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Wizards in the Media Thread

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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#941 » by Nivek » Tue Jun 5, 2012 2:56 pm

Only thing that I didn't like was his description of the team's defense -- the stuff about trapping and knifing into passing lanes. Trapping needs to be done selectively in the NBA -- it just doesn't work as a regular defensive strategy because there are too many competent ball handlers and there's just too much experience for guys to get rattled beyond maybe a surprise possession here and there. And trying to steal the ball is a good way to create open shots for the other team, which is bad. Theoretically, stealing the ball is a great thing. Individual players who can steal the ball can be quite valuable. The marginal effort required to boost steals isn't worth the extra steals it generates.

I know it sounds boring. I know it doesn't sound tough or manly or whatever. But, good defense in the NBA is mostly about making the other team miss by getting a hand in the shooter's face. Then get the defensive board.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#942 » by Zonkerbl » Tue Jun 5, 2012 4:39 pm

Getting a turnover by being in good defensive position and forcing a bad pass is COMPLETELY different from leaving your man to gamble for a steal in the passing lanes. Two very different things that unfortunately get measured the same way.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#943 » by fishercob » Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:48 pm

Ouch

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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#944 » by Jimmy Recard » Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:41 pm

Ouch indeed :(

I had such high hopes for this team coming into the season until Wall got injured. Now, with Wall out for at least the first month and Nene sidelined indefinitely, it really dampers my expectations of them being a playoff team this year.

Simmons is such a smug sob though, takes shots at the Wizards every chance he gets.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#945 » by fishercob » Fri Oct 26, 2012 2:42 pm

Do we not have an Okafor thread?

Here is a very flattering profile of our new big man.


Emeka Okafor Finding Role on Young Wizards Team

I think they brought this guy in because they wanted to expose Wall and Beal (and to a lesser extent, Seraphin, vesely, Booker, etc) to his work habits, maturity, etc. They likely view his salary not just in terms of what he'll contribute to the win column this year but also of an investment in our young stars. The hope is that he accelerates their maturation process.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#946 » by dobrojim » Fri Oct 26, 2012 4:04 pm

speaking of Buck and Phil (stale threadwise) as said above, I generally
like them and think they are fair but clearly Wizards fans. Which is exactly
what I want.

The last game when Webster made that spin move, Buck (I think) called
it a 180. JMU math me thinks. If you start and finish facing more or less
the same direction, seems to me that would be a 360. OK, I'm nitpicking.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#947 » by montestewart » Fri Oct 26, 2012 4:17 pm

dobrojim wrote:speaking of Buck and Phil (stale threadwise) as said above, I generally
like them and think they are fair but clearly Wizards fans. Which is exactly
what I want.

The last game when Webster made that spin move, Buck (I think) called
it a 180. JMU math me thinks. If you start and finish facing more or less
the same direction, seems to me that would be a 360. OK, I'm nitpicking.

That's just how fast Webster is. He gets through a spin in half the time.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#948 » by fishercob » Fri Oct 26, 2012 5:08 pm

I'm really not a fan of either. Their fandom is fine, but they are consistently using stats -- terrible, stupid, meaningless stats -- to try to illustrate some sort of point. The point is usually that the WIzards are doing something impressive, which is somehow magically incongruous with the team's suckiness.

I wish some producer at CSN would have the balls to make the switch to discussing stats in terms of the very simplistic Four Factors. The broadcasts would be so much better and it would promote a much better understanding of the game amongst viewers.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#949 » by Nivek » Fri Oct 26, 2012 5:12 pm

fish: I've tried for YEARS to get CSN to do something meaningful with their stats. No luck. They're so terrified that viewers "won't understand." Good stats will actually INCREASE their understanding of the game. I did make some headway with Glen Consor back when I was going to games on press pass, but he seems to have backslid some judging by the post-game show. Dave Johnson will sometimes drop in some funky stat I send him.

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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#950 » by dobrojim » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:34 pm

totally agree about the stats

they are useless at best and typically misleading
A lot of what we call 'thought' is just mental activity

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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#951 » by Nivek » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:37 pm

dobrojim wrote:totally agree about the stats

they are useless at best and typically misleading


Was watching a game with my son one day. Buck kept dropping in those useless stats. Stuff like "Wizards are the third best offensive rebounding team in the league." "Wizards have the second most steals in the NBA." Meanwhile, the Wiz are their usual down 18 in the third quarter.

After like the 5th one, my son says, "If the Wizards are so good at everything, why do they always lose?"
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#952 » by montestewart » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:50 pm

The Wizards have a 3-2 record at home against a defending champion playing the second game of a back-to-back after the all star break. So the Heat could have their hands full tonight.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#953 » by tontoz » Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:55 pm

It was kind of funny listening to Buck take shots at Crawford last year. You could tell he was totally disgusted with Crawford's shot selection and didn't do a great job hiding his feelings lol.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#954 » by dandridge 10 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:01 pm

fishercob wrote:I'm really not a fan of either. Their fandom is fine, but they are consistently using stats -- terrible, stupid, meaningless stats -- to try to illustrate some sort of point. The point is usually that the WIzards are doing something impressive, which is somehow magically incongruous with the team's suckiness.

I wish some producer at CSN would have the balls to make the switch to discussing stats in terms of the very simplistic Four Factors. The broadcasts would be so much better and it would promote a much better understanding of the game amongst viewers.


All the meaningful stats just show that the team sucks. Viewers can already see that. The producers probably don't want Phil and Steve to bring down the viewers even more by putting up statistics which just highlight how awful they are.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#955 » by fishercob » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:17 pm

dandridge 10 wrote:
fishercob wrote:I'm really not a fan of either. Their fandom is fine, but they are consistently using stats -- terrible, stupid, meaningless stats -- to try to illustrate some sort of point. The point is usually that the WIzards are doing something impressive, which is somehow magically incongruous with the team's suckiness.

I wish some producer at CSN would have the balls to make the switch to discussing stats in terms of the very simplistic Four Factors. The broadcasts would be so much better and it would promote a much better understanding of the game amongst viewers.


All the meaningful stats just show that the team sucks. Viewers can already see that. The producers probably don't want Phil and Steve to bring down the viewers even more by putting up statistics which just highlight how awful they are.


So they should lie? It's insulting.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#956 » by Zonkerbl » Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:23 pm

"Well, folks, as you can see, the Wizards are really struggling in this game. The main reason why is this advanced stat, which shows that opposing defenses are forcing them into, or the Wizards are settling for, an unusually high number of long two pointers. The Wizard who is most guilty of this is Jordan Crawford, who has taken..."

I just don't see a problem with that. How is that bringing the viewers down? "Here is why we suck. Here is the player most guilty of this weakness. I talked with that player about it yesterday and he said he was aware of the problem and coach has told him to try this approach to addressing it. But as you can see today, that's not working -- the opposing team is countering that strategy by doing this."

I would LOVE to have an announcer like that. Why do "color" guys have to be superficial idiots? Why can't they explain what's going on, describe some moves and countermoves?
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#957 » by dandridge 10 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:01 pm

fishercob wrote:
dandridge 10 wrote:
fishercob wrote:I'm really not a fan of either. Their fandom is fine, but they are consistently using stats -- terrible, stupid, meaningless stats -- to try to illustrate some sort of point. The point is usually that the WIzards are doing something impressive, which is somehow magically incongruous with the team's suckiness.

I wish some producer at CSN would have the balls to make the switch to discussing stats in terms of the very simplistic Four Factors. The broadcasts would be so much better and it would promote a much better understanding of the game amongst viewers.


All the meaningful stats just show that the team sucks. Viewers can already see that. The producers probably don't want Phil and Steve to bring down the viewers even more by putting up statistics which just highlight how awful they are.


So they should lie? It's insulting.


Are they lying or they just showing correct stats that don't mean anything. To me, there is a difference.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#958 » by Nivek » Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:11 pm

I think "lying" is a bit strong, but words like "misleading" or "incorrect" definitely apply.

When Buckhantz says, "The Wizards are the third best offensive rebounding team in the league..." and CSN puts up a stat showing team offensive rebounds per game...well...that stat doesn't mean what he's saying it means.

Whether they're intentionally misleading, I don't know. It's possible they're just ignorant. That's kind of a stretch considering how much information is readily available, but it's possible.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#959 » by dandridge 10 » Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:13 pm

Honestly, for me, it really never bothered me about the color analyst not getting into that much detail, especially regarding stats. It is pretty apparent to me during any given game why we are not doing well or why we are doing well. I would like Phil and Steve to be more critical of the Wizards play and describe what they would do to make changes to improve (I always liked Hubie Brown in this regard). However, I don't necessarily need the stats to back it up.
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Re: Wizards in the Media Thread 

Post#960 » by Nivek » Fri Oct 26, 2012 9:35 pm

I'm more or less with you on the color analyst using stats. I'd rather have the analyst do "chalk talk," which Phil doesn't do either.

When they use stats on the broadcast, I'd prefer it be something that actually has meaning. And here's the thing -- there are easily explained stats readily available.
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