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The Official Washington Basketball Thread: Wizards, Mystics etc


BRAVEONAWARPATH

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Dang, has it been that long?  Sometimes it doesn't even feel like the internet has been around that long.

 

This is my favorite thread in the Tailgate.  You get a fun bunch when its hardcore fans of a constant loser.  I come here to post during games instead of RealGM because I trust the eyes of everyone here way more than over there.  Our group isn't nearly as knee jerk and doesn't compete for snarkiest and most original take.

 

Been some attrition unfortunately.  We lost Gator Bait to one of his conspiracy theory posts.  That was like 10% of our community.

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It's just preseason, and our starters haven't always paired off against our opponents'... But our three games came against what could be the top three teams in the conference this season.  And we lost in OT by five to Brooklyn and were in that game most of the night, lost by just two points to Chicago and definitely had a chance to win it late, and blew out the Heat.  That ain't bad.  Signs of progress?

 

It also makes me feel better to see the best of the best in that Heat starting five look like total ass against us in the third quarter.  It's a reminder that nights like that truly do happen to the best.  Not going to feel as anxious when our guys have a rough night.

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Rice has been up and down.  His highs are spectacular and are really kind of tantalizing about the player he could become.  Then his lows can be ugly, like, "did you really just try that?"  I like him.  I think he's more disciplined and complete than Jordan Crawford was.  And he hasn't said all the stupid things Jordan said.  But he's got a similar edge and aggressiveness.  

 

I had no expectations for Rice when we drafted him, now my eyes perk up a little when he gets onto the court.

 

Also loved the way we rebounded tonight.  We're not a great rebounding team, but we did well against the Heat's main guys.  I saw Seraphin going out and attacking the glass and getting physical.  Vesely flew in and snatched an offensive board from TWO Heat players who had position.  Booker rebounded with his usual intensity.  Ariza did a great job cleaning up the glass.  It was really nice.

 

Loved the way John played D.  He was a terror.  Also did a good job facilitating the offense so he made a nice impact even though his shot wasn't there for much of the night.

 

Harrington also made a big contribution off the bench.  Nice having shooters as good as him and Webster in reserve.

 

When Beal plays as great as he did tonight, we can probably hang with anybody.

 

Looking ahead at the rest of the schedule, we've got the Knicks in Baltimore next.  Then we get to play the Pelicans in the Rupp Arena, which should be interesting as a Wall/Davis alumni party.  Then its the Pistons in Detroit, which should be interesting.  And then we end with Cleveland in Cincinnati.  Kind of odd, but I like that we get to test ourselves against most of the best teams in the conference.  I hope we get to see Porter before the end of the preseason.

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Detroit's front court versus ours will be something. I don't know what, but it will be something.

 

An ass-whipping.

 

Lot of rough front courts in the East now.  Brooklyn, Detroit, New York, Chicago, Indy...  Milwaukee is kind of tough too.  Cleveland would be tough if Bynum is healthy but I find that unlikely.  Even Charlotte might be a pain now if Zeller is good.

 

Miami's got a weak group of big men.  Odd, but because of that, I think we actually match up with them a lot better than Chicago.

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I love the 1-3 on this team, well save for the backup pg spot. But...

 

if Okafor doesn't come back or we don't make a move for a solid big man, I can't see us getting enough wins to make the playoffs. The front court is just too weak and doesn't have a lot of depth.

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I love the 1-3 on this team, well save for the backup pg spot. But...

if Okafor doesn't come back or we don't make a move for a solid big man, I can't see us getting enough wins to make the playoffs. The front court is just too weak and doesn't have a lot of depth.

Wizards need to find a way to trade for Asik or Gortat.

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I love the 1-3 on this team, well save for the backup pg spot. But...

 

if Okafor doesn't come back or we don't make a move for a solid big man, I can't see us getting enough wins to make the playoffs. The front court is just too weak and doesn't have a lot of depth.

Okafor isn't going to make or break this season. I'd put him at like the fourth most important player on the team. Maybe fifth if Porter or Martell are good. This year will be all about Wall and Beal. You don't need much in the way of bigs to make the playoffs. Or win back to back championships apparently.

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Wizards need to find a way to trade for Asik or Gortat.

I'm up for it but I wouldn't give up too much for either. Gortat didn't look that good last year and I don't think Asik is anything but a nice role player. Plus Houston can't really use him with Dwight and he wants to be traded. Their leverage is low, and pure defense & rebounding guys are supposed to be cheap. You can get 80% of Asik for a fraction of the cost with a goon like Reggie Evans.

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Asik is young and averaged a double double. In the nba that valuable. Is he a role player? Absolutely. He is also a much better offensive player than Reggie Evans. Gortat depends on Len. If Len looks good enough he'll be traded. I'd give up Okafor for either of them. We're likely going to lose him anyway.

His drop in play could be Nash's absence.

Edited by Destino
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LHkbS0SbQ

 

 

preseason basketball porn 

 

 

Love the move he made around 46 second mark, I'm not sure he tried anything like that last season.

 

 

2:40 Harrington throws his hands up and turns around right after Beal releases, he knew it was good.

Edited by StillUnknown
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Asik is young and averaged a double double. In the nba that valuable. Is he a role player? Absolutely. He is also a much better offensive player than Reggie Evans. Gortat depends on Len. If Len looks good enough he'll be traded. I'd give up Okafor for either of them. We're likely going to lose him anyway.

His drop in play could be Nash's absence.

Yeah I would give up Okafor for them. I don't see much downside to that (though I think we'd be taking back another contract as ballast, which could be problematic). My issue was with seeing a lot of Wizards fans on RealGM proposing things like Nene or Porter for Asik & Gortat, which I thought was entirely too much. Nene is a better player than Asik in every aspect offensively, a comparable defender, and only worse as a rebounder.

Asik isn't a very good offensive player, I'm not sure I agree he's a much better offensive player than Evans. Evans has no offensive game of note, but I don't think Asik does either. I look at his shot charts and they confirm what I thought--his range is 3 feet from the rim and in. He doesn't have a jumper or a real back to the basket game. Basically he just catches the ball at the basket and its dunks or lay ups or put backs or tip ins. He's a 5th option offensively. I think he's a pure defense and rebounding guy. Big body though. Fouls hard. Great defender in Chicago's system. And he's a great rebounder. We could definitely use him and probably play him at least 30 minutes a night. But I wouldn't accept any deal for him that isn't built around either Oak or Ariza.

Oak for Asik plus Terrence Jones or Donatas Montiejunas works in the trade machine. Makes sense for us by giving us a big we will need both this year and next year. Makes sense for Asik because it gets him PT. Makes sense for the Rockets by giving them a huge expiring contract get them most of the way to having near max offer cap space for their third big time FA.

Or Ariza for Asik straight up. They get a useful player and a good sized expiring. We get a useful player on a two year contract we can afford.

Edited by stevemcqueen1
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