GT#1 Round 2: Washington Wizards @ Atlanta Hawks 5-3-15 1PM Philips Arena on ABC

[evolushunize]

NBA Playoffs, Round 2, Game 1 - Wizards vs Hawks series 0-0

Your Washington Wizards have been anxiously awaiting their second round opponent after they swept the Toronto Raptors last Sunday. Hopefully, the Wizards had enough rest as they will be facing the #1 seeded eastern conference playoff team, the Atlanta Hawks. This first game will be a hefty test for Randy Wittman to see how well he'll make the necessary adjustments against coach of the year, Mike Budenholzer. If you ask me, we should mix it up and play some small ball then go BIG down low in the dirty, Hotlanta, ATLshaawwwty. Let's gooooooooo!!!!!!!






Movin to the country...gonna eat me a lot of peachezz!






Wizards 2nd round playoffs action... or TWD... Hmmm. Gotta wait another half a year..

[Wizardspride]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jorgeccastillo/status/594329555910979584[/tweet]

[JWizmentality]

[JWizmentality]

1pm...........f*ck.

[hands11]

Wizards in 4 or 5

[benb331]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jorgeccastillo/status/594329555910979584[/tweet]

I sincerely hope that Marcin Gortat has read this tweet. With his ego and hostility - of course combined with the skill and physicality to back it up - this is the kind of disrespect that might tip the odds in our favor come game time. It's always fun rooting for the underdog, and I think the Wizards will definitely be pegged into that story line.

There was some gloating after the TOR series and a few general board threads popping up pimping absurd acronyms like ECF, but I get the feeling that Atlanta's bounce-back against NJ has quashed the Wiz-R-Best-East nonsense. It's time to put up or shut up, and this ATL team is arguably the best in the league when they're on their game. The most entertaining finals may be ATL-GS, but the home team is here to spoil that behind some gutsy Truth play and young buck big stage arrivals.

Our squad has recently felt the embarrassment of a Round 1 dominant performance only to be followed by a Round 2 letdown. I think they're steeled, ready, focused. Determined not to repeat last year's narrative. It's gonna be a helluva series. Gonna enjoy every game, win or lose.

Let's go Washington!

[dlts20]

I think we win the series but game 1 is tricky. Did we get great rest or got rusty and lost our edge. Sucks that at the spur of a moment we have to be ready to play early Sunday. Witt can't out think himself. It should be KS out and Hump in if we go deep in the bench.

An aggressive Beal can kill Korver and change the series. Pierce doesn't have to worry about Carroll killing him in iso like DD did. Atl scheme plays into Walls hands if the floor is spread

[dlts20]

One big deal that no one will talk about is Floyd-Pac. Thats probably going to end after 1 on the east coast and you know people will be too hyped to go to bed right after. Pierce is a big boxing fan and i could see him actually going to Vegas if we didn't have ti play til Tues. All in all our guys could be partied out or still hyped from the fight and ready to ball out.

I was worried that we lost our intensity with the layoff but the fight, combined with playing on ABC, combined with being motivated to knock off the top seed, along with Milsapps comment s makes me feel like we will have no worries getting up

[FAH1223]

Hawks in 5... much better team than TOR

[hands11]

I think we win the series but game 1 is tricky. Did we get great rest or got rusty and lost our edge. Sucks that at the spur of a moment we have to be ready to play early Sunday. Witt can't out think himself. It should be KS out and Hump in if we go deep in the bench.

An aggressive Beal can kill Korver and change the series. Pierce doesn't have to worry about Carroll killing him in iso like DD did. Atl scheme plays into Walls hands if the floor is spread

The Wizards are chomping at the bit ready.

I have little doubt about that. They are practicing hard. They are narrowly focused on just the next game. Randy and Paul have been beating that drum. And that has a good bite to do with how they approached the last series.

Another thing about Randy. He has them focused the majority of the time on what they do. Their defensive schemes. Their foundation. And from there, they tweak things. That is his approach.

One offense, its a whole new thing with them using Paul and Gooden as stretch players and having a shorter playoff rotation.

[dobrojim]

I just hope the Wizards were paying attention, not that they should have needed reminding after losing
to ATL in all the games ATL bothered to try in, about how good ATL can be.
We simply cannot:

1. turn the ball over
2. allow Korver a multitude of clean looks (same thing could be applied to other ATL players as well)
3. get beaten off the dribble on D since ATL will beat the help eventually.

Take care of the ball.
Stay attached to shooters.
Be accountable for your man on D.

If we do the first 3, or conversely, don't do the 2nd 3, it will be a short series. ATL in 5-6 at most.
I'm not suggesting any of this will be easy. ATL is good defensively, has very good shooters playing
in an outstanding scheme and has good team quickness. We're the underdog. But we can win.

[payitforward]

I haven't watched enough Atlanta games this year to feel I have a solid take on their team -- other than to know that it's a damned good team! They won 60 games after all.

Millsap is right that their bigs have "an advantage." They are a lot more mobile, better shooters, better w/ the ball in their hands. OTOH, they aren't as good rebounders as the Wizards' bigs. Some of this has to do with the team's high FG%. The Hawks get the fewest offensive rebounds of any team in the league (1.8 fewer per game than the Wizards), but that's a result of the fact that they take the 4th fewest FGAs yet make the 10th most shots. They have fewer offensive board opportunities than most teams. Moreover, they even up that deficit by getting 1.8 more steals/game than we do.

Scoring: this season we made .2 more baskets every game than the Hawks. They made .5 more FTs every game than we did. You'd think those two facts would more or less cancel each other out, but in fact the Hawks scored 4 more points a game than the Wizards, i.e. 3.5 more points on FGs. Yet, we actually took 1.1 more shots per game than they did.

Obviously, this points to one overwhelming fact: on the regular season, the Hawks took and made way more 3-pointers than we did. They took 9.3 more 3PTAs a game and made 3.9 more of them (+11.7 points on those 9.3 shots -- a very high eFG%). Meanwhile we took 10.5 more 2PTAs a game than the Hawks and made 4.1 more of them (+8.2 points on those 10.5 shots -- a very low eFG%). And there is your 3.5 point difference!

The Hawks also turn the ball over less (holding down the opponents' shot attempts -- we give our opponent .8 more free opportunities to shoot than they do) and foul less (3 fewer a game). Off the top of my head these two differences mean that we give our opponents @ 1.4 point a game that the Hawks don't give away.

They'll be hard to beat. Very hard. The Hawks are a better team than the Wizards.

Now... against Toronto we took a lot more 3-pointers than our season average -- though fewer than Atlanta's season average all the same. If we can hold down their 3 pt attempts and keep ours up, that's our best chance to win the series.

[keynote]

I think we might see Porter on Korver for long stretches. Korver isn't the iso threat that DeRozan was, but Porter's length might allow him to recover off of screens and still challenge Korver's jumper.


This won't be easy, though. ATL will run Porter ragged off of screens; he'll have to play strong and stay disciplined if he's going to be effective.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

1pm...........f*ck.

There is a good side to this. Atlanta concluded their playoff vs Brooklyn on Friday night. They fly home and have to get settled in quickly.

By Sunday AM, they have to do all their pregame preparation. The Wizards have been thinking about the Hawks for a week. They have around 36 hours minus all the stuff that must be done.

Best hope to win the series is to win game one.

However, I think if the Wizards lose game one I give them next to no chance to win the series.

[AFM]

Wiz in 7

Lets GO FAM!!!!!!!!!

[hands11]

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1385809#start_here

Wizards win this series..

in 4 or 5 games

Wizards take Game 1

Like TOR, ATL fans think their depth gives them the advantage, but in the playoffs, you only need 8 players unless their is an injury.

Wizard will shorten the rotation like they just did.

As for the season record. Its pretty meaningless. ATL only faced the current Wizards rotation one time this year in a game the Wizards won where ATL didn't start their starters.

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400579490

This was also before they went to more Gooden and PP at S4
They will also match up Gooden at S5 if needed if ATL goes with Antic at S5
Plus Otto stepped up big as a 3 n D defender similar to a Trevor A

And the Wizards made 15 three balls in the last playoff game. They got up 24 three balls a game which was a lot more then the 17 per game in the regular season. Their series high in attempts was 29 and they made a lot of them. They shot .443 percent as a team.

The Wizards can now play both big and stretch. If you are expecting standard slow plodding Nene/Gortat all series, think again.

Ask TOR fans.

Here are the other earlier 3 games for those interested.

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400578497

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400578850

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400579024

[hands11]

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jorgeccastillo/status/594329555910979584[/tweet]

I sincerely hope that Marcin Gortat has read this tweet. With his ego and hostility - of course combined with the skill and physicality to back it up - this is the kind of disrespect that might tip the odds in our favor come game time. It's always fun rooting for the underdog, and I think the Wizards will definitely be pegged into that story line.

There was some gloating after the TOR series and a few general board threads popping up pimping absurd acronyms like ECF, but I get the feeling that Atlanta's bounce-back against NJ has quashed the Wiz-R-Best-East nonsense. It's time to put up or shut up, and this ATL team is arguably the best in the league when they're on their game. The most entertaining finals may be ATL-GS, but the home team is here to spoil that behind some gutsy Truth play and young buck big stage arrivals.

Our squad has recently felt the embarrassment of a Round 1 dominant performance only to be followed by a Round 2 letdown. I think they're steeled, ready, focused. Determined not to repeat last year's narrative.It's gonna be a helluva series. Gonna enjoy every game, win or lose.

Let's go Washington!

Great post, benb331! I'm fired up.

Atlanta appears to be firing on all cylinders again. I think Brooklyn was much tougher than Toronto. Washington might not be as battle tested as they think.

The good news is what you posted. Last season round two was a letdown for the Wizards. They are surely motivated not to let that happen again.

Atlanta did not even get to round two (but they played those same Pacers much tougher than Wizards). The Hawks players are in unfamiliar territory and their coach has only been an assistant for San Antonio Don Newman is working with Wittman. (Too bad Blair won't play a second--his rebounding and picks could help!!). The Wizards have a lot more playoff experience overall.

I hope Washington plays very physically. If I were coaching my strategy would be to use Big, Strong. Energetic play early; and to kill with
Quick and Small ater on. Above all else I would keep Wall fresh at the end of quarters so he closes strong and avoids turnovers. Because the Hawks have better skilled athletes. I would try and beat those guys up without any flagrant fouls. Nene, Kevin, Humprhies, and Blair would be used to push Horford and Millsap. Pierce must not get beat by Carroll. Otto must be a nuisance. Atlanta must be worn down...only to win the rebound battle and to take their HOPEFULLY TIRED legs.

The Wizards have enthusiasm and depth. They need to avoid Wall or a Beal shot jacking long twos, and otherwise playing turnover - laden dumb ball. The offense can misfire but the energy has to stay good

If they win the first gsme, they have a real good chance to win the series.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

One big deal that no one will talk about is Floyd-Pac. Thats probably going to end after 1 on the east coast and you know people will be too hyped to go to bed right after. Pierce is a big boxing fan and i could see him actually going to Vegas if we didn't have ti play til Tues. All in all our guys could be partied out or still hyped from the fight and ready to ball out.

I was worried that we lost our intensity with the layoff but the fight, combined with playing on ABC, combined with being motivated to knock off the top seed, along with Milsapps comment s makes me feel like we will have no worries getting up

I have posted about Millsap since over a year before he dclared for the draft. When he was at Louisiana Tech I KNEW he was going to be a good NBA player. Personally, I expect he will do to Washington what Pierce did to Toronto. Paul Millsap will walk the talk. (Count on him kicking ass). He's taking the same leadership role Pierce has, and IMO he will likely be the best player on either team all series. But the rest of his team can't necessarily match his intensity. Carroll and Horford are tough. So are Mack and Bazemore. The task is to get after Teague and make Korver miss

I hope Atlanta is good and tired. Dlts20, great observation. What affect will the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight late tonight have???

Everybody is going to watch the fight. Their team will be more apt to be physically drained or sleep-deprived.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I just hope the Wizards were paying attention, not that they should have needed reminding after losing
to ATL in all the games ATL bothered to try in, about how good ATL can be.
We simply cannot:

1. turn the ball over
2. allow Korver a multitude of clean looks (same thing could be applied to other ATL players as well)
3. get beaten off the dribble on D since ATL will beat the help eventually.

Take care of the ball.
Stay attached to shooters.
Be accountable for your man on D.

If we do the first 3, or conversely, don't do the 2nd 3, it will be a short series. ATL in 5-6 at most.
I'm not suggesting any of this will be easy. ATL is good defensively, has very good shooters playing
in an outstanding scheme and has good team quickness. We're the underdog. But we can win.

Great post, jim.

Because we are team that relies on Wall to do so much, I fear we will turn it over. I would almost rather have Sessions play conservative ball than see Wall try and do too much. Also, the ball needs not to stick while on offense. Wall needs to shred them in transition but play smart.

Korver worries me. I trust Otto's defense much more than Pierce's and more than Beal's. I know Otto usually plays SF, but if Korver gets too many looks I hope Beal sits--unless Bradley is on his game. I am hoping he finds his shot this series. Atlanta will be forced to defend three pointers this series.

Getting beat off the dribble is a huge concern. Earlier I posted about making it a physical game. The Wizards need to use their brutes to bruise. Not Gortat, but every other player needs to make sure to contesr.

Honestly, I am worried that Atlanta's going to dispatch an overconfident Wizards team in 5 or 6 games.

However, what do I know? If the Wizards win game one they could overwhelming the Hawks. One thing is for sure. Washington is way better than when the Hawks last played them.