GT #67: Trail Blazers @ Wizards 7 PM (CSN/99.FM) [3/16/15]

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Toure Murray is clearly a difference maker.

Best bottom line since the Magical Mystical Mo Almond.

Toure is (also) undefeated as a Wizard. Obviously, the season changed once he was signed.

Bottom line is all that counts.

[MikeTheKid]

Utah is annihilating the Hornets. 45-19 in the early mid 2nd. Utah is 11-12 from 3 O_o

Oh boy

Utah is going to be super scary in a couple seasons, Gobert is a super stud, Alec Burks will be back and Exum and Hood coming off the bench they have a ton of talent

[MikeTheKid]

Toure Murray is clearly a difference maker.

Best bottom line since the Magical Mystical Mo Almond.

Toure is (also) undefeated as a Wizard. Obviously, the season changed once he was signed.

Bottom line is all that counts.

Its the Mo Almond effect CCJ, how do you do it??? Mo Almond a couple years ago, DGIII last year and now Toure what is up with the last minute 10-days for us? They go undefeated in stretches every year

[Wizardspride]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/HoopDistrictDC/status/577645183216586752[/tweet]

[AFM]

With Wittman you have to look at the bottom line. May not agree with some coaching decisions or rotations however the win column and 2 back to back playoff seasons overshadow the flaws

You have to look at the double bottom line. Want to join the crew?

[exculpatory]

I was there!

Wall was outstanding.

Paul's corner 3 on a dish by Wall after John streaked past the entire Blazer team iced the game & brought the roof down!

[JWizmentality]

Looks like they're back on form...at the right time too.

[stevemcqueen1]

Wall and Beal played like All Stars. We can hang with anyone when they do. Gortat and Nene played well too and Gooden and Butler did their thing and Sessions has been solid.

Pierce is incredible. He hits so many big shots. Never afraid to take them and it's such a boon. You can see the team visibly loosen after he hits one to break up an opposing run or blow a game open. He gives them so much confidence.

[hands11]

That and playing Butler over Porter still seems nonsensical to me. I don't mind giving butler minutes, but why not play both. Wall needs to be preserved, not run into the ground.

I think that is minor to nothing compared to the stuff I'm talking about.

Its brutal pressure for a team to blow a big lead like that. Specially a team like the Wizards who are coming off a huge losing streak. That's where a coach stops momentum with a time out. Let your guy regroup. Specially when bad calls are mixed in there.

POR called a time out .. OUT OF A TIME OUT.. after we made only TWO momentum changing plays.

RANDY. he waited until 10 momentum changing plays over like 4-5 minutes.

Its beyond words.. common sense.. Nothing explains this level of stupid. And where are his assistants ? Doesn't anyone have the balls to tell him he is being an idiot ?

I would so love for PP to just call the time out.. Screw Randy.

Hate to say it but we needed those timeouts at the end of the game when John got trapped and Gortat couldn't find anybody after John went into the stands. It's very Dean Smith-like to save your timeouts until the end. I don't he did that purposely but I also don't agree with calling timeouts to just kill the momentum every time you lose a big lead.

If he called the time out earlier when he should have, its way more likely he wouldn't have needed it in at the end.

[hands11]

Wall and Beal played like All Stars. We can hang with anyone when they do. Gortat and Nene played well too and Gooden and Butler did their thing and Sessions has been solid.

Pierce is incredible. He hits so many big shots. Never afraid to take them and it's such a boon. You can see the team visibly loosen after he hits one to break up an opposing run or blow a game open. He gives them so much confidence.

RIght.. The shot that broke POR momentum. The team loosened. Confidence. Momentum.

Which is why you call a freakn time out when things start falling apart while you have a 25 pts lead and it goes to 19 pts. You prolong that confidence. You save your cushion. You interrupt their momentum.... BY CALLING A FREAKN TIME OUT

You can see this team has the talent to be good. They showed how they can play. Randy's core message of defense is correct. But good offense helps your defense and Randy isn't good at managing the offense. And its lucky, not good, that we got to see Gooden out there spreading the floor. That only happened because of injury.

And as I have said, I still worry what he will do when they get fully healthy.

We got to see the offense with out Nene. And it worked more then fine by focusing on Wall, PP, and Gortat. What they miss from Nene is his defense, not his offense. His holding the ball to long actually get the offense to stall. And his terrible FT shooting is killer for momentum.

This should have easily been a 50 plus win team and the only reason they aren't is because of their head coach.

[FAH1223]

Utah is annihilating the Hornets. 45-19 in the early mid 2nd. Utah is 11-12 from 3 O_o

Oh boy

Utah is going to be super scary in a couple seasons, Gobert is a super stud, Alec Burks will be back and Exum and Hood coming off the bench they have a ton of talent

Utah is scary good now

Once Kanter was shipped out and Gobert was inserted they have perhaps the best defense in the league.

Rudy Gobert is like a one man zone defense. It's insane.

[Illmatic12]

It's always great to see Wall bring it against other elite PGs. He has thoroughly outclassed Lillard head-to-head this season, just a different level of player in terms of all-around impact.

If this is who Wall is at age 24, just add improved three-pt shooting + post up game and the Wiz have a perennial MVP candidate.

[MikeTheKid]

Utah is annihilating the Hornets. 45-19 in the early mid 2nd. Utah is 11-12 from 3 O_o

Oh boy

Utah is going to be super scary in a couple seasons, Gobert is a super stud, Alec Burks will be back and Exum and Hood coming off the bench they have a ton of talent

Utah is scary good now

Once Kanter was shipped out and Gobert was inserted they have perhaps the best defense in the league.

Rudy Gobert is like a one man zone defense. It's insane.

How bad of a cancer was Kanter then, what a turnaround for them, I think I heard on Sirius Radio that Utah has the #1 defense in the league since the ASB

[DCZards]

RIght.. The shot that broke POR momentum. The team loosened. Confidence. Momentum.

Which is why you call a freakn time out when things start falling apart while you have a 25 pts lead and it goes to 19 pts. You prolong that confidence. You save your cushion. You interrupt their momentum.... BY CALLING A FREAKN TIME OUT

yeah, it sucks that the Zards gave up a 25 pt lead last night. But calling timeouts during an opponent’s run is a delicate balancing act and a timeout doesn't always break the other team's momentum, especially a team as good as Portland. I thought Witt played it pretty well last night as far as timeouts are concerned. It was helpful that the Zards still had a timeout or two to use in the last few minutes of the game.

[FAH1223]

How bad of a cancer was Kanter then, what a turnaround for them, I think I heard on Sirius Radio that Utah has the #1 defense in the league since the ASB

He must have been sulking over not getting more PT but he clearly didn't deserve it with the way Gobert has emerged.

[nuposse04]

Utah is going to be super scary in a couple seasons, Gobert is a super stud, Alec Burks will be back and Exum and Hood coming off the bench they have a ton of talent

Utah is scary good now

Once Kanter was shipped out and Gobert was inserted they have perhaps the best defense in the league.

Rudy Gobert is like a one man zone defense. It's insane.

How bad of a cancer was Kanter then, what a turnaround for them, I think I heard on Sirius Radio that Utah has the #1 defense in the league since the ASB

I'd argue they have the best young 3-4-5 lineup in the NBA. I can't think of more then 2-3 SFs legitimately better then Hayward this season. Derrick Favors is probably the least talked about 4 in the NBA, he has excellent per 36 numbers. Gobert, is just a monster. Little more core strength in him, and he has a chance to dominate consistently. Once Exum develops in 2-3 years...man...watch out.

Also both Burks are decent as well as Hood. Almost wish Utah was in the east so they could make the playoffs.

[Higga]

Need more games like this where both Wall and Beal are great. When they both play like stars we can beat anybody.

Now time for our yearly circus trip. If we could somehow go 2-2 I'd be thrilled.

[dobrojim]

Beal is one of our big keys in being a middle of (upper) pack team or one that can challenge
the elites. He was aggressively looking to shoot 3s last night. Hallelujah and keep it up.
Especially when his intangibles are good.

Seraphins minutes were minimized with Gooden playing solid ball.

Pierce is rounding into playoff form. If we keep it up, we will be a team that
no one really wants to play. OK, no one wants to play a lot of good teams,
but we can be one of those teams. 7 TOs is a ridiculously low total.