Tag Archives: chris singleton

Wizards botch potential Harden trade

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This could have been the Wizards shooting guard this year. Could being the key word.

This could have been the Wizards shooting guard this year. Could being the key word.

Instructions: Read this article. Let fury build. Good? Now let’s talk.

As you can probably tell, I’m not happy about this story. It’s not shocking though, because there were rumors around draft-time about how much the Thunder wanted Beal and about how Harden might be the bait. It’s also not shocking the Wizards turned the deal down. That’s because Ted Leonsis keeps running this team like it’s a hockey team. Like he can cobble together ANY collection of young players and they’ll develop together and grow into a super-team. Well, basketball just doesn’t work that way. In basketball, it’s whoever has the best player. The collection of surrounding talent doesn’t matter nearly as much. Depth doesn’t matter nearly as much, considering your star players can play 90-95 percent of the game. Contrast that to hockey where in an extreme situation, a star player can play 50 percent of the game. So, if Leonsis is approaching this whole “Wizards thing” from the perspective of a hockey owner, it makes sense why he would want to hold onto two young, affordable pieces (Beal and Singleton) over one great piece (Harden).

I’m astonished, though, that Ernie Grunfeld wasn’t screaming, pounding on a desk that making the trade was the right thing to do. Maybe it’s because he had sufficiently handicapped the team already with the bad contracts of Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor that he didn’t want to suggest to Leonsis paying the luxury tax next season.

I don’t know what the reasoning or explanation is, but I’m sick of it. If this failed trade illustrates one thing, it’s that there ARE legitimate opportunities out there for teams in the bottom of the NBA to improve. That’s what the lottery can do for you. But the Wizards continue to swat these opportunities at improvement away!

If Grunfeld didn’t like this trade on basketball reasons alone, that’s even more damning. Beal has a chance to be a pretty good player in this league. Probably not a star, but a good player nonetheless. Singleton is a nice rotational player. Harden, conservatively, is a top-15 player right NOW in the league! And he’s young. And he’s a reason John Wall might want to stick around past 2014 (Quick side-note: Cut it out with the eye-rolling and general apathy on the bench, John. We know this team isn’t any good, but it’s not like your God’s gift to basketball either. Keep it to yourself until you can get back out there and actually justify being the No. 1 overall pick in the draft).

If you haven’t picked up on it by now, there’s not a great direction to this post, other than directing anger at the Wizards front office for making the fans continue to watch a wretched product on the court and for continuing to set the franchise back. What’s the Wizards motto? New Traditions? How about Continuous Rebuilding? I think that one seems more apt. This is just another example. The sad thing is when I read this story, I didn’t throw a chair and shout and scream. Nope, I reserve that for teams that I actually expect something out of. I just sighed and went on watching the Wiz beat the Hornets (woooo!). Another day in the life of a Wizards fan.

Wizards-Clippers Recap

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The Wizards failed in their attempt to win three straight road games last night, falling to the Clippers. The team showed heart, however. Maybe it was the momentum that they had from the previous two wins (what’s this, a Wizards team with confidence?!) or maybe it was the Clippers uncharacteristically sloppy play, but this was still a game into the early part of the fourth quarter. But in the end, the Wizards just weren’t able to make enough shots to stay competitive, and the Clippers put them away in the fourth. Some thoughts:

1. Bad Nick Young made an appearance last night- After I had just finished singing Young’s praises for his growth as a spot-up shooter, Young looked like he forgot everything that made him successful against the Blazers. Maybe it was because he was playing in front of a hometown crowd and he was trying to put on a show, but Young was back to his old ways of awful, contested, fall-away jumpers. Not surprisingly, this plan was unsuccessful. Who knew that an in-rhythm, spot-up three would be easier than some leaning heave of a shot? You can pretty much set your watch by it. Young actually found some success later in the game (after he hadn’t made a field goal all night) when he got back to this recipe. His stubbornness is maddening. I’m sure the coaches are explaining this to him, night in and night out. How many more years until Young finally picks up on it?

2. Trevor Booker provides a lot of value for his defense- The Wizards were a noticeably different team when Booker was on the floor last night, for the sole reason that he was the only player capable of shutting down Blake Griffin. And I’m not just talking about competent defense here. Booker was smothering Griffin, who is a physical beast and is aided by the fact that he can just bull over people at will without ever being called for a foul. There aren’t too many players in the league that can provide the strength and speed combination that Booker showcases. When this Wizards team finally gets to be a contender (ok, maybe it was a little optimistic to use “when” instead of “if”), that sort of skill will be invaluable and should separate them from other teams. This point was made even more clear when Booker got into foul trouble, and Jan Vesely tried to guard Griffin. Let’s just say young Jan needs to hit the weights…

3. Chris Singleton looks like he has hit a wall- The past two games, Singleton’s performance has been pretty consistent: start, pick up a couple quick fouls, head to the bench, resurface later to miss some open jumpers and then just kind of disappear into obscurity. It’s too bad because I really think Singleton is a talented player. I don’t know if it’s officiating or what, but he has picked up a lot of ticky-tack fouls recently. Maybe Singleton just needs to adjust his defensive style. Offensively, he’s still a great hustle player, but he’s going to be nothing more than a bench player if he can’t make an open jumper. He just HAS to add that to his arsenal. Otherwise, teams will continue to play off and it will continue to work. And for all of the acclaim about his defense, yes, he has played above average, but I would put Trevor Booker above him as a defender. And that whole business about him being able to guard four positions? Haven’t seen that yet. At this point it’s more like two and a half. Griffin dominated Singleton for the short stretch that they were matched up last night. Hopefully, he can use the upcoming All-Star break to get back in the rhythm he found early in the season.