Kwame flips coasts
Read More: Caron Butler , Chris Mihm , Chucky Atkins , Etan Thomas , Gilbert Arenas , Jared Jeffries , Kevin Garnett , Kobe Bryant , Larry Hughes , Los Angeles Lakers , Luther Head , Minnesota T-Wolves , Sean May , Washington Wizards
Forum Blue and Gold: Kwame Comes To Town
There are doubts about his work ethic, but will a change of scenery and a new coach change that? Last season Brown shot 64% inside but just 32.8% from outside jumpers, but according to those that have watched him, many of those were fade aways that started on the block (this is not from Pincus, but from a couple of people who know the Wizards well). He has a nice jump hook, but because his first step is great but his jumper iffy, defenders play off him. If the jumper becomes consistent is scoring threat goes up.
His rebounding has never been good for a power forward (a career 13.8% rebound rate [percent of available rebounds grabbed]), can Phil get him to focus on that? The scouting report on him is that when he wants to be, he is a good rebounder.
That scouting report I got also said he is a good man defender but not a great help defender. For his career, he averages just 1.4 blocks per 48 minutes (for comparison, Chris Mihm is 2.5), can Phil get him to improve this part of his game?
The Kwame who defied expectations:
Fantasy Impact (Lakers)
Obviously, the Lakers needed a stronger prescence in the middle. Not sure that I would have gone after Kwame myself… but they did, so what can I do? Nothing. Besides, if he continues to struggle, so will the Lakers. And I don’t have a problem with that. That’s right, I’m as biased as you can get.
Chris Mihm got 25 minutes last year. His numbers per 48 are a lot better than Kwame’s. The Lakers also picked up Andrew Bynum and Ronny Turiaf. I think Turiaf is probably ready to play PF in the NBA (from the, like, 2 games I saw Gonzaga play last season). Bynum will obviously be backing up Brown and Mihm (and Medvedenko for that matter). Brown is probably good enough to work within the Triangle Offense, especially with Lamar and Kobe around him.
Personally, I think the Lakers should have traded down from #10 and taken Jarrett Jack or Luther Head to help them out at the PG position. Or they could have stayed small with Sean May and Mihm at PF and C, Odom at SF, and Kobe and Chucky in the backcourt. But, I digress. I guess it’s because I still have yet to fully digest the draft that I had to indulge myself in that tangent.
The Kwame who looks like he’s defying expectations in this picture:
So, if Kwame picks up the other 24 minutes not filled by Mihm (who’s minutes would not decrease if I were Phil Jackson), he’s going to give you every bit of that 7 and 5 he had last season, and maybe a little more. What about the 0.4 blocks? Don’t fret, those’ll be there. If I was 6′11″ I do believe I could get 0.4 block in my sleep. And I’m white. Kwame was taken 101st last year in ESPN drafts and owned in 6.1% of leagues (which I guess isn’t that bad since Lamar was only owned in 70% of all leagues). The only people who’s numbers are going to go down on the Lakers are the ones you don’t want anyway.
Fantasy Impact (Wizards)
The Wizards aren’t doing so bad considering they lost out on Larry Hughes (but at least they didn’t overpay for him, like I would argue that other team probably did… but then, I can’t even imagine being paid $13 million a year, so I guess my perspective might be skewed). The additions of Caron Butler, Chucky Atkins, and The Next Kevin Garnett. Atkins will be a good backup for Gilbert Arenas, and they’ll probably end up sharing some time together in the backcourt. That said, Dude ain’t gone play no 35 minutes next year. (Speaking of which, who the hell are the Lakers going to play for 35 minutes at the PG position?? Comments please!) Atkins is this: 10 points, 3 assists (maybe more if Arenas and the other Wizards are hitting shots), and 1 three-pointer a game.
Butler will be starting over Jeffries unless he gets moved to SG (not alltogether unlikely). No matter what, though, he’s going to get at least as much time as he had last year since he played 35 minutes and Hughes was putting in 38. I can see Caron going to 38 and giving 17/18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists (4 if he plays more at shooting guard), and 1.5 steals.
I believe that Etan Thomas and Jared Jeffries will step up to fill in the couple extra points the Wizards lost with the departure of Hughes. I know Thomas is capable of it because he was backing up Emeka Okeafor on my EA Live team and when Chuke went down with an ankle sprain for 4 weeks, Etan stepped it up and was putting up double-doubles. He’s the real deal. I think he’s definitely a GiveMeTheRockian Candidate.
Link
Originally posted by Nels from Give Me The Rock
ReBlogged by bunch on Jul 15, 2005 at 12:49 PM
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