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The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc


BRAVEONAWARPATH

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even after the insane 1st, I got nervous with the fouls piling up and some sloppy play. Basically Washington ruled the 1st and 4th......2nd and 3rd they played on the same level as Philly. Ariza was just awesome. Good for him.

 

Gooden before Harrington was weird to me. Wished Randy had put in Otto earlier to run with John a little. Glad he got SOME run and his single shot looked good.

 

6 guys in double figures. That's good.

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No matter how you look at it. We are up by 20 with 3 min left in the game, a time out is called and randy still keeps ariza on the floor coming out of it. Thats some **** coaching right there. I mean let Otto have some* minutes.

Edited by Skin'emAlive
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What? Georgetown players are not disappointing in the NBA. If anything Georgetown players are overachievers.

Second, Otto plays SF. He wasn't competing with Vesely for minutes. He's playing behind Ariza and Webster, who have been healthy every game since Porter came back with his own injury. That's why he isn't playing.

I'm not gonna say they're disappointments, but Georgetown players, especially the big name ones, almost to a man strike me as soft. I wasn't big on Porter before the draft or since, but I was so wrong on Leonard a couple drafts ago, I wasn't really trusting myself. Hope I'm wrong again.

Sidenote, you can't judge players on the Summer League. Like at all.

Anyway, Sixers really are as bad as advertised. Still, I say this is a nice win. No longer are we playing up or down to the level of our opponents. That's a big step in my opinion. We're simply showing up and taking care of business now. That's what good teams do.

Edited by G.A.C.O.L.B.
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After the 3 OT game, some of us wondered if this was going to be a let-down or trap game. For a few months the Sixers made a run to get "close", but couldn't really make it a game. End of the day, it was all about talent. Washington has more talent at more spots and as long as either Wall or Gortat were on the floor, that freed up Ariza to do his thing. As bad as our bench has been at times. They are still better than some of the Philly starters who are healthy.

 

Philly is basically tanking the season anyways. They took their top pick and are resting/rehabbing him a full season. They'll have another next year and probably some cap room.

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Team quietly surpassed its win total from last year after Toronto. Nice to win more than 30 games for a change.

Looking at the standings, we're a game and a half back from Chicago and Toronto, who are tied. We've got a few tough games in the immediate future, but after that it's a stretch where we get some lesser teams.

There's obviously a big line between Ind & Miami and the rest of the conference. But it seems to me there is a clear second tier of us, Toronto, and Chicago.

Brooklyn, Atlanta, and Charlotte are not legit. You can see it in their bad road records.

And TBH, Chicago feels a bit like a house of cards. It's admirable how well they've competed despite losing Rose and Deng. Thibs should be a coach of the year candidate. Noah and Gibson and Butler are good. But we've got more talent than them. We should pass them.

There is no reason this team can't win 45 games. If we take care of our business and beat the teams we need to beat, we'll win 48 games.

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After the 3 OT game, some of us wondered if this was going to be a let-down or trap game. For a few months the Sixers made a run to get "close", but couldn't really make it a game. End of the day, it was all about talent. Washington has more talent at more spots and as long as either Wall or Gortat were on the floor, that freed up Ariza to do his thing. As bad as our bench has been at times. They are still better than some of the Philly starters who are healthy.

 

Philly is basically tanking the season anyways. They took their top pick and are resting/rehabbing him a full season. They'll have another next year and probably some cap room.

Philly played hard. I give their players credit for competing despite the fact their front office sabotaged the team. It's pretty damn shameful.

Whenever Philly started to close the gap, John Wall did something to spark a run of our own and keep the cushion at 10 points or so. We didn't play any defense. But the buckets just came so easily it didn't matter.

Not going to be the case against Memphis. I'm worried about how small we suddenly are.

Lost Nene and Seraphin to injury and traded Vesely all at the same time. We've handled it surprisingly well so far.

John is going to have to keep playing at an amazing level to beat Memphis and have a chance against Miami.

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Just out of curiosity, GALCOB, which big name G-Town players are soft? 

 

IMO, they have a hard-nosed pedigree.  Zo, Dikembe, Ewing, Harrington, JYD, etc....

 

Anyways, I think everyone hit on all the points from last night's game.  However, one thing was missing....the respect shown to A.I.

 

I don't know about you all, but I got goosebumps at the half.  He's one of my all-time favorite players and it's crazy to see his career come full-circle.  I remember following him from his time at Bethel, to G-Town, and then the NBA.  He got a proper send off last night and I hope that he can find some balance in his life without b-ball. 

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AI is another hardnosed GT player. Same with Roy Hibbert and Greg Monroe. GT players have always had a reputation of being tough.

I liked AI's speech last night. Pretty much what I expected from him. It's cool to see how Philly embraced him. Philly fans will boo you mercilessly if they think you're a bum but they're loyal if you earn their respect. Philly basketball fans anyway.

I too followed AI since I was a kid, when he was back in H.S. My family is from Newport News and AI was the biggest deal in Hampton Roads in the 90's.

Like I said in the NBA Mt. Rushmore thread, AI is one of the most influential players ever. First was Dr. J changing the entire look of the game. Bringing in the dunk and playing above the rim, making the game cool. Then was Jordan, ending the era of high shorts and long socks with his shoes and bermuda shorts. Crossing guys over and going hard to the rim. Then was AI. There wasn't a kid in the 90's who loved basketball and didn't want to dribble the ball like Iverson.

I wouldn't go so far as to say Iverson was one of my favorite players. I tended to be a fan of the more conservative personalities and I also liked ACC players. My favorite players were Grant Hill and Penny Hardaway, then later Duncan and Dirk. But Iverson was fun as hell to watch.

Edited by stevemcqueen1
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Philly played hard. I give their players credit for competing despite the fact their front office sabotaged the team. It's pretty damn shameful.

Whenever Philly started to close the gap, John Wall did something to spark a run of our own and keep the cushion at 10 points or so. We didn't play any defense. But the buckets just came so easily it didn't matter.

Not going to be the case against Memphis. I'm worried about how small we suddenly are.

Lost Nene and Seraphin to injury and traded Vesely all at the same time. We've handled it surprisingly well so far.

John is going to have to keep playing at an amazing level to beat Memphis and have a chance against Miami.

 

Memphis will be much harder. But the good thing is that with every game, these guys get a feeling of how to play without Nene. That will make a difference. Think we will need Wall to keep playing on this level and Beal to up his game a little for Memphis. If he's not in foul trouble, Gortat on the floor can change everything. I hope they keep him for awhile. Seems to really fit with our guards and he's popular on the team.

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Just out of curiosity, GALCOB, which big name G-Town players are soft?

IMO, they have a hard-nosed pedigree. Zo, Dikembe, Ewing, Harrington, JYD, etc....

Anyways, I think everyone hit on all the points from last night's game. However, one thing was missing....the respect shown to A.I.

I don't know about you all, but I got goosebumps at the half. He's one of my all-time favorite players and it's crazy to see his career come full-circle. I remember following him from his time at Bethel, to G-Town, and then the NBA. He got a proper send off last night and I hope that he can find some balance in his life without b-ball.

Absolutely, that was a great send off. I will ALWAYS be a super die hard AI fan. You can add him to that list of tough Georgetown players. One of the toughes....Dude was all heart and ballz .. Edited by LetMeSeeYourWarFace21
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I might forgive Ernie all transgressions if he could figure out a way to get Nene's contract off the books. Those funds are going to a piece that may not be as needed as we thought.

 

I hope that is the case, but let's hold our horses and see if this is sustainable. One good win in ordeal fashion (Toronto) and one win against a dreadful squad.

Edited by skinswillwin06
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Zephyrs.... Well its nice to know the team has had a name worse than wizards.

Can Chicago lose a damn game already? We need the Bulls or the Raptors to hit a losing streak and they just refuse to cooperate! They just beat the knicks easily. Tom Thibodeau will be the next Popovich if he can find an offensive system that works.

Hopefully Predicto's Warriors can beat the Raptors later today.

Edited by Destino
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God, I love these quotes.  :)

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/trevor-ariza-scores-40-points-to-lift-wizards-past-philadelphia/2014/03/01/ad8e61f4-a1af-11e3-a050-dc3322a94fa7_story.html

 

 

The only remaining suspense for the Wizards was whether Ariza would reach 40 and Wall would match his career high in assists. In one frenzied sequence, both marks were achieved as Wall dived to the floor to wrestle away a loose ball and tossed it from his back to an open Ariza for a layup. Wall hopped up from the ground and pumped his fist after collecting his 16th assist, showing more emotion for Ariza than for any of the 17 points Wall scored in the game.

“What more can you ask for a guy who would do anything to see you succeed and see you strive to be the best you could be,” Ariza said. “That’s what we do here now. We all want to see each other succeed, because at the end of the day, we know if one of us succeeds, we all succeed — especially trying to go where we want to go.”

 

...
 

After making a running bank shot and missing a free throw with six-tenths of the second left in the period, Ariza angrily swung his arms. He wanted more. Wall made sure that his night was complete by scrapping for the ball and getting him 40 points. Ariza’s previous career high was 33.

“That was great for me,” Wall said of his emotional response. “He did a great job, and you want to see a guy that’s putting in the work and doing the extra sacrifices for our team of guarding the best players on any given night. You try to reward him for that, and that’s what I wanted him to do, to get a 40-point game.”

 

Edited by BRAVEONAWARPATH
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Yeah man that's some cool stuff. Wall has the heart of a champion. The gift for making his teammates better. We were pretty lucky to win the lottery in 2010.

Memphis will be much harder. But the good thing is that with every game, these guys get a feeling of how to play without Nene. That will make a difference. Think we will need Wall to keep playing on this level and Beal to up his game a little for Memphis. If he's not in foul trouble, Gortat on the floor can change everything. I hope they keep him for awhile. Seems to really fit with our guards and he's popular on the team.

Yeah, after giving it some thought, I think it'll be better for us to bring back Gortat than chase after Greg Monroe.

Gortat is a really good fit and he's already here and we've got his Bird Rights. Willing to do the dirty work of the position. Be a role player, do his job, and score when he gets opportunities. He's been reliable and you can tell he's a ton of fun to play with. He instantly gelled with the rest of the team.

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Holy crap, Chicago is 9-1 in their last 10 games, and Toronto is 7-3, same as us. Even with this winning streak, we haven't really gained on them much aside from us directly beating Toronto, but IIRC they were one of those 3 teams who beat us, so it evens out. Not sure I like our chances of catching either of them, even with our weak remaining schedule. Our third game against Chicago is probably the most important game remaining for us.

 

Btw does anyone here think Cleveland will catch Atlanta? CLE is only a few games back, and playing much better than ATL right now.

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Atlanta is in a death spiral right now.  They've only won one of their last 11 games and they are starting a brutal road trip.  Cleveland or Detroit has to catch them.  According to that image posted earlier Cleveland has the 3rd most difficult remaining schedule in the Eastern Conference.  Kyrie is going to have to earn the right to get demolished by Indy or Miami in the first round.  

Edited by Destino
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John Wall led #wizards to 3 wins without Nene, averaging 25 pts on 59.1% FGs & 10.7 assts. Got a decent shot at his 2nd ECPOW this season


 

John Wall wants to see No. 2 retired by #wizards. “That’s my goal. I want to be the best point guard & I want to bring a championship to DC"

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