The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Going Commando]

They're better than last season, unless Beal gets hurt.

 

Effective mix of shot creators and makers.  Second best offense in the NBA.  Worst defense.  I think this team is going to end up closer to .500 than we expected coming into the season.  Get Wall back and they're back in mid 40 win territory.  Get to even average on defense, and they become pretty good.  But it's going to take personnel changes to improve the defense.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

2 hours ago, @SkinsGoldPants said:

 

 

Openly rebuilding, I don't know. I feel like when they gave Beal that contract. They only dipped a toe into the rebuilding pool.

 

 

The Wizards are definitely in a rebuild.

 

Seven players 22 or younger seems like a rebuild to me.

 

And as for Beal's extension: He's one of the best players in the league and is the right age (26) for a relatively quick rebuild.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2019 by BRAVEONAWARPATH

[Commander -JB-]

4 hours ago, @SkinsGoldPants said:

 

"showed great effort" - Ok, that's fair. They tried more when it was closer at the end. I'll agree.

 

Beal is going to be run into the floor. When he starts missing games it'll get ugly.

 

Openly rebuilding, I don't know. I feel like when they gave Beal that contract. They only dipped a toe into the rebuilding pool.

 

Redskins fans have checked out. They are either angry or apathetic. Including myself. F them. F Bruce and Dan.

 

The Wizards have a different plan. They drafted a rookie who is part Japanese and speaks Japanese. Then you have a handful of fans at each game that are from Japan cheering for him loudly all game Pure marketing. I get it. Ted wants his team to be the team of Japan. Like China and the Rockets. It's not a bad idea to do when your local fanbase isn't really paying attention, your Hockey team is rolling, and the local MLB team is top dog in town. 

Ok, first of all.  What does Rui being Japanese have to do with anything?  Now you’re making the claim that they only drafted him because he’s Japanese and it’s pure marketing?  That’s absurd.  Who else would you have drafted 9th overall in this draft?  In my opinion it was a slam dunk pick.  They could have done much worse.  Seems to me you felt bothered by a bunch of Japanese people being at the game 🤨

 

Secondly, you keep talking about running Beal into the floor but he isn’t playing any more minutes than ever before?  For the last 3 consecutive seasons he missed a total of 5 games.  Hasn’t missed a game this season.  Your plan is to just completely tank, shut down, play Beal maybe 30 minutes a night at most?  That’s your “plan”?  It seems like you’re upset that they won that game.  It’s weird because even if you tank, you’re not guaranteed to even get a top pick.

[Warhead36]

Rui has been very productive as a rookie. Easily top 5 rook so far. The Japanese angle is a lazy narrative.

[StillUnknown]

4 minutes ago, Warhead36 said:

Rui has been very productive as a rookie. Easily top 5 rook so far. The Japanese angle is a lazy narrative.

 

he's clearly been a good pick, especially considering where we ended up selecting. I really want to see him do more in the game besides midrange. Right now, he's really good at the most inefficient shot in the game, you can live with that as a rook, but he has to develop something else to compliment that strength. If he's not scoring, he's not really helping much elsewhere at the moment. Like a lot of rookies, he has trouble defending without fouling. Defensively, I'm not sure where he ultimately lands. He can't stay in front of wings, and can't defend in the post without fouling.

 

I wasn't a fan of the draft pick initially, but he's been good so far while still having considerable room for improvement. Hopefully the new regime can get the most out of him.

[Commander -JB-]

2 hours ago, BRAVEONAWARPATH said:

The Wizards are definitely in a rebuild.

 

Seven players 22 or younger seems like a rebuild to me.

 

And as for Beal's extension: He's one of the best players in the league and is the right age (26) for a relatively quick rebuild.

 

 

Exactly.  Quick rebuild as in just imagine replacing Isaiah Thomas with John Wall.  That would be huge upgrade at our weakest position right now.  Gonna have Mahinmi’s contract off the books which should make it fairly easy to sign Bertans & should have room to make some other moves plus another draft pick.  Clearly headed in the right direction.  That’s all you can wish for at this point.  Nobody would predict the Wizards as anything but a dumpster fire before this season.  

[StillUnknown]

 

[@DCGoldPants]

3 hours ago, -JB- said:

Ok, first of all.  What does Rui being Japanese have to do with anything?  Now you’re making the claim that they only drafted him because he’s Japanese and it’s pure marketing?  That’s absurd.  Who else would you have drafted 9th overall in this draft?  In my opinion it was a slam dunk pick.  They could have done much worse.  Seems to me you felt bothered by a bunch of Japanese people being at the game 🤨

 

Secondly, you keep talking about running Beal into the floor but he isn’t playing any more minutes than ever before?  For the last 3 consecutive seasons he missed a total of 5 games.  Hasn’t missed a game this season.  Your plan is to just completely tank, shut down, play Beal maybe 30 minutes a night at most?  That’s your “plan”?  It seems like you’re upset that they won that game.  It’s weird because even if you tank, you’re not guaranteed to even get a top pick.

 

#1. I'm saying that they built a marketing plan AROUND the guy being Japanese and it's working. Not saying they wouldn't have taken him there if his name was John Smith from UNC. Also, you're totally misreading my point. I think they KNEW that this would be a hard year to market the team, so they are looking to expand the brand. It makes sense and there is nothing wrong with it.

 

#2. Beal's min per game are up. They've talked it about it on sportstalk already. He's a machine. He doesn't miss games. He's always played over 30min. Around 35 min per game. Now he's inching towards 40 min per game. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it matters especially when the dog days of the season come along and he's been doing this for months.

 

#3. Stop projecting. "it seems like" "your plan". WTF is that nonsense? We know they were in a bad place with contracts and kind of still are. We know they want to make the playoffs even as an 8 seed if they can. Even if you had the top pick, there is no guarantee because 19 year old kids are going in the draft and you suffer through that for years. F that noise. They have years of needing to do things correctly before you see the long term impacts. That isn't a secret.  I'm talking about protecting Beal if you really think Wall is going to come back and be a factor. Why burn him out for the 2019-2020 season? That's my point. Be smart with his minutes. 

and yes, I was in favor of trading him. But they didn't. So, I'm now in favor of protecting him for if/when you have Wall back and hopefully developed youth. 

Edited November 23, 2019 by @SkinsGoldPants

[Commander -JB-]

13 minutes ago, @SkinsGoldPants said:

 

 

#3. Stop projecting. "it seems like" "your plan". WTF is that nonsense? We know they were in a bad place with contracts and kind of still are. We know they want to make the playoffs even as an 8 seed if they can. Even if you had the top pick, there is no guarantee because 19 year old kids are going in the draft and you suffer through that for years. F that noise. They have years of needing to do things correctly before you see the long term impacts. That isn't a secret.  I'm talking about protecting Beal if you really think Wall is going to come back and be a factor. Why burn him out for the 2019-2020 season? That's my point. Be smart with his minutes. 

and yes, I was in favor of trading him. But they didn't. So, I'm now in favor of protecting him for if/when you have Wall back and hopefully developed youth. 

Beal is averaging slightly more minutes per game right now than last season (37.1/36.9).  He’s 26 years old in the middle of his prime.  They are trying to win games.  You’re not going to sit Beal more if you’re trying to win games.   Just say you’re in favor of a full on tank job and be done with it.   

[No Excuses]

1 hour ago, StillUnknown said:

 

I really think this is because of Bertrans, Wagner and Bryant. We are complete ass on defense with this group, but they are REALLY good offensively. Bertans and Wagner are lasers on the perimeter and Thomas Bryant finishes excellent around the rim.

Edited November 23, 2019 by No Excuses

[Destino]

Wizards held the Kings to just 24 in the first quarter.  Might see them hold a team under 60 in the first half, which I’m not sure is something they’ve done this season.  

[Commander -JB-]

Ish Smith was balling and then Brooks makes substitutions and Thomas comes in and immediately they let the Kings go on a run smh

Thomas plus minus must be atrocious.

[Destino]

wizards held them under 60!   Barely.  (57)

 

IT is unplayable.  
 

[CRobi21]

What just happened....

[Destino]

Thomas Bryant just goal tended a Bradley Beal three that was on its way in.  The shot clock expired.  Bryant then put the ball in. Officials counted the basket.  
 

if none of that makes sense reading it, rest assured it also made no sense watching it.  
 

edit:  the league reviewed it at their fortress of evil, and now the points have been removed.

Edited November 25, 2019 by Destino

[Commander -JB-]

Brooks screwed the pooch tonight.

[Going Commando]

On 11/23/2019 at 4:00 PM, @SkinsGoldPants said:

#2. Beal's min per game are up. They've talked it about it on sportstalk already. He's a machine. He doesn't miss games. He's always played over 30min. Around 35 min per game. Now he's inching towards 40 min per game. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it matters especially when the dog days of the season come along and he's been doing this for months.

 

The MPG numbers fluctuate early on.  Beal was at 36.6 before the Charlotte and Sacramento games.  His MPG isn't a big deal right now.  He'll finish in the 36 MPG range, he's not going to play 40 MPG.

On 11/23/2019 at 4:25 PM, No Excuses said:

I really think this is because of Bertrans, Wagner and Bryant. We are complete ass on defense with this group, but they are REALLY good offensively. Bertans and Wagner are lasers on the perimeter and Thomas Bryant finishes excellent around the rim.

 

Beal too.  Over 31% usage and he's at a 115 ORtg.  That's the largest chunk of high efficiency offense on the team.  We kind of take him for granted now, but he's been particularly good on offense this year.  It's reflective of the team being reshaped in his image.

[Skin'emAlive]

17 hours ago, CRobi21 said:

What just happened....

IT + Smith + Beal on the floor at the same time, and you all want to tell me Scott Brooks is a good coach? We’ve seen this before:

 

Would you think it’s a good idea to play 3 of the following at the same time ever?:

Trey Burke, Isaiah Thomas, Ish Smith, Jordan McRae, Marcus Thornton, Jodie Meeks, Brad Beal, Brandon Jennings, Tim Frazier, Tomas Satoransky, Gary Neal, Ramon Sessions, Austin Rivers, and Ty Lawson

Edited November 25, 2019 by Skin'emAlive

[Going Commando]

I looked at our team ORtg's to see how that team 114 ORtg was made and noticed Admiral "Delle-Donne" Schofield with an individual ORtg of 189 because of his 3 for 3 game against Minnesota.  50-40-90?  The man is currently setting the new standard for excellence with his 70-57-100 slash.  Send him to the G League for the rest of the year so these things can be enshrined.  "The most efficient rookie season ever per capita"

[StillUnknown]

 

[Warhead36]

Nick Young brought a BB Gun to Wizards practice one day and Gilbert Arenas took it and shot him with it...during a league mandated gun awareness meeting. LMAO!

 

...and yet that culture was still better than the Skins now LOL

Edited November 26, 2019 by Warhead36

[Renegade7]

The true test for Brooks is when Wall comes back.  This is everybody eats on crack, if he goes back to letting Wall dominate possession and forcing the offense through him again, fire Brooks and dont look back.  Asking Wall to be jus another cog in this machine could be deadly even with a slightly average defense versus historically useless.  They got something here quick then I thought possible, dont blow it going back to old habits.

[Going Commando]

2 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

The true test for Brooks is when Wall comes back.  This is everybody eats on crack, if he goes back to letting Wall dominate possession and forcing the offense through him again, fire Brooks and dont look back.  Asking Wall to be jus another cog in this machine could be deadly even with a slightly average defense versus historically useless.  They got something here quick then I thought possible, dont blow it going back to old habits.

 

I'm not really worried about the offense when Wall returns.  Feels a little like we're maxing out our offensive potential right now, but Wall is a good offensive player.  The problem to me is that we are in a situation where we basically need Wall to be a great defensive player in order for the team to get better.  Wall hasn't been a good defensive player in about five years.  Beyond that, there is only so much a guard can do to uplift a team defense.  Wall is an unusual player at the position because of his ability to guard posting forwards and protect the rim well for a PG.  But that is periodic contribution, a guard is not going to be in position to regularly do those things without breaking the D with over switching.

 

And Wall developed a bad tendency to over-switch to avoid fighting through screens.  He hasn't defended with true consistency and vigor in a long time.  It's not going to be easier to do so as he ages and returns from a serious foot injury.

 

At any rate, we need better defenders in the front court, and unfortunately, achieving that will be what diminishes our offense unless we get super lucky in the draft and find Siakam and Gobert types who are great on both ends.

[Renegade7]

8 minutes ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

 

At any rate, we need better defenders in the front court, and unfortunately, achieving that will be what diminishes our offense unless we get super lucky in the draft and find Siakam and Gobert types who are great on both ends.

 

That's a fair concern.  And I get why you wouldnt be worried about the offense, but let's say they arent a top 3 offense anymore jus by adding players that are better at defense but not as good at offense.  This concept of not knowing who to cover or defend goes out the window if everything goes through Wall again. Which could happen because it happens everytime he comes back from a major injury.  For me, it's not about less ppg, it's about breaking what makes this offense unique, plus dropping into reality check levels of ppg.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

7 hours ago, Renegade7 said:

The true test for Brooks is when Wall comes back.  This is everybody eats on crack, if he goes back to letting Wall dominate possession and forcing the offense through him again, fire Brooks and dont look back.  Asking Wall to be jus another cog in this machine could be deadly even with a slightly average defense versus historically useless.  They got something here quick then I thought possible, dont blow it going back to old habits.

Nah.

 

This offense is MADE for John.

 

Assuming he still has the "juice" (speed/quickness) this offense has the spacing that will make him lethal.

 

Yeah, he'll have to adapt some but I don't want him to completely just "blend in".