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It's really quite remarkable that the Wizards already have 5 wins at this point because you kind of get the sense that they are doing it with smoke and mirrors watching these games.

Then, when you start digging into team stats some more you can tell that Washington has undergone quite the transformation in how they approach the game.

The Wizards rebound well, play with good ball security on offense and get back to defend on the break.

They are doing so well in those key areas that they're top 10 in DRTG despite allowing a league worst 55 points per game in the paint.

They're also winning these games despite not really being plugged in on offense.

The 3-pt shooting is well below league average, there's not a whole lot of ball movement, but they get into the paint and draw fouls.

Who knows how any of this will hold up over the course of the season, but if there is one take away, the Wizards are playing winning basketball for the first time in forever by not beating themselves.

Atlanta will be itching to get this losing stream over with, so this will be a good early season test to see how far this team has come.

You know we're doing well when we get a fancy game-thread like this well before game time.

We beat a solid Celtics team twice. Now, can we beat a better Atlanta team for the second time? That would get people to start noticing the Wiz. The Heat, the Bulls, and the Knicks have the same record as the Wiz, but my impression is those teams are all getting more attention and respect on the ESPNs than the Wiz are.

AS long as we keep winning, let's fly below the radar as long as we can. Teams come in flat, we are fired up because of the perceived disrespect, it's a win win. The only downside is Montrezl Harrell might not get his fair share of MVP votes.

Phuck. There's a hockey game tonight which pushes the TV coverage onto NBCSWPlus,
which isn't carried on my YouTube streaming. Dammit.

dobrojim wrote:Phuck. There's a hockey game tonight which pushes the TV coverage onto NBCSAPlus,
which isn't carried on my YouTube streaming. Dammit.

Check your DMs

Gafford looking like he's a go.

getting Gafford back is HUUUUUUGE. Need some more energy and rim protection. Giving up too much right at the basket in the last few games.

queridiculo wrote:It's really quite remarkable that the Wizards already have 5 wins at this point because you kind of get the sense that they are doing it with smoke and mirrors watching these games.

Then, when you start digging into team stats some more you can tell that Washington has undergone quite the transformation in how they approach the game.

The Wizards rebound well, play with good ball security on offense and get back to defend on the break.

They are doing so well in those key areas that they're top 10 in DRTG despite allowing a league worst 55 points per game in the paint.

They're also winning these games despite not really being plugged in on offense.

The 3-pt shooting is well below league average, there's not a whole lot of ball movement, but they get into the paint and draw fouls.

Who knows how any of this will hold up over the course of the season, but if there is one take away, the Wizards are playing winning basketball for the first time in forever by not beating themselves.

Atlanta will be itching to get this losing stream over with, so this will be a good early season test to see how far this team has come.

I said this all over the trade board in the offseason:

Spencer Dinwiddie impacts winning in a positive way much more then Westbrook. and its not close, i dont care what anyones sample of metrics say.

-Dinwiddie was responsible for the Nets turnaround, despite levert getting all the credit (nets had a losing record in games levert played, a better record when levert sat) and the nets went on their big runs with dinwddie playing like a 22/8 stud for a couple months.

-Dinwiddie is the leagues most underrated defender. He defends the pick and roll as well as any guard. he can defend 3s/small 4s. He is super smart and defends without fouling

-Dinwiddie isnt the turnover machine westbrook is

-Dinwiddie is as good as anyone at beating his man 1-on-1 off the dribble

-Dinwiddie willing takes a back seat to other stars

It was an elite swap from day 1. i had no doubt the wiz would be better

Because this in in Atlanta, I think the Hawks come out flying and we lose this one.

Prokorov wrote:

queridiculo wrote:It's really quite remarkable that the Wizards already have 5 wins at this point because you kind of get the sense that they are doing it with smoke and mirrors watching these games.

Then, when you start digging into team stats some more you can tell that Washington has undergone quite the transformation in how they approach the game.

The Wizards rebound well, play with good ball security on offense and get back to defend on the break.

They are doing so well in those key areas that they're top 10 in DRTG despite allowing a league worst 55 points per game in the paint.

They're also winning these games despite not really being plugged in on offense.

The 3-pt shooting is well below league average, there's not a whole lot of ball movement, but they get into the paint and draw fouls.

Who knows how any of this will hold up over the course of the season, but if there is one take away, the Wizards are playing winning basketball for the first time in forever by not beating themselves.

Atlanta will be itching to get this losing stream over with, so this will be a good early season test to see how far this team has come.

I said this all over the trade board in the offseason:

Spencer Dinwiddie impacts winning in a positive way much more then Westbrook. and its not close, i dont care what anyones sample of metrics say.

-Dinwiddie was responsible for the Nets turnaround, despite levert getting all the credit (nets had a losing record in games levert played, a better record when levert sat) and the nets went on their big runs with dinwddie playing like a 22/8 stud for a couple months.

-Dinwiddie is the leagues most underrated defender. He defends the pick and roll as well as any guard. he can defend 3s/small 4s. He is super smart and defends without fouling

-Dinwiddie isnt the turnover machine westbrook is

-Dinwiddie is as good as anyone at beating his man 1-on-1 off the dribble

-Dinwiddie willing takes a back seat to other stars

It was an elite swap from day 1. i had no doubt the wiz would be better

I think it's fair to compare Dinwiddie to Jrue Holiday - who's probably the best defensive guard in the NBA. Din's D will certainly get tested tonight.

Ruzious wrote:

Prokorov wrote:
I said this all over the trade board in the offseason:

Spencer Dinwiddie impacts winning in a positive way much more then Westbrook. and its not close, i dont care what anyones sample of metrics say.

-Dinwiddie was responsible for the Nets turnaround, despite levert getting all the credit (nets had a losing record in games levert played, a better record when levert sat) and the nets went on their big runs with dinwddie playing like a 22/8 stud for a couple months.

-Dinwiddie is the leagues most underrated defender. He defends the pick and roll as well as any guard. he can defend 3s/small 4s. He is super smart and defends without fouling

-Dinwiddie isnt the turnover machine westbrook is

-Dinwiddie is as good as anyone at beating his man 1-on-1 off the dribble

-Dinwiddie willing takes a back seat to other stars

It was an elite swap from day 1. i had no doubt the wiz would be better

I think it's fair to compare Dinwiddie to Jrue Holiday - who's probably the best defensive guard in the NBA. Din's D will certainly get tested tonight.

While I agree that Dinwiddie is possibly equivalent to, if not better than Westbrook at doing the things it takes to win games, I'm not seeing this defense you guys are talking about. I think Dinwiddie is a competent defender, but not necessarily a stopper at the point of attack like Jrue. The best thing about Dinwiddie's defense is that, with his size, he can easily switch onto 3's and 4's. That makes him a very useful and versatile team defender, even if he isn't particularly noteworthy as an individual defender.

dobrojim wrote:Phuck. There's a hockey game tonight which pushes the TV coverage onto NBCSAPlus,
which isn't carried on my YouTube streaming. Dammit.

Youtubetv has added NBC Washington Sports plus. If you're not seeing it you may have to go to settings -> channel guide and turn it on to be visible in your guide. I did that just now. Looking forward to watching this tonight.

According to ESPN's Hollinger stats we are currently:

12th in offensive efficiency

10th in defensive efficiency

9th in rebound rate

4th lowest turnover rate

16th in TS, which is where we definitely need to improve. Without Beal's shots we would probably be top 5

nate33 wrote:

Ruzious wrote:

Prokorov wrote:
I said this all over the trade board in the offseason:

Spencer Dinwiddie impacts winning in a positive way much more then Westbrook. and its not close, i dont care what anyones sample of metrics say.

-Dinwiddie was responsible for the Nets turnaround, despite levert getting all the credit (nets had a losing record in games levert played, a better record when levert sat) and the nets went on their big runs with dinwddie playing like a 22/8 stud for a couple months.

-Dinwiddie is the leagues most underrated defender. He defends the pick and roll as well as any guard. he can defend 3s/small 4s. He is super smart and defends without fouling

-Dinwiddie isnt the turnover machine westbrook is

-Dinwiddie is as good as anyone at beating his man 1-on-1 off the dribble

-Dinwiddie willing takes a back seat to other stars

It was an elite swap from day 1. i had no doubt the wiz would be better

I think it's fair to compare Dinwiddie to Jrue Holiday - who's probably the best defensive guard in the NBA. Din's D will certainly get tested tonight.

While I agree that Dinwiddie is possibly equivalent to, if not better than Westbrook at doing the things it takes to win games, I'm not seeing this defense you guys are talking about. I think Dinwiddie is a competent defender, but not necessarily a stopper at the point of attack like Jrue. The best thing about Dinwiddie's defense is that, with his size, he can easily switch onto 3's and 4's. That makes him a very useful and versatile team defender, even if he isn't particularly noteworthy as an individual defender.

I dont think their is a ton of value in individual defense. especially in a switch everything league where teams can get your best defender off their best scorer in 3-4 seconds.

tontoz wrote:According to ESPN's Hollinger stats we are currently:

12th in offensive efficiency

10th in defensive efficiency

9th in rebound rate

4th lowest turnover rate

16th in TS, which is where we definitely need to improve. Without Beal's shots we would probably be top 5

Oddly, despite Beal having a TS% that looks like something out of a horror movie, he still leads the team in on-court point differential and in on-off (ignoring the low minute guys).

Doug_Blew wrote:

dobrojim wrote:Phuck. There's a hockey game tonight which pushes the TV coverage onto NBCSAPlus,
which isn't carried on my YouTube streaming. Dammit.

Youtubetv has added NBC Washington Sports plus. If you're not seeing it you may have to go to settings -> channel guide and turn it on to be visible in your guide. I did that just now. Looking forward to watching this tonight.

Thanks to both you and AFM.

Got to get Beal right. He’s played 5 games this year and the only one that can be classified as good was the first hawks game, but even that wasn’t very efficient.

Once the Hawks get everyone healthy and playing together, that's a scary looking team. It's just a matter of time for Hunter. And Reddick - if he becomes consistent, he's better than both Huerter and Bogdanovic. But he's a wildcard - you don't know if he's going to show up or not. Capela looks fat in that picture - seems like he's become an afterthought in their offense.

Wiz 2.5 games ahead of both teams that were in the NBA Finals last season.