Wiz vs Denver Game Thread 2/22/13 7PM - Its a win

[jivelikenice]

Went to the game and sat courtside on the baseline. It's gives you a totally different perspective on what you're seeing. I'll go into more detail later but here's my quick take:

1. Beal is a stud...outside of the offense, he stole a ton of rebounds that Faried otherwise would have come up with and got us possession. He has star potential...

2. Wall is like a five tool prospect....there will be ups and downs and it might take a little longer than we hope, but he'll get there. The problem is since we have no go to scorer, when the game tightens he has to make something out of nothing and it gets him in trouble. The defense is definitely accounting for him though and its opening up stuff for the other guys. You can also tell he's a rhythm player. He needs to get warmed up and in the flow and the long stretchs hurt. His touch on his passes is gone and it takes him a few to get the blood flowing again.

3. Néne struggles against length because of his inability to get off the ground. Randy was smart to leave Okafor in and take Néne out in the 4th

4. Refs were AWFUL. Couldn't believe how much contact Denver was allowed while Miller and Lawson got the whistle over & over again.....miller was just throwing his body into retreating players.

[B-easy]

Beal is the real deal, I love the scoring balance on this team. Wall played solid defense and passed great but he needs to cut down on those turnovers asap.

we all know that's not happening.

and that jumper doesn't mean crap for wall. we all thought these jumpers meant he was turning a corner as a rookie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjs5-fpUS4

2:45

Woah, his jumper looked better as a rookie.

[Ruzious]

Went to the game and sat courtside on the baseline. It's gives you a totally different perspective on what you're seeing. I'll go into more detail later but here's my quick take:

1. Beal is a stud...outside of the offense, he stole a ton of rebounds that Faried otherwise would have come up with and got us possession. He has star potential...

He's got a nose for the ball - something you can't teach which is easy to overlook. I think it's a major thing that separates him from Lamb from UConn/Ok City.

2. Wall is like a five tool prospect....there will be ups and downs and it might take a little longer than we hope, but he'll get there. The problem is since we have no go to scorer, when the game tightens he has to make something out of nothing and it gets him in trouble. The defense is definitely accounting for him though and its opening up stuff for the other guys. You can also tell he's a rhythm player. He needs to get warmed up and in the flow and the long stretchs hurt. His touch on his passes is gone and it takes him a few to get the blood flowing again.

Does he hit for power and average? He's got to keep defenses honest. If not, the defense packs it in inside - making everything much more difficult.

3. Néne struggles against length because of his inability to get off the ground. Randy was smart to leave Okafor in and take Néne out in the 4th

I wonder if Nene is going to play today. You're right that length has bothered him more lately.

4. Refs were AWFUL. Couldn't believe how much contact Denver was allowed while Miller and Lawson got the whistle over & over again.....miller was just throwing his body into retreating players.

The one criticism of our guards' D last night was Miller was out-physicalling them - I noticed him picking on Price and Beal for a stretch when they were paired up. An old PG like Miller shouldn't be beating us.

[willbcocks]

I love Beal. Love him. Sent flowers and chocolates to his house after the game.

Wall prides himself on getting back on defense, and he is doing a fantastic job at stopping/slowing down the opponent's fast break. Since that's a key task for a pg, it's helping our defense a lot. It's almost like watching Westbrook though--he does a lot of great things and a lot of terrible things. Even if Wall gets his act together, he'll probably be like that, just with more things in the great direction.

Side note: Iggy's really not that good. He's just invisible so much. It's a career year for Webster, so maybe it's unfair to use this year as a point of comparison, but has Iggy been any more of an impact player this year?

[GhostsOfGil]

Beal is the real deal, I love the scoring balance on this team. Wall played solid defense and passed great but he needs to cut down on those turnovers asap.

we all know that's not happening.

and that jumper doesn't mean crap for wall. we all thought these jumpers meant he was turning a corner as a rookie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPjs5-fpUS4

2:45

Woah, his jumper looked better as a rookie.

It does. His release is so much quicker in this video.

[hands11]

Its a highlight reel. They are only showing him making shoots. Of course they look good.

When he has no hick in his shoot, they look a lot better. Nice and smooth. His entire body is integrated from setting up, to jumping to smoothly releasing.

When he misses and looks bad, mostly of that is not true. Most noticeable is that he will not smoothly release it. He will jump, reach the peek, start back down and then release it. Or he won't be on balance when he jumps. Or sometimes he doesn't jump. But shooting from the outside is just one way of being an effective basketball player. Specially as a PG. He worries about it way to much for right now. He has other things he needs to get better at which are more with in his reach.

For one, he needs to pick a style and stick to it. One or two spots on the floor and just work it over and over and over. Always jump or don't.

KISS

Wall's biggest problem is not talent. Its trying to do to much. He looks better when he focuses on a fewer things. He needs to build a foundation of efficiency. Then slowly add to it. Its a process.

Since the jumper is a category unto itself that needs addressed. Just greatly limit those shots. There is plenty for him to focus on outside of that.

Manage the game.
Passing.
Don't pick up the dribble.
Move the defense with your dribble.
Floaters
Fast breaks
Drives
FT shooting
Defense.

If he just focused on that stuff, he could have a huge impact on the game and do it efficiently. And that would build his confident. Leave the shooting from all over the place as project for another day.

[TheKingOfVa360]

Its a highlight reel. They are only showing him making shoots. Of course they look good.

When he has no hick in his shoot, they look a lot better. Nice and smooth. His entire body is integrated from setting up, to jumping to smoothly releasing.

When he misses and looks bad, mostly of that is not true. Most noticeable is that he will not smoothly release it. He will jump, reach the peek, start back down and then release it. Or he won't be on balance when he jumps. Or sometimes he doesn't jump. But shooting from the outside is just one way of being an effective basketball player. Specially as a PG. He worries about it way to much for right now. He has other things he needs to get better at which are more with in his reach.

For one, he needs to pick a style and stick to it. One or two spots on the floor and just work it over and over and over. Always jump or don't.

KISS

Wall's biggest problem is not talent. Its trying to do to much. He looks better when he focuses on a fewer things. He needs to build a foundation of efficiency. Then slowly add to it. Its a process.

Since the jumper is a category unto itself that needs addressed. Just greatly limit those shots. There is plenty for him to focus on outside of that.

Manage the game.
Passing.
Don't pick up the dribble.
Move the defense with your dribble.
Floaters
Fast breaks
Drives
FT shooting
Defense.

If he just focused on that stuff, he could have a huge impact on the game and do it efficiently. And that would build his confident. Leave the shooting from all over the place as project for another day.

You are so right Hands. Wall tries to do too much and that's why he screws up. He needs to figure out what type of player he is going to be and stick to it. Find his hot spots on the floor, have a few go to moves, and tighten his handle. The jump shot will come in time if he focuses on learning proper mechanics.

[truwizfan4evr]

Why cant we just lose?

[hands11]

You know what. In Walls defense, here is what is different.

He came to a team that needed him to be a lot more then what they need now. That team needed a CP3 or a Rose. This team doesn't. At least right now they don't.

They have more shooter nows. They have more efficient players now. They can play defense now and control the pace better. They have a couple of post options. They have players to share the leadership roles.

They don't need Wall to do it all ... be it all.. SAVE THE TEAM. They don't need that anymore.

All he needs to do is focus on running the team and being efficient. There are players around him that can carry their share of the load.

That is very different then the team he arrived to. One this team, he can be a member without needing to be the savior. It may take a moment for that to sync in for him. On this team, less is more so far as Wall is concerned.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Interesting note, in the 3 game in which we've allowed more than a 100 points since Wall's return, we've won.

[zardsfan]

I enjoyed watching that game. Nice team win.

Despite a very poor start (shooting wise) to Beal's season, if he keeps playing like he has the last 2 months he is going to end up with some very respectable numbers for his rookie season. I hope by the end of the season that his shooting percentages will creep up somewhere near the mid 40% range.

Speaking of mid 40% shooting, Martell Webster (fg%.43 & 3p%.44) is looking like a great off-season pick-up. I don't know much about his past play with Portland & Minny but he has been solid as a Wizard all year. He deserves some props and I hope we can re-sign him..

[hands11]

Just watching the 4th now. So they were up by 18 pts with 10:30 on the clock in the 4th

At least Randy put Okafor back in this time.

Man, nice follow slam by Webster.

Okafor to the rim for the dunk.
Okafor to the rim on a drive. Very nice.

Randy may be learning.

Man, A Miller really just jumps into anyone that is close to him.

Wall with the block
Wall drive to Nene. Very nice.

Miller jumping into Webster again. That twice he did that in the last 3 minutes.

Wall baseline. Nice. Stepped into it. That what he needs to do. Step in and let it fly.

TREVOR FOR 3 - Very nice.

Oh Wall. Getting to sloppy on that cross over.

Nice flip by Beal. He pulled his wrist back so not to land on it. Very smart.

Another playoff team taken down by the Wizards.

[fifthstop]

You know what. In Walls defense, here is what is different.

He came to a team that needed him to be a lot more then what they need now. That team needed a CP3 or a Rose. This team doesn't. At least right now they don't.

It's also because he has physical tools to do things other, lesser, athletes just can't. And those potential feats are many so it's a "of whom much is given, much is expected" situation. Couple that with his intelligence, demonstrated work ethic and terrific attitude and the amazing does not seem so far-fetched.

Happily, it looks like with time he might actually deliver! We just have to chill out and give him the most-needed ingredient: time. We love him so we have high expectations but also because we love him we've got his back while he works.

[dobrojim]

I was interested to note that in 2 games, we really held Faried in check.
Good bigs that put a body on him seem to be effective in slowing him down.
Doesn't bode well for DEN's post-season chances.

Beal is my hero. He's close to our best player now. In 2 years when he's
an old 21 yo vet, watch out.

Nice clutch J by Wall to put the game away. DEN used EJ type defense on that
play (god I hope he misses that shot (no challenge)).

We had no ability to stop penetration.

Iggy isn't very good for DEN considering he's a former AS and National team member.
Maybe because he shoots about like Wall.

I've liked Ty Lawson since UNC. Thought he should have been picked higher. Actually
thought PHL should have taken him ahead of Jrue but that's worked out pretty well for PHL.
Both guys should have been picked higher.

Big props to Price for hitting 4 3s. We won the game by out-boarding them and
on 3 pt shooting. DEN was 4-22 (pitiful), we were 11-24 (nice).

Meka needs to be better at the stripe or teams will go Hack-a-Meck in the 4thQ
of a close game.

[dobrojim]

Nene routinely comes up with huge plays in crunch time. Tonight it was the offensive rebound for Ariza's 3, and then the block on Lawson.

If we hadn't dominated DEN on the boards, you could criticize his lack of rebounds.
But he got as many boards as Manimal. And outscored him.

Good comment though.