The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[StillUnknown]

Brooks pulling the starter with a minutes & 25 to go

[Skin'emAlive]

Watching Marc drain more 3's than our whole team is a total gut punch. 

[Renegade7]

Another collapse?  Fantastico.

[MonkFan8]

2 minutes ago, abdcskins said:

So this is the team that is, "definitely making the playoffs?"

Looks like the same trash squad to me.  Glad I didn't get the package.

Have fun watching this team folks.  I salute your dedication.  If I didn't live in California I suppose I would watch cuz they are my team, but man when will things change?  I will check back into this thread in 4-5 weeks and see how things are going.

Couldn't have said it better. Moving to Pittsburgh I'm glad its super difficult to catch Wizards games, don't have to delude myself into thinking this team is anything other than average. 

Just awful investments all around, maybe EG will finally get the axe and I can start paying attention again.

[TradeTheBeal!]

Not exactly the type of performance you're looking for from your max-deal SG.

[CRobi21]

At least our FT shooting showed improvement tonight.....

[shakinaiken]

hmm, well... maybe a long season. I'll leave that one ambiguous. 

[Taylor703]

Yeah, this is depressing. Thanks Ted. 

[Renegade7]

DC teams can't get back to DC quick enough. Sheesh.

 

The weird thing is, I still we're better then last year.  This is just the second game in a row we threw up all over ourselves to end the game.  I don't know what's up with that, but that's mental, that's fixable.

[Taylor703]

7 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

DC teams can't get back to DC quick enough. Sheesh.

 

The weird thing is, I still we're better then last year.  This is just the second game in a row we threw up all over ourselves to end the game.  I don't know what's up with that, but that's mental, that's fixable.

The bench is far worse. At least in my opinion. 

[Renegade7]

1 minute ago, Taylor703 said:

The bench is far worse. At least in my opinion. 

You may be right, but not ready to commit to that until I see Mahimi and Sato playing, plus a couple more games.  

 

Speaking of Sato, why isn't he playing?  If he's not NBA ready 4 years after we drafted him, why did we draft him?

[Taylor703]

2 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

You may be right, but not ready to commit to that until I see Mahimi and Sato playing, plus a couple more games.  

 

Speaking of Sato, why isn't he playing?  If he's not NBA ready 4 years after we drafted him, why did we draft him?

Because Brooks has found his Garrett Temple crush and he goes by the name Marcus Thornton. It's pathetic, I really thought that **** would leave with Randy. 

[StillUnknown]

2 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

You may be right, but not ready to commit to that until I see Mahimi and Sato playing, plus a couple more games.  

 

Speaking of Sato, why isn't he playing?  If he's not NBA ready 4 years after we drafted him, why did we draft him?

because marcus thornton is an all-nba talent that the rest of the league has been sleeping on

 

seriously though, i don't understand it. Sato looked like he belonged in the preseason. at the very least, he offers more creativity and match-up problems than thornton ever will

[CRobi21]

Scotty's official welcome to DC moment...sigh

[Going Commando]

Second fourth quarter collapse in a row.  This game should have been a win.  The offense bogged down from trying to run out the clock and they didn't get into set plays until there were less than 8 seconds on the clock.  That is not the way to win.  Should have forgotten about the game clock and kept attacking and forcing Memphis to go score for score with us.

The discrepancy on the three ball ultimately killed us.  Haven't been able to hit from deep the past two games and our opponents have.  It's frustrating.

Oubre came alive right before he got yanked in the fourth.  I think Brooks needed to ride the hot hand and go small there and bring Otto in at PF instead of subbing Oubre out and bringing Morris back in.  Brooks still has to learn his players and this team still has to learn its new schemes.  You can see the unfamiliarity leading to wasted possessions and basic breakdowns such that Memphis had an easier time scoring than we did for most of the night.

[Destino]

It's too early to know much of anything, but nothing I've seen in these two games has allayed concerns I had going into the season about this team.

[SkinInsite]

9 hours ago, stevemcqueen1 said:

Second fourth quarter collapse in a row.  This game should have been a win.  The offense bogged down from trying to run out the clock and they didn't get into set plays until there were less than 8 seconds on the clock.  That is not the way to win.  Should have forgotten about the game clock and kept attacking and forcing Memphis to go score for score with us.

The discrepancy on the three ball ultimately killed us.  Haven't been able to hit from deep the past two games and our opponents have.  It's frustrating.

Oubre came alive right before he got yanked in the fourth.  I think Brooks needed to ride the hot hand and go small there and bring Otto in at PF instead of subbing Oubre out and bringing Morris back in.  Brooks still has to learn his players and this team still has to learn its new schemes.  You can see the unfamiliarity leading to wasted possessions and basic breakdowns such that Memphis had an easier time scoring than we did for most of the night.

Zz,

[Rocky21]

The momentum seems to switch after Wall got called for that intentional foul on the 118 year old Vince Carter.  Before it happened we were up by 8 or so and seemed to be in control with 2 or 3 minutes left.  Oh well.  So DC. 

[Going Commando]

11 hours ago, TryTheBeal! said:

Not exactly the type of performance you're looking for from your max-deal SG.

I'm wondering just how Wall and Beal are going provide max level production together.  I think it's clear that Wall is going to completely dominate the ball like he did last night.  That's been his role for years and he's not a particularly useful off ball player.  But now Beal has an improved handle and creating with the ball in his hands has become a big facet of his game.  He needs the ball a lot more now.

I'm not worried about his poor three ball shooting.  That'll revert to the mean.  What I'm worried about is Wall and Beal finding a balance that allows both to thrive.  Beal can't just be getting the ball as a dumpoff with 8 seconds left on the clock like he was last night.  He's going to need set plays run for him where he gets real opportunities to create.

I think we're going to have to accept that Beal and Wall need their minutes staggered.  The second line needs to be reworked.  Beal needs to lead that unit for a majority of their minutes.  He needs to be playing on the ball for most of their possessions.  And he needs to play next to Sato, not Thornton and Burke.  Last night he did play with the second string for a while and Thornton and Burke soaked up basically all of the possessions.  That's unacceptable.  It should be obvious that, if you put two chuckers on the court together, they're going to freeze the rest of the line up out of the offense.

12 minutes ago, Rocky21 said:

The momentum seems to switch after Wall got called for that intentional foul on the 118 year old Vince Carter.  Before it happened we were up by 8 or so and seemed to be in control with 2 or 3 minutes left.  Oh well.  So DC. 

It definitely did.  That was a 5 point swing and then the offense started playing scared, trying to run out the clock rather than continue pushing the pace and scoring.  Prior to that the team had been playing well.  They'd weathered a massive discrepancy in three pointers that ultimately amounted to a 30 point difference.  They collapsed after that flagrant 1 call.

Brooks's two big challenges right now are figuring out the rotations and figuring out how to keep the team focused and together in the fourth quarter and prevent these late game collapses from becoming the norm.

Edited October 31, 2016 by stevemcqueen1

[RonArtest15]

I missed the 4th quarter and OT, but I was disappointed to wake up and read that the Wizards lost.  It's really unfortunate because they were playing a team coming off a game from the night before and with a PG on restricted minutes.  This was a winnable game, but there were a lot of brain farts in addition to going 5-25 from 3.  That just ain't gonna cut it. 

Also, Trey Burke is some hot garbage and Sato needs to get more PT over him and THornton. 

[Gamebreaker]

I was gonna watch the game last night. But after the Skins' disappointing tie game, I just couldn't deal with any more of that from my other team. Glad I just played my xbox. 

[StillUnknown]

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2016/10/31/13476782/washington-wizards-memphis-grizzlies-breakdown-comeback-improbable

Quote

Marcin Gortat corralled a defense rebound off a Markieff Morris block with 3:33 left in regulation in the Wizards’ game on Sunday against the Grizzlies. At that point, the Wizards had possession, an eight point lead, and a 96.9 percent chance of winning the game, according to Inpredictable. On top of that, the Wizards were better rested than the Grizzlies. Washington hadn’t played since Thursday night, Memphis got back into town early Sunday morning after a loss to the Knicks on Saturday night.

So let’s be clear: This wasn’t the matter of simply losing a winnable game. This was the Wizards letting a near-certain win fall out of their hands. They weren’t just victims of some lucky bounces, they had to actively lose this game. So let’s take a look at what went wrong for the Wizards over a seven minute stretch of regulation and overtime, where the Grizzlies went on a 22-4 run to turn a certain loss into a convincing victory.

Basketball Gods: You only have a 3.1% chance of losing this game with 3:33 left. 

Wizards: Challenge accepted 

[Going Commando]

It was a big choke job.  They absolutely should have won that game, same as the Redskins.  They started panicking and stopped playing together.  They stopped doing everything they had done well to that point.

[Skin'emAlive]

See here's the thing: I can't sit here and listen to people make excuses for this team that " they are just trying to figure out the rotations." I can't do it again. I don't need to see a single game to know that Thornton shouldn't see the court unless u are on your 3rd shooting guard and/or you are in the middle of a tank. No amount of playing time will change the fact that he is that* guy that a team brings in for one of those two circumstances. 

I won't claim im a basketball genius. I'm just a guy that knows when a guy friggin sucks and shouldn't be getting solid minutes on a professional team trying to win games. 

On top of all of this, we traded clarkson for a bag of cash because Sato was coming. Well then why the **** is he not on the court. He's played 4 years professionally already. Saric plays. Adonis plays. It's not like we don't need him. We desperately need a backup point guard. Why is Sato sitting behind Burke and YOLO? Im getting real close to tuning out to this organization. This is the same story, over, and over, and over, and I just can't fathom Scott brooks is that blind to know those two shouldn't play over Sato nor should they ever share the court together in a prominent role. 

[Skin'emAlive]

And I know Scott has a history of questionable decisions, but Fisher and Perkins had more heart and guts than a guy like durant ever will, so I dismissed that as a tactical move to keep his gutless star in line. The decision to play Thornton and Burke together and over Sato defies logic. Something else is going on here.