Where's Brendan?

I know Eddie Jordan doesn't like Brendan Haywood, but every time I watch the Wizards play this season he starts the game, he plays pretty well, and then he winds up playing unaccountably few minutes. He's got the best rebound rate on the team (16.5), and he's shooting a good percentage (.556) so even if he's not a serious offensive threat it's not like you're accepting a huge liability in exchange for that rebounding. And yet he only gets 26 minutes per game even though the Wizards don't have a real backup center on the roster. Maybe his conditioning's just bad.

Photo by Flickr user Compujeramey used under a Creative Commons license

Comments

"Where's Brendan?"

I see him!

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Gotta make minutes for Blatche. You're not going to win a title this year. Blatche's a diamond in the rough. Time to polish him.

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And why no Caron-mania posts, Matthew. Dude's playing at a ridiculously high level for your team, and you don't even notice?

Posted by Petey | December 10, 2007 5:31 PM

Brenda is terrible, that's why. Bad hands, too tentative. Even with no Etan to frazzle his tender ego he still isn't the answer. Blatche is the future.

Posted by Nick | December 10, 2007 5:59 PM

Jordan is not a very good coach.

Posted by drinkof | December 10, 2007 6:26 PM

For some reason Eddie Jordan lets Blatche & Songaila play together but doesn't let Haywood play with either Blatche or Songaila. Look at the 5-man units on 82games.com. Haywood plays next to Jamison for about 2/3 of the Jamison's minutes -- and then NEVER sees the floor. Without Jamison as wingman, Haywood is a pure benchwarmer.

Posted by joejoejoe | December 10, 2007 6:36 PM

Haywood also gets in foul trouble alot. I remember last game I was kind of concerned that Eddie was playing Haywood in the first quarter with 2 fouls. He picked up two quick ones and Eddie left him in there for about 3 minutes with 2. Brendan's got some skills and he's turned it up a great deal this year, but he's gotta get the foul situation under control so he can stay in for extended minutes. He's also working against Blatche for minutes, and Blatche continues to show his athleticism in ways that make it obvious he needs more time on the court.

How about that Nick Young, though? I really like that kid -- I didn't think much of the pick at the time but it looks like Grunfeld has found another great player for this franchise.

I have got to get to a game sometime soon. It's been far too long. The Wizards are definitely one of the most fun teams to watch I've ever seen.

Posted by James Hare | December 10, 2007 10:14 PM

Maybe it's because Haywood has a terrible hands and moves around like a zombie? He just isn't a very smart player, and you can't get that just from looking at the stats. He often makes the team worse by being clueless out there.

Posted by Blake Hounshell | December 11, 2007 12:05 AM

San Antonio Spurs.

Case closed.

Posted by global yokel | December 11, 2007 1:26 AM

Also, while +/- numbers can often be deceiving, it's worth noting Brendan's uninspiring +/- numbers...

If Brendan's not making the team noticeably better, why not give the minutes to Andray?

Posted by Petey | December 11, 2007 8:26 AM