GT #61: Pistons @ Bullets 7 PM (NBCSW/980 AM)

[9 and 20]

What is up with Rui?? Played 20 minutes and got 1 rebound, no assists, no blocks, no steals. On offense, he stands at the three point line and calls for the ball and does nothing else - no screens, no cuts, no nothing. Not sure how he's such a bad rebounder at his size and with his athleticism.

I'm glad he's shooting the ball well, but how is he doing so little else?

[smoothSeph]

What is up with Rui?? Played 20 minutes and got 1 rebound, no assists, no blocks, no steals. On offense, he stands at the three point line and calls for the ball and does nothing else - no screens, no cuts, no nothing. Not sure how he's such a bad rebounder at his size and with his athleticism.

I'm glad he's shooting the ball well, but how is he doing so little else?

He looks out of it. To his credit he’s knocking down the 3, but outside of that it seems like he’s just going through the motions.

[doclinkin]

What is up with Rui?? Played 20 minutes and got 1 rebound, no assists, no blocks, no steals. On offense, he stands at the three point line and calls for the ball and does nothing else - no screens, no cuts, no nothing. Not sure how he's such a bad rebounder at his size and with his athleticism.

I'm glad he's shooting the ball well, but how is he doing so little else?

He looks out of it. To his credit he’s knocking down the 3, but outside of that it seems like he’s just going through the motions.

I honestly don't think he knows what the motions are.

[badinage]

Meantime … to all those who were wailing about the good game Doo-wah-diddy had in San Francisco the other night: he ain’t lookin’ too hot tonight in Lakerland. Forcing shots, turning it over, getting blown by on D. And pounding, pounding, pounding. And Bertans — he’s back to being the Bum-tans we know (and didn’t love).

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Oh, well. You cannot lose them all.



Eight players in double figures. Nice!

Satoransky contributed. Nice!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Every loss is precious.

I keep looking at the scoreboard and watching how teams like Indiana, Sacramento, New York and San Antonio are doing, and they keep losing!

I'm adjusting my expectations. This Wizards team is probably going to win games because...well...it's so Wizards. We have to be LUCKY to get Chet. However, we do not have to get lucky to kill it on draft night.

Walker Kessler is a rim protector.

The best thing might be trade down if the Wizards miss out on top-4

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think I've seen enough of Gafford to realize that he's more of an energy guy off the bench if we had another quality center (maybe KP if he can ever get on the court). Too many lapses on both ends and dropped passes. Not just tonight but overall.

This.

Walker Kessler.

He's better than Gafford except not nearly as fast or quick.

Others...

-Kofi Cockburn
-I dunno about Zach Edey
-The big kid at Arizona?
-Mark Williams of Duke

I have a lot more to study but 80sbb is right about DG

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think I've seen enough of Gafford to realize that he's more of an energy guy off the bench if we had another quality center (maybe KP if he can ever get on the court). Too many lapses on both ends and dropped passes. Not just tonight but overall.

Seen enough? He's been jerked around all year, what do you expect? What ball did he bobble this game that triggered this? That laser to his chest from KCP?

He certainly needs to gain weight, no doubt and not make silly fouls, but I think that's jumping the gun. Probably wasn't the est for his confidence putting his ass to the pine for Thomas Bryant.

Some of the reasons he's been out are due to injuries and COVID. The other due to showcasing TB before the deadine. Just think he's ok. I don't think he's a bad player. Just that his offense is basically all dunks and putbacks. If you had four great offensive players that's fine. Just not in love with his game, his focus and I think he's just average but better than the current Bryant.

He's VERY SOLID!

I still wonder why he's not at PF at times.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Every loss is precious.

I keep looking at the scoreboard and watching how teams like Indiana, Sacramento, New York and San Antonio are doing, and they keep losing!

Wake me up when the Wizards do anything, including tanking, that results in a consistent winning organization moving forward. 40 plus years says it can’t be done.

I remember 1974/75, when the 60-win Bullets got swept by Rick Barry. CLIFFORD RAY (spoke with him in Hawaii, super nice man), Keith (Jamal) dep, and George Johnson of the GS Warriors. More history: Washington won in 1977/78 and lost to the same Seattle Supersonics. That was end of great teams, when Wes Unseld, Elvin Hayes, and Bob Dandridge ended their great careers.

Those teams had greats, balance, and depth.

This team? Considering how recently Ernie Grunfeld was at the helm; WASHINGTON IS MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION full speed ahead. No doubt about this.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Sato has looked good tonight.

He IS good.

[closg00]

I think I've seen enough of Gafford to realize that he's more of an energy guy off the bench if we had another quality center (maybe KP if he can ever get on the court). Too many lapses on both ends and dropped passes. Not just tonight but overall.

I also agree, Tommy panic-signed and way over-paid AGAIN

[nate33]

What is up with Rui?? Played 20 minutes and got 1 rebound, no assists, no blocks, no steals. On offense, he stands at the three point line and calls for the ball and does nothing else - no screens, no cuts, no nothing. Not sure how he's such a bad rebounder at his size and with his athleticism.

I'm glad he's shooting the ball well, but how is he doing so little else?

He looks out of it. To his credit he’s knocking down the 3, but outside of that it seems like he’s just going through the motions.

I was alarmed at the horrible rebounding so I went back and watched literally every possession with Rui in the game to see if he was doing anything wrong on the rebounding end. He honestly wasn't. The team only gave up 3 offensive rebounds in all of his minutes on the floor, and two of them were to a little guard completely on the opposite side of the court where Rui was, so Rui couldn't have been involved in the play even if wanted. Rui got outworked for an offensive rebound by Stewart in the final 20 seconds of the game, but it wasn't due to Rui being lazy or anything. Stewart is just a big dude.

On offense, Rui spent nearly the whole time camped out at the 3-point line. His role was clearly to get back on D, not to crash the glass, and that's what he did.

This is not to say that Rui played flawlessly. He got beat a couple of times while on-ball, and he was a little late on some of his switches. I'm just saying that Rui's poor rebounding wasn't due to any laziness or indifference. Every single time he chose not to go after the rebound was because his teammates already were in position to get it (or he was so far away he was completely out of the play).

One big criticism I have of Rui on offense was that he never moves. I understand that his role is mostly to spread the floor for others, but that's Kispert's role too; and at least Kispert is constantly cutting and relocating to different spots around the 3-point arc to keep his defender guessing. Rui just stands still and hopes for a kick-out.

[FAH1223]

Watch on YouTube

[TGW]

Rui Hachimura has 5 rebounds combined in the past 5 games. I guess it's IDGAF part of the season now.

[WallStar]

I've said it before, the only way Gafford excels is if he has a passing PG. There's a reason why he was irrelevant in Chicago and really blossomed when he had Westbrook. He likes the ball in transition or lobs over the rim. Sort of like McGee.

[Ruzious]

Winning is not helping this team. We’ve been down this road season after season. Every year, people always say crap like “You have to win for team morale!”

And to that, I ask - what in god’s green earth has that done for this franchise? Where, historically, has all of this team morale been?

We need to lose games. We need to lose a lot of them. We need to lose as many as humanly possible.

With all that said, it’s not like I want players to throw games. And it’s not like we’re playing our stars or anything. Just an observation on the people who actively root for wins during a time when tanking would be the obvious choose.

We're doing exactly the same thing as last season - fighting for the 10th seed. They must believe that their fan base is satisfied with this goal.

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