Wizards VS Rockets Game Thread 8PM Fri

[miller31time]

So glad Flip is gone so that the hidden fury of this team can be unleashed on the rest of the league.....

.....

.....

Oh wait....we still suck.

[Ruzious]

McGee’s head wasn’t in the game tonight. He looked totally unemotional, didn’t do a great job on the boards and kept on getting stripped, wasn’t going up strong at the rim, didn’t contest shots, and let Dalembert get easy shots inside and out tonight. I don’t know what’s up with him, but he’s gotta start playing harder.

I know, so does Ruz and maybe a few others. Been saying it for a while - he's just not that good.

Sure, he has all the potential in the world but he's never going to reach it. He's essentially a slightly better, slightly darker version of the Birdman. He's a rotation big that comes in to hype up the home crowd with blocks and dunks, but he's not a building block in any way IMO. And even if you want to blame it on breathing issues, that still doesn't change the end result.

And it's games like this that make me think McGee is just never gonna get it. He doesn't care about man defense, only where his next block attempt is coming from. It leads to easy buckets for whoever he's guarding, illegal defense violations, poor rebounding positioning, and a record # of goal-tending calls. He's either a stat-whore or a complete idiot, and probably a little of both.

I still wouldn't trade him yet unless its for another young C prospect, but I've lost hope and starting to believe J. Reid's article was on point - we need to get rid of Young, Blatche, and McGee to truly start over. These guys were groomed by Arenas, Butler, and Jamison, and it shows.

Agree with all of this, except the part about not trading him now. If not now, when? We only have like 2 more months, and I don't want the rails to come completely off and bring what value that's currently there down. But even if they do wait until the deadline, they still have to trade him IMO. If only to keep themselves from matching a contract offer over the summer.

Ironically, you've consistently been steps ahead of the guy you defend - Ernie Grunfeld. You have exceeded your mentor. And that's one of the problems with keeping EG. He acquired these guys, so he has a vested interest in keeping them - they're his guys. A new GM would be able to be more objective. And as you alluded to - it's critical to make trades at the right times.

[Ruzious]

So glad Flip is gone so that the hidden fury of this team can be unleashed on the rest of the league.....

.....

.....

Oh wait....we still suck.

But at least now le bullet can do it what a Euro flavour, so they don't necessarily suck; they suque.

[sfam]

Ironically, you've consistently been steps ahead of the guy you defend - Ernie Grunfeld. You have exceeded your mentor. And that's one of the problems with keeping EG. He acquired these guys, so he has a vested interest in keeping them - they're his guys. A new GM would be able to be more objective. And as you alluded to - it's critical to make trades at the right times.

+1
This is perhaps the best argument anyone has made for changing the GM. EG clearly has to hope these players pay off as he intended they will. Put simply, if EG thinks his job is on the line, he is not an objective observer at this point. I too hope that everyone he picked in the last two years works out (I no longer care about Blatche). They may or may not, but we MUST have an objective observer making the decisions.

[dobrojim]

I wonder if he started Vesely because Seraphin was out and he knew that Blatche had to handle all the backup C minutes.

that's what I was thinking. But I hope he continues to do that even
when KS returns which he is supposed to do tonight.

[tontoz]

The best part about this game is that Blatche played only 14 minutes. Let's hope this trend continues.

There is no way Lewis should be playing more than Singleton though.

[hands11]

Ironically, you've consistently been steps ahead of the guy you defend - Ernie Grunfeld. You have exceeded your mentor. And that's one of the problems with keeping EG. He acquired these guys, so he has a vested interest in keeping them - they're his guys. A new GM would be able to be more objective. And as you alluded to - it's critical to make trades at the right times.

+1
This is perhaps the best argument anyone has made for changing the GM. EG clearly has to hope these players pay off as he intended they will. Put simply, if EG thinks his job is on the line, he is not an objective observer at this point. I too hope that everyone he picked in the last two years works out (I no longer care about Blatche). They may or may not, but we MUST have an objective observer making the decisions.

Not entirely true. He only need to keep making smart moves moving forward. Like he has done since Ted took over ( expect for missing on Brooks )

If they trade McGee before the trade deadline and get value for him, then all is still good in the short term. McGee was only a mid round pick. If that turns into an asset of equal or greater value, then all is still good. That is no blemish on EG. It would only blow up in his face in a year or two if McGee continues to get better and become a star.

Yes McGee has great upside. Amazing upside. But he does have asthma, a crazy nosy mother that messed up his head and he hasn't shown to have NBA level maturity. So it is risk to keep him and a risk to let him go. In 2-3 more years, he may well be an amazing player but if he isn't, he is the type that is a drag on your team if you keep him because he isn't a hard hat kind of guy and crazy mom will always be mouthing off that he is the future of the NBA.

McGee is probably the hardest decision to make on this team. I could argue keeping him or moving him. Not sure I am really sold on either direction. It is a tough one.

If you can package him now for something you know is good, that would be an attractive move.
If it is just for picks that you don't know what you will get, then no.
If you keep him, he still gets to develop, which he seems to be doing. The hook is looking nice.

Keeping him works because then he can continue to develop. Then they get to match whatever is offered so they have him another year, then you consider trading him if he hasn't matured to the level you want. But in that time, he also could become really good so you get to keep him.

I see little risk in his value going down. The kid is a long young athletic freak and now he has added a hook shot. He will be a valuable player in this league for another 5-7 years so I see little downside in matching an offer. If won't be a Nick thing where he signs the min and then you can't trade him.

[sfam]

McGee is probably the hardest decision to make on this team. I could argue keeping him or moving him.

+1
Totally true. Three years ago, I was willing to give Blatche yet one more chance. Obviously that changed. I'm in the same place with McGee - if we get him away from a preponderance of knucklehead slackers, I'm guessing his game to game performances will improve. We would HAVE to see continued progression this year though. I'm OK with an occaisional horrid game or two, but I need to see some great games as well in the mix. If so, I'm wiling to keep the guy based on his upside.

But keeping McGee with Blatche and Young around sounds like a REALLY bad idea. At this point I'm of the opinion that our most important goal is to significantly reduce the knucklehead quotient from this team. Lets let NY walk for whatever he gets next year, and amnesty Blatche if there are no offers at the trade deadline. Same with Crawford if we don't see a REAL change in him over the rest of the season. A team can get by with one knucklehead personality - peer pressure should be able to keep that in check - but not three or four. Until we have a team comprised almost totally of smart, hardworking players, we'll continue to see the up and down play we've gotten this year.

[no D in Hibachi]

The best part about this game is that Blatche played only 14 minutes. Let's hope this trend continues.

There is no way Lewis should be playing more than Singleton though.

Problem with this is Singleton has been pretty stinkin bad lately. He's shooting less than .300 over his last four and his defense hasn't been good enough to justify PT---Pierce simply abused Singleton a couple games ago. I can see why Wittman/Flip play Lewis more than Singleton because at least Lewis is a threat to hit a shot and can spread the floor. The book on Singleton is out. Slag off of him at least 10 feet and let him shoot J's all game long. It kills the offense and kills the spacing.

[hands11]

The best part about this game is that Blatche played only 14 minutes. Let's hope this trend continues.

There is no way Lewis should be playing more than Singleton though.

Problem with this is Singleton has been pretty stinkin bad lately. He's shooting less than .300 over his last four and his defense hasn't been good enough to justify PT---Pierce simply abused Singleton a couple games ago. I can see why Wittman/Flip play Lewis more than Singleton because at least Lewis is a threat to hit a shot and can spread the floor. The book on Singleton is out. Slag off of him at least 10 feet and let him shoot J's all game long. It kills the offense and kills the spacing.

They need to try other things and it is going to require more players.

The need to get the Mo Machine warmed up. If the car won't start up anymore, get a new car.
Mason either needs to get it going or they need to cut him and bring in another player.

Nick, Crawford
Singleton, Lewis

That is not enough between your SGs and SF. You could roll Nick down the SF for scoring but then you are short on SGs. The team could have signed Owens but they didn't. Alonzo Gee any one ?

If they could get Mo Evans back to where he was last year, he can could help some. But between Mo Evans and Mason, they can't keep both if they can not contribute. If you want to keep Mason around to help, then make him a consultant or coach and find someone who can help on the actual court.

I like Mason and Mo as roll models, but I did expect them to actually contribute on the floor also.

[tontoz]

The best part about this game is that Blatche played only 14 minutes. Let's hope this trend continues.

There is no way Lewis should be playing more than Singleton though.

Problem with this is Singleton has been pretty stinkin bad lately. He's shooting less than .300 over his last four and his defense hasn't been good enough to justify PT---Pierce simply abused Singleton a couple games ago. I can see why Wittman/Flip play Lewis more than Singleton because at least Lewis is a threat to hit a shot and can spread the floor. The book on Singleton is out. Slag off of him at least 10 feet and let him shoot J's all game long. It kills the offense and kills the spacing.

Pierce was abusing everyone that game. he is a HOF player.

Singleton has a higher TS% than Lewis, by a lot. CS is shooting better from the field and from 3. CS has been making open jumpers at a better rate than Lewis.

[LyricalRico]

Ironically, you've consistently been steps ahead of the guy you defend - Ernie Grunfeld. You have exceeded your mentor. And that's one of the problems with keeping EG. He acquired these guys, so he has a vested interest in keeping them - they're his guys. A new GM would be able to be more objective. And as you alluded to - it's critical to make trades at the right times.

Interesting point. I'll have to ponder that...

[JonathanJoseph]

Ironically, you've consistently been steps ahead of the guy you defend - Ernie Grunfeld. You have exceeded your mentor. And that's one of the problems with keeping EG. He acquired these guys, so he has a vested interest in keeping them - they're his guys. A new GM would be able to be more objective. And as you alluded to - it's critical to make trades at the right times.

Interesting point. I'll have to ponder that...

I was on board with EG's investment of time and average-big-man dollars into Blatche's future. But it has turned out disasterous, as have all of EG's other moves (even if they looked good at the time to me). It's just time for a new direction. While I agree that EG had poor luck in how Arenas' career was derailed, everything that has happened since has gone poorly, from personnel to culture.