Official Thread - Wizards at Heat (10/29/14)

[dobrojim]

protect the ball, set up your scorers, defend, score

in more or less that order (top 3 are nearly interchangeable)

[dlts20]

Wall needs to develop more of a scorer's mentality the way I see it. His passing is nice, but his real damage came when he was looking to score. His finishes around the rim and with contact were ridiculous and his midrange pull-up jumper seems like a solid weapon for him at this point

Just the opposite is true. Wall's midrange shot is one of his two major weaknesses (the other is turnovers). Wall shoots way too many 2 point jumpers and shoots them poorly.

Last season Wall was 6th in the NBA in shot attempts from 10-22 feet. He shot them at 36.6%. Only 1 player in the top 50 in attempts shot them worse then Wall. Josh Smith

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... rder_by=fg

I hope he continues to focus more on playmaking and less on scoring. He isn't that good of a scorer.

i disagree. I think we are better when he has a scorers mentality. We always win more when he's like that and he's better at it then you give him credit for. The system telling him to shoot long 2's and him playing with 2 low post bigs is the bigger problem in that regard

[DWadeno3]

Wall needs to develop more of a scorer's mentality the way I see it. His passing is nice, but his real damage came when he was looking to score. His finishes around the rim and with contact were ridiculous and his midrange pull-up jumper seems like a solid weapon for him at this point

Just the opposite is true. Wall's midrange shot is one of his two major weaknesses (the other is turnovers). Wall shoots way too many 2 point jumpers and shoots them poorly.

Last season Wall was 6th in the NBA in shot attempts from 10-22 feet. He shot them at 36.6%. Only 1 player in the top 50 in attempts shot them worse then Wall. Josh Smith

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... rder_by=fg

I hope he continues to focus more on playmaking and less on scoring. He isn't that good of a scorer.

Well I don't watch the Wizards enough and didn't look up the stats beforehand. It's surprising that he takes so many given his great driving ability.

[jangles86]

I certainly cannot agree with this Wall hate. He has set such a high standard for his own defense that when he has an average NBA defense game he gets torn to shreds by his fans.
He nearly made a couple of miracle 2-1 plays on his own tonight. Yeah he got beaten off the dribble a couple of times but I can't agree with people saying he took the night off.
Who was guarding Wade?

Letting a meh player like Cole get a career high game is not an average
defensive night. Wall made a number of good plays. He should have
gotten more calls. But he also forced the issue at times trying to
take over when there was nothing there. Fell asleep letting Napier
pick his pocket in the open court, 6 TOs. But he shot well and
did get 9 dimes. Not horrible but he got outplayed by a guy
that he shouldn't allow that from.

Not his best effort. MIA paid huge $$$ to Bosh and he delivered
(for one night). We're paying huge bucks to Wall. Off nights
have to be really infrequent for him. Comes with the territory.

He actually had 11 dimes 3 boards 2 steals and only took 13 shots and made all his free throws.
I was expecting him to force things more with the talentless team we had on show last night.
All depends on what color glasses you've got on I guess.

[dlts20]

Wall needs to develop more of a scorer's mentality the way I see it. His passing is nice, but his real damage came when he was looking to score. His finishes around the rim and with contact were ridiculous and his midrange pull-up jumper seems like a solid weapon for him at this point

Just the opposite is true. Wall's midrange shot is one of his two major weaknesses (the other is turnovers). Wall shoots way too many 2 point jumpers and shoots them poorly.

Last season Wall was 6th in the NBA in shot attempts from 10-22 feet. He shot them at 36.6%. Only 1 player in the top 50 in attempts shot them worse then Wall. Josh Smith

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... rder_by=fg

I hope he continues to focus more on playmaking and less on scoring. He isn't that good of a scorer.

Well I don't watch the Wizards enough and didn't look up the stats beforehand. It's surprising that he takes so many given his great driving ability.

just google our coach. He doesnt believe in analyitics. He's the only coach in the league that not only believes that long 2's are still good shots but he actually coaches our guys to shoot them. Cassell along with him. We took more than any team in the league by far. He says that an open shot is a good shot and if they give us open 2's then we take them but its dumb because thats what teams want you to take and most of the time they still arent open. Wall has to dribble full speed off a pick then pull up on the move. Its just a low percentage shot. The same with Beal.

I will give Witt some credit and say that we figured out how to master his system down the stretch last year and came away with a ton of good looks. Hopefully we get that back tonight with Nene but Temple is like our 5th best option at the 2 so IDK

[dandridge 10]

I certainly cannot agree with this Wall hate. He has set such a high standard for his own defense that when he has an average NBA defense game he gets torn to shreds by his fans.
He nearly made a couple of miracle 2-1 plays on his own tonight. Yeah he got beaten off the dribble a couple of times but I can't agree with people saying he took the night off.
Who was guarding Wade?

Letting a meh player like Cole get a career high game is not an average
defensive night. Wall made a number of good plays. He should have
gotten more calls. But he also forced the issue at times trying to
take over when there was nothing there. Fell asleep letting Napier
pick his pocket in the open court, 6 TOs. But he shot well and
did get 9 dimes. Not horrible but he got outplayed by a guy
that he shouldn't allow that from.

Not his best effort. MIA paid huge $$$ to Bosh and he delivered
(for one night). We're paying huge bucks to Wall. Off nights
have to be really infrequent for him. Comes with the territory.

"Meh" player is generous to Cole. Last season, I had him rated basically at replacement level, and that was the best season of his career. Basically, the Wizards last night did the equivalent of letting Eric Maynor have a career night.

Kev,
I am curious what kind of analytics do you have on John Wall as a defensive player. He has the tools to be a great defensive player, but I have always viewed him as a below average one. Just way too much freelancing and not enough effort fighting through picks and staying in front of his man. What's your stats show?

[Nivek]

Kev,
I am curious what kind of analytics do you have on John Wall as a defensive player. He has the tools to be a great defensive player, but I have always viewed him as a below average one. Just way too much freelancing and not enough effort fighting through picks and staying in front of his man. What's your stats show?

Last season, my numbers said Wall was a bit above average defensively. I had him third on the Wizards in defensive impact behind Gortat and Ariza. The adjusted plus/minus guys had him as basically an average defender.

In my stuff, he rated 6th among PGs defensively. And, you're probably thinking: How can he be slightly above average and still 6th among PGs? Answer: PGs (perimeter players in general) typically have less of a defensive impact than inside players.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Dandridge, I think all Wall really needs to do is to develop a mindset to be a very dogged defender. I would be THRILLED if John knocked the heck out of a smaller, quicker PG just once. Wall can become a superior defender IMO.

Wall's offense was tremendous in March of 2013. That guy was as good as a young Wade. We've seen him on fire. He's certainly capable of being a lights out offensive player. However, since I haven't seen any consistency out of him in that regard over all these years I have to surmise confidence and possibly injuries are preventing him from dominating offensively. That and a jacked up midrange game. Last season, Wall didn't get to the line as oft as I would hope, either. So, it makes me wonder about his magical month of March 2013. I kind of hope Bradley Beal is the guy taking the big shots down the line. Not John Wall.

To me, Wall should definitely strengthen the weakest part of his game. IMO it's his intensity on defense. He has height, speed, and athleticism to impact the game defensively. John IMO needs to get some dog in him on defense. I believe that would automatically make his offense better, too.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

http://www.nba.com/games/20141029/WASMI ... tml?ls=slt

LATE `D' WOES

Washington was in the upper third of the league in fourth-quarter field-goal-percentage defense last season, at 43 percent. The Heat shot 62 percent (13 for 21) in the fourth quarter on Wednesday, outscoring the Wizards 35-25 in the period.

This bears monitoring in future games.

[dandridge 10]

Dandridge, I think all Wall really needs to do is to develop a mindset to be a very dogged defender. I would be THRILLED if John knocked the heck out of a smaller, quicker PG just once. Wall can become a superior defender IMO.

Wall's offense was tremendous in March of 2013. That guy was as good as a young Wade. We've seen him on fire. He's certainly capable of being a lights out offensive player. However, since I haven't seen any consistency out of him in that regard over all these years I have to surmise confidence and possibly injuries are preventing him from dominating offensively. That and a jacked up midrange game. Last season, Wall didn't get to the line as oft as I would hope, either. So, it makes me wonder about his magical month of March 2013. I kind of hope Bradley Beal is the guy taking the big shots down the line. Not John Wall.

To me, Wall should definitely strengthen the weakest part of his game. IMO it's his intensity on defense. He has height, speed, and athleticism to impact the game defensively. John IMO needs to get some dog in him on defense. I believe that would automatically make his offense better, too.

I agree wholeheartedly CCJ. Wall certainly has the attributes to be an elite defender. Defense is really about putting in the effort. I can accept the turnovers and bad shooting from Wall from time to time. Just can't accept nights like last night when there was a lack of defensive intensity.

[dandridge 10]

Kev,
I am curious what kind of analytics do you have on John Wall as a defensive player. He has the tools to be a great defensive player, but I have always viewed him as a below average one. Just way too much freelancing and not enough effort fighting through picks and staying in front of his man. What's your stats show?

Last season, my numbers said Wall was a bit above average defensively. I had him third on the Wizards in defensive impact behind Gortat and Ariza. The adjusted plus/minus guys had him as basically an average defender.

In my stuff, he rated 6th among PGs defensively. And, you're probably thinking: How can he be slightly above average and still 6th among PGs? Answer: PGs (perimeter players in general) typically have less of a defensive impact than inside players.

Interesting. Thanks Kev. You would think he could get to a "well above average" with his athleticism and a defensive minded coach. Last night was just one game. Hopefully he learns from it and improves.

[hands11]

It's defensive games like this that remind me of why teams like us can be so dangerous in the playoffs while teams like Chicago (last year) were a let-down. This was clearly a Wizards team who was playing with no defensive intensity and passion. None. Whereas a team like Chicago 2013/2014 gave maximum defensive effort every game. Sure they had no extra gear to kick it into for the playoffs like we did but they maximized their potential in the regular season.

I'm surprised that we couldn't come out on the first game of the season playing inspired defense but maybe it was the effect of not having Nene (a good defensive player) and trading Ariza away.

Other notes....

- Pierce was great early on but I wish he was more involved in the offense at critical stretches
- Wall needed to step up (on both ends) and didn't. He had a decent game when we needed him to have a great game
- It's still ridiculous that Nene and Blair did something stupid in pre-season and it affected our regular season (they should have been suspended the following pre-season game)
- We would have won this game with Nene in the lineup
- Garrett Temple should never start an NBA game. Ever.

Nice summary.

Sadly, I can see Temple has become the new fall guy.

He actually played great defense yesterday. He just missed a few shots. But 2-6 from 3 isnt terrible.

It was Otto's coming out party. I'm not surprised he didn't get assigned Wade. He had a good game so I expect they will build on that and give him more minutes. Maybe starting tonight.

To bad we lost but not surprised we did.

Looking forward to 1-1 and then a nice run up to 4-1

[jangles86]

It's defensive games like this that remind me of why teams like us can be so dangerous in the playoffs while teams like Chicago (last year) were a let-down. This was clearly a Wizards team who was playing with no defensive intensity and passion. None. Whereas a team like Chicago 2013/2014 gave maximum defensive effort every game. Sure they had no extra gear to kick it into for the playoffs like we did but they maximized their potential in the regular season.

I'm surprised that we couldn't come out on the first game of the season playing inspired defense but maybe it was the effect of not having Nene (a good defensive player) and trading Ariza away.

Other notes....

- Pierce was great early on but I wish he was more involved in the offense at critical stretches
- Wall needed to step up (on both ends) and didn't. He had a decent game when we needed him to have a great game
- It's still ridiculous that Nene and Blair did something stupid in pre-season and it affected our regular season (they should have been suspended the following pre-season game)
- We would have won this game with Nene in the lineup
- Garrett Temple should never start an NBA game. Ever.

Nice summary.

Sadly, I can see Temple has become the new fall guy.

He actually played great defense yesterday. He just missed a few shots. But 2-6 from 3 isnt terrible.

It was Otto's coming out party. I'm not surprised he didn't get assigned Wade. He had a good game so I expect they will build on that and give him more minutes. Maybe starting tonight.

To bad we lost but not surprised we did.

Looking forward to 1-1 and then a nice run up to 4-1

Great defense?

[hands11]

WP, I will only post on this right here one time. Ariza led the Wizards in WIN SCORE/48 for the season. He had a tremendous playoffs, better than all other Wizards. He made consistently the most valuable shot in today's NBA, the corner three. John Wall led the league in assisting the corner three. Ariza was a great big brother/mentor to Wall and Beal. Ariza's past already featured championship experience with the Lakers. Ariza always defended the opponent's best player. Ariza was good on defense and efficient on offense.

The low ball offer had more to do with the rush to overpay Gortat. Last year Trevor and Marcin had IDENTICAL contracts. You can't offer Gortat 12M but also at the same time balk at offering Ariza 8M. I got sick of reading posts saying Ariza was not worth 8M. He is easily worth over 10M.

Wizardspride, you can reply and differ and I will respect your responce.

My point: Treat people right. Washington under appreciated Ariza's great contributions IMHO. I commend the Wizards for signing Pierce, Humprhies, and Blair to excellent, cap - smart deals. But to me they gave Fort Knox to Gortat while pretty much nudging Ariza, arguably the best Wizard, out the door.

I think Ariza should have gotten 10M and Gortat about the same.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using RealGM Forums mobile app

Can we let this go ? Its already been vetted. They drafted Otto knowing Trevor A might not get resigned. That was the TA insurance. They had to keep Gortat so they went after that first. They wanted short contracts to they could be players in FA moving forward. They did that while adding PP, Hump and D Blair. They executed the plan and got a younger Otto at SF who is the same age as Wall and Beal. Big picture, it should be a good plan. Enough was Trevor A. Wish him well in Houston. If he wanted to stay here, he could have.

No. You may want not to hear it any more but you don't silence me with a simplistic because they had to.

They drafted Otto despite having Ariza and Webster each very capable at SF. What about Webster's deal? They could have drafted Olynyk in a trade down or Noel straight up, and subsequently not resigned Gortat for 12M.

Hands, for the second game in a row Ariza hit 4 threes. My response to Wizardspride was very specific. Until you put this predictable, argumentative, superficial response out there I was pleased there wasn't any simplistic sniping. If you had not attempted to suppress all discussion, my respectful response to a good question from WP would have been an afterthought. Hands, you are the one making a stink here. I have made many posts looking beyond Ariza, but don't get it twisted the guy will be missed IMO.

I am ready for the next game. Having Nene starting and Gooden coming off the bench will improve the Wizards' chances.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using RealGM Forums mobile app

By all means. Continue you gripping then.

Hey, I was a TA supporter before most so not like I wanted to see him go. I'm not surprised he is still shooting the 3 well in HOU. His down years were in part because he was asked to do what he doesn't... Be the primary scorer. Tats not his game. I was one of the one that said he could get back an efficient 3 shooting with us and Wall hitting him for open looks.

I also was in favor of drafting other people for other reason and with other game plans. But I do understand what they did. And TA did decide to leave. And I do like Otto. And cap space. I wish TA well. I had hoped he stayed on a 2 year deal. But I am an Otto fan and he is the right age to grow with Wall and Beal. And I think he has more upside then TA does even if it might be a step back in the near term. Here to hope near term is as short as possible.

If we had TA would we have won that game ? Maybe. We shot so few 3s. But longer term its not a problem and thats what this team is about. Getting better.

Wall was average for him. We needed him to be great. Cole punked him. We can't have that from out #1
No Nene. No Blair. We were out rebounded and we needed them. And no Beal, one of our best players.

Pretty much that.

[pancakes3]

Buckhantz's shot at Miami's canned crowd noise is going viral.