Wizards @ Kings - 01/16/13 10:00PM EST

[montestewart]

Jimmer's giving 'em good minutes - and he hasn't exactly been swiss cheese on defense, either.

+1

Jimmer looked WAY better than when we last saw him in DC.
He was doing an excellent job moving with/without the ball.
I did breath a huge sigh of relief when he bricked the most
open shot he had all night. Jimmer could end up being kind
of like JJ Redick in being a great college player/shooter
that takes 3-5 years to really learn to play in the NBA.

His D surprised me. He's OK at staying in front of and harassing taller players. Redick's got more height, but I can see the comparison.

[Ruzious]

Cousins had a 2-3 minute stretch in the 1st half where he was just killing the Kings. Kept jacking up 18 footers that had not a prayer of going in. That guy has MONSTER talent, but he could be sooooooo much better if he'd stop taking those jack-assed shots and do a better job of valuing possessions.

fish -- BulletsForever's tweet and your comment reminds me of something Dean Oliver told me. Namely that when developing young players you want to emphasize and evaluate the process over the outcome. If you believe the player is talented (like, say, Beal), you don't worry much about him missing 3pt shots at first -- you want him focusing on making the right decisions about when to shoot. Over time, his talent is such that IF he's making the right decisions, the right results will come.

With Seraphin, they have a problem in the process. He continues shooting those sh*t shots. Even if he makes 3-4 in a row, they're still bad shots. Even bad shooters will make a few in a row if they shoot it enough. A guy makes 3 in a row and starts thinking he's "hot." But, when it emboldens him to take MORE bad shots, it ends up hurting the team and hurting him, ultimately.

I don't know what the coaching staff is telling Seraphin, but they need to find a way to get him back in the paint.

Reminds me of what I was screaming about Dray's development some 7 years ago. I wanted rules for him. You must:

(1) Rebound and run the floor hard -- always. If you can't you're coming out
(2) take only 2 types of shots -- (1) at the rim and (2) mid range jumpers off the pass. Nothing off the dribble, no ISO's. Just the Antoine Carr/PJ Brown jumpers
(3) no dribbling. If you put it on the floor more than once off a defensive rebound, or go behind your back in the half court, you;re coming out.

But instead, they were just like "hey look, this guy is 6'11 and can dribble behind his back and then make a fadeaway." And since they didn't curb all that silliness, he never got good at the important stuff, lost his way, and the fans turned on him.

And what makes it more frustrating is - Seraphin was on the right track at the end of last season. Offensively, all he had to do was to build on his repertoir of inside moves and play to contact more - to become a very effective offensive player. But now he's primarily a low percentage perimeter jump shooter. What process caused that change? The Wiz front office and coaching staff have to be accountable here. I see a lot Whitman scowling and yelling at Seraphin. Well, that hasn't worked, and Seraphin has played the same way pretty much every game this season. There's a breakdown that needs to be corrected.

[dobrojim]

Agreed. KS's biggest current flaw to my eye is his inability
to react to double teams.

But I also agree with Nivek's premise in an earlier post...
reminded me of what an opp player once said about the
Bullet's Cliff Robinson. If he's hot early, you don't worry
so much because the odds will eventually catch up with him.

we need to get some Ws on the road. All the happy talk
after 3 straight ignored the fact that we've only won once
on the road. That said, ORL turned around and beat a good
team last night (IND?) and ATL also won (maybe by suspending
Josh Smith's dumb@ss).

Doubt we'll beat LAC, but the wouldn't be shocked to see us
win any of the other road games (prob not DEN). They are
playing much better and Beal is a stud.

[jivelikenice]

Also true. The point is, people are scapegoating Seraphin as the worst big in history, when instead, if Wall made 2 for 2 FT's, everyone would be celebrating how great the entire team played in a dramatic road victory

Not true Nate...The game shouldn't have come down to the final possession.

[DCZards]

If Wall made the free throws, we would have won.

Capt Obvious says in a 1 point loss there are MANY individual plays
that one might point to and say 'if only...'

mine is when Price had a rebound and fell under SAC's basket. They should have
called a quick timeout. Instead SAC got a 2 pt FG on the play.

Or the point in the game when we gave up back2back bunnies by losing
court balance.

There are a lot of plays during the course of a game that you can point to as the reason(s) a team lost. You hit on the three that come to mind for me as well. Webster (I think it was Webster and not Price) falling down under the basket with a rebound and then having a Sac player take the ball from him for a layup; and the back2back easy buckets they got when the Zards D didn't get back. Those plays really hurt.

[dobrojim]

yup

it's the plays you're SUPPOSED to make or not let happen
against you that hurt the most.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

If Wall made the free throws, we would have won.

Capt Obvious says in a 1 point loss there are MANY individual plays
that one might point to and say 'if only...'

mine is when Price had a rebound and fell under SAC's basket. They should have
called a quick timeout. Instead SAC got a 2 pt FG on the play.

Or the point in the game when we gave up back2back bunnies by losing
court balance.

There are a lot of plays during the course of a game that you can point to as the reason(s) a team lost. You hit on the three that come to mind for me as well. Webster (I think it was Webster and not Price) falling down under the basket with a rebound and then having a Sac player take the ball from him for a layup; and the back2back easy buckets they got when the Zards D didn't get back. Those plays really hurt.

Yeah that play was frustrating, should of called time out.

Also was maddening watching it and Seraphin kept taking those shots at the end. He was on fire for a while at the beginning but had since cooled a bit. But if he gets it he's shooting, especially if a double team comes at him he's going up with it cause he doesn't know what else to do. Etan Thomas used to do the same thing, but at least Seraphin actually has some shooting ability.

It's not so much him shooting in that situation, but each time he was well defended, and there was time on the clock to move the ball for a better shot.

[GhostsOfGil]

I don't mind those shots. Kevin shoots .580 eFG% on close range shots so they were high percentage looks. What irked me was when he froze Beal out of 2 KEY possessions. As soon as he gets the ball in the post, he becomes a black hole and only looks to pass if he's avoiding a turnover.

[Jay81]

usually i want to lose for the tank but for some reason this one hurt...i really wanted to be 4-0 since john wall returned although kevin broom has said that wizards are not a better team with wall on the floor right now

[Nivek]

usually i want to lose for the tank but for some reason this one hurt...i really wanted to be 4-0 since john wall returned although kevin broom has said that wizards are not a better team with wall on the floor right now

Way to misquote me.

Wizards aren't better on OFFENSE with Wall on the floor.

Yet.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Jimmer's giving 'em good minutes - and he hasn't exactly been swiss cheese on defense, either.

+1

Jimmer looked WAY better than when we last saw him in DC.
He was doing an excellent job moving with/without the ball.
I did breath a huge sigh of relief when he bricked the most
open shot he had all night. Jimmer could end up being kind
of like JJ Redick in being a great college player/shooter
that takes 3-5 years to really learn to play in the NBA.

The trade I hoped for was Crawford for Jimmer, back when Crawford had 30-something scoring nights and Jimmer looked like a stiff.

That's not happening now, if it was possible then. Jimmer is much-improved.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

CCJ, you misunderstand...I'd want Cousins, but I wouldn't give up the world for him. I would deal the lotto pick and young pieces like Seraphin and Crawford for Lamarcus or Kevin Love, but I wouldn't do it for DMC.

I should have obeyed the 24-hour rule, Ruz.

jivelikenice, when you typed "I want know part of Cousins on the team" that must have been in frustration, just like in the past my typing "John Wall should be traded".

[payitforward]

I'm traveling and was unable to see the game. Obviously, Beal had a monster outing -- how great to see that!

This team is playing a lot better -- how great to see that too!

[tontoz]

I'm traveling and was unable to see the game. Obviously, Beal had a monster outing -- how great to see that!

This team is playing a lot better -- how great to see that too!

I watched the game yesterday and Beal had the quietest 26/6 game you will ever see, sort of the opposit of Crawford. Crawford expends a lot of energy to make plays but Beal just took what was there, never forced anything and just made the right plays. He didn't hold the ball or dribble excessively.

His release on 3s was pretty quick too.

[dobrojim]

and he had 26 pts on 14 shots AND 6 assists