ATlians and Wizards

[hands11]

bradley beal started off slow at Florida last year and then really caught on 2nd half of the season as he adjusted to new competition. He will do the same this year. Remember, he would be a Soph in college right now. i bet in 3 years...he will be a top sg in the league

Crawford and Beal started the game really well and played off each other and passed willingly to each other.

One thing I noticed Beal was doing that looked like a small adjustment that helped him was when he caught the ball on the perimeter, he held it for a second and looked around. Usually that is bad but he used that time to look around and position himself to pass or dribble to a place he know he wanted to get to so he could pass or shoot.

Usually he catches the ball and just starts dribbling without much of an idea of where he is going. At the end of the dribbling, he would usually end up farther away from the hoop then he starting. Basically he was dribbling and trying to survey the court at the same time. Since isn't a great dribbler, he would dribble away from the action to take the defensive pressure off of himself so he could scan the court. Holding the ball for a moment allowed him to just focus on scanning the court. Then he used his athleticism to execute. I thought the result was a much more efficient player.

He looked more deliberate tonight and as a result, he started the game well. I think he is making some adjustments and the game is starting to slow down for him. I credit coaching during practice for that.

I think we are going to start seeing a more productive Beal. If that is true, we will have in the course of a week gone from having zero starting level talent on the court at the beginning of the game to have two players.

They have played pretty good D all year. The problem in offense and that starts with you PG and SG.

[TheBigThree]

I **** love that Beal even tried that dunk. Probably the reason he shot poorly the rest of the game, but that takes some balls. Hope he goes hard like that more often. It's the only way he's going to gain respect from the refs.

[dangermouse]

One thing is for sure, Beal won't attempt anything like that around a strong shot blocker again.

If he does I think he'll be more likely to change the shot or pass in midair than attempt the highlight reel play.

He has some hops though, he would have brought the house down if he punched it in. It would have been today's #2 play, second only to Henderson making Dwight look like a slow old chump.

[hands11]

I **** love that Beal even tried that dunk. Probably the reason he shot poorly the rest of the game, but that takes some balls. Hope he goes hard like that more often. It's the only way he's going to gain respect from the refs.

It was a terrible call by the refs. On one angle on the replay that was taken from the baseline you could clearly see what happen. Beal went up and Josh didn't jump straight to block it but instead he was jumping toward Beal as he was coming from under the basket. Basically it was like two players coming toward each other to do a chest thump. First contact was Josh slamming into Beals chest with his chest. That is what changed Beals trajectory. Then he makes contact with the ball and then on the follow through he takes out Beals dunking arm. That is what flipped him over the rest of the way.

So Smith fouled him with the body and then on the arm.

No call. Beal on the ground. Amazing. And this happened on their home court

He should have gotten a flagrant foul. Instead. Nothing.
There was also a serious flop later in the game. Should be interesting to see if there is a fine on that or his first warning.

At that point the game was tied. Soon after they were down 7 after a 3 and 2 quick turnovers for fast break dunks.

Hey, this team played ATL to two OT games. Best 3-19 team ever.

I still say this team is not nearly as suck as their record. They are just young, lots of new players, injured, get no respect from the refs and Randy has totally blown the line ups. At least injuries as forcing him to line them up better.

[Zonkerbl]

That's what I saw too Hands. Unbelievable. A play that could have caused serious injury to a wizards player doesn't even get called for a foul.

[dangermouse]

And in our own stadium, no less.

[nate33]

It's so depressing that Nene on one leg is 10 times better than everyone else on the roster. So far for the season, Nene has a +15.1 on/off differential.

[willbcocks]

Nene is really good. Best player the Bullets have had since Gil was healthy. If Wall's injury is worse than expected, we need to trade him for the best picks we can get, since we should be able to get something good.

[TGW]

I still say this team is not nearly as suck as their record. They are just young, lots of new players, injured, get no respect from the refs and Randy has totally blown the line ups. At least injuries as forcing him to line them up better.

You are really delusional, hands.

[Nivek]

Nene is a good player, but not a cornerstone, even at full health. Not shocking that the Wizards consider themselves building around him and Wall.

[Illuminaire]

Nene is a good player, but not a cornerstone, even at full health. Not shocking that the Wizards consider themselves building around him and Wall.

I'm usually a "what do the numbers say?" kind of guy. Nene's numbers were never very impressive to me, and I wasn't expecting much out of him. Yet... I dunno. His impact seems to go beyond the boxscore. I'd say, maybe we don't have all the right numbers to articulate his full impact on the court.

Which is all to say, I agree... but he's a very, very good non-cornerstone. I think he can be the second best guy on a good team, or the third best guy on a great team. On the Wiz, of course, he's just the best guy on a piece of crap team.

[nate33]

Nene isn't a cornerstone because of age and injury, not ability. When healthy, Nene is easily good enough to be the 2nd best player on a good team - maybe not a championship team, but a perennial contender. A healthy Nene is better than everybody on Chicago save Rose, for example.

[Nivek]

I think Nene's impact is measurable with the numbers we have available, and his impact is good. But, remember the on/off numbers reflect who his teammates are. Yeah, Nene is a good player, but the dramatic change when he's on the floor is in part a reflection of the fact that he's taking over for someone who was awful.

For example, he had a 153 in my rating system through Sunday's games. Next closest PF was Booker with an 83, and he hasn't played in weeks.

Here's a look at Wizards PF/C types in my rating system with total minutes (through Sunday's game):

Code: Select all

PF/C    MIN     PPA
Nene    212     153
Okafor  454     116
Barron  66      93
Booker  217     83
Serphn  504     44
Sngltn  415     30
Vesely  191     -14


It's not that hard for a good player to look great when compared to guys like Seraphin, Singleton and Vesely.

I like Nene's ability. I think he's a good player. Maybe he could be a 2nd best player on a good team. I think he's more that 3rd guy, but I'm probably making a distinction without much real-world meaning.

[Illuminaire]

Nene isn't a cornerstone because of age and injury, not ability. When healthy, Nene is easily good enough to be the 2nd best player on a good team - maybe not a championship team, but a perennial contender. A healthy Nene is better than everybody on Chicago save Rose, for example.

I think we're saying the same thing, Nate. I just didn't expect that when we traded for him; his rebounding numbers were always on the weak side, he wasn't a dominant scorer, etc...

I also agree that he's not quite 2nd best player on a championship team material. There's the health/age issue, but also a mindset thing. He's a complimentary star, not a dominant force.

[closg00]

Nene isn't a cornerstone because of age and injury, not ability. When healthy, Nene is easily good enough to be the 2nd best player on a good team - maybe not a championship team, but a perennial contender. A healthy Nene is better than everybody on Chicago save Rose, for example.

Are we not currently seeing the extent of what a "healthy" Nene is going to be for us? I think this is it unfortunately.

[Illuminaire]

I don't think we are, Closq. Nene is playing through plantar fascia because we suck as an organization on every possible level.

Actually, putting it that way... you're right. This is probably the extent of what Nene will be *for us*. Roflpain.