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Only been ONE game, against the Blazers.
So far I like this kid, I hope we see a lot more of him.
Darius Flight Washington!!!
Only been ONE game, against the Blazers.
So far I like this kid, I hope we see a lot more of him.
Being in Australia, I obviously get no coverage of any of the Spurs summer league, or pre-season and I don't follow NCAA to much. I haven't had the chance to watch my DVD of today's game because I'm at work, so I'm really not sure what type of player Darius is because I've never seen him play... I've read scouting reports and think I have a fair idea, but I'm still not sure.
Could someone, perhaps a timvp or ChumpDumper give me a quick rundown about his game, and perhaps a few personal opinions that you wouldn't get in a typical scouting report.
Thanks in advance
I like the confidence. I think he still needs some games to get into the system though. He really didn't know where his place was there.
Here's the deal though...
He needs to be able to knock down shots in big games when he's doubled off of...it's so important for the Spurs PG to be able to do that....
And Vaughn did that well last season in the playoffs.
I know his shot isn't one of the more respected in the league...but he nailed that open 15 footer with regularity in the playoffs last year...anytime a team dared him to shoot, he made them pay for it.
I know it sounds funny talking about the J of Vaughn being a +....but it was. And it's not easy to find back up PG's you can say that about.
So for that reason it isn't essential to me that Washingon be given Vaughn's spot right off the bat....it may take some seasoning for Darius to be able to knock down shots like that with consistency.
Being in Australia, I obviously get no coverage of any of the Spurs summer league, or pre-season and I don't follow NCAA to much. I haven't had the chance to watch my DVD of today's game because I'm at work, so I'm really not sure what type of player Darius is because I've never seen him play... I've read scouting reports and think I have a fair idea, but I'm still not sure.
Could someone, perhaps a timvp or ChumpDumper give me a quick rundown about his game, and perhaps a few personal opinions that you wouldn't get in a typical scouting report.
Thanks in advance
Well he did a great job of providing an energy spark off the bench and hustling, it's nice to have a ball handler other than Manu that can do that off the bench...whethr the can do that consistently or if he was just pumped for the start of his NBA career, remains to be seen.
That 3 pointer he hit was sweet though...
26 more to go to break AJ's career mark for 3's
He might even pull it off this season.
Parker played 36 mins and had only 2 assists. Washington played 12 mins and had 2 assists. It follows that Washington is a better PG than Parker as well.
I recall Vaughn's outside shot falling off in the palyoffs compared to how he was shooting in the regular season.
We're going to be very happy with Washington, I think.
Hmm, from memory, it was decent (by his standards) in every series except Phoenix, when Pop decided to place him directly under the hoop
It's more like his shot sucked most of the season and the he started hitting it late in the season...
And I'm talking specifically about when he was being dared to shoot...and he hit that shot consistently throughout the playoff run. He hit it at over 50% IMO...well over 50%.
Trust me...my radar is permanently attuned to who is hitting those shots and who isn't...because of the Drob era...Vaughn performed extremely well when being dared to shoot in the playoffs last season. And he hit quite a few big shots in that situation.
I didn't like Vaughn for most of last season...he won me over late in the season and in the playoffs, when he started knocking down that shot with regularity.
I'm talking about his mid-range J...
I'm still not a big fan of him driving it to the basket and trying to score...but his J I'm happy with.
Darius has a much better looking shot...but he is a rookie and I'm not ready to trust his shot in battle yet...plus he's only made one shot in his entire NBA career.
It was a nice shot though....
And he is a defensive guy who hustles....it's hard to really judge his offense at this stage.
He's got an unusual skill set for back up PG's in the Pop era...I guess from what I've seen, he's closest to Terry Porter. Plays D, hustles, and can hit the 3....
Checked. Vaughn's production fell minimally from 3 PPG in 13 minutes on .425 to 2 PPg on .400 in 10 minutes. Lets just say he wasn't an force inside or out and he mostly could give parker a breather without screwig up and playing some fairly good defense. Washington may have a chance to top that if he doesn't screw up and doesn't try to do too much on offense just take the opportunities given. I'm willing to bet that he's a better shooter than Vauhn right now.Last night he deferred, a lot to Manu. One time he got to fellin himself and over dribbled but passed to Manu with enough tiime for Manu to do something. His biggest threat to himself is trying to make too big an impact.
Me too!
I had just said, I am not sure about you Washington when swoosh, in went the three.
I was like, " All right, I take it back!"
How does a player hit at over 50% "in your opinion?"
It's a statistic. He either did or didn't.
Hmm, from memory, it was decent (by his standards) in every series except Phoenix, when Pop decided to place him directly under the hoop
No...it's not a statistic. It's my opinion...hence the "in my opinion".
Stupid like this is why the Pistons got their ass kicked last year.
He needs to learn to use his aggression and speed like a stick shift on a car. You can't go balls out all the time. He needs a little control so he can pick and choose his moments of aggression so he doesn't become a liability like he did a few times last night. If he learn to go from first gear through the rest of the gears to 5th when needed his speed an aggression will be highly valuable.
Otherwise its seems as if he has some nice potential.
I liked what I saw. It was the first game, but still. I liked how he goes for the rebounds. The guy is not afraid to get in there with the big fellas.
How quick we forget. When Vaughn first came with the team and got a few minutes, his jumper was so bad--and he kept taking it--that threads were devoted to how bad he was. The operative words when he shot were "OH NO!"
He reminded me a lot of AJ in regard to his progress on shooting. As the season progressed, he learned not to force his shot and his % improved to where he was OK, but you still wouldn't want him taking the shot to win a game. But his strengths are running the team and defense.
Way too early to become Darius fans because of his skills, but you gotta root for a kid who works that hard.
I think spurs could use Vaughn and Washington as interchangeable 2nd PGs. THat is what I think POp is gonna do, unless either one starts sucking bigtime
DWash looked good. He played defense, hustled and seemed to dribble the ball well(much better handles than Beno). Didn't like his FT shooting. The one thing Spurs don't need is another bad FT shooter. Hopefully it was just first game jitters.
DW will be a bad ft shooter for a while... and clearly (and historically) pressure affects his fts. This will be an issue.
But he can already nail the three. That's a big boost. He was also fairly aggressive on a drive from the corner. Once he learns how to pick his spots, his offensive production will be very valuable.
Well he wasn't running team or playing D that well early in the season either...
It doesn't matter if you like his shot or not...if he's being doubled off of or dared to shoot...he has to take that shot, and he has to hit it...
And he did that late in the season and in playoffs.
What I don't like...and what had me on the Vaughn haters bandwagon for most of the season last year...
Is when he takes it into the basket against multiple defenders and tries to score. I still don't want to see him doing that...
But you know...all our PG's play that way, even the guys in training camp...so I have to assume that's what Pop wants. The one guy who didn't play like that was Barry and he was perennially in Pop's doghouse...it has to be Pop that wants them driving to the hoop and trying to score like that...even if they lack the skill to really do it(as Vaughn most certainly does).
Way too early to become Darius fans because of his skills, but you gotta root for a kid who works that hard.
I agree with that...my point is that I'm not ready to instantly kick Vaughn out of the backup slot just because Darius has more upside...Vaughn proved he could knock down that J when he was doubled off of or dared to shoot...proved he could do it during the pressure of a playoff run...for that reason I'm content with him in the backup slot again this season until Darius shows me he can do that better...
We already know Vaughn hustles and plays D well enough to hold down the back up job...I doubt Darius does those better than Vaughn at this stage...although, he appears to have the tools to do them better than Vaughn if he gets some experience. He's shown so far he's got a decent 3 shot...but it's not battle tested yet.
I hope the Spurs don't rush it...no need to...
The Blazers' youngsters were playing frenetically at times. Washington seemed to get sucked into this and tried to ramp up to their speed while the rest of the team stayed within the scheme. It made for a few interesting moments and a turnover, but I don't mind mistakes made due to effort. The palming violation also felt like that. It seemed like DW's hands just didn't get caught up with his feet on that play.
In warm ups Washington was knocking all his FTs down and nothing but net with nice arc. I'll bet those FTs were an abberation, not that he's likely to get a lot of chances to prove otherwise.
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