Thursday, December 20, 2012

Yes, the Wizards are still really bad

Let's look at some Wizards player averages, separated into two groups.

Disappointing: 

Emeka Okafor: 12.5 points, 9.9 rebs, 51.5 FG%, 32 mins (career)
                         7.0 points, 5.7 rebs, 44.5 FG%, 22 mins (2012-13)

Trevor Ariza (currently injured): 9.0 points, 4.9 rebs, 42.8 FG%, 25 mins (career)
                                                 8.1 points, 4.9 rebs, 34.9 FG%, 25 mins (2012-13)

Shaun Livingston: 6.6 points, 2.5 rebs, 3.4 assists, 45.7 FG%, 22 mins (career)
                           3.5 points, 2.0 rebs, 2.2 assists, 35.6 FG%, 18 mins (2012-13)

Chris Singleton: 4.6 points, 3.5 rebs, 37.2 FG%, 21 mins (2011-12/rookie year)
                         5.0 points, 3.9 rebs, 38.5 FG%, 19 mins (2012-13)

Jan Vesely: 4.7 points, 4.4 rebs, 53.7 FG%, 19 mins (2011-12/rookie year)
                  2.1 points, 2.3 rebs, 42.4 FG%, 13 mins (2012-13)

Somewhat better: 

Kevin Seraphin: 6.2 points, 4.1 rebs, 49.6 FG%, 17 mins (career)
                         11.0 points, 5.7 rebs, 47.0 FG%, 24 mins (2012-13)

Cartier Martin: 5.2 points, 2.0 rebs, 0.5 assists, 39.8 FG%, 13 mins (career)
                       7.6 points, 2.7 rebs, 0.4 assists, 42.6 FG%, 18 mins (2012-13)

Jordan Crawford: 13.8 points, 2.8 rebs, 3.2 assists, 39.5 FG%, 26 mins (career)
                            15.0 points, 4.1 rebs, 4.6 assists, 39.7 FG%, 29 mins (2012-13)

Martell Webster: 8.5 points, 3.2 rebs, 41.4 FG%, 23 mins (career)
                          9.1 points, 3.5 rebs, 42.3 FG%, 25 mins (2012-13)

You'll notice that there is no great or awesome category, for obvious reasons.

John Wall is injured and hasn't played yet. Nene is still on a minutes limit (only 21 minutes per game in 12 games), but he's been pretty good. And Trevor Booker and A.J. Price are also currently injured, but neither was playing that well anyway.

It's hard to expect too much from Livingston, who's a replacement for the failed Jannero Pargo experiment. When everyone is healthy, Livingston would either never play or be out of a job. (But I know, this is the Wizards, and everyone is never healthy.) But Okafor and Ariza have been huge disappointments, and every day that goes by that Hornets trade looks worse and worse.

Also, the Wizards' 2011 draft class looks like a disaster. Vesely is a DNP machine and has no offensive game. Singleton shows promise at times, hitting a couple shots and playing decent defense. But his three-point shooting has been abysmal (12.5 percent), and it says something that he's playing fewer minutes this season despite all of the team's injuries. Oh, and Shelvin Mack didn't even make this terrible team and is playing in the D-League.

There's still hope for Seraphin and Crawford, but both can be maddening to watch. Seraphin turns the ball over too much, makes plenty of boneheaded plays, and doesn't get to the free throw line nearly enough for someone who spends most of his time in the paint. And Crawford, who the Wizards have had to rely on for so much, still takes lots of bad shots. His all-around game, though, seems to have improved.

There's a reason the Wizards are 3-20. Sure, injuries have played a factor. But even if everyone on this team was 100 percent healthy, they still wouldn't be THAT much better. There has just been too many bad draft picks and foolish trades made by a general manager who should have been out of a job long ago.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Bowl games, RGIII, and Terrance Broadway

Don't know which of the lesser college football bowl games to watch this year? Let's use a couple of Robert Griffin III's ongoing rookie season statistics to help. Most people would agree that Griffin has easily been one of the most exciting players of the 2012 NFL season so far. Here are some of his numbers: 18/4 TD:INT ratio, 66.4 completion percentage, 8.3 yards per pass attempt, and 6.7 yards per rush.

Those last two numbers both lead the NFL, which is remarkable. No one in NCAA football is in Griffin's class (that's not an insult), but several quarterbacks still put up great numbers.

Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M averaged 8.5 yards per pass attempt and 6.4 yards per rush, and Oregon's Marcus Mariota also had solid passing (8.0) and rushing (7.0) averages. Jordan Lynch of Northern Illinois was also impressive, posting averages of 8.4 yards through the air and 6.5 yards on the ground. But unless you want to count the Heisman winner or two other quarterbacks who are playing in BCS bowls, you'll have to look elsewhere for a more obscure, but still exciting, name.

And that player is quarterback Terrance Broadway of Louisiana-Lafayette, who averaged 8.9 yards per pass attempt and 6.4 yards per rush. Broadway, a sophomore transfer from Houston, threw for 2,526 yards with 16 touchdowns and eight interceptions, while also running for 661 yards and eight touchdowns. Obviously at least two quarterbacks above played against much better competition, but we're just looking at some numbers here. It's bowl season, after all.

Broadway's Ragin' Cajuns will be facing off against East Carolina in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on December 22. Don't be surprised if Broadway makes a few big plays.