Game 52: WIZ (18-33) vs BULLS (19-35) Tuesday 2/11 @7 PM ET

[Tyrone Messby]

Oh look it’s happening again...

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Man. This looks familiar.

If Brooks wants to win, Bazz and Jerome need to take a seat. Now.

[nate33]

Ish Smith is really clutch. He always seems to hit key 3-pointers late in games when people leave him to double someplace else.

[gambitx777]

Bazz had a good game it looks like brown and bertains had off nights but **** a duck rui and Beal put this on on their backs and took it home

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[WallToWall]

Take the W.
Beal with 30 and 7, but everyone played well.
What happened to Troy?

[gambitx777]

Cold had got sat

Take the W.
Beal with 30 and 7, but everyone played well.
What happened to Troy?

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[nate33]

Very nice win. They led from start to finish (ignoring being down 2-0 at the start). The defense was pretty sound for the most part. I can't really blame them for Zach Lavine's 4th quarter. He was hitting shots that were totally unguardable.

I really loved the dominant 3rd quarter stretch by the starting 5. They were killing it at both ends. I really hope one of Bryant or Wagner can eventually defend like Mahinmi. With Mahinmi out there alongside two big long forwards (Hachimura and Bonga), the defense actually looked legitimately good.

[nate33]

The Wizards are 9-9 over their past 18 games. Playing respectable basketball now. They're not good by any stretch, but they're no longer embarrassingly bad either.

[gambitx777]

The D is better. I think the issue was IT why defend at all when he compromised the entire D anyway. This team looks good and I can wait to get wall back. Ian is just an old school big body . Man I wish he was healthy this whole time.

The Wizards are 9-9 over their past 18 games. Playing respectable basketball now. They're not good by any stretch, but they're no longer embarrassingly bad either.

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[payitforward]

Cold had got sat

Take the W.
Beal with 30 and 7, but everyone played well.
What happened to Troy?

Troy Brown Jr went 0-5 tonight.

OTOH, he played 16 minutes & went 2-2 from the line, had 4 rebounds, 3 assists & 5 steals. Those things count too....

Shabazz Napier does not play like a 3d string point guard! Nice to see Jerome Robinson have a good outing too.

[NatP4]

Robinson had 9 rebounds lol

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Good game !!

They played defense and they moved the ball around on offense.

It's not rocket science !!

[Ruzious]

Not sure what i like more from Rui, 18 pts or 2 blocks.

The 2 blocks - and also the pass to Wagner under the hoop. Normally he would have taken the shot in that situation. That kind of smart unselfish play goes a long way.

I thought Bonga was outstanding. He and Rui give them 2 big forwards that can bring the ball up and go coast to coast. Bonga's defense and passing were brilliant. He probably led the team in hockey assists - eventually that will be an important basketball stat. The Wiz offense was a pleasure to watch because everyone was seeing the floor.

Beal... excellent stats but... wow, was he bad covering Lavine. At least put your hands up when he shoots and pretend to make an effort. Beal also didn't even try on a couple of 50/50 balls. I don't know if he was under the weather or tired, but it takes away from a nice game.

[Ruzious]

Cold had got sat

Take the W.
Beal with 30 and 7, but everyone played well.
What happened to Troy?

Troy Brown Jr went 0-5 tonight.

OTOH, he played 16 minutes & went 2-2 from the line, had 4 rebounds, 3 assists & 5 steals. Those things count too....

Shabazz Napier does not play like a 3d string point guard! Nice to see Jerome Robinson have a good outing too.

Thing is - they need to make a decision on TBJ's role in the offense. He's much more effective with the ball than being a catch and shoot player. But he's playing strictly off the ball - particularly when he plays with Beal - which is most of his minutes. Will they find a way to get him the ball more often - or will they just make him be a spot-up shooter?

[Ruzious]

Bazz had a good game it looks like brown and bertains had off nights but **** a duck rui and Beal put this on on their backs and took it home

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The great thing about Bertans is he draws defenders to him, and he can find the open man, but his shot selection was terrible last night - taking 25 plus footers when he was covered. And his defense was terrible - he got pushed out of the way several times last night by guards who powered through him using the ball to knock him back and get easy baskets. He's gotta be more stout than that.

[I_Like_Dirt]

I thought Bonga was outstanding. He and Rui give them 2 big forwards that can bring the ball up and go coast to coast. Bonga's defense and passing were brilliant. He probably led the team in hockey assists - eventually that will be an important basketball stat. The Wiz offense was a pleasure to watch because everyone was seeing the floor.

The stars are at guard with Wall and Beal and the box score fiends are at C in Bryant and Wagner but it's really the forward spots where I feel most comfortable about the Wizards' future moving forward. This isn't to say that they're set because the team should be taking good players where they can get them and all of their forwards still have a long ways to go yet. That said, I really like the fit and flexibility of the Rui, Bonga and Brown trio. They're all multi-tool players who can play both inside and out who can handle and pass. That goes a long way towards being a truly competitive team in the long run.

[payitforward]

Cold had got sat

Troy Brown Jr went 0-5 tonight.

OTOH, he played 16 minutes & went 2-2 from the line, had 4 rebounds, 3 assists & 5 steals. Those things count too....

Thing is - they need to make a decision on TBJ's role in the offense. He's much more effective with the ball than being a catch and shoot player. But he's playing strictly off the ball - particularly when he plays with Beal - which is most of his minutes. Will they find a way to get him the ball more often - or will they just make him be a spot-up shooter?

Agree. But this is on Brooks. TBJ is a really good player, getting better, & only 20 years old.

[DCZards]

Troy Brown Jr went 0-5 tonight.

OTOH, he played 16 minutes & went 2-2 from the line, had 4 rebounds, 3 assists & 5 steals. Those things count too....

Thing is - they need to make a decision on TBJ's role in the offense. He's much more effective with the ball than being a catch and shoot player. But he's playing strictly off the ball - particularly when he plays with Beal - which is most of his minutes. Will they find a way to get him the ball more often - or will they just make him be a spot-up shooter?

Agree. But this is on Brooks. TBJ is a really good player, getting better, & only 20 years old.

I'd say it's on both Brooks and TBJ. Yes, the Zards need to take full advantage of Troy's ability to make things happen with the ball in his hands. But Troy also needs to improve his shooting so that he can excel at that when he's playing off the ball.

But TBJ Jr. is damn good for a 20 year old...and he's only going to get better. I absolutely loved the way he impacted last night's game without getting a single field goal.

[payitforward]

The Wizards are 9-9 over their past 18 games. Playing respectable basketball now. They're not good by any stretch, but they're no longer embarrassingly bad either.

Weirdly, in the first 8 of those games -- of which 5 were at home -- we went 4-4, yet we were outscored by 48 points overall. -6 per game.

OTOH... we're 5-5 in our last 10 games -- & only down by 1.9 points per game -- tho admittedly 6 of the games have been at home.

The differential is torqued by the fact that 4 of the road losses in the 18 game stretch were by a total of 102 points!

[Meliorus]

Jerome Robinson 18 minutes vs TBJ 16 minutes. No idea why this is happening and like others said, TBJ impacted the game without scoring. Defensively, he was a fiend at times. Bonga shouldn't be at just 20 minutes either. Ideally, there is an almost even time-share at the SF between TBJ and Bonga for 24 minutes a piece. Robinson didn't prove anything yesterday but Brooks kept riding him instead of TBJ. It was odd coaching choices.