Game Thread: WAS at MIL - 12/23/09

[TheKingOfVa360]

Good win on the road on the second half of a b2b. Boykins really pulled that win out for us. And Haywood was simply amazing on defense.

[Ruzious]

cant wait till Miller is back and we cut either boykins or Deshawn. boykins just bothers me...dont know why lol. I couldnt stand him when he played on other teams either

Nobody gets cut. There's no injured reserve or anything. There's just a 15 man roster and 12 actives.

I don't want to depend on Boykins to the extent we do, but how do you criticise a guy who's been playing his best basketball in crunch time?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

When Miller gets back the Wizards should send Javale to the D League. Flip's not using him at all.

If McGee's not focused or professional enough for Saunders, why not give him the opportunity to play for another coach at a level where he'll probably dominate?

[dobrojim]

I missed the second half of the game so will have to catch it on league pass archives.

You know what looks odd statistically is that the Bucks put up 90 Field goal attempts to our 68.

But the really weird thing is that this is a lot like what happened in the first Bucks game too: 95 versus 70 Field goals.

So what is it about these teams then?

on the TV they were saying MIL is near/at the top of the league in FGA/gm.
That's how they play. It wasn't about us.

I missed the 4th Q since I didn't program the DVR right. It was on Sportsnet PLUS
and the guide was wrong <sigh>. But I somehow did record the very end.
I didn't notice but Doc oughta bump his Caron thread.

This game may not have featured supernatural heroics but we finally
saw the strength of having a (dare I say it) big three. It lessens the
dependence on any single one of them to play great. And the supporting
cast is coming around, Foye, EB, Haywood (all year), N1, 7DD, DMac, and soon,
MikeMillions.

I don't see any way we don't make the playoffs considering how bad the
EC is. If you want to argue that we shouldn't be satisfied with that, fine.
But that's still gotta be the first step. You win, then you get good.
Beating MIN won't impress me, they're terrible. Beating MIN and MEM
would be a very solid step. Beating OKC would be excellent considering
how badly they spanked us in their place.

One thing I might've tried at some point to cool Redd off
would be to put DMac on him. But it seemed like Redd did
most of his damage in the first half.

CCJ, I like Dat's lineup/rotation too but no DMac there.
Also, if we ever start playing well enough to enjoy some
blowouts, maybe Javale can get more burn. I think Flip
is in a 'use Oberto' mode at the moment, but he'll eventually
come back to McGee, just like he came back to N1. The
difference being the guys in front of McGee are playing
really well as opposed to how the guys in front of N1
were playing. Makes it a lot harder to get him in the
game.

[Donkey McDonkerton]

I missed the second half of the game so will have to catch it on league pass archives.

You know what looks odd statistically is that the Bucks put up 90 Field goal attempts to our 68.

But the really weird thing is that this is a lot like what happened in the first Bucks game too: 95 versus 70 Field goals.

So what is it about these teams then?

Well, with like 4 min left we slowed down and took a shot, they came running down and took one quickly, got their own rebound and took another. It was like 2-1 with a few minutes left. We slowed down and ran the offense, they chucked 3's to get back in it.

[nate33]

The difference being the guys in front of McGee are playing really well as opposed to how the guys in front of N1 were playing. Makes it a lot harder to get him in the game.

+1

I'd like to see more of McGee but it's easier said than done. Fact is, Haywood deserves 35 minutes, Jamison usually deserves 35, and Blatche deserves all the rest.

CCJ makes a good point that McGee might be better off in D-League for a while.

[closg00]

The difference being the guys in front of McGee are playing really well as opposed to how the guys in front of N1 were playing. Makes it a lot harder to get him in the game.

+1

I'd like to see more of McGee but it's easier said than done. Fact is, Haywood deserves 35 minutes, Jamison usually deserves 35, and Blatche deserves all the rest.

CCJ makes a good point that McGee might be better off in D-League for a while.

This is BS guys. Orberto played 9 minutes last night and 16 minutes vs the Sixers while McGee was getting DNPs. McGee should be getting all of Orberto's minutes. The only person making it hard for him to get into games is Flip Saunders.

[dlts20]

All I hope is that Gil is ok and I dont just mean him playing. I dont want him out there if he’s going to look like that ghost we saw from that long stretch during the year. I dont want him playing if he’s not going to be moving much or going full out. Now he has the 3 knee surgeries and thigh bruise on the same leg. Hopefully he can shoot it up or something. I was worried because he didnt come back in but he didnt sound too worried and sounded like he only did that because Earl and the 2nd unit were playing so well. I was 100% sure we would beat the Wolves but if Gil cant go or is limited then that could change things

[hands11]

1 Off. Rebound all game. That isnt good. Thankfully we got the W though against a good Bucks team.

Gil still had too many turnovers. But at least he has been hitting his free throws. Shame about the bruise, that will probably slow him down for a couple of weeks. I think Gil starting strong and fading towards the middle of the game is a fatigue issue. Is he training with the team on game days? It might be an idea to limit his game day activities for a while until his stamina is back.

Gil is definitely rounding into form. A week or so ago I said, no one should get to high or to low because of a win or few or a loose or few. This team is still learning to mess. We got a slow start because of some injuries, players returning from injury and our new coach.

These last few game feel different. I feel they have turned to corner. The benching was a great move at the time in the season he did it. Hopefully Flip has learned what he needed to learn about this team and more specifically DS. Hopefully we are beyond that now. And as of 3 or so games ago, CB finally is remembering his old game. Efficient, scrappy, hustle.

I can easily see them getting on a role. But at some point, I think they are going to need to rest Gil if he is going to have anything in the tank at the end of the season. MM, Foye, and Nick are going to need to step it up for at least a few weeks.

[Hoopalotta]

This team is still learning to mess.

+1