Round 2, Game 1: SET THE TONE! Wizards @ Pacers 7 PM TNT 5/5

Halcyon · Post #641 » by **Halcyon** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:16 am

OMG Gil

cwb3 · Post #642 » by **cwb3** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:16 am

Suck It Wilbon!!! (I can still say that right?)

ps: Hibbert did manage an assist somehow

payitforward · Post #643 » by **payitforward** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:17 am

TheKingOfVa360 wrote:I feel good as a Wizards fan, we didn't even play good and still lead all game by double digits. We won on hustle and defense. Wall , Nene, Gortat and the bench are bound to shoot better. Wall will have 1 or 2 monster games in this series.

Didn't play well?

We had 53 rebounds to their 36. We had 17 offensive boards to their 6. We blocked 8 shots in the first half. We went 10 of 16 on 3-pointers. And Ariza, Beal and Gooden all had monster games. Except for one short stretch when he decided he should play 1 on 1 offensive basketball, Gooden dominated the floor while he was in the game. Guy had 13 rebounds in 18 minutes! Gortat couldn't make a shot, but he had 15 boards, 6 of them on the offensive glass.

Wall didn't shoot well, but he was fine in every other way.

But it's true that Nene, Booker, Webster and Miller did not play well. Which meant they only combined for 65 minutes. Wall and Beal played 83 minutes; it'll be tough to sustain that. And it'd be nice if we had a young big who could be relied on for any meaningful contribution -- the lack of that might wind up costing us the series, especially if it goes to 7 as seems most likely.

For now, however, wow! This is awesome fun.

mhd · Post #644 » by **mhd** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:17 am

LOVE Gilbert!

Post #645 » by **montestewart** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:20 am

Brenice wrote:Boy I hate the trade for Gortat. We could be counting ping pong balls and looking forward to the draft.

Agreed, typical short-sighted trade, but just possibly the right man at the right time. Some are born to greatness, while Gortat has greatness thrust upon him, and he fortunately has just the right facial hair for the occasion.

That Gortat tech call was so silly. Are these stripes reffing out of fear or what?

Post #646 » by **montestewart** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:21 am

cwb3 wrote:Suck It Wilbon!!! (I can still say that right?)

ps: Hibbert did manage an assist somehow

He helped some kid get a drink of water. Nice guy, Hibbert.

FreeBalling · Post #647 » by **FreeBalling** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:21 am

Great road win tonight and I love Washington basketball in May.

TheKingOfVa360 · Post #648 » by **TheKingOfVa360** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:22 am

Sonny Carson wrote:
TheKingOfVa360 wrote:
B-easy wrote:Wall needs to pick up his game. He has been below par most of the playoffs and he is getting paid the most.

I agree, time for Wall to step up and have some signature games. We have been winning with him being a game manager.

I dont buy that its the Pacers though. Teague (is a much lesser PG) and had some success scoring against Indy. Didnt shoot well.. (39%) but again...he's a lesser PG.

Wall destroyed the Pacers in the 1st Qrt. He's been destroying teams in the 1st half of these playoff games.

Either Randy doesnt adjust...to teams adjusting to Wall. Or Wall is fatigued (playing heavy mins because of no backup pg)

I mean understand these are some darn good defensive teams. But its not like he comes out the gate struggling. For the most part he's the best player on the floor in everyone of these games in the 1st half.

Wall needs to attack more. Randy needs to put that in his head. Attack their bigs and get us in the penalty. Wall shot 10 fts per game vs Chicago.

cwb3 · Post #649 » by **cwb3** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:22 am

mhd wrote:LOVE Gilbert!

Strange and a little sad to see him go from Agent Zero to social media snark king. Primping/reppin for his old team but taking shots at a former Hoya. Color me conflicted on how to score this.

Whatever, Go Wizards!

Post #650 » by **montestewart** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:25 am

I hope Indiana doesn't have any psycho DB fans like that one Bulls fan.

queridiculo · Post #651 » by **queridiculo** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:25 am

Arenas was Stern's punching bag, I think he deserved the right to be as snarky as he wants to be after how wrong the league and the media did him in.

Wizardspride · Post #652 » by **Wizardspride** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:25 am

queridiculo wrote:I feel bad for Hibbert. He's a good guy, but he's getting zero help from his teammates.

Watching him in those post game interviews take the blame and beat himself up time and time again, is brutal, he deserves better.

He's getting zero help from his teammates?

His teammates are getting zero help from him.

PS: I do agree that he's a good guy but he's been playing horrible for over a month now.

cwb3 · Post #653 » by **cwb3** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:26 am

Btw Gortat just inhales rebounds! He fits this squad perfect this year!

Illmatic12 · Post #654 » by **Illmatic12** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:27 am

I've just accepted the fact that Wall is going to play passive for the entirety of these playoffs.

He probably won't admit it till much later in the future.. but he has been playing tentative and is clearly overthinking the game. He's scared to screw up.

He gets a pass because it's his first playoff run. But moving forward, he HAS to understand that the team needs him to be aggressive when the offense is slumping.

Illmatic12 · Post #655 » by **Illmatic12** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:30 am

TheKingOfVa360 wrote:
Sonny Carson wrote:
TheKingOfVa360 wrote:
I agree, time for Wall to step up and have some signature games. We have been winning with him being a game manager.

I dont buy that its the Pacers though. Teague (is a much lesser PG) and had some success scoring against Indy. Didnt shoot well.. (39%) but again...he's a lesser PG.

Wall destroyed the Pacers in the 1st Qrt. He's been destroying teams in the 1st half of these playoff games.

Either Randy doesnt adjust...to teams adjusting to Wall. Or Wall is fatigued (playing heavy mins because of no backup pg)

I mean understand these are some darn good defensive teams. But its not like he comes out the gate struggling. For the most part he's the best player on the floor in everyone of these games in the 1st half.

Wall needs to attack more. Randy needs to put that in his head. Attack their bigs and get us in the penalty. Wall shot 10 fts per game vs Chicago.

This is how Randy wants him to play. He even said it, "he's managing the game"

It's probably a good strategy for a young player in his first playoffs. You don't want him going all Westbrook and shooting us out of the game, and we don't have a Durant to bail us out. But in the future, Wall has to get better at putting the offense on his back when necessary. I'm sure it's just something he'll learn with time. It's hard to be both the PG and the #1 offensive option, most elite point guards have another great offensive player next to them.

The way Wall is taking care of the ball is impressive. He's learning a lot in these playoffs

bealwithit · Post #656 » by **bealwithit** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:30 am

Illmatic12 wrote:I've just accepted the fact that Wall is going to play passive for the entirety of these playoffs.

To be fair to John... apparently it's working lol

queridiculo · Post #657 » by **queridiculo** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:31 am

Wizardspride wrote:
queridiculo wrote:I feel bad for Hibbert. He's a good guy, but he's getting zero help from his teammates.

Watching him in those post game interviews take the blame and beat himself up time and time again, is brutal, he deserves better.

He's getting zero help from his teammates?

His teammates are getting zero help from him.

PS: I do agree that he's a good guy but he's been playing horrible for over a month now.

I can't think of a single instance where Hibbert got a good look on offense, and on defense, the help either came late or not at all.

Hibbert is a good player, but you're going to get exactly what the Pacers have been seeing from him when you leave him on an island on both sides of the court.

Sonny Carson · Post #658 » by **Sonny Carson** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:32 am

Illmatic12 wrote:I've just accepted the fact that Wall is going to play passive for the entirety of these playoffs.

He probably won't admit it till much later in the future.. but he has been playing tentative and is clearly overthinking the game. He's scared to screw up.

He gets a pass because it's his first playoff run. But moving forward, he HAS to understand that the team needs him to be aggressive when the offense is slumping.

Again, is he tentative because he's fatigued...or teams are adjusting to him in the 2nd half of these games?

He's been very aggressive in the 1st half of all these games. However, for whatever reason....Randy or Wall are to slow to adjust to the teams adjustments.

That might be more Randy's strategy though (Wall being more of a game manager in the 2nd half of games). It seems like Wall dominates in the 1st half. Then Beal dominates in the 2nd half of games.

JWizmentality · Post #659 » by **JWizmentality** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:33 am

Don't have a problem with the way John is playing, he just needs to be consistent with his shot

Illmatic12 · Post #660 » by **Illmatic12** » Tue May 6, 2014 2:33 am

bealwithit wrote:
Illmatic12 wrote:I've just accepted the fact that Wall is going to play passive for the entirety of these playoffs.

To be fair to John... apparently it's working lol

It's working because our role players are playing way above their heads.

At some point he won't be able to hide behind his teammates, he'll have to step up to the forefront and make plays. And fail or succeed, he'll learn from it.