The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc

[MonkFan8]

how can you say this when Dion Waiters is playing better than both? *hindsight obvs*

in fact the surprise with Waiters is that he a really good shooter, but struggles a bit finishing around the basket.

Drummond playing well too

its still early days, but some of these other rookies are playing better.

That's why I said without the benefit of hindsight. If you guys are willing to sit here and say you'd have taken Waiters on draft day, more power to you. You'd be in the extreme minority.

The only choices were Beal, Barnes and MAYBE Drummond at 3 for our team.

Again, I don't think anyone is making excuses for Beal. His play has been woeful and, yes, many rookies are playing better than he is. It's tremendously disappointing.

[abdcskins]

People questioned me when I said the Wizards would win 18 games. At this point, I think 14 wins is more like it. Matter of fact, if this team gets double digits in wins I'd be surprised.

This team won't make the playoffs until 2015 at least. And that's being generous. Worst eye for talent ever. We draft like dog feces and make horrible trades and signings.

Edited November 25, 2012 by abdcskins

[StillUnknown]

Worst eye for talent ever. We draft like dog feces and make horrible trades and signings.

It would be one thing if Ernie was good at one and bad at the other, but he's equally terrible at both parts of talent acquisition.

[Going Commando]

That's why I said without the benefit of hindsight. If you guys are willing to sit here and say you'd have taken Waiters on draft day, more power to you. You'd be in the extreme minority.

The only choices were Beal, Barnes and MAYBE Drummond at 3 for our team.

Again, I don't think anyone is making excuses for Beal. His play has been woeful and, yes, many rookies are playing better than he is. It's tremendously disappointing.

T Rob.

[Destino]

That's why I said without the benefit of hindsight. If you guys are willing to sit here and say you'd have taken Waiters on draft day, more power to you. You'd be in the extreme minority.

The only choices were Beal, Barnes and MAYBE Drummond at 3 for our team.

Again, I don't think anyone is making excuses for Beal. His play has been woeful and, yes, many rookies are playing better than he is. It's tremendously disappointing.

I certainly wasn't even thinking about Waiters. I wanted to trade the pick or take Drummond. I liked TRob for a while but I didn't think his ceiling was terribly high. My thought process was winning this season.

TRob might bethe biggest disappointment high in the draft so far. He hasn't really produced and has already gotten himself suspended.

---------- Post added November-25th-2012 at 02:18 PM ----------

People questioned me when I said the Wizards would win 18 games. At this point, I think 14 wins is more like it. Matter of fact, if this team gets double digits in wins I'd be surprised.

This team won't make the playoffs until 2015 at least. And that's being generous. Worst eye for talent ever. We draft like dog feces and make horrible trades and signings.

I think they'll be a lot better with Wall and Nene, once they play their way into shape. Around the end of December.

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

TRob might bethe biggest disappointment high in the draft so far. He hasn't really produced and has already gotten himself suspended.

Absolutely. All the talk was he was the most pro ready, the most mature, most ready to contribute right away in the draft. And he hasn't done ****. Like seriously, he's got future D Leaguer numbers.

[Samuels]

Absolutely. All the talk was he was the most pro ready, the most mature, most ready to contribute right away in the draft. And he hasn't done ****. Like seriously, he's got future D Leaguer numbers.

I did'nt like Beal that high he has a passive game and is basically a jump shooter that does'nt shoot a good percentage except his last 10 game stretch he was fools gold like the Wizards winning streak. The only hope is JWall gets him easy shots. With TRob I said that 1 year of producing coming in his junior year was a huge red flag for me. That guy I don't think he even averaged 15mpg until his junior year if he was a stud he woulda forced his way into PT regardless of the Morris twins.

I still would have taken Barnes if I could'nt trade back.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

I certainly wasn't even thinking about Waiters. I wanted to trade the pick or take Drummond.

this was me as well.

Trade down to get Lamb or draft at #3 Drummond, even tho the Wizards are cursed with big men.

[Hersh]

Maybe people here don't realize how bad 95% of rookies tend to play their 1st season and how little they really contribute. I'm not just talking about non-lottery picks, I'm talking lottery and many top-5 picks as well. For all the talk of how good Waiter's is doing: He's averaging 15 points on 38% shooting with 2 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game. Not exactly lighting it up and that's with having more talent around him than the Wiz.

[Thinking Skins]

I know when Cleveland drafted Waiters, I was shocked and was curious to know why I hadn't really heard his name discussed that high before. I'm not ready to give up on Beal, I really think he has a good game, but just not what we need right now with Wall out. I think he'd play well with Wall because it would force teams to choose to defend inside or outside. Plus, I think he'll be able to improve his handle and his game and that his shots will start to fall as he continues to play and get a feel for the game. What I didn't like about Beal is basically what we're seeing now, he's a good number 2, but not a number 1 on a team. I think a draft pick that high should be able to be a number 1 as well. But I can understand the thinking of some - that we don't want to create two players who need the ball in their hands to be effective. I also like the fact that Beal is doing other things like playing defense, rebounding and getting assists. He still needs to improve his game more, but he's not a bust by any means, at least not in my opinion.

[Going Commando]

Beal's role on the team is undefined right now. That's a major problem for his productivity, but I don't see it being a big problem with his potential.

Some games, Beal is expected to pull the sled for stretches. Some games he's practically left on the bench.

Right now Beal is taking an inordinate amount of threes, almost 6 a game, which is well over half of the attempts he takes per game. That's basically the only way he's consistently contributing, and it's depressing his shooting percentages.

We don't seem to have an offensive system. We don't seem to have clear offensive roles for our players. We don't even have set lineups or rotations. 11 games into the year.

The only kind of rookie that could come in and thrive in our current mess would be an elite ISO ball shot creator. And even then, that wouldn't contribute much to W/Ls.

We need a better coach and we need our PG back. Otherwise all you're going to get from Beal is a lot of 3s and some defense and rebounding.

[Thinking Skins]

I think part of the addition to Beal's threes is Price and his relying on the threes. He seems to set up the offense around the three point game. If you've noticed, since Livingston's been playing we've taken more shots in the paint. That also could be because of Nene though. Beal's shot hasn't necessarily improved over that period, but I think as the offense begins to rely more on inside shots, you'll see Beal driving more inside as a pure effect of running the offense.

[StillUnknown]

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball-washington-wizards/talk/still-no-timetable-walls-return

Back on Sept. 28, when the Wizards announced John Wall had the beginning stages of a stress injury to his left kneecap, team president Ernie Grunfeld estimated his star guard would be sidelined about two months.

As that two-month date approaches, however, Wall has still not practiced with the Wizards and there is no definitive word on when he will.

“I don’t know where we’re at,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said before Saturday night’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats at Verizon Center. “If I could give you a time I would. I have no idea. He has not practiced at all so until that time comes I don’t know what the timetable is going to be.”

Wall has tossed up soft jumpers but has yet to run the floor at Wizards practices.

[Sticksboi05]

This is arguably the most pathetic franchise in sports. Ted is running a Mickey Mouse organization. Either he really is an idiot or he just doesn't care about the Wizards. And for that matter, I hate even typing Wizards, it should be Bullets.

[Destino]

http://wizofawes.com/2012/11/23/ernie-grunfeld-drafting-and-player-development-in-washington/

Based on the table, Grunfeld appears to be a perfectly adequate drafter, siding with conventional wisdom and not taking many risks.

In hindsight, it is easy to say that if Grunfeld was a better GM, the Wizards could be sitting pretty with Kenneth Faried, Kawhi Leonard, and Jae Crowder. However, NBA analysis tends to be incredibly player-centric because all we see are the games, not the behind the scenes planning sessions and practice where much player improvement actually occurs. When viewed in this context, it’s very silly to take the performance that players have after being drafted by one team and just imagine that same performance would be replicated on another. Each of the players mentioned above were drafted into very good situations, with established veterans and good coaching. Kawhi Leonard shooting above his college three-point shooting percentage in the NBA, with longer three pointers and better competition, while John Wall’s jump shot actually gets worse is a very tangible and clear example where a coaching deficiency seems to be the only explanation for the difference in talent development.

And that might be the most damning thing against Grunfeld: he has failed to create an environment that is conducive to the development of young talent. It might make sense if even two or three of the Wizards young prospects were underachieving. But so far, it’s been all of them. Maybe it’s the lack of locker room veterans – something that Grunfeld has started to address in recent months. Maybe it’s lack of clearly defined roles for most of the young players on the team. Maybe it’s the coaching. It’s most likely a combination of all of those factors and some others ones that I can’t think of. Whatever it is, it’s certainly enough for me to call for Grunfeld’s head.

The GM of a basketball team has a lot of important responsibilities. The responsibilities that get the most coverage are the ones that involve players. But maybe the most important responsibilities are the construction of a coaching staff. So maybe before the next time we watch a young Wizard make a boneheaded play and curse Grunfeld for not drafting someone else, we instead should curse Grunfeld for not developing that player right.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Destino

[Going Commando]

There can be no doubt that almost any player that comes here, vet or rookie, would get worse.

We don't even have a rotation or an offensive system. What in the hell did we do this offseason if we don't even have those two basic things? Could you ever imagine Doc Rivers or Rick Carlisle being in that kind of predicament?

Randy is a ridiculous coach. He's completely out of his depth here. A team like ours needs as strong a coach as possible and we've got one of the worst in the league.

[Skinz4Life12]

wow, 0-11 whats new Wizards?

[Thinking Skins]

I was just looking at a few other players to see how they did in their first 11 games of their rookie years. I only selected a few players since I couldn't quite do a search function on the database. But these are some numbers of some recognizable players through 11 games.

Bradley Beal - .328, 51 threes

Jamal Crawford - .209, 12 threes

Ben Gordan - .356, 40 threes

Randy Foye - .333, 10 threes

Rudy Gay - .357, 18 threes

James Harden - .333, 25 threes

Notice how many 3's Beal takes in comparison to others. I'd say he should take more inside shots, but his 3 point percentage is higher than his inside percentage. But it seems like its a coaching thing or a thing that Beal's just not getting enough good looks - or that he has poor decision making (worse than Jordan Crawford?). But each of these players improved from their "struggling" rookie years to become contributors.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Thinking Skins

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

This is the game the Wizards win just because it makes absolutely no sense at all.

[Going Commando]

Notice how many 3's Beal takes in comparison to others. I'd say he should take more inside shots, but his 3 point percentage is higher than his inside percentage. But it seems like its a coaching thing or a thing that Beal's just not getting enough good looks - or that he has poor decision making (worse than Jordan Crawford?). But each of these players improved from their "struggling" rookie years to become contributors.

He takes 3s by the design of the offense, not poor shot selection. He's a smart shot taker.

He should be getting more inside looks but the reason his FG % is slightly lower than his 3 PT % is because the only other shots he takes are a couple of long 2s where he's just inside the line (coming off the same plays they run to get him 3 pt attempts) and heavily contested shots around the bucket where he's trying to draw fouls. And since 60% of his attempts are 3s, his FG% is going to basically be the same as his 3 pt %.

He doesn't get many shots coming off drives, coming from a nice mid range shot off a step back or pull up, and he doesn't get any looks in transition or on cuts to the basket.

We're last in PPG. Last in FG%. Third from last in 3 PT %.

Basically we have no offensive system and no roles on offense for any of our players. We have no go to form of offense. None of our lineups have well developed chemistry. Randy is an awful coach.

We're 15th in fast break points, down from third last season. We're 8th in forcing turnovers and 8th in steals. We have guards that can rebound and jump start the break. We have a young, energetic, athletic team. Given all that, and since we have no half court offense, wouldn't it make sense to run a relentless fast break and play the fastest tempo in the league? Watch Denver play and it's clear that's exactly how we should be playing too.

It's just one more way Randy is messing up IMO.

[Thinking Skins]

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2012/11/26/3687686/a-tale-of-two-rookies-michael-kidd-gilchrist-and-bradley-beal

The funny thing about Beal's problems is that they're entirely a result of a lack of confidence. If you look solely at the parts of his game that aren't tied to his jump shot, he's been very solid this year. Coming out of college, he was projected to be a good rebounder, solid passer and decent defender who could block a surprising number of shots for a 6'3 guard. Through 11 games, he's averaging 4.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 0.8 blocks per 36 minutes and has been less torchable than a typical rookie perimeter defender. He's even finishing well at the basket, having made a very solid 58 percent of his shots at the rim.

[SuperBash]

The only reason I think Beal is missing outside shots is because he just isn't comfortable yet. He's a 19 year old kid who will find his shot. It should be the least of the Wizards worries. It's been 11 damn games and some people are already alluding to him being a bust, ridiculous.

[Sticksboi05]

Beal is the least of our problems. Our problems stem from people not even touching the ball.

[Hersh]

http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball-washington-wizards/talk/still-no-timetable-walls-return

This should be the scariest of the season so far for all Wiz fans. Our still very young star player already having knee problems.

[Destino]

You don't float sideways on a jump shot because you lack confidence. Saying that Beal's problems are limited to his lack of confidence is ridiculous. He's not a finished product. People wanted to believe he was nearly NBA ready but he's clearly not. I think Beal has the raw ability to be a player for us but the team, coaches and GM, aren't capable of refining raw talent into very much. When he's decided to be aggressive he's show that he can get to the line or get to the basket. Once Ted gets it through his thick skull that he has to fire the lead clown if he wants to end this circus things will improve. Beal will get better and the team will get better as well. He deserves a staff that can help him grow as a professional and he isn't the only one.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Destino