GT #42: WAS (20-21) in PHX (24-17), Fri Jan 24th 9pm, CSN+

[WizardsWorld]

I think we come out the gate real strong. We are stronger than them at every starting position... and we're gonna be mad as hell after that Boston game. We'll come out with a big lead... and end up winning this one.

[hands11]

Wasn't PHX supposed to be tanking this year ?

Looks like they play the way Randy wishes we played. You never know who will be the lead scorer.

I agree. This does set up for the Wizards to come out with a purpose. Look what they did against Miami. I think that is were the team is now. They lost to Boston because Wall broke from the game plan and reverted. I don't expect he will do that next game. And with Boston fresh in their minds, I don't expect they will overlook Utah.

With this team so Wall dominate regarding ball handing and setting up the offense, they go as Wall goes most nights. And Wall is still learning. He needs to stay focused on being a disruptive lock down defender that passes, drives and takes some open outside shots. Not an all offensive player.

Maybe the Boston lose ends up being a good thing for them. Its one thing to be a team that is trying to not suck. Its another to learn how to be a good team. Until this year, Wall has known nothing except for being on a losing team. This is all new to him in the NBA.

[jivelikenice]

PIF, sure talent matters for a coaches record but are you really making the argument that its primarily talent based? Is Phoenix that much more talented than the Wizards? They were awful last year and have basically the same roster in place now that Bledsoe is out. The difference is they have a coach that stresses fundamentals, sharing the ball, and plays to his players strengths. Do you really think Wittman would have them at 24-17? Wittman coaches an archaic style of basketball consisting two bigs clogging space, long twos, and a midrange emphasis. His only answer in press conferences are "we're playing selfish" and "we have no energy". Beal has been taking terrible shots and has picked up bad habits that everyone has recognized and Beal comes out last week and said Wittman has encouraged this. A HC doesn't accumulate a 161-307 career mark on talent alone; he played a big part. This roster is flawed but can you honestly say he's maximized this group's potential?

[TGW]

This is going to be a beatdown. And I guarantee the mindless "Whitman is at fault for everything" crowd is going to come out after Wall and Beal playing like crap.

[jivelikenice]

You're right. Wittman isn't at fault. If he had Dragic, Morris twins, and Dragic he'd have them in the playoff hunt out west. His stellar record at his other stops proves that.

[jeffsays]

You're right. Wittman isn't at fault. If he had Dragic, Morris twins, and Dragic he'd have them in the playoff hunt out west. His stellar record at his other stops proves that.

So true, Randy's a great guy and can tell what's wrong with a team, but he can't coach for ****. I can't wait until we get a new coach. Those two Nene 20 foot shots pushed me over the edge. Can Wittless as soon as possible.

[TGW]

You're right. Wittman isn't at fault. If he had Dragic, Morris twins, and Dragic he'd have them in the playoff hunt out west. His stellar record at his other stops proves that.

So true, Randy's a great guy and can tell what's wrong with a team, but he can't coach for ****. I can't wait until we get a new coach. Those two Nene 20 foot shots pushed me over the edge. Can Wittless as soon as possible.

Wait, wait, hold up....see this is what I'm talking about.

The first Nene brick was Nene's fault...not Whitman. Nene took a step back on the pick and roll after he got the ball from Wall, and stepped out of his range. FAULT=Nene.

The second shot was taken with 1 second left in the game. You think there are many coaches that can draw up a good play in 1 second?

[TGW]

You're right. Wittman isn't at fault. If he had Dragic, Morris twins, and Dragic he'd have them in the playoff hunt out west. His stellar record at his other stops proves that.

Show me where I said Whitman was a good, or even average coach. I never did.

It's ridiculous to think Whitman is the source of every bad thing that happens to this team.

[jivelikenice]

You're right. Wittman isn't at fault. If he had Dragic, Morris twins, and Dragic he'd have them in the playoff hunt out west. His stellar record at his other stops proves that.

Show me where I said Whitman was a good, or even average coach. I never did.

It's ridiculous to think Whitman is the source of every bad thing that happens to this team.

He's not the source of all bad but what makes more sense; firing a coach in his last year or changing the dynamics of the roster which he has proven he's incapable of coaching to their potential with NO indication he can coach up any roster based on his track record.

[jeffsays]

You're right. Wittman isn't at fault. If he had Dragic, Morris twins, and Dragic he'd have them in the playoff hunt out west. His stellar record at his other stops proves that.

So true, Randy's a great guy and can tell what's wrong with a team, but he can't coach for ****. I can't wait until we get a new coach. Those two Nene 20 foot shots pushed me over the edge. Can Wittless as soon as possible.

Wait, wait, hold up....see this is what I'm talking about.

The first Nene brick was Nene's fault...not Whitman. Nene took a step back on the pick and roll after he got the ball from Wall, and stepped out of his range. FAULT=Nene.

The second shot was taken with 1 second left in the game. You think there are many coaches that can draw up a good play in 1 second?

Regardless of whether or not Nene stepped out of his comfort range (does he really even have one?) you'd think that wittman could see that his jumper was struggling. So maybe, I don't know, try to get the ball to one of the better shooters on the team?? I'm just upset that both plays went to Nene when he was clearly struggling to shoot the ball from the free-throw line.

I get that it's not all his fault. This team won't magically win the chip when Randy is fired, but I still think that a majority of it falls on his shoulders. I'd say 70% Witt 30% players. There are nights where those numbers can change and the players could be at fault, but the majority of the time I blame Witt.

[Hypnotizer]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/TheBlur_Barbosa/status/426494001911308288[/tweet]

[Dat2U]

Witt's history (and he's got plenty of it - Same guy that told Love to stop taking so many 3s!) and career record tells us he's not very good when compared to his peers. Even if you don't address specific in game management concerns you can certainly wonder aloud if the system were running features the best utilization of our resources. No doubt he's been handicapped by an even more inept GM, but considering how he struggles to adjust and how often the team sleepwalks and his tendency to run guys into the ground, I can't imagine a scenario where we take a step back from Wittman unless Grunfeld is allowed to pull another non-entity out of his hat like Ed Tapscott.

The one thing you can say is that the guys haven't given up on Wittman. But that's setting such a low bar, I see no need to wait for the absolute worse case scenario before replacing a guy.

[payitforward]

Witt's history (and he's got plenty of it - Same guy that told Love to stop taking so many 3s!) and career record tells us he's not very good when compared to his peers. Even if you don't address specific in game management concerns you can certainly wonder aloud if the system were running features the best utilization of our resources. No doubt he's been handicapped by an even more inept GM, but considering how he struggles to adjust and how often the team sleepwalks and his tendency to run guys into the ground, I can't imagine a scenario where we take a step back from Wittman unless Grunfeld is allowed to pull another non-entity out of his hat like Ed Tapscott.

The one thing you can say is that the guys haven't given up on Wittman. But that's setting such a low bar, I see no need to wait for the absolute worse case scenario before replacing a guy.

Well, no one would claim that Wittman is such a good coach that we need to be sure to retain him, or that we'd likely have a next coach who makes things worse (except... get thee behind me Ed Tapscott!). And he was obviously wrong to discourage Love's 3-point shooting.

Still, it's also true that Witt's record as a coach is with teams that didn't have a lot of good players. And I don't come up with a case where replacing him (w/o adding better players) led to a big improvement.

IOW, in a situation like ours, how do you figure in the Doc Rivers phenomenon (and it's not only he) -- the guy's a great coach, wins a title, when he has terrific players. When he has crappy players, he's a crappy coach.

There are certainly some coaches who have demonstrably positive effect on the productivity of players while they are in their hands. Guys put up better, more efficient numbers for Phil Jackson and Greg Popovich than they average in the rest of their careers (or so I've read and trust it's true: I haven't looked in detail myself), but even in these cases the differences aren't said to be big -- just consistent enough that one concludes they are real, i.e. that it's an effect of coaching.

But... Jackson/Popovich not being available, where do we find someone like that?

(Then again, if there are guys like Jackson/Popovich, there must be coaches for whom players put up *worse* numbers than their career averages -- adjusting for what point in their careers they play for what coach. Do we know whether Wittman is one of those guys?)

[MarcoPolo]

And also Gortat against his old teammates, hopefully he will try to prove something out there.

[payitforward]

Good coaching matters. A lot.

Yup. It matters a lot -- and that's why you must get outstanding players, because otherwise your coaches aren't good. I mean, look at Boston. Doc Rivers was a really good coach in '04-05 when he had some really good players. Then the next year, when he lost a couple of his best guys why he wasn't nearly as good.

Then the year after that when he lost even more of his good players, why he was a *terrible* coach; he went 24-58.

Then the following year, thank goodness, they got Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, and Rivers once again became a terrific coach! I mean it's obvious -- he went 66-16 and they won the title.

I'm telling you: coaching really matters -- the above makes it obvious! wouldn't you agree?

(1) and there are situations where a team has not so much talent but are great because of good coaching just like there are situations where a team has a ton of talent and underachieve because of bad coaching. I dont care what you say; Witt sucks and he sucks bad. (2) We have more talent then you are giving us credit for, especially in the East.

I will say this though, you can get away with it both ways if your coach's system matches with the players talent. In this case its a horrible mismatch. Its designed for a PG like Cassell, Billups, etc... who have no athletic ability and love to shoot jumpers or throw a simple pass back to the big. We have Wall and he would be dynamite in a system that fits him and attacks North & South, not East & West like ours does. I cant believe we are wasting his most explosive years playing in this sideways jump shooting crap. (3) Ted & EG are idiots for not getting a new coach a long time ago. The funny thing is that I have a feeling when we do get a new coach, it will be in another system that doesnt play to Wall's strenghts

I've highlighted 3 statements above --

Can you provide an example of #1 ?? Without an example, it's kind of hard to judge the claim.

#2 -- Really? I projected us to win 44 games this year - look at the thread. How many wins did you project?

#3 -- We agree on the first part!! Our FO is inept to say the least! But I'm more worried about their player choices than their coaching choices! And surely you agree that if you don't optimize your squad using the assets you have, you cripple yourself -- even the best coach has to be better w/ better players.

[hands11]

And why wasn't Beal in ?

Randy says his hands are tied. But Beal played 30 mins. If that is the limit, 1.2 seconds wasn't going to put him over that limit.

It was a last play. A half court set. It wasn't like he was going to be running up and down the court putting stress on his leg.

That doesn't add up to me.

[Hypnotizer]

“I just want to beat them. Quite honestly, I just want to beat them bad,” Gortat said

[pancakes3]

Geeze, do you guys microanalyze everything else in your lives the way you guys analyze the wizards?

1 - Nene's jumpers at the end were the most open shots the defense allowed for. To get around that, you'd have to use up a lot of clock to get the defense out of their position. Ariza and Webster were being faceguarded essentially, Wall was doubled on the pick, Gortat is accounted for leaving Nene open by design (both offensive and defensively).

2 - I thought the point of universal truths was that they were universally true. The NBA is a players' league. Everyone knows that. You go as far as your best player takes you and no amount of coaching trumps that. Good coaching can get you good defense and having the players buy into a system where that best player is maximized but other than that, you'd be hard pressed to ascribe specific wins and losses to a single coach short of something drastic like the Jason-Kidd-drink-spill fiasco.

3 - Playing Beal in the closing seconds of OT means putting in a cold, already-in-warmups Beal in favor of Webster who just had a huge 4-pt-play in the 4th and another big 3 seconds earlier.

[AFM]

pancakes, i agree. What troubles me is when this team opens up the 2nd half with absolutely no energy.
Is that all on the players?

WTF are they doing at half time, drinking coronas?

[DMVman1981]

We need to control the pace of this game and feed our bigs to get the win. Nene and Gortat must be efficient...I don't think the PHX big men can handle Nene or Gortat inside.