Official Thread (SFW) -- Wiz at Cs (12/21/13)

[JWizmentality]

I just remembered that I saw a stat during the game that made me spit out my Pepsi. We're second to last in the league in bench points. Holy Mother Teresa on the hood of a Mercedes Benz, there's a team worse than us?!?!?

[hands11]

Wall with a really strong half defensively on Crawford. I liked the way he played for the most part, when Wall and Ariza are forcing turnovers defensively and getting out in transition, it makes us a tough team to beat.

Another strong game for Nene, and Gortat was much better in the fourth.

The long 2's by Beal don't bother me as long as he's shooting them in rhythm and he's got a wide open look. It's the contested long 2's early in the shot clock that are frustrating.

On Ariza, FO has a tough decision to make before the deadline. Either trade him while his value is at an all time high, or keep him and try and resign him in the offseason, in which case i'm not sure where Porter would fit in.

Oh and props to Seraphin for a nice little stretch over the last few games. He looks much more comfortable out there when Nene's by his side.

Healthy, they have the players to win. Its just about the line ups. Right now, Nene off the bench is helping a ton. But starting Booker with Gortat is going to be hit or miss. Nothing will be consistent as long as that is the case.

Not liking Randy locking in on that combination vs giving Ves some chances when it makes sense Randy sat by and watched that failed combination tonight. It was clear it sucked from the start. It was only once Kevin S came in that things started to change. Then Nene got on the court and had his effect. Trevor A started to get it going and then Wall did a 180 and joined in.

But then Randy returned to Booker to start the 2nd instead of turning to Ves. They went down again. Booker out, Kevin in and they keep it going. Booker never saw the court again.

Just bad coaching. He isn't nimble enough. Just doesn't have the smarts or balls to make the right move unless forced into it by injury or fouls or similar.

Good to get a win though on a night Webster and BB didn't have it going.

[hands11]

I just remembered that I saw a stat during the game that made me spit out my Pepsi. We're second to last in the league in bench points. Holy Mother Teresa on the hood of a Mercedes Benz, there's a team worse than us?!?!?

37 today. And if you check the last 3-4 games you will see the game. Bench got better once Otto and Glen played. Glen went out and Nene started coming off the bench.

The team always had the players to have a good bench. They just needed to get a little healthy and move one of the starters to the bench. Nene, Gortat or Beal. Right now its Nene and Webster combo that is anchoring it.

And that works well. That will allow players like Otto, Kevin and Ves to develop which will build out the bench even more. To bad Glen is out 3-6 weeks. He would be a nice bench piece.

If they could find a solidish starting PF.. Not a stud, just solid, we could be set.

[nuposse04]

Depth really helps when you don't have stars complimenting Wall yet. Beal/Webster didn't really help too much (although I thought Beal was fine defensively) but Ariza stepped up huge and is probably player of the game along side Seraphin.

I like the Nene/Seraphin combo off the bench. It is working FAR better. They're bruisin people out there. Seraphin still has his gaffs but I'm happy to see he's still trying to get better and fighting his way back into the rotation. He may be asinine at times, but I don't think he's lazy. Still 3 games isn't enough to discount all his other shortcomings.

I thought wall played an outstanding game, *gasp* was "clutch" down the stretch. I thought for sure we were going to lose this one. Very pleased with the outcome. 5 days off should help Nene/Beal quite a bit.

By months end, we may have a reason to be jolly this season well some of us anyways...the debby downers will rear their ugly heads whenever they can.

[JWizmentality]

I just remembered that I saw a stat during the game that made me spit out my Pepsi. We're second to last in the league in bench points. Holy Mother Teresa on the hood of a Mercedes Benz, there's a team worse than us?!?!?

37 today. And if you check the last 3-4 games you will see the game. Bench got better once Otto and Glen played. Glen went out and Nene started coming off the bench.

The team always had the players to have a good bench. They just needed to get a little healthy and move one of the starters to the bench. Nene, Gortat or Beal. Right now its Nene and Webster combo that is anchoring it.

And that works well. That will allow players like Otto, Kevin and Ves to develop which will build out the bench even more. To bad Glen is out 3-6 weeks. He would be a nice bench piece.

If they could find a solidish starting PF.. Not a stud, just solid, we could be set.

Yeah yeah I know. I just want to know who's worse so I can go troll the hell out of that board.

[Kanyewest]

Well as much as we bust his balls for 4th quarter play, hats off to Wall for a great quarter even after Whit sat him for too long.

Wall played better in the 4th quarter because he was rested IMO.

[nate33]

Not liking Randy locking in on that combination vs giving Ves some chances when it makes sense Randy sat by and watched that failed combination tonight. It was clear it sucked from the start. It was only once Kevin S came in that things started to change. Then Nene got on the court and had his effect. Trevor A started to get it going and then Wall did a 180 and joined in.

But then Randy returned to Booker to start the 2nd instead of turning to Ves. They went down again. Booker out, Kevin in and they keep it going. Booker never saw the court again.

Just bad coaching. He isn't nimble enough. Just doesn't have the smarts or balls to make the right move unless forced into it by injury or fouls or similar.

I disagree with this. It reeks of 20/20 hindsight. Booker has consistently been a much better player than Vesely or Seraphin all season long. He's clearly our 3rd best big man and has earned his minutes. If he has a slow start in the 1st quarter, you can't just write him off for the entire game and start mixing and matching other combinations. Players need to know their coaches have confidence in them or else they'll play scared.

Wittman did the right thing, the thing most coaches do. He started Booker who played poorly, and then he went to his bench as usual, inserting Seraphin. Seraphin played well so he rode him longer than usual. He gave Booker another chance in the 3rd quarter, as he should have, and again it didn't work out. So he rode Seraphin longer again.

It looks like Wittman's rotation for the time being is going to be Gortat, Nene and Booker; plus a 4th big. That 4th big is going to alternate between Seraphin and Vesely, depending on the circumstances. Either that, or he's going to stick with his pattern of utilizing 5-game stints where he plays Seraphin for 5 games, and then plays Vesely 5 games.

[Kanyewest]

Sullinger just made Gortat look foolish.

Sullinger was also bullying Nene out of the way at times during the game. I wonder if Sullinger came out if the Wizards would have taken him over Vesely. The Wizards certainly could have found better value but may have been easier to stomach.

[Kanyewest]

I just remembered that I saw a stat during the game that made me spit out my Pepsi. We're second to last in the league in bench points. Holy Mother Teresa on the hood of a Mercedes Benz, there's a team worse than us?!?!?

It is Golden State. Starring Toney Douglas, Ken Bazemore (the guy who celebrates), Jermaine O'Neal, and Hilton Armstrong. I guess once they are fully healthy, they have either one of Thompson, Lee, or Barnes coming off the bench.

[Mickstix]

Missed the whole damn game.. Didnt' know they played at 1pm until seeing the final on BSPN..

So, how did Porter look in his 12 mins of playtime?

Who is MBP?

Grats Wiz on another road win!!

[SirCharles3434]

Beating a dead horse here, but I wonder how much better this team would be if you all had a better bench.

[DANNYLANDOVER]

Missed the whole damn game.. Didnt' know they played at 1pm until seeing the final on BSPN..

So, how did Porter look in his 12 mins of playtime?

Who is MBP?

Grats Wiz on another road win!!

Porter was pretty much anonymous as usual...made a mid-range jumper and a reverse layup.
MBP = Al Gore...sorry Kevin Seraphin

[Kanyewest]

Missed the whole damn game.. Didnt' know they played at 1pm until seeing the final on BSPN..

So, how did Porter look in his 12 mins of playtime?

Who is MBP?

Grats Wiz on another road win!!

Porter looked OK . His 4 points came on 2-4 shooting. Once was a mid range jumper. The other was a backdoor cut against Gerald Wallace where he layed up nicely at an angle as Wallace was contesting it. He almost lost the ball when he was double team but was able to recover the ball as the Wizards initiated their offense.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The Wizards are 12-13 at almost 1/3rd of the season played. They are trending upwards. If they finish 33-24 their final record will be 45-37.

It will come down to health and coaching, but I think that's about where this team should finish.

[dckingsfan]

The Wizards are 12-13 at almost 1/3rd of the season played. They are trending upwards. If they finish 33-24 their final record will be 45-37.

It will come down to health and coaching, but I think that's about where this team should finish.

They are trending upward and I think you have it right. I would whole heartedly agree with you if not for the trend toward injury.

[Illmatic21]

I feel like we should be above .500 with the schedule we've had so far. Those Bucks, Nuggets, Hawks, losses really hurt.

We've yet to play a lot of the West Coast heavyweights.. Golden State, Houston, Portland, Phoenix, etc x2. Unlike the East a lot of teams out there are young, fast, and generally terrible matchups for us.. we'll probably finish with a pitiful record against the West.

The good news is that basically every game against the East other than Miami/Indiana is a probable W.

[pineappleheadindc]

.

Poor Kris Humphries - LOL. Check out the instagram photo link from Kevin Seraphin's tweet (below). Humphries is totally victimized.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/kevin_seraphin/status/414557172547469313[/tweet]

I've been as hard on Seraphin as anyone on these boards. So fairness requires that I also acknowledge that he's been playing pretty well lately. If he could use this level of effort and effectiveness as his floor. Then work hard to continue to improve throughout the season, he's going to see more and more court time and the Wizards will benefit for it.

[dckingsfan]

I feel like we should be above .500 with the schedule we've had so far. Those Bucks, Nuggets, Hawks, losses really hurt.

We've yet to play a lot of the West Coast heavyweights.. Golden State, Houston, Portland, Phoenix, etc x2. Unlike the East a lot of teams out there are young, fast, and generally terrible matchups for us.. we'll probably finish with a pitiful record against the West.

The good news is that basically every game against the East other than Miami/Indiana is a probable W.

Agreed, even with the injuries we should have between 13 and 15 wins. Agreed that the west road trips could be traumatic. If we stay healthy we will be fine (record like CCJ predicts). But health on this team is fleeting.

[mhd]

I feel like we should be above .500 with the schedule we've had so far. Those Bucks, Nuggets, Hawks, losses really hurt.

We've yet to play a lot of the West Coast heavyweights.. Golden State, Houston, Portland, Phoenix, etc x2. Unlike the East a lot of teams out there are young, fast, and generally terrible matchups for us.. we'll probably finish with a pitiful record against the West.

The good news is that basically every game against the East other than Miami/Indiana is a probable W.

Well, we are tied with San Antonio with the fewest amount of home games this year. The NBA schedule makers did us no favors.

[dckingsfan]

.

Poor Kris Humphries - LOL. Check out the instagram photo link from Kevin Seraphin's tweet (below). Humphries is totally victimized.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/kevin_seraphin/status/414557172547469313[/tweet]

I've been as hard on Seraphin as anyone on these boards. So fairness requires that I also acknowledge that he's been playing pretty well lately. If he could use this level of effort and effectiveness as his floor. Then work hard to continue to improve throughout the season, he's going to see more and more court time and the Wizards will benefit for it.

Yep, if he could somehow be consistant and not as soft as tissue paper on the defensive boards - he could earn some time even with the lapses in judgement.

But that is a big if... I don't see much of an improvement year over year...