GT - Portland Trail Blazers @ Washington (12-3-2010)

[DallasShalDune]

Here is my not-so-spiffy thread to add some new blood and see if I can luck us into some wins. I earned the Wizards a nice little winning streak a few years ago with my untechnological threads during a period where we were struggling. Maybe I can have the same effect on this 2010 team.

Back then, I used many emoticons to make up for my lack of internet experience, but I'm going to keep it extra simple this go-around.

So here goes nothing:

Game Time: 7:00 PM EST on December 3rd, 2010.
Locale: In Washington--The Verizon Center.
Broadcast Information:
CSN HD and 106.7 The Fan

Lineups:

Washington
PG: John Wall -- 2
SG: Gilbert Arenas -- 9
SF: Al Thorton -- 14
PF: Andray Blatche -- 7
C: Javale McGee -- 34

PG: Andre Miller -- 24
SG: Brandon Roy -- 7
SF: Wesley Matthews -- 2
PF: LaMarcus Aldridge -- 12
C: Marcus Camby -- 23

Key Match-Up of the Game:
Gilbert Arenas v. Brandon Roy
If Gilbert is the one defending Roy, will the gimping superstar scorch us? Or will Arenas step up on the defensive end of the floor and contain Roy to reasonable numbers? Gilbert is due for another monster game and it would be nice for him to give us 30 and 7 (or so) against a good team. It would also be nice for him to do so alongside Wall instead of solo--just so we have some hope that Gilbert Arenas and John Wall can succeed on the same roster.

Big Questions of the Game:
1. Who will start for the Wizards? The 3 guard lineup could theoretically work against Portland because their wing players are not necessarily known for their size (Matthews is merely 6'5'', according to NBA.com), but having said that, I hope by posting our BEST possible starting lineup here on this thread is some sort of premonition and we start Gil with Wall and a legitimation SF.

2. Can we suck more than we did against Toronto? Technically, we've played a few games THAT badly. See our games against Orlando, Boston, and Atlanta for examples. Having said that, I hope the Wizards realize they cannot take a lackadaisical approach against a much better team (albeit struggling slightly) in the Trail Blazers, or they will again be embarrassed.

3. Is Roy the same player he once was? One of the hottest topics of the past two seasons has been the injury plagued Portland team, especially in regards to their star players. With Oden out, and with Roy's supposedly troublesome knee problems, it's easy to feel bad for what's been going on in the only Pacific Northwest team remaining in the league.

Emoticon (because we need at least ONE) to describe DallasShalDune's feeling on this matchup:

[dcballer]

Wiz lose by 15.

[DallasShalDune]

Wiz lose by 15.

I think we'll lose by 2-3.

[dandridge 10]

After the Sixers win, I said the Wiz could easily lose their next 7 games. I still think that.

[MJG]

We take this one, before losing many.

[JWizmentality]

I wasn't expecting much coming into the season, I just wanted an exciting team. One thousand curses on Flip for making me yearn for the Eddie Jordan days of yore. I'd run your puppy over in the street Flip. The Wizards have been uninspiring...therefore JWiz is uninspired.


I miss the old Gilbert....I could almost cry.

I've resigned myself to the fact that Blatche is a bum.

I miss Josh Howard...yes really.

I don't like Hiney as the token white guy. I miss Mike Miller.

We need to get on the Melo bandwagon...and fast. Cuz fast don't lie (damn I like those corny commercials).


I shall now resign myself to my inner sanctum and watch clips of John Wall doing the dougie, because it makes me smile.

[pineappleheadindc]

We are playing at home, so we could do well here.

Wiz by 1.

[closg00]

Portland is on their own 5-game losing-streak and nearly knocked-off Boston a few nights ago. I expect some-kind of bounce-back tonight, Flip rightfully tongue-lashed them yesterday and embarrassed them with film from the Toronto game.

[Zonkerbl]

My question about this team is, do they have to have an above average performance to win? Or do they just have to play like professionals?

Sometimes this team plays with lots of energy and loses by two. Other times they suck and lose by twenty. So right now it's hard to have hope. I guess if they eliminate a mistake or two a game, and have one or two more good plays a game, they can turn into a .500 team. But going into this season I thought, wow, all we need is for Blatche to play the way he's been playing and have Mcgee turn the corner and this is a good team. Well, those two things happened and they still suck. Very frustrating.

Very much looking forward to a healthy Josh Howard!

[Hoopalotta]

Josh Howard will descend from the clouds like a Valkyrie on a white Pegasus and lead us onward, ever onward, to victory! Ok, sure, not tonight, but when he does...I mean, wow.....decades from now people will recount the tale of Josh's arrival and our subsequent glorious ascension to preeminence.

And Yi will be back soon too, let's not forget that.

Welll.....

Meanwhile, back at the ranch......sounds like Kirby's minutes are going to get cut back soon:

Saunders said getting players back could limit the wear and tear on those who have been asked to take on more responsibility in the absence of others. He said Kirk Hinrich, who has started all 17 games and leads the team in minutes played "is worn down now."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 05677.html

I don't see how Flip specifically mentions this to the media and then has him continue on at 35 minutes a game. We knew his minutes would have to peel back eventually anyway, so there it is, telegraphed to all and sundry.

But going into this season I thought, wow, all we need is for Blatche to play the way he's been playing and have Mcgee turn the corner and this is a good team. Well, those two things happened and they still suck. Very frustrating.

Blatche's base production numbers are still high, but he's well off by most measures. If we had the Dray from the end of last year (PER of 19-20 or whatever it was), we probably would be sniffing .500 ball even with everything else that's wrong. So your basic idea there might not have been far off.

But unfortunately......

[nate33]

I miss the old Gilbert....I could almost cry.

I've resigned myself to the fact that Blatche is a bum.

I miss Josh Howard...yes really.

I don't like Hiney as the token white guy. I miss Mike Miller.

I'm actually fairly encouraged by Arenas' play. He's not the old Gilbert, but I think he looks sharper than last season's Gilbert.

Unfortunately, I'm coming around to this thinking about Blatche too. You can't teach a motor, and the kid doesn't have one. 7 Day Dray lasted about 7 months. Now we have the old Blatche: a highly skilled, shot happy, defensively lazy player. I refuse to get my hopes up about him until he starts averaging double digits in rebounding with decent defense. I won't hold my breath.

Josh Howard won't save us.

Kent is better than Miller because he can stay healthy. What is MIller doing for Miami?

[dlts20]

People keep saying Roy is gimpy or his knee is about to be done but he's still putting up big numbers in every game. There is no way that Gil guards Roy. Flip will put Gil on Matthews but he's been lighting it up also.

Im still the only guy around here who believes that we are good. I think we could win this game and even beat alot of the good teams coming up but its up to Flip.

I finally for the 1st time all year have some hope. Flip made that comment about Kirk's minutes being too high. I think he was quitely trying to set something up. His assistants probably told him that he has to give up the starting Kirk thing and lets try our real lineup of Wall & Gil with no Kirk. Thats why Flip makes the comment because he plans to start bringing Kirk off the bench. However, he loves Kirk so much that he doesnt want him to think that he's flat out benching him, moreso that he just wants to watch his minutes and a 6th man role is the easiest way to do it.

The bottom line is that if Wall & Gil start with no Kirk then I think we look like a totally different team & start winning these games. With that being said, Portland's roster scares me more then the Suns & other teams we have coming up for some reason. Should be an interesting matchup but I expect much better effort from us

[dopeismarcus]

If it wasn't for Wall Id probably would have only seen one game so far. Trade the whole team except Wall/McGee. I'm tired of watching these bums play.

[Severn Hoos]

Wiz lose by 15.

I think we'll lose by 2-3.

You mean in the sense that the 2-3 zone defense will be our undoing?


Obligatory smiley ---->

[Black Eyed Sooz]

I'm hoping this is the start of a long consecutive games played streak for John Wall- we need him on the court, not just for his skills, but also his leadership. He said something in the Washington Post which I think is very important, that he can't lead effectively when he's injured, because it doesn't feel right calling people out for their mistakes if he's sitting on the bench in street clothes. Probably Josh Howard feels the same way, and I think he's going to make a big difference when he gets back in the lineup.

As it is now, everyone is probably deferring to Arenas and Hinrich since they are the most veteran players... both of those guys have said publicly that they're uncomfortable in a vocal leadership role, both have been a disaster defensively and need to be called out themselves, and honestly I don't think either guy wants to be in Washington. I don't have any evidence to support that, it just feels like it did last year with Jamison and Butler before they got shipped out.

Hopefully Blatche starts to get his legs back and turn things around also. He clearly doesn't have the dexterity that he had last year. Whatever his faults he has a tremendous amount of talent, and he really DOES want to be here in Washington, so I'm not ready to give up on him yet.

[dobrojim]

I'm hoping N1 isn't too gimpy after the last game. He's most likely the
best defender we can put on Roy and a good place to give Hiney's minutes.

Blatche better play some D or Aldridge will go off big time.

It's a winnable game but that doesn't mean $hi+ to this squad.
That said, they do clearly play better at home.

Getting Yi back and taking some of Booker's minutes might
be helpful although that said, it seems like with us, when we
get a piece back, it takes a few games before we see results
as far as improved TEAM play goes

[REDardWIZskin]

AT's gotta get back to being more physical assuming that he is finally healthy. He hasnt had the chance to since McGee began to rebound better.

Hope Young Nick can keep playing well, this is about the time where he would start to slide in the past.

[Induveca]

I predict Fernandez hits 6-7 threes in this game.

But I still think we can win it......

Wall with a big bounceback game and will be blowing by Miller constantly.

[dobrojim]

But Miller on offense is the kind of player that could
put up decent numbers against an inexperienced player,
even one as talented as Wall.

[Hoopalotta]

Nice opening post by Black Eyed Sooz.