Game Thread - Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks

[hands11]

I'm getting tired of this coaching staff. Bench Wall & Dray until they get healthy. Dray is looking extra slow and Wall is still limping. Are we trying to ruin Wall's career already?

Wall did come up lame again

I'm not going to rock with the tide with this team. It's just one game and it's still early. There is still to much good that can be the focus. McGee and nick are great stories. Also really happy Seraphin got minutes. Same with hamady. Big picture

What I want to see is balance of playing who is hot with investing in seraphin n Booker since we need the muscle. I'm actually least concerned with wall and the need to start him. He has been injured and not playing well. The hottest players are Gil nick n McGee.

I'd bring wall off the bench for now. Start Gil. This whole who's team it is idea for such a young team with some quality vets in Gil and Howard just seems silly. We don't have a winning team with a Kobe or Kirk. Just be a team right now. Draft position does matter.

Gil n Kirk are mostly healthy and both vets so you can start them. Or Gil and nick with Booker dray and McGee would work. Booker will set picks and add the thoughness needed. Gil and nick can score. Both have range. Nick can drive. With this line up Booker adds the beef to balance with stays game and McGee can do what he has been doing.

Right now starting wall n Gil isn't a great idea. Let them play together as you work through the rotations. And given how wall is playing n his injury and his experience, I'd start Gil. He has earned that with his play and attitude. There is plenty of time for wall to start later.

[dlts20]

Meh, Flip didn't lose this game. Everyone is busting on Hinrich and Blatche, but they were the only guys on the team that scored in the 1st quarter. The Hawks built a 16 point lead in the 1st, it would have been much worse if Booker or Seraphin was on the floor in place of Blatche. And let's not make it sound like Nick Young in place of Hinrich would have solved the size problem. Marvin Williams posted Nick up several times and scored on him at will.

Seraphin looked decent in garbage time against scrubs, but Horford and/or Smith would have taken him to school.

There was no magic combination of players that would have made much difference. Our problem was that we were sorely outmatched up front and on the glass, and we made way too many stupid mistakes on defense. Atlanta is going to beat us 8 out of 10 games based on talent and experience alone. Factor in home court advantage and our injuries, and we had no chance.

At first blush, my only coaching complaint was that Nick Young probably could have played a few more minutes. But then I looked at the game flows and I see that Flip really didn't do anything wrong. He got Young in at the 9 minute mark in the 1st quarter, which is typically when a coach goes to his bench. Young played well so Flip left him in until the 2:40 mark of the 2nd quarter, when Young was probably getting a bit tired. Flip brought young in earlier in the 3rd quarter (with 5 minutes to go) and left him into the game until it was pure garbage time.

Count me in with those who are tired of seeing Blatche hobble up and down the court playing at half speed. If he can't go 100%, then sit him. If he isn't injured and this is his version of 100%, then he needs to sit until he's ready to give a better effort.

Ive already said that Kirk looked good but he always looks good in the 3 guard lineup. Gil & Wall dont. It doesnt work. Its not about ripping Kirk. Its just a bad mix. Gil & Wall will never play like they can. Kirk will because it doesnt effect his game much. Just put him on the bench Flip

[dobrojim]

my take on this was disappointment that the 3 Gs
couldn't get into any kind of offensive flow. We were
struggling to get even $hit shots. This is where N1
really helps since he can get his own seemingly
at will of late.

The poor O on our part led to great O on their
part. The steamroller got warmed up and it was
all downhill after that.

Dray does seem to be playing in slo-mo.
That said he was the main offensive threat
until N1 came in the game. There was
a couple times when the refs allowed
Smith to rape Dray with nothing called.
The refs knew who 'should' win the game.


Gil went mental again, couldn't hit anything until
it didn't matter. Except for the one really bad TO,
he didn't play badly except for the shot not being there.
Again the mental thing though. He appears reluctant
to drive when he gets no love from the stripes.

Wall should probably sit although he didn't seem
injured on Tues. Or maybe he did. I'm not seeing
the Johnny Rocket burst of speed that he had
early in the season when he was a one man fast break
even when it seemed like the other team was back.

McGee played OK - got over 10 boards again but
needs to figure out a better approach to guarding
Horford (which raises the question of CCJ's wanting
him to play PF since that is what Horford really is).
Pachulia is a thug. Shoulda gotten a flagrant on the one
foul.

Dick Stockton is a moron. Had his mind set on how
to (mis) pronounce both Gee and Javale. CWebb didn't
bother me as much as I feared he might.

Maybe we'll win our first road game in MIA. That would
be sweet. Not counting on it though.

Speaking of MIA and the coverage of our game, it was funny
or annoying, take your pick, how at the half they didn't even
talk about our game. Kenny Smith kept saying it was coaching
that is causing them to lose close games. I'm not sure he's right.
I think it is the motivation of the rest of the league to beat
these guys that they are facing every night. It's self inflicted
and well deserved. It'll be like a season of them playing against
playoff level competition. At least the talk has stopped about
how LeTravel is going to avg a triple double and how they
were going to beat the CHI record for wins. What a joke.

[other21]

Was there last night with the wife and kids. Their warmup looked horrible and Blatche worked out for an hour (exactly 54 minutes) with Sam C before the game. Hard game between the two where my wife was saying "he isn't going to have anything left in the tank"

McGee was working on freethrows and everyone else was in the locker room.

I know you guys are going to kill me, but I like our team when Kirk is running the point. They are looking for him too much when placed at SG.

ATL was ready for them, they are better now, and no one on this board expected us to win. Heck Steve smith had 12 points and 12 boards before the half...


Fun night, too bad we were not ready to play

[Hoopalotta]

Was there last night with the wife and kids. Their warmup looked horrible and Blatche worked out for an hour (exactly 54 minutes) with Sam C before the game. Hard game between the two where my wife was saying "he isn't going to have anything left in the tank"

McGee was working on freethrows and everyone else was in the locker room.

Oh, I think we'll have plenty left to tank......oh, wait, you meant.....

Actually, that is good news about those being the two guys working before the game got going. If I could pick two guys to be putting some extra time in as far as helping out long term future, those would be the two. And, as it so happens, Javale has been steady from the line in the past couple. Good signs.

[Jimmy Recard]

I know you guys are going to kill me, but I like our team when Kirk is running the point. They are looking for him too much when placed at SG.

ATL was ready for them, they are better now, and no one on this board expected us to win. Heck Steve smith had 12 points and 12 boards before the half...

Agreed. I think that's why he and Gil really play well together, as opposed to Wall and Kirk. Kirk is not a 2 and never has been. Wall doesn't look good playing off the ball (at this stage), so i'd keep the Wall-Kirk combo limited at this stage. I'd have Kirk coming off the bench and pairing with Gilbert and/or Young when in, with Kirk handling the ball. The three-guard lineup was just garbage, both offensively and defensively. I hope that's the last we see of it.

And it was clear that ATL came in prepared for the zone, after having some trouble with it last time. Flip should've made some early adjusments when they continued to bury us from the perimeter.

Oh well, Atlanta's a veteran team and a damn good one that'll probably win 50+ games. The loss isn't disappointing. It's more that we continued to make the bone-headed mistakes over and over. Not boxing out, late closing out on shooters, no ball movement on offence.

The road jitters are definitely a concern. Young team i know, but It's amazing how bad we look away from home. The way we're looking, winning 10-12 games on the road this season would be a stretch.

[Hoopalotta]

It wasn't the foot. If you are wondering why he didn't have that usual giddy-up, that extra burst that allows him to go on those don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it, one-man fast breaks on Thursday against the Atlanta Hawks, John Wall said after the Wizards' 116-96 loss, "My foot's fine."

But as he got dressed in front of his locker room stall, Wall did reveal that he was dealing with another ailment. "I got a bruise under my knee when I got tackled last game," Wall said, mentioning that he had been experiencing some soreness in his left leg since absorbing a hard foul against Philadelphia. "When it gets warm it gets better."

Yeah, I'm not surprised it's not even the foot; there were about two plays in the Philly game where he just got slammed to the ground under the hoop. Horrible to watch and he might need to start wearing some protection on his knees.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... again.html

After the game, Wall brought up the newest malady, which he said occurred when he was tackled during the Wizards' 116-114 overtime win against Philadelphia on Monday. Wall's activity this afternoon consisted of stretching and riding the exercise bicycle, and he is scheduled to undergo additional treatment today at 4.

"I don't know. It's a possibility," Saunders said when asked if the severity of the injury was such that at Wall might be unavailable against the Magic.

Really hoping he sits out.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/wizard ... t-for.html

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

my take on this was disappointment that the 3 Gs
couldn't get into any kind of offensive flow. We were
struggling to get even $hit shots. This is where N1
really helps since he can get his own seemingly
at will of late.

The poor O on our part led to great O on their
part. The steamroller got warmed up and it was
all downhill after that.

Dray does seem to be playing in slo-mo.
That said he was the main offensive threat
until N1 came in the game. There was
a couple times when the refs allowed
Smith to rape Dray with nothing called.
The refs knew who 'should' win the game.


Gil went mental again, couldn't hit anything until
it didn't matter. Except for the one really bad TO,
he didn't play badly except for the shot not being there.
Again the mental thing though. He appears reluctant
to drive when he gets no love from the stripes.

Wall should probably sit although he didn't seem
injured on Tues. Or maybe he did. I'm not seeing
the Johnny Rocket burst of speed that he had
early in the season when he was a one man fast break
even when it seemed like the other team was back.

McGee played OK - got over 10 boards again but
needs to figure out a better approach to guarding
Horford (which raises the question of CCJ's wanting
him to play PF since that is what Horford really is). Pachulia is a thug. Shoulda gotten a flagrant on the one
foul.

Dick Stockton is a moron. Had his mind set on how
to (mis) pronounce both Gee and Javale. CWebb didn't
bother me as much as I feared he might.

Maybe we'll win our first road game in MIA. That would
be sweet. Not counting on it though.

Speaking of MIA and the coverage of our game, it was funny
or annoying, take your pick, how at the half they didn't even
talk about our game. Kenny Smith kept saying it was coaching
that is causing them to lose close games. I'm not sure he's right.
I think it is the motivation of the rest of the league to beat
these guys that they are facing every night. It's self inflicted
and well deserved. It'll be like a season of them playing against
playoff level competition. At least the talk has stopped about
how LeTravel is going to avg a triple double and how they
were going to beat the CHI record for wins. What a joke.

jim, if Horford's typical of most PFs then NO WAY is Javale a PF. I'm flat wrong. McGee was embarassed on that play because Al drove right past him and threw it down.

I saw that power slam Al Horford threw down in Javale's grill!

In the post, however, Horford has to fake a lot to get the shot off and past McGee's outstretched hands. Good call, jim.

Makes me think about McGee, defensively at PF.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Was there last night with the wife and kids. Their warmup looked horrible and Blatche worked out for an hour (exactly 54 minutes) with Sam C before the game. Hard game between the two where my wife was saying "he isn't going to have anything left in the tank"

McGee was working on freethrows and everyone else was in the locker room.

I know you guys are going to kill me, but I like our team when Kirk is running the point. They are looking for him too much when placed at SG.

ATL was ready for them, they are better now, and no one on this board expected us to win. Heck Steve smith had 12 points and 12 boards before the half...


Fun night, too bad we were not ready to play

other21, I don't know if it was just that game or what, but I totally agree.

That game would have been entirely different with Hinrich and Young at the G spots early. Hinrich was running the team quite well, initially. Gil missed some shots badly, and the Wizards with three guards were playing soft. Blatche had it going early but momentum shifted with Smith blocking his shot and with Joe Johnson and later, Jamal Crawford getting off.

I kept thinking Gil is killing this team tonight. He's bricking and Andray Blatche is nowhere to be found on the boards. The Wizards needed to lose the small lineup, but against ATL is seemed to me Gil and Wall needed to be off the court; Nick Young and either Martin or Gee should have been in the game.

Hinrich and Young, IMO, is the best defensive guard lineup.

Hindsight is better than 20/20. Looking at how Atlanta was just killing the Wizards with athleticism, I think the best lineup that Flip could have used for a short while to match their energy and to defend with would have been Hinrich, Young, Gee, Seraphin, and McGee.

Gil was tremendous in the second half but the game was decided by then. Andray faded fast and IMO, like John Wall, he's still injured and needs to be resting.

Hinrich looked good running the team the other night.