POTG: WAS @ MIA

[nate33]

I didn't watch the game. I just now checked in and saw the score. Going by the box score, it looks like the contenders for POTG are:

John Wall
Kevin Seraphin
Cartier Martin
Nene Hilario

I'll add the stats a little later.

[Spence]

Wall over Martin, narrowly

[ST21]

wall no question

his passing was elite in the 4th

[montestewart]

1. John Wall -- he simply took over. Other than the broken jumper, he basically played a flawless quarter and sealed the deal with smart decisions and great basketball plays.

2. Cartier Martin -- clutch as they come, today. Even made a big dribble-drive for an uncontested dunk.

3. Nene -- he and Wall worked the P&R to perfection in the 4th. Oh, and game-winner.

Same three in order.

Wall looked like butt in the 1st, but still made it to the rim pretty easily. 2nd half, he looked great, even with a few stupid jumpers (one where he had Evans wide open in the corner with plenty of time). Pretty good play for having a hangover.

Between Nene, Martin, and James Singleton, this team already has the steady veterans it needs for next year. (I won't complain if they add a veteran PG.)

[hands11]

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?id=320421014

Really close call between Wall, Nene and Martin.

I went in thinking Martin then Wall but did a speed watch and came out with Wall or Nene. Nene came up big late. No Nene, no win. KS did some good thing but made to many bad decisions thought the game.

Wall turned it on late. 8 assists in 8 minutes. And he ran the plays Randy draw up well. Even when he was on the receiving side of a Crawford ally op pass off a time out. He also played pretty good D though he got burned some by their PGs. He missed every one of his outside shots. But he got his motor running late. Took a nice charge and made lots of great passes.

Martin keep them in the game and was the only one who was scoring from the outside except for when Mo stepped in later. He really stepped it up. I think that as a career high for him. He hit some big shots. Martin also took some nice charges and ran the court nicely in transition on offense finishing at the rim. One charge was late with the game on the line and he had 5 fouls. Martin got burned on D a little to much.

Wall, Nene and Martin all brought it home but Wall was involved in more plays with passing and D. But if there was no Nene, they don't win. Wall to Nene was what won it. And it was Nene on Miller on the perimeter and then as Miller drove that got the stop with the game at hand.

Wall
Nene/Martin ( career high )

Ves also played really well to start the game and set the tone defensive taking charge and causing turnovers. Even grabbed some nice boards. Tipping balls to keep them in play. Nice block on the perimeter.

Refs were actually pretty good earlier in the game calling the charge and moving picks. They Td up Haslem. Starting in the 3rd, they called a lot of fouls on the Wiz but they were actually good calls. Later the sucked. Got Nene on a phantom charge. Missed a offensive goal tending. Terrible missed call on Miller pushing Crawford.

They were up 57-43 in the 3rd with 7:40 left and ended up outscored 18-25 for the quarter. Miami hit a several 3s. One on Wall. One on Martin. Before you know it they were at 55-51. The run happened with Wall and Martin out there. KS, Nene, and Mo stopped the run. 63-56. Mack came in and the offense started looking rough. Martin missed a Miller box out to end the quarter 63-62. Hard to blame the run on any one player. Nene got a charge..bad call. A couple missed shots. Hot 3 pt shooting by Miami. Martin stopped the bleeding with a big 3. Miller answer on Martin 66-67. Miller for another 3 this time on a switch to Singleton 70-66. Nene steal to Wall to Nene for 2. 20-0 Wash fast break pts. Wall to Nene again 70-70. 4th quarter 8min to go and Wall just got his 6th assist. Then he turned it on.

[hands11]

1. John Wall -- he simply took over. Other than the broken jumper, he basically played a flawless quarter and sealed the deal with smart decisions and great basketball plays.

2. Cartier Martin -- clutch as they come, today. Even made a big dribble-drive for an uncontested dunk.

3. Nene -- he and Wall worked the P&R to perfection in the 4th. Oh, and game-winner.

Same three in order.

Wall looked like butt in the 1st, but still made it to the rim pretty easily. 2nd half, he looked great, even with a few stupid jumpers (one where he had Evans wide open in the corner with plenty of time). Pretty good play for having a hangover.

Between Nene, Martin, and James Singleton, this team already has the steady veterans it needs for next year. (I won't complain if they add a veteran PG.)

Upgrading back up PG would have a huge affect on this team. With so many younger players, this teams strength is not in establish stars, it' is now in having depth and players that have room to improve. The added older players Nene, James S, Martin, Mo and even Cook is helping to get them though the pressure parts of the game but they don't have depth a PG to help there. Every position has an older player to cover it except PG.

Mack just isn't quick enough for his height and his shot isn't good enough to compensate. He is a 3rd PG, not a 2nd and that really hurts a team configured like this. But they designed a tank so it worked out well for them. A mature back up PG could have caused a few to many wins. As we see, they are just holding onto the 2nd worst record. Next year I expect then to correct this and it should have a big impact on the team. They will be able to keep coming at you more by throwing out rotations. That is if they bring back the same roster plus a top 5 pick.

Long rebounds killed them last game. That is a different player then post rebounds. It is also a team experience thing. They mostly now have players who box out and position rebound. That is why the guards rebounded well last game. Ves is the only one who can really go up to get rebounds and he should get better at that as he gets stronger and more experienced. I think Ves is going to be a good rebounder. But long rebounders, that is a hole, it makes me wonder if that isn't more a MGK type player. Someone with a motor who is 6-7 playing SF who goes after every ball. It sure would be nice if they could get MKG and Beal. They need them both.