Thanks for the reports I finished watching this game this morning. Overall terrific game fun to watch except early obviously.
On Wittman and the Wizards they looked bad but lets be reminded they played without key players and I think they will turn it around soon enough. I've never been a fan of Wittman but they have had success under him and sure there is talent there so that could be it also.
I will count on a couple Vets since they were brought up in these game reports.
Pek is a guy I think people assume is mentally fragile or whatever but I don't think that's the case. This is a Europe guy who is no nonsense and while I don't think he would like getting berated every time he missed a layup my guess is he would welcome some coaching up or whatever from another player like KG and even being yelled at. Pek plays hard and within a team can play a role as a defender but if the team is out of whack forget it it's gonna be bad. All the coaches have said he listens works hard and is very smart when it comes to basketball. I think he will mesh with KG just fine.
Someone called Gary Neal a combo guard but I don't think he is much of a PG at all but a guy that can actually handle the ball enough to bring it up the court and push it without losing control easily. Someone also said he is a better fit than Mo. I agree with that he is a decent SG that can shoot and can do stuff with the ball. Basically he is a vet that has some idea how to actually play basketball and make good decisions a decent amount tod the time and he can play with Lavine well enough. I think Flip wanted him because some half decent vets on your team that you don't have to teach all the time can help you and can make a surprising difference. My example of that is the Nebraska Basketball team. I think part of their struggles this year are due to Ray Gallegos graduating last year. He had a down shooting year stroking the 3 but was a much better defender than given credit for and made all the right plays rarely made mistakes did exactly what he was supposed to do and was still that threat from 3. Having that one guy that basically does what they are supposed to do can make the difference in whether the offense or the defense works. NE didn't have anyone step up this year in general and nobody stepped up and took the role of Gallegos or any type of impact like that imo. Neal isn't that key but he has been around my guess is he understands enough of the game to help things run more smoothly which can help when you have the ridiculous youth the Wolves have. I am surprised he is still here but with Bazz hurt he will probably get a decent chunk of playing time here and there especially since he may work well next to Lavine