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____________VS________

____37-35 (6th East/2nd Southeast Div)__________________31-40 (8th East/4th Southeast Div)
_________18-17 home, 26-16 vs East_________________________11-26 Road, 21-2 vs East
__________4-6 Last 10, Streak: W1___________________________5-5 Last 10, Streak: L5


Coming off of a surprising, yet satisfying home court victory over Eastern Conference leading Indiana Pacers, YOUR Washington Wizards hit the Verizon Center hardwood for a rare back-to-back with both games in home territory. Dropping by the most powerful city in the world are the Atlanta Hawks.

The Wiz currently sit in sixth place in the East and are chasing a hot Brooklyn Nets team, who are 7-3 in their last 10 games, including wins at Miami and at Dallas (and a loss at Washington) during that stretch. Brooklyn currently sits 1.5 games ahead of Washington, up 2 games in the loss column. PG John Wall continues to play at a high level. C Marcin Gortat has played consistently well and the Wizards geriatric bench of PG Andre Miller, SF/PF Al Harrington, and PF/C Drew Gooden have bolstered the Wizards reserves.

The Hawks, losers of the their last five in a row, are clinging onto the 8th and final playoff spot in the East. But they're being chased by the suddenly-hot NY Knicks, who have closed to within 2.5 games of the Atlanta, just two back in the loss column. Atlanta has not been the same team since C Al Horford tore his pectoral muscle the day after Christmas. The Hawks have also been without sharpshooting swingman Kyle Korver for the last week, as he battles back spasms. PF Paul Milsap will be expected to do the heavy lifting versus Washington.

Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer has been juggling his lineup lately and it's difficult as an outsider to the Hawks fan base to guess as to who'll start Saturday night's game. But here are my guesses (assuming Korver is still out).

Line-Ups


________________________________________
_____________PG John Wall__________________________________PG Jeff Teague
_____20.0 ppg (44% fg, 36% 3pt, 81% ft)__________________10.4 ppg (43% fg, 30% 3pt, 84% ft)
_____8.8 apg, 4.1 rpg, 1.9 spg, 0.5 bpg_______.___________6.9 apg, 2.7 rpg, 1.1 spg, 0.2 bpg



________________________________________
_____________SG Bradley Beal_______________________________SG Shelvin Mack
_____17.0 ppg (41% fg, 41% 3pt, 80% ft)__________________5.4 ppg (42% fg, 34% 3pt, 86% ft)
_____3.4 apg, 3.7 rpg, 1.0 spg, 0.2 bpg__________._______3.7 apg, 2.1 rpg, 0.7 spg, 0.0 bpg



________________________________________
_____________SF Trevor Ariza______________________________SF DeMarre Carroll
_____14.9 ppg (46% fg, 42% 3pt, 78% ft)__________________11.1 ppg (47% fg, 38% 3pt, 77% ft)
_____2.6 apg, 6.4 rpg, 1.7 spg, 0.3 bpg___________________1.7 apg, 5.5 rpg, 1.5 spg, 0.3 bpg



________________________________________
____________PF Trevor Booker_______________________________PF Paul Milsap
______6.4 ppg (54% fg, 0% 3pt, 57% ft)__________-________17.7 ppg (45% fg, 36% 3pt, 74% ft)
_____5.6 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.5 spg, 0.6 bpg__________________8.1 rpg, 3.0 apg, 1.8 spg, 1.1 bpg



________________________________________
_____________C Marcin Gortat________________________________C Elton Brand
_____12.9 ppg (54% fg, 100% 3pt, 69% ft)__________________5.7 ppg (53% fg, 40% 3pt, 66% ft)
___-__9.3 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.4 spg, 1.5 bpg___________________4.9 rpg, 0.9 apg, 0.4 spg, 1.2 bpg


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This is one of those games. Set up perfectly for a let-down.

If you lose to the Hawks at home, it completely negates Friday night's victory over the Pacers. Washington head coach Randy Wittman and the Wizards' veterans will have to keep vigilant to ensure that the squad maintains their intensity, concentration, and attention to detail in order to come away with the victory. If the Wizards are to be taken seriously, they must stop their maddening habit of losing to teams that they should beat.

It'll be Saturday night, date night, in your nation's capital (please note the 8:00 p.m. starting time.) Can YOUR Washington Wizards take care of business and notch a victory on home court?

Post your thoughts and comments below.

What: Washington Wizards at Indiana Pacers
When: 8:00 p.m. EST
Where: Verizon Center -- Washington, DC
Radio: WFED-AM, 1500, 106.7 TheFan
TV: CSN, NBATV, NBA League Pass, Quasi-legal internet streams

Let's go Wizards!

Will Bradley Beal actually contribute something this game other than them sucky long ass J's. Hes been pretty suck for a while now.

IF Budenholzer starts Mack at the 2 again, Beal had *better* go off. (No disrespect to Shelvin, who I liked when he was here). Just sayin'.

Also, perhaps this game, Ariza finds his shot again, not having to expend so much energy on D.

The Milsap vs Booker match-up looks problematic.

Hawks' starting five's average head size is larger. Gonna be a tough one.

montestewart wrote:Hawks' starting five's average head size is larger. Gonna be a tough one.

pineappleheadindc wrote:IF Budenholzer starts Mack at the 2 again, Beal had *better* go off. (No disrespect to Shelvin, who I liked when he was here). Just sayin'.

This. The Real Beal better return.

This is one of those "WE BETTER WIN THIS GAME".... Coming off a nice Indiana win... we better beat Atlanta who looks like crap lately.

WizardsWorld wrote:This is one of those "WE BETTER WIN THIS GAME".... Coming off a nice Indiana win... we better beat Atlanta who looks like crap lately.

Agree - got the good guys in this one, even though we are on the back end of a back-to-back.

By the way, shouldn't they be NOT-lanta? They've lost 5 in a row...

Beal has been sh*t for quite some time now.

This has "classic letdown game" written all over it. Coming off a big win where we expended an incredible amount of intensity on both ends of the floor, we now have a weaker opponent and we're playing them at home. Don't be surprised to see a large 1st quarter deficit.

miller31time wrote:This has "classic letdown game" written all over it. Coming off a big win where we expended an incredible amount of intensity on both ends of the floor, we now have a weaker opponent and we're playing them at home. Don't be surprised to see a large 1st quarter deficit.

miller- No doubt this is a trap game. However, I will be looking for Beal and Ariza to rebound from poor performances last night. Not sure if Wall will be too tired to put up the sort of effort he did last night. And what about the bench? Will they bring it tonight?

Lots of questions, but I fully expect us to pull this one out.

Not to jinx us, but could be putting together a winning streak?

Can't play down to these guys. This team gotta get it in their heads that they aren't that good yet to do that.

Gotta win this one. A win tonight and a knicks loss tomorrow clinches a playoff berth for us. But we have to stay in the 5-6 range if we hope to make it out of the first round.

TheBabyMaker wrote:Will Bradley Beal actually contribute something this game other than them sucky long ass J's. Hes been pretty suck for a while now.

Bigger question for me is, does Randy have internet access ?

http://stats.nba.com/playerShotchart.ht ... rID=203078

It shouldn't be hard to see what Beal does well and what he doesn't. As a coach, you should be able to instruct him on what shots to avoid and which to focus on. You should also be able to call plays and set line ups that get him to that spots to get him those looks where he is effective.

Beal doesn't suck. Far from it actually. But he is being used and instructed very incorrectly and the result of that is sucky.

Another offseason and he might be able to improve in those areas he is bad at now. Hell, look at Walls 3 ball. Two years ago we were call him Brick Wall. Now look at him. Beal is only a year two player and one that has missed time at that. But he needs help from his coach to get him dialed into being an efficient player.

montestewart wrote:Hawks' starting five's average head size is larger. Gonna be a tough one.

We need to start tracking this data. Maybe Kev can add a column to his spread sheets. PPA-HS

As for the game. I expect the Wizards to start this game like they did last game. They are going to come out like a buzz saw. They will eventually get up a nice big lead.

Some there. Its all up to Randy and his rotations to keep it. Let see if he does anything different to help them. Its at that adjustments phase of the game that Randy hasn't found his touch. He has to figure out the right touch to keep the fire toked.

I dont see the letdown. We havent been good enough to have a letdown. This team wants to start a streak again. I think Wall will again lead the way with over 20 & 10 or something like 24 & 8 if not better. No way we look back although I still dont like our lineups and even moreso I hate Witt's horrible system. That is my daily dimwitt rant.....lol

jeffsays wrote:Gotta win this one. A win tonight and a knicks loss tomorrow clinches a playoff berth for us. But we have to stay in the 5-6 range if we hope to make it out of the first round.

+1

I must say though, things gotta be pretty bad down in the ATL to start Shelvin Mack. But then again, we're still starting Booker.

hands11 wrote:

TheBabyMaker wrote:Will Bradley Beal actually contribute something this game other than them sucky long ass J's. Hes been pretty suck for a while now.

Bigger question for me is, does Randy have internet access ?

http://stats.nba.com/playerShotchart.ht ... rID=203078

It shouldn't be hard to see what Beal does well and what he doesn't. As a coach, you should be able to instruct him on what shots to avoid and which to focus on. You should also be able to call plays and set line ups that get him to that spots to get him those looks where he is effective.

Beal doesn't suck. Far from it actually. But he is being used and instructed very incorrectly and the result of that is sucky.

Another offseason and he might be able to improve in those areas he is bad at now. Hell, look at Walls 3 ball. Two years ago we were call him Brick Wall. Now look at him. Beal is only a year two player and one that has missed time at that. But he needs help from his coach to get him dialed into being an efficient player.

No Beal does not suck but his shot selection does the coach should not have to remind him of that. He is a NBA baller he should know whats working and whats not, anyone from the stands can see that and right now he is hurting the team with his shot selection (he get more shots than anyone else on the team) and he does not even realizes it. Drive to the basket and draw a foul for a change like any other decent SG in the league.

We have the clear advantage at 4 of the 5 positions, and Atlanta's depth is real bad when Lou Williams isn't en fuego - with all due respect to Mike Scott. I like Muscala and Schroeder - but not this year.

TheBabyMaker wrote:

hands11 wrote:

TheBabyMaker wrote:Will Bradley Beal actually contribute something this game other than them sucky long ass J's. Hes been pretty suck for a while now.

Bigger question for me is, does Randy have internet access ?

http://stats.nba.com/playerShotchart.ht ... rID=203078

It shouldn't be hard to see what Beal does well and what he doesn't. As a coach, you should be able to instruct him on what shots to avoid and which to focus on. You should also be able to call plays and set line ups that get him to that spots to get him those looks where he is effective.

Beal doesn't suck. Far from it actually. But he is being used and instructed very incorrectly and the result of that is sucky.

Another offseason and he might be able to improve in those areas he is bad at now. Hell, look at Walls 3 ball. Two years ago we were call him Brick Wall. Now look at him. Beal is only a year two player and one that has missed time at that. But he needs help from his coach to get him dialed into being an efficient player.

No Beal does not suck but his shot selection does the coach should not have to remind him of that. He is a NBA baller he should know whats working and whats not, anyone from the stands can see that and right now he is hurting the team with his shot selection (he get more shots than anyone else on the team) and he does not even realizes it. Drive to the basket and draw a foul for a change like any other decent SG in the league.

Here is another question to that though BM.

Is the coach proactively telling him and designing plays to get him those inefficient shots ?

He is taking open shots and Randy says an open shot is a good shot. If you are a shooter, shoot. First open look is the best shot you may see that procession.

But I have noticed Beal drive more lately. At least it looks that way.

But from what I can see with my eyes and what is also supported in that shoot chart, he is not good at all from that left side. I saw him take 4 straight shots from there in the 3rd quarter last game. All misses. All with in like 2-3 mins. Guess what happened, IND started coming back and the Wizards started to lose momentum.

I'm am not saying Beal doesn't have something to do with this. But he is 20. If his coach is telling him to shoot it from there and designing plays or an offense where he ends up there, and he is telling him shoot it, well... I think that is putting Beal in a no win situation. Specially at his age.