The Amazingly Sucky Wes Unseld Jr. Thread

[DCZards]

First, you consistently make false statements, and then refuse to correct them when they are pointed out, so I am glad you have me on ignore.

Second, you made a false statement regarding free agents. Shep has added 2 very good free agents. He added Spencer Dinwiddie.

Wuj got 14 good games out of him, then something happened behind the scenes, and wuj ended up being unable to get full value out Dinwiddie.

Give it a break, leswizards. You don't like Wes Jr...we get it.

[AFM]

les wiz vs PIF is too funny. Like two pontificating attorneys writing theses at each other. I think it’s true that the more you’re alike the more you dislike.

[leswizards]

First, you consistently make false statements, and then refuse to correct them when they are pointed out, so I am glad you have me on ignore.

Second, you made a false statement regarding free agents. Shep has added 2 very good free agents. He added Spencer Dinwiddie.

Wuj got 14 good games out of him, then something happened behind the scenes, and wuj ended up being unable to get full value out Dinwiddie.

Give it a break, leswizards. You don't like Wes Jr...we get it.

I don’t dislike wuj. I am a wizards fan, and the Wizards had the talent to be much better teams the past two seasons. The reason that they weren’t was largely because of wuj’s failings.

This is the amazingly sucky wuj thread. I would be bashing him a lot less, but other posters keep telling me that I am wrong for blaming him, and nothing that they have written has convinced me of that.

[payitforward]

les wiz vs PIF is too funny. Like two pontificating attorneys writing theses at each other. I think it’s true that the more you’re alike the more you dislike.

??
Have I ever done any "pontificating" on WUJ??

I also don't call people "liars," & so forth....

[leswizards]

Will Barton had a ws/48 of .051 with Toronto and .013 under wuj. He had an ortg of 105 with Toronto and 101 under wuj. He had a drtg of 114 with Toronto and 117 under wuj

Rui had a ws/48 of .081 with la and .038 and .073 under wuj. He had an ortg of 113 with la and 106 and 111 under wuj. He had a drtg of 115 with la and 117 and 116 under wuj.

2 more examples of players who suddenly start producing more once they are no longer coached by wuj.

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

[DCZards]

Will Barton had a ws/48 of .051 with Toronto and .013 under wuj. He had an ortg of 105 with Toronto and 101 under wuj. He had a drtg of 114 with Toronto and 117 under wuj

Rui had a ws/48 of .081 with la and .038 and .073 under wuj. He had an ortg of 113 with la and 106 and 111 under wuj. He had a drtg of 115 with la and 117 and 116 under wuj.

2 more examples of players who suddenly start producing more once they are no longer coached by wuj.

Barton shot a much lower 2pt and 3pt % with Toronto than he did with the Zards. He also got fewer rebounds, assists, and pts per 36 with the Raptors.

[payitforward]

Actually, Barton was even worse with Toronto than with us. Go look at the per 36 minute numbers, & I bet it'll be obvious.

Rui played a bit better in LA, I agree. But the entire difference is in slightly better rebounding & slightly fewer turnovers. I don't know how either can be attributed to a change in coaches.

In any case, both Wright & Morris had extremely good seasons under WUJ. Beal was at his career best the first half of the season. Porzingis produced. Jordan Goodwin blossomed.

I'm not saying WUJ is "a good coach." But we have a terrible roster overall, & I don't see how it can be said that we under-produced as a team. We'd have to see a different coach somehow produce more wins w/ these guys to come to any kind of conclusion.

Look at an acclaimed coach like Popovich. The guy has multiple rings, but he won 22 games this year. Because of his players.

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

[Endless Loop]

I read a surprising stat after the Miami game last night that the Heat played a league- high 54 "clutch" games this season. A clutch game is one where the score is within 5 points in the last 5 minutes.

The Heat's record in these games was 32-22, a 59% win rate. That is well above their overall win rate for the season. In non-clutch games this year, the Heat were 12-16.

The Wiz were second from last in this stat- only Detroit was worse. They played 41 clutch games and their record in them was 15-26, which is a 37% win rate. This is well below the Wiz's overall win rate. The Wiz were 20-21 in non-clutch games.

Here are the rankings: https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/clutch-traditional

IMO this points to coaching being a factor in the Wiz's performance this year.

[Frichuela]

I read a surprising stat after the Miami game last night that the Heat played a league- high 54 "clutch" games this season. A clutch game is one where the score is within 5 points in the last 5 minutes.

The Heat's record in these games was 32-22, a 59% win rate. That is well above their overall win rate for the season. In non-clutch games this year, the Heat were 12-16.

The Wiz were second from last in this stat- only Detroit was worse. They played 41 clutch games and their record in them was 15-26, which is a 37% win rate. This is well below the Wiz's overall win rate. The Wiz were 20-21 in non-clutch games.

Here are the rankings: https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/clutch-traditional

IMO this points to coaching being a factor in the Wiz's performance this year.

Spo is a top tier coach while Wes is mediocre…and another reflection of what this franchise promotes: mediocre objectives (play in vs championship), mediocre draft picks (“good character” vs high upside), mediocre cap management (unnecessarily overpaying its own players), etc.

Afraid that as long as Turd is the owner it is what it is…

[payitforward]

I read a surprising stat after the Miami game last night that the Heat played a league- high 54 "clutch" games this season. A clutch game is one where the score is within 5 points in the last 5 minutes.

The Heat's record in these games was 32-22, a 59% win rate. That is well above their overall win rate for the season. In non-clutch games this year, the Heat were 12-16.

The Wiz were second from last in this stat- only Detroit was worse. They played 41 clutch games and their record in them was 15-26, which is a 37% win rate. This is well below the Wiz's overall win rate. The Wiz were 20-21 in non-clutch games.

Here are the rankings: https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/clutch-traditional

IMO this points to coaching being a factor in the Wiz's performance this year.

Hey! to you everything points to poor coaching being a key factor on this team! & who knows? Maybe you're right?

But, keep in mind -- you can lose a game for more than one reason! You can have a bad coach and bad players!

Plus a bad FO & a bad owner. Lousy auditorium. Then you go outside -- it's bad weather!

I remember walking with a friend in Moscow & he said "let's cross the street."

"Sure," I replied, "but why?"

"You see those balconies," he said, pointing up. "They are well known for dropping bricks."

Bad balconies.

[gesa2]

Performance in the clutch one year has mostly poor predictability for the following year. It’s mostly shooting luck in fairly small samples. I might believe that the Heat perform better on average Year over year due to Spoelstra, but it’s not great evidence against WUJ.

[payitforward]

Spo is a top tier coach while Wes is mediocre…

Spoelstra is a good coach & an interesting "from out of nowhere" story too.

Then again, in '18-19 his team won 39 games, while the following year they were a 50-win team (44-29 in a shortened season).

Which just tells you how much better a coach you become the minute Jimmy Butler joins your team.

[doclinkin]

Spo is a top tier coach while Wes is mediocre…

Spoelstra is a good coach & an interesting "from out of nowhere" story too.

Then again, in '18-19 his team won 39 games, while the following year they were a 50-win team (44-29 in a shortened season).

Which just tells you how much better a coach you become the minute Jimmy Butler joins your team.

This.

https://www.nba.com/news/nba-clutch-player-ladder-march-2023

[Endless Loop]

Performance in the clutch one year has mostly poor predictability for the following year. It’s mostly shooting luck in fairly small samples. I might believe that the Heat perform better on average Year over year due to Spoelstra, but it’s not great evidence against WUJ.

I gotta be fair. You are totally right.

I looked at 21-22 #s, and guess what- the Wiz ranked #3 in the NBA in clutch winning percentage! They were 25-15, for a 62.5% win rate. Only Memphis and Phoenix were better.

Miami was #5 in 21-22, btw, with a 60.5% win rate on 38 clutch games. Their percentage in 21-22 was almost exactly the same as this year, while the Wiz obviously fell dramatically.

Boston stood out for their huge swing in clutch performance. They were second to last in clutch win % in 21-22, but bounced up to #2 this year. Pretty incredible difference.

The variability in clutch performance is really interesting, because the number of clutch games in a year is very significant. The Wiz were on the edge of making the playoffs this year before they decided to tank. A couple of wins could have made all the difference. Between last year and this, they ended up with 10 fewer wins than last year in clutch games. Does this say that for mediocre teams, it's all about luck?

There's got to be a way to find some "basketball alpha" with game-end management.

[AFM]

That's because we aren't good. So when we win we barely win. And that counts as a clutch win.

Good NBA teams don't need to rely on clutchness. Unless they're playing another elite team.

[GoneShammGone]

Yeah, beating the Piston's G-league squad by 2 on a last-second put back of an air-ball shouldn't be considered "clutch"...

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/pbp/202303070DET.html#q4

[Halcyon]

Seemingly an intelligent man but not a good coach. I think he'll be back to being an assistant after this stint.

[Frichuela]

At an NBA player pole at the Athletic, Wes was not voted in the top-15 of coaches players would like to play for.

In contrast, Wes was voted in the top-15 of another category: the coach they would “least want to play for”. Well done coach!