The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Going Commando]

1 hour ago, Destino said:

Wall had a ton of room which is why he took so many threes.  Beal was doubled if he so much as touched the ball.  It speaks to each player’s weaknesses.  It’s fairly standard for nba defenses to collapse in the paint, the only time they don’t do this is when potent shooters force them to stay home.  Wizards haven’t been able to scare teams with three shooting much this season.

 

And I am blaming Wall, because he was terrible against Atlanta.  There’s really no denying it.  

 

He got in early foul trouble.  It happens.  The officiating was awful and it led to disjointed, crappy basketball from both teams.  It took away Wall's ability to drive in the second quarter and that's why he spent so many minutes off the ball catching and shooting from three.  They left all of our shooters open at the line except Beal.  The reason they double Beal at the three point line is because trapping him on the perimeter makes him turn it over.

 

My issue is that you are ONLY blaming Wall.  Wall has flat out been scapegoated the past two seasons.  By the fans and the media.  Reading drama into nothing comments.  Blaming him for team failures.  It's dumb.  ****ing laughable that twitter gif was posted and everyone blamed Wall for that defensive breakdown when he and Ariza were the only ones in that sequence who didn't **** up.  This is exactly what I'm talking about when I say Wall is being scapegoated and I'm surprised nobody else sees it.  NBA fans are god awful at detecting Q-Rating bull****.

[Going Commando]

45 minutes ago, Sticksboi05 said:

I don't know why it's seen as blasphemous to blame Wall for his pathetic defensive effort this year. For the best player on a team and an All-Star he's basically gotten off Scot-free in terms of criticism. His counterpart at Verizon Center was eviscerated for years for team failures - it's part of what comes with being the alpha. 

 

No offense, but I can tell you don't pay attention to the Wizards, and haven't for some time.  Wall has taken the brunt of criticism for this team's failures for a long time.  He's shielded the other guys on the team from criticism and gotten a whole bunch of people paid and elevated them to what little success they've actually managed to achieve.  And he's kept two crappy coaches and a crappy GM flush and continuously employed long after their incompetence was evident.

[Sticksboi05]

9 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

No offense, but I can tell you don't pay attention to the Wizards, and haven't for some time.  Wall has taken the brunt of criticism for this team's failures for a long time.  He's shielded the other guys on the team from criticism and gotten a whole bunch of people paid and elevated them to what little success they've actually managed to achieve.  And he's kept two crappy coaches and a crappy GM flush and continuously employed long after their incompetence was evident.

 

That is all true, but it's relative. On a national scale, Wall has taken far less than other big stars (mostly because the Wizards aren't relevant in the talk for a championship but nevertheless). I think you're reading too much into people's comments on here. People aren't saying he is THE reason the Wizards blow - that's outrageous. Him standing around on defense doesn't cause Brooks' clueless coaching, Ernie being Ernie, and everyone else underperforming. But you get upset anytime he's remotely criticized on here (or at least it seems that way).

 

Before this year when it got so bad there was talk of trading him and Beal before the deadline, how bad was it really on a relative scale. No more than what others get in other major markets as the best player. Not all of it is fair, but my point was he isn't above being called out just because he's one of the best players in franchise history.

 

 

And for the record I was 100% on Wall's side last season when Gortat was running his annoying mouth, even with the questionable ESPN interview he gave where he probably should've gone public relations mode.

[Skin'emAlive]

Of course the second we bring in Ariza, he gets 40 minutes of run and Sato gets his run time cut in half. This is exactly the same formula this organization has done for decades. The irony of it all is that for 5 years, the FO pinned the hopes of the backup pg role on Sato's arrival. Hes going to walk at the end of this season, and I wouldnt blame him.

 

Also, what is Wall supposed to do when we are running a front court of Ariza and Green? Whats the point. Scott Brooks is a terrible coach who is in the shadow of the worst GM in the history of sports.

[Destino]

1 hour ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

My issue is that you are ONLY blaming Wall.  Wall has flat out been scapegoated the past two seasons.  By the fans and the media.  Reading drama into nothing comments.  Blaming him for team failures.  It's dumb.  ****ing laughable that twitter gif was posted and everyone blamed Wall for that defensive breakdown when he and Ariza were the only ones in that sequence who didn't **** up.  This is exactly what I'm talking about when I say Wall is being scapegoated and I'm surprised nobody else sees it.  NBA fans are god awful at detecting Q-Rating bull****.

Bigger contracts come with increased scrutiny.  Wall, Otto, and Beal are held to higher standards.  Wall highest of all.  

[Going Commando]

1 minute ago, Skin'emAlive said:

Of course the second we bring in Ariza, he gets 40 minutes of run and Sato gets his run time cut in half. This is exactly the same formula this organization has done for decades. The irony of it all is that for 5 years, the FO pinned the hopes of the backup pg role on Sato's arrival. Hes going to walk at the end of this season, and I wouldnt blame him.

 

You could be right, but my hope is that the reason his minutes were cut is because of foul trouble rather than him falling out of favor.

 

Both he and Wall got screwed over by some lousy calls last night, and they both were aggressive in taking the ball inside early in the game and they didn't get reciprocal calls.

 

Moving forward, we need to have a feasible plan for how to play Sato on a team where our only position of depth is small forward.  We do not have a rotation worthy back up PG other than Sato.  And our only other rotation worthy back up SG is Troy Brown.  And he apparently isn't trustworthy enough to play.

 

That means Sato pretty much has to get ~18 MPG when Wall is not on the court because we can't sustain basic offense or beat a full court press with a line up where neither of them are on the floor.  And when Beal subs out, who comes in for him if we've already got Sato playing point?

 

IMO our best line ups are when we put Wall, Beal and Sato on the floor together.  It's how we get our five best on the court.  So how do you play Sato with the starters without burning him out?  Bring Sato off the bench as an early sub for Beal?  Don't really want to have to early sub Beal because he and Wall are so much better when they play together instead of staggering their minutes.

 

The best solution is probably for Sato to have to eat some **** and play a bench role the whole game and then come in with the starters for crunch time.  I don't love it but it's probably better than staggering Wall's and Beal's minutes more than necessary and/or leaving Otto or Ariza on the bench.

[Skin'emAlive]

If Otto is out, Sato should start. Outside of that, its clear that we look our best when we have fluid movement and unselfish play from the 4 around Wall. That means Otto+Sato+Brown? Once the movement stops, the offense stops completely. We cant have Ariza and Green on the floor at the same time for very long. They cant keep the perpetual movement up for a long period of time. Brad kind of just plays in a vacuum outside of the offense. And John is not going to move off ball. There is no reason to talk about it anymore. How about we approach the issue as if it were any other type of limitation another allstar might have, build around it, and limit its ineffectiveness.

 

John and Brad should stagger more. The problem is that we have only 1 shooting guard on the roster.

 

Of course, if we keep trotting out lineups sans a front court it really doesnt matter. We gonna lose.

[Going Commando]

Beal's a useful shooter.  Don't underrate the chemistry he and John have because John knows his spots better than he does for anyone else.  He is as much a boon for Wall as vice versa.  And his shot creativity is really useful for when we get bogged down and the movement isn't working or the shooters aren't hitting.

 

Ariza is good at moving away from the ball.  I don't think he bogs our line ups down.  I want to see Brown play more too, but not at the expense of Ariza.  He's not as good a shooter or defender.  I think he's going to have to get his scratch at SG or as the back up SF.

 

Jeff Green needs to be playing as few minutes as possible.  He's Mike Scott.  The only thing he does well is make open shots and sink the occasional bad look from mid range.  He is an awful defender and rebounder and he doesn't create for others or give you much utility as a cutter or roll man.  I would eventually like to see his minutes cut to zero when Otto gets back.  Hopefully Dekker steadily replaces him.  Dekker is one of our better guys at moving off the ball and he finishes inside better than most of our forwards.  And he gives legit effort on defense.

 

My question to the coaching staff is why was Jeff Green playing over Thomas Bryant in crunch time last night?  Why can't we play Bryant in those situations?  Why do you trust Jeff Green more than him?

 

My other question is why Chasson Randle over Troy Brown?  Sato came off the bench last night.  OK, so Sato gets into foul trouble, why not run Beal at point?

 

The bottom line consideration of creating a line up is to get as many of your best players on the floor together at once, in situations where they can succeed, for as long as they can handle.  Playing a street free agent you signed right before the flight to Atlanta over your first round rookie doesn't do that.

 

If the answer is, "because we couldn't beat the press otherwise," then we have some serious issues with our back court.  Every NBA team needs more than two playable guys who can carry the ball over the time line against a full court press.

[CRobi21]

Atomic Woj Bomb!

 

 

"Troy Brown....move dowwwwwn the bench..."

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by CRobi21

[StillUnknown]

Thomas Bryant moves like his feet are not connected to his brain

 

he needs serious work there, it will limit his upside if he doesn't fix it. that and rebounding

 

 

this "give houston 5 feet of open space on 3's" defense is something

Edited December 20, 2018 by StillUnknown

[Going Commando]

They're shooting through a hula hoop from deep now.

 

Going to have to chase them off the line somehow.

Still trying to figure out what the staff sees in Chasson Randle.

[Going Commando]

We can not go three for three with this team.

Wall won't shoot tonight.  Passing out of everything and wasting possessions.

[Destino]

Can’t blame foul trouble for Wall’s garbage performance in that half.  Garbage defense, disinterested offense.  

[StillUnknown]

25 minutes ago, Destino said:

Can’t blame foul trouble for Wall’s garbage performance in that half.  Garbage defense, disinterested offense.  

 

feels like a bone spur game, he either can't or won't move. neither side of that equation is good.

 

the day to day nature of the injury is going to grow tired quickly

 

 

holy ****. shot clock running down and nobody thought to help Bryant try to guard CP3 on the perimeter.

 

they are consistently leaving that young man to die a slow death on the perimeter. at least 3 times this quarter with no help

Edited December 20, 2018 by StillUnknown

[Destino]

11 minutes ago, StillUnknown said:

they are consistently leaving that young man to die a slow death on the perimeter. at least 3 times this quarter with no help

Isn’t that what got Gortat and Wall arguing behind the scenes?  They leave their bigs on islands against guards on the perimeter all the time.  

[CRobi21]

Robert Williams getting crunch time minutes for Boston. Troy Brown sitting behind Chasson Randle and now probably Ron Baker.

 

Aaron Baynes injured earlier on, but still.

Edited December 20, 2018 by CRobi21

[StillUnknown]

 

a tweet representing the entire Grunfeld era

Edited December 20, 2018 by StillUnknown

[CRobi21]

Then hit a 3 with a hand in his face to pretty much scele the W for PHX.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by CRobi21

[StillUnknown]

Brooks finally remembered that Troy Brown exists

[TradeTheBeal!]

Rockets team record for 3s made?!?

 

Thats impressive.

[StillUnknown]

most 3's given up in a single game in NBA history

 

take a bow Grunfeld

[CRobi21]

Of course MCW hits the record setting one.. lol

 

SoWizards

[Renegade7]

1 hour ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

We can not go three for three with this team.

Wall won't shoot tonight.  Passing out of everything and wasting possessions.

 

In a period of three games, he's gone from attacking the rim, to shooting too many threes, to not shooting enough period.  I have noticed this and trying to digest it.

 

118 points used to matter, is it fair to say that if anyone is suffering from this sudden explosion in NBA scoring this year its us?  They hit 26 threes, man, I get it, we did a bad job defending the line, but they hit 26 threes man.

[Kosher Ham]

John Wall and the word...

"Alpha", in the same sentence. 

Come on man. 

[Renegade7]

5 minutes ago, Kosher Ham said:

John Wall and the word...

"Alpha", in the same sentence. 

Come on man. 

Every pack has an alpha, some alpha can beat another pack's alpha.  Took Beal about two years to get this.

The was a shot of Wall and Beal sitting together and going over some sheet definitely related to the game.  That was the only thing positive I pulled from it, but I've been very negative on this team lately, so there's that.