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After an improbably good start, the Knicks are on the ropes, having lost 5 of their last 6. They now have a sub-.500 record and have slipped to 9th in the East; and they are in danger of falling to 10th behind Philly.

It would be nice if the Wizards would take care of business and finish the Knicks off while lifting themselves into the top 4 in the conference. Of course, it's the Wizards, so nobody has any idea what to expect.

Play for stats or continue a nice run? We'll see. I'm starting to get interested again, which means the Wiz are overdue to blow a 20 point lead to a bad team.

nate33 wrote:Of course, it's the Wizards, so nobody has any idea what to expect.

Actually we do lol...

BigA wrote:I'm starting to get interested again, which means the Wiz are overdue to blow a 20 point lead to a bad team.

Exactly!

I stand behind my theory that the next 8 games the team makes a run and it's no longer a dissapointing season.

The Wiz are 9 point favorites. The odds makers love to be wrong about this team


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Currently the Wiz have the 11th ranked offense and 8th ranked defense.


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BigA wrote:Play for stats or continue a nice run? We'll see. I'm starting to get interested again, which means the Wiz are overdue to blow a 20 point lead to a bad team.

Actually I have no problem with everyone playing for stats...

Those stats should include rebounds, both free throw and field goal percentages and assists. Add to that number of screens set, rim runs, and charges taken.

Numbers matter.

Otto Porter should be trying to have more field goals attempted. Markieff Morris did a great job of getting a lot of rebounds in a few minutes last game. If I were coach I would track rebounds per minute and or rebound percentages.

Just like kindergarten teachers give gold stars for good behavior and classroom achievements, if I were a coach I would give guys token rewards for the numbers above...Seriously, I might get some marbles or something just to let guys know I'm watching and I appreciate "hard work" and "efficient work=smart work" stats. Individual stats do show hard work and significant achievement. Something simple just to let guys have a goal to shoot for. They would literally be playing for all the marbles.

By the same token I might privately award frowny faces for things that were not so good. I'll never be a GM or an NBA coach; but I think this would help any team at any level. Let people know how they're performing and do it an objective way. Publicly praise good performance and privately offer the negative input. If I were coach I'd also let guys rate me every single game. 1 through 5 stars. If I did a particularly crappy job I'd like for them to tell me why. And the Strand I would put on it is that I would be not just a coach but I would be a guy that would be trying to influence them down the road. They might be coaches too someday. I would want them to give me comments and suggestions.

To summarize: Emphasize the right stats and let players know that we're always playing for stats. Good stats that help teams win. Less bad stats. Just emphasize positive ones.

Enough of a rant...



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J-Ves wrote:Currently the Wiz have the 11th ranked offense and 8th ranked defense.


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Translation as far as I'm concerned: the average of 11 and 8 is 9.5.

The Wizards are the 9th or 10th best team out of 30 in the NBA. So far...

They are a four or five seed. So far.

I suspect they have the potential to be a lot better defensively. The Wizards defend the perimeter very well. If they could just get better defending screen roll...

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J-Ves wrote:The Wiz are 9 point favorites. The odds makers love to be wrong about this team


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Pros:
- The Knicks are coming off a back to back game.
- The Knicks have lost 5 of their past 6 games

Cons:
- The Knicks lost to the Spurs meaning that they are a team below .500 again, the kind of teams that Washington has struggled with.
- A bunch of Knicks fans will be at this one
- Of the last 5 games they lost, the Knicks lost 3 of them by less than 9 points, 1 by 9 points, and the other by double figures. Those 9 points or more losses both came against the Spurs.

Knicks played last night and got worked by the Spurs, Wizards should be favored = New York Win.

queridiculo wrote:Knicks played last night and got worked by the Spurs, Wizards should be favored = New York Win.

I'd bet good money that the Knicks will be competitive and probably in the lead at some point early in the 4th quarter, but the Knicks might falter at the end even if the Wizards don't play all that well. Back-to-backs with travel are always difficult.

J-Ves wrote:Currently the Wiz have the 11th ranked offense and 8th ranked defense.


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8th at D???? How is it possible???

I feel like our team struggles to make any stops. Morris and Gortat aren't protecting the paint and Morris not even contest any shots. Wall like to gamble... I could continue few lines more.

As for the game.
We must watch Beasley. He started to play like a 2nd pick. He was great against Celtics.

https://youtu.be/ybauRZ1ELe8

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Knicks frontcourt scares me even their bench bigs, specifically their 4 and 5's vs ours, but i think the wiz win this game.

Wow...when you look at the squads...if we combined our starting 5s we would be pretty good...if it was Wall, Beal, Otto, KP and Kanter...I wouldn’t hate that.

Good start....

Props to Kara Lawson for use of the term "center of gravity". Porzingis is tall, Markieff can use his lower body strength.

I'm loving the early game plan. Shots in the paint by the Wizards.

Gortat beasting early. Beal and now Wall have gone to the hole. Very good so far.