Is It Time To Worry About JaVale McGee Yet?
July 17, 2008
Two games into the Las Vegas summer league, and JaVale McGee still hasn’t become more than what we knew about him previously, which is nothing.
He and Andray Blatche have been dominated through two games, with the worst of the beatings coming last night against the Philadelphia 76ers and their first rounder, Marreese Speights. Speights finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while McGee looked turned in nine points, eight rebounds and a couple of blocks.
You figure that a rookie is going to struggle in his first NBA-level games, but Washington needs this guy. Badly. They are a legitimate post presence away from challenging the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic for the Eastern conference title. He’s not needed to be solid in summer league, because that will translate to unused in the regular season.
He’s needed to be dominant now to be surprising in the regular season and possibly the playoffs. No, he hasn’t completely sucked, but JaVale McGee and Andray Blatche need to be much more than basket supports in the next few games if they hope to be Washington’s chances for league-wide relevance.
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3 Responses to “Is It Time To Worry About JaVale McGee Yet?”
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I actually think Blatche looks pretty good….he definitely looks stronger to me, you can’t tell by looking at his arms, but his whole body looks sturdier.
In regard to McGee….it’s far from time to worry. Dennis Green would say that he is what we thought he was.
Give the kid time to learn and adjust…..I do see that he’s a legit 7 feet, he’s pretty damn athletic and agile for someone that size, and he can shoot.
We talkin’ bout practice dog. Practice. We are also talking about McGee’s second game against NBA competition, backups for the most part, but still NBA competition. What were you expecting a 20 and 10 performance? I’ll take 9 points and 8 boards for now. The guy has shown exactly what the Wizards thought they were getting. He is long, extremely athletic, can block shots, has mad ups (showcased in the game last night) , and has some nice post moves. Were you expecting this guy to be our starting center or something? Brendan has proved he can be an adequate center which should be all we need with a healthy big three. Do I wish we had a Michael Beasley or a Greg Oden? Of course I do. But lacking a dominant post presence does not spell instant doom. I agree with you that Blatche needs to step it up. I don’t see enough desire from him out on the floor. If Blatche had the passion of a Caron Butler or even a Dee Brown (you gotta admit the guy shows hustle out there) he would be an All Star. Blatche is the guy we need next year not McGee. McGee is a project give him time.
I refuse to believe that Mareese Speights is more of an impact player than McGee.
I just rebuke the notion.