The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[Destino]

On a sidenote, what the **** happened to this board? It is an absolute nightmare to post on sometimes. I don't mean the discussions, I mean the technical makeup of the board. Duplicate posts, non-existent pages, unable to edit. Really, I trust they're fixing this.

The game day chat has been kind of bad too.

[SkinsHokieFan]

On a sidenote, what the **** happened to this board? It is an absolute nightmare to post on sometimes. I don't mean the discussions, I mean the technical makeup of the board. Duplicate posts, non-existent pages, unable to edit. Really, I trust they're fixing this.

Probably a new update coming soon. This happened the last time before an update

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

First off, if you want a good example of what Wall does, was trying to do tonight, and what his teammates need to be doing, go to 2:00 in the 2nd qtr. As the ball is being moved around, the vet Lewis slips in behind his defender, floats to an open spot in the middle of the lane while everyone is focused on Wall and Wall threads a beautiful pass to him for an easy layup.

Anyway, I just finished the 1st half. Took a look at everything, most multiple times. It was Blatche's "good half". I'm tired. I don't want to see his bad half. So here's my complete breakdown. Again, Blatche supporters, dispute something. Either way, I think I'm going to make a habit of this. I enjoyed breaking it all down. So here. Oh and Destino, I'm thinking you were right about McGee and I was wrong. Broke down his first half on offense below as well.

(Originally was listing it by shot and point totals, but time works better--so people can go see for themselves. Hence why it's gone from 1., 2., 3. to 3:45)

Blatche's on Offense

(Shot # and/or time)

1. Jumpshot - fouled

2. FADEAWAY Jumpshot - miss

3. Fakes a pass, dribbles into the lane, takes a 5 foot jumper. THIS is what he should be doing - scores

4. Crawford draws two defenders including Blatches, dumps it off to him, takes it to the rim, lays it in, and 1. This.

5. 3:46 - Fakes going to the basket, 12 foot FADEAWAY jumper - misses

3:21 - Wall draws two defenders--one being Blatches--and drives toward the basket. Instead of going with him, and maybe getting the ball for an easy layup while Wall is drawing defenders, Blatche kinda just walks in the same direction.

6. 2:25 - Turiaf with a nice dumpoff pass to Blatche coming toward him on the baseline. Goes up for a layup and draws the foul from Hawes (though I thought the refs bailed him out on a charge but whatever)

2nd QTR – 5:54: Back in the Game

7. 5:10 – Blatche starts in the paint, asking for the ball. Brand slowly muscles him further and further out, so now he gets the ball right inside the three point line. Fakes right, and then does a ****ing step back like he’s going to shoot a jumper AT the three-point line, Brand is still in his face and now Blatche realizes, wtf I cant make this. But by now he’s already picked up his dribble so now he’s ****ed. Eventually he gets some space between him, Brand and the basket so now he does some bull**** jumper (I guess?) that hits the backboard and NOTHING else. And then, instead of following his shot, he starts WALKING (his fav activity in life besides meeting whores at Logan Circle (:doh: ) and at club and eating ass) back up the floor.

8. 4:40 – Wall or Crawford find him heading toward the basket as they push it up after a made shot. He does, again Buckhantz, “hanging jumper, gets the roll”. Make. I’m not even going to waste my time ****ing about our bigman doing hanging jumpers underneath the basket.

9. 1:25 – Hey!!! Whaddaya know!?!? Blatche decides to crash the ****ing boards on a McGee attempt and, holy ****, he actually gets the rebound and an easy bucket.

10. 0:54 – THIS!!! This is THE example. Crawford gets the ball to Blatche down on the block, wide open. Hawes quickly gets over and in front of Blatche but Blatche is still got the edge and is just feet from the basket. Does he go up strong and try to slam it home? Does he go up strong and try to draw the foul? Does he go toward the basket at all? No. Instead, our bigman, backs up as he dribbles to about five feet in front of the three-point line and then takes a FADEAWAY jumper with Hawes in his face. Miss.

---------- Post added December-16th-2011 at 11:41 PM ----------

Blatche on D

(Sixers point total and/or time)

4. Slow to get over across the lane and lets Holliday go for an easy, uncontested layup

6. Literally STANDS AT THE FOUL LINE and WATCHES Holliday take three tries at a layup before it finally going in. HE DOESN'T MOVE. This is our big ma

8. Stands next to Hawes and WATCHES HIM as he lays it in. No bull****. Go watch this one.

14. Brand gets an offensive rebound on him but that was just the bounce of the ball more than anything. Brand eventually gets it back and muscles Blatche a little before hitting a nice jumper off the backboard. Not gonna hate on Blatche here. Brand is still a strong (stronger than Blatche) and skilled player.

4:08 - This is where Blatche is officially winded. 8 minutes into the game. I wasn't sure whether to put this in O or D. The NICE play by Singleton on that Sixers three on one. Blatche walks down the court, Singleton makes the play, Blatche starts WALKING back on O, letting the Sixers hustle and even up the numbers, ruining our chance to get an easy basket. You don't see Blatche for a full 8 seconds. It takes him 8 seconds to WALK back up the court. And then he stands at the three point line asking for the ball.

3:00 - Guarding Young. Little Jru Holliday gets in his way freeing up Young. Young goes around, instead of moving his feet and getting in front of him, Blatche kinda like swipes at the ball or something as Young tries to lay it in. Luckily it rims out.

2:48 - Wall misses a layup on a one man fast break. Hawes with the rebound. Blatche tries some bull**** steal attempt, Hawes fakes it, Meeks streaks passed him, Hawes throws it to him. Luckily Singleton and Turiaf hustle back and disrupt his layup attempt.

2:15 - Decent D on a driving Young. However the rebound goes right passed his head and back to Young. Young immediately takes a jumper. Blatche turns around and WATCHES Brackins hustle to get the rebound two feet in front of him. (Then it goes out of bounds--luckily--and Blatche starts pointing like he did something. Well I guess he did have the best seat in the house on it.)

2nd QTR – 5:54: Back in the Game

5:41 – this is a good example. Iggy takes a jumper from about the FT line. Blatche is on Brand. He doesn’t turn and face the basket and get position, he just stands there with a hand on Brand and watches as Crawford gets the rebound. It’s not a big play, nothing happened, but I think it just shows how lazy Blatche is. Most of the time he’s out there, he just does the absolute bare minimum

5:25 – Another good example. Sixers get the rebound on a miss, Iggy pushes it up, Blatche, instead of finding his man, just goes to the closest guy: Jodi Meeks out by the three-point line in the corner. This is our bigman. And nevermind that Crawford is already standing there right next to him. So now in Buckhantz’s words “Brand with the WIIIIIIDE OOOOOPEN baseline jumper, COMPLEEEETLEY uncontested and he scores easily.” And you can see Crawford literally throw up his hands, like WTF?!?

2:53 – And another example. Again, not a big play or anything. Just, imho, indicative of Blatche’s entire existence. Iggy misses a jumper. The only people near the basket are Hawes, McGee, Wall and then Crawford’s back a little ways on the wing. EVERYONE else is getting back down court—except Blatche. Instead, for some reason, he stands there and watches as McGee gets the rebound and gets the outlet to Crawford. Now Crawford and Wall want to run, but Blatche isn’t even near halfcourt yet. Crawford still, essentially, goes coast to coast and slams it in. While that goes on, instead of crashing the basket in case Crawford misses whatever he’s about to do, he kinda just stops at the three point line.

1:50 – Both Young and Brand really played Blatche all game. Anyway, Blatche is on Young out by the three point line, Young gets the ball to Lou Williams who has Wall on him. Young kinda half asses it to set a pick for Williams, Blatche then turns his entire focus to Williams for some reason, Young turns around, dashes past him, Williams passes it to Hawes, who then passes it to the streaking Young for an easy dunk. Now Lewis and Crawford, on the other side of the lane, should’ve stepped up sooner to get in front of Lewis but it really shouldn’t even have gotten to a point where they needed to cover for Blatche.

1:10 – Little Lou Williams gets by everyone, Blatche is the last line of defense, he kinda sorta throws his arm up and kinda sorta steps out of Williams’ way. Easy bucket for Lou.

---------- Post added December-16th-2011 at 11:40 PM ----------

McGee on Offense

1. Some ****ed up ugly looking underneath the backboard layup where he misses almost everything (though he does get his own rebound and jams it in)

2. Hookshot (flat from about 7 feet out) - misses

3. Nice little spin move and left hand layup. That was nice effort. - misses

2nd QTR – 5:54: Back in the Game

4. 4:08 – Lewis gets it to him on the block down low. Does a nice little dropstep/spin move. Probably should’ve gone up with his left, but goes up with his right (not a big deal really) and draws the foul from Brand. He’s so quick. I pray he puts it all together one day. Anyway, makes 1 of 2 from the line. Seems like he’s a lot more zoned in here. Form looks better too.

3:09 – Classic Javale here. Wide open on the baseline. Crawford drives toward him, flips it his way, and I guess he thought it was for someone else? It goes right by him and out of bounds. His reaction is funny. He knows had him set up nicely and he ****ed up.

5. 1:27 – McGee is point for an alley oop from Blatche—I can see it—but Blatche hits him with a pass on the block. McGee then with a power dribble and a nice pivot around Hawes. He goes up with the left hand this time but comes up just short. Again, so quick. You might’ve been right here. I don’t think he’s got it down yet, not even, but he’s trying.

6. 0:28 – Nice ball movement. A driving Lewis, hits Blatche on the block, who quickly hits McGee with a nice touch pass on the other side. McGee goes up high and strong for the monster slam but Iggy or Hawes fouls him and is able to keep him from scoring. Still, nice to see a bigman go up strong. He hits both FT’s too (he needs to bend his knees more and get lower, but like I said, you can tell he’s putting in the work here.)

---------- Post added December-17th-2011 at 02:14 AM ----------

Probably a new update coming soon. This happened the last time before an update

I thought they just did an update? I was thinking that's what the problem. They got a bugged-up updated.

Edited December 17, 2011 by G.A.C.O.L.B.

[WALL-LE]

Wall was awful, don't know what game some of u were watching. I can't believe i went to that game for he horrid performance they put out. Lose by 40? really??

[SiCkSoULjA]

Everyone played like garbage all the rookies too. Vessley and singleton was garbage each made one shot and missed numerous outside shots. Ves had and a alley and singleton had a nice steal that's it.

Wall had the worst performance on the floor well him and Crawford might be tied. Blatche was balling first half great post defense then the second half fell off.

I am not going too sit there and watch that pathetic game again just too watch you hate on Blatche when if there was a bright spot it was him.

[endzone_dave]

This team is going to lose a ton of games this year but that's ok - I'll be able to get some cheap tickets to some games and we'll get more ping pong balls for the next draft. With a little luck, we can grab another future star and build a franchise. That's usually the game plan for a rebuild anyway, right?

[chipwhich]

Everyone played like garbage all the rookies too. Vessley and singleton was garbage each made one shot and missed numerous outside shots. Ves had and a alley and singleton had a nice steal that's it.

Wall had the worst performance on the floor well him and Crawford might be tied. Blatche was balling first half great post defense then the second half fell off.

I am not going too sit there and watch that pathetic game again just too watch you hate on Blatche when if there was a bright spot it was him.

This is the most honest post anyone has posted about the game.

[The Sisko]

Probably a new update coming soon. This happened the last time before an update

Ahh, so that's it...well, probably anyway. I thought it was my iPhone doing stupid stuff.

Also just as an FYI, I'm not a huge NBA guy but I like to follow Les Boulez and you guys' discussions and detailed breakdowns in this thread are helpful and informative. :thumbsup:

[No Excuses]

I thought the only player who came out with any kind of enthusiasm was McGee. Blatche played well as well, although I really don't care what he does at this point. He needs to prove it over a lengthy period of time.

I think energy on the court hasn't been an issue for McGee. He just had a tendency to do really dumb things. I thought he played really smart yesterday. He tried some moves on offense, but his best use on this team is as a defensive stopper and rebounder. I thought his rotations were good and he was attacking the boards.

This team flat out needs Nick Young and that's why I've been a supporter of us resigning him since last year. We badly need that spacing at the SG spot next to Wall. Nick is a terrific shooter. I simply don't understand why they don't offer him a one year front loaded contract so he gets a decent sized deal, and our cap restrictions for him go down in the coming years. It seems like the cap and finance guys for this team are a bunch of tools because they've never been creative when it comes to these things.

[skinfan2k]

McGee still doesn't have an inside game whatsoever. I think he's needs to start molding his game after Marcus Camby if he isn't going to develop a offensive game. And also what i didn't like while at the game was that Jordan Crawford is handling the ball way too much and bringing up the ball. He's not really a SG or PG. He doesn't run screens effectively and doesn't have a jump shot that people respect

[Chachie]

Funny how we each see different things about the same players...

I thought Singleton was the only real bright spot. I saw the future in him last night. He didn't have a great game but he showed me why we drafted him.

On the defensive side, Blatche and McGee were humiliated by Hawes in the early going and only marginally made up for it on offense in the 2nd qtr before being benched.

Wall and Crawford were atrocious. Shelvin Mack tried hard but was clearly bewildered. Let's get an inkpen in Nick Young's hand.

Vesely neither overachieved nor underachieved expectations. He's a project player and that's gonna stick for the season.

The rest of the team was a cloud of uncertainty getting routed.

[StillUnknown]

Wall was terrible last night, but this play was nice:

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

A couple of things

1) I'm not saying Wall played well. I'm saying a lot of it wasn't his fault.

2) I can't take serious anyone who thinks Blatche was balling or that he played good defense. That's nothing but a combination of mancrush and delusion. I mean I went back and watched the 1st half and focused entirely on Blatche. I broke it down play by ****ing play. What the ****, am I making **** up? Dispute something I said directly. Anything. And I gave him credit when he had a nice play. They were just few and far between. Because he's out of shape and because he's lazy. The story of his bumass disappointing failure of a career.

---------- Post added December-17th-2011 at 02:41 PM ----------

I go through this every season. I'll let you know when I'm finally wrong about something.

Edited December 17, 2011 by G.A.C.O.L.B.

[SiCkSoULjA]

A couple of things

1) I'm not saying Wall played well. I'm saying a lot of it wasn't his fault.

2) I can't take serious anyone who thinks Blatche was balling or that he played good defense. That's nothing but a combination of mancrush and delusion. I mean I went back and watched the 1st half and focused entirely on Blatche. I broke it down play by ****ing play. What the ****, am I making **** up? Dispute something I said directly. Anything. And I gave him credit when he had a nice play. They were just few and far between. Because he's out of shape and because he's lazy. The story of his bumass disappointing failure of a career.

Mancrush on Blatche lol yeah right. I am not really a fan of his what made me some what defend him is seeing him being blamed for everything even when he plays well. He came out of high school young and dumb and I think he's finally trying too mature, after all he's only 25. He looked in decent shape too me much better than last year. He's not athletic but he's extremely skilled if he can get his act together. His defense in the first half was stellar sucks that your too blind too at least admit it.

This is only his second year as starter and every year he has been in the league his numbers improve. This off season he tried too be a leader by organizing team work outs. It's nice that Wall and McGee was playing there ass off all Summer but what would have been better is them working out as a team trying too build some chemistry not just playing street ball.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

I noted the exact time he was officially gassed and stopped hustling up and down the floor. It was 8 minutes into the game. And he never really picked it back up again. Not even after he got a breather on the bench.

And this defense of Blatche is so two years ago. I mean seriously, his stats mean ****. He's played on awful teams and SOMEBODY needs to get the numbers. You'll come around--like almost everyone else already has.

---------- Post added December-17th-2011 at 03:18 PM ----------

On a sidenote, Camby might be a good comparison for McGee. I actually recently read a piece that talked about Camby for a bit. It was about Wes Unseld and his MVP award. It talked about how bigmen aren't appreciated the same way as they were back in the day. That Wes and even Bill Russell l would be considered marginal stars at best today; maybe make an all star game every now and then but that's it. And it talked about how if someone like Camby played back then, he would've been a much-appreciated star.

Edited December 17, 2011 by G.A.C.O.L.B.

[Destino]

The wizards offense had one major issue. Too many players that can sometimes create their own shot. Blatche can sometimes do it but settles for a fade. Crawford can sometimes do it and will chuck up garbage trying. Wall isn't a scorer yet but is working on it. McGee is going to try to develop a post game during the season.

I felt really good seeing our guys playing in leagues around the country... But I'm starting to wonder if that was good. Perhaps a summer spent working with shooting coaches working in new moves/ shots would have been better. It's not as flashy but it's what the great players do.

[Going Commando]

Not a big fan of Barnes.

I'd rather have Michael Kidd-Gilcrest.

I like Barnes, but I'd rather have Gilchrist too. He looks fantastic.

[Going Commando]

On a sidenote, Camby might be a good comparison for McGee. I actually recently read a piece that talked about Camby for a bit. It was about Wes Unseld and his MVP award. It talked about how bigmen aren't appreciated the same way as they were back in the day. That Wes and even Bill Russell l would be considered marginal stars at best today; maybe make an all star game every now and then but that's it. And it talked about how if someone like Camby played back then, he would've been a much-appreciated star.

Maybe the novelty of seeing a seven footer in action has worn off.

The big that can shoot has become way more common place when it used to be extremely odd.

The league is moving to the point where the pick and roll and pick and pop is becoming one of the most important and undefendable options to build your offense around.

The perfect big for today's game can run and explode off the floor and finish hard around the rim but also fade out and sink long jumpers with some reliability.

If Derrick Williams had been a couple of inches taller and had a cleaner build with lower body fat % and had a bit more footspeed, then he would have been one of the best big prospects to come along in a while and far more of a commodity. He could finish hard, explode off the floor, great second bounce, use his strength to gain position. But more than that, he could spot up and shoot from range.

As it is, I think he's going to surprise people with how good he is because his skills were so translatable. He was just too doughy and a bit slow looking to really be elite IMO.

If Blake Griffin developed a reliable jump shot and were a little bit taller, he would be the prototype of the ideal modern big. As it is, he's already a force.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Here's the article I was talking about. He says Russell would be considered a Tyson Chandler/Marcus Camby today (the Camby comparison was explored more on the forum I got the article from). A lot about our Wes Unseld and his MVP award so Wiz fans should read it.

http://courtsideanalyst.wordpress.com/2011/05/27/did-they-understand-win-score-in-the-1960s/

[WALEOVECHKIN]

NIck Young accepts his 1 yr $3.7 mil qualifying offer from the Wizards according to Michael Lee and Marc Stein

[Gator Bait]

NIck Young accepts his 1 yr $3.7 mil qualifying offer from the Wizards according to Michael Lee and Marc Stein

good news....he really didn't have a choice. This should motivate him to play the best possible basketball he can this year. Maybe if he tears it up, we can trade him at the deadline for a 1st round pick in this year's loaded draft.

[Destino]

good news....he really didn't have a choice. This should motivate him to play the best possible basketball he can this year. Maybe if he tears it up, we can trade him at the deadline for a 1st round pick in this year's loaded draft.

Trade him, Blatche, vesely, McGee and our 1st for Howard and an ugly contract (which we can amnesty).

Wall

Crawford

Lewis

Booker/singleton

Howard

A man can dream....

Edited December 19, 2011 by Destino

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

Trade him, Blatche, vesely, McGee and our 1st for Howard and an ugly contract (which we can amnesty).

Wall

Crawford

Lewis

Booker/singleton

Howard

A man can dream....

That would be a nightmare from an offensive standpoint.

No consistent outside shooting to open up the floor.

[Destino]

That would be a nightmare from an offensive standpoint.

No consistent outside shooting to open up the floor.

We are already a nightmare offensively. That team would be much better defensively and on the boards at least and all we'd need to do is pick up some shooters in free agency/trades which are much easier to come by than the leagues best center.

You know having witnessed the Paul trade I think that trade scenario isn't all that far fetched if Howard is still with the magic as we approach the deadline. There is value in a lottery pick and by then we should clearly be a lottery team. The ability to offer a lotto pick and take a bad contract might be more appealing to the Magic than a flawed center (Bynum / Lopez) and older more expensive players. It's not going to happen but it wouldn't make as little sense as I thought it would.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Destino

[SiCkSoULjA]

And why the hell would Dwight Howard want too come here? He wants too win a championship and he has a much better chance too do it in Orlando than here. Wizard fans need too lay off the pipe