The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

hell to the no to Calipari

[Going Commando]

A big man shooting 41%. Awesome.

I don't underestimate Cousins, I just have some understanding of what the Wizards need. He's an incredibly inefficient scorer who has poor shot selection and is putting up decent numbers for another really bad team. He's a complete headcase and really a project for any team that acquires him. Now you guys want to put that on a Wizards team with our star player who battling serious knee injuries cause they are boys and if a thousand things go right, they could be awesome. Oh, and let's not pretend we need him to rebound or play defense because the Wiz are 6th in rebounding and Cousins is not a defensive force.

A headcase like Cousins in this organization is a failure waiting to happen. The Wizards don't have the organizational structure to deal with the issues he brings on top of which the Wizards show no ability to develop any young players so why would Cousins magically get better here? The answer is that he won't. Not here.

Until the Wizards change the GM, the head coach and the total philosophy here, players like Cousins won't help this organization succeed no matter how much wishful thinking fans have.

I don't really care what his shooting % is so far this season. I've seen what he can do when he's playing well. His play absolutely would improve a lot if he were here and playing with Wall.

He's also not a headcase. He's a pretty good guy. He is just immature. And frankly I like his attitude. I think it would be a lot of fun to watch him and Wall and Beal grow together.

---------- Post added December-30th-2012 at 12:32 PM ----------

hell to the no to Calipari

Why not?

[Warhead36]

College coaches don't work in the pros. History speaks for itself there. Cal won't be able to cherry pick the most talented team in the country in the NBA.

[skinfan2k]

hire Cal and he will attract the recent Kentucky guys to come here

[Warhead36]

hire Cal and he will attract the recent Kentucky guys to come here

Like who? Cousins is a headcase, and it's not like the Hornets or Cats are gonna get rid of Davis or MKG anytime soon if ever.

[Destino]

I don't think Calipari is as good a coach as he is a recruiter. He's had a ton of success but I haven't seen anything that tells me that he's a great X and O's kind of coach.

As for Cousins... they managed to screw up James Harden so I have no faith that these morons will bring Cousins here. They'll continue to try to build through the draft and haunt the bottom of the NBA standings.

Edited December 30, 2012 by Destino

[Going Commando]

I don't think Calipari is as good a coach as he is a recruiter. He's had a ton of success but I haven't seen anything that tells me that he's a great X and O's kind of coach.

As for Cousins... they managed to screw up James Harden so I have no faith that these morons will bring Cousins here. They'll continue to try to build through the draft and haunt the bottom of the NBA standings.

Well the Xs and Os might not be there but one thing he is very good at doing is getting guys to play together and play unselfishly. His players trust him totally.

There is probably a better option out there than Calipari but I can't really think of one off the top of my head.

[Hersh]

I don't really care what his shooting % is so far this season. I've seen what he can do when he's playing well. His play absolutely would improve a lot if he were here and playing with Wall.

He's also not a headcase. He's a pretty good guy. He is just immature. And frankly I like his attitude. I think it would be a lot of fun to watch him and Wall and Beal grow together.

Do you actually know Cousins cause you are making a lot of assumptions contrary to evidence in front of us? Do you realize you are strongly advocating for a big man that can't shoot (43% in 2+ years) and gets suspended? Seriously, if you don't think it matters how good a big man shoots, what his FG% and shot selection is, than you know nothing about the NBA. 43% is absolutely terrible for a 6'11 guy that should be getting shots around the rim all day long. Terrible.

Also, this notion that if we simply bring a certain coach in, he will recruit guys and all will be good. This is laughable. These young guys play for big money and will follow the big money. Period. The notion that if we just pair Cousins up with Wall he will suddenly grow up is laughable as well. It's pure speculation, pure nonsense based on everything we know about Cousins.

Last thing, the Wiz cannot trade next years first round pick until they know where that pick is in the draft order. There is no reason to settle during this season for any high risk players. There is no telling which players might be available in the off-season, like a James Harden was available this year.

[Going Commando]

Do you actually know Cousins cause you are making a lot of assumptions contrary to evidence in front of us? Do you realize you are strongly advocating for a big man that can't shoot (43% in 2+ years) and gets suspended? Seriously, if you don't think it matters how good a big man shoots, what his FG% and shot selection is, than you know nothing about the NBA. 43% is absolutely terrible for a 6'11 guy that should be getting shots around the rim all day long. Terrible.

Also, this notion that if we simply bring a certain coach in, he will recruit guys and all will be good. This is laughable. These young guys play for big money and will follow the big money. Period. The notion that if we just pair Cousins up with Wall he will suddenly grow up is laughable as well. It's pure speculation, pure nonsense based on everything we know about Cousins.

Last thing, the Wiz cannot trade next years first round pick until they know where that pick is in the draft order. There is no reason to settle during this season for any high risk players. There is no telling which players might be available in the off-season, like a James Harden was available this year.

Do you know Cousins? Because you're making a lot of assumptions about him too.

I'm going off what 's been said about him by the people who do know him, like Calipari.

I get the sense you've never really watched him play much. It doesn't take long to see how special he is.

The Wiz can protect the pick if need be, but I wouldn't really care if they didn't. There is no one eligible for this year's class that's better than Cousins or has higher potential than him. He would be the first overall pick in this class.

[Hersh]

Do you know Cousins? Because you're making a lot of assumptions about him too.

I'm going off what 's been said about him by the people who do know him, like Calipari.

I get the sense you've never really watched him play much. It doesn't take long to see how special he is.

The Wiz can protect the pick if need be, but I wouldn't really care if they didn't. There is no one eligible for this year's class that's better than Cousins or has higher potential than him. He would be the first overall pick in this class.

As I said, I'm going based on his actions in the NBA. You can choose to ignore the record laid out before everyone if you want. You can also continue to ignore the fact that he's a big man that can't score efficiently. The Wizards need inefficient scorers like Dallas needs Tony Romo in a must win game.

[Going Commando]

As I said, I'm going based on his actions in the NBA. You can choose to ignore the record laid out before everyone if you want. You can also continue to ignore the fact that he's a big man that can't score efficiently. The Wizards need inefficient scorers like Dallas needs Tony Romo in a must win game.

You can choose to ignore the fact you're formulating your opinion about him based on the opinions of other people who don't know him.

Cousins can score efficiently when he's playing well. He's got a terrific inside--out game and would be an excellent fit in our scheme. A rich man's Kevin Seraphin that can rebound. He's struggled at times in lSacramento in large part because the team is bad, the coaching isn't a good fit, and the PG play has been terrible. He'd be a much better fit here and he'd get good PG play from Wall.

[StillUnknown]

http://www.nba.com/2012/news/features/david_aldridge/12/31/morning-tip-top-10-stories-2012/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt6a

Washington also has a talented, inexpensive young big in third-year center Kevin Serpahin, who came on at the end of last season, and a surplus of young forwards like Trevor Booker and Chris Singleton. And the Wizards have the one guy who seemed to be able to reach Cousins in John Wall, who played with Cousins at Kentucky before both entered the Draft after their freshman seasons.

But would Cousins do well in an environment that has been even worse from a winning standpoint than Sacramento's? The Wizards went to great lengths over the last year to get rid of young players whose immaturity, they felt, was wearing Wall down, trading center JaVale McGee to Denver for Nene and guard Nick Young to the Clippers and using the amnesty provision to waive forward Andray Blatche.

"No one can [keep Cousins in line], and John doesn't need to try," a friend of Wall's said over the weekend. "I don't think DeMarcus has any interest in doing anything other than what he wants to do."

[No Excuses]

Cousins has a lot of Rasheed Wallace in him. He'll figure it out eventually but it won't be here as long as the current group of idiots are in charge.

[Renegade7]

Not watching the game, but see Dallas scored 32 points in the 3rd quarter. 50%+ from the field and from behind the arc. Not sure what to say to that, if it's not one thing, its another...

[StillUnknown]

Not watching the game, but see Dallas scored 32 points in the 3rd quarter. 50%+ from the field and from behind the arc. Not sure what to say to that, if it's not one thing, its another...

Wizards actually had a strong 1st quarter. Didn't finish the 2nd quarter strong, allowing Dallas to cut a good lead to 4. Then we got dismantled in the 3rd.

All that and old ass Vince Carter is killing us.

Edited January 2, 2013 by StillUnknown

[Renegade7]

Wizards actually had a strong 1st quarter. Didn't finish the 2nd quarter strong, allowing Dallas to cut a good lead to 4. Then we got dismantled in the 3rd.

All that and old ass Vince Carter is killing us.

Sounds about right. Looking at fast break points, 1st half box score, looks like we lost control coming out the half. Like this comeback we're putting on, tho. : )

Edit: Like Beal's stat line tonight, not complaining...

Edit2: Okafor with a double-double. Cool cool

Edited January 2, 2013 by Renegade7

[StillUnknown]

Singleton picked up another healthy DNP, he has traded places with Vesely.

[Destino]

Singleton picked up another healthy DNP, he has traded places with Vesely.

Started at SF moved to PF then DNP. Yup, just like Vesely. Haha

[StillUnknown]

Started at SF moved to PF then DNP. Yup, just like Vesely. Haha

Only thing missing is a Ted blog posting that says "I believe in Chris Singleton."

[Going Commando]

The Mavs went on a stretch where they couldn't miss. We were actually playing good D, rotating well, good pressure on every shot. They just pulled up and made it over us. Vince Carter made some ridiculous shots and Dirk just abused Vesely with that fadeaway. Vesely is a seven footer too and the ball was coming out just over his finger tips and it went in every time. Of course Dirk would start to find his old form against us.

We fueled that bad stretch with several awful turnovers too.

The Mavs are kind of a dirty team. They foul hard and push the limit but they're smart. They played Crawf hard and took him completely out of the game in the second half. That's probably the single biggest reason we lost. We don't have enough offensive power without Crawf playing well.

Garrett Temple looks like a find. It's been a few games now, he's shown enough to keep him around for the time being. I think he's emerging as our future backup PG but knowing this team, they'll let him walk and he'll be back in a year or two.

Of this season, the three journeyman guys who've really shown up that I would keep around are Martell, Cartier, and Temple.

Oak is on fire right now. If he had been playing like this all year we wouldn't be 4 and 20 something and that trade doesn't look nearly as bad. If he sustains this level of play, he'll be nice to have going into next season.

Seraphin was alright. Nene didn't show up much. He thrives at the line but he couldn't get his usual calls. He was getting hit but the refs weren't calling it. Again, the Mavs are a bit dirty but they're clever. They seem to know what they can get away with.

Vesely didn't have a great game defensively. He couldn't stop Nowitzki and when he physically battled with him it just seemed to piss Dirk off and he started making everything. Nene seemed to have the better strategy against Dirk. With him you can't play the ball like Ves was trying to do. Just put your hand in his face and make him uncomfortable. I thought Ves's rotations were off too. He rotates off his help too quickly and leaves the ball handler open because his teammates can't get back in position in time.

Vesely was a horrible matchup against Dirk. Basically Ves only has two things right now: length and quickness. Neither of which matter against Dirk. He's taller than Ves and he's a shooter that's just going to pull up over you and not try and go by you.

Beal had a good game overall. There are some things to nitpick. He went 4/7 from the line and two of those late misses killed the little bit of momentum we were building towards a comeback at the end of the game. He took a really bad shot when a shooter closed out on him on a corner 3. He pump faked then drove .the wrong way, towards the boundary instead of going the other way, ran out of space and had to hoist up an awkward shot behind the backboard that hit the top of it and went out of bounds. He took a bad late clock three pointer. There was still three seconds left. Why does this team always rush to hoist up those bad shots with three or four seconds still left on the clock? He also got schooled by Vince on a couple of shots, including one where Vince got a ridiculous And-1.

Basically it was a bunch of rookie stuff that kept him from having a complete performance. The rest of the night he was superb though. He's got an array of scoring tools that he's starting to show and he found his range from 3 last night. He passes well and defends well. He looks like he's going to be a pretty good player.

He's got a rugged playstyle though. It got him respect from the Mavs players last night, you could see them chumming with him at the end of the game after things got pretty heated throughout the night. He plays with a chip on his shoulder that is pretty nice. But he takes too many bad falls IMO. He's pretty well built but I think he's going to get a lot of injuries unless he takes a little better care of his body.

[Destino]

Some random thoughts

Garrett Temple in some regards is what we expected from Singleton, a terrific perimeter defender. He's a point guard of course so he's got a different skill set in addition to his size and defensive ability. The problem I have is that he's yet another player that really struggles to shoot the three ball and shoot in general and this team has way too many players that struggle in that area. Personally I'd keep him and hire him a shooting coach that does nothing but spot up shoot three point shots. Even with Wall back the Wizards lack a perimeter defender with size and speed. Beal and Crawford are undersized shooting guards (Crawford is more of a combo guard) and Ariza is a short term acquisition. We just need a GM that sees a potential and then acts to maximize it by taking an active role in shaping and player development.

Seraphin has been a major disappointment and a bit of a surprise. Last season his offense was still an unknown but his value was seen in the defensive results with him at center in place of McGee. I'm not sure there is anyone in the league that would even entertain a conversation about him being a better defender than McGee this season. It's not that McGee has changed, he really hasn't change that much defensively, but Seraphin can't seem to defend worth a damn this season. He was never much of a rim defender but he seems to have become decidedly less physical and less capable on his man this season. I think it might be the amount of time he's spent at PF where he lacks the quickness in his feet to be much of a problem for anyone. Combine that with his sudden propensity of jacking up 15 foot hook shots at a Crawford-like rate and this season has been a let down.

I like Beal more than I thought I would but I have major doubts that he will ever be a good shooter or angry enough to maximize his ability. I love him when he attacks the basket and plays angry but when he settles into the "flow" he is lack luster and frankly very mediocre. His defense is above average but his size and speed isn't which limits his versatility as a perimeter stopper . If someone can get him to channel his inner DWade he could be special and the points he's putting up as a rookie signal that he absolutely can be much more than a role player. Beal can be damn good, but I don't think he can be as a finesse player look to score primarily from long range jump shots.

Nene is better than he looks and it's strange as hell. The numbers do not in any way shape or form capture the impact he makes on the floor.

Wall should be back on the floor this month and that's what we've all be waiting for. More important than Nene's foot or Beal's anything is the question of Wall's shooting and overall game. In year three point guards historically have taken major steps forward and while the injury may slow it I still think we should see something. Nene, Okafor, and Webster are certainly a better cast than he's had even if they aren't great so I'm eager to see what he can do. I hope he shows even a small taste of that pull up jumper Westbrook has. I love that shot and I'm convinced that it can't be guarded.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Destino

[Going Commando]

Seraphin showed that hook shot last season down the stretch. He's got skills. Nascent post game with a group of effective shots, soft touch, range out to about 18 feet. He's strong and has good length.

He's got flaws though. He just doesn't rebound well. He doesn't anticipate how the ball comes off the rim. He doesn't seem like a super high IQ player and so he will make plays off skills here then lose the little situations there that don't show up in the stats but lead to losing games.

I think his biggest problem is that he doesn't have a role. Is he a starter? Shouldn't that have been settled by now? We never know how many minutes he's going to get and it hurts the overall level of play IMO.

He needs good coaching. Probably more so than the other young guys. He's stalled out after a strong start to the year. His regression the past few months has been one of the most disappointing things about the season for me.

I'm not ready to give up on him though. He's got great size and athleticism and a good core of offensive skills to build from. I'd trade him as part of a package to bring in someone really good like Cousins. Otherwise, I'd keep him and keeping waiting on his development.

Edited January 2, 2013 by stevemcqueen1

[Destino]

Seraphin showed that hook shot last season down the stretch. He's got skills. Nascent post game with a group of effective shots, soft touch, range out to about 18 feet. He's strong and has good length.

He's got flaws though. He just doesn't rebound well. He doesn't anticipate how the ball comes off the rim. He doesn't seem like a super high IQ player and so he will make plays off skills here then lose the little situations there that don't show up in the stats but lead to losing games.

I think his biggest problem is that he doesn't have a role. Is he a starter? Shouldn't that have been settled by now? We never know how many minutes he's going to get and it hurts the overall level of play IMO.

He needs good coaching. Probably more so than the other young guys. He's stalled out after a strong start to the year. His regression the past few months has been one of the most disappointing things about the season for me.

I'm not ready to give up on him though. He's got great size and athleticism and a good core of offensive skills to build from. I'd trade him as part of a package to bring in someone really good like Cousins. Otherwise, I'd keep him and keeping waiting on his development.

I've said many times that I consider Wittman poison to NBA bigs. This year he's been poison to the entire team by going insane with his ever changing roles and nonsensical rotations. No one on the team is able to get comfortable and come near creating anything resembling chemistry and comfort on the court. I wouldn't hand Seraphin a bus ticket out of town I'm just saying he's been a disappointment to Wizards fans that were, perhaps wrongly, expecting much more from him this season.

[Going Commando]

I've said many times that I consider Wittman poison to NBA bigs. This year he's been poison to the entire team by going insane with his ever changing roles and nonsensical rotations. No one on the team is able to get comfortable and come near creating anything resembling chemistry and comfort on the court. I wouldn't hand Seraphin a bus ticket out of town I'm just saying he's been a disappointment to Wizards fans that were, perhaps wrongly, expecting much more from him this season.

Yeah he is poison. His handling of the team roles and minutes has thrown gasoline on the fire of a bad season.

So many times I wonder what he must have been doing this offseason when a coach is normally supposed to be figuring out his roster and what the roles are going to be.

We came in day one with no clue and it still doesn't seem like we have one. This is pretty terrible. Every rotation you come up with now is going to look bad for stretches. You've just got to settle on one and not abandon ship when a guy has a bad night.

We need 5 guys to play 34+ minutes a night and to have them know they are going to play that many minutes barring injury or foul trouble. You can not beat a team that has that kind of chemistry and heirarchy with a group of guys seeing the floor with each other for the first or second time.

Wittman lacks the vision and leadership qualities to be a good coach. He's gotten most of the team to play hard. But I wonder if that's not because he's been so foolishly quick to yank players and put them in his doghouse. How stupid of an approach is that with such a young team? He's basically ruining the careers of Vesely and Singleton.

I know people don't want to hear this, but we can't nuke the roster this offseason if we want to build some success next season. We've got to have a consistent group of players that know each other and know how to play with each other. We've had complete roster turnover in the three prior offseasons.

We don't have any obvious cancers left in this group of players. We are going to need to keep a core and not have four or five new guys come in and take up big minutes yet again.

[darrelgreenie]

I like Beal more than I thought I would but I have major doubts that he will ever be a good shooter or angry enough to maximize his ability. I love him when he attacks the basket and plays angry but when he settles into the "flow" he is lack luster and frankly very mediocre. His defense is above average but his size and speed isn't which limits his versatility as a perimeter stopper . If someone can get him to channel his inner DWade he could be special and the points he's putting up as a rookie signal that he absolutely can be much more than a role player. Beal can be damn good, but I don't think he can be as a finesse player look to score primarily from long range jump shots.

I'm going to admit upfront that I've only watched 1 Wizards game from start to finish this season. I find them near unwatchable and I can't bear it.

From the one game that I saw and I believe the stats bear this out (but maybe they don't) *shrugs*

but they're needlessly putting Beal in handcuffs. Especially now that the season isn't going anywhere...fast. Why not develop one of your best players?

The offense should be designed to get Beal open court isolation and catch and shoot off the ball screens.