Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread

[hands11]

http://dc.sbnation.com/2013/1/10/385692 ... zards-2013

Nene is producing at least as well as the majority of last year's all-star forwards and centers, despite not having a secondary playmaker or shotmaker to draw defenses' attention.

Washington has been 18.8 points per 48 minutes better when Nene has been on the court this year
The reason the team gets so much better isn't that complicated. Not only does Nene play very well as an individual on both ends of the court, he's also an excellent playmaker who allows Washington's bevy of spot up shooters and garbage bucket specialists play to their strengths. Someone like Martell Webster has a lot of value when he's spotting up in the corners and focusing his energy on playing good positional defense. When he's forced to create shots for himself or other players off the dribble? Not so much.

Washington will start winning enough games to get Nene some recognition around the league. Last year's Wizards were outscored by an average of 4.8 points per 48 minutes. When Nene and Wall played together? Washington outscored their opponents by 10.4 points per 48 minutes. It'll be interesting to see if that keeps up.

Wall. Nene. Beal. It's going to be fun to finally see all three along with the defensive, running support cast.

[hands11]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YypHCF_HhEE[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4A7QO2a3LI[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNv3H_QGrd4[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdNNwWdnUHE[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIVRJcKP87o[/youtube]

[hands11]

http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/1/11/3 ... -timetable

Buckle up Wiz fans. Here we go.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzCsDVfPQqk[/youtube]


Nene says, Wall is fast. Big smiles from Nene. Seems really happy to play tomorrow.

http://www.nba.com/wizards/video/2013/0 ... mv-2351616

Only MEM has beat both Miami and OKC. And the Wiz beat OKC without Wall, Crawford and Nene
Mem is .697 at 23-10

http://www.nba.com/wizards/video/2013/0 ... ov-2351352
Randy is giddy happy.

[AFM]

Love your optimism, hands. You and nate balance each other out perfectly.

[nate33]

Love your optimism, hands. You and nate balance each other out perfectly.

What's sad is I used to be one of the more optimistic people on this board. But the Wizards have finally broken me.

[hands11]

do you believe

Best team in the league.

Beat the #1 team twice and back to backs against the #1 and #9

Next up. Orlando and the first 3 game win streak.

[hands11]

Take a big old drink of it.

Its sweet.

29 pts win over Orlando baby.

3-0

Thats a winning streak.

Oh, and Ves sends his love.

[sfam]

You did call it, Hands!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Take a big old drink of it.

Its sweet.

29 pts win over Orlando baby.

3-0

Thats a winning streak.

Oh, and Ves sends his love.

Right now they're playing like Chicago did with a healthy Derrick Rose. Defenders are playing well and there is suddenly a lot of depth. If Price, Ariza, Temple, and Okafor keep this up; and the young guys keep playing with confidence, they'll keep winning.

[barelyawake]

I seem to remember saying a million times that our team is built around a star point guard slashing and distributing, and that our Achilles heal is that most of our players can't create their own shot. With Wall, our players get that extra step to convert their shots. And our young players are better able to develop and gain confidence from it. All of the above was predictable when thinking in terms of team dynamics versus individual statistics.

That said, we still need a high draft pick to reach our highest potential.

[hands11]

LET'S GO HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LETS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just the village idiot brother.

Better go looking for answers elsewhere.


http://www.nba.com/wizards/video/2013/0 ... mv-2355457

These guys are finally having fun and they enjoy playing together. That should not go undervalued.

PS
You think Wall is helping Vesely's game. Just watch what he does for Kevin. Kevin's weakest part of his game is getting to the rim. He already has a post game and mid range. Now Wall is going to help him learn to finish at the rim more but leading him to the basket. Once he gets a taste of that. Maybe Mickie will like it.

Wall puts Ves on the map. Ves need Wall in order to score. But what he can do for Kevin should make him a legit starter. In time.

Can't wait till they add Crawford to the mix. I have faith he will try to mix in now that there are others to help with the scoring. Looking forward to some amazing passes from him. And hopefully he gets some calls when he drives now that Wall gives the team some legitimacy.

[doclinkin]

First you win, then you get good.

As we get healthy it's nice to see the squad playing as predicted and hoped for back when a few of us were optimistic about the season and happy about the Okariza trade. Granted one should never underestimate the injury vortex round these here parts. The fact that Oke was recovering from a knee injury that forced him to miss the final ~40 games in the lock-out shortened season should have suggested he was going to take some time to round into game shape, at the very least. Good to see him recovering his strength. But player combo numbers show hints that the Oke-Nene pairing lives up to positive expectations. http://www.82games.com/1213/1213WAS2.HTM

[ ^^^ Actually the [blank]-Beal-Webster-Nene-[blank] combo posts some of our only winning match-ups. Makes sense since B-Real and 'Tell both evince a bit of outside shooting and Nene is a solid passer, we get good spacing. Tough to say if this carries over with the addition of John to the line-up since an additional outside shooter really gives more room to operate underneath for whichever low-post Big shares the court with them. Suggests we look at stretch-capable 4/5's to allow John to drive and kick. Retaining 'Tell might not be a bad idea, but we should look at what he does well and seek those qualities in any replacement/supplemental we add SF at that spot: 3pt shooting and athleticism]

I expect new trends to emerge as Wall gets more time on the floor. Uptempo players will score more (Vesely and Ariza emerging here). Still with key starters out or limited the Wiz have used the time to experiment with their bench players and see who fits. Granted the depth of same-level frontcourt players has meant one or the other has gotten pinched from playing time (Jan first, now Csing) it also has meant there is little difference between bench and starters. Not necessarily a good thing but at least the coaching staff has had a chance to get minutes to see who works better out there. A side benefit can be shown in the blow-out win over ORL earning ~20+ mins for 10 players.

I maintain that some part of the slow timetable for recovery for the starters has been a deliberate caution by the front office. Teddy has made clear his belief that top draft picks are the only way to win a championship is with lucky picks (in the right year) added to a base culture of defense and hard work. Veteran role players balance out your top talent. But with unlucky bounces in the lotto you add solid players like BReal but not the transcendent talent needed to contend at the highest level. Suck long and suck lucky is the only plan, the rest is about massaging expectations. Booker was recently quoted as saying he would have been back sooner but the caution of the training staff encouraged him to take his time and not play hurt but only come back at 100%. Wittman has made noises about having to be careful to limit players minutes (Nene, Wall) and not focus on immediate wins as the only goal. Teddy intimated early on that aside from top franchise star talent he wants players who will fight hard and be easy to root for even while they are not necessarily winning. If we have a built in injury excuse to suck into high talent, then take advantage of it.

The majority of next season ticket plans and renewals are sold at the end of the current season, and then in the offseason. If we finish up with a strong late push from a healthy squad (as usual) and then add another high draft pick that people are excited about, well now, you can always sell hope if not success. Okay there may be no clear cut franchise talent in the top lotto. Oh well, still gives you more bites at the apple.

One benefit (and possible cause) to sucking is that it costs little to give experience to key young players. It should speak clearly where we are as a team that our leading player in minutes per game is our 19 year old rookie 2-guard. Beal is playing over 30 minutes a game. And much like in college where he came on strong late he has needed the minutes in order to get comfortable and acclimated. Clearly he's learning what he can and cannot do at this level. Love to see his confidence grow as he figures it out.

Are we there yet? No son, but we'll stop at the next rest stop if you need to pee. But we can begin to see a few hints and intimations of what else we might like to add in order to improve. I do appreciate the defense we've been able to muster, should be interesting to see how and where we can add a bit of scoring to supplement that without losing the focus on it. In my draft hunting or eyeballing available players (trade or elsewhere) it makes me search for frontcourt players who both hit from outside and rebound on the interior (SF and C especially). I like the passing we get from many on our current roster (especially when shotjacker Crawford is out...) so I'll keep my eye out for players who can pass too, regardless of position they play.

Now if only we could get a Phoenix-style next level medical/training staff, and our own D-League affiliate, I'd be actually hopeful if not confident in our future.

[closg00]

I have taken a small sip, but will consume gallons if we do well during this West Coast trip. While Nene is good, I think we lack length and strength in our front court.

[leswizards]

Everytime I think I am out, they pull me back in.

[closg00]

Everytime I think I am out, they pull me back in.

Good one. Caution though, a return to 500 ball (potentially) should not be confused with a serious attempt to build for a championship, many on the board stated that at the beginning of the season. I don't think we should settle for anything less than that.

[hands11]

I have taken a small sip, but will consume gallons if we do well during this West Coast trip. While Nene is good, I think we lack length and strength in our front court.

They should consider bringing back Barron. We need a 7-0 player like that.

He would be perfect. But not a likely move right now.

Ves is getting those minutes and he is tall. He just isn't the rebounder Barron was. But he does need the positive experience. I think if we get another lead like that we will see Ves try a few outside shots. Right now he is just enjoying being more productive doing what he knows.

Another option is Cook who can shoot from outside.

I know neither is a good long term solution but both can live with being bench players and they know the team and organization.

Big game coming up against SAC. Gotta keep this thing rolling so they have momentum going into Denver.

If they get both, they will be set up nicely for the LAC game.

[leswizards]

Good one. Caution though, a return to 500 ball (potentially) should not be confused with a serious attempt to build for a championship, many on the board stated that at the beginning of the season. I don't think we should settle for anything less than that.

I agree. Right now a lot of fans are thinking if only the Wizards hadn't been injured to start the season, what might have been. I don't mind the fans having that attitude, but it irritates me that ownership has adopted that attitude as well.

I wish that the ownership's attitude was what might have been if only the Wizards had acquired a back up PG capable of giving the team quality minutes while Wall was out, if the team hadn't invested $20 million and a 2nd round draft pick in 2 players who are incapable of carrying the team through injuries, if the team had made sure that their 3 best young front court prospects would not regress all at the same time when the team needed them the most, and if they could have done more to help their new SG get off to a faster start.

[leswizards]

This season could go down in history as the worst season ever. The team starts 4-28 to virtually eliminate any chance of the playoffs, then goes 37-13 to finish the season at 41-41, and then misses the playoffs because there are 8 teams in the east with better records, meaning the Wizards end up getting the worst player in the lottery.

[Nivek]

This season could go down in history as the worst season ever. The team starts 4-28 to virtually eliminate any chance of the playoffs, then goes 37-13 to finish the season at 41-41, and then misses the playoffs because there are 8 teams in the east with better records, meaning the Wizards end up getting the worst player in the lottery.

This post could come only from a Wizards fan. It somehow combines delusional optimism with soul-crushing pessimism.

This belongs in the HoF.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

This season could go down in history as the worst season ever. The team starts 4-28 to virtually eliminate any chance of the playoffs, then goes 37-13 to finish the season at 41-41, and then misses the playoffs because there are 8 teams in the east with better records, meaning the Wizards end up getting the worst player in the lottery.

This post could come only from a Wizards fan. It somehow combines delusional optimism with soul-crushing pessimism.

This belongs in the HoF.

+1

It shows you really do know the Wizards, leswizards. The more I look at the roster with everyone healthy the more I see … wins coming, and at the worst time.

If Washington starts getting the points in the paint they've been missing; they're going to jump all the way up from scoring 90 a game to regularly scoring 95 to 100 a game. They only give up 96 a game now and that might go down with Ariza healthy, Beal improving, Temple providing solid defense off the bench, and Wall running the legs off of opponents. Meanwhile, as doclinkin pointed out Okafor seems to be rounding into form from having an injury last season himself. The Wizards are already 2nd in the NBA in giving up the fewest points in the paint. They've got young players with much energy and enthusiasm for defense.

I say those things to say that this west coast trip is going to unveil what to expect moving forward with the Wizards. If they string more wins than losses and look impressive playing tough teams then something ridiculous like finishing 39-43 (35-15 from start) and making the playoffs is possible. Revising and assuming they stay healthy, I really don't see them doing that, but I CAN see them getting near 30 wins plus or minus 3 games. The other day I said 30-52 was best case but I think that was conservative. (If they get Cousins, then yes, 37-13 is definitely possible!)

leswizards, if you think mediocrity and an eighth seed would be the worst thing, I think that might not be the case. The end game in that case is TRADE FOR PICKS with a team like Phoenix. There are some dynamic players in the picks #15-30. We miss out on the superstars for sure, but I think trading for stars and stockpiling good to great players is the way to go.