The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[SuperBash]

Wall about to take over

[Popeman38]

We make bit players look like studs. Gerald Henderson looks like Jordan out there.

[StillUnknown]

These refs are horrible, on both ends really.

I cannot express how much I hate the "I'll wait to see if the shot falls before calling a foul" move.

Edited March 19, 2013 by StillUnknown

[MonkFan8]

Can't blame the officials entirely, a lot of our fouls have been due to slow defensive rotations, but there have been some pretty puzzling fouls called in this game.

Wall gets an offensive foul called on him because Mullens is pushing him into the first row? I'd try to grab onto something too to prevent myself from getting hurt.

[SuperBash]

Kemba floppin' like crazy

[Popeman38]

Henderson gets 80% arm, no call? Come on, man.

[MonkFan8]

Clueles refs.

[StillUnknown]

What an embarrassing collapse

For the last couple of years, this team cannot focus on the road for ****.

Edited March 19, 2013 by StillUnknown

[SuperBash]

Wall has been getting robbed tonight. And Ariza...nice in bound plays, bro.

[Popeman38]

No foul on Mullen grabbing Nenes arm preventing a dunk?

[SuperBash]

Wall played pretty well tonight. 3 of his TOs weren't his fault but it certainly hurts my fantasy team during the playoffs!

[StillUnknown]

1-7 against the Bobcats & Pistons this season

---------- Post added March-18th-2013 at 09:35 PM ----------

20 seconds to go, down 5, we let Charlotte run out the clock.

Good job, good effort Wittman.

[Skins199021]

Im just glad Wall is doing well. Loss doesn't bother me too much at this point considering the draft.

I really want Porter on this team btw speaking of the draft. I think going foward Porter and Webster would be a great combo on SF

[Renegade7]

Wizards have been had a bad habit of playing down to their competition. It doesn't matter what they do this offseason going into next year, they have to snap out of that. It's all mental, we were the better team and we didn't show it. A lot of iffy calls, but watching the fourth quarter was straight torture as a fan. C'mon, wiz. Losing season series to the Bobcats? Tighten up, guys...

[Skin'emAlive]

Im not going to get mad about this one. Wall played well. Tank loss. Im just terrified of us going on our patented late season streak and destroy our pick potential. Our pick this draft is critical for this team to make a leap.

[Destino]

While one could technically argue that this loss was about turnovers and free throws the truth is this one is entirely on team defense. That was pathetic. Allowing the bobcats to score 119 points at over 50% from the field is absolutely terrible. There is a reason the Wizards are the NBAs worst road team and its crap like this. They are an entirely different team on the road.

[Going Commando]

I think FTs and TOs were a big part of the loss though. The team defense was definitely bad. And another problem: we didn't get enough scoring out of our bench relative to the scoring output they got from theirs.

And I think awful officiating played a role in the outcome too. Especially in the 4th quarter.

It pissed me off last night but I'm over it now. In the long run, it doesn't matter and it's good for the tank. I suppose that the best thing for us right now is for John and/or Beal to look good in losses.

Man I really hope this version of Wall is here to stay. If he can suddenly shoot threes and has a lethal mid-rage dribble pull up while playing hounding, disruptive defense, all bets are off on his ceiling. He could easily be a 20 PPG scorer 20 & 9 on .450 shooting with mid to low 80s from the line are realistic averages for him next season. Then if Beal can continue being precocious and make the leap to a 20 PPG scorer and Nene can give us something like 14 & 9, we're going to be pretty good. The defense should be good. Plus we've got a draft pick coming that will hopefully be able to contribute. And hopefully we'll get Martell back. A fifth seed isn't crazy for us next year.

[StillUnknown]

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball-washington-wizards/talk/signs-point-toward-max-contract-wall

Will the Wizards give John Wall a max contract?

According to several persons with knowledge of the situation who talked with CSN Washington, all the signals point to the answer being yes.

For the embattled point guard, of course, rewarding him with a max contract is a no-brainer.

“If they believe I’m their franchise guy, that I’m the max player that I feel that I am, they’ll do what’s best for them,” Wall told CSN. “I feel like they believe in me. My coaches and my organization believe in me. The owner (Ted Leonsis) and GM (Ernie Grunfeld) believe in me. ... They like what I've been doing lately.”

More in the link

[Destino]

I have no issue giving him a max deal if he can sustain his production over the next season. Right now though I'm not sure he's earned it. We've seen him show spans of improved play before, though granted never as good as he is now. Plus he just missed half a season with a overuse injury and at his age that's alarming.

[CrypticVillain]

All DC sports teams have been had a bad habit of playing down to their competition.

It hurts so much to fix it, but it is true

[Samuels]

Wall is'nt a max player and honestly Beal might end up the better player. If they max him out, there foolish nobody else will offer it. He is'nt even a all star but were gonna max him out?

If he actually played hard on defense and took care of the ball better I could see it but he don't. I would offer him 11mill/per or just sign™ him not worth hamstringing this franchise he is'nt a alpha dog that is gonna carry this team like a max player should.

[Going Commando]

If he keeps playing like this Samuels, he's going to be an AS next year and any team with money that doesn't a PG would offer him max money. It looks like he has found consistency with his jumper and he's actually been good this season on D. Turnovers are still too high but they'll go down as the familiarity level with this group of players builds.

We're built around Wall, for better or worse. He's always going to be our core player so long as this FO is in place. Trading him or letting him walk means starting the rebuild over.

And honestly, there isn't a huge difference between paying him 11 million a year or 13-14 million a year.

---------- Post added March-19th-2013 at 03:51 PM ----------

I saw this point made elsewhere: Beal is 19 and looks like the second best SG in the NBA under 25. Third best if you count Paul George as a SG.

Guys like John and Beal are so young that they're not really competing with most of the current crop of great vets at their position. Wall's career will not be measured by battles against the likes of Tony Parker or Chris Paul and Beal's won't be measured against Kobe, Allen, and Wade. They'll be competing with the guys around the same age as them their whole careers. Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday, Evan Turner, Dion Waiters, etc. Plus the guys who come up in this year's class. By the time they reach their respective primes, I think Wall and Beal will inarguably be the best perimeter players from their draft classes. That's how they were considered on draft day. Irving being the best from his, Rose from the other one. Probably Harden from '09.

In two out of three years, we got the best perimeter players from the class so that means there will probably be a point where they'll both be All Stars. Though Rose and Kyrie are both AS caliber guards in the East as well.

Point being, when you draft a guy, you want to judge him according to the standards of his class and the classes surrounding him rather than the standards of the top guys at the position at that moment. The NBA being a wait your turn league, most of the generation you're drafting in won't get a chance at contention until the previous generation clears out.

I think John and Beal will both be top five players at their position when they reach their primes. That should be enough of a foundation to contend with at that point so long as we get decent front court players.

That's another reason I would like to get Nerlens best, as I think he'd be second only to Anthony Davis among the pure bigs in a four class span from 2011 to 2014. He'd be the best center in next year's class pretty easily and is probably the only guy from this class that could go top 5 in 2014. He's easily better than any big from 2011, and he'd probably have been a top five pick last year in a loaded class.

[Destino]

Max contracts are 25% of total salary or more, giving that to Wall if he falls back to the player he's been for 95% of his career would be a disaster with a declining Nene on the payroll. We'd essentially have all of the big money tied up into two average players. The team doesn't have to rebuild if they trade Wall they just some other team to fall in love with him and give up a point guard and a pick. Detroit for instance if they thought Wall was the missing piece could offer Knight or Calderon plus a 1st round pick. The suns could offer Dragic and a pick. The league is full of "good" point guards and if a team thought Wall was going to be great they could offer something that doesn't leave the wizards at square one.

I think the best play is to do nothing. Wall is a RFA and if he earns a max deal they can match. If he doesn't they can sign and trade at the deadline. It has its own risk but no more than giving a player a franchise crippling deal based an a tiny sample size of great play.

[StillUnknown]

We're stuck in a rough spot. Wall is going to get the max on the hope that he will be consistent at somwhere close to his March statistics. I can't see Ted haggling over a few million when he has designed the entire "rebuild" of the franchise around Wall.

If he gets it, I understand why, but its more of a leap of faith by the organization as opposed to a gauge of his overall body of work thus far.

Edited March 19, 2013 by StillUnknown

[Going Commando]

Max deals are almost always a leap of faith though. Any big contract is. You're not really paying them for past performances, you're betting on a level of play you think they'll have in the future.

The lackluster stretches of Wall's career can typically be explained by either injuries or the horrifically bad team we put around him. There's good reason to expect him to play much better than he has before. The team is a lot better than it used to be and he's gotten better individually. He's started showing a level of play suggestive of what he might become.

Using the first overall pick on Wall was a big bet. From that moment on we made a commitment to him as our franchise player. Letting a #1/#1 pick walk or trading him after his rookie deal is over is something that really only happens if the guy is a bust.