RealGM

Washington Wizards (2-3) at Indiana Pacers (1-3)

When: 7:00 PM
Where: Indiana


Wizards lineup:
PG Arenas
SG Young
SF Butler
PF Oberto
C Haywood
Bench: Foye, Stevenson, Blatche, McGee
Key Injuries: Jamison, Miller, Crittenton


Pacers lineup:
PG TJ Ford
SG Brandon Rush
SF Dahntay Jones
PF Danny Granger
C Roy Hibbert
Bench: Earl Watson, Luther Head, Solomon Jones
Key Injuries: Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Travis Diener


Analysis:
Indiana might be the only team that is suffering more injury problems than Washington. Hibbert has been playing well for them though. We'll have to see if he can perform against a legit 7-footer rather than power forwards masquerading as centers like David Lee, Nene, O'Neal and Horford.

Indiana is going with Danny Granger at PF. I think that'll work out early on because Oberto lacks the offensive skills to make Granger pay for being undersized. Meanwhile, Granger is going to have a field day as Oberto struggles to guard him on the perimeter. It'll be interesting to see how quickly Flip brings Blatche into the game to post Granger up. If Blatche can't exploit Granger down low, then we might see DMac for extended stretches.

In a surprise announcement, Flip is starting Nick Young at SG. Flip needs more offense in the lineup so he doesn't want to start Stevenson. And he's probably afraid that Rush will post Foye up if he starts Foye. Let's see if Young can step up.

Sorry about the crappy thread. It was getting close to game time and no one had started one yet.

nate33 wrote:Sorry about the crappy thread. It was getting close to game time and no one had started one yet.

No apology needed. I have a feeling this will be a perfectly beautiful thread by the end of the evening.

i expect a blow out from wizards.

we're due for a good blatche game? knock on wood?

truwizfan4evr wrote:i expect a blow out from wizards.

Gotta disagree. We always have trouble with Indy in their place. Murphy/Foster are tough to keep off the boards, Rush can be deadly from the outside, and we have nobody who can match up with Granger (assuming McGuire doesn't play).

OTOH, Indy has gotten off to a slow start and their PG play has been atrocious. If we can bait Granger into continuing to shoot jumpers, and if Gil can dominate the PG matchup, I still like our chances. But a loss wouldn't surprise me.

Murphy is doubtful. He has a bruised back and couldn't bend over to put on his shoes as of Wednesday. Jeff Foster is out with a high ankle sprain. Tyler Hansbrough is getting healthy though. He was able to practice this week and word is he'll make his NBA debut tonight. I still think he's going to be a good pro.

Well no Murphy tonight, and that Indy lineup is going to take a beating.

Though it's way too early in the season for a must-win game, there's a big difference, morale-wise, between 3-3 and 2-4. It would be especially painful to lose to an inferior and more injury-riddled team before having to face some rather good ones.

So not really a must-win, but still, we'd better win tonight.

Starting Nick was what I wanted to see the start the season so here we go. Only in my scenario, MM was healthy and playing with Foye with the second unit.

I going to guess Nick comes in with a serious face and gives us some production. Should be nice to see how Gil feeds him for shots. If Nick is going to play under control, I think he best chance to do it is playing with Gil and the starters. He will be more mindful to play under control. I expect Gil to give him a talking to before the game.

Kid, when I feed you, take the shot. Don't think. If not, go get the rebound or get back.

Kind of excited to see this for the first time.

Feeling under the weather, here's the chat: http://www.chatmaker.net/chatap/rooms/RealGMWizards/

Good luck guys.

Not too much luck though.

LyricalRico wrote:

truwizfan4evr wrote:i expect a blow out from wizards.

Gotta disagree. We always have trouble with Indy in their place. Murphy/Foster are tough to keep off the boards, Rush can be deadly from the outside, and we have nobody who can match up with Granger (assuming McGuire doesn't play).

OTOH, Indy has gotten off to a slow start and their PG play has been atrocious. If we can bait Granger into continuing to shoot jumpers, and if Gil can dominate the PG matchup, I still like our chances. But a loss wouldn't surprise me.

With Murphy AND Foster out, we're really going to struggle on the boards IMO.

As for Gil, unless Watson plays enough minutes and acceptably well, he'll probably dominate.

nate33 wrote:Sorry about the crappy thread. It was getting close to game time and no one had started one yet.

In all the years I've never started a game thread, because yours looks like my best effort. No worries.

It actually seems appropriate considering the past two games. No frills. No happy happy. Just play.

Joe_Wiz wrote:Though it's way too early in the season for a must-win game, there's a big difference, morale-wise, between 3-3 and 2-4. It would be especially painful to lose to an inferior and more injury-riddled team before having to face some rather good ones.

So not really a must-win, but still, we'd better win tonight.

I agree about the 3-3 start. At 2-4 the Wizards are only one win ahead of the 1-5 they've been the past two seasons.

They really do need to win to get the morale up, or else soon guys will doubt Flip, each other, and the chemistry will suffer.

Pacers are a slight 1.5 pt favorite. Would be nice if the Wiz actually showed up for a change. It's been all down hill since that upset win in Dallas.

Wow...so much hype is being put on that 1 game Andray had against Dallas. Enough. It's great that it seems like he's finally getting it, but do away with the hyperbole.

Why hasn't the game started yet? I thought it was a 7 pm start.