1PM, Rubio VS Wall (Wolves - Wiz Game Thread)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'd be surprised is Flip is coaching on Tuesday.

I have had an epiphany on Flip coaching.

This team is 0-8. It is going NOWHERE. The idea of trying to compete is a noble one. However, there are 58 more games. It is better to really be awful and be sure to have the worst record than to surpass three or so teams being competitive. I now hope the Wizards let Flip keep coaching through about the first 25 games. Let him keep this up about 3-4 more weeks. Why not? I think this team needs to be at least 5 games worse than any other team before they get another coach.

Let them evaluate players and suck all they want under Flip Saunders until they've got the best shot at Anthony Davis.

[Jay81]

I'd be surprised is Flip is coaching on Tuesday.

I have had an epiphany on Flip coaching.

This team is 0-8. It is going NOWHERE. The idea of trying to compete is a noble one. However, there are 58 more games. It is better to really be awful and be sure to have the worst record than to surpass three or so teams being competitive. I now hope the Wizards let Flip keep coaching through about the first 25 games. Let him keep this up about 3-4 more weeks. Why not? I think this team needs to be at least 5 games worse than any other team before they get another coach.

Let them evaluate players and suck all they want under Flip Saunders until they've got the best shot at Anthony Davis.

For tank purposes..i agree...keep flip and keep Rashard lewis. But you can fire ernie monday and not screw with our tank. ernie is the bigger problem than Flip.

Rubio is suppose to be a wizard. How is that Foye/Miller trade working out? How come we didnt draft the BPA available at 6 last year(Kemba Walker)

What the F are we doing?

[Klomp]

You guys bust on Nick Young but without him, we would be the worst offensive team in NBA history most likely

We've said the same before about Beasley

[The Consiglieri]

No worries. The Wizards need to just go ahead and drive the tank on over the cliff this season. In the grand scheme of things, if they lose today it just means they are working on the league-worst record. More lottery balls is a good thing.

Singleton and Vesely got in the game, as has Seraphin.

Lewis has not played.

Washington also gets to see how bad their perimeter defense is. Six Minnesota players have hit threes. So, perhaps something can be learned for down the road.

Yep, it may seem like cheering on nothing but misery, but in the end, if the team actually showed some growth, the chances of Flip and EG not getting canned would grow exponentially, cheering on total abject failure is cheering on much higher chance of getting a difference making stud in May/June and the possibility of cleaning FO house as well. It may be the best thing for us.

[keynote]

Unless Flip pulls a Westphal and gets into a public standoff with a player, I don't see Ted firing Flip *without* firing EG. I don't see how he can be held responsible for the product on the floor. This isn't the same team as last year. Last year had a veteran backup PG (Kirk) and a veteran big body on the bench (Neck). This year, the youngsters are backed up by even greener youngsters - especially w/ Turiaf out.

[7-Day Dray]

Blatche was an upgrade over Jamison but Jamison also sucked so now we see it wasn't much of an upgrade. Butler sucked, look at him now. Arenas is now out of the league.
We just don't have a true talent base. Unfortunately for us, the little bit of quickness and agility advantage that Blatche use to have is now gone.

He could regain it if he got in shape, but the guy doesn't want to work out and is content with staying fat.

[sashae]

This team is 0-8. It is going NOWHERE. The idea of trying to compete is a noble one. However, there are 58 more games. It is better to really be awful and be sure to have the worst record than to surpass three or so teams being competitive. I now hope the Wizards let Flip keep coaching through about the first 25 games. Let him keep this up about 3-4 more weeks. Why not? I think this team needs to be at least 5 games worse than any other team before they get another coach.

I can't disagree more. If we continue allowing the poor performance and TOTAL lack of accountability on this team to last the entire season, we're poisoning the well both for Wall's career and McGee's development, AS WELL as for any chance of ever acquiring FA's in the future. This team is a total car accident. We need to shove the wreckage to the side of the road and get moving again.

[queridiculo]

0-8 and no end in sight. If the Wizards don't beat the Raptors, it won't be until mid February when we play the Pistons that we'll have a legit shot to win a game.

This is the worst Wizards team ever.

[Higga]

Easily the worst team in the league and one of if not the worst Wizards teams of all-time.

Ted won't fire Flip though I can guarantee that.

[dlts20]

Easily the worst team in the league and one of if not the worst Wizards teams of all-time.

Ted won't fire Flip though I can guarantee that.

doesnt mean Flip wont get fired though. Remember, EG is part of this too and he knows that Flip is going to drag him with him so he might try one last time to fire the coach and hope the next guy wins enough to save his job. Ted might not let him get away with it but to me it seems like Ted likes EG more than Flip as the 2 have been in the building a ton togehter.

I could also believe that EG might have been kinda kissing Ted's butt for years, knowing he would be the future owner so it wouldnt shock me. Afterall, you cant argue how bad Flip has been but Ted seems to think EG has done a good job and has put us in position to have a ton of cap space and high draft picks. If JV pans out the rest of the year then that could also help EG's case

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

This team is 0-8. It is going NOWHERE. The idea of trying to compete is a noble one. However, there are 58 more games. It is better to really be awful and be sure to have the worst record than to surpass three or so teams being competitive. I now hope the Wizards let Flip keep coaching through about the first 25 games. Let him keep this up about 3-4 more weeks. Why not? I think this team needs to be at least 5 games worse than any other team before they get another coach.

I can't disagree more. If we continue allowing the poor performance and TOTAL lack of accountability on this team to last the entire season, we're poisoning the well both for Wall's career and McGee's development, AS WELL as for any chance of ever acquiring FA's in the future. This team is a total car accident. We need to shove the wreckage to the side of the road and get moving again.

sashae, I do share your concern for Wall's career. John Wall is getting hosed right now. He's getting fed to the lions and pretty soon the media is going to have a feeding frenzy on him. Wall needs an Earl Boykins or Chris Whitney type veteran to help share the load at PG.

McGee OTOH had 8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks in only 23 minutes. Flip is the only thing preventing McGee from having monster numbers and driving up his contract demands.

[The Consiglieri]

Love looks real good too. Cut off all the baby fat.

Still, how are we down by 17 to the Wolves at home? Just when you think weve hit rock bottom, it gets worst

People will notice a huge difference in win totals by the Wolves this year. Adelman is a great coach. Their team has a superstar player who IMO is definitely worth max money, Kevin Love. They have many great shooters. Williams and Tolliver are bigs with range. Love can hit the three consistently as well. Ridnour, Ellington, and Wes Johnson can also hit the three. They have a tremendous passer now in Rubio.

Just wondering how people feel about this statement: They are the exact same age, but right now IMO Rubio is a better PG than John Wall. Rubio has a feel for the game that Wall doesn't have.

Minnesota should beat the Wizards IMO. Not this badly, perhaps, but they're flat better IMO. They have guys on their bench in Barea and Anthony Randolph who would earn major run with the Wizards.

It's wild to see how thoroughly different are paths have been since they scored and we blew it completely in that '09 trade. Even then their GM still screwed the pooch on draft day and yet still came out roses, meanwhile we got a bunch of clowns, gun gate and an imploding lottery bound cellar dwellar.

I wouldnt disagree about Rubio, though i still think Wall has more long term upside, especially if he ends up with a team with actual teammates worth a damn, Rubio got great training in the Barca system, Wall, im just not so sure the Kentucky and pro system is neccesairly the best. Add to that a team with our level of issues and you are kinda screwed if you're Wall. With any luck at all, Wall will get an elite franchise difference maker to practice with come June, and we'll ship out the idiots this February hopefully.

Who should we ship out? Who are the pieces to keep with Wall: Singleton (great potential), Vesely (great potential), Booker (worth more to us than we'd ever get back in a trade), McGee (potential is sky high, though he'd yield a ton in a trade and would increase our BBIQ just unloading him), NY (one of the few guys that can actually hit a shot, but I'd probably still consider trading him away to a team needing some offense), Mack (wouldnt get anything back, and he has some value).

I would consider dealing, in the end, anything on the roster not named Wall though, everything would be for sale.

[Higga]

EG has done exactly what Ted wanted to do: blow the roster up and rebuild. Too bad he's built a **** of a roster. Yeah you want to rebuild with young players but most of the players we have now can't actually play the game worth a ****.

We need to do what Boston did and trade some of these young players for established vets. You can't just rely on the draft in the NBA unless you hit home runs like the Thunder or Spurs and both those teams got legit superstars right away in Duncan and Durant. Wall is nowhere close to those guys right now(if he were we'd be .500 at least).

[queridiculo]

Who should we ship out? Who are the pieces to keep with Wall: Singleton (great potential), Vesely (great potential), Booker (worth more to us than we'd ever get back in a trade), McGee (potential is sky high, though he'd yield a ton in a trade and would increase our BBIQ just unloading him), NY (one of the few guys that can actually hit a shot, but I'd probably still consider trading him away to a team needing some offense), Mack (wouldnt get anything back, and he has some value).

I would consider dealing, in the end, anything on the roster not named Wall though, everything would be for sale.

Realistically who can we ship out? Beyond Wall and McGee I don't see any players on this roster that will return value, or much of anything at all.

Wall, McGee, Singleton and Booker to me are keepers, everybody else is fair game.

Players I want gone immediately are Young, Crawford and Blatche, and in return I'd take NBA vets that match their positions on modest contracts.

Give me some guys that take pride in competing, and can knock down a jumper with consistency.

[sashae]

It begins...

@jadande #freejohnwall RT @thescomobile At the quietest #NBA game ever. I sneezed and whole arena looked at me. Any advice for Wizards franchise

[dangermouse]

Didnt see the game.

Lewis DND. That the real deal or a quiet punishment for his complete lack of effort?

[queridiculo]

Apparently he missed the game due to injury, but it sounds like a cop out. Wouldn't be surprised if the team is negotiating a buy out with his agent or if there's a trade on the horizon.

The effort Lewis showed in the Knicks game following the team meeting was borderline insulting.

[miller31time]

John Wall, thus far this season, has attempted 3 3pt shots and I'm pretty sure a few of those were last-second desperation shots.

I'm not saying he should be taking a lot of 3's but last year, he attempted 115 3s in 69 games. What this shows me is that he was more comfortable within the construct of the offense and was thus more free to do things naturally - ie: if he was open for a 3 within the flow of the offense, he'd take it without hesitation.

His reluctance to do that this year is just another example of how uncomfortable he is running the show this season.

Or maybe I'm over-analyzing.

[dandridge 10]

Apparently he missed the game due to injury, but it sounds like a cop out. Wouldn't be surprised if the team is negotiating a buy out with his agent or if there's a trade on the horizon.

The effort Lewis showed in the Knicks game following the team meeting was borderline insulting.

There is definitely something very fishy about Lewis being scratched tonight. I sit next to the team dentist and he said he saw Lewis before the game and he looked fine. Also, before the game, the scoreboard did not show Lewis as being out for an injury. Finally, when someone asked Glenn Consor on the post game show why Lewis did not play, Consor kind of stuttered and then said "mmm, he had a knee injury." Just didn't sound like he was telling the truth.

Regarding Flip, I don't think he is the problem with this team, but it sure seems like the team has tuned him out. They don't seem to be following anything he says. I wouldn't have any problem firing Flip and getting a new voice, but this team is not going to improve until we get new players. The make-up of this team is truly horrible....a bunch of roleplayers thrown together, no multi-skilled players, absolutely no shooters (aside from NY you can't do anything else), and overall low BBIQ. I think Wall, Singleton, Booker and McGee are keepers (although I wouldn't be opposed to dealing McGee for the right pieces). Everyone else can go.

Timberwolves are not great, but at least they have guys in the line-up that can hit an open shot. We have one...Young...and he even is very streaky. Wonder why Wall looks horrible, and Rubio looks good.

[7-Day Dray]

Just want to show people that there is hope. This was year 2 of the Thunder's rebuild.