The Wizards Weren't Lying
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2022 8:58 am
Last season I said that I could finally look at my roster and feel something, see potential. After a few long seasons of going through the motions, I finally had a plan for the future. Well, the future is now.
Last season completely exceeded my expectations. Not in terms of individual play - outside of Hodges proving that he can be serviceable as a PG, nobody really stood out or made a notable jump in stats - but in the collective effort of all. The team really came together and formed an identity on the floor that reflected the foundation that I saw on paper. Even though our 60 wins were likely due to an unusual down year for the league as a whole, you still don't reach that number unless you have something that works night in and night out. Teams with better talent than us struggled far more than we did, and that said something to me. It said "Alright, you have the template. Now, how do you improve on it?"
Obviously, the first idea was "Sign a big star!" While Bey was our first choice by far, we also entertained the idea of adding a superstar big man. But of course, putting all of our eggs in one basket was a recipe for failure, so we needed a backup plan. That plan was simply to look at what we were missing last season, and fix it. Despite holding down the fort well enough during the regular season, H20 completely fell apart during the playoffs. Even though Jerry Tucker (who is no longer with us) performed well enough, we felt that PG was a clear weak spot. Given that we were pretty sure Delmar wasn't coming back, veteran leadership was also a concern. Enter Mark Adkison, a player who we'd been quietly interested in acquiring for some time, but never felt like we had the assets to acquire. He also helped knock us out of the playoffs, so we got a firsthand view of what he could do for us.
Small forward was identified as another problem for us, as our depth there was pretty thin. Signing Mark indirectly solved that, as our glut of guards gives Bojo the opening to move back to SF. It's probably the best fit for him, as now he has both the size and the speed advantage over his opponents, whereas at SG he only had the size advantage. Elliot Thorpe was also brought back, thus locking down that position for us.
Finally, let's talk about Bam Adebayo. Another player who we had early interest in (then declined to take a chance on him while he was going through his personal issues early in his career), Bam fit our defensive scheme perfectly. The decision to shoot for a superstar big wasn't a slight on Big Cheese or Dunk. We've run the 3-big rotation for a long time, and though we like Fontaine, we knew better options for our third big were out there.
With our major targets signed, we were pretty much done with FA after Round 1, though we did remember to bring back Brian Humbert as further guard insurance. We had a Top-5 TC despite no major jumps from anyone, so that's great. It goes without saying that we're really excited for this season, even if we don't top last season's win total. We believe we're a stronger team than last year, and we will be even stronger in the years to come. Let's see what results will come from that.
Any questions?
Last season completely exceeded my expectations. Not in terms of individual play - outside of Hodges proving that he can be serviceable as a PG, nobody really stood out or made a notable jump in stats - but in the collective effort of all. The team really came together and formed an identity on the floor that reflected the foundation that I saw on paper. Even though our 60 wins were likely due to an unusual down year for the league as a whole, you still don't reach that number unless you have something that works night in and night out. Teams with better talent than us struggled far more than we did, and that said something to me. It said "Alright, you have the template. Now, how do you improve on it?"
Obviously, the first idea was "Sign a big star!" While Bey was our first choice by far, we also entertained the idea of adding a superstar big man. But of course, putting all of our eggs in one basket was a recipe for failure, so we needed a backup plan. That plan was simply to look at what we were missing last season, and fix it. Despite holding down the fort well enough during the regular season, H20 completely fell apart during the playoffs. Even though Jerry Tucker (who is no longer with us) performed well enough, we felt that PG was a clear weak spot. Given that we were pretty sure Delmar wasn't coming back, veteran leadership was also a concern. Enter Mark Adkison, a player who we'd been quietly interested in acquiring for some time, but never felt like we had the assets to acquire. He also helped knock us out of the playoffs, so we got a firsthand view of what he could do for us.
Small forward was identified as another problem for us, as our depth there was pretty thin. Signing Mark indirectly solved that, as our glut of guards gives Bojo the opening to move back to SF. It's probably the best fit for him, as now he has both the size and the speed advantage over his opponents, whereas at SG he only had the size advantage. Elliot Thorpe was also brought back, thus locking down that position for us.
Finally, let's talk about Bam Adebayo. Another player who we had early interest in (then declined to take a chance on him while he was going through his personal issues early in his career), Bam fit our defensive scheme perfectly. The decision to shoot for a superstar big wasn't a slight on Big Cheese or Dunk. We've run the 3-big rotation for a long time, and though we like Fontaine, we knew better options for our third big were out there.
With our major targets signed, we were pretty much done with FA after Round 1, though we did remember to bring back Brian Humbert as further guard insurance. We had a Top-5 TC despite no major jumps from anyone, so that's great. It goes without saying that we're really excited for this season, even if we don't top last season's win total. We believe we're a stronger team than last year, and we will be even stronger in the years to come. Let's see what results will come from that.
Any questions?