Game 51: Wizards (18-32) vs Grizzlies (26-26) Sun, 2/9 @ 6 PM ET

[gambitx777]

Boston is desperately in need of a big defensive body and they probably couldn't do better than Ian. If he asked for his release he I'm sure we would. When Bryant comes back we don't really need him. But we are so tight under the tax all we could do is convert Mathews or Williams ( maybe both ) we have 1,336,674 if my math is right. I can see Mathews getting converted and given a long term deal, but I don't see Johnathan Williams here long term imo. We could go out and get another guy but who? Smartest thing to do would be to waive Ian and Payton. And sign Mathews to a long term deal cap hot this year would be 500-600 K ish. Then bring Williams back up (if allowed, not sure you can after cutting him and signing him to a 2 way) then sign two more two way guys to get us through the year. And we are close but under the tax! If my Mather is right and we are allowed to bring Williams back. If we can't bring him back you just don't cut Payton and sign another two way guy if you cut Ian and convert Mathews.

Mahimi inability to just catch and finish, has taken 8 points off the board if not more. Kind of crazy.

They really should do Mahinmi a solid and release him to go to a contending team, if one will have him.

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[DCZards]

Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the way the Wizards played. They held the Grizzlies to less than 110 and I bet their ORtg was pretty low. Hachimura had 11 boards in 25 minutes. Wagner had 19 and 9 in 24 minutes while only committing 3 fouls.

If the Wizards shot a little better than 21% from 3-point range, they could have won this. They're not going to beat anybody while shooting that poorly. The fact that it was close is encouraging.

Feel the same. 14 pts and 15% shooting in the 4th quarter ain't gonna get it done. Shots simply weren't falling. Worse yet, they were going halfway down and coming out.

The Zards offense has been great pretty much all season so a game where it sucks in the last quarter was bound to happen.

[gambitx777]

I can't believe this team is in 9th place and in the play off hunt


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[payitforward]

The world is full of people who think they know what other people should do.

Out here in Delaware, Comcast went South at @ 8pm as I was watching the DVR; it was early in the 3d quarter, so I missed the meltdown.

Great to see such a nice game out of Wagner. He's doing stuff he didn't look like he knew how to do last Summer.

I don't know how good Jerome will be, but he didn't look like a stiff out there.

Building something kind of fun. Probably sneak in & give Milwaukee a little scare (emphasis on "little").

[gambitx777]

As good as Tommy is with scouting I wouldn't mind sneaking in to the play offs and getting a later pick. I think it would be good for this team to get in, feel the big moment, get their teeth kicked in a bit on the big stage and get some experience !

The world is full of people who think they know what other people should do.

Out here in Delaware, Comcast went South at @ 8pm as I was watching the DVR; it was early in the 3d quarter, so I missed the meltdown.

Great to see such a nice game out of Wagner. He's doing stuff he didn't look like he knew how to do last Summer.

I don't know how good Jerome will be, but he didn't look like a stiff out there.

Building something kind of fun. Probably sneak in & give Milwaukee a little scare (emphasis on "little").

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[payitforward]

It wasn’t the guarding-Beal was invisible in the 4th while Morant went ham.

Give me a break. Everything in basketball doesn't boil down to who is the alpha and who is punking who. It's a team sport. Beal was pretty solid down the stretch, getting to the rack and getting to the line. He wasn't awesome, but he wasn't bad either.

Morant is good. He had a good game. That doesn't represent some sort of failure for Beal "letting" Morant "punk" him.

We lost the game because we were crushed on the boards.

& lay ups popped out. Whatever. Main point -- thanks for replying to that pointless post. These 2 professional teams played a game against each other; they won, & we lost. Nobody "punked" anybody.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Moran is really good. Brooks is awful. That Napier Beal Ish lineup killed us.

I’m not seeing it from Robinson.

[Meliorus]

Just watching the momentum swings of the game, feels like Brooks cost us the game tonight leaving Robinson in too long, and then doing the weird Napier + Ish + Beal lineup. There really is no time for this random experimentation. Lastly, it would have been nice to have some more rim protection at the end of game.

Bonga should have played more in the 4th, there are moments with the lineups in the last 6 minutes where you just felt so vulnerable. Not sure Rui should be playing crunch-time just yet. When game slows down, don't know how he helps on O without the rookie mistakes. Beal chucking as usual.

[TheBabyMaker]

I can't believe this team is in 9th place and in the play off hunt


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East sucks that's why. They can't even play bad enough (this game though) to miss the playoffs. Pretty Pathetic.

[DCZards]

Rui missed a lot of midrange shots I expected him to make...but this may have been the best I've seen him on the boards. It wasn't just the fact that he had 11 rebounds, it was the toughness he showed in getting some of those boards.

[doclinkin]

Just watching the momentum swings of the game, feels like Brooks cost us the game tonight leaving Robinson in too long, and then doing the weird Napier + Ish + Beal lineup. There really is no time for this random experimentation. Lastly, it would have been nice to have some more rim protection at the end of game.

Bonga should have played more in the 4th, there are moments with the lineups in the last 6 minutes where you just felt so vulnerable. Not sure Rui should be playing crunch-time just yet. When game slows down, don't know how he helps on O without the rookie mistakes. Beal chucking as usual.

This is exactly when you should be playing experimental lineups at the end of games. We are not contending for a championship. If we can leak away a lead while playtesting some new bodies, all to the better. Notice all of the defensive stalwarts from earlier in the game were taken out in favor of offensive players and --hey look at that-- we lost our lead. Both teams played hard, etc etc. If we can win three quarters then lose the 4th and the game it's all good to me until playoff spots are clinched and we are in the lotto.

Sure, if we end up in the post season then okay, let's see what we can do, until then I have to suspect Brooks is getting input from Dean Oliver and others on how to tank without looking like it. WIth IT gone, what did I say: we'd lose games with micromini line ups. Guess what happened tonight?

[WallToWall]

For the game, we shot 35% with 7/33 from 3 pt land, and we were out-rebounded 62 to 50. Our turnovers were reasonably low with 7 turnovers. And on the positive side, we had 7 steals, 4 blocks. Really it was the shooting that did us in. Napier went 0/7, Mahinmi 0/5. Bonga 0/3.

[Meliorus]

Just watching the momentum swings of the game, feels like Brooks cost us the game tonight leaving Robinson in too long, and then doing the weird Napier + Ish + Beal lineup. There really is no time for this random experimentation. Lastly, it would have been nice to have some more rim protection at the end of game.

Bonga should have played more in the 4th, there are moments with the lineups in the last 6 minutes where you just felt so vulnerable. Not sure Rui should be playing crunch-time just yet. When game slows down, don't know how he helps on O without the rookie mistakes. Beal chucking as usual.

This is exactly when you should be playing experimental lineups at the end of games. We are not contending for a championship. If we can leak away a lead while playtesting some new bodies, all to the better. Notice all of the defensive stalwarts from earlier in the game were taken out in favor of offensive players and --hey look at that-- we lost our lead. Both teams played hard, etc etc. If we can win three quarters then lose the 4th and the game it's all good to me until playoff spots are clinched and we are in the lotto.

Sure, if we end up in the post season then okay, let's see what we can do, until then I have to suspect Brooks is getting input from Dean Oliver and others on how to tank without looking like it. WIth IT gone, what did I say: we'd lose games with micromini line ups. Guess what happened tonight?

But the problem is, I'm fairly sure we are not trying to tank. Brooks is trying his best and Beal is trying his best and the product was a small line-up that everybody knew wasn't gonna work?? If Brooks is trying his best and this is what he came up with, then doesn't that say something about the coach? Do we have any evidence that Brooks isn't trying to win?

[DCZards]

Moran is really good. Brooks is awful. That Napier Beal Ish lineup killed us.

I’m not seeing it from Robinson.

Robinson has played all of 16 minutes as a Wizard. That's a pretty small sample size isn't it?

[DCZards]

But the problem is, I'm fairly sure we are not trying to tank. Brooks is trying his best and Beal is trying his best and the product was a small line-up that everybody knew wasn't gonna work?? If Brooks is trying his best and this is what he came up with, then doesn't that say something about the coach? Do we have any evidence that Brooks isn't trying to win?

You're right. The Zards are not "trying to tank." They are trying to win every game just as they should be. But they are also experimenting with different lineups and prioritizing developing their young players...as they should be.

[Meliorus]

Moran is really good. Brooks is awful. That Napier Beal Ish lineup killed us.

I’m not seeing it from Robinson.

Robinson has played all of 16 minutes as a Wizard. That's a pretty small sample size isn't it?

We actually have 42 games of 11 minutes per game where he shot some very scary percentages. Like, Colby White level bad. Wait, worse than him too.

[payitforward]

Since we played like sh#t, every criticism is valid: how not? Beal was awful. Robinson was awful. Napier was awful. Brooks was an awful coach? Etc. Thing is... the Grizzlies were awful too! Otherwise, how could we even have been in the game when we shot 35% from the field?

Put it this way, 3 of our guys (Bertans, Wagner & Brown) played a combined 80 minutes last night & shot 50%. They also made 4 of our 7 3-pointers. They produced 36 points from the floor on 32 shots.

7 other guys (including all 5 starters) played a combined 160 minutes & shot just under 28%. They produced 41 points from the floor on 68 shots.

So... leave Bertans, Wagner & Brown out of the blame. In fact, leave Rui out as well. Not that Bertans, Brown or Rui had a particularly good game. They were meh at best.

Only one of our guys had a good game -- Moritz Wagner was terrific last night. The one good thing to take away from an ugly loss.

[DANNYLANDOVER]

3 opinions from watching the game:

That was one of the worst officiated games that I've seen in a while
Mahinmi needs LASIK surgery BADLY!
Ja Morant is fun to watch. Grizzlies fans should be ecstatic.

[Ruzious]

Man this team just looks so much better with out IT I think every one felt obligated to try and help the guy. Weight lifted for sure. Rui looks so crisp out there man.

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Bryant too to be honest, his defense has been that bad this season.

Bonga/Mahimni compliment Beal/Rui well in the starting lineup.

Bryant has been really bad and Mahinmi has been good defensively. IT obviously is a big weight.

Wagner and Mahinmi were like polar opposites. Mahinmi had one of those games that he tends to where he can't make a layup, and Wagner couldn't defend. It's not that he can't defend; it's that officials seem to think he's flopping when he's getting hit in the mouth. It seems like officials are trying so hard to stop flopping that whenever it's close, they call it on the defender. So good defense is being punished. It's a shame, because there's an enormous difference between flopping and drawing a legit charge. Wagner's probably been coached all his life to do what he's doing. The loudest complaint's officials get is from players called for offensive fouls, and I think that's affected how they think.

[bsilver]

Bryant too to be honest, his defense has been that bad this season.

Bonga/Mahimni compliment Beal/Rui well in the starting lineup.

Bryant has been really bad and Mahinmi has been good defensively. IT obviously is a big weight.

Wagner and Mahinmi were like polar opposites. Mahinmi had one of those games that he tends to where he can't make a layup, and Wagner couldn't defend. It's not that he can't defend; it's that officials seem to think he's flopping when he's getting hit in the mouth. It seems like officials are trying so hard to stop flopping that whenever it's close, they call it on the defender. So good defense is being punished. It's a shame, because there's an enormous difference between flopping and drawing a legit charge. Wagner's probably been coached all his life to do what he's doing. The loudest complaint's officials get is from players called for offensive fouls, and I think that's affected how they think.

I'm definitely a dinosaur, but I remember when taking a charge was not really an important part of the game. I believe it was Dean Smith who started emphasizing that strategy in about 1970. Before that, defense was about contesting the shot. Taking the charge gives less athletic and weaker players a chance to defend by just getting to a spot before the offensive player. It's ironic that Dean Smith came up with this when UNC usually had the most athletic players. I never liked it but complaining for 50 years has done no good.

Sometimes I wonder if there was a a racial aspect to the taking the charge strategy. The southern schools were slow to integrate, and around 1970 were suddenly faced with playing against athletic African-American players. If you couldn't defend someone in the air, then a concept involving not leaving your feet would seem like a good idea.

Getting back to Wagner - Taking the charge is really the only strategy that will work for him. He seems to not have the frame to put on much muscle, and is not much of a leaper. His talents are on the offensive side. I'd rather we had someone who could defend especially since our other Cs are not better defenders except for Mahinmi, occasionally, and he'll probably be gone soon.