The Basketball Gods Hate Us (Beal Injury Megathread)

[BruceO]

I agree. this isnt one of those years knock on wood, where we are struggling to make the playoffs and every game counts. This is a year when we use the regular season as a way to get everyone ready for playoffs and jockey for the best seed possible. The seeding is where we may be affected.

If we are ahead of charlotte who I also believe are a good team and underrated this year as well as last, we can have the division and likely third place. Whoever will be in sixth we beat in the first. I estimate the other second round match up will be possibly Chicago vs Cleveland who will be occupying the first and fourth slot. This match up depends on who they play first round. where they face us or charlotte depending on who finished further behind. that too isn't a guaranteed win.

so playoff path if we win division is sixth seed - Toronto- Cleveland if we dont its us as fifth or fourth seed facing Chicago- Cleveland and possibly Toronto. With possible upsets coming from charlotte.

I think for the best thing we can do is develop our assets in rice and porter on the wing and see what we got there. They've worked hard and I trust them within the team unit to grow. They never got a chance last year so let's see. While the big men are diminished for the first day and the first few weeks cause of humphries injury let's take a look at seraphin. When we are at full strength we may never have taken a look at them but now we have the chance and we have it early. These young guys are not one dimensional and i think can help us.

I'm mostly worried about seeding. This will affect how far our playoff run goes

[Ruzious]

Should the Wiz be wearing protective gloves? Maybe we need Gary Payton. Otherwise, Wall might be next.

The opening day roster isn't looking pretty. I don't want to see Temple announced in the starting lineup.

[hands11]

This is a good chance to start both Porter and Glen together at 2 & 3 and have Paul coming in off the bench to play 3-4.

Porter and Rice play will together.

Out of necessity, rotation for 1st game (@ Heat):
Wall/Miller
Rice/Temple
Porter/Pierce
Pierce/Gooden
Gortat/Seraphin

I doubt they start both Glen and Otto

And they will likely sign Xavier Silas.

You could just a easily see.

Wall/Miller
Temple/Rice
Pierce/Porter
Gooden/Pierce
Gortat/Seraphin

A lot of the remaining games will be about evaluating Rice, Silas and Otto.

[Wizkids12345]

Surgery went well. They are now saying 6 weeks.

[nuposse04]

Surgery went well. They are now saying 6 weeks.

6 weeks from today would be about late November. Not the worst thing in the world. Still need Rice to show more consistently.

[Earth2Ted]

Surgery went well. They are now saying 6 weeks.

Surgeon was Dr. Michelle Carlson in NY, who fixed the same injury for Jared Jeffries when he was with the Knicks in 2006. She's also operated on Isaiah Thomas, Kevin Love, and Mark Teixieira among others. So he was in good hands.

[montestewart]

This is a good chance to start both Porter and Glen together at 2 & 3 and have Paul coming in off the bench to play 3-4.

Porter and Rice play will together.

Out of necessity, rotation for 1st game (@ Heat):
Wall/Miller
Rice/Temple
Porter/Pierce
Pierce/Gooden
Gortat/Seraphin

I doubt they start both Glen and Otto

And they will likely sign Xavier Silas.

You could just a easily see.

Wall/Miller
Temple/Rice
Pierce/Porter
Gooden/Pierce
Gortat/Seraphin

A lot of the remaining games will be about evaluating Rice, Silas and Otto.

Silas is suspended for game one. Your lineup might be the one, but either way, it's going to be thin in game one, and still a little thin after. One more injury (say, Nene) could have the team digging a hole for itself.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

gees!
Well pRay Allen has a spot.

I read this as an act of God, potentially.

Wizards could start Pierce and Ray Allen opening night.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Had the exact same injury but didn't need surgery. I missed 3 months of Australian football and I still came back early.
This is probably the worst probable result as the scaphoid bone is one of the slowest to heal due to the blood flow coming from the top of the bone. If it doesn't heal right it can pose serious problems later on. The scaphoid bone is broken by falling on it. It's actually a bone which is just at the bottom of your thumb and is seriously painful.

I'd expect Beal to miss over 10 weeks easily. If it is a broken scaphoid and is that bad it needs surgery, I would not expect to see him back until 2015. Which is shattering. But also a massive plus for Glen Rice Jnr and even Otto Porter.
I'd love to see Rice start. With the rumored John Wall finger injury this is starting to get worrying.

Good post and very informative, jangles86.

My thoughts are Wall and Beal don't need to be heroes. The Wizards have a game Andre Miller should Wall be injured. They have young guys in Temple, Rice, and Porter who need minutes to prove and improve. This Beal injury could nudge Ray Allen info continuing to play--he can start for 6-8 weeks if needed.

I hope the Wizards proceed with caution on injured players. Give the healing process full time.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Xavier Silas time I guess?

Thing is, I had a grim frustration when we effectively swapped Ariza for Pierce: John needs outside shooters to succeed. He needs space to attack the lanes or a kick-out option to make teams pay when they collapse. We have loaded up on beef on the interior, but not on any player who is a mismatch downlow, and Hump's mid-range jumper is the only asset we've added that gives him any more room down there. This team is not assembled with an eye to oncourt chemistry but is a grab bag of solid talents that do not really mesh. If teams pack the interior John has no one really to pass to so his options are: dribble into traffic, or shoot a lame jumper from midrange.

The team is failing at the chinese ping pong model of 'practice your strengths' -- trying to force John to become a better half court general fails to take full advantage of the talent set that he does have. But he needs space to work with, and instead he gets a ball dominant SF to defer to, and no shooters added. Beal too needs the spread floor to divide the attention of the opponents best outside defender, he does not have an unstoppable go-to array of weapons. But absent even Beal, and chemistry developed early in the season, well we may be off to the usual rocky start.

Really wish this team had a visionary front office. Add shooters at every position and then set John loose to pick and choose between them or attack the spaces between.

Otto and Rice, start shooting 1000 3pt jumpers a day, and surprise us, I guess.

They need to hire me.

I am a disabled veteran I am a retired USAF Captain. I have two ex - wives and all sorts of financial struggles. Legal bills and child support debts are kicking me in the butt. I could use the money but more so my kids could benefit. I want them to be able to go to private or charter schools. I am responsible for their welfare regardless of family court rulings.

Doclinkin, I tested as an INFJ on Myers Briggs. That is the rarest in men. I know what I am talking about, and the Wizards already took my advice once. They could have vision at a nominal cost.

I am a 40 - year Bullets/Wizards fan. I am also a DOE educator with much teaching, tutoring, and facilitating experience.

The Wizards would not regret hiring me. http://www.celebritytypes.com/infj.php They have paid my friend Kevin Broom as a consultant in the past. They need to try me in the future.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I agree. this isnt one of those years knock on wood, where we are struggling to make the playoffs and every game counts. This is a year when we use the regular season as a way to get everyone ready for playoffs and jockey for the best seed possible. The seeding is where we may be affected.

If we are ahead of charlotte who I also believe are a good team and underrated this year as well as last, we can have the division and likely third place. Whoever will be in sixth we beat in the first. I estimate the other second round match up will be possibly Chicago vs Cleveland who will be occupying the first and fourth slot. This match up depends on who they play first round. where they face us or charlotte depending on who finished further behind. that too isn't a guaranteed win.

so playoff path if we win division is sixth seed - Toronto- Cleveland if we dont its us as fifth or fourth seed facing Chicago- Cleveland and possibly Toronto. With possible upsets coming from charlotte.

I think for the best thing we can do is develop our assets in rice and porter on the wing and see what we got there. They've worked hard and I trust them within the team unit to grow. They never got a chance last year so let's see. While the big men are diminished for the first day and the first few weeks cause of humphries injury let's take a look at seraphin. When we are at full strength we may never have taken a look at them but now we have the chance and we have it early. These young guys are not one dimensional and i think can help us.

I'm mostly worried about seeding. This will affect how far our playoff run goes

Bruce, everything you wrote makes sense to me. As an alternative suggestion, I think they need to bring in Ray Allen and try to win every game. Start a proven, veferan, winner. Develop the young guys in practice and by them watching Hall of Fame players a few minutes, and subbing them in liberally. Close games with the most effective players. Start games with a player who the referees are going to defer to. Let Rice, Porter, and Temple find their minutes in the flow of the game.

Try to maximize wins to get the best playoff seed. Adding Ray Allen could add good hype, credibility, and possibly wins versus going with an unproven player at SG. Porter, Temple, or Rice could emerge as reliable players in time, but I don't want to force starting minutes or close games with them right away. Besides that, Wall's game could take a step backward as teams play off the young guys at SG. That won't happen if they sign Ray Ray.

[AFM]

GR Jr is a better player anyway (yeah I said it)

[Ruzious]

Out of necessity, rotation for 1st game (@ Heat):
Wall/Miller
Rice/Temple
Porter/Pierce
Pierce/Gooden
Gortat/Seraphin

I doubt they start both Glen and Otto

And they will likely sign Xavier Silas.

You could just a easily see.

Wall/Miller
Temple/Rice
Pierce/Porter
Gooden/Pierce
Gortat/Seraphin

A lot of the remaining games will be about evaluating Rice, Silas and Otto.

Silas is suspended for game one. Your lineup might be the one, but either way, it's going to be thin in game one, and still a little thin after. One more injury (say, Nene) could have the team digging a hole for itself.

And KS has to avoid picking up 3 fouls in his first minute of action. He's played real well in preseason, but his fouling rate continues to be a problem.

[Dat2U]

Ok, I view the injuries to Webster and now Beal as a blessing in disguise. It means an opportunity for Porter & Rice that likely would not have been there.

For those predicting impending doom, don't forget, Beal was our fifth best starter last season and struggled significantly throughout parts of it. While his temporary loss certainly hurts as most are hoping he takes a major step forward in terms of being a consistent and reliable starter, he's not an irreplaceable player at the moment, despite his playoff showing.

I think Rice isn't getting a lot love on the board, maybe because his game isn't asthetically pleasing... but I think he's rather effective, if streaky. He's a keeper if given enough of an opportunity, not the greatest shooter or slasher but he's just got a knack for scoring and I like his energy on the defensive end. I think defensively we'll be fine with him in there despite missing a few rotations here and there in the preseason.

[Kanyewest]

Beal did raise his level of play in the postseason, I'm not sure he was the 5th best starter against the Bulls.