Are poor communication skills the cause of all our problems?

[dobrojim]

Lets not forget that we turned over half of our roster 14 games ago, and those that are still here are taking on different roles than they had the first 1/2 of the season. How many practices have they had since the all star break? They have to know the plays to communicate them to each other, and I doubt the new guys have more than a handful of plays down yet.

+1

sure we could use more talent

but it would also help if these guys had game experience playing with each other

and then time btw games to digest what just happened and prepare for the next one

I think we have a few lo hoop-IQ players ie JM and N1

but as was pointed out - our roster would not look nearly so lo-rent
if we had Gil and Howard starting

[montestewart]

I think we have a few lo hoop-IQ players ie JM and N1

Interesting that you cite their lack b-ball smarts, as I cited them above as still standing out as poor on-court communicators, even with all the new players. Maybe the latter is nothing more than an outgrowth of the former.

Despite their newness to the Wizards, Singleton, Livingston, and even Thornton show more awareness of their teammates, and maybe that's just a reflection of their hoops smarts. More time together as a team will help, and Arenas and Howard (as talented players) would make a difference too, but the Wizards still need to be looking for some high b-ball IQ additions. Even Miller's been falling short in that department recently.

[dandridge 10]

Come on, Fish. It has to be the system. These guys were supposed to be better with Caron, AJ and Haywood gone.

They were better when the new guys were first just thrown together with little time to learn any "system" Were we not losing and playing horribly WITH Caron, AJ, & Wood?

They "appeared" better when the new guys first got here because teams took us lightly and the new guys were running on adrenalin/excitement. As expected, they came back to earth once the excitement was over and teams decided not to overlook them.

I never said this team was that good with Caron, AJ, and Haywood. They stunk. I was just pointing out that this team is no better with them gone, as some on this board proclaimed they would be.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Come on, Fish. It has to be the system. These guys were supposed to be better with Caron, AJ and Haywood gone.

They were certainly better before Howard got hurt.

Blatche has been better.

Flip has overcoached and grown increasingly more negative, as I predicted he would after their initial wins. The coach is a buzz killer.

The team right now IS garbage, particularly the guards. The players Flip and EG squandered the fifth pick on have stunk. Steph Curry, the player that many here the day of the trade said wasn't as good as Foye, had 29 and something like 11 assists last night against the Lakers. Kobe had 29 and the Lakers barely won.

My point of view is Flip has been a huge disappointment. I've given EG credit for things he did to right the ship--hey, I much prefer losing this way than continuing to lose with Jamison/Butler. That said, in hindsight this team's no better off with Flip Saunders coaching than they were under EJ.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Come on, Fish. It has to be the system. These guys were supposed to be better with Caron, AJ and Haywood gone.

They were better when the new guys were first just thrown together with little time to learn any "system" Were we not losing and playing horribly WITH Caron, AJ, & Wood?

They "appeared" better when the new guys first got here because teams took us lightly and the new guys were running on adrenalin/excitement. As expected, they came back to earth once the excitement was over and teams decided not to overlook them.

I never said this team was that good with Caron, AJ, and Haywood. They stunk. I was just pointing out that this team is no better with them gone, as some on this board proclaimed they would be.

IMO they WERE better because they weren't beat down by an inflexible coach.

They just played hard at both ends. Also, initially Flip let everybody play 20-25 minutes and he had a team of guys playing all out.

What happened over time was he benched Young for Ross (to repeat his pattern of preferring Stevenson). He's become increasingly negative in the media. (Blasting Blatche for talking back to the Garnett. Called McGee a CBA all star. Says team choked at Boston). Flip Saunders has done as great a job demotivating as a coach could do.

The first few games were better because Flip didn't have control and he didn't dampen the spirits and the energies of guys competing for minutes.

Howard had a high skill level. He kept Miller on his toes. Once Howard got hurt it looks to me that Miller settled in to playing 35-40 minutes, but not being aggressive looking for his shot or competing.

Flip also settled in a bunch of games on Randy Foye as playmaker. That's no good.

So, the players ARE bad in general, but the team was still better IMO than with shotjacking, offense-only Jamison/Butler with Haywood, who cannot score inside like Blatche/McGee.

dandridge, the old team with Haywood was still getting killed by more than 10 and scoring 80-something and 90-something points. This new group is no worse.

[DaRealHibachi]

I think we have to consider mcgee a bench player. He is way to soft mentally to play center. Mcgee will avoid going for a rebound if he expects contact. I see his ceiling as good change of pace big coming off the bench but he has no passion for playing physical defense. Singleton, a smaller man with same frame is the exact opposite.
Miller is a bench player. A guy who comes off the bench to shoot the three and that it. He has no post up ability against smaller players and he is extremely uncoordinated off the dribble going to the basket.
Thornton just isn't that coordinated going to the hole. He has poor handles and he isn't that acrobatic in the air when attacking the rim. Caron butler with rebounding. Same size issues. Butler had better handles but even worse acrobatic ability than thornton.

Thorton is taller than CB and has great size at SF... What the hell are you talking about...???

[DaRealHibachi]

IMO they WERE better because they weren't beat down by an inflexible coach.

They just played hard at both ends. Also, initially Flip let everybody play 20-25 minutes and he had a team of guys playing all out.

What happened over time was he benched Young for Ross (to repeat his pattern of preferring Stevenson). He's become increasingly negative in the media. (Blasting Blatche for talking back to the Garnett. Called McGee a CBA all star. Says team choked at Boston). Flip Saunders has done as great a job demotivating as a coach could do.

The first few games were better because Flip didn't have control and he didn't dampen the spirits and the energies of guys competing for minutes.

Howard had a high skill level. He kept Miller on his toes. Once Howard got hurt it looks to me that Miller settled in to playing 35-40 minutes, but not being aggressive looking for his shot or competing.

Flip also settled in a bunch of games on Randy Foye as playmaker. That's no good.

So, the players ARE bad in general, but the team was still better IMO than with shotjacking, offense-only Jamison/Butler with Haywood, who cannot score inside like Blatche/McGee.

dandridge, the old team with Haywood was still getting killed by more than 10 and scoring 80-something and 90-something points. This new group is no worse.

I don't think Flip has done anything wrong (except for maybe the whole Dray-KG thing)... He basically is calling a spade a spade, it is what it is...

This team (save for Dray) sucks right now, no need to sugarcoat it... McGee is an CBA-Allstar, this team did choke in Boston... If the players disagree, prove Flip wrong!!! Take it personal and show him why you deserve to be on the floor...

Young simply doesn't deserve to play, Randy isn't starting anymore (for good reason), so saying Flip isn't flexible is kinda silly... Blaming Flip for playing Randy as our playmaker when our next best option was Earl freakin Boykins doesn't help your argument either...

And no, this team isn't better than our old team... Yes, they play better as a team, but we still aren't winning any games, so the point still remains... Both teams suck(ed), the first one b/c of lack of team ball, the second b/c of the lack of talent...

Flip is playing the hand he's dealt, and don't see a reason for him doing otherwise... I respect your opinion, and you as a poster, but your constant bashing of Flip is going a lil overboard...

[dandridge 10]

I couldn't have said it better, DaRealHibachi. In addition to what you said, I would add that the old team was NOT routinely getting killed by 10 points or more. In fact, most of the games were very close. I also would add that the old team did not lose 9 straight games, which the new team has managed to do for the first time since 2001 (and I expect that losing streak to continue for awhile).

I think DaRealHibachi hit it on the head. The new team might be playing better team ball, but there is no way you could say that the new team is better than the old team. There is a serious lack of talent on this team right now. The record shows that, as well as the margin of defeat.