Wiz vs Hawks Game Thread 7PM

[keynote]

I'll defer to you guys on the stats, but I remember reading a CLE columnist's take indicating that the Cavs had actually *improved* defensively with the addition of Jamison.

Now, there might be other variables at play; namely, Hickson and Varejao getting more time with Shaq's injury and Z's sabbatical. But at least according to one observer, Jamison has not torpedoed the Cavs' ability to play good defense.

[dobrojim]

I wonder if Foye knows that he's still allowed to pass the ball in the 4th quarter.

I was shaking my head at the same thing.

one play in particular stood out to me, late in the game (last couple possessions)
when we still had a slight window of opportunity, he passes on an open 3, drives
to around the low block, then forces a turnaround fadeaway.

if he had jacked the 3, I would have been happier.
if he had gone to the rim and not finished, I'd have been happier.
just a bad play.

[dobrojim]

First time in 3 or 4 years I thought we could compete athletically with Atlanta. I'm so used to Jamison and Butler get abused by Atlanta's frontline it was interesting to see our new twin towers at work. Both Blatche and McGee have a ways to go but their play was encouraging tonight. Now if we only had a real pair of starting guards to go with them......

going into the game, I was feeling we were destined to lose but after
a short time, it seemed clear that our athletes were giving their athletes
a good run for their money. TJ and AJ, god bless 'em, never did that..

[dobrojim]

That was a pretty nice developmental game there.

McGee showed a lot, I mean, we could stickler it and go on about box out and defensive positioning, but the good outweighed the bad by a lot. Very nice energy and I think we're seeing him make mental adjustments as per post defense, figuring out the refs and challenging shots without going all in on the blocked shot. Obviously the 8 dunks were pretty sweet, in fact tying the 2009-2010 season record. Career high too.

Blatche rallied for a nice game too. Seven turnovers, yeah, but there was a moving screen and a questionable call with a travel on a nice change of direction move under the bucket. But after a spotty first segment, he really came at it with attacking the basket, mixing it up with the inside-outside as well as he has for the past five games or so. So, it was encouraging to see him get off to a poor start and then make the adjustments there, and maybe fighting through some frustration. We won't mention the pass to Josh Smith for the breakaway. We won't mention that at all.

The Hawks shot 54%, but they were also hitting some tough contested jumpers, so I don't think it's quite as bad as all that. We actually outscored them with points in the paint by 12.

Some good stuff to build on in there, good energy and 48 minutes of competitive play.

I thought the moving screen call against 7DD was an awful call. Not sure he even
touched someone on the play. The zebras had been making that call all game but
on replay, it didn't seem like he did anything that particular time. Key call too.

Dray mighta been the best player on the floor last night, TOs and all.

[dobrojim]

The Wiz are Gilbert Arenas, and one year of development by McGee away from being better than the Hawks. Considering how pathetic the guards are for the Wizards I'll take this close loss. Wiz front line abused the Hawks *all-star* front line.

throw in a Josh Howard (NOT for $11.8M), a couple draft picks and things don't
look that bad. If we landed Turner, re-signed Howard, made a couple other adjustments,
team could be pretty decent.

[montestewart]

I'll defer to you guys on the stats, but I remember reading a CLE columnist's take indicating that the Cavs had actually *improved* defensively with the addition of Jamison.

Now, there might be other variables at play; namely, Hickson and Varejao getting more time with Shaq's injury and Z's sabbatical. But at least according to one observer, Jamison has not torpedoed the Cavs' ability to play good defense.

With Jamison, as with Arenas, the well documented defensive deficiencies were offset by superior offensive production. The issue wasn't simply their worth but how to mask the defensive deficiencies to get maximize value. In Cleveland, he seems to be playing much more the small forward. Quick small forwards can blow by him, but they always did; his size becomes a strength because it's not being relied upon as if he's a power forward. Cleveland played Washington plenty of times, and they knew what they were getting. They probably are just a much better situation for his defense to not be such a liability. Still, I'll be interested to see some advanced analysis of his numbers since he joined the Cavs.

[Kanyewest]

I wonder if Foye knows that he's still allowed to pass the ball in the 4th quarter.

I was shaking my head at the same thing.

one play in particular stood out to me, late in the game (last couple possessions)
when we still had a slight window of opportunity, he passes on an open 3, drives
to around the low block, then forces a turnaround fadeaway.

if he had jacked the 3, I would have been happier.
if he had gone to the rim and not finished, I'd have been happier.
just a bad play.

I believe that possession happened with less than 10 seconds to go. Even if Foye had made the 3, the Wizards would have been down 105-102 with 2-3 seconds left in the game with Atlanta's ball.

[dobrojim]

I wonder if Foye knows that he's still allowed to pass the ball in the 4th quarter.

I was shaking my head at the same thing.

one play in particular stood out to me, late in the game (last couple possessions)
when we still had a slight window of opportunity, he passes on an open 3, drives
to around the low block, then forces a turnaround fadeaway.

if he had jacked the 3, I would have been happier.
if he had gone to the rim and not finished, I'd have been happier.
just a bad play.

I believe that possession happened with less than 10 seconds to go. Even if Foye had made the 3, the Wizards would have been down 105-102 with 2-3 seconds left in the game with Atlanta's ball.

I think you're right. Still a bad play. He coulda saved secs by launching the 3
or stopped the clock with a foul at the rim.

[miller31time]

I am pleasantly surprised to see that given the loss of Haywood. I expect the replacement of Jamison with Blatche is a significant factor in the improvement.

Has there been a change in the Cavs defensive efficiency?

I'm not sure of where they stood before the Jamison trade but they currently sit at 7th in defensive efficiency.

Just from an outsider's point of view, that looks bad for them, considering I expected them to be top-3 at the very least.

But they could have been 7th (or worse) even before the Jamison trade. Not sure about that, though.

[tontoz]

The Wiz are Gilbert Arenas, and one year of development by McGee away from being better than the Hawks. Considering how pathetic the guards are for the Wizards I'll take this close loss. Wiz front line abused the Hawks *all-star* front line.

throw in a Josh Howard (NOT for $11.8M), a couple draft picks and things don't
look that bad. If we landed Turner, re-signed Howard, made a couple other adjustments,
team could be pretty decent.

I agree. In terms of rebuilding the Wizards aren't in bad shape at all. Obviously the hardest thing to do when rebuilding is to aquire quality big men. With added experience and a little more beef a Blatche/Mcgee tandem could do just fine.

I wouldn't put much stock in this game though as far as being competitive with the Hawks. The Hawks have been mailing it in for weeks, especially on the glass. They just lost the season series to the friggin Knicks and not long ago lost to GS after having an 18 pt lead in the 2nd half.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Just thought this was interesting...

The Wizards have moved into the "teens" as far as defensive efficiency is concerned (19th).

We were at 22-23 basically all season, then the trade happened and we've looked much differently.

To move up 4-5 spots this late in the season in such a short period of time means we've been playing roughly 12-15th in defensive efficiency.

That's pretty impressive.

WizarDynasty bashes Haywood's defense. That's not appropriate or right IMO.

HOWEVER, the defense with Blatche/McGee is better than with Jamison/Haywood--already. Teams are scared to bring it inside. WD is right that a lot of times Haywood ended up having to foul. Teams could efficiently score against Jamison a lot. Also, the fact the opponents really have to work harder to defend the interior helps at the other end. Haywood wasn't a threat to score much. Jamison got his off jumpers and funky flip shots and floaters. Not so with Blatche/McGee. Their offense is good defense.

All season long the Wizards could have had Blatche/McGee playing significant minutes together. Even with Jamison and Haywood on the team.

I also believe with all the shots he blocks from the weakside, Javale with Brendan would have been insanely effective defensively.