Wizards Are Beginning to Resemble the Spurs

[payitforward]

When you look at the assets we have you have to wonder what the heck has Ernie done the past 5-6 years since he lucked into John Wall. We have Beal & Porter as recent 3rd picks in the draft and literally nothing else.

Other than recent draft pick Kelly Oubre the rest of the roster is filled with past their prime vets or journeymen that have bounced around the minor leagues. ...

Don't forget that we "lucked into" Porter as well.

You could argue that it's stretching to call Gortat "past his prime," as he has relatively low NBA minutes on his wheels, but even in that case -- we were forced into trading for him, and we waaay overpaid, eating every bad salary Phoenix had.

I cannot for the life of me figure out what the strategy/goals are of this FO.

[MJG]

I called it 11 months ago. Ya'll thought I was crazy. Oh well. Right ain't always popular. Not only have the Wizards resembled the Spurs, we have surpassed them!

[payitforward]

We have 6 wins -- by a total of 51 points. We have 6 losses -- by a total of 97 points. Down 3.8 points a game to our opponents.

Lets take out the outliers -- our biggest loss and our biggest win. That leaves us 5 wins by a total of 22 points and 5 losses by a total of 73 points. Down 5.1 points a game in those 10 games.

We started 3-1, but after those 4 games we were a total of 2 points up on our opponents. In the last 8 games, we are down 6.25 points a game to our opponents.

We've beaten Orlando twice and Milwaukee twice for 4 of our 6 wins. Are we clearly better than those 2 teams? I hope so, but Orlando is 7-6 vs. everyone but us, & we are 4-6 against everybody but them. Similarly, Milwaukee is 6-7 against everybody but us; we are 4-6 vs. everyone but them. Still... we might well finish ahead of them this year.

Looking ahead, it's hard to see us ending the year better than 15-15, tho of course predictions of this kind are a fool's game -- or at least lets hope they are!

[montestewart]

I called it 11 months ago. Ya'll thought I was crazy. Oh well. Right ain't always popular. Not only have the Wizards resembled the Spurs, we have surpassed them!

We have surpassed the Spurs. Circa 1996-97. If we can just get a rookie Tim Duncan and a David Robinson in his prime, we should be in good shape.

[TheSecretWeapon]

I called it 11 months ago. Ya'll thought I was crazy. Oh well. Right ain't always popular. Not only have the Wizards resembled the Spurs, we have surpassed them!

We have surpassed the Spurs. Circa 1996-97. If we can just get a rookie Tim Duncan and a David Robinson in his prime, we should be in good shape.

Wrong decade. Last time the Spurs had an SRS (a team strength measure that combines scoring margin with strength of schedule) around Washington's current -5.39 was the 1986-87 and 1987-88 squads. Those teams went 28-54 and 31-51.

[montestewart]

We have surpassed the Spurs. Circa 1996-97. If we can just get a rookie Tim Duncan and a David Robinson in his prime, we should be in good shape.

Wrong decade. Last time the Spurs had an SRS (a team strength measure that combines scoring margin with strength of schedule) around Washington's current -5.39 was the 1986-87 and 1987-88 squads. Those teams went 28-54 and 31-51.

That still got them #1 pick David Robinson. Grass is always greener over the septic tank. A little Miracle-Gro (no AFM, not the ointment) and the Wizards should be fine.

[MikeTheKid]

I called it 11 months ago. Ya'll thought I was crazy. Oh well. Right ain't always popular. Not only have the Wizards resembled the Spurs, we have surpassed them!

[tontoz]

The Spurs are 14-4 with a point differential of +9.0

The Wizards are 6-8 with a point differential of -5.9.

Tough to tell these teams apart. Luckily their uniforms are different otherwise I might mistake one for the other.

[milellie111]

The Spurs are 14-4 with a point differential of +9.0

The Wizards are 6-8 with a point differential of -5.9.

Tough to tell these teams apart. Luckily their uniforms are different otherwise I might mistake one for the other.

It's the beginning of the season. Too early to write the Wizards off.

[tontoz]

The "Wizards west" are currently 36-6 with a point differential of +14.2.

[dckingsfan]

The "Wizards west" are currently 36-6 with a point differential of +14.2.

Its too early in the century to write the Wizards off...

[TGW]

The "Wizards west" are currently 36-6 with a point differential of +14.2.

But, but, but we've been injured. Wizards West has been healthy all year. It's not fair to compare.

[dckingsfan]

The "Wizards west" are currently 36-6 with a point differential of +14.2.

But, but, but we've been injured. Wizards West has been healthy all year. It's not fair to compare.

Their record wouldn't be as good in the east this year!

[I_Like_Dirt]

You guys joke, but Gary Neal and Dajuan Blair were both Spurs once and now they're Wizards. And Rasual Butler is now on the Spurs. The plan is in place. It's pretty obvious that this whole Durant thing is just a ruse and the real free agent targets this offseason are Matt Bonner and getting Rasual Butler back. After that, it just takes a decent makeup artist - Nene and Ginobili are both from South America so it shouldn't be hard - and the rest is history.

[montestewart]

Wizards lose 4-2 in first round to #1 seed, Spurs lose 4-1 in first round to #2 seed. If the Spurs miss the playoffs entirely next year...well, anything is possible. The ground's the limit.

[WallToWall]

Wizards lose 4-2 in first round to #1 seed, Spurs lose 4-1 in first round to #2 seed. If the Spurs miss the playoffs entirely next year...well, anything is possible. The ground's the limit.

Are you kidding me??? EG knows how to dig. Earths iron–nickel alloy inner core is the limit. We're going there. Its pretty hot.

[BigA]

This team, it's philosphy and structure are slowly beginning to resemble the San Antonio Spurs which is promising looking forward to multiple championships.

Coach Randy Wittman gets what it takes to win in this league. He is becoming a clone as the Popovich of the East where he realizes defense, smart play and hustle wins games. His system is working and he can plug and play just about anyone into his system and they will produce. Guys like Rasual Butler who averaged less than 3ppg last year in Indiana and Drew Gooden who was sitting at home are important contributors. When importanat starter pieces such as Hilario Nene go down with injury, Kris Humprhies fills in, contributes and the team still wins. The Spurs approach of next man up is encouraging to watch with this team. Popovich plays who's hot and so does Wittman. No hesitation in swapping out Garret Temple who was hot before, but fell into a slump and is now stuck at the end of the bench.

Grunfeld has become Spurs GM R.C. Buford in the facet of building a balanced team mixed with young stars, veterans and free agents all at cap friendly deals. This teams success is not dependent on 1 superstar. Wall is able to facilitate and any guy on the Wizards can put up numbers any given night, like the Spurs. Productive bench comprised of veterans, shooting specialists and hustle guys, like the Spurs. The environment, system and philosphy is conducive to winning and success and guys who most likely would not be as productive elsewhwere are surpisingly productive in Washington. Same as Boris Diaw in San Antonio.

The players display high basketball IQ, are efficient and work together as a team. Everyone trusts each other. No matter what lineup is in the game at any given time, the players show that they are comfortable with that group on the floor as they all recognize where they and their teammates are supposed to be. Locker room morale is at a high, there are no trouble makers and everything is kept in house. This team is all about business, like the Spurs.

The R.C. Buford/Pop combo worked for years and the new tandem of Grunfeld/Wittman can work as well if Ted keeps continuity. The end result? Multiple championships

This didn't age very well.

[FAH1223]

What’s funny is that the Wizards have more talent than the Spurs right now yet have a worse record.

[cwb3]

This thread was stillborn from the moments of conception.

[payitforward]

Need to keep these 2 posts by millie handy at all times, so that we can simply copy them in when he starts his next thread.

This team, it's philosophy and structure are slowly beginning to resemble the San Antonio Spurs which is promising looking forward to multiple championships.

Coach Randy Wittman gets what it takes to win in this league. He is becoming a clone as the Popovich of the East where he realizes defense, smart play and hustle wins games. His system is working and he can plug and play just about anyone into his system and they will produce. Guys like Rasual Butler who averaged less than 3ppg last year in Indiana and Drew Gooden who was sitting at home are important contributors. When important starter pieces such as Hilario Nene go down with injury, Kris Humprhies fills in, contributes and the team still wins. The Spurs approach of next man up is encouraging to watch with this team. Popovich plays who's hot and so does Wittman. No hesitation in swapping out Garrett Temple who was hot before, but fell into a slump and is now stuck at the end of the bench.

Grunfeld has become Spurs GM R.C. Buford in the facet of building a balanced team mixed with young stars, veterans and free agents all at cap friendly deals. This teams success is not dependent on 1 superstar. Wall is able to facilitate and any guy on the Wizards can put up numbers any given night, like the Spurs. Productive bench comprised of veterans, shooting specialists and hustle guys, like the Spurs. The environment, system and philosphy is conducive to winning and success and guys who most likely would not be as productive elsewhwere are surpisingly productive in Washington. Same as Boris Diaw in San Antonio.

The players display high basketball IQ, are efficient and work together as a team. Everyone trusts each other. No matter what lineup is in the game at any given time, the players show that they are comfortable with that group on the floor as they all recognize where they and their teammates are supposed to be. Locker room morale is at a high, there are no trouble makers and everything is kept in house. This team is all about business, like the Spurs.

The R.C. Buford/Pop combo worked for years and the new tandem of Grunfeld/Wittman can work as well if Ted keeps continuity. The end result? Multiple championships

I called it 11 months ago. Ya'll thought I was crazy. Oh well. Right ain't always popular. Not only have the Wizards resembled the Spurs, we have surpassed them!