GT #62: Pacers (32-30) @ Wizards (30-31) 7 PM (CSN/99.1 FM)

[nuposse04]

What a tough loss! I wasn't able to watch the game last night, but I've got it on my DVR and will certainly watch the 4th quarter, maybe the whole game.

I've looked at the box score of course. Looks like Temple stepped up.

Relative to last game, absolutely. Unfortunately he had a very costly TO in crunch time on a fastbreak that would have helped us secure the victory... iirc we were up and somebody got a steal and outlet to temple, and he proceeded to lose the ball as he attacked the basket. That and he basically didn't help the offense at all in the 4th when we needed it most. But quite frankly the ball movement in the 4th really wasn't good. Most of the fairweather fans in the area I was siting could even notice that. Lots of settling for jumpers :/

Temple went 5-7, including 1-2 on three-pointers. That's 11 points on 7 shots. IOW, without his play earlier in the game, there is no "crunch time... fast break that would have helped us secure the victory." There is no "crunch time." Why not put the blame on the guy who went 9-24? A shot or two that he missed in the first quarter had the exact same impact on the game as a shot or two missed in the last minute. More impact, in fact, wouldn't you say? Make those, and we're ahead in "crunch time" by enough that the game is in our hands. Or, *his* turnovers -- 7 of them -- for that matter.

Or, why not point the finger at Nene, who went 2-6 from the FT line?

Not suggesting we actually *do* point at either of those guys, btw. Just noting that everything a guy does during every minute of the game has the same impact on winning/losing -- no matter when he does it. "Crunch time," "clutch" -- words like that are inventions to heighten the entertainment aspect of the game. They don't actually exist.

Others and myself pointing out Temple's flaws in the 4th quarter does not absolve Wall and Nene of their faults. I'm just pointing out the reality that he was one of the problems in the 4th quarter... along with the other players... but I suspect someone who only read the boxscore from the game is only going to provide limited commentary on how the game played out. His production in the 1st half was good and he gets kudos for that but you can't disappear once the guy ahead of you goes down with injury. There was a A LOT of blame to go around in the 2nd half.

As far as crunch time not existing... I'd defer to players on whether or not they feel a mental strain during a strenuous closure to the game. I'm not privy to whether players overall play worse or better in the final few mins of a game relative to prior 45 when the game is tight...

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

On the last play of the game, the Wizards fielded a squad that had only one player originally drafted by the Wizards -- John Wall. He was drafted in 2010. Since then, Ernie Grunfeld has drafted:

2011

Jan Vesely #6 (No longer in the NBA)
Chris Singleton #18 (No longer in the NBA)
Shelvin Mack #34 (No longer in the NBA)


2012

Bradley Beal #3 (injury-prone, on glidepath for EG to max him)
Tomas Satoransky #32 (like Bigfoot, only exists in folklore as opposed to tangible reality)


2013

Otto Porter #3 (inconsistent, disappears for long stretches of game).
Nate Wolers #38 (traded to Philly)
Arsalan Kazemi #54 (traded to Philly)
Both Walters and Kazemi traded to Philly for Glenn Rice Jr who is out of the NBA.


2014

Jordan Clarkson #54 (traded to Lakers for cash considerations)
No first round pick because it was shipped out to get Gortat


2015

Kelly Oubre, Jr #15 (Jury still out)
Two second round picks were shipped out to ATL in order to select Oubre at #15. Wiz selected Jerian Grant at #18 for ATL.

-----------------------------------

During last night's game, the talent difference between Wall and everyone else on our team was stark. That talent disparity is completely and wholly the fault of Ernie Grunfeld. If I'm John Wall, I'm feeling like it's 1 on 5 at times. He's a nice guy, but Garrett "God" Temple, who can't shoot well consistently, is an often-starting SHOOTING guard for a team that thinks it's a playoff team.

It has a head coach that ices Gortat on the final play even though he's a better shooter and FT shooter.

Honestly, it's getting difficult to be a fan of this team. I like the players as individuals, but I just abhor its GM, head coach, and owner.

Sigh.

Great post!

I concur in abhorrences.

[dckingsfan]

Pistons lost - so we didn't give up anything on 8th place. But forget the 6th seed - we aren't winning 44 games. Maybe Indiana will go on another losing streak and we could pick them off too but they effectively have a 3.5 game lead on us with 20 games to go.

Honestly, I don't care if every team around us loses every game the rest of the year. I want to make the playoffs because we are winning and got hot at the right time. Not by backing in because everyone else sucked

That beeping noise is the Wizard's truck backing up

Could have used the Pistons losing tonight. 1 1/2 back with 20 left is still doable. Just harder when we have to catch both the Bulls and Pistons.

[gambitx777]

Beal is Glass.................. No way he should or could get max now.

[ozthegap]

Mmm. I think you forget that EG is the one who paid gil that massive contract.

[gambitx777]

Giving Gilbert that kind of money can be justified, he was that good consistently, if he does not get hurt he would have been worth every penny. Beal is not only not that good, but he may not even be worth that money if he stays healthy. I'm not saying that EG is smart, hes not, but there is a big difference between Gilbert and Beal.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

If you care to, go back and search comments before EG gave Gilbert the contract. Justified or not I thought it was a VERY bad idea.

Logic and all sorts of bad omens/ precedents told me so.

[TheSecretWeapon]

Beal will probably get the max because of hope (based on his age and potential) and the amount of money the league has to collectively spend on player salaries this summer. Odds are very high that whoever gives him that kind of money will end up regretting it.

[AFM]

"Whoever"?
It's gonna be us baby!!!

[nate33]

Beal will probably get the max because of hope (based on his age and potential) and the amount of money the league has to collectively spend on player salaries this summer. Odds are very high that whoever gives him that kind of money will end up regretting it.

I think Beal will get offered a max, but only on a 2+1 contract (2 years plus 3rd year team option). I don't think anyone wants to risk having $22M a year tied up in him for 4 full years. They'll gamble on him, but they want an out if he doesn't improve basketball-wise and health-wise.

[Tricky_Kid]

Another dissapointing loss. I stopped watching Wizards live and focusing on more interesting things. It's better to watch this :



than this:

[queridiculo]

Had the game on in the background but didn't pay all that much attention.

Noticed back to back possessions with Ellis guarding Porter and no attempt being made to exploit it, was this a matchup the Pacers went with for the entirety of the time Ellis was on the floor?

Vintage Wizards loss this one, over the years Washington has perfected the art of self defeat.

Missed free throws, silly turnovers, a bit of a staple of the Wizards game.

[J-Ves]

And I thought the Bulls loss was bad .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ozthegap]

Giving Gilbert that kind of money can be justified, he was that good consistently, if he does not get hurt he would have been worth every penny. Beal is not only not that good, but he may not even be worth that money if he stays healthy. I'm not saying that EG is smart, hes not, but there is a big difference between Gilbert and Beal.

He had just come off knee surgery and EG followed up that by paying Old man jamison 14 mil if I remember correctly. Then after gungate eg threw gil under the bus and created such a toxic team atmosphere that he had to trade gil, jamison, and butler for peanuts on the dollar.

[payitforward]

Relative to last game, absolutely. Unfortunately he had a very costly TO in crunch time on a fastbreak that would have helped us secure the victory... iirc we were up and somebody got a steal and outlet to temple, and he proceeded to lose the ball as he attacked the basket. That and he basically didn't help the offense at all in the 4th when we needed it most. But quite frankly the ball movement in the 4th really wasn't good. Most of the fairweather fans in the area I was siting could even notice that. Lots of settling for jumpers :/

Temple went 5-7, including 1-2 on three-pointers. That's 11 points on 7 shots. IOW, without his play earlier in the game, there is no "crunch time... fast break that would have helped us secure the victory." There is no "crunch time." Why not put the blame on the guy who went 9-24? A shot or two that he missed in the first quarter had the exact same impact on the game as a shot or two missed in the last minute. More impact, in fact, wouldn't you say? Make those, and we're ahead in "crunch time" by enough that the game is in our hands. Or, *his* turnovers -- 7 of them -- for that matter.

Or, why not point the finger at Nene, who went 2-6 from the FT line?

Not suggesting we actually *do* point at either of those guys, btw. Just noting that everything a guy does during every minute of the game has the same impact on winning/losing -- no matter when he does it. "Crunch time," "clutch" -- words like that are inventions to heighten the entertainment aspect of the game. They don't actually exist.

Others and myself pointing out Temple's flaws in the 4th quarter does not absolve Wall and Nene of their faults. I'm just pointing out the reality that he was one of the problems in the 4th quarter... along with the other players... but I suspect someone who only read the boxscore from the game is only going to provide limited commentary on how the game played out. His production in the 1st half was good and he gets kudos for that but you can't disappear once the guy ahead of you goes down with injury. There was a A LOT of blame to go around in the 2nd half.

As far as crunch time not existing... I'd defer to players on whether or not they feel a mental strain during a strenuous closure to the game. I'm not privy to whether players overall play worse or better in the final few mins of a game relative to prior 45 when the game is tight...

You're right that all you did was point out a f-up of Temple's. I've become extremely defensive of Garrett Temple, as I mentioned in a post yesterday. I apologize.

I'm sure players feel greater stress during the last minutes of a close game -- it'd be weird if they didn't! Gimme a pass on this one, ok?

[nuposse04]

You're right that all you did was point out a f-up of Temple's. I've become extremely defensive of Garrett Temple, as I mentioned in a post yesterday. I apologize.

I'm sure players feel greater stress during the last minutes of a close game -- it'd be weird if they didn't! Gimme a pass on this one, ok?

I can understand wanting to defend him pif, he isn't horrible, just an average for a bench player. Which is fine... the problem is that this roster has to rely on consistent production from mediocre players because of inconsistencies throughout the board at other positions. Temple's role should be 4th/5th guard on a competently built roster, and we are asking him to be the starting 2 for a large portion of the season. I imagine, given he isn't a physical standout, the season must be taking a toll on him as well and he was going to regress on shooting.

I don't blame Temple for not ascending to the role we have asked of him, I blame EG for this roster construction >.> That and I still believe the coaching is sub standard. The lack of creativity in the offense boggles my mind still.

[CobraCommander]

The lose to Indy just got worse because Indy beat San Antonio and everyone else we need to lose...won

[ozthegap]

The lose to Indy just got worse because Indy beat San Antonio and everyone else we need to lose...won

Look on the bright side. Lebron lost that's always fun.