't think he's quite ready yet.

9 months ago JakeTheSnake Comment 20 comments 0 recs |

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In addition

Eddie said nothing about JaVale’s “Reno Toughness.”

I guess JaVale needs to spend some time with the Lt. Dangle.

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by JakeTheSnake on Oct 6, 2008 8:29 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Dangle?

I’d pair him with Kimball….she seems kinda tough.

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by Truth About It on Oct 6, 2008 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

She does

But there’s something about Dangle’s shorts that scream “TOUGHNESS!” to me.

Bullets Forever: A blog dedicated to the Washington Wizards with analysis, commentary, and more YouTube videos than your eyes can handle.

by JakeTheSnake on Oct 6, 2008 1:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is a Good Thing

This just shows that Eddie recognizes what we all have – that JaVale is a project who is at least a couple of seasons away. If JaVale was to crack the rotation this season then I would seriously question the Wizards depth.

"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier

by cuppettcj on Oct 6, 2008 8:31 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yea.....no surprise here.

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by Truth About It on Oct 6, 2008 9:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

So he goes to the D-League?

Isn’t that where should we send him to play and get better?

"Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home." --- Daffy Duck

by George Templeton on Oct 6, 2008 10:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

D-League?

Perhaps McGee and Pecherov may spend some limited time in the D-League, just to get some playing time – but remember that the since the Wizards share their D-League affiliate (the Dakota Wizards) with the Memphis Grizzlies, the Dakota Wizards don’t run the Princeton Offense…..

So any playing time in D-League wouldn’t necessarily help, especially Offensively.

On the other hand, practicing with the team all year, learning the Offense…. learning the specific Defensive responsibilities that Wizards expect, may help more than just “generic” playing time in the D-League.

I’ve always thought that was one flaw with the D-League…. that the D-League teams are affiliated with two NBA teams.

I think an arrangement more like the minor league system in Baseball would benefit the NBA better. A one-for-one, NBA <→ D-League affiliation. That way, the D-League team could run the same Offensive and Defensive schemes as the big club. Young players, who are now sitting inactive on the end of the bench, could have quality instruction from the affiliate Coaches, and be developing with real playing time. The entire Organization could have a Coaching style that is taught throughout the system (Princeton Offense, Triangle Offense, Zone Defense, Man Defense, whatever….).

by Rook6980 on Oct 6, 2008 11:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think that your idea is a good one. However, I still think McG should be D-Leagued for the year. He has deeper problems than learning the Princeton. I think he should be developing his game. Same for Pech. Next year they can ride the bench and learn the system (or the year after).

by MR on Oct 6, 2008 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

I think this is the best course of action. McGee needs more time learning to play the fundamentals of basketball – especially at an (almost) NBA level. Training camp next year can be the time for him to learn the schemes, and begin to come into the rotation. You gotta view this guy as someone who is probably not going to contribute to the Wizards in any serious way any time soon.

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by mamemimo on Oct 6, 2008 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Also Agreed

I might rather keep a guy like DerMarr Johnson and have McGee get a dose of the D, League.

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by Truth About It on Oct 6, 2008 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

but

Unfortunately, sending McGee to the D-League does NOT free up a roster spot for Dermarr…. Players sent to the D-League still occupy a roster spot on the NBA club.

Dermarr Johnson will have to make one of the final 15 spots on the roster. The only non-guaranteed roster spots are Dee Brown and Juan Dixon. My feeling is that Dermarr is battling for the last spot on the roster with Juan.

by Rook6980 on Oct 6, 2008 7:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Damn stipulations

I had a feeling……

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by Truth About It on Oct 7, 2008 1:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

follow up

Just a follow up to my previous post:

The maximum roster size in the NBA is 15. The Minimum roster size is 13. Including Gilbert Arenas (injured players count on the roster size), the Wizards are currently carrying 18 players. They will most likely cut 3 players before they go overseas to play in Berlin and Barcelona.

All NBA teams must have 12 players on their active roster. Any remaining players must be on its Inactive List, and are ineligible to play in games.

Last year, with all the injuries, the Wizards sometimes even had trouble dressing the League mandated 8 players – so they didn’t have any games last year where there were inactive players. But this year, with a full roster of 15, every game will have at least 3 inactive players. Obviously, injuries will play a role in determining who will be declared inactive, but my guess is that Pecherov and McGee will both see a lot of the inactive list this season.

Obviously, Arenas will be declared inactive until his return. One real good thing about that is there should not be any repeat “surprise returns”… Arenas will HAVE to tell the Coaching staff when he’s returning so that Eddie can take him off the inactive list…. (No more surprises….)..

by Rook6980 on Oct 6, 2008 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Funny.

I’ve been saying that all over the place for years now. Just yesterday (and again this morning) I blathered on about the concept on the O-fficial blog.

The wrinkle that makes the thing sing is the idea that ~~- like baseball~~- a player ought to be able to rehab with the minor league team. A guy like Gil would be happy to rip up the D-League for a few games while regaining his touch.

Personally I want a local team, with open tryouts for DC area ballers.

by doclinkin on Oct 6, 2008 5:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Minor league one-for-one concept that is...

(my reply came up a new post)

by doclinkin on Oct 6, 2008 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

my guess

my guess is its probably financial considerations more than anything. minor league baseball is very popular in some markets. d-league basketball, not so much. until the d-league generates more interest and revenue, i fear a one-for-one system is just a pipe-dream

by joshp on Oct 6, 2008 7:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Pipe Dreams get a bad rap.

I suspect if big league NBAers could rehab in the minors you might get a bump in ticket sales. The closer the ties the easier it is to recruit fans. And if hometown heroes got a tryout, could apprentice, you might improve fan loyalty to the brand from the bottom up. Minors baseball is popular because it becomes tradition, you watch your local boys graduate to the Bigs and suddenly have a rooting interest in that Major league team. You see brand loyalty from Terp fans and GTown fans, but the Wiz squad gets the out-of-town guy, the lawyer on his cell phone, barely able to clap without the ‘kiss cam’ to keep him interested.

…I’m just trying to find some dodge for the NCAA. I’d hate to steal kids away from a college education, but it would be cool to see players like Durant, Beasley, Jeff Green etc. play on the local squad, coming up. Unpaid interns? Summerleague apprenticeships? There’s got to be a wrinkle here.. Flin flarn NCAA bastids.

by doclinkin on Oct 7, 2008 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Draft HS players.

How about a system where the NBA could go back to drafting High School players?

A High School player could have a choice:

Play at least 4-years in College, and wait to be drafted…. or declare as a High School player, but then be required to play 3 (or more) years in the D-League affiliate. Have a tiered pay scale, so that playing in the D-League would pay much less than a player drafted out of College. In other words, going to College for 4-years would pay more (eventually) than declaring for the NBA.

ie:
1st Round Draft pick #1 after playing for 4-years in College = $4,019,000 . The current rookie scale contract for the first pick in the 2008-2009 Draft.

1st Round. Draft pick #1 out of High School = $1,000,000 (or whatever works to encourage College attendance)

That way, players with real hardship could start making money right away – but wouldn’t be able to join the big club for 3-years.

The College ranks wouldn’t be decimated by droves of kids choosing the NBA over College The financial incentive for a HS prospect would be to go to College for 4 years, and then get the big payday.

College teams would be getting players for the full 4 years (instead of renting them for 2 years).

The NBA would be getting a better, more prepared and mature player out of College.

Expand the D-League so that every NBA franchise has an affiliate. Make the D-League affiliates a Local entity. (The Wizards could have a D-League affiliate in Northern Virginia, or Maryland for instance). Allow the clubs to interchange players – send players down to D-League for a couple of rehab games – bring up guys when there’s an injury – etc… So that the fans see that there’s a real chance that the D-Leaguer they’re rooting for may make it to the NBA club.

It would improve the quality of the College game…. AND it would improve the quality of player pool the NBA drafts from.

by Rook6980 on Oct 7, 2008 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I Like Your Ideas in General

But why try to push players into college? Like it or not, many college basketball players have no interest in getting a degree, they simply use the college system as a minor league for the NBA. Setting up a system to reward 4 year college players will only further cheapen the college ranks, in my opinion. You would probably end up with a bunch of basket-weaving majors wasting time for those who are in college to learn. A college degree should be its own reward.

I like all of your other suggestions, but I wouldn’t limit the pay of those straight out of high school. Let them do what they were born to do. And let those who wisely choose college do so for the right reasons. I don’t think it would destroy college basketball to do so. I would give baseball as an example. You have a lot of good players who enter the draft out of high school and work their way up through the minors until they make the big leagues. But you also have a lot of guys who go to college and enter the draft after they graduate who also wind up making the big leagues.

I think a similar system would be good for both college basketball and the NBA.

"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier

by cuppettcj on Oct 7, 2008 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Contribute or not

I don’t see either Pech or McGee spending significant time in the D-League. By significant, I mean 1/3 the season or something similar.

The Wizards have never really utilized the D-League for development – and it’s my feeling that Eddie Jordan would prefer to see the players develop during practice. He rewards good practice habits with playing time.

Of course I could be wrong… The Wiz have not really had a full roster for several years; and therefore no reason or motive to send anyone to the D-League for any length of time. But I think it’s an Eddie Jordan thing – I just don’t think he sees the advantage.

by Rook6980 on Oct 6, 2008 8:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs