Game Thread - Zards vs. Atlanta

[mhd]

Didn't see a thread posted.

[Zonkerbl]

Hey! There's a game on!

Young and Livingston a combined 7-8 to start the game.

[doclinkin]

Why does Mike Miller always reach in and touch his right nipple all the time. 'Specially before a freethrow.

[doclinkin]

Ooh. Battling game threads... Two threads enter, one thread leaves.

[doclinkin]

Absolutely silly shooting percentages here.

[Illuminaire]

Did anyone else see the two-handed shove Smith threw when Blatche went baseline?

[Illuminaire]

Not to jinx him, but Blatche is getting darned close to a triple double. Go 'Dray!

[Hoopalotta]

Can't watch the game unfortunately, I'll probably check it out on my league pass archive ticket later.

Javale leading us in plus/minus to this point, not bad. We actually started massacring the Boston Gauls last night right when McGee came in too. Seems like this is less improbable of a occurrence with him settling into this role (and maybe the asthma thing, not sure).

But as my great Aunt Martha would have said: "In the name of Ned, we have got to lose this game!"

Well, she probably wouldn't have cared about the game, but she was all about Ned references.

[Ruzious]

The Wiz take out Livingston with around 8 minutes to go - and go with the Miller/Young backcourt... In shocking news, neither Miller nor Young resemble anything close to a PG at either end of the court, and the Hawks score 9 straight and counting.

[Illuminaire]

We were too close, Ruz. Had to ensure the tank loss, especially with McGee's spunky play. ^^

[doclinkin]

The Wiz take out Livingston with around 8 minutes to go - and go with the Miller/Young backcourt... In shocking news, neither Miller nor Young resemble anything close to a PG at either end of the court, and the Hawks score 9 straight and counting.

Nice tankwork. We were in serious danger of a win until then. Flip will run with the excuse that Livi had played a career high t40+ minutes the night before, but anybody who knows, knows better.

[ATL DirtyBird]

Ive seen a tandem of announcers harp so much on one thing. They talked about moving picks for a half a quarter. I realize its never called, and every NBA team does it often, but shut up. Good game though. Blatche is tough. He plays an ugly game, but its super effective.

[Ruzious]

We were too close, Ruz. Had to ensure the tank loss, especially with McGee's spunky play. ^^

We should get a guy for next season to take care of Ava Gabor's sister after he makes plays like that on Jav - with the game essentially over. Aaron Gray come on down... with a chokeslam.

[doclinkin]

We were too close, Ruz. Had to ensure the tank loss, especially with McGee's spunky play. ^^

We should get a guy for next season to take care of Ava Gabor's sister after he makes plays like that on Jav - with the game essentially over. Aaron Gray come on down... with a chokeslam.

I'd take DeMarcus Cuzzy for the job. Pretty sure he'd take issue to that forearm club.

[dobrojim]

back from the game

it was totally obvious why we had to go with the PG-less
line-up. Earl was an absolute disaster when he was in the
game. Flip stated as much if slightly more diplomatically
in the post-game presser. SL had to come out for at least
a little while.

good tank game

SL MUST be re-signed unless the bidding gets completely
out of hand. Nick Young is ready to be the full-time starter
if they would simply give him the job and accept that he
may not have a great game every night. But look what he's done
the last several games head2head against Ray Allen, JJ, VC....
he has definitely held his own.

wrt SL - I'd almost go as far as saying I would NOT take Turner
with the 2nd pick if we got it. I would try to bargain it away
to move either up to get Wall or down to take Couz/Favors.
A trio of bigs with AB/JM/ and either Couz/Favors would
serve us better than adding ET to a backcourt that already
included Gil, N1 and SL.

Finally - as was said last night, AB gets no love from the zebras.
JM bites on a fake, skies and barely brushes a player still on the floor
and gets an immediate whistle. AB goes to the hole with opp hands
and arms flailing all about him and can't buy a call.

[FAH1223]

^ This team needs talent, anywhere.... especially a guy like Turner who has a high BBall IQ and fills up the stat sheet every night doing multiple things would help, not hurt the team

[Ruzious]

Finally - as was said last night, AB gets no love from the zebras.
JM bites on a fake, skies and barely brushes a player still on the floor
and gets an immediate whistle. AB goes to the hole with opp hands
and arms flailing all about him and can't buy a call.

One of the things for Dray's homework list for the summer should be learning to draw fouls. He doesn't play the games/tricks that veterans traditionally use to "draw contact". And with his array of moves, he could certainly be effective at it.

[doclinkin]

Finally - as was said last night, AB gets no love from the zebras.
JM bites on a fake, skies and barely brushes a player still on the floor
and gets an immediate whistle. AB goes to the hole with opp hands
and arms flailing all about him and can't buy a call.

One of the things for Dray's homework list for the summer should be learning to draw fouls. He doesn't play the games/tricks that veterans traditionally use to "draw contact". And with his array of moves, he could certainly be effective at it.

Actually many of his moves are predicated on avoiding contact. Wiggle, show the ball, pivot, then lean back and hit a fadey. Dribble to the open space and pull up from an unconventional distance. He's learned alot from Jamison in this regard, and I suspect some from Akeem by way of Sammy.

Fact is this aspect of his game will improve as he continues to build muscle, though. Once he can finish after contact the refs will begin to give him the benefit of the doubt. He needs to be elusive by choice not by default. Needs to show he could have made that shot anyway, otherwise the refs will have reasonable doubt. He might have simply lost it going up, 'sure looked out of control to me...'

Weight room dominance is the prescription. He just needs to be able to power through and slam it home. Then the refs become ancillary to the issue, and in fact become your ally. Refs hate the weak flailing stuff, reward the power game in the paint. And refs are as susceptible to Sportscenter street cred as anyone. The Network rewards strong play with replay. Star status accrues with reknown. If Dray shows footwork and power, finishes with authority, then refs assume well he's never out of control, and if he lost the ball, well someone must have done something untoward and unseen. Whistle. And one.

Just leave no one in doubt. Finish strong. The whistles will take care of themselves.

[Kanyewest]

back from the game

it was totally obvious why we had to go with the PG-less
line-up. Earl was an absolute disaster when he was in the
game. Flip stated as much if slightly more diplomatically
in the post-game presser. SL had to come out for at least
a little while.

good tank game

SL MUST be re-signed unless the bidding gets completely
out of hand. Nick Young is ready to be the full-time starter
if they would simply give him the job and accept that he
may not have a great game every night. But look what he's done
the last several games head2head against Ray Allen, JJ, VC....
he has definitely held his own.

wrt SL - I'd almost go as far as saying I would NOT take Turner
with the 2nd pick if we got it. I would try to bargain it away
to move either up to get Wall or down to take Couz/Favors.
A trio of bigs with AB/JM/ and either Couz/Favors would
serve us better than adding ET to a backcourt that already
included Gil, N1 and SL.

Finally - as was said last night, AB gets no love from the zebras.
JM bites on a fake, skies and barely brushes a player still on the floor
and gets an immediate whistle. AB goes to the hole with opp hands
and arms flailing all about him and can't buy a call.

The Wizards could take Turner and play him at small forward. After all, the guy is a beast on the boards. I certainly don't consider Miller or Thornton long term solutions there.

[dobrojim]

My argument re Turner is not that he isn't good and wouldn't
be a good player for us but more about how much better it
would be to have a real beast like Couz or Favors as part
of our 4/5 rotation.

At the 3, we have an opportunity to have AT, MM or
possibly Josh Howard, or a guy picked lower in the draft
(in more of a backup role).