Wiz vs Indy Game Thread 11/10/12 SAT 7PM

[80sballboy]

I dont think we'll have to cheer too hard for that....

I actually like the Bobcats team. They have a nice mix of defense, scoring and size, especially now that Kemba has found his groove.

Our team looks good on paper, but we don't seem to have nice anything, we seem more mixed up. I'm sure Nene and Wall returning will solve all our problems. But then again, this is the Wizards we are talking about!

Our team looks good on paper? Huh?

[80sballboy]

The biggest problem with this team is we have no closer. No go to person. Beal is playing much better and he might be that guy some day, but he just isnt there yet.

With that said, we could have easily tied up the game if Booker passed the ball to Okafor under the basket instead of taking a contested jump hook. Okafor was wide open.

Beal has to be the guy on this team. There's really nobody else. Maybe a healthy Crawford. Even with Wall and Nene back. we have no closer. Just frustrating watching this team.

[80sballboy]

@ CCJ- Can we at least send Vesely down to NBDL so he can work on his game? Where is our player development like other teams?

llcc25, I suppose it would not hurt but there generally isn't any great coaching taking place in the D-League. Vesely played a lot of minutes in the NBA last season. Seems to me he should have been in the D-League last season.

If Vesely could go there and take all the jumpers he needs to practice or wants to, why not?

I would imagine it could really demoralize Vesely to be in the D-League, but I don't see that it would hurt his game.

I can't think of another top 10 pick that has been D-leagued other than Hasheem Thabeet. It's the curse of the #6 pick. If was picked where Booker was, we wouldn't be quite as disappointed. But without Nene, that four spot is so awful. Booker is too short, Singelton is too much of a tweener and Vesely can't shoot.

[willbcocks]

Vesely got pulled because he was getting pushed around. He can't hold position on D or to rebound and has to foul.

If he can't get stronger, he is going to be out of this league with a quickness. I like his game, but a minimum level of strength is a necessary condition for playing in the NBA.

[willbcocks]

I love what I've seen out of Beal the last 3 games. Obviously he's a rookie and makes rookie mistakes, but he makes a lot of plays, moves great without the ball, has a pretty good handle and athleticism, and he can stroke it. And for a rook 5 games into the year, his defense has been solid. Remember how bad Wall was his rookie year on defense? Beal's been the opposite so far.

[jivelikenice]

Bookers has really been a let down this yr. I absolutely hate the Okafor/Booker combo. Spacing is terrible when they're on the floor together and you can't have two offensive players this awkward on the floor together. Defenses are daring them to beat us....

[SUPERBALLMAN]

The biggest problem with this team is we have no closer. No go to person. Beal is playing much better and he might be that guy some day, but he just isnt there yet.

With that said, we could have easily tied up the game if Booker passed the ball to Okafor under the basket instead of taking a contested jump hook. Okafor was wide open.

Ok, Hansbrough has been pissing me off since his college days. Still I'd love to have him on my team!


We need an end of game shot, and it's BOOKER?!!? Why was he even in the game for that play?? I can see Okafor, but why was Booker in there, and how does he get the ball in his hands?? Webster, or Martin, or even Singleton should of been in there instead of Booker. Love Book, but not in that situation.

Despite the loss, and the bad start to the season, I am still encouraged. Okafor was very good this game, as was Price. But Beal is becoming the star and leader of this team right before our very eyes. He is going to be good, really good, and sooner than later folks.

In addition, the development of Seraphin, and Singleton, and the play of Webster since his arrival here are all positives.

Ariza, although disapointing so far seems to be coming along, I can at least see the possibility of him emerging as the kind of player for this team we hope he can be. I do like his length on the defensive end, and his size and athleticism from the wing on the offensive end. Crawford seems to have embraced the scorer off the bench role, and has 6th man potential.

This game came down to the last shot, against a playoff team, on the road, 2nd of a back to back, without their 2 best players. They have played every game hard and physical, and they've shown heart. The losing is tough to take, everyone's still figuring out their roles and how to play with each other, but I can see this team coming together. They have been pretty solid on the defensive end, and that is the foundation you want to build on. The offense takes longer to build chemistry, but it will get better.

Position by position, I like what we have 2 deep at each spot... Okafor/Seraphin, Nene/Booker, Ariza/Webster, Beal/Crawford, Wall/Price. Remaining depth is pretty decent with Barron, Vesely, Singleton, Martin, Pargo. I still think this team ultimately is at the least a playoff team this year. Hopefully they'll get on the winning track soon.

[hands11]

Just looking over the numbers and this perspective jumped out at me.

These last two games are more like the Wizards with Kevin S out with the calf injury then like the team that ended last year with him playing well or the team that benefited from his return for two games this year. The last two games, Kevin has been non existent.

The last two games Kevin is 3-12 with 4 rebounds in 26 minutes.

The two games before that he was 16-28 16 rebounds in 65 minutes.

This team without Wall, Nene and Kevin is not going to win many if any games. Add that Crawford is still fight through a sprained ankle and that is 90% of the problem. But there are some adjustments that could have been made that would have helped.

I think Randy is missing the obvious regarding why they play teams close but can't close. He has Price and Beal out there as the guards. One 19 year old rookie and the other is a non established PG who is still developing is game and place on the team. Obviously you can't have both out there together to close games. You have to put Crawford out there with Beal. At least give it a shot.

[FAH1223]

Crawford with Beal?? So you want Crawford to chuck with 17 seconds on the shot clock?

Well, hopefully that happens. We need as many Ls as possible to get EG out

[McGully Culkin]

We take a guy #6 overall and he never sees the floor when it matters. THAT falls on EG. Dude had pro experience and was one of the older rookies taken in the top-10. Why is this failing?

Glad other guys have stepped their games up since last year - mostly Singleton. Not sure what the deal w/ Ves is. You don't take a guy #6 overall to specialize in things that don't show up on the stat sheet. Could have found that same value in round 2 by taking a guy out of Duke. He's looking like a bust more and more with each day passing.

[MikeTheKid]

Lets start a "Ernie must go" chant at the next home game. Maybe that will get Ted's attention.

I tried that at the home opener and a few ppl in my section helped me out. I think I might make a shirt with that quote!

[tontoz]

Their offense is all jump shots. That will probably continue until Wall gets back. Hard to win when you have to rely on jumpers.

[AFM]

That's a killer sig quote, tontoz.

I'm actually pleasantly surprised by Crawford this year. He has really reigned in his shot selection. Plus he was making it rain last night from deep. I think he shoots better the closer he is to the half court line.

[DCZards]

We need an end of game shot, and it's BOOKER?!!? Why was he even in the game for that play?? I can see Okafor, but why was Booker in there, and how does he get the ball in his hands?? Webster, or Martin, or even Singleton should of been in there instead of Booker. Love Book, but not in that situation.

Despite the loss, and the bad start to the season, I am still encouraged. Okafor was very good this game, as was Price. But Beal is becoming the star and leader of this team right before our very eyes.

I didn't have a problem with the shot by Booker. Maybe not the best option to have Booker with the ball in his hands but he was probably the only option at that point...and he did have an open 10 footer.

Love what I'm starting to see from Beal. His confidence and belief that he can be a player even at the NBA level is rapidly growing. You can see it in the 19 year old's body language. People were absolutely crazy to start suggesting Beal might be bust...after only 2 games. He still needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end, but that's going to come...sooner rather than later.

[LyricalRico]

Despite the loss, and the bad start to the season, I am still encouraged. Okafor was very good this game, as was Price. But Beal is becoming the star and leader of this team right before our very eyes. He is going to be good, really good, and sooner than later folks.

In addition, the development of Seraphin, and Singleton, and the play of Webster since his arrival here are all positives.

Ariza, although disapointing so far seems to be coming along, I can at least see the possibility of him emerging as the kind of player for this team we hope he can be. I do like his length on the defensive end, and his size and athleticism from the wing on the offensive end. Crawford seems to have embraced the scorer off the bench role, and has 6th man potential.

This game came down to the last shot, against a playoff team, on the road, 2nd of a back to back, without their 2 best players. They have played every game hard and physical, and they've shown heart. The losing is tough to take, everyone's still figuring out their roles and how to play with each other, but I can see this team coming together. They have been pretty solid on the defensive end, and that is the foundation you want to build on. The offense takes longer to build chemistry, but it will get better.

Position by position, I like what we have 2 deep at each spot... Okafor/Seraphin, Nene/Booker, Ariza/Webster, Beal/Crawford, Wall/Price. Remaining depth is pretty decent with Barron, Vesely, Singleton, Martin, Pargo. I still think this team ultimately is at the least a playoff team this year. Hopefully they'll get on the winning track soon.

Couldn't have said it better.

[GhostsOfGil]

Don't care how good Jordan Crawford s line in. He takes terrible shots at key possessions. Such a frustrating loss.

This was the exact possession I was thinking off.. captured perfectly by Mike Prada:

[Nivek]

By the way, it's not just bad shots that make Crawford a crappy player despite a relatively productive first 5 games (productive for him compared to previous seasons, I mean). On Twitter, I talked about the "flaming bag of poo" possessions that Crawford generates.

"Flaming Bag of Poo" possessions are those where a player holds the ball, dribbles around -- in some way burns time -- and then throws the ball to a teammate with 3-4 seconds on the shot clock. That player is then basically forced to take a bad shot or take the shot clock violation. Crawford did it to AJ Price twice against Indy.

[GhostsOfGil]

"Flaming Bag of Poo" possessions are those where a player holds the ball, dribbles around -- in some way burns time -- and then throws the ball to a teammate with 3-4 seconds on the shot clock. That player is then basically forced to take a bad shot or take the shot clock violation. Crawford did it to AJ Price twice against Indy.

How many FBP per game is Crawford averaging? He's probably leading the league with at least 3.5 FBPPG so far.

[closg00]

FBP's I love it.

[willbcocks]

It's not fair to single out crawford here. As far as I can tell, our offense is designed to generate FBPs. Beal, Seraphin--everyone on the team is lighting em up and running back on D.