GT #3: Wizards @ Blazers 10 PM (NBCSW/1500 AM)

[FAH1223]

YOUR Washington Bullets are 0-2 and look to be heading into 0-4 after successive games against the Blazers and NBA Champion Warriors this week!

On Saturday, we saw terrible defense and rebounding once again. The Wizards have no NBA caliber Centers without 14-year veteran Dwight Howard. Ernie Grunfeld's terrible 2016 offseason cost the franchise a chance at Jarrett Allen who would surely be our starter for the next decade.

John Wall and Bradley Beal look good so far. Otto Porter has not put together a good offensive game yet but has come under increasing scrutiny from the local media and his own coach, the Amazingly Sucky Scotty Brooks, for not playing faster.

Speaking of the Amazingly Sucky Scotty Brooks, perhaps he could stagger a talent like Otto Porter with the bench? A big ask, that the whole fan base has been asking for. If you all recall, Otto Porter had one of his best games last season against the Blazers which ended up becoming a #SoWizards loss after blowing a 17 point lead at home.

The Blazers are coming off two big home wins. They beat the LeBron-led Lakers on opening night and beat the new-look San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night. Lillard and McCollum are aiming to come back strong after their embarassing playoff exit vs. New Orleans back in the spring.

I probably won't stay up to watch the whole game but my money is on RIP CITY..




-------------------------VS-------------------------

LAST GAME:

Raptors @ Wizards - 117-113 (L)
Spurs @ Blazers - 108-121 (W)

Lineups:










Bench:

[youngWizzy]

Read on Twitter

[DANNYLANDOVER]

Read on Twitter

LMAO #sowizards
Say hello to a lottery pick in 2019!

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

[payitforward]

...Otto Porter has not put together a good offensive game yet but has come under increasing scrutiny from the local media and his own coach, the Amazingly Sucky Scotty Brooks, for not playing faster. ...

Otto has played 60 minutes & been able to take 16 shots. Hard to score when you basically don't see the ball.

[Kanyewest]

...Otto Porter has not put together a good offensive game yet but has come under increasing scrutiny from the local media and his own coach, the Amazingly Sucky Scotty Brooks, for not playing faster. ...

Otto has played 60 minutes & been able to take 16 shots. Hard to score when you basically don't see the ball.

Through 2 games, Porter is shooting less per 100 possessions than any point in his career. At some point he has to just shoot the ball more- especially since the alternative is Wall shooting more from mid-range.

[queridiculo]

...Otto Porter has not put together a good offensive game yet but has come under increasing scrutiny from the local media and his own coach, the Amazingly Sucky Scotty Brooks, for not playing faster. ...

Otto has played 60 minutes & been able to take 16 shots. Hard to score when you basically don't see the ball.

Through 2 games, Porter is shooting less per 100 possessions than any point in his career. At some point he has to just shoot the ball more- especially since the alternative is Wall shooting more from mid-range.

You actually have to get the rock to like, you know, shoot?

[queridiculo]

Read on Twitter

LMAO #sowizards
Say hello to a lottery pick in 2019!

The real #soWizards is how they can't get their stories straight.

Here is how the stories have changed so far.

Game 1 - Howard hasn't practiced enough, but he's real close
Game 2 - Howard won't play, but he will definitely travel with the team on the road trip
Game 3 - Howard won't join the team, have not ruled out that he will join them
Game 4 - ???

This has that Mahinmi 2016 vibe to it.

[payitforward]

...Otto Porter has not put together a good offensive game yet but has come under increasing scrutiny from the local media and his own coach, the Amazingly Sucky Scotty Brooks, for not playing faster. ...

Otto has played 60 minutes & been able to take 16 shots. Hard to score when you basically don't see the ball.

Through 2 games, Porter is shooting less per 100 possessions than any point in his career. At some point he has to just shoot the ball more- especially since the alternative is Wall shooting more from mid-range.

No. Any & every player takes shots on some percentage of the occasions when the ball is in his hands. Increasing that percentage is not a way to play well. Increasing the number of times the ball is in Otto's hands -- that is what's needed. & of course, that also affects the kinds of situations in which the ball comes to him.

Right now, despite the fact that Beal is shooting his best TS% of his entire career, John Wall's assists per 40 minutes are at a career low. Nor is that b/c he is shooting more than usual -- he's not; he's shooting slightly less than usual.

But, Brad is shooting more than usual: he's shooting 30% more often than his career average. No problem given his gaudy FG% on both 2s & 3s.

Oubre is shooting more as well (& badly). & Jeff Green is shooting more often than usual too (& horribly). But, Kieff, Smith, Rivers & others are shooting less than their career averages.

& here is the thing -- overall we are taking fewer shots per game.

It's easy to understand what's going on, & it has nothing to do with Otto Porter. We are not rebounding. Pure & simple. Which means we are getting fewer shots than we should.

If we'd had 2 more shots in game 1 (when we were down 16 shots to the Heat if I remember right), we'd have won the game.

Vs. the Raps we actually had 1 more shot than they did. But, we took 4 fewer FTAs. They killed us on the boards. If we had rebounded, we would have won the game.

In short, Otto isn't the problem -- especially he wasn't the problem vs. the Heat: we wouldn't have been in the game at all without his rebounding & steals.

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

LMAO #sowizards
Say hello to a lottery pick in 2019!

The real #soWizards is how they can't get their stories straight.

Here is how the stories have changed so far.

Game 1 - Howard hasn't practiced enough, but he's real close
Game 2 - Howard won't play, but he will definitely travel with the team on the road trip
Game 3 - Howard won't join the team, have not ruled out that he will join them
Game 4 - ???

This has that Mahinmi 2016 vibe to it.

At first it was his back

Now it's his butt

What next?

[Ruzious]

LMAO #sowizards
Say hello to a lottery pick in 2019!

The real #soWizards is how they can't get their stories straight.

Here is how the stories have changed so far.

Game 1 - Howard hasn't practiced enough, but he's real close
Game 2 - Howard won't play, but he will definitely travel with the team on the road trip
Game 3 - Howard won't join the team, have not ruled out that he will join them
Game 4 - ???

This has that Mahinmi 2016 vibe to it.

At first it was his back

Now it's his butt

What next?

I would rather not speculate on that.

But the good thing is - When the Wiz lose tonight, they can use the Dwight Howard injury excuse.

[Kanyewest]

Otto has played 60 minutes & been able to take 16 shots. Hard to score when you basically don't see the ball.

Through 2 games, Porter is shooting less per 100 possessions than any point in his career. At some point he has to just shoot the ball more- especially since the alternative is Wall shooting more from mid-range.

No. Any & every player takes shots on some percentage of the occasions when the ball is in his hands. Increasing that percentage is not a way to play well. Increasing the number of times the ball is in Otto's hands -- that is what's needed. & of course, that also affects the kinds of situations in which the ball comes to him.

Right now, despite the fact that Beal is shooting his best TS% of his entire career, John Wall's assists per 40 minutes are at a career low. Nor is that b/c he is shooting more than usual -- he's not; he's shooting slightly less than usual.

But, Brad is shooting more than usual: he's shooting 30% more often than his career average. No problem given his gaudy FG% on both 2s & 3s.

Oubre is shooting more as well (& badly). & Jeff Green is shooting more often than usual too (& horribly). But, Kieff, Smith, Rivers & others are shooting less than their career averages.

& here is the thing -- overall we are taking fewer shots per game.

It's easy to understand what's going on, & it has nothing to do with Otto Porter. We are not rebounding. Pure & simple. Which means we are getting fewer shots than we should.

If we'd had 2 more shots in game 1 (when we were down 16 shots to the Heat if I remember right), we'd have won the game.

Vs. the Raps we actually had 1 more shot than they did. But, we took 4 fewer FTAs. They killed us on the boards. If we had rebounded, we would have won the game.

In short, Otto isn't the problem -- especially he wasn't the problem vs. the Heat: we wouldn't have been in the game at all without his rebounding & steals.

I agree that Porter is the team's best rebounder(at least until Dwight Howard gets back) and defender. Wizards would also probably be 2-0 if they had kept Gortat instead of trading him for Rivers, certainly would have helped with the rebounding. Wall and Beal also need to pick it up on the boards.

But as long as Wall/Oubre/Rivers are settling for inefficient shots, Porter may as well iso himself up because he's more efficient than those 3.

[ducler]

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[TheBabyMaker]

The real #soWizards is how they can't get their stories straight.

Here is how the stories have changed so far.

Game 1 - Howard hasn't practiced enough, but he's real close
Game 2 - Howard won't play, but he will definitely travel with the team on the road trip
Game 3 - Howard won't join the team, have not ruled out that he will join them
Game 4 - ???

This has that Mahinmi 2016 vibe to it.

At first it was his back

Now it's his butt

What next?

I would rather not speculate on that.

But the good thing is - When the Wiz lose tonight, they can use the Dwight Howard injury excuse.

Always some BS excuse for this team.

Anyways should I take a nap and watch this game later or drink a few beers and check out some early games on league pass (free preview) than go to bed before this one even comes on???

[Dat2U]

Otto has played 60 minutes & been able to take 16 shots. Hard to score when you basically don't see the ball.

Through 2 games, Porter is shooting less per 100 possessions than any point in his career. At some point he has to just shoot the ball more- especially since the alternative is Wall shooting more from mid-range.

No. Any & every player takes shots on some percentage of the occasions when the ball is in his hands. Increasing that percentage is not a way to play well. Increasing the number of times the ball is in Otto's hands -- that is what's needed. & of course, that also affects the kinds of situations in which the ball comes to him.

Right now, despite the fact that Beal is shooting his best TS% of his entire career, John Wall's assists per 40 minutes are at a career low. Nor is that b/c he is shooting more than usual -- he's not; he's shooting slightly less than usual.

But, Brad is shooting more than usual: he's shooting 30% more often than his career average. No problem given his gaudy FG% on both 2s & 3s.

Oubre is shooting more as well (& badly). & Jeff Green is shooting more often than usual too (& horribly). But, Kieff, Smith, Rivers & others are shooting less than their career averages.

& here is the thing -- overall we are taking fewer shots per game.

It's easy to understand what's going on, & it has nothing to do with Otto Porter. We are not rebounding. Pure & simple. Which means we are getting fewer shots than we should.

If we'd had 2 more shots in game 1 (when we were down 16 shots to the Heat if I remember right), we'd have won the game.

Vs. the Raps we actually had 1 more shot than they did. But, we took 4 fewer FTAs. They killed us on the boards. If we had rebounded, we would have won the game.

In short, Otto isn't the problem -- especially he wasn't the problem vs. the Heat: we wouldn't have been in the game at all without his rebounding & steals.

Good analysis. Without Howard to clean up the glass what do we do with Mahinmi & Smith basically unplayable. Sticking with Smith specifically seems like a really bad idea just because he's labeled as a C.

Kieff in particular has been terrible at blocking out. He can only ball watch rebounds in to his hands. I don't think he's a passable option at C either.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

This is, by far, the earliest in the season that I’ve lost interest.

[Kanyewest]

This is, by far, the earliest in the season that I’ve lost interest.

The record for me was the 2012 season where Wall was out the first half of the season.

[JWizmentality]

This is, by far, the earliest in the season that I’ve lost interest.

The team just isn't fun to watch. The ball isn't moving and Brooks' rotation is god awful. At no point should Rivers be playing more minutes than Otto. WTF.

[Kanyewest]

This is, by far, the earliest in the season that I’ve lost interest.

The team just isn't fun to watch. The ball isn't moving and Brooks' rotation is god awful. At no point should Rivers be playing more minutes than Otto. WTF.

I think Otto was injured in the first game of the season. At least that's what I hope was the case. He grabbed 9 rebounds in 25 minutes.

Then he followed it up by only getting 1 rebound against the Raptors.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Interesting, winnable game.

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