# Who should be the starting shooting guard?



## f22egl

I think it should be Foye because he has better lateral quickness than Miller. A large portion of Wizard fans argue that Miller is bigger which will compensate for Butler's lack of size at the small forward position, rebounds the ball better, and is a better catch and shoot player.


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## Floods

Assuming he isn't dealt, I'd stick with Stevenson. Starting Foye makes them too smallish, and Miller isn't much more than a shooter, albeit a very good one, and sucks defensively.


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## byrondarnell66

Jacoby_Ellsbury said:


> Assuming he isn't dealt, I'd stick with Stevenson. Starting Foye makes them too smallish, and Miller isn't much more than a shooter, albeit a very good one, and sucks defensively.


Stevenson, you're kidding right.??? He is coming off of injuries, can't shoot a lick these days. Miller can shoot the ball (bad defender) Foye ( I admit) I havn't seen much of so I don't know, it would be him or Miller. Young is not ready to start yet, however he should get some extensive time with the starters though.

None of these guys are great defenders may as well put the best shooter on the floor.


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## Chan Ho Nam

isn't Foye small enough to play the PG spot? i always consider Gil to be a sg, like iverson was back in Phi


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## shyFX325

chairman5 said:


> isn't Foye small enough to play the PG spot? i always consider Gil to be a sg, like iverson was back in Phi


small enough to play PG?? I never knew there was a height requirement.

AI was able to play the 2 in philly because he had a PG, Eric Snow, that was tall enough to play SG.


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## Damian Necronamous

I'd start Miller unless Foye breaks out, and look to deal Mike James and DeShawn Stevenson in some sort of trade for a rebounding big.


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## qross1fan

Nick Young just because he attended Cleveland high.


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## billfindlay10

I say Miller, he had a bit of a down year in Minny, but he is a nice fit. Great shooter for kick out from Butler and Jamison, good in transition, and is an OK defender, he may not be lock down, but he is not a stiff. 

Foy can be a scorer off the bench backing up both the 1 and 2 spots.


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## Dre

I say keep Stevenson on the first unit with Arenas and Butler and put Miller and Foye out there with the second unit.

Foye and Arenas are redundant and I don't think Miller is a better defender than Stevenson.


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## gi0rdun

I'd go Mike Miller. I think you always want to get the more experienced and stable players to start but I'd like to see Nick Young take over midseason.


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## f22egl

Bill Simmons and one of his friends said Mike Miller has regressed to simply a 3 point shooter on offense; they agreed that he was Jason Kapono just with a bigger contract and the trade for the #5 pick was made primarily for Foye; thoughts?



Dre™;6015694 said:


> I say keep Stevenson on the first unit with Arenas and Butler and put Miller and Foye out there with the second unit.
> 
> Foye and Arenas are redundant and I don't think Miller is a better defender than Stevenson.


By being redundant as Arenas, Foye is better at everything than Stevenson on offensive end-
- 3 point shooting
- Passing
- Getting to the rim
- Handles

Yes, it remains to be seen what Foye can do on the defensive end, but he could adapt into that role.


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## BlakeJesus

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's going to be Foye. I really want to see Nick Young be given a legit opportunity, but I doubt he gets that even if Foye struggles.


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## Basel

It should be Foye, but I think Stevenson will get the starting job to begin the season as he's used to playing with the team. Foye will be their spark plug off the bench for the first half of the season, I think, and then work his way into the starting role around the All-Star break.


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## Luke

Foye's probably the best player, but Miller's probably the better fit in the starting lineup.


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## roux

I really like what i saw out of Young the couple of times i saw him last year


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## Dualie

I would go with Nick Young starting, but wouldn't rule out Miller and Foye getting more minutes per game. I only worry that with Gilbert and Nick there may not be enough shots with them both on the court.


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## jazzy1

I think Stevenson should be starting. He'll play defense and do other things on the floor with the 3 other scorers. Nick Young only wants to shoot. Foye is too small and Miller not good enough defensively. 

The other guys can get more minutes but to start Stevenson makes the most sense.


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## c_dog

it has to be foye. i've sort of given up on nick young becoming a starter in this league. during the course of last season he just didn't make the strides i expected him to make. at this point he is at best jr smith(less attitude), if that.


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## jericho

My guess is it starts out as Miller, with Foye the first guard off the bench, but Foye will have earned the job by mid-season.


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## Dre

If you put Stevenson in with the big 3 the second unit will be loaded with guys who can put the ball on the floor and beat most rotation wings in this league.

With Butler and Arenas he'll play defense and take the open shot.

If he's on the second unit chances are he doesn't respect Foye and Miller and tries to do too much one on one.

Arenas and Foye are both guys who are going to get numb and shoot at will, you can't have that on the court together too much.


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## f22egl

Randy Foye doesn't shoot that much more than DeShawn Stevenson. Over the course of his career, Foye averages 13.6 fga per 36 minutes while Stevenson averages 11.6 fga per 36 minutes. I would say the difference is negligible since over the course of his 3 year career, Foye has been the primary option on a bad team for the majority of his career while Stevenson has been a role player. As the 3rd to 4th option, I would expect Foye's efficiency numbers to jump, especially since he's a pretty good catch and shoot 3 point shooter who shot over 40% from 3 during the 2nd half of the season. 

A concern for Foye is that if he's big enough to guard shooting guards. However, I wonder how much Foye's defense will improve simply by having quailty defensive bigs behind him like Haywood and Blatche as opposed to Jefferson and Love.


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## Dre

Thing about Foye is his skillset is closer to Arenas' than Stevenson's. Stevenson may shoot a lot, but that's it, he's not a guy that needs to handle the ball too much to get his optimal scoring output. He's a jumpshooter, Foye is a broke homeless man's Wade type of player.


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## Kidd

Miller, no question about it.


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## Wade County

Mike Miller, with Foye getting 30mpg behind him and Arenas.

Nick Young trade bait?


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## f22egl

^^ Nick Young actually could be contending for the starting job and has looked very good in the opening days of training camp (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizardsinsider/2009/09/day_i_evening_practice.html). The Wizards are trying to develop him into a catch and shoot kind of player like Richard Hamilton.


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## f22egl

Dre™ said:


> Thing about Foye is his skillset is closer to Arenas' than Stevenson's. Stevenson may shoot a lot, but that's it, he's not a guy that needs to handle the ball too much to get his optimal scoring output. He's a jumpshooter, Foye is a broke homeless man's Wade type of player.


Arenas coexisted well with Larry Hughes back in the 04-05 season, who also handled the ball extensively. Arenas is geared to more to be a distributing point guard with Flip Saunders at the helm as opposed to Eddie Jordan; who delegated ball handling duties to both the point guard and shooting guard position. I have no problem with Stevenson if he can knock down shots at a high rate, but after missing most of the season, it remains to seen if he still has that shooting touch; after all he only managed to shoot 31% from the field and 27% from 3 point range last season. 

The forseeable problem with Foye is that he may have trouble guarding bigger shooting guards like Kobe/Joe Johnson/Vince Carter. Then again, those shooting guards will also have to guard Foye, not much energy has to be expended guarding Stevenson, which will allow opposing players to conserve their energy on the defensive end. 

BTW, I believe Young could emerge as a candidate to get major minutes at the shooting guard position with his catch and shoot game. He does have enough size to play guard shooting guards, but hasn't shown the propensity to play enough defense in the past.


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## jericho

I could see a minutes distribution something like this:

PG - Arenas (35), Foye (13)
SG - Miller (28), Foye (15), Young (5)
SF - Butler (34), Young (14)

This leaves Crittenton, Stevenson, McGuire, and James as the odd men out. If Stevenson and/or McGuire are seeing significant duty that's a bad sign to me because it probably means the others aren't covering the bases defensively. 

Obviously, the perimeter positions are if anything overstocked and I could see anyone besides Arenas being traded at midseason for quality big man depth.


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## Dre

f22egl said:


> Arenas coexisted well with Larry Hughes back in the 04-05 season, who also handled the ball extensively.


But there was no Butler back then, another guy who handles the ball extensively.


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## f22egl

Dre™ said:


> But there was no Butler back then, another guy who handles the ball extensively.


I guess, although Butler would help an Arenas/Hughes backcourt than Jared Jeffries. While somebody stats will fall with Foye with Arenas/Butler/Jamison, the Wizards should produce more efficiently offensively, especially since Foye is a good catch and shoot player. 

BTW, if Andray Blatche or Mcguire really impresses which I would consider a longshot, the Wizards could move to a big lineup of either

Arenas
Butler
McGuire
Jamison
Haywood

or

Arenas
Butler
Jamison
Blatche
Haywood


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## f22egl

Rankings of who will likely be the starting shooting guard based on the preseason so far. 

1. Mike Miller
2. DeShawn Stevenson
3. Randy Foye
4. Nick Young


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## Dre

I agree with that assessment.


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## jericho

So do I, which makes me wonder all the more whether Young will be dangled for trade offers by mid-season (if that isn't already happening). Washington clearly is trying to max out the current window of opportunity.


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## f22egl

jericho said:


> So do I, which makes me wonder all the more whether Young will be dangled for trade offers by mid-season (if that isn't already happening). Washington clearly is trying to max out the current window of opportunity.


I certainly wouldn't consider Young untouchable. He could probably be had for a first round pick, a veteran big man, or combined as a throw in a larger deal. Still, the Wizards may choose to keep Young since Miller and Foye are free agents this upcoming offseason. And let's not forget that the Wizards haven't had a good history of staying healthy either. Arenas, Miller, Foye, and Stevenson missed several games due to injury last season and Crittenton may miss significant time this upcoming season.


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