RealGM

AFM wrote:No, they are the bobcats. Maybe you are thinking about the Mavericks.

dobrojim wrote:12 games until the AS break. I wonder how far back in the loss
column we'll be then.

BTW- BOS is currently in 8th. They currently have 10 fewer losses than
we do.

Upper Decker wrote:For the Wiz to even think about the P word they'll need to do the following before the AS-Break:

Sweep the next 5: @ utah, minny, chicago, sacramento, @phily
Go 500 over the following 4: @Mem, @SAS, LAC, and NYK.
Sweep the last 3: Brooklyn, @Mil, @Det.

Going in the AS-Break at 19-32 is incredibly unlikely and still means they've got a massive hill to climb.

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:I don't about them but I think about pizza a lot.

Oh, that's not the P word you meant is it Upper Decker?

tontoz wrote:

AFM wrote:No, they are the bobcats. Maybe you are thinking about the Mavericks.

No chance he got that. Your avy fits your posts perfectly btw.

Re: Wiz trade Shard and 2nd rounder for Okafor and Ariza

Post on Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:09 am...

Whatever you think of the deal right now, and whatever it does for our long term prospects, capspace and other phantoms-- when I squint at it I foresee that fans on this board and in the stands are really going to come to appreciate our squad next year. They'll prove pretty easy to cheer for. And I see significantly hopeful signs that they will surprise in their results, significantly outperforming the dismal projections made by many in this thread.

This team is going to be a fierce deep tough forceful strong bastard of a defensive monster. Fast, tireless, active, exhausting fast-break power-dunking finisher on offense. And in the half court I think the team will prove a revelation, earning grudging admission and appreciation that it's not as bad as the night terrors suggested.

What do you need for a successful fast break team: First you have to have the ball. And this begins with defense. Tough to run on a made basket and even then you're only keeping even with the opponent if you trade back and forth. So you have to stop the opponent, then secure the rebound.

This team has been awful in both regards. Late season however simply by jettisoning JaVale, before Nene joined the team even, we began to show an uptick in our defensive habits and improved interior dEFG%. Pick and roll defense, interior lane clogging, etc all improved by degrees. Adding Nene (when healthy) only improved the effect. Our late season run was fueled by defensive stops, detering interior attack with wideload minsters in the paint, even forcing 24-second violations.

However, our defensive rebounding has been notoriously awful for years, and the big Brazilian himself has never been much of a defensive boardsman for all his brawn.

This fact is deceptive though, since plus/minus stats show that whatever his personal box score tally the team generally improves their defensive rebounding when Nene is on court. That is: he boxes out, he seals his man from the lane, and wideload that he is he'll often screen two opponents to allow his interior ally to snatch the pill.

Still, playing next to him we had the raw but developing ex-rookie Kevin Seraphin, who himself posted similarly aenemic board totals in his short career, both here and overseas. Infact if anything there was a slight suggestion that his game was significantly similar to Nene in improving the board work of his teammates, though the effect wasn't as pronounced.

But here in tangent to the pair we add a player who, while suffering a leg tweak this year (injury history is not common in his career, posting back to back to back 82 game seasons before that) and taking a slight hit in his per40 boardwork in the shortened season, in his career has proved a rock-steady consistent double double machine, despite playing somewhat out of position as an undersized athletic center.

In rebounding, Okafor is the ideal complement to both Nene and Ksera. Active in pursuit of the ball, in position and in motion, calculates trajectory, uses speed anticipation and athleticism to outwork opponents and chase down bounces even out of position. Remember being startled at the rebounding acumen of Antawn Jamison, well picture that same skill with more muscle and moxie and no tendency towards any Ole' flinching from contact. You force a miss, Meka will go get it.

Good, we got the ball.

Next thing you need for an uptempo squad is the willingness to run hard, every possession. Recall how breathless we were at the possibility that JaVale would help our team earn the rep as the fastest end-to-end squad in the league. His speed at his size ought to have seen opponents huffing dust chasing after our big boy in the middle.

Except he wouldn't run. Unless of course he had the ball in his hands and could dribble the length of the court. He had a kick-the-cat rage-inducing tendency to sorta lazily float around on court until he felt he could star. Now it turns out some part of that was conditioning and exercise induced asthma and swollen ovaries and I don't know whatever excuse you want to come up with for him. Laziness. No matter what he never proved able to help the team much in this regard. Low IQ, poor situation recognition, lame lack of a competitive nature, disinterest, whatever. He wanted to earn style points from the judges more than respect from his peers and opponents.

Now let me say this: I've followed Meka since he was prospect for UConn. He is a 6' 10" center (maybe) in a league that requires 7 footers at that position. But has been able to play the position because he is the hardest-working best-conditioned player in the spot since Alonzo Mourning. He's in the weight room at dawn on game day, leastways he was at UConn. I was concerned for him coming into the league because he already had back spasms from how hard he worked, figured he was an injury risk,. But despite being undersized for the 5-spot he proved solidly durable, constantly tuning his body to meet the challenge. Playing undersized, yes, but active enough to make up the difference. He will run. Every minute he earns, he'll work.

An uptempo team takes its toll on the bigs most of all. For all the hair tearing angst on here at the supposed redundancy of adding another undersized Big many on this board fail to recognize the weapon that a deep frontcourt bench can prove to be. Especially for an uptempo squad. With this team we can afford to play 48+ minutes, 82+ games of run-them-to-death go! go! go! hyperactive basketball, without grinding our big men into the grave. Starter, finisher, bench, whatever, I suspect the roles of our 3 Bigs will alter depending on their condition and play. 'Interchangeable' is no epithet. We can bring bruisers off the bench in barrage after barrage, substituting freely, and when the opponent flags we can downshift and floor it, bringing even faster players like Booker and Vesely. Whatever he match-ups suggest.

And on defense, we can feel free to never be namby pamby on the inside, never allow a lay-up without a contusion. Nobody gets to nurse their 6 fouls, because we've got an even bigger and stronger guy on the bench behind him well rested and champing at the bit.

This team is going to be a nightmare to play defensively. No single longarmed shot swatter to evade (Seraphin has an aptitude there, despite lesser height) but whenever you turn the corner to drive the lane there will be an ogre in your path blocking you, bumping you with his belly putting, his armpit in your face. And yes, quite possibly hacking at you with clubbing forearms. We may not earn respect in the nationwide media, but teams will hate to face us. Trevor Ariza will be an excellent defensive role-model for JWall or even MKG if he's the best available.

DCZards wrote:Toot on, doc. You have a right to. I remember thinking you had nailed it on Okafor when you first posted it. Love the way the African warrior is boarding and defending. He and the Big Brazilian really complement each other.

Emeka Okafor had 15 points and 16 rebounds, helping the Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 86-73 on Saturday night for their seventh victory in the last 10 games.

John Wall and Nene each scored 16 points for Washington, which has won consecutive games for the second time this season. The Wizards have won five straight at home for the first time in five years.

We are the team we thought we were supposed to be," Okafor said.

The run began before Wall returned from a left knee injury, and now the injury-riddled team is healthy again. ''We have back all the players. There is our team,'' Nene said. "We gonna shut up people's mouths. That's what we're going to do".'

AFM wrote:In the past 2 weeks we have seen Nene absolutely destroy Griffin and Boozer. Minus his dead against Utah, he is looking elite out there. And don't even get me started on Okafor. Someone must have slipped an energy drink into his diet. He's getting boards like his life depends on it. Going HAM in the paint.