The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

How can a team with so many veterans fold so easily in the clutch?

[Destino]

That falls on coaching.

So does the lack of inbound plays and the inability to realize big rotation on defense is in case of emergency... Not the way guards are supposed to be defended (as they run unmolested to the basket)

[SuperBash]

Draw up a screen for Beal to nail a 3 to win

[StillUnknown]

I thought tonight would be the night we got #1

[StillUnknown]

Caught a huge break with George missing that wide open 3.

[Destino]

Really? Final possession and they run no screens off the ball? They just space out with wings screening for each other in desperation?

Wittman is a bag of failure.

[StillUnknown]

Really? Final possession and they run no screens off the ball? They just space out with wings screening for each other in desperation?

Wittman is a bag of failure.

Those situations really expose Wittman, he's gotta be in the bottom 5 of X's & O's among coaches.

[Going Commando]

I missed the game. How did the team look? More of the same? How did Beal, Singleton, Ves, Book, and Seraphin look? It's already at the point where I only care about how they do and how much improvement they show.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Really? Final possession and they run no screens off the ball? They just space out with wings screening for each other in desperation?

Wittman is a bag of failure.

I was stunned by that possession...it just seems like they were winging it

[Renegade7]

Wizards aren't going to beat anyone no matter what they do right if they don't start scoring more. Great ball movement tonight, but our leading scorers had 17 points each.

17 points.

Edited November 11, 2012 by Renegade7

[StillUnknown]

I missed the game. How did the team look? More of the same? How did Beal, Singleton, Ves, Book, and Seraphin look? It's already at the point where I only care about how they do and how much improvement they show.

Beal looked good, a couple of costly turnovers in the 2nd half, but he's building on his last couple of games.

Singleton was unnoticeable

Vesely played less than 4 minutes, and only had 2 fouls.

Seraphin was bad again, shot not falling, including a couple of close shots he's leaving at the front of the rim. He's not getting much lift.

Booker was ok, nothing spectacular, but nothing fatal either.

Price was the player of the game tonight, easily his best game as a Wizard, probably his best game as a pro.

[endzone_dave]

Watching DC sports is getting tougher and tougher. I'm going to start smoking crack or something to get through these games.

Edit: I'm watching some WRC crashes to keep my foul mood going.

Edited November 11, 2012 by endzone_dave

[SuperBash]

Man, the Bobcats have been to the playoffs more often than the Wizards in the past 4 or 5 years.

[Going Commando]

Beal looked good, a couple of costly turnovers in the 2nd half, but he's building on his last couple of games.

Singleton was unnoticeable

Vesely played less than 4 minutes, and only had 2 fouls.

Seraphin was bad again, shot not falling, including a couple of close shots he's leaving at the front of the rim. He's not getting much lift.

Booker was ok, nothing spectacular, but nothing fatal either.

Price was the player of the game tonight, easily his best game as a Wizard, probably his best game as a pro.

Thanks for the recap.

That's disappointing about the young guys, but at least Beal is getting better I suppose. It looks like he's going to have to take on a much larger offensive role than I anticipated going into this year. I thought he was going to be just kind of a minor impact early on like Harden was at OKC. It's just a bad feeling having to rely on a rookie shooter so heavily. Recipe for failure as we're seeing. Hopefully he'll be up to the task.

Good that Price may be starting to find his way, we really need him to if we're going to actually win a game.

That's unusual about Seraphin's touch being off. He's been fairly consistent in the past.

What's wrong with Ves do you know? Is he in the dog house or was it a situational/matchup thing? Four minutes is pretty bad.

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

Beal played very well tonight but he falls victim to the trademark Wizards "late game mental mistake" syndrome a lot

[Destino]

Man, the Bobcats have been to the playoffs more often than the Wizards in the past 4 or 5 years.

Bobcats are about to gets their second win. Wizards might not get one for a while.

For you guys that like numbers only one wizard starter was > 1 PPS. Beal. None of the others scored in double digits. That is terrible efficiency.

Edited November 11, 2012 by Destino

[abdcskins]

18 wins max for this team.

[Going Commando]

18 wins max for this team.

You're under. I think this team gets to 30.

This team is better than the previous two, and even those teams won 23 and 20 games.

[RonArtest15]

18 wins max for this team.

I think you're selling them a bit short. They've been in every game so far this season and I'd have to think that the (eventual) additions of Wall/Nene will pay dividends.

You're under. I think this team gets to 30.

This team is better than the previous two, and even those teams won 23 and 20 games.

I'd have to agree. Going into this year, I said anything 30-35 wins would be a major improvement. 0-5 start hasn't changed my opinion.

*Steve...I know you're high on Ves, but it's still a bit concerning to me that we drafted a kid #6 overall and he's barely seeing the floor. A guy drafted that high SHOULD be on the floor in the crunch, and he isn't.

[Samuels]

Ted needs to clean house period until it happens we will stink.

[Going Commando]

That falls on coaching.

Youth too. A lot of young teams struggle in winning time. That's when the defenses are most intense so every mistake gets compounded.

It also doesn't help not having John or Nene. Nene can create his own shot in isolation and he's a terrific passer so doubling him is a huge risk. John is our best ball handler and our star and not having his ability to dice up a set defense and get to the rim and the line is a huge problem on the offensive end during crunch time. Without those safety blankets giving us some margin for error, we have to run perfect sets to get decent shots. I don't think such a young team can do it consistently.

---------- Post added November-11th-2012 at 10:06 AM ----------

*Steve...I know you're high on Ves, but it's still a bit concerning to me that we drafted a kid #6 overall and he's barely seeing the floor. A guy drafted that high SHOULD be on the floor in the crunch, and he isn't.

That's not him. He can't shoot and he can't handle the ball. He's got minimal offensive value in crunch time.

Good defensive value though. But we've been playing from behind at the end of games.

I think you're placing undue expectation on the 6th overall pick. I don't even view a #6 as a premium pick in the NBA, and historically, it hasn't been. There are only ever 2 maybe 3 stars in a given class, and they're usually gone by #6. These are the ten players taken 6th overall prior to Ves.

2000: DeMarr Johnson

2001: Shane Battier

2002: DaJuan Wagner

2003: Chris Kaman

2004: Josh Childress

2005: Martell Webster

2006: Brandon Roy

2007: Yi Jianlian

2008: Danilo Gallinari

2009: Johnny Flynn

2010: Ekpe Udoh

Of that group, there is only two All Stars, Kaman and Roy, and only Roy made an All NBA team. And there are a whole lot of outright busts and guys who only made it in the NBA after getting a second chance with another team.

I think you're lucky if you get a good player who can stick with your organization at 6.

You can't judge Ves's success or failure based on what you think he should be for a #6 overall pick. Instead, think about what he is, what he realistically can become, and whether or not that is valuable.

I see Ves as having the potential to be an AK47 type defensive specialist. To me, that's worth #6 overall in any class. And keep in mind, 2011 was one of the weakest draft classes in a long time. The guys I wanted at that pick, Derrick Williams, Enes Kanter, and Jonas Valanciunas, have not been setting the league on fire either.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

the 2011 draft wasnt that weak.

Kenneth Faried would have been great for this team.

Shoot, Klay Thompson wouldnt have been bad for us because he is a good shooter.

I can see Bismack Biyombo becoming a great defensive big man in this league. There was a game last year where he completely shut down Dwight Howard.

I am not suggesting that the #6 pick means great player will come out, but Jan isnt looking too good right now.

[Going Commando]

the 2011 draft wasnt that weak.

Kenneth Faried would have been great for this team.

Shoot, Klay Thompson wouldnt have been bad for us because he is a good shooter.

I can see Bismack Biyombo becoming a great defensive big man in this league. There was a game last year where he completely shut down Dwight Howard.

I am not suggesting that the #6 pick means great player will come out, but Jan isnt looking too good right now.

2011 was pretty awful and people knew it at the time. You're talking about role players with those guys, same as Ves. So far, Kyrie is the only player from the entire class who looks like more than just a role player, and that's not good.

I think Ves has already shown ability. Based on what he's demonstrated in the NBA, I think he'll be a good NBA player and a defensive stalwart. That's not pie in the sky thinking based on his predraft hype. It's from the flashes I've observed since he's been a Wizard. I'm probably higher on Ves now than I was before the draft. I didn't know how high his BBall IQ was beforehand, didn't know his defensive potential was this good.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

2011 was pretty awful and people knew it at the time. You're talking about role players with those guys, same as Ves. So far, Kyrie is the only player from the entire class who looks like more than just a role player, and that's not good.

I think Ves has already shown ability. Based on what he's demonstrated in the NBA, I think he'll be a good NBA player and a defensive stalwart. That's not pie in the sky thinking based on his predraft hype. It's from the flashes I've observed since he's been a Wizard. I'm probably higher on Ves now than I was before the draft. I didn't know how high his BBall IQ was beforehand, didn't know his defensive potential was this good.

i dont care what was said before hand, I care about what I have seen out of those players. The draft hasnt been that bad. The 2010 draft was supposed to be much better, yet no one from that class has really taken the next step like Kyrie has either and I see a lot of role players to guys not getting any time as well.

And like I said before, there were players who are performing better that were taken after Vesely. I am not convinced at all, but we have no choice but to give him time.

Edited November 11, 2012 by AsiaticSkinsFan

[Going Commando]

i dont care what was said before hand, I care about what I have seen out of those players. The draft hasnt been that bad. The 2010 draft was supposed to be much better, yet no one from that class has really taken the next step like Kyrie has either and I see a lot of role players to guys not getting any time as well.

Kyrie is the only player from that class who has proven he can be the guy for a team. Kyrie is the only guy from 2011 who could have been a top 5 pick in 2010. 2010 was a stronger year, you've already had Wall, Cousins, and Greg Monroe prove they can be the guy for a team. And though it seems like Derrick Favors is progressing at a snail's pace, everyone still thinks he's going to become that kind of player too. The only guys left that I see maybe becoming that kind of player are Kanter and Valanciunas.

Paul George wasn't supposed to be a feature played but he's still better than the second best player from 2011.

And though Avery Bradley and Eric Bledsoe are just role players, they're better than any of the role players from 2011. Gordon Hayward and Evan Turner probably are too. Maybe even Seraphin?

Also, don't sleep on Larry Sanders and Al Farouq Aminu. They've also looked good this season, like they're taking that next step. Sanders today is where Bismack is hoping to get, and Aminu looks like he's becoming a Luol Deng type wing.

You've got a much bigger depth of quality in 2010 than 2011.