TPercy wrote:He also has relatively low bball IQ, so I wouldn't get our hopes to high, but it is still.a nice signing though

Way to be the first one to poo poo this signing and double posting the poo poo.

TripleThreat wrote:

Knixkik wrote:Nice pickup. Very similar to signing Jason Smith last summer. No risk, solid upside.

Upside
- Still young
- Willing to bang
- Good tool set/motor
- Offers some rim protection

Downside
- Inconsistent
- Struggles to read the floor on both ends
- Misses a lot of defensive assignments
- Does not possess the recovery speed needed to compensate for lack of saavy
- Poor shot selection
- Does not traffic well in close contact near the rim offensively

Given STAT and Bargs aversion to any kind of real contact, I will always appreciate a big willing to bang.

However not sure this kid is suited for the Triangle offense. There are a lot of automatic passes in the Triangle and not sure this kid will ever pick it up at all.

Still believe Phil Jackson could have waited out guys like Derrick Williams and Seraphin a while longer and gotten a more leveraged contract situation with them.

Robert Upshaw will not likely make the Lakers and Christian Wood probably won't make the Rockets. There will be more guys later who won't cut the mustard with more talented rosters and honestly wish the Knicks left more space open for young prospects.

There's a reason he was available, that has to temper expectations. That being said, let's see if he can help this team by being willing to give up his body and bang it out to save some wear and tear on Lopez and O'Quinn.

newyorker4ever wrote:

TPercy wrote:He also has relatively low bball IQ, so I wouldn't get our hopes to high, but it is still.a nice signing though

Way to be the first one to poo poo this signing and double posting the poo poo.

Not pooing on anything.Any signing at this point was obviously going to have a vivid downside. I am just pointing out a clear flaw that he has in his game. I hope that maybe in this system he can get it together. It is not like he will feature decent minutes until ROLO goes down snyway. He is obviously behind OQUINN in the pecking order because kyle can protect the rim, is a smart player, has really nice passing ability and has a developing post game.

I hope that he is an exception.

nixluva wrote:Gotta hope they can teach him more fundamentals and a better overall approach to the game.

Will be his 5th year in the league this year. In his 2nd and 3rd seasons, he averaged 20 minutes a game.

While bigs have a slower developmental cycle in general, he also has three seasons logged in via international competition.

What you see with this guy is what you will get, IMHO, enough of an opportunity was there for him to show what he can do at this level. I wouldn't bank on a huge developmental leap. He's not an efficient player, but again, size is always valued in the NBA.

For a guy like Seraphin to succeed with his inability to consistently read the floor, he would need to really stay within the same system for a very long time. Meaning leaving the Wizards and coming to the Knicks with the Triangle, I think the practical expectation is some actual regression for the first half of the season. Whether he has any mettle to be tested will come if he can counter adjust and to what degree after the All Star break.

The odds are not in his favor.

It's possible he could take another leap in development, but it would be an outlier to how most players usually develop. I hate Bill Belichick, but I've said it before and will say it again, he succeeds, in part, because he sees what player are, what can really give, not what he hopes they can be in some other unlikely circumstance.

A former Navy Seal once said it best - Sometimes you just need a guy in front of a door with a gun, sometimes you just need a warm body to pull a trigger for you.

Why Kevin Seraphin Could Have A Breakout Season With The Washington Wizards

by Ben Mehic 42w ago

1k
TWEET

SHARE

0 Comments
.

Aside from retaining the core group of players that helped the Washington Wizards make the semi-finals in the Eastern Conference this past season, one of the team’s biggest needs this summer was bolstering their front court rotation.

Although the Wizards got good production from their starting front court–Nene and Marcin Gortat–the team’s second unit struggled to get any consistent minutes from their backup big men. Al Harrington dealt with numerous injuries throughout the course of the season, while Jan Vesely simply didn’t fit into the Wizards’ plans and was eventually traded to the Denver Nuggets. When Nene went down with injury, the Wizards were lucky enough to get a boost from Trevor Booker and Drew Gooden, whose NBA career looked to be over after he was amnestied by the Milwaukee Bucks. If Gooden didn’t perform well, the Wizards could have slipped out of the playoff picture.

One of the big men that failed to produce in the absence of Nene was Kevin Seraphin.

Seraphin was given a chance to start during the preseason after Emeka Okafor went down with injury, but that proved to be disastrous as he struggled to adjust to his new role. General Manager Ernie Grunfeld acquired Gortat from the Phoenix Suns before the start of the regular season, and the void left by Okafor was subsequently filled.

Kevin Seraphin was in and out of the rotation all season long, but eventually completely fell out once Drew Gooden arrived. Washington decided not to offer Booker a qualifying offer that was worth over $5 million, yet gave Kevin Seraphin another chance.

Washington was praised for signing Paul Pierce and not overpaying to keep Trevor Ariza this summer, re-signing Marcin Gortat, and signing both Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair to short-term deals, but the one move that was criticized was retaining Kevin Seraphin.

Like most people, I was surprised that the Wizards decided to bring back Seraphin, especially since they had acquired multiple big men in the summer. With Nene, Gortat, Gooden, Blair, and Humphries on the team, Kevin Seraphin seemed like the odd-man out.

But now that Kris Humphries is hurt, Nene and Blair are suspended for opening night against the Miami Heat, Kevin Seraphin will get another chance to prove himself to Washington’s brass.

The Wizards are currently 3-1 in preseason and Kevin Seraphin is coming off a few very good games. Not only does he look more fit than in recent years, but it’s clear that he’s focused on rebounding and contributing on the defensive side of the floor. We all know that Kevin Seraphin is capable of scoring the ball in the post, and he needed to show that he’s capable of doing all of the other things necessary in order to win ball games.

–video via Piotr Zarychta

If Kevin Seraphin can commit himself defensively and continue to score within the offense, I think we’ll see him get a lot more playing time this season than originally expected. Blair and Humphries will likely be ahead of Kevin Seraphin on the depth chart, but his ability to score does present some match up problems, especially if/when Randy Wittman decides to play a traditional big man lineup.

Let’s hope Kevin Seraphin can continue to improve and showcase what he’s been working on this summer. If he does that, we might see Snakey have a breakout season with the Washington Wizards.

nixluva wrote:I'm just gonna be looking for baby steps this year. Seraphim is still young enough to learn some fundamental footwork and spacing for his position in the Triangle. It's really going to be up to him to apply himself. The reason I can't really go by what he's been doing before is because this system is quite different from what he's been involved in. Perhaps he takes to this style of play better than he has other styles in the past. You can't always know until you put a player in this system and see how they respond.

Randy Wittman's offense in Washington makes Brian Schottenheimer look like Vince Lombardi when he was with the Jets.

Think about that. The name of Seraphin's coach the past few years makes Brian Schottenheimer look competent. Imagine how ****ed up your offensive play calling must be to achieve that.

In theory, to Seraphin's strengths, he SHOULD HAVE THRIVED in Wittman's rote and scripted offense. Seraphin should have feasted on the high screen and rolls and the propensity to take the occasional mid range jumper not swallowed up by Bradley Beal and John Wall.

When you can't read the floor, you DON'T MOVE WELL OFF THE BALL AND YOU BECOME A LIABILITY AS A PASSER. Neither of these things are going to help the Knicks be more efficient in the Triangle Offense.

You are taking a guy with 7 years of pro basketball experience, out of what stability he had in a simplistic offense and asking him to be effective/efficient in a fringe reserve role in what is probably the most complicated offense running right now in the entire NBA.

Here's the pair of million dollar questions

1) If Seraphin was so valuable, WHY DIDN'T THE WIZARDS FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO RESIGN HIM?

2) If Seraphin HAD value, why was he sitting on the free agent market for so long and had virtually no trade value at the last deadline?

Nothing you say is actually a cogent or practical reason why Seraphin will take a developmental leap this season with the Knicks.

What you are pushing is NOT OPTIMISM. It's not having a clue to what Seraphin did in Washington and why they let him go and how he might mesh into the Triangle offense.

What part of the following is not getting through to you - SERAPHIN CANNOT READ THE FLOOR, NOT ON OFFENSE, NOT ON DEFENSE. Changing his mailing address does not fix that issue for a guy who actually has enough pro basketball tenure to move past the prospect stage and into the journeyman stage.

mreinman wrote:speaking of poo-pooing, his advanced stats are really bad

I hope that he is an exception.

Now that he's away from Maryland Live Casino (his frequent stopping grounds...I met him a few times), maybe he can focus. He's a good dude and very approachable. And a reliable big man off the bench or in spot starter roles due to injuries. Plus he will be playing for a contract next year, so he has some motivation to perform. The Triangle helps with basketball IQ. It helps you see the floor differently, and makes you a more complete player who can do more than just score and rebound. You have to look for back door cuts and make good passes.

TripleThreat wrote:

nixluva wrote:I'm just gonna be looking for baby steps this year. Seraphim is still young enough to learn some fundamental footwork and spacing for his position in the Triangle. It's really going to be up to him to apply himself. The reason I can't really go by what he's been doing before is because this system is quite different from what he's been involved in. Perhaps he takes to this style of play better than he has other styles in the past. You can't always know until you put a player in this system and see how they respond.

Here's the pair of million dollar questions

1) If Seraphin was so valuable, WHY DIDN'T THE WIZARDS FIGHT TOOTH AND NAIL TO RESIGN HIM?

2) If Seraphin HAD value, why was he sitting on the free agent market for so long and had virtually no trade value at the last deadline?

I'm not a big fan of Sheraphin but there are always exceptions to your two questions. Those same questions could have been asked about Aminu, Ed Davis, Demarre Carrol, and many others in years past. I have zero clue how Kevin will do in this offense but if Cole Aldrich can become a better passer then I think most bigs can too.

Tweet was deleted or there was problem with the URL:

https://twitter.com/nyknicks/status/629450781184241664