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Important tanking game. We need to lose to get ahead of Indy.

Hoping Johnny Davis gets lots of burn in this one. Todd, too. Time to get the young guys some PT! I'd like to see Gaff get some minutes running the point (for funsies).

Also, it's never too early to rest our stars for the playoffs.

FAH1223 wrote:

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I'd love to see Deni start, but it will probably be Rui or Barton at the 3.

[quote="FAH1223"]


Even Unseld knows Davis can't play. Doubt he goes to the G-league. Would expose him to cats who are athletic and hungry.

I have this down as a nice road win. Also think Rui will be fired up at not being extended and rip down one offensive rebound, the beast.

Absolute must win game. Or must lose. Either way this is definitely one of the most games they’ll play this year.

By all rights, Wright should be starting ahead of Morris. He has been WAY better throughout the preseason and he makes a lot more sense in the starting lineup, which doesn't really need a pure PG. Wes' decision on the starter could really set the tone for the season. Do players get rewarded for good play? Or does Wes just play the guy he knows better?

114-86, Wiz win. Gafford 7 blocks. Kuz triple dubma.

nate33 wrote:By all rights, Wright should be starting ahead of Morris. He has been WAY better throughout the preseason and he makes a lot more sense in the starting lineup, which doesn't really need a pure PG. Wes' decision on the starter could really set the tone for the season. Do players get rewarded for good play? Or does Wes just play the guy he knows better?

Agreed but I’m afraid Wes starts a double whammy of Morris at the 1 and Barton at the 3…and our D suffers accordingly.

The question is when in the season Wes makes a U turn and plays Wright and Deni more…

Frichuela wrote:

nate33 wrote:By all rights, Wright should be starting ahead of Morris. He has been WAY better throughout the preseason and he makes a lot more sense in the starting lineup, which doesn't really need a pure PG. Wes' decision on the starter could really set the tone for the season. Do players get rewarded for good play? Or does Wes just play the guy he knows better?

Agreed but I’m afraid Wes starts a double whammy of Morris at the 1 and Barton at the 3…and our D suffers accordingly.

The question is when in the season Wes makes a U turn and plays Wright and Deni more…

Honestly, my attention is going to be closely focused on how Wes he handles the roster through the first 10-15 games. I get to some degree having to play some politics your first year as head coach, but you have to at some point do what gives you the best chance to keep your job, which is to play the players that will make the biggest impacts.

CntOutSmrtCrazy wrote:

Frichuela wrote:

nate33 wrote:By all rights, Wright should be starting ahead of Morris. He has been WAY better throughout the preseason and he makes a lot more sense in the starting lineup, which doesn't really need a pure PG. Wes' decision on the starter could really set the tone for the season. Do players get rewarded for good play? Or does Wes just play the guy he knows better?

Agreed but I’m afraid Wes starts a double whammy of Morris at the 1 and Barton at the 3…and our D suffers accordingly.

The question is when in the season Wes makes a U turn and plays Wright and Deni more…

Honestly, my attention is going to be closely focused on how Wes he handles the roster through the first 10-15 games. I get to some degree having to play some politics your first year as head coach, but you have to at some point do what gives you the best chance to keep your job, which is to play the players that will make the biggest impacts.

Barton was practicing with the 2nd unit yesterday if that signals anything.

nate33 wrote:By all rights, Wright should be starting ahead of Morris. He has been WAY better throughout the preseason and he makes a lot more sense in the starting lineup, which doesn't really need a pure PG. Wes' decision on the starter could really set the tone for the season. Do players get rewarded for good play? Or does Wes just play the guy he knows better?

That's been my read on the situation since before I've seen them play.

I feel like you need to be able to set the tone defensively early in games and Wright is just a much better fit alongside Beal from that perspective.

Barton and Morris in the starting unit won't end well for this team.

AFM wrote:Absolute must win game. Or must lose. Either way this is definitely one of the most games they’ll play this year.

Must win to confirm my ridiculous 44-38 prediction, or must lose, very badly, so I can scurry back to the prediction thread and revise, maybe up it to 46-36.

The bench 5 beats the starters even with Johnny Davis.

Game one.

Tank for Victor W!

nate33 wrote:By all rights, Wright should be starting ahead of Morris. He has been WAY better throughout the preseason and he makes a lot more sense in the starting lineup, which doesn't really need a pure PG. Wes' decision on the starter could really set the tone for the season. Do players get rewarded for good play? Or does Wes just play the guy he knows better?

Delon Wright is w/o any doubt a better player than Monte Morris -- & that's no ding on Morris either!

In fact, on overall numbers per 40 minutes, Wright is one the most effective guards in the league.

The only problem is that he doesn't shoot. On his career, Wright has averaged under 14 points per 40 minutes. Last season, he scored 9.5 points per 40 minutes. He took 7.4 FGAs & 1.75 FTAs per 40 minutes.

If Avdija is also a starter (not necessarily on day 1...), that's another low volume shooter.

If those 2 guys start, we'd better hope that Beal can bring his shooting %s up, b/c he's going to be taking a whole lot of shots. In fact, he KP & Kuzma will do a lot of shooting. None of them had even a reasonably good efg%. KP's TS% was the highest among them (b/c of how often he got to the line).

I'm not suggesting this problem goes away altogether w/ Morris starting -- he shoots more than Wright, but he doesn't shoot a lot.

payitforward wrote:

nate33 wrote:By all rights, Wright should be starting ahead of Morris. He has been WAY better throughout the preseason and he makes a lot more sense in the starting lineup, which doesn't really need a pure PG. Wes' decision on the starter could really set the tone for the season. Do players get rewarded for good play? Or does Wes just play the guy he knows better?

Delon Wright is w/o any doubt a better player than Monte Morris -- & that's no ding on Morris either!

In fact, on overall numbers per 40 minutes, Wright is one the most effective guards in the league.

The only problem is that he doesn't shoot. On his career, Wright has averaged under 14 points per 40 minutes. Last season, he scored 9.5 points per 40 minutes. He took 7.4 FGAs & 1.75 FTAs per 40 minutes.

If Avdija is also a starter (not necessarily on day 1...), that's another low volume shooter.

If those 2 guys start, we'd better hope that Beal can bring his shooting %s up, b/c he's going to be taking a whole lot of shots. In fact, he KP & Kuzma will do a lot of shooting. None of them had even a reasonably good efg%. KP's TS% was the highest among them (b/c of how often he got to the line).

I'm not suggesting this problem goes away altogether w/ Morris starting -- he shoots more than Wright, but he doesn't shoot a lot.

fwiw, I think KP will, if push comes to shove and Wes really insists, soak up the extra shots.

Not saying that's the perfect strategy, but it is what it is.