2010 Wizards player evaluation: Nick Young

Every year, Bullets Forever staff members gather and evaluate the job each player on the team did during the season. However, since 2009/10 was a pretty historic year, we figured it was time to change up the format as a way of commemorating the wackiness of what we just witnessed. We'll do a different player every day around lunchtime, so check back then. Today: Nick Young.

Previously: Cedric Jackson, Cartier Martin, Quinton Ross, Fabricio Oberto, Earl Boykins, James Singleton.

Synergy Sports Stats

Type of play	% of time	Number of times	Efficiency (points/possession)	Rank
OFFENSE
Overall	100	668	0.94	184
Spot-up shooting	28.4%	190	0.98	143
Coming off screens	16.5%	110	1.00	25
Pick and roll as ball handler	14.1%	94	0.73	116
Isolations	13.8%	92	0.91	61
In transition	13.8%	92	1.14	156
All other types of plays	5.1%	34	0.65	34
DEFENSE	all	messed	up

Make the jump for some analysis, some humor, some foreshadowing and a chance to grade Nick Young on a scale of 1-10 in the comments section.

Real quick thoughts

Nick Young made strides this season. It took a while, but he made strides. That's a good thing.

And boy, did it take a while. In training camp, Young looked like the darkhorse poised to steal the starting shooting guard spot from the other veterans. Instead, he ended up at the end of the bench, and when he did play, he was terrible. It looked like he was trying to do a million things at once, and he ended up forcing way too much on the offensive end. It was a repeat of previous years, when Young spent way too much time freelancing for contested mid-range jumpers. Eventually, because of all the injuries, he went back into the starting lineup, where he played relatively well - at least until he got benched again.

I, along with many others, was ready to give up on Nick Young at that time. Nick's fundamental problem was the same one he had his rookie year. For some reason, he couldn't play consistently off the bench. When he hit his first shot, he tended to play well, but when he didn't, the rest of his game suffered. The Wizards' coaching staff, in particular Flip Saunders, probably overstated this effect to the point where Nick probably lost chances he might have deserved, but at the same time, the knock on Nick, to a large degree, was true. Throw that issue into the ever-continuing problem of Nick breaking offensive plays, and it was tough to see his upside.

But Young turned in an excellent April, scoring 17 a game on 45 percent shooting and 44 percent shooting from three. Sure, it helped that he was getting 35 minutes a game as a starter, but he just seemed much more comfortable. The presence of Shaun Livingston probably helped, as did the confidence the coaching staff had in him, but we finally saw a Nick Young that had adopted Flip Saunders' lessons. He was coming off screens. He was spotting up in corners and moving to the right spot. He wasn't breaking too many plays. Best of all, his defensive effort was consistent, even when his shot wasn't. It was a really good sign going forward, that's for sure.

All in all, I'm encouraged by Nick's season. The biggest thing that impressed me was how much less freelancing he did. If you look at those Synergy stats closely, you'll see that Nick had more spot-up shot attempts (190) than pick and roll and isolation attempts combined (186). In addition, for a guy who admitted during Summer League that he didn't really know how to come off screens, he was pretty efficient in those spots. It's possible it just took Flip and company a long time to break him down before they built him back up. Saunders was asking Young to adjust his game pretty heavily, and sometimes, that takes time. Maybe that lightbulb really came on by the end of the year.

At the same time, I need to see it for longer to really be excited about Nick. As we noted in the 2008 evaluation, Nick closed his rookie year strongly as well, and that momentum didn't continue into 2008/09. Nick will have his chances next year, whether it's as a starter or a reserve (a significant distinction). I hope he shows what he showed in April over the course of a full season, but it's going to be a challenge. His role is going to get changed a lot, and he's going to have to adjust. Such is life when you have his kind of game.

I'm rooting for you, kid. Show me my faith is justified.

--Mike Prada

A limerick to sum up Nick Young's season

Everything is good when Nick is hot
But it all goes downhill when he's not
It's truly a slaughter
He wouldn't hit water
While shooting off the side of a yacht

--Jake Whitacre

When you YouTube Nick Young, you get...

--Mike Prada

A player Nick Young should emulate

We all know that Nick Young can put the ball in the basket. Last year, after waiting for almost three years, we saw a glimmer that Nickmight actually WANT to play some defense. He's got all the tools: height, super long arms, lateral quickness, large hands, vertical explosion, quick feet, etc.

So I think he should emulate another wiry 6'7" quick, athletic shooting guard with great tools for defense. A guy that put those tools to work, along with discipline, desire and intensity to become a very, very good defender. A guy like Thabo Sefolosha, who was named to the NBA 2010 All Defensive second team.

Here's what Draft Express says about Thabo Sefolosha:

A sound defender with excellent tools. Long arms, quick feet, and good discipline make him adept at getting in the passing lanes. Doesn't take too many risks, but still forces quite a few turnovers. Displays good awareness when defending off the ball. Shows good recovery speed and the ability to contest shots with his wingspan. Good option in one-on-one situations though more powerful players can cause problems for him. Rebounds the ball extremely well on the defensive end. Very smart defender who knows when to give space and when to take it away. Plays with intensity and fits the perimeter stopper role that every team likes to have.

Ok Nick, now it's up to you.

--Rook6980