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The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc


BRAVEONAWARPATH

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Meh team played pretty poorly tonight outside of our big men. But I guess that's to be expected from your young players every so often. To be positive, have to be glad we have such strong veteran presents inside. Ariza did absolutely nothing tonight. Beal was pretty poor and Wall was fairly non existent. Liked what I saw from Miller, didn't do too much but definitely showed some signs. Nene and Gortat were the difference makers. Solid performance from my boy Webster as well. 

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We've had a hard time winning anything other than games which we control pretty much the whole way. Games which are single-score inside of 2 mins are ones which we've typically lost. Nice to see us win one, even if it was against a weak team. Part of being a winning team is stealing games from better teams like OKC, but an arguably even bigger part is finding ways to win the games you're expected to win, no matter how sloppy and cold it gets.

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This was a must win. I was sweating out the final minutes and had no faith in our ability to score out of the time out with seven seconds. But they did it. And they won a game where Wall couldn't score and Beal couldn't really do anything.

It just took Nene going nuts.

Wall was absolutely hip checked on that drive he converted to tie with 26 to go. Nene fouled Davis, but to call us for that and then no call the drive from Wall was one sided when you're talking about two fairly crucial, borderline fouls in the closing moments. Either swallow your whistle or call them both.

I'm glad we didn't let that decide the outcome of the game.

New Orleans is younger than we are. You just can't let them get a win like that on the road. WE had to show the poise and perform like the better team in winning time to demonstrate that we're legit.

We've got an interesting roster. Andre Miller and sorting out some of Ernie's kids on the bench was kind of the final domino for the year. We've got 8ish players for a rotation and a 9 and 10 in Temple and Seraphin that you can put in if you have to. If I trusted Wittman, I would like our roster in a playoff series against anyone except Toronto and the top two teams. Actually, if I trusted our coach, I'd like us against Toronto too despite the fact Beal is wildly inconsistent.

The only thing that blows is the way we're handling Otto this season. I'm trying to look on the bright side.

Best case scenario: a playoff run where we get the four seed, beat a tough but overmatched Chicago team--a legit notch in our gun, then make some noise and push an old, tired Miami team in a competitive series. Ariza signs elsewhere for a nice payday.

But we're legit enough to be a FA draw in the summer. Sign Greg Monroe. Sign a nice reserve big. Hell maybe even keep Gortat with bird rights. Otto comes into next season stronger and with a three ball. Beal takes a step forward and is at least a fringe All Star. Wall gets better and becomes an even more legit star. Now you're working with a pretty damn good roster:

PG - Wall, Miller

SG - Beal, Rice, Temple?

SF - Webster, Otto

PF - Nene, Booker

C - Monroe, X (Gortat?), Seraphin?

Let's hope that's how it plays out.

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I think Otto would be starting, with Webster continuing his 6th man position next year. The extra money will go to either Gortat or Monroe and a stretch 4 like Patterson or something. I highly doubt it will be Monroe. Im not even sure if he is what we need. I think we need more rebounding and defense than another scorer from the 5. Nene isnt going anywhere. A big who can pick up his slack on the defense would be best. Though, i dont think there are any available in FA. No, Okafor doesnt count.

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I think Otto would be starting, with Webster continuing his 6th man position next year. The extra money will go to either Gortat or Monroe and a stretch 4 like Patterson or something. I highly doubt it will be Monroe. Im not even sure if he is what we need. I think we need more rebounding and defense than another scorer from the 5. Nene isnt going anywhere. A big who can pick up his slack on the defense would be best. Though, i dont think there are any available in FA. No, Okafor doesnt count.

I don't think Otto is going to jump from like 600 minutes to starting by next year. That'd be a pretty stunning improvement. I also think Webster is under-utilized as a sixth man. Webster is a lot better when he gets regular burn with Wall. He can create some of his own looks. But he's way better playing off the ball.

The thing Monroe has going for him is that he's a nightly 16 & 10 23 year old big in the right system. We can use that. Think about the long term utility of pairing him with Wall and Beal. That's a three man core and solves our long term big man issue. He's a legit low post scorer with a center's body. Decent usage player. Ideally you play him 100% of the time at center and get him to use about 23-24 % of possessions. Basically he replaces Nene's production long term. Worse defense, but better rebounding.

I don't think Nene needs to be covered up defensively. He's a very good defender and covers a variety of opposing players. If anything, he'd be the one covering up Monroe. What we'd lack is a big time rim protector no doubt.

But I actually really like your idea of Patrick Patterson whether we go with Monroe or Gortat. I think a legit floor spacing big with some length is another missing piece. Patterson is a nice offensive player. A pure catch and shooter that creates almost nothing for himself, but he shoots pretty well from almost everywhere on the floor and is a decent interior finisher. He's good from the corners.

I'm not married to Monroe because I don't love his defensive weakness at all. I just think he's the best option at C in a pretty weak year. I don't think he's worth maxing out. And with Nene being a decent usage player himself, what we're mostly looking for in a C right now is a role player that defends, set screens, finishes inside, and rebounds. If we can't afford Monroe, then I would certainly be fine with keeping Gortat and signing Patterson. Then you'd choose between Booker and Seraphin for the fourth big's minutes. Probably Seraphin since he can play C and Patterson can't.

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