Interim Coach Ed Tapscott loves to talk about how minutes will be earned, and how it is unfair to the veterans who come with a professional attitude and approach each day to give minutes to inconsistent youngsters. But the Wizards are not even winning one out of every four games right now. At their current pace, the Wizards will win just four games the rest of the season. How much worse could it be if Young, McGee and even Crittenton play more? They win two or three?
Mike Lee. Someone from the MSM finally calls out Taps and the organization for their short-sightedness. I'd argue Mike's a little late, but I give him mad props for being on point.
about 3 years ago
Mike Prada
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I Never Knew
That Mike Lee could be on the complete opposite page of his colleague Ivan Carter. And I have to agree.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
Yeah
Interesting that it’s Lee making this argument and not Ivan.
Still, I’m strongly considering printing this out and framing it.
Ivan Would Never Make This Argument
In fact, he would make the opposite argument. That is my point.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
yep
As someone who’s been a little more defensive of Tapscott/Grunfeld’s practice of giving minutes to the youngsters than the average fan, I have to say Mike Lee’s argument is convincing.
I still think Blatche, McGuire and Crittenton have all been getting decent minutes to different degrees, but Lee’s comments about Nick Young in particular are persuasive.
He is late
I like Michael Lee and what he does, but this is a complete flip flop for him. He’s been arguing since the beginning of the season that it’s fine for Jamison and Butler to play 40 minutes because that’s their job and they’re professionals — which really doesn’t mean anything.
Again, I’m glad that he’s come around on the topic, but really, why was this so difficult to understand in the first place?
He is late
But better late than never.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Are You Sure You Are Not Talking About Ivan Carter?
I rarely see any in-depth analysis from Mike Lee. Most of the analysis on the Wizards comes from Ivan. I think you are confusing the two. I don’t remember any calls from Mike to play the veterans 40 MPG+ a night.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
Unfortunately...
…I have a sinking feeling that Lee’s persuasive column will fall on Tapscott’s deaf ears.
Oh, we'll be getting an obscure quote
from some barely-referenced philosopher sandwiched between two unrelated analogies from Taps any day now.
He makes a great argument.....
….and it’s not their team, but what do Jamison and Butler want?
Seems like those guys want to be playing.
Would they, among others, be miffed with less time?
Then again, does it matter?
Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It.net and Bullets Forever.
They need to get with the program
I’m sure they want to be playing, but neither are franchise players and neither should be dictating to the coach that they play so many minutes.
Mind you, I’m not saying the Wizards pull a Golden State and sit them. I’m saying put them down to 30-35 minutes, not 40.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
30-35 minutes would be an insult
Only scrubs like Tim Duncan and Steve Nash play those kinds of minutes.
by pantslessyoda1 on Mar 12, 2009 8:24 PM EDT up reply actions
I was suprised to see that Nash is only playing 33 minutes a game.
who is taking his minutes? Barbosa sure, but it couldn’t be Dragic (great pick!!!)
rockin' the crab dribble since 2009
Sort of Barbosa
Grant Hill is better at initiating the offense in the half-court, though. I love Leandro, but he’s not a point guard, no matter how much the Suns need him to be.
Dragic has looked better this year, but I still can’t believe the lengths they went through to get him. And letting Singletary go was a huge mistake, since the Suns could really use him and the Bobcats are burying him on the bench.
by pantslessyoda1 on Mar 12, 2009 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Not anymore
Singletary actually got sent to the D-League with Alexis Ajinca not that long ago. And everything I read at the time of the trade said Singletary was all kinds of not good.
dragic was drafted this year?
and from the suns games i’ve watched (wayyy too many on natl tv) he’s looked really terrible. referring to yoda’s post, barbosa is disgustingly good running the 7 seconds or less this year. Before they sped up the tempo though, he definitely didnt look comfortable
rockin' the crab dribble since 2009
I actually didn't know Singletary got sent down
I don’t really know about the consensus on Singletary, but I watch a lot of Suns games (probably my second favorite team to watch after the Wizards), and he’d always looked solid enough for a rookie point guard drafted in the second round trying to run a veteran team. He wasn’t going to set the world on fire, but he definitely looked better than Dragic, who has played like complete garbage for almost the entire year.
by pantslessyoda1 on Mar 12, 2009 10:54 PM EDT up reply actions
It's not Ivan's place to say this stuff. (Although I agree with it 100 percent.)
As the team’s regular beat writer, I don’t have a problem with Ivan not explicitly criticizing players, coaches and management. He reports what’s going on with the team and leaves most of the second-guessing to others.
His job is to report as best he can what people involved with the team are saying and doing. It makes sense for him to be diplomatic. If he were to offer strong opinions in the paper or online, his sources would be less likely to talk to him, he’d have less to write about, and we’d have less to argue about.
Yeah, I agree
Though that doesn’t stop him from throwing jabs in there about his favorite topics (they shouldn’t have fired Eddie Jordan, they should have re-signed Roger Mason, Andray Blatche is lazy, Darius Songaila is God, etc.).
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Exactly
He still gives his opinions from time to time, and I think he could have written something similar to this without being overly negative or criticizing.
It is different when you beat is the team as opposed to the league...
You do have to be more careful as your universe of sources is MUCH smaller and more sensitive… alienate them and your days on the job are numbered. Ivan is OK.
Separate note, those of you who expected more bite in the Caron Butler on-line chat at Wizards.com should be satisifed with the Chicke and Waffles… Caron will eat there for free for the rest of time, too.
Another separate note, I will be on the live game blog tonight as the powers that be in Polish satellite TV have chosen Wiz-Magic for their Friday nite live NBA feed… Expect Marcin Gortat to have a BIG game, as i am sure his homeys have let him know this.
I agree, but ...
I’ve long held the position that the season is a write-off and that we should develop the younger players, several of whom very obviously have a lot of talent, at the expense of older players, even if it means sacrificing a few wins.
But a source placed close to the organization recently told me that several of the younger players — the source names McGee, Blatche and Young specifically, who are perhaps the three most talented young players on the team — frequently spend time shortly before games (less than an hour before tip-off) goofing around and pulling pranks on each other rather than preparing for competition. This strikes me as wholly unprofessional behavior and likely would explain (1) why these players’ performances are so inconsistent and (2) why their playing time also is inconsistent.
"Now, obviously individual production does not unilaterally equal better team production, but there's a high level of causation."
by Vanilla Gorilla on Mar 13, 2009 9:12 AM EDT reply actions
Might I Ask
How you have inside access to team sources? I don’t doubt your word, I would just like to know so I can reference this.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
well...
the point is also made in Ivan Carter’s latest article (see my link below).
by Johnnie Futbol on Mar 13, 2009 9:40 AM EDT up reply actions
Sorry for what is perhaps an overabundance of secrecy
I realize it sounds like some spy crap, but the source is a friend of a friend. This source, who works in the Verizon Center, visited my house for dinner recently to discuss matters entirely aside from the Wizards, but with me in the conversation, the team somehow came up anyway.
"Now, obviously individual production does not unilaterally equal better team production, but there's a high level of causation."
by Vanilla Gorilla on Mar 13, 2009 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions
Actually
I realize it sounds like some spy crap, …
It actually sounds like you are a reporter, which is why I asked. I don’t know who you are, so for all I know, you could be a reporter for some magazine, newspaper, or a blog reputable enough to have its reporters granted access to the team. I don’t think this blog is there yet. Correct me if I’m wrong.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
On the flip side...
Say what you want about the following perspective, but here’s a quote from Antawn Jamison (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/12/AR2009031203546.html):
It’s about more than just going out there and playing basketball. It’s about learning the right habits and being professional on and off the court, every day. I know that was something I had to learn when I was a young fella and it’s the same for these guys. They have to understand that everything here is earned. Minutes are earned, opportunity is earned, shots are earned. It’s a process that some of these guys had better figure out quick because next year, when we have our guys back, they won’t be getting anything handed to them. This is a veteran team.
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