ms25 wrote:Serious question, how do you guys feel now? Those who wanted us to sweep you guys or wanted to lose to get rid of the coach, really curious to hear your thoughts.
I can't speak for other Wiz fans, but the two main problems I've always had with Wittman were 1) his poor track record of player development and 2) stagnant offensive sets.
However two things have happened. One is that Wittman at last has started playing Otto Porter consistently, and lo and behold he is developing.. what a brilliant idea, when you draft a player at 3rd overall you should probably give him consistent minutes. Porter is a very solid 21yo 3+D prospect who basically produces like a starter when given pt, it's quite obvious that he should be the starter next season and Pierce can either retire or step back into a smaller role.
Secondly the team is running out small ball lineups that they never used in the regular season. To no one's surprise our offense looks much much better with a spread floor, our guards have more room to drive and make plays, bigs have more space to roll. Most of us have been saying this all season, even going back to last season many had wanted Ariza to get more minutes at the 4. I suspect that if we had been using these lineups all season instead of the clogged Nene/Gortat 1990s offense, we could have finished with more than just 46 wins in a weak conf. Reportedly the coaching staff didn't want to wear Pierce out by having him play the 4 in the regular season, but still would have at least liked to see them try it more often.
Guys like Pierce or Gooden obviously aren't longterm solutions.. hence if this is how our offense looks with a spread floor, that means we need to look at a young stretch 4 prospect in the draft (Bobby Portis is my guy but if he's gone at #19 there are other options like Lyles from Kentucky). Wittman isn't the coach of the future but he has one guaranteed year left on his deal. If he continues to show a commitment to developing Porter and whoever we draft this year, plus utilizing more small ball lineups, I am personally okay with letting him coach out the contract. It's no secret that Washington plans to pursue a certain 6'11 free agent the following summer, at that time part of their pitch would be that he's free to handpick his own coach.
