The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Going Commando]

Refs are slow with these whistles tonight.

[Going Commando]

Bad body language on the court between John and Sato.

[Going Commando]

Bryant is a gem.  Not overly skilled but he plays with true vigor.

He's just got a good attitude.  Very engaged.  Hungry to prove himself.

1 hour ago, StillUnknown said:

 

 

This is our best line up IMO.  It's our four best players plus the five who plays with, by far, the best energy. 

 

I like Kelly's effort and intensity too, but his decision making just isn't there.  It's not from a lack of focus either, Kelly stays dialed in all of the time.  He's just not a smart basketball player and I don't think he ever will be.  He's not JR Smith, but he'll hurt you with defensive breakdowns and wasted possessions.

[Going Commando]

Markieff Morris would be so much happier if he could play basketball without ever moving his feet.

[Going Commando]

This is some god awful basketball.

[PeterMP]

23 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

Otto is a great deal better player than WCS is.  And his rookie contract ends this summer, when he'll hit RFA.

 

WCS alone is not enough to get me to bite.  That is not even taking 50 cents on the dollar.

 

Even as a RFA WCS will still be cheap.  Most likely, he won't even get an offer from another team.  The NBA RFA is very much set up to favor the current team.

 

They aren't trading WCS unless they can bring back a comparable 5 on a comparable deal (well at least not for a guy of Porter's quality with that kind of contract).

Edited December 2, 2018 by PeterMP

[Going Commando]

Bad offensive possessions lead to transition opportunities that turn into trips to the FT line Kelly.

 

Keef's pick and roll defense is something to behold.  Bad enough to lose you games on it's own.

[purbeast]

Anyone know what the deal with Wall's green shoes was?  He changed shoes at halftime back to what I think are his normal shoes.

[Going Commando]

lol John just tried to do the Magic Johnson half court bounce pass.

[Going Commando]

Lol John.  Ridiculous heat check.

[Destino]

I like Sato over Kelly in the starting line up.  He's a far better defensive player and a smarter one that's less likely to get lost.  He's also happy to defer on offense which works well with Wall and Beal.  When Wall and Beal are on the floor the truth is they don't need any other ball handlers or aggressive scorers.  They're better served surrounded by guys that are better without the ball that defend.

 

The bench is also best with a bunch of gunners like Oubre, Morris, and Rivers.  That unit needs guys that just want to score because Scott Brooks doesn't run an NBA caliber offense. 

 

I'd like to see the Rookie playing with the bench unit though.  He hasn't looked lost to me in the limited minutes he's received.  Put him out there with the bench chuckers.  

 

Bryant is exactly what the Wizards have needed on the bench at center for a while.  A young player that gives you some energy and doesn't make a whole lot of money.  Naturally, his contract expires at the end of the season.

[Going Commando]

Oubre dominates the ball more and has it stick in his hands but Sato is a better ball handler and more capable scorer.  TBH, he's a better player than Kelly in every way except rebounding and shotblocking.  Kelly is an athletic finisher but Sato has a way better scoring game in the paint.  Variety of upfakes and pivot steps and hook and scoop shots.  Good floater.  Kelly just goes to the rim hard every time and either gets blocked or fouled.  He's inefficient and, frankly, he's regressed from last year.  His lack of growth as a decision maker and lack of growth in his basketball IQ is disappointing.

 

The only potential issue I saw with starting Sato is that I don't know about the chemistry between him and John.  It was subtle, but they got into it a little bit over a broken switch.  John yelled at Sato and it looked like Sato took exception to it.

 

When all the drama spilled over into the media last month, I thought it was Rivers who was talking out of school and ****ing about John not moving off the ball.  Now I think it was Sato.  Just something weird about their body language.  Wall and Rivers look like they are on the same page when they share the court.  Go through the process of elimination:

 

- It wouldn't be Beal.  Beal is John's friend and they understand each other.

- Porter doesn't talk **** at all

- Dwight is barely a member of the team

- Bryant and Brown are just happy to be here

- Mahinmi and Jason Smith wouldn't say anything about a teammate, nor are they ever looking to pass the ball to cutting guards

- Oubre is John's protege

- Morris is probably his best friend on the team.  He would never in a million years disparage John

 

It's got to be either Jeff Green, Austin Rivers, or Sato.  Sato is the one whose played with John the longest.

[RonArtest15]

It's either Rivers or Beal's agent/camp. 

 

I'm more than inclined to believe that it's the latter, tho.  Some of the details regarding quotes from Beal during practice were just a tad bit too specific.  Not to mention the leaks to J.Michael about Beal not wanting to be here past his current deal. 

 

Sato is about as non-confrontational as Otto.  Would NEVER be him. 

[StillUnknown]

my money is on Rivers

[RonArtest15]

Just saw this...

 

 

If Beal is the first of the "big" 3 to go, I'll then 10000000% believe it WAS his camp dishing the dirt. 

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

3 minutes ago, RonArtest15 said:

Just saw this...

 

 

If Beal is the first of the "big" 3 to go, I'll then 10000000% believe it WAS his camp dishing the dirt. 

 

Hornets are pushing hard I bet, they need to make sure that Kemba doesn't walk and the only way to do that is lock up another really good player.  I would be shocked if they didn't pull the trigger on that.  

Edited December 2, 2018 by Dont Taze Me Bro

[RonArtest15]

2 hours ago, Dont Taze Me Bro said:

 

Hornets are pushing hard I bet, they need to make sure that Kemba doesn't walk and the only way to do that is lock up another really good player.  I would be shocked if they didn't pull the trigger on that.  

 

Agreed.  A Walker/Beal pairing would be dynamic.  Walker has taken his game to another level this year. 

[Going Commando]

Charlotte has no significant expiring money and their pick is currently later than ours.  Monk has shown nothing so far, and Bridges is a tweener role player.

 

That's an awful trade.  That kind of nonsense is why Ernie needs to go immediately.  He can not be allowed to deconstruct this mess.

[Mooka]

17 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

  - It wouldn't be Beal.  Beal is John's friend and they understand each other.

 

Nah it was definitely Beal; everyone eats.

 

Just because they're friends or publicly call each other brother doesn't mean the drama on the team doesn't stem directly from their relationship. They've had issues before and every time i hear Wall or Beal call out the team it sounds like they're speaking to each other on the DL. 

[Going Commando]

4 hours ago, RonArtest15 said:

Sato is about as non-confrontational as Otto.  Would NEVER be him. 

 

I'm not so sure about that.  Sato began his career here in a very confrontational way.  He's not afraid to look out for himself.  That exchange between him and Wall last night was weird too.  Looked like John told him to go get the ball and inbound it to him and Sato definitely took exception to it.  Looked like he was about to tell John to go **** himself and walk off.  Then he remembered they were in the middle of a game and he sucked it up and very slowly walked over to pick it up while staring John down.  It was surprisingly tense.

 

I think John and Brad are candid, and I think their relationship is pretty much as they describe it.  You don't have to dig deep to know what they're thinking and feeling.

4 hours ago, StillUnknown said:

my money is on Rivers

 

The reason I don't think it's Rivers is because he and John worked out together over the summer and seem to like each other.  They have surprisingly good on court chemistry.

 

And I know he's run his mouth in the past, but not so much to the media.  Rivers is a coach's son and I think he knows better than to undermine a teammate publicly.

 

It could be Green because he and John got into it in practice, and Green played for Brooks for a really long time.  He would have Brooks's back over Wall's.

[StillUnknown]

wasn't it Rivers who let it slip that Wall has a kid on the way?

 

 

i hate that this team is full blown soap opera

Edited December 2, 2018 by StillUnknown

[RonArtest15]

Austin Rivers is LOATHED.  And like @StillUnknown mentioned, he was the dude who had a slip of the tongue and said Wall had a kid on the way. 

 

The quotes about dealing w/ this stuff for 7 years?  That's 100000% Beal's camp.  Too specific. 

[Going Commando]

I want to go back to how bad that hypothetical trade with Charlotte was.  Monk + Bridges + Ballast contract (Marvin Williams or Bismack Boyombo) is only a tiny bit better than expecting to get a division rival to trade us a 25 year old All Star in exchange for Oubre + Bryant + Mahinmi.

[Destino]

Beal called out the front office.  I said it at the time, he’ll be the first traded.

[Renegade7]

28 minutes ago, Destino said:

Beal called out the front office.  I said it at the time, he’ll be the first traded.

Does what Wall did this past offseason calling on front office to get younger bug man after his year long spat with Gortat not count? 

 

Maybe Beal was the most direct by pointing at Ernie, so in that you maybe right.  This isnt so much to me as  real first to call out front office, more first tocall out Ernie in a way that could affect his cloak of invisible disaster. 

 

You might as well blow it up if Beal is traded, you can't save this team without its second best player.  @stevemcqueen1 is right, that is a horrible trade possibility with Charlotte, a division rival, and I'd go ai far as to say we wont get equal value in any trade for Beal so ultra not worth it.