A bit of home cooking: Wizards vs Bulls Game 3 Thread

[Kanyewest]

Bill Simmons killing Whit's coaching.

Wondering why Andre Miller didnt play enough. Why Booker was playing. Why was Andre Miller not playing enough. Why we didnt go to Beal late in the game. Questionable coaching decisions late.


Yep, rarely do I agree with him....but Bill was right.

Miller stunk tonight.

[causticcretin]

At this point in the series, do or die time, Thibs finally threw his weight in to tip the scale in one area of the matchup that favors the Bulls - coaching. Trying to coax some offense from Boozer and Dunleavy hoping one or both would have offensive contributions that would offset any liabilities on the other end and it really paid off. Boozer didn't stand out particularly, to me, on either end, but beyond a drive or two from Ariza I think the game plan for the Bulls to hide both of them on defense was pretty effective.

All is not lost though - without an Athreeza-like performance from Dunleavy behind the arc the Wizards held the rest of the Bulls to a pretty poor shooting night. It's not like those 3pts were all wide open uncontested looks he was hitting. If Jr hit closer to his average and only sank 4 of those 10 3pts, the shooting % for the bulls goes to about 42% - around where they'd been the first two games.

We very nearly pulled out the win despite it all, we just didn't get the breaks at the end of the game that we had in the first two games.

Even without Nene for a game or two - thanks to the big road wins - I still like our chances to win the series.

[dandridge 10]

Just got back from the game. I have to say I am not disappointed too much by the loss. As I said earlier, I expected us to lose at least one of these home games. The Bulls are just too scrappy to get swept.

Obviously, the most disappointing thing about the game was Nene. It just boggles my mind that a vet in the league can be so stupid, especially when the Bulls tried to bait Beal last game. Not having Nene available down the stretch hurt, even if he wasn't having the best game.

Overall, though, I felt the Wizards played hard and didn't give up until the end. They still had a chance to win the game despite not having Nene, despite an unbelievably hot night from Dunleavy, poor free throw shooting, and some, once again, questionable calls by the refs. I still think the Wizards will win the next home game, lose in Chicago and then win the series in 6 here.

Finally, I have to say the Verizon Center was rockin' tonight. I was pleasantly surprised that there were very little Bulls fans there. The only thing that pissed me off is that it took my wife 40 minutes to get in the stadium and missed the beginning of the game. The Wizards have sold out before....I don't know why they were having such a hard time getting people in. The only thing I can think of is that the new card thing is slowing up the lines too much. It would be must faster if people just used hard tickets.

[GhostsOfGil]

Last time the Wiz played the bulls without Nene..

http://www.nba.com/games/20140405/CHIWAS/gameinfo.html

[dandridge 10]

Bill Simmons killing Whit's coaching.

Wondering why Andre Miller didnt play enough. Why Booker was playing. Why was Andre Miller not playing enough. Why we didnt go to Beal late in the game. Questionable coaching decisions late.


Yep, rarely do I agree with him....but Bill was right.

Miller stunk tonight.

Agree. Miller didn't do anything and his D was horrible.

The only criticism that I had of Wittman tonight was that he had Miller in at the end instead of Webster for three point shooting. I probably would have also played Harrington or Gooden more to spread the floor better, but I could understand him sticking with Booker after he ended game 2 so well. Bottom line is missed free throws, poor perimeter defense (allowing Dunleavy to go off), and not having Nene on the floor at the end were the main reasons why we lost.

[jeffsays]

I have to agree with Dan. If wall hits those two free throws with a little over a minute to go, it's a completely different ball game. I think the wizards needed this loss to get them focused for Sunday. It would have been nice to win but mike Dunleavy saved them. Sunday is a must win though.

Sent from my SM-G900P using RealGM Forums mobile app

[GhostsOfGil]

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos ... me-4-25-14

Nene taking no responsibility for his lack of composure. I wonder if he will say sorry to the cheam if he's suspended.

[jeffsays]

Bill Simmons killing Whit's coaching.

Wondering why Andre Miller didnt play enough. Why Booker was playing. Why was Andre Miller not playing enough. Why we didnt go to Beal late in the game. Questionable coaching decisions late.


Yep, rarely do I agree with him....but Bill was right.

Andre slowed the pace of the game way too much. He couldn't penetrate consistently. Booker sucked. Beal had a chance late to put us up two and he missed the layup.


John said that he thinks that his two missed free throws were the reason they lost. I think John will bring it next game and we'll take it barring a Mike "Michael Jordan" Dunleavy 8/10 3p night.

[jeffsays]

http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/nene-postgame-4-25-14

Nene taking no responsibility for his lack of composure. I wonder if he will say sorry to the cheam if he's suspended.

I'm about done with this guy. Loses composure, doesn't apologize to the team, complains about playing too much. Always complains to the refs. Wish we could amnesty him.

[bearadonisdna]

Also, everyone has really got to calm down. This why getting that Game 2 win was so gigantic. There was no way Chicago was just gonna get swept.
Now we have a little breathing room still up a game and staying at home for Game 4. Make some adjustments on defense so they cannot score, come out and win that game and it's pretty much over.
Game 4 could be tough if we don't have Nene but I still think we can win that game if we just. play. d. We can still outscore the Bulls without Nene, we just have to make stops. If Dunleavy has 25 instead of 35, this is a different game.

Actually, there was a very viable way. They came damn close to going down 3-0 tonight. If not for that late 3 by Butler with Beal going under the pick and Wall missing two FTs, this was the Wizards game.

The bulls probably felt the same way about the first two games. Its well chronicled how they let those two games slip away.

[causticcretin]

Last time the Wiz played the bulls without Nene..

http://www.nba.com/games/20140405/CHIWAS/gameinfo.html

A bit tongue in cheek here, but the last time the Wiz played the Bulls without Nene was just a few hours ago - those last 8 minutes of the game after he was ejected we were still -1, of course, but we were just a few free throws, bad bounce or bad call going the other way from winning the game (much like how it has been for each game of the series so far, really).

Of course Nene's value is apparent in more than just the stat sheet, I'm just saying in this situation the Wizards still have plenty of leadership and talent to have a fighting chance even without Nene.

I do fully expect Thibs and the Bulls to capitalize on the shifting dynamics of a Nene-less Wizards on Sunday and I'm not especially confident in Whitt's game planning and rotations to counter, but I'm hoping our edge in talent (which I believe would still tip towards the Wiz) will keep us in it.

If he is suspended, I'm curious to see who from the Wizards will step up - I know we have some graybeards, but I'm sure we'd all like Wall or Beal to grow in the leadership category, too. Hopefully there will be some maturation going on there to see the err in Nene's lack of composure that will be drawn upon later on.

[miller31time]

Just got back from the game. Some notes...

The crowd was crazy - it's really such a fun atmosphere when people give a damn about the team.

Dunleavy sucks and I hate him.

Wizards executed game plan well, did pretty much everything necessary to secure a win. You just can't game plan for a guy going 8-10 from 3 and scoring like 5X's his average.

It also seemed like a lot of Dunleavy's looks came off of illegal picks from Noah and company.

Beal goes "Hero Ball" mode far too often and Wittman doesn't seem to care.

Nene is an idiot and may have single-handedly cost us this series (if he gets suspended).

Can't believe Booker got called for the foul on the trap with 20 odd seconds to go in the game. Looked clean as day to me.

Don't understand why Wittman didn't instruct to miss the 2nd of the 2 free throws and try for a tap-out 3.

[Kanyewest]

Agree. Miller didn't do anything and his D was horrible.

The only criticism that I had of Wittman tonight was that he had Miller in at the end instead of Webster for three point shooting. I probably would have also played Harrington or Gooden more to spread the floor better, but I could understand him sticking with Booker after he ended game 2 so well. Bottom line is missed free throws, poor perimeter defense (allowing Dunleavy to go off), and not having Nene on the floor at the end were the main reasons why we lost.

Yup. I would also add Nene fighting with Butler somehow woke him up on the court given that he hadn't hit a 3 pointer up that point. The Wizards have to do a better job of defending the 3, hopefully Chicago shows some regression to the mean in the next game.

[daSwami]

I am really nervous. We have been an awful home team. Tonight is a must win

I just want to point out that everything was going great until this post right here.

[dangermouse]

Last time the Wiz played the bulls without Nene..

http://www.nba.com/games/20140405/CHIWAS/gameinfo.html

I dont think this is gonna happen again.

If he is suspended I predict we will still win. I was worried about this game, not just because we are worse at home than on the road, but we havent got any home cooking from the refs all year long.

A Nene suspension for that will fire up our team. It will give it the feel of a road game.

edit: I know i said we are worse at home than on the road, and technically we are just as good because we won the same amount of games, I still feel we dont play as good at home as we do on the road despite what the wins/losses tells us.

[Mickstix]

As I've said before, Im not that NBA savy, but what did Nene do that has everyone thinking he could get suspended? I saw the replays.. Was it something he said? I didn't see him throw a punch or push a ref? Does getting in a shoving match get star players suspended during the NBA playoffs?? Seemed fairly tame to me, as far as getting suspended goes..

On the other hand, all the talk about our youngin backcourt but playoff experienced vets looks pretty silly now when Nene is the one looking like the pressure got to him.. But then again, it's DC and we're not exactly known for doing anything the easy way.. :/ Here's to staring 2-2 right in the face!

[causticcretin]

As I've said before, Im not that NBA savy, but what did Nene do that has everyone thinking he could get suspended? I saw the replays.. Was it something he said? I didn't see him throw a punch or push a ref? Does getting in a shoving match get star players suspended during the NBA playoffs?? Seemed fairly tame to me, as far as getting suspended goes..

Nene appeared to be the aggressor and escalator by initiating contact (headbutt) and wrapping his hands around Butler's neck. Grabbing someone around the neck like that, especially from someone as imposing as Nene, required ejection and may be deemed harmful/threatening enough to warrant suspension.

His postgame interview certainly did not help his case.

Hopefully intent will be considered, though, because it looked like Nene grabbed him around the neck only to pull him closer and whisper something in his ear. Maybe if he just tells everyone he was having a Lenny moment and wanted to be told about the rabbits again or that Jimmy had such soft hair that he just couldn't help himself -- that'd garner sympathy, right? Let's just hope it doesn't result in a George moment from the NBA to take him out...

[JWizmentality]

And you know Randy is going to cling to his safety blanket in Booker on Sunday. He's going to trot Booker out there in the starting lineup against the Bull's front court. So we are going to have Gortat with his matador defense and Booker. This going to be a repeat of the last regular season game.

[JWizmentality]

Someone on the General board saying both Nene and Gortat suspended. Anybody hear anything?

[Mickstix]

Speaking of Randy.. Problem with playing the same team over and over in a series is, the farther it goes along the more it becomes about coaching..