Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Some quick thoughts: - Best bench performance of the season by far. Thornton and Burke had awesome games. Sato looked good again. Jason Smith was basically just another guy instead of an active disaster, so that's improvement too. Don't recall much of Nicholson, but that's not necessarily a bad thing either. - Boston is not as good as I expected them to be. I thought this was going to be a sure loss but they looked outclassed TBH. They've got a rebounding problem. Olynyk, Johnson, and Zeller are pretty soft on the glass. That's a serious flaw for a team that has real ambitions of getting the two seed. - Otto was spectacular. John was good. Gortat was solid. Keef was cold and a nonfactor. Beal was bad. Couldn't find his range in the first two quarters and was pressing. Started to wake up in that third and promptly hurt his leg on that awkward play. Looked like a knee injury the way he twisted his leg around as he fell but they said a hamstring injury instead. There is no way Thornton and Burke are going to be this good with any regularity, we need Beal to get back soon to have any chance at climbing out of this early hole we dug. If we could pull off the upset against Cleveland, we've actually come out of this stretch alright. Not good, but not a disaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skin'emAlive Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 2 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said: Otto Porter doesn't turn 24 until next June. He cannot be allowed to walk. The kid's mental game is near-elite and he's just starting to round out physically. He's gonna be a monster when he's 26. Man, it's like I've been saying this since the beginning: Otto is the truth. He is the kind of guy that you always have on a championship team. Compounding the fact that we are basically a negative draw to free agents, we would be absolute fools to let Otto walk. WE won't get anything equivalent or better in return. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 3 minutes ago, TryTheBeal! said: Otto Porter doesn't turn 24 until next June. He cannot be allowed to walk. The kid's mental game is near-elite and he's just starting to round out physically. He's gonna be a monster when he's 26. Judging by the way Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard took quantum leaps forward in their mid 20s, I think you need to sign Otto and keep the faith. He came into the league as the best two way player in that 2013 class IMO. And one of the best offensive skill sets of any SF in a while. Otto doesn't have cold shooting nights very often and he doesn't turn it over. He rescues bad possessions all the time and he is tough on the glass. And he's a ballhawk on D. Given we can't attract big name FAs, we have got to keep him IMO. He might already be our second best player. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRobi21 Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TradeTheBeal! Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 1 minute ago, STBonecrusher21 said: And ZERO turnovers. Astounding...the perfect box score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 He literally did everything good that you can do. That was one of the most memorable performances from the Wizkids era since John's 47 point game against Memphis in 2013. It was a perfect game. Like something I'd pull off in NBA 2K on a lower difficulty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Otto has had three 20+ point games in the last five games. Is he making his leap? (Just in time to earn a fat contract somewhere else...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skin'emAlive Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 I am kind of shocked that Brad has been so poor this year. But I'm not shocked at Otto's performance. It was all there in front of us, just hidden by Randy's ineptitude and marching orders. I would be looking at how to package Brad and Marcin for a real 2nd/3rd piece before the deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dont Taze Me Bro Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 18 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said: He literally did everything good that you can do. That was one of the most memorable performances from the Wizkids era since John's 47 point game against Memphis in 2013. It was a perfect game. Like something I'd pull off in NBA 2K on a lower difficulty. You play NBA 2K17? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 30 minutes ago, Dont Taze Me Bro said: You play NBA 2K17? I haven't played it since KD was on the cover. Played it for so many years in a row that I just got tired after a while. Same thing happened to me with Madden. Felt like I was just paying for a new set of rosters each year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 49 minutes ago, Skin'emAlive said: I am kind of shocked that Brad has been so poor this year. But I'm not shocked at Otto's performance. It was all there in front of us, just hidden by Randy's ineptitude and marching orders. I would be looking at how to package Brad and Marcin for a real 2nd/3rd piece before the deadline. Beal isn't making enough of an impact on games when he doesn't have the ball in his hands. Hasn't been rebounding or assisting and he has been crap on defense. Though to be fair, that's a team wide issue. The handle is improved and he's getting to the FT line. And the three ball will start falling eventually. His scoring numbers will probably be pretty good and he has a good shot at leading the team in per game scoring. But he has got to get better on defense and he needs to do a better job of setting up his teammates. Tonight was an acceptable team-wide performance on D. Still a lot of mistakes in the rotations and some lazy on ball D. But on the whole it was OK, Boston just shot really really well. Fortunately, we shot flawlessly. But we have GOT to figure out how to play some defense. We are going to keep losing until we do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skin'emAlive Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Brads hesitation game has greatly improved, but he still doesn't have any handles. He's getting locked up by bigs on the perimeter routinely. ( and is injured again ...) Meanwhile Leonard has now morphed into an elite ball handler and free throw shooter in an offseason. If he doesn't have the handles, at the very least, he could be the spot up shooter everyone thinks he is and should be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 I've seen Beal create buckets off the bounce against two and three defenders with startling regularity this season. His handles are very much improved. Where he's gotten into trouble is in driving to the FT line extended looking to pass. And that's an offensive spacing issue mostly, and an issue of not keeping his head up on the perimeter. His slashing is good now, and you see that born out by his increased FT rate and points in the paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Beal's only gotten to the line a lot in one game this season. Maybe twice if you think 6 attempts qualifies. Either way he's scored more than three points from the line once, and that's not nearly enough to declare his handles good or offset his awful shooting percentage. He's definitely dribbling more, but it's a work in progress because I still see too many possessions where his dribbling ends in a bad shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ixcuincle Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 When you see the score sheet and it was 34-8 after one ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RonArtest15 Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 I owe Steve McQueen an apology....I've been VERY harsh on Otto, but man...this leap he seems to be making is RIDICULOUS! He's turning himself into a legit #2 scoring option and for a guy who weighs no more than 185, it's crazy how he gets his position to out-rebound other players in the paint. I know the team says there's no rush to get a deal done, but he needs to be here long-term. A lot of us thought that Bradley BEal would be the guy to fill the void as a #1 or #2 scoring option...and Porter was just a good role/rotation player. My how things have changed. Life comes at you fast LOL. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 You don't owe me an apology RA15. I believe in the kid, but I was critical of Otto too. His progress was slow going and he was outperformed by Giannis and Gobert, which wasn't a good look considering Otto was a third overall pick and had a very high offensive skill level for an NBA prospect. My main criticism was that Otto had a tendency to slip into the crowd and disappear for long stretches. And I'm not sure we are out of the woods yet on that front. It's still early in the year and Otto's main issue last season was getting worn down and struggling to handle the grind of NBA starter's minutes. That could flair up as an issue again this year. It even comes up for SFs as good and experienced as Paul George is. That said, Otto looks very consistent out there so far. He is super focused and never seems to get into a negative emotional place. Just plays the same way every game. It's why his shooting percentages are crazy good. And why he rebounds so well. Always out there thinking and anticipating and searching for opportunities to apply his skills. He anticipates the game as well as anyone I've ever seen and that's something that goes back to his Georgetown days. I also think Scott Brooks has been key to developing Otto's potential. I know our record sucks right now, but I can't overstate how much I like Brooks compared to the way I felt about Randy. I think he's just what this team needed, and I'm not sure Otto reaches this level of performance without a guy like Brooks developing him. I'm excited to see what Brooks can do with Beal, Sato, and Oubre too. We've got a nice little collection of young players who are actually worth a damn and a coach who specializes in teaching them. Hopefully it works out. Another thing, Otto looks a lot bigger than 185 now. He's started to fill out and he was out there battling with Kelly Olynyk on the low block last night. Sato did too and they didn't get punked. They've both got terrific frames for their position and are stronger than you'd expect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 6 hours ago, Destino said: Beal's only gotten to the line a lot in one game this season. Maybe twice if you think 6 attempts qualifies. Either way he's scored more than three points from the line once, and that's not nearly enough to declare his handles good or offset his awful shooting percentage. He's definitely dribbling more, but it's a work in progress because I still see too many possessions where his dribbling ends in a bad shot. He's only got about six games under his belt, and it's early to be drawing conclusions from his numbers, but they suggest the dribble drive is a much bigger part of his game now. Right now he's taking shots from three areas of the court: - Shooting unassisted buckets from the paint is the most common shot (at rim to <10 feet). - Shooting threes is the second most common. - Mid range dribble pull up game from 10 feet to the three point line feet is third. In the previous two seasons, the majority of his shots came from 10 feet to the three point line and the majority of his scoring came from jumpers. Looks like he could have a much more even distribution of scoring this season, and that's a significant change in playing style. Right now his shooting percentage is terrible, and doing a mediocre job finishing at the basket is a part of that. But the main thing dragging down his percentage is he's bricked a ton of threes. A big portion of his shots are coming from three and he's only hitting .303 from that range. We can expect that number should correct to his mean over the course of the season and his % will markedly improve as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justice98 Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 10 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said: Beal isn't making enough of an impact on games when he doesn't have the ball in his hands. Hasn't been rebounding or assisting and he has been crap on defense. He never really does. He's just been worse at it this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Can we expect it to correct back to where it was? He's never been a great three point shooter, just a good one, but in previous seasons he got a lot of open shots being a spot up shooter. Doesn't look like he wants to be that guy anymore. Now he's asking for the ball where he can create a shot, be it a three or a drive, and he's not getting the same number of easier attempts up from three. Hes not a bad shot maker, so if he takes more difficult shots his fg% will most likely fall. I think Beal is trying to play like he imagines a star guard should instead of playing to his strengths. He's Rip Hamilton but he's trying to be Jimmy Butler. He and Otto should spend the whole game coming around screens off the ball, high and low, and take what the defense gives them all game. His numbers would vastly improve and so would the team's offensive efficiency. This team is better when the wings are moving their feet. ...other than Oubre. He should stand on a spot and shoot it. Never dribble. Not once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 Yeah it should correct back. He's demonstrated that he's around 40% as a three ball shooter. That's not fluky, he's got a lot of attempts in his sample. And if anything, demonstrating himself as a threat to drive should improve his percentages not worsen them. It'll change the way defenders have to play him and give him more space at the three point line. Beal gets defended like Kyle Korver does, except he receives even more defensive attention as a first and second option. Guys focus on denying him the ball and crowding him at the line. He's starting to show that he can punish you for that and finish against your help defender too. He's still taking more threes than shots from any particular spot on the court. He's just bricked a lot of open ones in the first six games. Bottom line, someone on the wings has to be able to create off the dribble. The offense has been waaaaay too reliant on John as the primary ballhandler. It causes it to stagnate, especially when he's not in. And it hurts John's individual level of play. John can make threes when he gets to catch and shoot with his feet set, and his turnovers start climbing the more he has to do and press. For the good of the offense, Beal needs to develop a drive and kick game and he needs to keep attacking the rim. Otto probably does too. He needs to be modeling his game after Kevin Durant's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Going Commando Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 What is Otto's ceiling? Before he looked like a fifth option three and D wing. But his mid range game and his rebounding are just way too good for him to settle for that role. He's shooting an incredible 70% from two point land right now, and a big old chunk of that are mid range shots. Otto needs to take his rightful place as our third option scorer. I can't get a great feel for his ceiling right now, but I could honestly see it being something like 17 PPG on awesome percentages, 8 RPG, a 118+ ORtg and a 20-22 PER. That's good enough to sniff an AS game as a reserve. And I think he could get fairly close to those marks as early as this season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAVEONAWARPATH Posted November 10, 2016 Author Share Posted November 10, 2016 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lombardi's_kid_brother Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 So, what do the Wizards have to do over the next 5 games for McQueen to put them back in the ECF? 3 out of 5? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted November 10, 2016 Share Posted November 10, 2016 I think Brooks needs to call more plays for Otto and see if he can handle it. Right now he's opportunistic scorer that gets his possessions by hustling, and that's great but it's inconsistent by definition. What happens if the team build 10 shots a game into the game plan? If he can flourish being a player the offense flows through, skies the limit. If his efficiency nose dives, he's a role player. 2 minutes ago, Lombardi's_kid_brother said: So, what do the Wizards have to do over the next 5 games for McQueen to put them back in the ECF? 3 out of 5? Go back in time and make that trade for James Harden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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