Official Randy Wittman Thread - It's Playoff Randy Time LOL

crackhed · Post #221 » by **crackhed** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 1:38 am

whitman > flip saunders imo

hands11 · Post #222 » by **hands11** » Thu Jan 30, 2014 1:48 am

ballaboveall65 wrote:Wittman is not the worst coach in the world the problem he is average at best. If the Wizards ultimate goal is to compete for a championship, then they need an impact coach. I know they dont grow on trees, but he is just not the answer. I wont complain too much we could have Mike Woodson or Mike Dantoni. I reallize he is not the one acquiring the talent, but he cannot seem to even settle on a regular rotation. Sometimes he rides Vescely for a couple games then sometimes Seraphin. It drives me crazy. He consistently gets out coached at the end of games. The only exception being if one of his players gets hot at the end of the game. I think Wittman is a decent enough guy, I just dont think he is the one to lead this franchise into a deep playoff run.

Here is what gets me. Given any set of talent, there are some obvious things a coach should do.

1) have his team prepared. Game plan, system, emotionally focused.
2) get his player to understand how to maximize their skills. More of what they do good. Less of the bad

There is clearly more then that, but those are two of the core things a coach should do. Not mentioning time out, working the refs, etc. Just to two basic things.

Beal should not be dribbling around past 2-3 dribbles. He sucks at it. He should be a catch and shoot player who runs around like Rip H used to do to get open. Only time he should be dribbling get an angle to pass or if he has a clear drive. Beal is great at what he does well. He suck at what he doesn't. And it's a coaches job to make sure he is doing 80-90 plus % of what he does well.

Same is true of Wall only for different skills.

Add to that he still doesn't have a handle on his rotations so I give him a D... maybe lower..as a HC. If you can't do the basics of your job, what else matters.

dlts20 · Post #223 » by **dlts20** » Tue Feb 4, 2014 4:23 am

Im the biggest Witt critic there is but Im happy that he got over .500

It will look great on his resume. I dont like his sub patterns and I think the Offensive system is a terrible one that is made for jumpers and holds Wall back but I do think he's a great defensive mind. Ive even thought about keepng him on the staff to run the D but I know he wont do that. This recent great play has coincided with us returning to a top 10 defensive team. When you do that, you give yourself a chance to win every game.

hands11 · Post #224 » by **hands11** » Sat Feb 8, 2014 4:20 pm

Warning, long post, but if you have the patience to read it, I think there is something in here worth considering regarding Randy's approach to things and how they might be about to change.

1) have his team prepared. Game plan, system, emotionally focused.
2) get his player to understand how to maximize their skills. More of what they do good. Less of the bad

From my previous post, I laid this out as the bare min a coach should be able to do. While its established there are serious questions about the offensive system, you have to admit, it looked great offensively against the Spurs. When everyone moves the ball, it looked almost the same as the Spurs. As for prepared. Randy seeing to give them the information they need. So lets focus on "emotionally focused" because that seems to be the problem.

After listening to this last round of interviews, I think I have come to understand and except Randy's approach to motivating them better. Maybe I have been to harsh on him because I wasn't seeing the forest for the trees. Listen to these interviews first.

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... tgame-2714

Well, in typical Randy fashion, he does a pretty good job of describing the problem. But lets get back to the emotionally motivating them topic. If I was to give Randy the benefit of the doubt, here is what I think is happening. I think he wants the players to do with for themselves. Mostly this is about Wall and Beal which is what I keep saying the entire season is about.

Regarding Wall, he didn't really have much choice but the live through his growing process, but with Beal, I think he has stuck with him and allowed him the opportunities to fail and learn vs turning to Webster. Last night was a great example. It was a no brainer to put Webster in earlier but he stuck with Beal who couldn't shoot and played terrible D. He could have also turned to Temple more for D.

Listen to what Beal has to say about being ready for the game. I have heard this from him in so many interviews. Over and over and over.

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ame-2-7-14
He says, we came out with zero energy. But was it really a we thing. Wall beat Kyrie who is a AS who also had a great game. Nene vs Tristian was a wash. Gortat beat big V. Kevin S was 3-5 and 4 rebounds in 14 min with one terrible shot.

Its was Beal that was 3-15 and 1 rebounds in 34 min when his counter part 26 year old 2nd Rnd, 34th CJ Miles was 7-11 and 2-3 4 reb 2 steals in 25 min. Beal was also used by Waiters who is always up to play Beal who gets all the attention and who was drafted one slot behind Beal. Waiters probably hates that Beal is viewed as so much more talented then him and such a likable young man while he is the problem child and comes off the bench. Waiters came to the game to prove something and did it.

Now listen to his teamates

Gorat
http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ame-2-7-14
He doesn't need anyone to motivate him. He sounds frustrated. He gets it. But he is a seasoned vet

Trevor A
http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ame-2-7-14
I like that TA has the balls to say what he thinks even if its against what Randy thinks. I also like the he takes the stance that if the coach thinks he needs to change the rotations then do it. Be the coach.

Wall
http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... ame-2-7-14
Sounds like he gets it. Wall doesn't think its Randy's job is to motivate them. I think Randy agrees.

So to wrap this up and tie it all together.
I think this has everything to do with Beal. I think Wall has gotten there after 3.5 years. He still has room to grow but Wall is over the hump and an All Star now. But Beal is only 1.5 years into his career and 20 years old. I think he is the one is struggling to get up to the level of the other starters. And I think Randy has had a hands off, let him learn by his mistakes approach in the first half of the year. But now its almost the all star break which begins the run for the playoffs. Time is running out. This long rope player development approach to Beal is about to come to an end. I think Randy is about to add the piece we have wanted. Substations and accountability.

This is what I think could be going on. I think Randy was very apprehensive to pull Beal regardless of what he was doing out there. He even put him back in for the final shot last night even though he had done nothing to earn that chance. He has given Beal all the opportunity to succeed or fail that he could. Now I think he is about to take of the kitten gloves off and let Beal feel what its like to be held to a higher standard. Sorry young Mr Beal. Its not about having fun. Its about winning. I think he has had enough time in the league to handle this approach now without it crushing his confidence.

Randy made a comment about needing to now try something new. That's were I think things are. Time is running out on letting Beal figure this out for himself. 2nd half of the season if about to begin. The bar is about to get raised.

I think what follows from there is that Pops style whip of accountability some of us feel has been missing and I think this might be way we haven't seen it yet. In a strange way, Randy has been actually coaching them with an eye on 10-20 games down the road. His message about focusing on how they play win or lose was totally on message. Its not about over .500, its about what you do and how the team plays and gets better - win or lose. Over .500 is nothing. That will take care of itself if you play right. Its nothing to even focus on. Besides, he wants to be well over .500 so why focus on that.

But the part that was missing is what a Pops can do with SAS vs Randy and the Wizards. SAS is an established winning team with established vet leader. Pops doesn't have to motivate them. And they also have a winning record so if Pops pulls you or the entire starting line up, he has room to throw a game to make a bigger point. And they don't have a 1.5 year experience player they are counting on so heavily. Its just a different situation. Not saying Randy is Pops. That wasn't the point so please don't get stuck on that.

So giving Randy the benefit of the doubt, I think this is what he has been doing regarding Beal. He was giving him the long rope to learn. Now I think he is raising the bar. I think Beal will get either yanked quicker or you might even see Webster start. Its still about Beal developing, but now its going to come from raising the bar on him and seeing if he can climb up to reach it.

There is nothing that says Beal has to start. Waiters doesn't start. The Wizards can start Webster if they want. Webster is having a very efficient year shooting .450 and .410 from 3, .852 FT, 3.5 rbs in 30 mins.

And I don't think anyone questions if he is a mature vet leader who will show up game after game.

Some things to consider to add context to what we have seen so far this season from Randy and what we might be about to see him do from here.

hands11 · Post #225 » by **hands11** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:13 pm

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... me-2-11-14

What does he mean we ?

Who are the we ?

The game basically came down to his coaching and Wall being a no show.

If they had a better back up PG would Randy go to them ? I would hope so but I'm not sure if he would. Temple while not a great player, he was enough to help the players out there get it done. They came back. Then Randy went back to Wall instead of staying with what was working. Temple at least was giving max effort on D. They didn't need a lot of scoring from him. And you knew he wouldn't try to do to much by himself on offense like John was.

They needed more length and size in the post. Booker was out matched. Well it took until the 3rd quarter for Randy to try Ves and it worked. He played good pressure D. He tipped a ball out of bounds. He blocked a shot. He played good position D on a drive but got called for an iffy reach in bail out call. All 4 minutes of Ves were effective. Should have gone to him earlier.

Point is, even with Wall playing like he did, they still could have won this game. What they needed was a coach who can make the decisions that need to get made during the game that allow the win to happen. Games like this can be won if the coach maximizes his roster. And why can't Randy have any effect on his players that aren't playing right during the game ?

With the right coach, his team could be many games better. Hard to guess a number but maybe something like 5-10 games better ?

Higga · Post #226 » by **Higga** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 4:07 pm

Wittless is terrible. Look at what Thibs is doing in Chicago, or Hornacek in Phoenix, or Stotts in Portland. THAT is real coaching. Wittless is terrible. He's 200 games below .500 for a reason, he sucks. We should have gotten someone fresh and young last off-season. Now after we make the playoffs Ted will stick with this loser. Uuuuugh.

Post #227 » by **montestewart** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 1:57 am

Forget about his coaching. Randy Whitman will probably be best remembered for his epic work, Leaves of Ass

hands11 · Post #228 » by **hands11** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 3:56 am

Another well coached game by Raisin Randy Witless Wittman :banghead:

Only stemmed the flow because Gortat finally fouled out. Randy Raisin couldn't find it in himself to sub him out.

And Wall :roll:

6-19

Keep shooting buddy. Next one will fall.

3rd suck game by Wall.

Such a winnable game. Any good coach would have got a win with as good as the other players stepped up. I mean to even be in the game with all the refs did was amazing. Any coaching at all would have been enough.

I just can't care anymore as long as Randy is coaching them.

closg00 · Post #229 » by **closg00** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 4:07 am

Your original title for this thread was Official Randy Wittman Appreciation Thread

hands11 · Post #230 » by **hands11** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 5:38 am

closg00 wrote::lol: Your original title for this thread was Official Randy Wittman Appreciation Thread

Why is that funny ?

I had appreciation for him before. He did some really good things for this team. They played terrible D before he got here. Also, we didn't have this level of first hand experience knowing everything that is Randy. But when he started as HC, he brought something the team needed and seemed to fit well.

Plus, I doubt there was a long line a good coaches that would want to come here. Randy was fine at the time.

But he has reached the peek of his effectiveness and we can see the flaws. He is now holding them back.

mohammed10 · Post #231 » by **mohammed10** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 7:29 am

hands11 wrote:
closg00 wrote::lol: Your original title for this thread was Official Randy Wittman Appreciation Thread

Why is that funny ?

I had appreciation for him before. He did some really good things for this team. They played terrible D before he got here. Also, we didn't have this level of first hand experience knowing everything that is Randy. But when he started as HC, he brought something the team needed and seemed to fit well.

But he has reached the peek of his effectiveness and we can see the flaws. He is now holding them back. He has to go.

George Karl? Anyone? Anyone?

mohammed10 · Post #232 » by **mohammed10** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 12:49 pm

Officiating definitely was horrible against Houston...but this team is now 3-8 in games decided by 3 points or less. At some point, you have to wonder if this is going to come back to haunt Nitwit (aka - Wittman) at the end of the year. He has really struggled getting this team to execute in late game situations. Much of what happened against the Rockets stemmed from poor defense. Although down the stretch this team wasn’t nearly as bad as last night, it just makes you wonder how good is this team going to actually be in the playoffs (if we make it that far) if they cannot close these type of games.

dckingsfan · Post #233 » by **dckingsfan** » Mon Feb 17, 2014 3:58 pm

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1782 ... ning-camp/

OK, Bleacher Report has no clue on how to identify the best coaches...

dckingsfan · Post #234 » by **dckingsfan** » Mon Feb 17, 2014 3:59 pm

mohammed10 wrote:
hands11 wrote:
closg00 wrote::lol: Your original title for this thread was Official Randy Wittman Appreciation Thread

Why is that funny ?

I had appreciation for him before. He did some really good things for this team. They played terrible D before he got here. Also, we didn't have this level of first hand experience knowing everything that is Randy. But when he started as HC, he brought something the team needed and seemed to fit well.

But he has reached the peek of his effectiveness and we can see the flaws. He is now holding them back. He has to go.

George Karl? Anyone? Anyone?

No thank you... stick a fork in Karl, he is done.

dckingsfan · Post #235 » by **dckingsfan** » Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:14 pm

mohammed10 wrote:Officiating definitely was horrible against Houston...but this team is now 3-8 in games decided by 3 points or less. At some point, you have to wonder if this is going to come back to haunt Nitwit (aka - Wittman) at the end of the year. He has really struggled getting this team to execute in late game situations. Much of what happened against the Rockets stemmed from poor defense. Although down the stretch this team wasn’t nearly as bad as last night, it just makes you wonder how good is this team going to actually be in the playoffs (if we make it that far) if they cannot close these type of games.

Yep, closing games is tough for this team. It is especially tough for Wall and Beal. I believe they will get much better over time but right now... not so much.

Couple that with the lack of creative end-of-game play calling by Witt and you can understand our struggles.

Witt would be served well by adding a "play coach" that could run practices doing end-of-game scenarios and having a couple three that the team is ready to run.

dckingsfan · Post #236 » by **dckingsfan** » Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:15 pm

And I wonder what this team's record would be with a different coach. I think there would be some coaches where this team would have a worse record and some where we would have a better record - and yes, if we had Pop our record would be better.

mohammed10 · Post #237 » by **mohammed10** » Tue Feb 18, 2014 6:35 am

dckingsfan wrote:
mohammed10 wrote:
No thank you... stick a fork in Karl, he is done.

I disagree - I don't think Karl is done. He is a superior coach and leader than our current one. Karl has a track record of taking multiple teams into the playoffs, occasionally deep into the playoffs. He has a proven track record of this.

The only time Whitless and playoffs should be mentioned in the same sentence is...never

I would have snagged Karl and taken my chances. This move could have been made during the All-Star break as to give him roughly 30 games to install his gameplan before the playoffs.

Alas, we are stuck with the 'Bert & Ernie' (aka - Dumb and Dumber) show of two guys who should have been on NBA foodstamps by now..

dckingsfan · Post #238 » by **dckingsfan** » Tue Feb 18, 2014 2:11 pm

dckingsfan wrote:No thank you... stick a fork in Karl, he is done.

mohammed10 wrote:I disagree - I don't think Karl is done. He is a superior coach and leader than our current one. Karl has a track record of taking multiple teams into the playoffs, occasionally deep into the playoffs. He has a proven track record of this.

The only time Whitless and playoffs should be mentioned in the same sentence is...never

I would have snagged Karl and taken my chances. This move could have been made during the All-Star break as to give him roughly 30 games to install his gameplan before the playoffs.

Alas, we are stuck with the 'Bert & Ernie' (aka - Dumb and Dumber) show of two guys who should have been on NBA foodstamps by now..

Two different things - wanting Wittman to stay and wanting Karl as the new coach. I don't want a new coach until EG is gone and the new GM picks the new coach - if Witt goes I want EG gone with him - gone, gone, gone. And I do want Witt gone...

Karl was a very good coach... solid. But since the cancer he has slowed waaaaayyyy down. He is old and tired and not the coach moving forward IMO - I can understand why you like him - no issues there. I just think he is done and there are much better coaches waiting in the wings.

Regardless, I would rather have the new GM pick a coach than switch coaches mid-season.

mohammed10 · Post #239 » by **mohammed10** » Tue Feb 18, 2014 2:29 pm

dckingsfan wrote:
Two different things - wanting Wittman to stay and wanting Karl as the new coach. I don't want a new coach until EG is gone and the new GM picks the new coach - if Witt goes I want EG gone with him - gone, gone, gone. And I do want Witt gone...

Karl was a very good coach... solid. But since the cancer he has slowed waaaaayyyy down. He is old and tired and not the coach moving forward IMO - I can understand why you like him - no issues there. I just think he is done and there are much better coaches waiting in the wings.

Regardless, I would rather have the new GM pick a coach than switch coaches mid-season.

We definitely agree on the bolded comment...

hands11 · Post #240 » by **hands11** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:59 pm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wiz ... -deadline/

Wizards Coach Randy Wittman ‘not anticipating anything’ at NBA trade deadline

Yeah well what does he anticipate correctly ?