10/30/13 Wizards @ Pistons SEASON OPENER GT

[jivelikenice]

I'll start with the bad:

1. 1st three quarters Wall. He was typical "road Wall". I've been one of his biggest fans and defenders on this board but I hate his pace away from the Verizon Center. He doesn't aggressively or actively step into his J. He was flat footed and there was no flow. He doesn't shoot like that at home. A home he aggressive and decisively steps into his shot with rhythm. Passing wise he did well, but his turnover were really unforced and more a result of indecisiveness.
2. Beal- teams took notice of his preseason play and aggressively defended him with more than one defender at times and he wasn't prepared.

I'll chalk it up to season open jitters for the backcourt and think they will respond very well over the next few games. I hated this matchup for both these guys,

3. Néne- he shot well but where were his hands. Wall set him up for 2-3 easy dunks late in the 4th and he could t hold the ball. You have to finish on those...

4. Wittman. He was over aggressive on D which opened up too many easy shots for Detroit. I also thought Beal sat too long

5. Grunfeld. Gortat looked good but two roster deficiencies showed up today. The lack of a combo guard off the bench or at least the lack of a better backup 2. Did they really have Maynor/Temple out there? Come on.


Good

1. Ariza. No need to say much more. He was shooting great and was very active on both ends. Maybe a sign on contract year Ariza?

2. Gortat. He's going to be big for us. Him and Wall had a natural chemistry on the pick n roll which was good to see and at his size he'll be a force on glass. Eventually I'd like to see Gortat with the starters and Néne anchor the second unit.

3. 4th quarter wall. That's how he has to play. Attack the basket, take Js in rhythm, and use that aggressiveness to create good looks for teammates. Although he had more assists early, that was his best quarter as a pg. at this state in his career though, I want that for 4 quarters.....

In the end,I think its important to note that road teams are 2-15 and there's no reason to overreact. We stayed in the game inspite of a lot more bad than good. That make me think the talent is better.

[Knighthonor]

Looking tank season to me.

I hope

Yes so they dont lose both Oka and the first round pick. Because It doesnt look like they got much out of it.

[jivelikenice]

I don't understand why Seraphin didnt play. He dominated Detroit's bigs last week and we start Booker? Now it doesn't help that KS takes an unecessary dribble and loses the ball on his first touch on what should have been an easy dunk, but Booker was just overmatched.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'm not going to overreact but I will be critical. Pretty bad overall first half by the backcourt. I can live with their shooting woes, but they ought to pride themselves on their defense. Especially Wall.

Moreover, the rotations just didn't make sense to me. I like Randy, but I think he handicaps the team at times. Gortat should start and Seraphin should be the backup center. I understand not doing it for one game, but it can't be an ongoing thing he experiments, ESPECIALLY against a big team like DET.

Gortat should match up better against Philly, but apparently Michael-Carter Williams and Evan Kermit-the-frog Turner are ready to destroy their FO mandated tank. I suspect we'll right ship.

Also, **** Josh Smith, when did he start to decide draining 3s? lol.

First post I have read. Didnt see the game. I am joining this discussion on pg 48 of my Android RealGM app.

Nuposse04, I read your thoughts above. Randy is where I direct the line of fire as far as I can tell. I liked him until I considered his stance on Vesely. I also think he should have had say in keeping Shannon Brown (and/or Kendall Marshall). Coaching decisions matter. Randy Wittman now has talent, veterans, young, older, and a lot of egos to manage. Tonight, how did he do?

I posted days ago I thought they were not able to make sure to start Gortat right away. I thought Vesely would be odd man out. Wizards kept Singleton when Shannon Brown on the road, next to his former Laker buddy, Trevor Ariza, might have shot better than YOUNG Bradley Beal. Brown or Rice Jr., who got a DNP CD.

ALSO, why on earth did Martell Webster take only one shot? Seems on nights Beal struggles should he shoot 18 and Martell just one?

Booker against Monroe and Drummond? No Vesely. Was Seraphin ahead of Gortat?

Saw none of the game but outside in seems this team will fail miserably if same old folks get to play.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using RealGM Forums mobile app

Be honest here, but what you think is the reason the coaches are doing this? any hidden stealth logic to it underneath it?

Maybe they view Gortat as a cap dump or as future trade bait. Wittman hates Vesely as far as I can tell. Ariza's playing well, playing hard, but they're determined to trade him since the drafted Porter (who may or may not be as good as Trevor Ariza some day). Booker's numbers up make him trade-able in a contract year.

Stealth logic, knight? Usually, the Wizard management has an eye on the bottom line. Money will figure in to their decisions. Otherwise, I'm not sure of any motives on behalf of the coaching staff.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'll start with the bad:

1. 1st three quarters Wall. He was typical "road Wall". I've been one of his biggest fans and defenders on this board but I hate his pace away from the Verizon Center. He doesn't aggressively or actively step into his J. He was flat footed and there was no flow. He doesn't shoot like that at home. A home he aggressive and decisively steps into his shot with rhythm. Passing wise he did well, but his turnover were really unforced and more a result of indecisiveness.
2. Beal- teams took notice of his preseason play and aggressively defended him with more than one defender at times and he wasn't prepared.

I'll chalk it up to season open jitters for the backcourt and think they will respond very well over the next few games. I hated this matchup for both these guys,

3. Néne- he shot well but where were his hands. Wall set him up for 2-3 easy dunks late in the 4th and he could t hold the ball. You have to finish on those...

4. Wittman. He was over aggressive on D which opened up too many easy shots for Detroit. I also thought Beal sat too long

5. Grunfeld. Gortat looked good but two roster deficiencies showed up today. The lack of a combo guard off the bench or at least the lack of a better backup 2. Did they really have Maynor/Temple out there? Come on.


Good

1. Ariza. No need to say much more. He was shooting great and was very active on both ends. Maybe a sign on contract year Ariza?

2. Gortat. He's going to be big for us. Him and Wall had a natural chemistry on the pick n roll which was good to see and at his size he'll be a force on glass. Eventually I'd like to see Gortat with the starters and Néne anchor the second unit.

3. 4th quarter wall. That's how he has to play. Attack the basket, take Js in rhythm, and use that aggressiveness to create good looks for teammates. Although he had more assists early, that was his best quarter as a pg. at this state in his career though, I want that for 4 quarters.....

In the end,I think its important to note that road teams are 2-15 and there's no reason to overreact. We stayed in the game inspite of a lot more bad than good. That make me think the talent is better.

If Gortat doesn't start game 2, I consider the coaching staff fools.

They'll NEVER figure out the smart play is to start Gortat with Vesely. Bring Nene off the bench. Let Booker wait.

[stevemcqueen1]

Yeah might as well start Gortat next game. Booker was horrible.

Randy saying Temple is a do it all player was some crap. All he does is defend, he's not a very useful offensive player. I hope GRJr starts getting some burn soon. There will be growing pains but the kid is an offensive spark.

Speaking of Randy, he's just a lousy coach. Poor use of timeouts. He did sit Beal too long and Beal never ended up showing up. Took forever to adjust to Booker getting his ass beat. Randy is a step behind where he needs to be at all times. Offense drawn up in crayon that gives a green light to the perimeter players to take bad shots and doesn't work the ball inside to better options.

Randy has some positives, but so long as he's our coach, we're going to be going into almost every game with a coaching disadvantage. The job is just too big for him.

[tontoz]

The smart play is for Vesely to be chained to the bench.

Wall and Beal obviously struggled but at least they were trying. Nene/Booker looked like spectators out there.

Obviously monster game from Ariza. I wonder if he is starting to accept his limitations, not trying to create off the dribble. He should just stick to spot up 3s, easy drives and moving without the ball. He did that last night.

[stevemcqueen1]

This team is going to make the playoffs. I wonder if we can do that and still get a new GM & HC? FFS, at least a new HC.

Ted doesn't even have to fire them. He doesn't have to find an excuse to get rid of them. All he has to do is not give them more money.

[zardsfan]

Not going to read too much into this first game.
Detroit shot 50% from the field. Their offense is not THAT good and Washington's defense isn't THAT bad.
Detroit just seemed like everyone on the team was jacked and firing on all cylinders. Good for them and their fans but I doubt they have too many nights like that.
By the numbers, Washington played well enough to win, but the eye test tells you they were never really in it.
It was just Detroit's night.

[hands11]

Yeah might as well start Gortat next game. Booker was horrible.

Randy saying Temple is a do it all player was some crap. All he does is defend, he's not a very useful offensive player. I hope GRJr starts getting some burn soon. There will be growing pains but the kid is an offensive spark.

Speaking of Randy, he's just a lousy coach. Poor use of timeouts. He did sit Beal too long and Beal never ended up showing up. Took forever to adjust to Booker getting his ass beat. Randy is a step behind where he needs to be at all times. Offense drawn up in crayon that gives a green light to the perimeter players to take bad shots and doesn't work the ball inside to better options.

Randy has some positives, but so long as he's our coach, we're going to be going into almost every game with a coaching disadvantage. The job is just too big for him.

I was fine with them selecting him when they did but I saw this same thing from him to start last year, slow to adjust and playing it to traditional and slow to adjust.

Its like he started Booker because he felt he had to because he felt Booker won the job in preseason, even though he really didn't even clearly bet out Ves really.

Glen didn't have a great preseason but he did show a good motor for attacking the basket which they need. Glen has already shown the game isn't to big for him. He needs to get minutes. The team really needs what he brings. Can't just be Wall and sometimes Beal driving.

On the other hand he was right about sticking with Trevor A who I have long said is someone they should try to keep, which is why I questioned adding Otto. But maybe they can keep him and move Webster to SG. They could then latter move Otto and or Webster if they felt they were to expensive and not athletic enough.

But if had didn't want to start Gortat, he should have gone something like

Wall/Maynor or Temple
Beal/Glen/Temple
Trevor A/Webster/Glen
Nene/Ves/AH/Booker
Kevin/Gortat

They needed more size and length up front and they needed, more energy and more driving.

I think Booker is best used as an energy rebounder off the bench, not a starter or primary back up. He just isn't tall enough again big front courts.

Randy can't be so afraid to use his younger player.

Glen, Kevin and Ves combined 4 minutes was a fail in my book.

[KennyGreen]

Thoughts: Glad to see Vesley nailed to bench; hope he stays there all season...Agree w/ CCJ that should have waived Singleton and kept Brown...Loved seeing Ariza boost his trade value; keep giving him the minutes...Monroe gonna look great in Wiz uni next year...

[Dat2U]

Good:
Wall looked fantastic in the second half. Like he FINALLY realized to start attacking. 20 and 11.
Gortat on offense.

Bad.
Our interior defense is just awful.. but that may have been compounded by the Monroe Drummond monster combo.
Webster.
Gortat on defense.
Maynor. Enough said.

Actually, I thought our perimeter defense was worse. Wall and Beal allowed way too much penetration by Bynum and Billups all game. Half of Monroe and Drummond's points were from dishes after Bynum and Billups beat Wall or Beal.

Gortat and Ariza looked good.

Wall looked much better in the second half, but he needs to learn how to stay in front of quicker guards.

Nene sucked. I think he is my least favorite player on the team. I just can't stand how he glares or complains at the ref EVERY SINGLE PLAY.

I wasn't sure but at times it looked like we were funneling the penetration to our bigs, problem is, our bigs weren't very successful at challenging shots (specifically Nene & Gortat). Then other times it looked like a complete mess our there, it looked like we were funneling ball-handlers right to the rim unimpeded. Wall has ALWAYS had problems with Bynum. Small, speedy guys like that have ALWAYS given him huge problems defensively.

[hands11]

The smart play is for Vesely to be chained to the bench.

Wall and Beal obviously struggled but at least they were trying. Nene/Booker looked like spectators out there.

Obviously monster game from Ariza. I wonder if he is starting to accept his limitations, not trying to create off the dribble. He should just stick to spot up 3s, easy drives and moving without the ball. He did that last night.

That's his game. When he is the 3rd option he can produce.

Problem was Booker, Webster, AH = 59 mins, 7 rebs, 8 FGAs, 4 FTAs 9 pts

Wall and Beal would have needed to go for 30 pts each with the line ups we had and their shot attempts.

Need to at a min, play Kevin S more then 4 minutes and he should have played Glen Rice some.

[hands11]

Good:
Wall looked fantastic in the second half. Like he FINALLY realized to start attacking. 20 and 11.
Gortat on offense.

Bad.
Our interior defense is just awful.. but that may have been compounded by the Monroe Drummond monster combo.
Webster.
Gortat on defense.
Maynor. Enough said.

Actually, I thought our perimeter defense was worse. Wall and Beal allowed way too much penetration by Bynum and Billups all game. Half of Monroe and Drummond's points were from dishes after Bynum and Billups beat Wall or Beal.

Gortat and Ariza looked good.

Wall looked much better in the second half, but he needs to learn how to stay in front of quicker guards.

Nene sucked. I think he is my least favorite player on the team. I just can't stand how he glares or complains at the ref EVERY SINGLE PLAY.

I wasn't sure but at times it looked like we were funneling the penetration to our bigs, problem is, our bigs weren't very successful at challenging shots (specifically Nene & Gortat). Then other times it looked like a complete mess our there, it looked like we were funneling ball-handlers right to the rim unimpeded. Wall has ALWAYS had problems with Bynum. Small, speedy guys like that have ALWAYS given him huge problems defensively.

I think that is what they were doing and you really saw it on that one play Gortat was late to rotate.

[dan2314]

detroit fan here. can i just ask what the deal was with you guys shooting nothing but jumpshots all night? is that normal for this team? ive never considered anyone other than beal and webster as knockdown shooters.. obviously ariza got a ton of good looks, got hot and knocked them down, but i was shocked at how little amount of times you guys spent in the paint. how much credit can i give our frontcourt for that? i think we won the points in the paint by about 30.

[Dat2U]

detroit fan here. can i just ask what the deal was with you guys shooting nothing but jumpshots all night? is that normal for this team? ive never considered anyone other than beal and webster as knockdown shooters.. obviously ariza got a ton of good looks, got hot and knocked them down, but i was shocked at how little amount of times you guys spent in the paint. how much credit can i give our frontcourt for that? i think we won the points in the paint by about 30.

I think the frontline of Drummond, Smith & Monroe had something to do with that.

[W. Unseld]

I didn't walk out of that game thinking "we lost b/c of coaching." I thought their frontcourt outplayed our frontcourt which I expected, though I was hoping it would be less pronounced and inexplicably their back court outplayed our back court, particularly in ways that don't effect the stats with forcing the defense to commit w/penetration...repeatedly.

I'm not hating on Randy for keeping self-check Ves on the bench (though I would have liked to see him get a shot) and I'm not hating on him for trusting Booker more than Seraphin though I would have liked to have seen more Seraphin. It's not like there was a clear, "A" option and he insisted on playing favorites with a "B" option, all of the options were pretty much "C" level. I'm hoping to see more Gortat in the games that come but I'm not ready to demand that he starts and plays 40 minutes a game by game two or all of the coaches should be fired. Sheesh.

[Dat2U]

Nene was clearly the goat of the game IMO. He simply couldn't or wouldn't match the intensity of the Pistons frontline and as the game wore on, Nene appeared beaten and resigned to observer status. That was never more evident that the dropped passes in the 4th quarter. That's a bad sign IMO. Game 1 and your already looking tired and beaten down? Where will he be physically and mentally by game 41?

[Jay81]

Nene was clearly the goat of the game IMO. He simply couldn't or wouldn't match the intensity of the Pistons frontline and as the game wore on, Nene appeared beaten and resigned to observer status. That was never more evident that the dropped passes in the 4th quarter. That's a bad sign IMO. Game 1 and your already looking tired and beaten down? Where will he be physically and mentally by game 41?

Im sure Denver is still shocked by how easily it was for them to trade Nene in the first year of his ugly contract

[Dark Faze]

I didn't like not having Gortat and Nene in there for the final minutes of the game. It was clear we needed as much size as possible to counter their toughness. The Nene/Booker frontcourt was charmin soft all night, and while Gortat helped to stop the bleeding enough for us to get back in it (along with stellar Wall play), it ended up being too much for him to overcome.

Man this was a frustrating game for Wall though. He must have left 5 assists off the scorecard because of bad hands, soft finishes, etc from his bigs.