Wilbon on the Wiz

[Wizards2Lottery]

I hope to god you're an organ donor so someone can benefit from your mom's ill-conceived decision to squat you out and give you a name.

how great is the anonymity on a message board right?

By the way pass this message to my mother and father in heaven if you can. Or perhaps you think so lowly of them too that they are probably in hell?

I'm glad the fact that someone finally called you out on being a two faced liar hit such a nerve with you that you went on a page long tirade on me being an internet scumbag and how my dead parents made such an ill-conceived decision to have a terrible person like me.

[doclinkin]

Know what, you're right, that was way over the top, dead parents or not, so I apologize. I was in a crap mood, not your fault, you just caught the backblast.

Here's the relevant part:
-------------------------------------

Calling me Liar? Quote me. I doubt it. If I changed my mind on something I'll admit it (see McGee, morning after). (See also Kwame, who I thought wasn't given a fair shot, was damaged early and ill-treated, not just a weakminded pantload).

What I defend most vigorously is the players' effort. What I give respect for is hard work against long odds. We have some pretty good players, not average, not the best. Some damn good, still not the best. We have a pretty good coach, better than average, not the best. We have an interesting and developing collection of talent, good potential, not there yet. But there's flashes. The core players are better talented offensively than they are defensively. YOu could say the same about the coach. They, the players, say he has helped them showcase their talents, helped them earn allstar status, argue with them not me.

But there's a difference between raw talent and whether or not you maximize your potential. I respect anybody who gives every ounce of what they got. Carons no league MVP. Caron is injury prone in part because he's 6'5" playing with reckless abandon against guys 3-4 inches bigger than him. I respect the ballsout velocity; while I expect to wait out the yearly injury. Jamison sucks at face-up defense, rotations on the perimeter: he makes up for it by rebounding like a refugee battling for food aid. I respect a guy who gives 100% of his tier B talent more than the guys who've been handed a golden ticket of talent and act like that makes them entitled to success. I resent less if DWade beats us than if LeWhine does it. Don't like it either way, but Wade doesn't whine if you tap him and dribble him off the floor a little, he just shifts gears and comes at you from a different angle.

What I don't respect is guys who quit, whether it's players or Coaches or GMs. Or [even] Fans.
----

The rest was not relevant to the topic.

Sorry G0A, I was wrong to take it personal and take it out on you.

[Wizards2Lottery]

No need to apologize. I have nothing to be sad about my parents death. They died an honorable death, fighting for all our rights and liberties.

I shouldn't have called you a liar. I apologize. I'm just not happy about the direction of this team.

[JWizmentality]

That was just beautiful. I love you guys

[LyricalRico]

Regardless of our differences, there's one thing we can all agree on...JWiz's new sig!

[Induveca]

Things are looking bad. Either we play the kids and tank, or keep riding very shaky vets and miss the playoffs.

Neither is a great option, and both hurt to watch as a fan. Here's a crazy idea, how about fire EJ and bring in Avery Johnson? His voice alone should be enough to force players to listen. I'm still partial to Bill Laimbeer however.

[hands11]

Things are looking bad. Either we play the kids and tank, or keep riding very shaky vets and miss the playoffs.

Neither is a great option, and both hurt to watch as a fan. Here's a crazy idea, how about fire EJ and bring in Avery Johnson? His voice alone should be enough to force players to listen. I'm still partial to Bill Laimbeer however.

I say it's either we keep riding the vets and tank or we play more
McGee, AB, and NY and start winning.

[closg00]

Foc! You! Wilbon, he didn't take 1 Wiz question during the Chat-house today

[dobrojim]

Things are looking bad. Either we play the kids and tank, or keep riding very shaky vets and miss the playoffs.

Neither is a great option, and both hurt to watch as a fan. Here's a crazy idea, how about fire EJ and bring in Avery Johnson? His voice alone should be enough to force players to listen. I'm still partial to Bill Laimbeer however.

I disagree with your either/or.

I think if McGee starts playing somewhere around 30 mpg; if TJ/AJ return to something
closer to what they were last year, maybe not all the way but close; if Juan continues
to display some PG skilz; FINALLY and most importantly, if GIL comes back by xmas and
starts to approach the old GA by around the AS, we could win the 35 or so games that
I predicted. Maybe that's a bad thing. Or maybe we could even go on a run like PHL
did last year in the last 2 months and come out of nowhere to sneak into the playoffs.
And lest we not forget, PHL took DET to 6 games (I was about to type 7 games but I
remember them losing the series at home, like we did). I know this goes against
much of the community thinking but I'd much rather this scenario than anything other
than a 1-3 pick in the lotto. I don't think EJ gets fired this year barring him "losing"
the team which I doubt happens so hoping for them to lose (not loose which happens
to be the opposite of tight, yeah I can be a a$$hole, sorry. pet peave) so EJ gets
fired is just not gonna happen. And since even the losing-est teams can easily not
get a top 3 pick, I'd rather not experience a season like that. Losing is contagious
and hard to get rid of.

Oh yeah, and Haywood could actually make it back IF we made the post-season and
maybe even if we don't.

OK, so I'm an optimist. Except for this, I don't see us unloading Etan, or AD, or Songaila.
In that respect, I'm afraid I'm more a realist.

[cwb3]

With all this talk about defense and players. . .I could not help but notice:
Our offense sucks ass too!
We are supposed to be a high scoring team, but our possessions are some of the most asinine, unproductive, low percentage sets I have ever seen.
A high top weave that does nothing, puts nobody in a position to score, and just runs out shot clock.
Clear outs for 1 on 1's with people who can't take thier man off the dribble and wind up taking a long, contested 2 or 3 point shot.
Half-hearted screens that don't even make contact with the defender.
Never boxing out for an offensive rebound.
The wrong person posting low - Etan.
The wrong person not posting up and settling for a 3 - AJ and Blatche.
Only 1 person ever even thinks about making the pass to a cutting player - Songalia.
No pick and roll, unless led by Songalia.
No drives and dish to the open shooter.

All we do is we weave a bit, then someone dribbles, then chucks up a shot.

Our offense is set up for a guy like Arenas with a guy like Haywood laying a mean pick. Other people used to play off that and get into position to shoot, or cut to the basket.

Our defense sucks, yes, we need a better system.
Now our offense sucks, yes, we need a better system.

The players we have available average out as basically average, with better schemes and a tougher attitude (from head coach, to captains, to benchwarmers) we could still be a .500 team while awaiting Gilbert and Haywood's return. But this no defense playing with a faux offense system ill suited to the middling talent available is going to lead to countless 4th quarters like in Miami, where we watched 12 minutes of summer league action at the end.

[Benjammin]

I don't think EJ gets fired this year barring him "losing"
the team which I doubt happens so hoping for them to lose (not loose which happens
to be the opposite of tight, yeah I can be a a$$hole, sorry. pet peave) so EJ gets
fired is just not gonna happen. .

[/quote]

Have you ever heard the phrase "if you live in a glass house you should not throw rocks"?

[dobrojim]

^ caught

dammit

you gotta admit though peave vs peeve is nowhere near as bad as lose vs loose

and I see loose over and over and over

[Dat2U]

With all this talk about defense and players. . .I could not help but notice:
Our offense sucks ass too!
We are supposed to be a high scoring team, but our possessions are some of the most asinine, unproductive, low percentage sets I have ever seen.
A high top weave that does nothing, puts nobody in a position to score, and just runs out shot clock.
Clear outs for 1 on 1's with people who can't take thier man off the dribble and wind up taking a long, contested 2 or 3 point shot.
Half-hearted screens that don't even make contact with the defender.
Never boxing out for an offensive rebound.
The wrong person posting low - Etan.
The wrong person not posting up and settling for a 3 - AJ and Blatche.
Only 1 person ever even thinks about making the pass to a cutting player - Songalia.
No pick and roll, unless led by Songalia.
No drives and dish to the open shooter.

All we do is we weave a bit, then someone dribbles, then chucks up a shot.

Our offense is set up for a guy like Arenas with a guy like Haywood laying a mean pick. Other people used to play off that and get into position to shoot, or cut to the basket.

Our defense sucks, yes, we need a better system.
Now our offense sucks, yes, we need a better system.

The players we have available average out as basically average, with better schemes and a tougher attitude (from head coach, to captains, to benchwarmers) we could still be a .500 team while awaiting Gilbert and Haywood's return. But this no defense playing with a faux offense system ill suited to the middling talent available is going to lead to countless 4th quarters like in Miami, where we watched 12 minutes of summer league action at the end.

We've never been a terribly efficient offense, except when Gil was in "hibachi mode". We have always been a relatively low percentage, jump shooting team. The reason we survived so long was because we could create extra shots by crashing the offensive glass with guys like Haywood or Jeffries back in the day. Or when Gil and Larry would attack to the rim and get to the line and as a team we shot a good amount of free throws.

The difference offensively b/w now and last year is Haywood. There's no size to create the extra opportunities. Jamison can no longer grab all those free rebounds created by Wood's presence. Also Haywood was the best at setting picks and creating space for shots.

Guys like Arenas & Haywood hid alot of Eddie Jordan's deficiencies. Now that both are out, we are totally exposed.

Even with Caron's contributions the past few years, its beginning to look like the most valuable Wizard was Haywood. He did all the small (but very important) things that help teams win basketball games. He's missed on both sides of the court.

Getting a healthy Gil back will help with scoring as he is a legit 1st option scorer, but without Wood and all his contributions for basically the entire season, I don't think there's anyway this team can make the playoffs.

[Severn Hoos]

And in happier news, Blake Griffin is making it look easy (granted, against American & Miss. Valley) - 24 & 18 in the first game, 20 & 19 in the second. Shooting 17-20 from the floor (85%!). Only downside is that he's below 50% from the line (paging Dr. Hopla). Don't forget that Beasley put up those ridiculous numbers early last year against weak competition, and kept the momentum through the season. It's certainly possible Griffin follows a similar track. And FWIW, he played Beasley pretty much to a draw when they played last year.

How about a power rotation of Griffin, McGee, and Haywood? Jamison in the role he should be, cagey vet off the bench at PF/SF? Butler starting at SF, Nick & DS as an offense/defense combo at SG? And that Arenas fellow at the point (maybe sneak an Earl Watson signing in for his backup). Blatche becomes trade bait to unload bad contract(s)? Yep, works for me.

So for those who think EJ is ruining this season, why would you want him out now, again? We need all the ping pong balls we can get!

[dobrojim]

I just don't see that as a useful strategy

You're basically relying on luck. Only one team outta 14 gets lucky.
Yeah the odds are weighted, but not weighted enough to make me
comfy with devising a strategy in that direction.