Wizards solutions and no fingerpointing or drama

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The game is over.

Drama from fans with "fire EJ" to me wondering if EJ is on something won't do anybody any good.

When you can state the problem then you can come up with ideas to solve it. We all see things differently, but hopefully we can get some consensus on how to make things better. Keep that in mind.

CCJ's Viewpoint on the Wizards' current probs:

1.Coaching: EJ is preferential to Songaila and he's the type of guy who plays individuals he has a feel for, regardless of the stats. He is loyal to veterans and will ride his stars for extended minutes. He's not of the opinion Blatche and Brendan are effective together, or that Jamison is as good at SF. When guys say they can play, EJ will play them extreme minutes as if they can't get hurt or as if they're 100%. EJ is great people but only so so as a tactician. That's my take on EJ. EJ stuck with DeShawn and that's the same reason he sticks with Songaila. EJ is loyal, but like with Haywood his mind is closed in some areas.

Strategy-wise, the inabilty to cover perimeter shooters and the tendency to be undersized gives up too many opponent threes and too few Wizard rebounds. The star mentality of give it to one guy on offense and watch him go ISO is stopping the ball on offense.

But guess what? EJs not a player. His players are suddenly not getting it done.

2. The players: INJURIES have broken the good continuity and the defensive mojo is gone. Caron, Antonio, and Darius all appear to me to be pretty banged up. Outside of injuries, the roster changes that ensue are causing confusion on defense and offiense. This is not a selfish team and they like each other, but right now they're looking more for their own numbers than to make a big defensive play.

There are very few assists being generated on offense.

That's my overall assessment of the problem with the Wizards. The PLAYERS are every bit as responsible as EJ. He might be blind to their injuries or limitations as players. The management could have to make a move to get a distributor/perimeter defender behind AD. Gil's return can't come too soon. Guys are hurting mentally and physically.

Too many injuries, lack of continuity especially on perimeter defense, and not enough sharing the ball.


SIMPLE SOLUTION:

SHARE THE BALL and GET BACK TO HELLACIOUS DEFENSE and BENCH ANYBODY NOT HEALTHY ENOUGH TO BE EFFECTIVE ON DEFENSE. Also, rebounding's easier and defense is BETTER with Blatche at PF.

That's what needs to be done in my opinion. ANY OTHER IDEAS?

FIre EJ threads are needless drama. Songaila hate isn't solving anything.

[Donkey McDonkerton]

Shoot Better

Defend Better

Get Gil Healthy

Get Caron Healthy

Limit Songs minutes

[RickRoll_inDC]

Shoot Better

Defend Better

Get Gil Healthy

Get Caron Healthy

Limit Songs minutes

to continue:

play Blatche more

play N1 more

make Ayers the head coach

[nate33]

The team is tired. AJ, Butler, Daniels and Songaila are definitely not at 100%. This is a result of being undermanned all season. I think, in general, EJ has done a pretty decent job of trying to get something out of his bench, but nobody except Blatche and Mason have stepped up with any consistency. The All-Star break can't come soon enough.

I think we need to resign Mike Wilks to a 10-day contract. Let him play 20 minutes a game and really try to rest Daniels.

This next stretch of games is brutal. Philadelphia is a must win because there are going to be precious few wins afterward. EJ needs to do what it takes to get a win in Philly, but then cut back the minutes of his starters during the road trip. If things go sour early, just write off the game and play the youngsters heavy minutes and rest the starters. I would like to see Nick Young and Pecherov playing at least 25 minutes a game.

If we get two close victories against Philly and LA (Clippers) and while getting blown out by San Antonio, Golden State, Phoenix and Denver, I won't complain. If the starters play sparingly those games, and then get the all star break to rest, hopefully they can regroup afterward.

[FreeBalling]

I'd like to see AJ moved to SF, play Blatche at PF. I missed the game today for a round of Golf, were the fans today calling "Fire EJ?".

[no D in Hibachi]

I have to give Hands credit on this one. He was in favor of starting Blatche because he felt Andray played better with the starters than with the subs. I think that the best way to turn things around is to have Jamison come off the bench and start Blatche. This would allow the team to have a top quality reserve, it would reduce Jamisons minutes, allowing him to be more healthy, and as we just saw, Blatche is much more assertive when he starts than when he comes off the bench. That'd be a huge lift.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The team is tired. AJ, Butler, Daniels and Songaila are definitely not at 100%. This is a result of being underhanded all season. I think, in general, EJ has done a pretty decent job of trying to get something out of his bench, but nobody except Blatche and Mason have stepped up with any consistency. The All-Star break can't come soon enough.

I think we need to resign Mike Wilks to a 10-day contract. Let him play 20 minutes a game and really try to rest Daniels.

This next stretch of games is brutal. Philadelphia is a must win because there are going to be precious few wins afterward. EJ needs to do what it takes to get a win in Philly, but then cut back the minutes of his starters during the road trip. If things go sour early, just write off the game and play the youngsters heavy minutes and rest the starters. I would like to see Nick Young and Pecherov playing at least 25 minutes a game.

If we get two close victories against Philly and LA (Clippers) and while getting blown out by San Antonio, Golden State, Phoenix and Denver, I won't complain. If the starters play sparingly those games, and then get the all star break to rest, hopefully they can regroup afterward.

Great post, nate.

Call up Wilks. Squeeze out a win here and there but play the bench guys a lot in the loss games.

Keep the team together and pulling for each other and remember the big picture: Just make the playoffs and get healthy by the end of the season.

[gowiz999]

You'd be happy if we beat two terrible teams and lose to all of the average or above average teams we play? Man it's sad how far this team has fallen.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

gowiz, the best record this team has had in the past 20 plus years is 45-37. They were 41-41 last season. This year they're on pace for more of the same.

I would be happy if they beat the terrible teams because if they make the playoffs the whole season starts again.

I can see the Wizards having success just like the Giants did if they played their big lineups and as a coaching philosophy started grinding games out defensively, in addition to riding the big three for scoring when Gil returns. It's doubtful, but so was the Giants SB victory.

How far has the team fallen, really, gowiz999?

[gowiz999]

I am just talking in terms of this season. We beat Boston twice and Dallas twice and now we are playing so bad that we can only hope to beat the bottom barrel teams of the league. Any game against any team at or above .500 is assumed as a loss. It's a shame really. I'd really like to see how well we can do with a healthy roster for a full season. These last two seasons have essentially been taken from us by injuries. Maybe just maybe next year will be our year?

[Rafael122]

Agreed with Nate. I don't think EJ practices them too hard, especially when they play so many minutes, but this is a time where we could really use Etan, or even Gilbert. Those two can't come back soon enough.

Just looking ahead, I have them being at 30-28 at the end of February.

March - with Gilbert coming back, I see us going 9-7, so we'd be at 39-35 heading into April.

April - I see us at 5-3, which means a 44-38 overall record. Probably good enough for 5th or 6th. I can't see us finishing any lower than that. Indiana, Atlanta, and New Jersey will finish with worse records than us.

But in the mean time, yeah, I think the team is tired and its starting to show. Arenas made everything so easy on everyone. Dude's 25 years old, he can handle the minutes, not to mention he's a great scorer.

[BruceO]

Acquire Artest (for the songailas Etans, draft picks etc wtv we can. He's a firesale anyway)at SF, caron at SG..in some moments be able to play caron at Sf and deshawn at the SG. Playing caron at the Sg while having a competent SF will take us to the next level. He's like a vince or pierce to me, a SG/SF. The bigger Sf will make sure caron has his mismatches at the SG, we have a good big defender for the Lebrons and Turkoglu. Our current inability to play jamison at Sf because of defensive issue would be resolved.
Our starting lineup based on that change would be Gil/ Caron/ Artest/ jamison/ Haywood
our second unit would have the current starting guards AD/ Stevenson
(nick young, roger mason, Dmac, Pech or songaila at SF to tweak the lineup) Blatche, Pech/ songaila/ Etan play PF and C

We just have to make moves the same way other teams are always looking to make moves. Otherwise we might just be a step above mediocre. All the teams improvements currently are based on player improvement which usually doesnt take you to another level and continuity. I think more Gm moves should be made towards getting established players. That is what has taken us to the next level with the acquisition of gil, caron and jamison. I just feel the team is no longer aggresive about those kind of moves

[Ruzious]

EJ's done an excellent job coaching this season, but playing Butler the 1st 36 minutes of a game they had very little chance of winning - with him coming off an injury was too reminiscent of him over-playing Arenas when he wasn't healthy.

I don't have a big problem with him playing Songaila for a few minutes a game at PF, but there's no reason to play him at center.

People here should realize this is the same team that was doing well. They overrated them before, because they didn't take into account that their schedule was very easy. Now that it's getting harder, they're going to be underrating the team - and wondering - hey, what went wrong all of a sudden?

[nate33]

Acquire Artest

*snip*

We just have to make moves the same way other teams are always looking to make moves. Otherwise we might just be a step above mediocre. All the teams improvements currently are based on player improvement which usually doesnt take you to another level and continuity. I think more Gm moves should be made towards getting established players. That is what has taken us to the next level with the acquisition of gil, caron and jamison. I just feel the team is no longer aggresive about those kind of moves

We don't have the pieces to acquire Artest.

Artest is likely to opt out of his contract. If he does, Sacramento gets the cap relief. So in order for an Artest trade to help Sacramento, they need to get back a package better than expiring contracts.

We don't have any expiring contracts to offer (except Jamison). We have only the horrible contracts of Songaila and Etan. Given their trade value right now, we would need to throw in a couple of 1st rounders just to trade them for a scrub with an expiring contract. We would need to throw in even more if we actually wanted Artest in return.

At a minimum, we'd have to give up Blatche (and Songaila as filler) to get Artest. I have no interest in that.

[LyricalRico]

Ruz is correct - this is the same exact team that generated the "better without Arenas" discussion. Here are the things that I see as having changed:

1) Teams now know how to stop Caron and AJ. If they take away Jamison's turn-around flips and play Caron for the jumpshot they can pretty much bring the offense to a halt.

2) Because guys are tired, the defense isn't as suffocating as it had been. So now you've got a mediocre defense and an offense that struggles to get shots off. Not a good combination.

3) We can't sign anyone because of the luxury tax. Bringing Mike Wilks back isn't an option because we need to save that 10 day contract money in case of injury.

I agree with those who have already said that Blatche needs to start and I think it should be Caron that goes to the bench. Blatche's presence means that Jamison will be guarded by the other team's SF, thus opening up his post game. Butler can be the focus of the second unit, thus making it easier for Young and Mason to get their shots off.

It works for Ginnobili and the Spurs. I think EJ needs to consider it.

[nate33]

Butler should absolutely not go to the bench. That's absurd.

I understand the notion that we should stagger our all-star forwards so that at least one is on the court at all times, but the way to do it is certainly not to bench Butler.

The problem with bringing Butler off the bench is that it will mean that he'll miss at least the first 6 minutes of each half. That already reduces his minute total to 36 minutes at the max - and that's only if he plays 18 consecutive minutes in each half. Chances are, he'll need a short rest at sometime during those 18-minute stretches, which would further reduce his minutes.

The bottom line is that it's pretty hard to play a 6th man any more than 32 or so minutes a game. It would be criminally stupid to restrict Butler to 32 minutes. He's the best player on the team and a top 25 player in this league right now.

[ZonkertheBrainless]

Ruz is correct - this is the same exact team that generated the "better without Arenas" discussion. Here are the things that I see as having changed:

1) Teams now know how to stop Caron and AJ. If they take away Jamison's turn-around flips and play Caron for the jumpshot they can pretty much bring the offense to a halt.

2) Because guys are tired, the defense isn't as suffocating as it had been. So now you've got a mediocre defense and an offense that struggles to get shots off. Not a good combination.

3) We can't sign anyone because of the luxury tax. Bringing Mike Wilks back isn't an option because we need to save that 10 day contract money in case of injury.

I agree with those who have already said that Blatche needs to start and I think it should be Caron that goes to the bench. Blatche's presence means that Jamison will be guarded by the other team's SF, thus opening up his post game. Butler can be the focus of the second unit, thus making it easier for Young and Mason to get their shots off.

It works for Ginnobili and the Spurs. I think EJ needs to consider it.

Wind sprints!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Acquire Artest (for the songailas Etans, draft picks etc wtv we can. He's a firesale anyway)at SF, caron at SG..in some moments be able to play caron at Sf and deshawn at the SG. Playing caron at the Sg while having a competent SF will take us to the next level. He's like a vince or pierce to me, a SG/SF. The bigger Sf will make sure caron has his mismatches at the SG, we have a good big defender for the Lebrons and Turkoglu. Our current inability to play jamison at Sf because of defensive issue would be resolved.
Our starting lineup based on that change would be Gil/ Caron/ Artest/ jamison/ Haywood
our second unit would have the current starting guards AD/ Stevenson
(nick young, roger mason, Dmac, Pech or songaila at SF to tweak the lineup) Blatche, Pech/ songaila/ Etan play PF and C

We just have to make moves the same way other teams are always looking to make moves. Otherwise we might just be a step above mediocre. All the teams improvements currently are based on player improvement which usually doesnt take you to another level and continuity. I think more Gm moves should be made towards getting established players. That is what has taken us to the next level with the acquisition of gil, caron and jamison. I just feel the team is no longer aggresive about those kind of moves

If they can get Artest on the cheap like that, by all means the Wizards should.

I think more realistically, they should go after guys who are underrated and perhaps wouldn't be so costly in terms of picks. I consider guys like Von Wafer, Bobby Jones, Demitrius Nichols, Sammy Meija, Wilson Chandler, etc. potentially as good or better than Nick Young. Bobby Jones is better. No doubt in my mind.

If the Wizards GM can trade Songaila, Thomas, or even Daniels (nate will disagree, and he's usually right BTW) and get one of those guys plus a bad contract vet; or, if the GM can free up enough space to add Mike Wilks without exceeding the cap, that will help the Wizards.

BruceO, I don't doubt Artest playing well takes this team to the next level but the chemistry of the team could take a turn for the worst in a hurry as well.

The one area we might differ a bit, BruceO, is that I think Washington has a ton of talent. IMO they have one of the best rosters in the basketball already, if Gil gets healthy.

I think they just need to make a move like Utah did to get a Korver-type player. Nichols is that type guy. Jones is even better because he defends very well. Add one of them and this team is MUCH improved when Gil comes back.

[Cramer]

I agree with those who have already said that Blatche needs to start and I think it should be Caron that goes to the bench.

Rico, don't party then post.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Butler should absolutely not go to the bench. That's absurd.

I understand the notion that we should stagger our all-star forwards so that at least one is on the court at all times, but the way to do it is certainly not to bench Butler.

The problem with bringing Butler off the bench is that it will mean that he'll miss at least the first 6 minutes of each half. That already reduces his minute total to 36 minutes at the max - and that's only if he plays 18 consecutive minutes in each half. Chances are, he'll need a short rest at sometime during those 18-minute stretches, which would further reduce his minutes.

The bottom line is that it's pretty hard to play a 6th man any more than 32 or so minutes a game. It would be criminally stupid to restrict Butler to 32 minutes. He's the best player on the team and a top 25 player in this league right now.

No way should Butler come off the bench.

By that same reasoning, nor should Jamison, who's actually the higher +/ guy on the team.

Lyrical, the real reason not to bench either is it would be seen as a demotion or a slap in the face by either one.

I think Daniels should go to the bench and the team should start Stevenson and Mason at Gs.

Those two play decently together because neither turns it over and both hit threes. Stevenson can defend and Roger can score from the perimeter much better than Daniels.

Bring Daniels off the bench to enhance the second unit, and also bring Blatche in early to rest injured Caron or tired Jamison; whichever is least effective that game.

Starting Roger and DeShawn with both knowing they've got to defend AND they've got to shoot it when open will be better than just watching AD dribble the ball or have him go kamikazi when he's already hurting. Roger makes the other PG always have to defend him, and he's stronger than AD and plays a little chippy. He'll give a hard foul. Mason along with Blatche should play more and starting Roger seems to me to be low risk, especially with AD available off the bench.

I also think the rotation should be SHORTENED and that right now Darius shouldn't play more than 5 minutes here and there. Give the minutes to Mason and Blatche that will be taken from Songaila, Daniels, and Nick Young until he starts passing and defending better. (But I would let Young shoot it any time he's on and he'd get regular minutes, just reduced regular minutes).

Start Roger, DS, Caron, AJ, BTH and come off the bench with AD, Andray, and Nick Young.

IF size is needed let DeShawn run PG, Caron SG, AJ SF, AB PF and BTH at C.

The team needs to commit to defense and the best way to do that is to sit the weakest defender and the injured. Less Daniels and hardly any Darius Songaila minutes is how I'd go.

At the end of games, Daniels would be on the floor in a tight game.