Bullets Forever: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Around SBN: Interview With UMD Athletic Director, Dr. Debbie Yow

Flip Saunders press conference: Quick thoughts

UPDATE: Mike Jones has more detailed stuff that you should read.

I'm pretty swamped now, so these are just quick thoughts on today's press conference.  I'll have more detailed quotes up later tonight once I go through my tape:

  • Lots of questions about Gilbert Arenas, of course.  Of the however many questions asked to Flip both in the presser and afterwards, I'd say about 70 percent of them were about Arenas. 
  • Flip said he expects Arenas to fully participate in training camp, though he did add that he might give Gil occasional breaks if he needs them/asks for them like he would for most vets.  
  • Flip plans on playing Gil almost exclusively at point guard
  • Flip mentioned Chauncey Billups in the same sentence as Gil at least five times
  • Flip was asked in several forms about Arenas' recent comments.  One thing Flip mentioned is he doesn't really sugercoat things with Gil, and Gil doesn't really sugercoat things back.  In that way, he says they're a good match.  I guess that's one way of saying that he didn't really mind Gil's comments.
  • Flip was asked about what he's looking for from the shooting guard position.  He answered: defend your position, contain off the dribble, understand our defensive concepts, hit an open jumper.  He also mentioned how he really wants his SG to do a little of everything and said he's a huge fan of multi-dimensional players and not much of a fan of single-dimension guys.  
  • I asked Flip in what areas specifically the Wizards needed to improve defensively.  He mentioned a few platitudes - contain dribble penetration, etc, but then again suggested that good, efficient offense with better transition defense will be a huge key.  He implied the Wizards were beat in transition a lot because of poor shot selection and floor balance. 
  • Kyle asked about the three-point defense.  Flip said it "depends on the philosophy" and suggested his teams do well defending the three without elaborating much, but did say that a lot of threes happen in transition and off dribble penetration, two of his sticking points.
  • Flip singled out Nick Young as someone who had a very good summer.  They're showing Nick a lot of tapes of Rip Hamilton and Reggie Miller.
  • After the press conference, David Aldridge asked him about his zone defense, which eventually led to a pretty funny rant where Flip said that, in the past, when the illegal defense rule was in place, everyone tried to play zones and disguise them.  Now that zones are legal, suddenly nobody wants to play them, which he doesn't get.  He said we'd see some of it this year and added that one hidden benefit is the three or four seconds it takes the other team to figure out that they're indeed playing against a zone.

0 recs  |  Comment 19 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Flip singled out Nick Young as someone who had a very good summer. They’re showing Nick a lot of tapes of Rip Hamilton and Reggie Miller.

I compared Nick to Rip and Reggie about a year ago…. and everyone laughed; but he’s got the size, and the shot….. he just needs the right Coaching, and a bit better attention to little things like passing and defense……

I swear, in Summer League I was watching Nick come off double screens looking just like Reggie Miller, back in the day.

Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......

by Rook6980 on Sep 22, 2009 3:43 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Flip was asked about what he’s looking for from the shooting guard position. He answered: defend your position, contain off the dribble, understand our defensive concepts, hit an open jumper. He also mentioned how he really wants his SG to do a little of everything and said he’s a huge fan of multi-dimensional players and not much of a fan of single-dimension guys.

Sounds like Flip will give Stevenson a real shot at starting.

by Johnnie Futbol on Sep 22, 2009 3:54 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

That's the sense I got as well

Though I also remember him saying he needs to see how DeShawn looks first, implying that he wants to see him healthy.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Sep 22, 2009 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

It’s a tough pill to swallow when I prefer Miller, Foye (though he might be used as a backup PG), or Nick Young at starting SG.

But he can get hot, and although inconsistent (not counting this past year due to injury), he’s a ‘decent’ defender and is smart with the ball. He knows these guys already. I’m okay with it.

Also, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You know your team is deep if you have Miller, Foye, and Young coming off your bench. A lot of offensive weapons here.

My swag was phenomenal.

by se7en on Sep 22, 2009 4:20 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I think that could just as easily be Foye

I think Foye is a better shooter, and could easily be just as good a defender. He is a better ball handler and can create his own shot. Foye just needs to adjust from being the 1st or 2nd option to the 4th or 5th

by Blatche4MVP on Sep 22, 2009 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

It sounded to me like Flip was describing the opposite of Foye

He kept talking about multi-dimensional guys and not guys who only do one thing. Foye’s pretty much only been a scorer during his career. You can only play Foye at the 2, and not at the 2 and the 3 (which is big, Flip mentioned how the 2 and 3 are interchangeable in his system and his past bears this out).

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Sep 22, 2009 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Except

That Mike Jones doesn’t even mention him as a possibility. He must have some inside info on this big question mark:

Saunders spoke about the strong summer Nick Young had, and how he’s learning to focus more on defense, but I still have my money on either DeShawn Stevenson or Mike Miller at shooting guard.

I know many here are against Foye at playing backup PG, but as said before, he’ll be much better than Crittendon or James.

My swag was phenomenal.

by se7en on Sep 22, 2009 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Right but he’s “got his money” on DeShawn or Mike. Sure it’s an opinion, but I’ll take that to be an important comment in determining who will take that spot. He’s got eyes and hears that I don’t have when it comes to this question.

My swag was phenomenal.

by se7en on Sep 22, 2009 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Right, but it's not "inside info"

To say he thinks one guy will start.

I also doubt Foye starts, but I’m just saying I wouldn’t put too much stock in that part of Jones’ report.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Sep 22, 2009 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Ah.

We see eye to eye on this. I got you.

My swag was phenomenal.

by se7en on Sep 22, 2009 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Foye = backup PG

Agreed. Unless Crit comes out as a vastly improved player, I’d like to see Foye get first crack at about 15 backup PG minutes per.

The difference between Foye and the other options there is huge. Using him there helps a lot toward maximizing getting the best players on the floor the most.

by bwoodsxyz on Sep 22, 2009 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I stand corrected...

Flip mentioned him as a candidate:

On how he’ll decide the starting shooting guard spot, Flip joked, “We’re going to do reality TV and let people vote them off.” He went on to say that he expects the candidates — DeShawn Stevenson, Mike Miller, Young and Randy Foye — to determine that by their play during training camp. Saunders added, “You know, my ’2’s’ 3’s are very interchangeable, so you could see two shooting guards out there or two small forwards out there. We’re going to play the players that play the best together.”

My swag was phenomenal.

by se7en on Sep 22, 2009 6:26 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Shot Selection

I was very happy to hear Flip mention this. I felt like many of our possessions over the last couple of years ended up with jump shots. A jump shooting team can take you only so far. I don’t know whether you blame Eddie’s offense, or the players themselves.

Flip makes a great point about the connection between defense and offense when you focus on transition. Poor shot selection certainly did hurt our defense. That’s true.

However, the other huge weakness, which has plagued the team for years, is defending the 3-ball. A zone defense will allow that weakness to become deadly. I don’t know what it was, but we were just AWFUL in defending the 3-ball. I imagine this will continue to be a problem, because our starting perimeter defenders are the same. I really hope Flip does something about this.

All in all, I just can’t say how thrilled I am to have a true winner as a coach. I never cared for EJ that much, Flip was the best coach on the market. I’m very excited.

My swag was phenomenal.

by se7en on Sep 22, 2009 4:26 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Same here
He implied the Wizards were beat in transition a lot because of poor shot selection and floor balance.

I assume/hope this means Mike James won’t be seeing the court much.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Sep 22, 2009 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm pretty sure either Mike or myself will...

….Throw a question about James Grunfeld’s way on Thursday.

Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It.net and Bullets Forever.

by Truth About It on Sep 22, 2009 6:53 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

But

There’s a huge difference between the way the Wizards got their “jump shots” in the Princeton vs. how they’ll get them in Flip’s system…

Once the League adjusted to Eddie’s offense (ie: they stopped being overly aggressive, allowing back-door cuts)…. When the Wizards ran the Princeton, they brought the ball up the court (6-7 seconds), ran the weave (10 seconds), then, once a back-door or open shot didn’t magically appear, someone went one-on-one with the last 7-8 seconds…. usually resulting in either a drive to the basket or a contested jump shot.

In Flip’s system, there are a number of screens and cuts designed to get shooters OPEN jump shots.

I think once you see the difference – you won’t mind so much if the Wizards are primarily a “jump shooting” team – if most of their shots are open shots.

Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......

by Rook6980 on Sep 23, 2009 12:13 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

That's fine

provided the jump shooters are guys like Miller and Young and Foye and Arenas (and maybe Butler) and not the team’s power forwards.

Ridiculous Upside, where developing talent and winning are not mutually exclusive.

by Jon L on Sep 23, 2009 3:09 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm really excited about the upcoming season!

All the Gilbert videos and comments and the good stuff from Flip has me really looking forward to next week when camp starts.

by formula0 on Sep 22, 2009 10:42 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Welcome to the SB Nation blog about Washington Wizards.
Start posting about the Wizards »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Mrlogo_small
Don't blow it up.  Disassemble.
Mriggs_cartoon_2__small
My dream trades

Recent FanPosts

Chesspiece-web_small
JaVale "Patty Flippin" McGee
Homer_small
Would you be willing to stand pat just for one more chance at lEbron James and the Cavaliers?
Unseld_small
Keep Brendan Haywood
Small
2010 Draft Possibilities
Bullets-forever_4458_small
The official trade rumors thread (Updated 1/22)
Screen-capture-15_small
What Would You Do?
Small
Trade Talked about on NBA TV ( J.R. Smith)
Small
It is time for a change.

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

SPONSORS


Lead editors

Bullets-forever_4458_small Mike Prada

Peytontrophy_small JakeTheSnake

Mriggs_cartoon_2__small Rook6980

Contributing editors

Big_small Truth About It

Contributing writers

Addingmachine_small bwoodsxyz