Wiz 2010 General Season Tracker - Grading - How we doing ?

[hands11]

Thanks Hoop

Nice find.

Well, it does seem time to turn up the heat on accountability. Glad to see Dray stepping up as a leader to call the meeting. It may amount to nothing but at the same time, sometimes it is small things like this that can be the start of things changing.

Step 1 - Admit you have a problem

I mean, this team has 5 players that are 6-11 to 7-1 and they are all young enough to give full effort.
They also have a guy 6-9 275 who is very athletic.

Now, we know two of them are so young and raw that we don't even count them but with all that height, youth and athleticism, you have to figure out a way to get some rebounds. Personally, Im past being ready to give some other players a chance as I said in previous posts. Actually, I wanted Seraphin to get more minutes in pre season because I felt he was going to be a key. We have to find a way to get big boy on the court.

I mean, if McGee isn't going to get in the right position, lets see Seraphin and Booker.
If Yi wants to only play like a SF, then either use him that way or sit him on the bench.
At least with Seraphin, Booker, Hudson, Martin and even Armstrong, you know they will give you the effort and they are coachable.

I know people bust on Armstrong at this point, but I would grade him above all the other bigs except Dray as the best effort and most coachable defensive center on the team. He may not be great, but I think it is more likely to coach him up to be a space eater in the post that it is likely McGees light goes on this year. We need reliable. McGee can come off the bench as the back up PF. Let Armstrong, Seraphin and Hamady play center.

I would give the kid a start and see what he does. And move Yi to back up SF. That is what he fancies himself. He actually plays good perimeter D and he shoots well from outside.

Always seems like we aren't lining up the pieces to max what we have because we trying to turn a player into something they aren't or we are afraid to try a younger player. What we are doing isn't working so why not try something different.

[Hoopalotta]

Dame, we're "leading" the league in 16-23 foot (2 point) jumpshot attempts at 29.7 a game while our accuracy there is 18th (36.9%). That alone would kill the efficiency.

Our finishing at the rim is 9th, but we're just 20th in total attempts.

We're 22nd in 3-PT attempts and 19th in accuracy.

10th in free throw attempts, 15th in accuracy.

29th in turnover percentage.

We're at the 5th fastest pace, so that skews some of the figures a bit.

But, the offense is rated 29th on efficiency, ahead of 'Sota, which is actually much worse than the defense.

http://hoopdata.com/teamshotlocs.aspx
http://espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/teamst ... rder/false
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/team/ ... sAttempted

[closg00]

Sounds like we might have some rookie bigs coming into the rotation soon.

Flip on the Bigs: There's some opportunity out there. There's some guys who haven't played that are going to have an opportunity to bust in and get more playing time.

Hopefully, that would mean Seraphin, though Booker might be more likely. It would not be surprising if Yi were the one pinched out.

There was a team meeting with the bigs too.

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2010/11/8 ... #storyjump

We're also giving up the worst field goal percentage at the rim in the league at 73.3% (30th) on 17.6 makes (29th).

http://hoopdata.com/oteamshotlocs.aspx

I'll post the team stats in here from now on.....

Worth noting that as of now we're...

27th in offensive efficiency: 95.5 points per 100 possessions
25th in defensive efficiency: 106.8 points per 100 possessions
29th in Rebounding rate: 45.7%
29th in Scoring differential: -11.6 PPG

Really? Not as-long as Flip is coach.

[hands11]

Maybe this fits better in here.

Just an idea.

Just like we do for POTG when we win, how about a post game grading of Flip game by game ?
Then we can tally it up at the end of the year.

Not sure if we do it in here or if we start of new thread after each game.

Or, we could do a post game grading of coach and players. Kind of like they do post game for the Skins on TV.

Bobcats vs Wiz in DC

Flip - B He lost his only solid SF and still has no reliable center.
Offense C had Gil hit a few of those open looks, we could have won.
Defense C they played so solid D at time. Even in the zone. Good sign. Blocks and turnover also.
Refs - D or F four obvious missed calls

Then by player
Starters
Wall B Poor D but great assist low turnover
Kirk A - just a solid game
AT - injured before game but played no grade. Played poorly before leaving
Dray - A hot start but they got away from him.
McGee - D No position D or rebounds

Bench
Gil - B Great game except for his shot wasnt falling
Yi - C lots of energy and blocks but not enough rebounds
Armstrong - B did well in limited minutes
Nick - B he was hot shooting but no rebounds or assists. Go talk to him Gil.

Martin - DNP
Booker - DNP
Seraphin - DNP - NA ?

Hudson - DNP - NA ?
Howard - DNP - NA - Injured
Hamady - DNP - NA


Then we can tally that up and grade the team.

Just an idea I thought may be fun to do.

[hands11]

Vs Chigago L 103-96 2-6
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1066365&start=225

So early, so dinged up already.

Wall - Foot injury in a walking boot
Yi - Got an MRI and it showed nothing. He is already practicing
Dray - Knee swelling. Says he may miss the next game if it doesn't clear up

So they are talking like Wall will miss this next game so I guess Gil is going to start. Hopefully they don't just play Kirk 45 minutes but instead give Hudson some run.

Hopefully they rest Yi because it's time to get some other people on the court. Let unwrap Seraphin and Booker. Lets get the future started. We need to get the muscle out there. It's fine to have some finesse players but you can't be a team of them.

Of our bigs, Dray, Yi, McGee are all finesse players and they are getting more the minutes.
AT shows both power and finesse so I'm fine with with him if he is healthy.
Armstrong is in between but a least he has won a defensive award before.
Booker and Seraphin are the beef. We need to work them in more.

[hands11]

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=988094&p=25708385#p25708385


5-8 and 3-2 over the last 5 games against average team and an OT loss to DET in DET. And the refs have blown chunks give us tons of terrible calls along the way. That will change as we win more.

The story of the day. MCGEE
Its all about McGee right now. He is on a five game tear of rebounds and even points and blocks. He light went on and the kid is balln

Nick's light seems to have gone on also.

We just picked up Gee and cut Hudson. viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1067802
Wall just came back from missing several games with a bad ankle.
While that was happening, Gil got him game going.
Yi has been out with a hurt knee.

So things is looking pretty good. The injuries have actually timed out pretty well. Gil out to start the season for three games. Then he game off the bench. Wall and he played a few game. Then Wall out and Gil got it going. Then Hudson cut for Gee with Yi about to return which was going to probably leave Seraphin inactive. Now AT sprained his ankle so maybe Seraphin can stay active.

But the deal changer right now is McGee. We needed a starting center more than any other position and McGee seems to be answering the bell.

This team is starting to come together and looking pretty deep. Specially with Nick balln also. And we don't even have Howard back yet.

I'm still seeing the upside of us being a playoff team.

But things are going to get tough for us now.

Thu, Nov 25 @ Atlanta (8-6)
Sat, Nov 27 vs ORL (9-4)
Mon, Nov 29 @ Miami (8-6)

Two road games and we haven't won one yet. The other is ORL.
We could come out of this 5-11 and everyone will be down on the team again. If we just win one of these games that would be success. 6-10

It is not critical we beat these better team just yet, but eventually we are going to need to start doing it. For now we just need to keep them close, fight and stay healthy. As we gel, I think we will be able to win some of these. We are just building right now. You want to peak later in the year and I can see us doing that with Howard added.

[hands11]

Thu, Nov 25 @ Atlanta (8-6) L 116-96
Sat, Nov 27 vs ORL (9-4) L 100-99
Mon, Nov 29 @ Miami (8-6) L 105-94

Well, not much of a surprise here. We came out of this run loosing all three and ending up 5-11 and the board got pretty down on the team. But that was easy to see coming.

The one bright spot was the Orlando game that we lost by 1 in the last seconds. This shouldn't get lost by just looking at our record. Playing that well against one of the best teams with a strong front court was huge. Had we actually won, it would have been even huger But since we played so poorly the next two games, this good news gets buried. But I think we will be referencing this game again in the near future once we play well against another good team. We could have won with if not for the refs.

What sucked was the TOR game where we played really bad. Would have hoped we looked better there and got the win but they were on fire and the Wiz were on the road. Gil going 1-10 hurt and Nick got injured. 12 Mins 2-6. No Armstrong. No pts from Gil and Nick isn't something they can overcome.

But we made up for it the next game by beating POR with some tough D. 83-79 No Nick
That is another really good sign for such a young team. Having Wall active really seems to light the defensive fire. And having Wall, McGee and Nick give the team a spark players. We had Wall and McGee for that game. Seems we need at least two healthy at a time. All three is something I want to see next.

Through those games we didn't have Wall for most of them. McGee got pushed and injured on a hard foul but mostly played through it while recovering. Bad timing as he was breaking out as a rebounding machine. Nick got a deep thigh bruise and missed part of one game and the next. Yi was out with a bad knee and just returned 12/3 Dray is recovery from a sore knee. Armstrong got ejected and suspended for a game. AT returned for the TOR game after missing all of the three previous and most of the one before that. AT really hasn't been healthy or done much since 11/17 after a good start to the season. And we added Gee for Hudson on 11/25 WOW. That is a lot of players missing and or injured.

So now we go out West for three games against PHX, LAL, and SAC with SAC being a back to back after the LAL game. Will it be tough ? Sure. But one the bright side, we are as healthy as we have been all year. Everyone short of Howard is healthy enough to play. Well, given that Nick is ok to go.
If Nick is ready, we will have to make either Martin or Seraphin inactive. Seeing that PHX is small up front and we have McGee, Armstrong, Dray and Yi, my guess is that it will be Seraphin.

So at PHX. If we go at them in the paint early and Gil and Nick get it going from outside, we can beat them and get our first road win.

At LA. Well, hard to predict this as a win but if we can play them tough I would be happy. But if Gil and Nick can find their strokes and everyone shows up, it could be like ORL which would be huge. If we are getting blown out, we should save our energy for the next night.

AT SAC. (4-14) on a 7 game losing steak right now is winnable.

2-1 and 8-13 is doable. .380 % That would have them in 9th given the current standings.

Its the three games after this that will really important as we get NY and LA at home and NJ on the road. If we can beat NY at home and NJ on the road, that is another 2-1 run.

10-14 .416 Dec 16th with Howard do to return. I would consider that one schedule for this team and looking good for a run to a playoff birth.

[DallasShalDune]

+1 Hands. That is possible. If we lose to LA both times, but beat PHX, SAC, NJ, and NY, we are poised for a low seed. It is going to be tough to get wins against PHX and NY, though. We'll see. I'm excited for when Howard comes back to see how he'll mesh with our roster.

[fishercob]

We're a quarter of the way through the season, sitting at 6-14, on pace for 24 or 25 wins. And yet, there's plenty to be intrigued and encouraged about.

1. Wall. No explanation needed.

2. McGee, though he's cooled off of late, has shown huge signs of progress. It's no longer at all difficult to project him as a credible starting center and he's showing legit star potential.

3. Seraphin. The sample size is tiny, but he just turned 21, is earning more and more PT, and has had excellent showings against the Magic and Lakers. Body of a bully with a nasty streak to boot. He's raw but appears to be a worker. If Kendrick Perkins can start for a champion, I believe that Seraphin can grow into a major force and serious contributor on an contender.

4. Nick Young. Contract year anomaly or late bloomer finally growing up? 20 games with a PER of 18.6 is astonishing considering it was 10.7 last year and a career high of 13.1 the year before. While it's largely on the strength of torrid shooting, it's also interesting that his turnovers -- and assists -- are way down. It seems like the coaches have relieved him of any playmaking responsibilities (or maybe the credit goes to the return of Wall/Gil) and Nick is doing what he knows how. Put this guy on the floor with a set-up man who can get it to him in his spots, and it would seem he can be a credible NBA player. End of the day, I don't know if he's good enough to be a 3rd guard on a contender, but at the very least he's dramatically enhanced his value.

5. Gil's still finding his way. The shooting and turnovers must improve. That said, the fan in me is relieved to believe that he's not going anywhere for a while. There's no way they'd be bringing him off the bench of they were shopping him. They're taking the cautious, long view and bring him along slowly. Cool for now.

6. Dray Dray Dray. The skills of a throwback player are there. But so's his throwback Kevin McHale body and the continued inefficiency and poor decision making. There's a lot of work to do.

No one that draws the regular ire of the board masses -- HInrich, Yi, Armstrong -- are part of the long term plan here. They're placeholders. We haven't seen Howard yet, and by extension, haven't seen our best guys all together in their normal roles.

If we can get some sustained health, I'd expect the win rate to increase as the see people in the appropriate roles and the kids continue to gain confidence and experience. In another 20-40 games, hopefully we'll see Wall/Gil/Howard/Blatche/McGee with Hinrich and Young backing up the 1-2-3 and the Beef Bros 2.0 as the backup bigs.

I'm happy with the first quarter of the season.

[hands11]

Nice round up. Objective with a glimpse of hope.

You must of wanted to post this on a different board. LOL.

In my previous projections, I had us winning a few of those games but I didn't expect Wall to go out again and didn't see Dray missing the last two games.

The good news is that Wall and Gil got another start together and they looked good against LA, even without Dray available. Even better news is Seraphin and Booker getting their first starts out of the way. I was a bit surprised that Flip went as far as to start him over McGee, but I guess that was a message to McGee to get it rolling again since he has lost some focus since his hard fall.

While playing like crap against SAC wasn't nearly a good thing, like you said, we are still early in the process regarding getting the best of what we have on the court. We just aren't established enough or deep enough to be missing for Wall and Dray and starting Booker and Seraphin. At least AT looked like he returned to his season starting form. +1

If you take it piece by piece, there are some good stories buried and good individual process stories in there.

6-15

Next up.
Knicks at home Dec 10
LA at home Dec 14
at NJ Dec 16
Miami at hom Dec 18

Predictions at this point are impossible. Who knows who we will have at any given game. During the last game they said Howard could play at our next home stand. My guess is they are talking about the Miami one which starts 3 games at home.

My biggest concern at this point is Walls ability to play more than 1 or 2 games in a row without hurting himself. He has missed 7 of 21 games already.

Not sure what the next right move is. Do we continue to rest Wall and Dray so we get them fully healthy. I just want to see a string of games with.

Wall, Gil, AT, Dray, McGee
Kirk, Nick, Howard, Booker, Seraphin
With 11 and 12 being ?? and ??. Is it Yi and Armstrong ?

So that is the topic at hand really. Who is inactive between Gee, Martin, Armstrong and Yi
As sick as it makes most of us, you have to think one of them will be Yi. I could see it being

Yi and Armstrong. At least in the beginning. If we go like this we have 6 extra fouls to pound bigs with Armstrong and what every it is Yi gives you. A few minutes of jump shots and a bigger but to warm the bench.

[Dat2U]

The lack of energy & focus are really troubling for me. I'm honestly not very happy. If this team was 6-14 but fought tooth & nail every night I'd feel differently. But for a young team to be mailing it in seemingly half the time is very disturbing. The zone defense is my other big gripe. It's an abject disaster. A zone defense doesn't work against NBA talent night in & night out. It's a gimmicky trick defense and I'm not sure if our players are getting anything out of failing to execute it. I'd rather our team get exposed to sound defensive principles even if we struggle at it. We have the athletes and length to defend. I understand if we don't have the collective IQ to defend well but it seems like the zone defense requires even a bigger learning curve.

The health issue is also very concerning. I'm afraid it's going to take another serious injury or a key future piece complaining to the media about how team doctors botched their surgery or ruined their season before something is done. I worry Leonsis may not think it's a major issue at this point but honestly there may not be anything bigger that could bring down Leonsis' long term vision faster that our substandard medical care.

[hands11]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 05667.html

Wow. Another year of waiting for us to get everyone healthy. I think I have seen this movie before.

Currently out. Dec 10 - Wall ( Foot ) Dray ( Hip ) Howard ( Knee )

So in here they are talking about Wall and Dray maybe being available for the NY game. I just don't see how jumping the gun on bringing Wall ( FIAT) back gets us anywhere. He doesn't seem to be able to stay healthy and his wheels are tender. If he is going to come back, he needs to learn a different speed/way that allows him to be on the court while also not pushing it so hard that he hurts himself again.

Gil has seemingly done a good job of this year of doing this. He hasn't forced himself before he was ready. He built his game up game by game. I get the feeling that Gil knows how to play without hurting himself. He may not be getting as many calls as he used to but he isn't going to kill himself just to get a foul. Smarter vets can get fouls called by getting players off balance so hey just touching them at the wrong time. They dont need to get clobbered.

But Wall hurts himself the way he drives to the hoop. Like AD used to. He is a crash dummy. This goes to why a team needs it bigs to finish around the hoop. This is one reason Yi disappoints so many. He is weak finishing around the hoop. Dray is actually pretty weak doing the same. McGee used to suck at this also but he is getting better because he can jump over people. When his body gets stronger and he learns to use it better and positions/angles himself better, we should see even more improvement.

A PG doesn't need to be a crash dummy. Nash isn't. We need to get or develop some finishers. Heck, Haywood was a better finisher than anyone we currently have. He knew how to turn, get his position and go up strong and get the foul.

So with this in mind, I'm looking at AT. He drives to the hoop. He is country strong and he can shoot from the outside. He needs to start. McGee also shows some signs of being able to finish. He got stronger in the offseason and he can leap out of the gym. He just needs to be a little more patient and get himself balanced and positioned so he can finish stronger. Yi is the anti-finisher. He shouldn't be on the floor right now. Gee is a finisher type. So is Booker, even if he is raw. Hopefully Seraphin is this type also. This is where I think we need to focus. Wall needs to stop killing himself. He should mostly only drive to the hoop right now on fast breaks or to dish to a finisher. So we need them on the floor and they need to play that role.

The player this team is missing is an Amare type so longer term this is doing to be an evaluation of what to do with Dray since PF is the ideal position for a finisher. They are big enough to handle the contact and usually close enough to the hoop to do it. Do we get a vet to replace him ? Do we get a younger player with hops to back him up ? Is McGee a player who can grow into that roll as a PF/C?

SF is the other position suited for a finisher. They get beat up a little more since they are usually finishing from farther out and have a head of steam built up as they drive to the hoop. Iggy types. Rarely does an AI/Wall type stay healthy doing this. You have your Parkers or Rondo's I guess. Rondo is strong as ox though. Look at his shoulders. But these guys usually get injured like Wall is.

Nick seems to be able to drive well and handle the contact he gets.

So this is where I think our focus if we want to keep Wall healthy. AT, Nick, Gee, Booker, Seraphin and McGee need to focus on finishing. Dray also, even though he cant leap. I would say Howard but coming off his injury, that worries me.


Passers - Wall, Gil, Kirk. Dray used to be good at this also
Shooter - Gil, Nick, AT, Dray, Howard, Wall
Finisher - AT, Nick, McGee, Dray, Booker, Seraphin, Howard, Gee
Pick Setters - Booker, Seraphin, Armstrong, Dray, AT
Post D - Booker, Seraphin, Dray, McGee, Armstrong ( our weakest skill )
Perimeter D - Wall, Kirk, Nick, Howard

Wall, Gil, AT, Dray, McGee but the last three need to take it to the hole
Gil, Nick, Howard, McGee, Seraphin
Wall, Nick, AT, Dray, Armstrong

Something like that. That is 8-9 players.

Booker, Kirk, Gee or Martin in the wings.
I see no moment at which Yi would be the next right player to put in. He shoots to much. He doesn't set good picks. He finishes weak. He doesn't defend well. I see why people see his potential but how many chances do you give a fella if he isn't doing these things.

[nate33]

We're a quarter of the way through the season, sitting at 6-14, on pace for 24 or 25 wins. And yet, there's plenty to be intrigued and encouraged about.

1. Wall. No explanation needed.

2. McGee, though he's cooled off of late, has shown huge signs of progress. It's no longer at all difficult to project him as a credible starting center and he's showing legit star potential.

3. Seraphin. The sample size is tiny, but he just turned 21, is earning more and more PT, and has had excellent showings against the Magic and Lakers. Body of a bully with a nasty streak to boot. He's raw but appears to be a worker. If Kendrick Perkins can start for a champion, I believe that Seraphin can grow into a major force and serious contributor on an contender.

4. Nick Young. Contract year anomaly or late bloomer finally growing up? 20 games with a PER of 18.6 is astonishing considering it was 10.7 last year and a career high of 13.1 the year before. While it's largely on the strength of torrid shooting, it's also interesting that his turnovers -- and assists -- are way down. It seems like the coaches have relieved him of any playmaking responsibilities (or maybe the credit goes to the return of Wall/Gil) and Nick is doing what he knows how. Put this guy on the floor with a set-up man who can get it to him in his spots, and it would seem he can be a credible NBA player. End of the day, I don't know if he's good enough to be a 3rd guard on a contender, but at the very least he's dramatically enhanced his value.

5. Gil's still finding his way. The shooting and turnovers must improve. That said, the fan in me is relieved to believe that he's not going anywhere for a while. There's no way they'd be bringing him off the bench of they were shopping him. They're taking the cautious, long view and bring him along slowly. Cool for now.

6. Dray Dray Dray. The skills of a throwback player are there. But so's his throwback Kevin McHale body and the continued inefficiency and poor decision making. There's a lot of work to do.

No one that draws the regular ire of the board masses -- HInrich, Yi, Armstrong -- are part of the long term plan here. They're placeholders. We haven't seen Howard yet, and by extension, haven't seen our best guys all together in their normal roles.

If we can get some sustained health, I'd expect the win rate to increase as the see people in the appropriate roles and the kids continue to gain confidence and experience. In another 20-40 games, hopefully we'll see Wall/Gil/Howard/Blatche/McGee with Hinrich and Young backing up the 1-2-3 and the Beef Bros 2.0 as the backup bigs.

I'm happy with the first quarter of the season.

Way to keep things in perspective. It's true that we really should only care about half of the team: Wall, McGee, Blatche, Gil, Young, Seraphin and Booker. Of that group, McGee has far exceeded my expectations; Wall, Young, and Seraphin have exceeded my expectations, and Booker is about what I expected. I'm disappointed in Gil and very disappointed in Blatche. Overall, I guess that's not THAT bad.

We went 6-14 over the first 20 games. If we go 7-14 over the next 21, 8-12 over the 20 games after that, and 11-10 in the final 21, we'll end up with a 32-win season and feel like a .500 team because of a strong finish. That would be a reasonably successful season.

[doclinkin]

We're a quarter of the way through the season, sitting at 6-14, on pace for 24 or 25 wins. And yet, there's plenty to be intrigued and encouraged about.

1. Wall. No explanation needed.

2. McGee, though he's cooled off of late, has shown huge signs of progress. It's no longer at all difficult to project him as a credible starting center and he's showing legit star potential.

3. Seraphin. The sample size is tiny, but he just turned 21, is earning more and more PT, and has had excellent showings against the Magic and Lakers. Body of a bully with a nasty streak to boot. He's raw but appears to be a worker. If Kendrick Perkins can start for a champion, I believe that Seraphin can grow into a major force and serious contributor on an contender.

4. Nick Young. Contract year anomaly or late bloomer finally growing up? 20 games with a PER of 18.6 is astonishing considering it was 10.7 last year and a career high of 13.1 the year before. While it's largely on the strength of torrid shooting, it's also interesting that his turnovers -- and assists -- are way down. It seems like the coaches have relieved him of any playmaking responsibilities (or maybe the credit goes to the return of Wall/Gil) and Nick is doing what he knows how. Put this guy on the floor with a set-up man who can get it to him in his spots, and it would seem he can be a credible NBA player. End of the day, I don't know if he's good enough to be a 3rd guard on a contender, but at the very least he's dramatically enhanced his value.

5. Gil's still finding his way. The shooting and turnovers must improve. That said, the fan in me is relieved to believe that he's not going anywhere for a while. There's no way they'd be bringing him off the bench of they were shopping him. They're taking the cautious, long view and bring him along slowly. Cool for now.

6. Dray Dray Dray. The skills of a throwback player are there. But so's his throwback Kevin McHale body and the continued inefficiency and poor decision making. There's a lot of work to do.

No one that draws the regular ire of the board masses -- HInrich, Yi, Armstrong -- are part of the long term plan here. They're placeholders. We haven't seen Howard yet, and by extension, haven't seen our best guys all together in their normal roles.

If we can get some sustained health, I'd expect the win rate to increase as the see people in the appropriate roles and the kids continue to gain confidence and experience. In another 20-40 games, hopefully we'll see Wall/Gil/Howard/Blatche/McGee with Hinrich and Young backing up the 1-2-3 and the Beef Bros 2.0 as the backup bigs.

I'm happy with the first quarter of the season.

Way to keep things in perspective. It's true that we really should only care about half of the team: Wall, McGee, Blatche, Gil, Young, Seraphin and Booker. Of that group, McGee has far exceeded my expectations; Wall, Young, and Seraphin have exceeded my expectations, and Booker is about what I expected. I'm disappointed in Gil and very disappointed in Blatche. Overall, I guess that's not THAT bad.

We went 6-14 over the first 20 games. If we go 7-14 over the next 21, 8-12 over the 20 games after that, and 11-10 in the final 21, we'll end up with a 32-win season and feel like a .500 team because of a strong finish. That would be a reasonably successful season.

And your boy doc would once again qualify for cool rock steady status as a prognosticator. As would anyone who took the 'under' on the Vegas odds. Easy money.

[Dat2U]

Fish, Hands, Nate... please pass me some of what your smoking. It's quite honorable to attempt to be optimistic but my gosh, it seems like reality is being ignored.

I love Wall, but my biggest fears about him are coming true. His reckless style of play leads to him getting banged up a lot which means he's in the care of our much maligned medical staff. And considering his foot injury is getting WORSE not better, I'm freaking scared to death of what might happen down the road.

Gil is still figuring out his role & working out the kinks. He's had his moments and but really seems to look bad on back-2-backs like he did in Sacramento. Not a good sign for our $17 million dollar man.

Our starting C of the future and arguably our second brightest prospect, Javale McGee put together a nice stretch, only to regress and get benched in favor of a guy so raw, no one thought he'd play this year.

Our starting PF of the future who we just signed to a huge extension has been playing like he's been stuck in cement all season and hasn't fully recovered from his injuries and his play has seriously regressed.

EG's offseason acquisitions have been miserable. Hinrich, while the numbers say he's played decently, isn't a really good fit with the current roster and has a coach that seems to over value his contributions. It would be easier to swallow if he had an expiring deal but he doesn't. Yi has been a disaster and just like his previous stops, significantly makes his team worse when he plays. Hr and Armstrong are wastes of roster space.

Seraphin & Booker have shown flashes but anyone crowning them starters of the future is jumping the gun. I'm more optimistic about both than I was before the season, but outside of the Laker game, neither has provided much.

Nick Young has truly been the only pleasant surprise. Mainly b/c he's making shots at an incredible rate. One wonders can he keep up those shooting percentages all year long. What happens when he hits a cold spell as most shooters do during the season? Does he have enough confidence and does he bring enough to the table to withstand a sustained stretch of missing shots? Only time will tell.

I know were rebuilding. I'm not judging this team on its record. I'm judging on the progress & growth of the key pieces. The effort & energy we see each night. Are we competing? Do we have any fight? Are we playing any smarter? That's where red flags are a plenty. We get blown out to a terrible Sacramento Kings team and you guys say everything is fine & dandy? Really? What team are y'all following?

I see little difference b/w the '08/09 & '09/10 seasons and now. The names and ages of the players may have changed but everything remains the same. Were dumb as rocks, we don't play defense and were the ointment for what ails every other team in the league.

The brightness of Wall's aura might make things seem a little better than they are. Yeah, we got a legit star, if we can somehow keep him upright (and I'm praying about that). But just imagine if we walked out of that draft with anyone but John Wall. This roster and this organization would have no hope. Ernie & Flip may get short term reprieve b/c of Wall's presence but their walking the fine line of an abject disaster of a year.

[nate33]

Dat2U, it looks like your biggest concern is Wall's health. I can't argue there. I'm assuming that Wall will get healthy soon and start playing like he did pre-injury. Obviously, if health is a long term issue, then we're completely screwed as a franchise.

I'm also not as quick to think that McGee has regressed. McGee was awful in Phoenix because Nash just humiliated him with the pick and roll. Then he had a modestly sub-par game in LA against the second-best center in the league. He played fine in Sacramento, just with fewer minutes. I figure he'll have one more bad game against New York because D'Antoni's system is designed to expose poor pick-and-roll defense. After that, I think he'll be back on track posting double doubles and getting 30+ minutes a night.

The real problem here is Blatche's intensity and Arenas' bad shooting and turnover rate. Unfortunately, I'm starting to resign myself to the fact that you can't teach a motor. Blatche's default demeanor is to be a lazy ball-watcher on defense. He'll have spurts when he really concentrates and plays good D, but he'll always relapse. I'm afraid he's destined to be the next Lamar Odom. He'll always tantalize, but he's better off as a bench player because of his inconsistency. I hope I'm wrong.

I'm starting to have serious doubts about Arenas too. He has looked slow out there. He's not a good enough ball handler to get away with playing with the ball in traffic at half speed. Without his explosion, he's a turnover machine.

[verbal8]

The real problem here is Blatche's intensity and Arenas' bad shooting and turnover rate. Unfortunately, I'm starting to resign myself to the fact that you can't teach a motor. Blatche's default demeanor is to be a lazy ball-watcher on defense. He'll have spurts when he really concentrates and plays good D, but he'll always relapse. I'm afraid he's destined to be the next Lamar Odom. He'll always tantalize, but he's better off as a bench player because of his inconsistency. I hope I'm wrong.

I definitely see the Odom/Blatche similarity. I think it is not so much that they can't be starters, but that they are exposed when they are in a "starring" role. One thing that is promising about the Odom comparison is that Odom has increased his efficiency later in his career.

[closg00]

CSNWashington.com's Frank Hanrahan says Flip Saunders has lost the team.

http://www.csnwashington.com/12/09/10/H ... eedID=7433

ESPN980's Jay Glassie blogs on why Ernie should be fired
http://www.espn980.com/includes/blog/in ... st_id=1653

Usually when things like this start coming out, someone takes the fall if there isn't an improvement....could just end-up being ticket sales.

[Wizards2Lottery]

CSNWashington.com's Frank Hanrahan says Flip Saunders has lost the team.

http://www.csnwashington.com/12/09/10/H ... eedID=7433

ESPN980's Jay Glassie blogs on why Ernie should be fired
http://www.espn980.com/includes/blog/in ... st_id=1653

Usually when things like this start coming out, someone takes the fall if there isn't an improvement....could just end-up being ticket sales.

Ted isn't stupid. The Capitals had raw talent but they weren't producing. I remember the old Caps coach Glen Hanlon would use Nicklas Backstrom as a fourth string center. Mike Green had shown at the AHL level that he could be a highly skilled offensive defenseman but wasn't having the same success in the NHL.

People were wondering why such highly touted prospects were struggling at the NHL level. The Capitals core at that point (Ovi, Semin, Backstrom, Green) was not producing at the level they should have. Ovechkin was but he wasn't playing like that dominant athlete he is.

Ted and McPhee decided to fire Hanlon and promoted Boudreau from the AHL level. At that point Boudreau wasn't really supposed to turn out to be what he is today. It was more of a "Get the old coach out and find a short term replacement". All of a sudden the Capitals went from being DEAD LAST in the league to winning their division and making it to the playoffs as the third seed.

Believe me, if this continues, Flip won't be here for too long. We've seen player development but the team cohesion is just not there.

[hands11]

Fish, Hands, Nate... please pass me some of what your smoking. It's quite honorable to attempt to be optimistic but my gosh, it seems like reality is being ignored.

I love Wall, but my biggest fears about him are coming true. His reckless style of play leads to him getting banged up a lot which means he's in the care of our much maligned medical staff. And considering his foot injury is getting WORSE not better, I'm freaking scared to death of what might happen down the road.

Gil is still figuring out his role & working out the kinks. He's had his moments and but really seems to look bad on back-2-backs like he did in Sacramento. Not a good sign for our $17 million dollar man.

Our starting C of the future and arguably our second brightest prospect, Javale McGee put together a nice stretch, only to regress and get benched in favor of a guy so raw, no one thought he'd play this year.

Our starting PF of the future who we just signed to a huge extension has been playing like he's been stuck in cement all season and hasn't fully recovered from his injuries and his play has seriously regressed.

EG's offseason acquisitions have been miserable. Hinrich, while the numbers say he's played decently, isn't a really good fit with the current roster and has a coach that seems to over value his contributions. It would be easier to swallow if he had an expiring deal but he doesn't. Yi has been a disaster and just like his previous stops, significantly makes his team worse when he plays. Hr and Armstrong are wastes of roster space.

Seraphin & Booker have shown flashes but anyone crowning them starters of the future is jumping the gun. I'm more optimistic about both than I was before the season, but outside of the Laker game, neither has provided much.

Nick Young has truly been the only pleasant surprise. Mainly b/c he's making shots at an incredible rate. One wonders can he keep up those shooting percentages all year long. What happens when he hits a cold spell as most shooters do during the season? Does he have enough confidence and does he bring enough to the table to withstand a sustained stretch of missing shots? Only time will tell.

I know were rebuilding. I'm not judging this team on its record. I'm judging on the progress & growth of the key pieces. The effort & energy we see each night. Are we competing? Do we have any fight? Are we playing any smarter? That's where red flags are a plenty. We get blown out to a terrible Sacramento Kings team and you guys say everything is fine & dandy? Really? What team are y'all following?

I see little difference b/w the '08/09 & '09/10 seasons and now. The names and ages of the players may have changed but everything remains the same. Were dumb as rocks, we don't play defense and were the ointment for what ails every other team in the league.

The brightness of Wall's aura might make things seem a little better than they are. Yeah, we got a legit star, if we can somehow keep him upright (and I'm praying about that). But just imagine if we walked out of that draft with anyone but John Wall. This roster and this organization would have no hope. Ernie & Flip may get short term reprieve b/c of Wall's presence but their walking the fine line of an abject disaster of a year.

Not sure what your reading. I just went back and read what I wrote and I had plenty of concerns. I gave some praise and credit where is was due but stated major concern over Walls style of play, ability to stay on the court and what we need to do to give us the best chance so he can stay on the court. I see little hope of us getting over the hump if Wall, Gil and Nick are not getting most the minutes at guard.

Your post isn't really all that different in substance then the things I and others wrote about. You flavored it a little different and focused on a few different things but not much really. You got in a good shot a EG for example.

Seems if I and others are smoking something, you busted into our stash.