Official Thread - Wiz at Hornets (2/1/11)

[Kanyewest]

Honestly, there is no reason Blatche and Wall can't be a lesser version of Paul and West, yet how many screen and rolls do we see between the two of them? Virtually zero.

I put that on Flip, if not the entire coaching staff.

Except for the fact that David West has a decent jumper whereas Blatche does not.

[ErikChowbay023]

Blatche has a nice jumper!! What are you on about? Its been off this year, but his entire game has been off this year as a result of the broken foot and successive nagging injuries.

[dlts20]

Like 5 games ago Ive noticed that Dray's body look different. Like he's slimmed down and doesnt have that added fat he had all season. He has no muscles and all that but atleast he's got the weight off which makes him a bit quicker so now its just all about energy & effort with him. He hasnt played with much of that on a consistent basis lately but I wouldnt be shocked at all to see him continue from tonight and finish the year off strong again which will give some hope for next year.

I liked how both him & NY drove & went inside more. I hope Dray gets that its ok to do that and that his shooting percentage will go way up while I hope NY realizes that his J will be easier to get if he mixes it up with drives more. I like the fact that we are letting NY handle the ball more on drives instead of just letting Wall do everything while others finish.

I also still see that when Lewis sets a pick he stays there and Wall easily gets in the lane but it doesnt happen with nearly anyone else, except maybe Booker. Thats all Flip's fault. He's hindering our easiest play. I still will also love to see more of NY in the post, espically against smaller guys. Probably time to start McGee with Dray again and see how we finish out the year. I like the way that we are still competeing on the road for the most part even if we do still come up with the L

[ErikChowbay023]

I want wins, and I wanna sneak in the playoffs. But for right now, All I wanna see is effort,competitiveness from our core players.

[TheBigThree]

Honestly, there is no reason Blatche and Wall can't be a lesser version of Paul and West, yet how many screen and rolls do we see between the two of them? Virtually zero.

I put that on Flip, if not the entire coaching staff.

Except for the fact that David West has a decent jumper whereas Blatche does not.

You're right, Blatche's jumper is better than decent.

I know the statistics don't agree with my argument, but the level of difficulty on the average Blatche jumper versus the average West jumper is HEAVILY skewed in West's favor, due to the fact that they have a legitimate offense in place.

Regardless, even if Blatche's jumper was poor, he'd get 10x easier looks than he is getting now if we set some high screens that weren't solely made for Wall to (try to) blow around and get to the rim.

[hands11]

Honestly, there is no reason Blatche and Wall can't be a lesser version of Paul and West, yet how many screen and rolls do we see between the two of them? Virtually zero.

I put that on Flip, if not the entire coaching staff.

Except for the fact that David West has a decent jumper whereas Blatche does not.

Come on now. We all know Dray has shown he can have a wet J. His problem now is that he is shooting Nick Young styled off balanced shots to much. He seems to have lost his game while playing injured and on a team that has lots of holes. He started the year with an injured summer, turned into an injured knee and now has turned into an injured shoulder. He was rusty, out of shape and he has been trying to do to much on a team that had few other options that were better. They didn't even have a reliable back up PF until they added Lewis. Lets remember, no one was thinking Nick would end up being their best player this year. That player was supposed to be Dray or even Gil.

Most his seasons here he played Center so he didn't have the ball in hand as much. He would play more like CB and he was a second unit player who wasn't even a first option. He had a nice glue game where he passed, rebounded, made some moves to the hoop, shot the on balance mid range and once in a while took it father out, showing range to the three line. He can hit his FTs and he can help bring it up if needed.

What is encouraging is that he is at least facing the basket more now looking for the pass. Next thing he needs to do to correct his game is stop with the Nick Young moves and just play on balance more. He needs to get back to his basic game and basic moves and get that working again. He seems to have lost his way while he was looking to expand his game and return to last years form.

Instead he seems to be playing like he is on a team that is rebuilding where he has been given the green light to try whatever shot he wants because it's not about this season as much as it is about growing your game so you test out different things on the court to see what works. If you make some mistakes, that's ok. Kind of like the green light Gil was given the first year he was here. The same green light Nick has been given and the same one Wall have been given.

Those three players have been give the green light to shoot it appears. What they do with it is up to them for the most part. NIck has done the best while Dray and Wall have struggled. Why those three and not McGee ? Well how many green lights can you give on one team ? And McGee isn't a ball handler. Nick is a pure scorer and has done well with his green light. Check. Wall is the #1 pick. Check. And Dray showed he could do something with it last year. Rondo, Allen, KG with no PP only Dray is more like a less experienced injured Lamar right now trying to be a Dirk or PP.

It's the team as a package that leads to this. It's a lack of established talent in a rebuilding year.

[closg00]

NEW ORLEANS (AP)—Jason Smith(notes) might be a better center than he thought.

The reserve power forward scored a career-high 20 points in a rare start at center and the New Orleans Hornets defeated Washington 97-89 on Tuesday night, dropping the Wizards to 0-25 on the road.

[cwb3]

I was going to watch the game, but instead decided to trim my dogs toenails.

By the game thread it sounds like more of the same:
A couple glimmers of good play and/or meaningless stat padding.
Bad defense and/or bad refs.
Playing hurt and/or playing suck.

More three guard lineups?!? I had HOPED that went away when Eddie Jordan got fired.

[closg00]

I was going to watch the game, but instead decided to trim my dogs toenails.

By the game thread it sounds like more of the same:
A couple glimmers of good play and/or meaningless stat padding.
Bad defense and/or bad refs.
Playing hurt and/or playing suck.

More three guard lineups?!? I had HOPED that went away when Eddie Jordan got fired.