15 Man Roster: DeShawn Stevenson

Blow the Whistle...

DeShawn Stevenson is going to be the starting shooting guard for the Wizards once again. He will knock down some threes, make some crazy bets, not feel his face, and probably call out another superstar this year. Crazy guy.

DeShawn's favorite move is the turnaround baseline fade away. He dribbles in the corner with his back to the basket. Gives a fake one way, and turns the other way fading away. This shot rarely goes in, but DeShawn seems to love it. Sometimes he will just dribble to the corner and then turn around and dribble out. It is a strange & pointless move, but he does it a lot.

His main job is playing defense & knocking down threes. The three point shooting is streaky, but when he hits a few and starts to not feel his face, it energizes the crowd. Defensively, I don't see what the big deal is. He plays hard & physical, but still isn't a top notch guy.

Stevenson plays with emotion. You can get into his head and force him to take bad shots. If you score on him, he is going to want to score on you. Or if you start jawing with him, he will try to back you down hard & score on you. That is a great mindset. For Michael Jordan. Not for DeShawn. It leads to him forcing up crazy shots and not playing within the "offense".

I'm sick of this "let's improve our defense" mindset. Starting Stevenson because he is a so-so defender is crazy. You need to start a true shooting guard that can find his own shot, not just knock down open jumpers. NICK YOUNG! And you can't wait around for DeShawn to get hurt because he will not come out of a game due to injury. That is another reason to love him. But why can't I love him coming off the bench? Prediction: He won't come off the bench.