GT Wiz loose to heat 2/25/11

[myrak433]

Crawford air balled his first shot but he had a sweet 180 layup which should have been an and-1.

He's definitely not afraid to take charge on offense.

I think he will make a nice running mate with wall. at worst he will be instant offense off the bench.

[spaceman_E]

Weird how much heart and D we play without Blatche. If it weren't for Wade playing out of his mind we would have run away with this one.

[spaceman_E]

McGee had a good game tonight but he's a very dumb player. I don't know about this guy.

I hate the labels I hear about McGee. Dumb, imbecile, moron--

The gut had 12 rebounds at the half and hustles his butt off.

Yeah he did and statistically he had a good game. However, he had his usual goal tend call and illegal defense. I understand the occasional goal tend because he is a shot blocker but the frequency is a bit troubling. The illegal defense is all on him and he should have learned his lesson by now. His shot selection is pretty disturbing too.

I'm not saying give the man away but his title as starting center of the future may need to be re-visited. Especially with Seraphin in the fold who's winning me over more and more as each game passes.

I swear to jeebus one of the defensive 3 seconds against Java, the Heat had only crossed half court 1.4 seconds earlier and the ball was still at half court. Such a random and horrible homer call.

[B-easy]

Damn, just saw that Wall is averaging 21/10/5 45%FG over the last 5 games (including the 1 assist game). Plus he is playing good defense.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

I am a hawks fan. I was wanting to know how Jordan Crawford played. did you see any promise tonight?

he is a gamer he isn't scared of anyone you will like him, he just needs some playing time. he didn't get any in atlanta.

oh by the way Capt. Kirk looked good tonight. when he was in the game the hawks actually looked like a team and not just five individuals

Crawford only got into the game because Nick Young sprained his ankle. Evans was the backup 2 tonight and, given that our coach still thinks he is competing for the NBA championship and not building for the future, Crawford is likely to only receive spot minutes.

By the way, Kirk's Real GM name is K-Honey, not Captain Kirk,

Please atleast allow us wobegone Wiz fans to spread that hilarious nickname virally across the Real GM world.

Best of luck to your Hawks the rest of the way.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

B-easy, now I feel terrific about the direction In which the Wizards are heading.

THIS John Wall with young prospects already on the team is exciting. EG acquiring that late first in this draft pick is very encouraging. (Jenkins, Faried, Brooks, Cole are each no-risk, potential high reward players). Kirk and Hilton, a couple guys who Flip Saunders loved despite their ineffectiveness are gone. I can't believe what Washington got for Hinrich! . Finally, I believe the main guy Flip's overused not playing, but the team being better without him shows where problems are with Flip's coaching.

This team is heading in the right direction under Wall.

[chpmntsptx]

Well, I wanted to keep my eye on the wizards b/c they picked Booker and b/c I'm in DC now, but I can no longer watch a team that's clearly trying to tank the season. AND, Saunders disgusts me more and more with each passing day, so if he's going to be sticking around, I'll be staying far away. The guy is pathetic.

Yeah, let's roll with Yi down the stretch. I guess Flip was thinking, "****, what if we actually pull this win off?? Against the Heat... at their place? People might start asking what the hell was going on the rest of the season!"

And it's no surprise what would happen if Baltche isn't on the floor. The dude is poison.

I can never understand why coaches don't stand up for their team against consistently **** calls. Yeah we all know LeBron and Wade will get special treatment, but when they are incessantly caressing the refs and there are blatanly inconsistent calls on the same type of foul/reaction, you have to lose your **** and get T'd up. Like I said, Saunders, from his body language to personnel decisions to game management, is pathetic.

Absolutely no reason not to be playing Seraphin more. And Booker (though I'm clearly biased). "Oh, they're not ready. Need to develop more." YEAH, THAT'S WHY YOU GIVE THEM IN-GAME DEVELOPMENT IN THE FIRST 56 GAMES... ESPECIALLY WHEN YOUR PLAN IS TO SUCK ANYWAY.

One last rant... Everyone **** on Bibby, but I hope Wall and NICK YOUNG learn something from him about how to pass in a pick and roll situation. I want to stomp on little precious kittens every time I see the roll man WIDE THE HELL OPEN and the guard ISN'T EVEN LOOKING IN HIS DIRECTION.

May the supreme being(s) of your choice bless your souls, Wiz fans. I have no idea how you put up with this ****.

[Ruzious]

Damn, just saw that Wall is averaging 21/10/5 45%FG over the last 5 games (including the 1 assist game). Plus he is playing good defense.

For the entire season, he's averaging more assists than Rose, Westbrook, and Kidd - and someone's complaining he doesn't pass enough on the pick n roll.

[nate33]

I don't get the Flip haters. Flip didn't play Crawford because Crawford has only been with the team 24 hours and doesn't know the plays. At least Bibby and Evans are veterans who are likely to pick up plays faster. Crawford is going to need more time. If Crawford isn't getting minutes after two weeks or so, then start complaining, don't complain now.

And I thought Yi was solid tonight. He was hitting his jumper and playing solid D on Bosh. He was +7 in 16 minutes. The alternative, Booker, was -17 in 11 minutes.

I thought this was one of Flip's best coaching jobs of the season. I even liked the hack-a-Dampier strategy, though it didn't really pay off.

[Wizards2Lottery]

Booker got his -17 when Wade was going off in the 2nd. Come on nate, even you know that is selective stat picking. Yi was garbage as usual on the defensive end, made two jumpers and grabbed two rebounds in 16 minutes.

The problem isn't last night. Yi playing throughout the season is the problem. He should be getting no minutes at all. He has no future with this team. We're long enough into the season and Booker has shown that he's more than capable of playing over Yi.

Yi playing is all about Flip's "system" and him needing a floor spacing 4, despite the fact that Yi is a complete disaster as a defender and rebounder.

I didn't have a problem with Flip's coaching as well, but playing Yi at this point in the season is foolish.

[JWizmentality]

Crawford has only been with the team 24 hours and doesn't know the plays.

What plays? Flip's offense is almost as fraudulent as Eddie's. I envy teams like the Spurs and Boston. Their offense is like a machine. Pops can take nobodys and make them look like superstars. Granted, the IQ on this team isn't particularly high. I know we suck, but the thing that irks me is we shouldn't suck THIS bad with the talent we have.

[DCZards]

I don't get the Flip haters. Flip didn't play Crawford because Crawford has only been with the team 24 hours and doesn't know the plays. At least Bibby and Evans are veterans who are likely to pick up plays faster. Crawford is going to need more time. If Crawford isn't getting minutes after two weeks or so, then start complaining, don't complain now.

I was about to say the exact same thing, Nate. You beat me to it.

[DCZards]

What plays? Flip's offense is almost as fraudulent as Eddie's. I envy teams like the Spurs and Boston. Their offense is like a machine. Pops can take nobodys and make them look like superstars. Granted, the IQ on this team isn't particularly high. I know we suck, but the thing that irks me is we shouldn't suck THIS bad with the talent we have.

It helps that Boston has three (make that four with Shaq) hall famers. Do you remember what Boston was like before Allen and KG arrived?

Pops is a great coach, but his "nobodys" benefit from being on the court with Duncan, Parker and Manu.

[DCZards]

THIS John Wall with young prospects already on the team is exciting.

ccj, this is the same Wall that many of us have been seeing since his first NBA game...make that since Kentucky. All you had to do was look past the inexperience, rookie mistakes and injuries to see that.

[The Consiglieri]

McGee had a good game tonight but he's a very dumb player. I don't know about this guy.

I hate the labels I hear about McGee. Dumb, imbecile, moron--

The gut had 12 rebounds at the half and hustles his butt off.

That's the reason why I'm a big fan of your fire flip credo. If we can get a players coach that preaches and knows how to build a d mentality (jealous of chicago right now), we'll know what we have. If Blatche and and/or McGee can't get it it will be time to move them, but like you, there is a dread inside me that we'll move guys like we moved Rasheed and Webber before only to see them develop into monsters w/other teams. I have more hope for McGee than Blatche because I believe McGee has a higher ceiling, and more potential to grow whereas blatche looks to be a lost cause at this point. I really hope we bring in a new hungry coach that preaches and can motivate players to play D and play hard every night, then we'll have the right ingredients and know exactly how not to get screwed on a deal w/these guys.

It would be wonderful to realize we have more pieces than just Wall to build around (i recognize the year Young is having, just don't know if he's seen as a key piece or a guy whod get one of those ridiculous contracts he'd never live up to that we'd always be trying to move the second we signed him (exactly the way we felt after the Arenas deal, cool that he did 18 mill or so less than a max deal, though as I argued at the time, the fee a hired agent would have been paid was very close to the amt that he gave back).

[AceDegenerate]

Damn, just saw that Wall is averaging 21/10/5 45%FG over the last 5 games (including the 1 assist game). Plus he is playing good defense.

This is the kind of improvement we should all be concerned with seeing. Screw the team record, this is the most important development of late.

[Ruzious]

Crawford has only been with the team 24 hours and doesn't know the plays.

What plays? Flip's offense is almost as fraudulent as Eddie's. I envy teams like the Spurs and Boston. Their offense is like a machine. Pops can take nobodys and make them look like superstars. Granted, the IQ on this team isn't particularly high. I know we suck, but the thing that irks me is we shouldn't suck THIS bad with the talent we have.

Really? SA has 3 veteran possible future HOFers starting. Boston has 3 veteran possible future HOFers plus Shaq. You and I could coach those teams to some success. It's a slightly different situation Flip deals with.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

THIS John Wall with young prospects already on the team is exciting.

ccj, this is the same Wall that many of us have been seeing since his first NBA game...make that since Kentucky. All you had to do was look past the inexperience, rookie mistakes and injuries to see that.

What about having to look past really bad defense, bad perimeter shooting, and lack of competitiveness when he was deferring to Kirk all the time? DCZ, I was judging Wall by what I saw.

Apparently, healing from injuries and the clearing up of circumstances beyond Wall's have all made things better for the top pick.

It wasn't until the week before the break when Wall's game came around. He wasn't showing anywhere near what he's shown the past two weeks, with the exception of a handful of games early on in the season. He's really confident since getting MVP and the assist record last weekend.

[DCZards]

What about having to look past really bad defense, bad perimeter shooting, and lack of competitiveness when he was deferring to Kirk all the time? DCZ, I was judging Wall by what I saw.

Bad defense? Like I said...obvious inexperience and injuries. Perimeter shooting? It's still bad. But he's working on it. Lack of competiveness? That's your opinion, ccj. I don't see it.