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After reading Mike Lee's latest blog entry, I had to start this thread. What a refreshing change to have a teacher/coach.

Wizards Coach Flip Saunders was about to head up the steps at the conclusion of pre-draft workouts at Verizon Center on Tuesday, but he stopped to see Nick Young as Young worked on defensive drills with assistants Sam Cassell and Randy Wittman. After watching Cassell repeatedly drive left and get off his shot, Saunders stopped Young and showed him the proper body angle and where to place his feet so that Cassell wouldn't have an uncluttered lane to the basket.

"If you do this, he can't go here," Saunders told Young. Then Saunders slid his feet to force Cassell into a more difficult shot.


I want you to see more of me next season. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Young took note, and went back at Cassell. With Wittman shouting for Young to get a good seat (as in get low on his defense), Young kept sliding in front of Cassell and forced him into a series of tough jumpers. "That's it," Saunders said. "That's it."

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... .html#more

Coaching defensive fundamentals. Jeez, what a concept.

Yeah. And it's obvious that some teaching of fundamentals is necessary. Funny how the lack of defensive fundamentals is obvious to everybody except ...

well, alright, it's water under the bridge now.

I was wondering why Cassell wasn't correcting Young.

Gilbert0Arenas wrote:Coaching defensive fundamentals. Jeez, what a concept.

Upgrading to a real NBA head coach gives me much hope that this team can at least make the leap to being average defensively relatively quickly. That plus a healthy Gil/Wood almost guarantees 50 wins and the second round. If you add in upgrading to Amare and/or solving our SG problem then you're talking Eastern Conference Finals.

Man am I excited!

to sip or not to sip the kool-aide?

1 - troubling that nick has to be taught angles at this stage in the game. i mean, that stuff is more or less intuitive. makes you wonder exactly how lacking N1's fundamentals are.

2 - it's even more troubling that angles aside that Nick isn't used to shooting off screens. I mean, from HS onwards he's never been asked to shoot off a screen? It just makes me so wary of how coaches are handling prodigy talent that they're bending the rules of the game to cater to athleticism. think how many collegiate ball players out there have the potential to make it in the league but they're being exploited for their ability to run/jump. earl clark's lack of development jumps out immediately, followed by BJ Mullens, aminu, and anyone else whose biometrics say that they SHOULD be a good player and yet they're fundamentally lacking - big time.

3 - 6th man award? so he's pretty much resigned to the fact that stevenson will get the starting nod? not exactly the killer/competitive spirit touted in the rest of the article.

pancakes3 wrote:to sip or not to sip the kool-aide?

Oh I'm not sipping any Nick Young kool-aid. I couldn't care less that it was him being coached. All I care about is that there is actual NBA caliber coaching going on.

I actually am encouraged that Nick wants the 6th man award. Not everyone can be a starter or a star. Nick being a consistent scorer and defender off the bench would be a huge upgrade for this squad. I think it's exactly what he should be aiming for. be consistent off the bench every single night.

I've wanted Flip for awhile (since he was canned from Detroit). I think he's a great coach, and I actually think he'll do wonders with Gilberto.

From the Insider.

McGee said Wizards Coach Flip Saunders told him that there is a possibility that he will share the floor with Haywood at times next season. "He said the bigs are interchangeable, so it's not like really a set four or five," McGee said

.

I then asked Saunders how he plans on managing minutes with seven guards on the roster. "I don't manage minutes -- they do," Saunders said. "Whoever can play, plays. If you can't play, you don't play.

Love-it! A coach with imagination, sounds like Flip will look for opportunities for US to create mis-matches. I also hope we see an end to playing "the vets" just because they are vets.

There will be a hate thread after our first 2 game losing streak.

fishercob wrote:There will be a hate thread after our first 2 game losing streak.

Your reluctance to sip the koolaid sustains me.

fishercob wrote:There will be a hate thread after our first 2 game losing streak.

Flip is saying all the right things in my book Fish, but if he starts pulling EJ-type moves like playing DeShawn 35 minutes when he's sucking azz, I will not hesitate to call him out.

This is a quote from a Post article on Critt but it shows Flip's philosophy about PGs:

I put a lot of pressure on point guards -- initiating offense, initiating defense, being able to understand the game, game management, almost like a quarterback in football," Saunders said.

I really think he's going to be good for Gil because he's going to demand much more than just scoring. It's definitely a positive change in coaching philosophy for this team.

Flip Saunders on facing Cavs summer league team: "Is Lebron playing. We might have someone who can dunk on him, I don't know."

Gilbert0Arenas wrote:

Flip Saunders on facing Cavs summer league team: "Is Lebron playing. We might have someone who can dunk on him, I don't know."

I love it!

Fan the flame, Flip, fan the flame. And with Shaq in the fold now the rivalry will get a lot more verbal I'm sure.

LyricalRico wrote:This is a quote from a Post article on Critt but it shows Flip's philosophy about PGs:

I put a lot of pressure on point guards -- initiating offense, initiating defense, being able to understand the game, game management, almost like a quarterback in football," Saunders said.

I really think he's going to be good for Gil because he's going to demand much more than just scoring. It's definitely a positive change in coaching philosophy for this team.

That's refreshing to read. The more times I see the word "defense" (or any variation of it) in reports from Wizards coaches and players, the more optimistic about our team I get.

Now, this obviously means nothing if we don't see the results on the court but there's a better chance we WILL see results on the court based off of what we're reading.

You can already see the impact of adding a Flip Saunders .

He is remaking Nick into the catch and shoot guard that we needed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01412.html

McGee has is going to get minutes and getting more focused on what he needs to do. This is as much to do with EG being smart as anything. At least of now, McGee sees the green light and is going for it. Later, EG will add some training wheels to the team as back up and part baby sitter/teacher. Haywood can do his part but we need more front court examples.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00208.html

Blatche is also looking to turn the page. He sees the opening and the time is now to walk through it. I think Flip will get through to him.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 03446.html

Plus EG added two nice vets for one solid vet and an often injured muscle player.

Plus, Flips offense is going to have a lot to do with what I think will be a new kind of GA. It's a perfect storm for Gil. He had time off to watch and now he has a top notch coach and new offense that will get him to the next level. He sees what he needs to do.

But as much as I like what Flip is doing, It was EG who brought him here so he gets lots of credit. I stand by that EG would have done this sooner if Abe would have let him. EG was GMing with one hand tied behind his back.

We have turned the page people. Regardless of our record... I think it will be very good.. we are on a new path with more upside then we have had in a long long long time. It's all coming together and there is still room to grow. A Finials are in our 1-3 year reach.

^^^ OMG OMG OMG like really OMG! It's....it's......it's optimism.

Good read on Flip and the Wiz by Aschburner @ CNNSI

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/steve_aschburner/08/07/saunders.wizards/index.html?eref=sihp