GT #35: Bullets @ 76ers 7 PM (MonSportsNet/106.7 FM)

[tontoz]

Whew, we almost messed around and won. I really don't want to win a game just because Butler and Kispert go off.

[penbeast0]

Flipping over to the box again, I see George and Holmes have the best +/- on the team. Didn't see them do much but I guess I didn't see them screw up much either. Butler had a nice game and hopefully will continue to get minutes. Kispert shot well, JV our only rebounder but 8 turnovers is even worse than I thought he was doing. Bilal had a flu game, agree he lacked energy.

[dobrojim]

choke/tank-tastic loss

Nice game by Butler.

I'm surprised to read George had a leading +/-. He did actually make a basket though.
I'm really pulling for him.

[thebigE]

Wow, a whopping 23 (now 24) threads tonight and the game has ended. I see the Wizards have no juice on or off the court.
Get Flagg to DC!

[FAH1223]

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[FAH1223]

Bilal tank Commander Coulibaly. Truly awful performance tonite by the Frenchman.

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Olympic teammates

[closg00]

Bilal tank Commander Coulibaly. Truly awful performance tonite by the Frenchman.

Read on Twitter

Olympic teammates

This Summer we double-downed on Anthony Gill (32), Philly signed Yabusele (29) in the summer and pays him less than we pay Gill, and he is clearly the better player.

[penbeast0]

We didn't sign Gill to play; we signed him to be an example for the young guys of hard work and busting your butt at practice and not complaining when you get a lot of DNP--Coach's decisions.

[Kanyewest]

Bilal tank Commander Coulibaly. Truly awful performance tonite by the Frenchman.

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Olympic teammates

This Summer we double-downed on Anthony Gill (32), Philly signed Yabusele (29) in the summer and pays him less than we pay Gill, and he is clearly the better player.

I don't think Yahbusele signs with the Wizards who were projected to be the worst team in the nba.

Granted the 76ers have been disappointing but at the time of his signing were considered title contenders. He was probably trying to maximize his value on a competitive team. Unfortunately for him, guys like Embiid and George haven't delivered.

[closg00]

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Olympic teammates

This Summer we double-downed on Anthony Gill (32), Philly signed Yabusele (29) in the summer and pays him less than we pay Gill, and he is clearly the better player.

I don't think Yahbusele signs with the Wizards who were projected to be the worst team in the nba.

Granted the 76ers have been disappointing but at the time of his signing were considered title contenders. He was probably trying to maximize his value on a competitive team. Unfortunately for him, guys like Embiid and George haven't delivered.

Yabusele's goal was to get back to the NBA, and Philly was the team that gave him a chance at the bare minimum. I guess my point is I am not a fan of the FO's work in lazily bringing back Gill, Davis, & PBJR instead of trying to find better players now like how Memphis stacks prospects at all positions, especially the bench players.

[DCZards]

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Olympic teammates

This Summer we double-downed on Anthony Gill (32), Philly signed Yabusele (29) in the summer and pays him less than we pay Gill, and he is clearly the better player.

I don't think Yahbusele signs with the Wizards who were projected to be the worst team in the nba.

Granted the 76ers have been disappointing but at the time of his signing were considered title contenders. He was probably trying to maximize his value on a competitive team. Unfortunately for him, guys like Embiid and George haven't delivered.

In many respects, Yabusele has benefited from the absence of Embiid and George. He's gotten more playing time and more opportunities to shine...like he did last night against the Zards.

[payitforward]

This Summer we double-downed on Anthony Gill (32), Philly signed Yabusele (29) in the summer and pays him less than we pay Gill, and he is clearly the better player....

Is he? & is that the reason he hasn't been in the NBA since 2018-19...?

...I guess my point is I am not a fan of the FO's work in lazily bringing back Gill, Davis, & PBJR instead of trying to find better players now....

Look up the phrase "poison the wells." When you call the FO' work "lazy," you remove your comment from the realm of the rational. For that matter, I would have brought back both Baldwin & Davis a zillion times rather than sign Guershon Yabusele. I could list a dozen reasons, but really I think it's kind of obvious.

...like how Memphis stacks prospects at all positions, especially the bench players....

I'm a big fan of Memphis' FO, but this comparison is meaningless.

The guys who run Memphis took over one month before the Wiz finally fired Ernie & then chose to give Tommy Sheppard the reins. That's going on 6 years ago.

They started out w/ the #2 pick in '19 -- Ja Morant.
Then they got lucky & found Brandon Clarke still on the board 19 spots later in the same draft.

They didn't have a R1 pick in 2020 but made a trade w/ Boston to acquire the #30 (which Boston had offered us for Davis Bertans) which they used to snag Desmond Bane -- a great move on their part!

They didn't draft well in '21 but did pick us Steven Adams by exchanging their #12 for NO's #17. Somehow, I don't recall how, they also got Santi Aldama from Utah. He's pretty good. OTOH, they blew R2, passing on a bunch of guys who've shown themselves to be quite good.

They did grab a very good prospect late in R2 in 2022, however: Vince Williams. He's injured unfortunately. In '23 they snagged GG Jackson in the middle of R2; he may develop. Then in 2024, of course, they grabbed Zach Edey at 9 & Jaylen Wells at 39.

So, yes, Memphis has a good FO, & over the last 6 years they've accumulated a lot of young talent in the 6 drafts they've had.

They've whiffed on a few as well -- which you'd expect -- but overall they've used the draft alost exclusively & they've used it well.

OTOH, Will has only had 2 drafts. & he had all of 2 weeks to prepare for the first one!

We've gotten 4 solid young talents from those 2 drafts: Bilal, Alex, Bub, & Kyshaun.

Where's the problem?

[Kanyewest]

This Summer we double-downed on Anthony Gill (32), Philly signed Yabusele (29) in the summer and pays him less than we pay Gill, and he is clearly the better player.

I don't think Yahbusele signs with the Wizards who were projected to be the worst team in the nba.

Granted the 76ers have been disappointing but at the time of his signing were considered title contenders. He was probably trying to maximize his value on a competitive team. Unfortunately for him, guys like Embiid and George haven't delivered.

Yabusele's goal was to get back to the NBA, and Philly was the team that gave him a chance at the bare minimum. I guess my point is I am not a fan of the FO's work in lazily bringing back Gill, Davis, & PBJR instead of trying to find better players now like how Memphis stacks prospects at all positions, especially the bench players.

I think the Wizards are technically restricted what they could offer Yabusele vs Gil given that Gil was on already the team (not to mention the buyout that the 76ers had to pay which amounted to $800k. All things being equal, the Wizards should have gotten Yabusle but I don't think it was an option.


I guess the Wizards didn't get much value in Davis and PB Jr. But they have appeared to hit on Butler.

[DCZards]

Butler never fails to impress. Of course, last night against Philly he was particularly special.

Kudos to Dawkins for bringing Butler with him from OKC.

[payitforward]

Agreed -- I can't understand why Butler has had such a difficult journey to establish himself in the league.

Ruzious -- whom I really miss (& worry about -- he was sick, & I really hope he recovered) -- was a big fan of Butler as a college player & hoped he'd end up with us. A long & winding road but here he is!

[closg00]

This Summer we double-downed on Anthony Gill (32), Philly signed Yabusele (29) in the summer and pays him less than we pay Gill, and he is clearly the better player....

Is he? & is that the reason he hasn't been in the NBA since 2018-19...?

Do players ever improve over time? We should just give-up on Alex now with that logic. Statistically, Yabusele is the superior player when comparing the production of the two this season.
https://fanspo.com/nba/compare-players/anthony-gill-1630264/guerschon-yabusele-1627824

...I guess my point is I am not a fan of the FO's work in lazily bringing back Gill, Davis, & PBJR instead of trying to find better players now....

Look up the phrase "poison the wells." When you call the FO' work "lazy," you remove your comment from the realm of the rational. For that matter, I would have brought back both Baldwin & Davis a zillion times rather than sign Guershon Yabusele. I could list a dozen reasons, but really I think it's kind of obvious.

Look of the word "condescending", I would use the word lazy again w/o hesitation, it is a total lack of imagination that they wouldn't take one more shot at discovering a prospect with that spot.

You would take Baldwin/Davis over Yabusele, that deserves multiple

...like how Memphis stacks prospects at all positions, especially the bench players....

I'm a big fan of Memphis' FO, but this comparison is meaningless.

I don't agree with your opinion, I will have to address the Memphis part another time

[payitforward]

Your response got formatted strangely.

1. You're right that Yabusele has come back a much stronger player -- above all a much improved scorer who is posting a TS% of almost 62%. But, we're looking for a different role from Gill. We're not trying to optimize based on better role players. We are rebuilding from scratch.

2. Ditto the bit about Baldwin & Davis over GY. Both are total long shots. 99% they don't develop. Yabusele is infinitely better than either of them, no question about it! But, Yabusele is meaningless to a rebuilding team. We're not trying to make the play-in any more.

3. If you are suggesting my post came off as "condescending," you have my apology! I meant no such attitude. You are one of the longest-term participants on this board, & one of the most valuable as well.

4. My remark about Memphis is not something to "agree with" or not -- those guys have had 6 years! How you gonna compare them to Dawkins who basically just got here.

Plus, Memphis wasn't as big of a mess when they took over in 2019 as the Wiz were in June 2023. All the same, just to be clear, I think the Memphis FO has been the best in the league over the last 6 years. We'll have to work hard to be as good as they are.

Peace!