Wizards vs Cleveland 12/26 7PM

[closg00]

*sigh* a few things changed as things wouldn't look so-bad.

Seraphin- If he was a beastly post-player - He isn't, he's a soft playing big
Beal - If he were a ROY candidate - Not even close
Jan Vesely - If ANYbody else had been picked

IF
IF
IF

[80sballboy]

Again, when your best player can only give you 25 minutes and goes +25, and Kevin Serpahin gives you 4 points, 0 rebounds and -15 in 12 minutes. WTF. Seraphin is regressing and I guarantee he was one of the young players Nene was talking about. He gives no effort on the boards or on the defensive side of the floor. He has no heart and maybe it's the Euro thing, where EG can't find a big with any cajones. Even on the offensive side of the floor, he's drifting furtehr and futher away. I was hoping Nene was be a positive influence on him but I think for the first time, we actually missed Booker and his ability to grab loose balls.

I've never been less excited to tank for Nerlen Noels, Cody Zeller and Alex Len. BFD.

[llcc25]

My observations sitting few rows behind Wiz bench:

1) Beal got benched in favor of Temple in 2nd half. Beal couldn't hit an open jumper if his life depended on it. You could see the frustration on his face. When the shots aren't falling he needs to attack like Waiters but I guess thats just not his make up. I wish we had a do-over so we could take Lillard.
2) Okafor and Nene had solid games but they should've dominated inside with Varejo out. But only prob was that Cavs D packed it in and our shooters couldn't shoot
3) I was surprised to see Vesely play quite a few minutes. Made a few nice passes but thats it. Still missed his only 2 free throw attempts badly and every time he gets the ball, he's not even looking to shoot and everyone knows it. So Cavs D can just play off him. Thats too much a liability to have on court imo.
4) Mack did a nice job of running the point and finding the open man. But he is still too slow especially on D. Kyrie torched him for 20 in 1st half.
5) Kyrie is a beauty too watch. We landed the #1 pick one year too early. He's special b/c he can take the game over. Feel bad for him though caus he still has a horrible supporting cast. Maybe he'll bolt and Wiz can go after him. lol
6) My friend texted me that Harden dropped 30 again on Minnesota. Boy would he have looked nice in the Wiz uniforms this year. All these close games, I'm sure we would've closed many of them out.
7) I'm glad we lost. Hopefully, its one loss closer to Ernie getting fired.

[Mickstix]

Another close loss huh? I guess that's better than a close win (gainst another bottom dweller).. I'd of accepted a blow out win, but anything less is better to just tank.. How much can Ted take? Wonder if the thought even crosses his mind, to fire his girlfriend? Probably not.

[hands11]

Maybe Nene post game venting actually helped wake Randy up because he coached with more accountability tonight and expressed the same in the post game interview.

Randy commented on Beal and Kevin.

For Beal, he said if your shot isn't sinking, you have to do other things. Drive and get to the line.
For Kevin. He said 12 minutes and zero rebounds isnt working. Thats an entire quarter without a rebound. There is more to the game then just shooting the ball. Ouch. Right between the eyes.

Randy played both and then Randy sat both.

Hopefully he continues to coach with this same level of accountability. That is the Randy I thought we were going to get when I was in support of bringing him back for another year.

My only question is... Where has this version of Randy been all year.

Sounds like Beal is either already getting moved to the bench, or he is on a short leash before it happens. To which I say, it about time. He shouldn't have been starting all year anyway. Now if the kid was a knock down pure shooter, then I could see it. But he is struggling so leaving him out there to struggle more is not helping.

[jivelikenice]

I like the accountability as well, but I'd keep Beal in the starting lineup. If he's inactive you quickly bring in Crawford. Crawford's role is a 6th man. Why not get him accustomed to that role?

[closg00]

My observations sitting few rows behind Wiz bench:

1) Beal got benched in favor of Temple in 2nd half. Beal couldn't hit an open jumper if his life depended on it. You could see the frustration on his face. When the shots aren't falling he needs to attack like Waiters but I guess thats just not his make up. I wish we had a do-over so we could take Lillard.
2) Okafor and Nene had solid games but they should've dominated inside with Varejo out. But only prob was that Cavs D packed it in and our shooters couldn't shoot
3) I was surprised to see Vesely play quite a few minutes. Made a few nice passes but thats it. Still missed his only 2 free throw attempts badly and every time he gets the ball, he's not even looking to shoot and everyone knows it. So Cavs D can just play off him. Thats too much a liability to have on court imo.
4) Mack did a nice job of running the point and finding the open man. But he is still too slow especially on D. Kyrie torched him for 20 in 1st half.
5) Kyrie is a beauty too watch. We landed the #1 pick one year too early. He's special b/c he can take the game over. Feel bad for him though caus he still has a horrible supporting cast. Maybe he'll bolt and Wiz can go after him.
6) My friend texted me that Harden dropped 30 again on Minnesota. Boy would he have looked nice in the Wiz uniforms this year. All these close games, I'm sure we would've closed many of them out.
7) I'm glad we lost. Hopefully, its one loss closer to Ernie getting fired.

Now that you mention it

Re: 2012 NBA Draft - Part V
by Chocolate City Jordanaire on Fri Jun 15, 2012 7:24 pm

closg00 wrote:
Why don't we draft DamIan Lallard?
http://t.co/r5KboUAh


Wow!

Shoots the floater like Tony Parker. Can go off the glass with ease. Can throw it down with one hand or two with authority. Picture perfect form on his jumper with no hitch or hesitation and a nice, high release point. Lillard shoots like Steph Curry.

I think it is quite possible that Lillard comes to the league right away and impresses. I wouldn't have any problem with him being the pick in a trade down scenario.

It's all-good, Beal is going to be fine eventually .....right?

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

My observations sitting few rows behind Wiz bench:

1) Beal got benched in favor of Temple in 2nd half. Beal couldn't hit an open jumper if his life depended on it. You could see the frustration on his face. When the shots aren't falling he needs to attack like Waiters but I guess thats just not his make up. I wish we had a do-over so we could take Lillard.
2) Okafor and Nene had solid games but they should've dominated inside with Varejo out. But only prob was that Cavs D packed it in and our shooters couldn't shoot
3) I was surprised to see Vesely play quite a few minutes. Made a few nice passes but thats it. Still missed his only 2 free throw attempts badly and every time he gets the ball, he's not even looking to shoot and everyone knows it. So Cavs D can just play off him. Thats too much a liability to have on court imo.
4) Mack did a nice job of running the point and finding the open man. But he is still too slow especially on D. Kyrie torched him for 20 in 1st half.
5) Kyrie is a beauty too watch. We landed the #1 pick one year too early. He's special b/c he can take the game over. Feel bad for him though caus he still has a horrible supporting cast. Maybe he'll bolt and Wiz can go after him. lol
6) My friend texted me that Harden dropped 30 again on Minnesota. Boy would he have looked nice in the Wiz uniforms this year. All these close games, I'm sure we would've closed many of them out.
7) I'm glad we lost. Hopefully, its one loss closer to Ernie getting fired.

I didn't watch but Mack ended up +7 and didn't play as much as Crawford in the second half. Also, Irving shot 8-23, or about 36%. He shot 3-9 threes. I don't think Irving torched anyone as much as he took a lot of shots.

[AFM]

Irving was amazing in the first half.
Probably Beal's worst game thus far.
Crawford did his thing.
Webster had 2 dunks taken away from him. That grabbing the rim call was stupid, even stupider that he did it.

[montestewart]

Crawford had that one ridiculous pass that didn't get an assist because Webster was called for palming. It still looked cool. Sometimes Crawford is entertaining in the same way Jamison was, with those "how did he do that?" moves, but other times he seems to leave his teammates befuddled, or just standing around watching. Like with Blatche, Crawford has obvious talent, but also severe mental blocks. If he could overcome some of that, he could be a solid contributor. I'm not holding my breath.

[hands11]

I like the accountability as well, but I'd keep Beal in the starting lineup. If he's inactive you quickly bring in Crawford. Crawford's role is a 6th man. Why not get him accustomed to that role?

Because merit dictates they you become the six man when there is a SG better then you.

[hands11]

Crawford had that one ridiculous pass that didn't get an assist because Webster was called for palming. It still looked cool. Sometimes Crawford is entertaining in the same way Jamison was, with those "how did he do that?" moves, but other times he seems to leave his teammates befuddled, or just standing around watching. Like with Blatche, Crawford has obvious talent, but also severe mental blocks. If he could overcome some of that, he could be a solid contributor. I'm not holding my breath.

He was 7-15 3-3 from the line, 3 rebounds 2 assists ( should have been 3) and 17 pts in 27 mins.

How is that not contributing ?

If he could only fix his 3 ball.

[dangermouse]

Craw definitely contributed. Some of the shots he was hitting just blew my mind.

[montestewart]

Crawford had that one ridiculous pass that didn't get an assist because Webster was called for palming. It still looked cool. Sometimes Crawford is entertaining in the same way Jamison was, with those "how did he do that?" moves, but other times he seems to leave his teammates befuddled, or just standing around watching. Like with Blatche, Crawford has obvious talent, but also severe mental blocks. If he could overcome some of that, he could be a solid contributor. I'm not holding my breath.

He was 7-15 3-3 from the line, 3 rebounds 2 assists ( should have been 3) and 17 pts in 27 mins.

How is that not contributing ?

If he could only fix his 3 ball.

Because the Wizards suck. I should have written "a solid contributor on a good team," because a nice stat line on a losing team doesn't mean too much. He is improving, his PER is up over 16 because he's making more 3s and more assists without a rise in TOs, but his WS/48 is a meager .53 (granted, that's an improvement too, but still...) and even with that nice line tonight, the team was -8 with him on the floor.

Crawford's far from the only problem the Wizards have, and he's certainly not the biggest problem (EG is) but I don't yet see him as a quality rotation player on a good team. I can see he's improving in areas that I've criticized in the past, I don't care if his shots are stupid/unorthodox/crazy as long as they go in at a decent rate, and I see him occasionally do spectacular things (like that mid-air, one-handed catch-and-pass to a running Webster behind him for what should have been an assist), but he's got a ways to go to erase everything else I've seen. He's pretty gutsy, and he's definitely improved. I need to see more of that to embrace him as a keeper.

[tontoz]

Crawford just jacks up way too many long 2s and 3s. At some point you have to realize that you are not a good shooter. Unfortunately some guys never do (Josh Smith says hi).

[hands11]

Not to drag this on but youre cherry picked with that -8

Look at the rest of the bench players numbers he was out there with.

He was out there when Randy went to a front court of Ves and Kevin. Kevin was -15

Nene was + 25 No one ended up with the plus that wasn't out there mostly with Nene. Even Okafor who had a great line was only +1 because he was out there without Nene for a few stretches.

Beal stunk and he ended up + 5 because he was out there mostly with Nene.

Randy can start Crawford or not. Both make some sense. The fact that he can score and create his own shot makes it so bringing him off the bench balances the scoring some since when Nene and Okafor are out there, they go to the post a lot. But until Randy shortens the rotation or someone else can actually produce from the bench, Crawford will always post a negative number if he is coming off the bench.

Kevin S really needs to pull his head out of his huge backside.
And Beal really needs to step it up from the outside. Thats what they starting line up was missing. Thing is, shooting from deep really isn't Crawfords strength either. But once Wall returns, that starting line up would have another guard that can score.

Nene and Okafor together looks like it can be a pretty powerful front court. Add Wall and they could actually have the making of something. Add a top 15 level SF and a SG that can shoot, and you just might have something.

Add a Luol Deng would be a nice fit. I haven't been of fan of Evan Turner, but he would actually fit nicely as well. So would Paul George.

Sadly, none of the draft picks seem to have stepped it up enough that they can be considered starters. The young movement doesn't appear to have worked. But most of them are mid rounders. Ves was a bad pick at 6. Needed to trade down if they could and get something like Nikola Vucevic and Brooks which was my combo. They would be looking a lot better if they had those two instead of Ves and Singleton. Or as CCJ wanted, they could have Faried instead of SIngleton.

[AFM]

Why did Ves play so much? Even Singleton is better. Dude can at least hit the occasional free throw.

[montestewart]

Not to drag this out hands11, but I mentioned JC's PER, WS/48, 3P%, A/TO, stat line, spectacular plays, and the Wizards record, so no, I was not cherry picking, but you were.

[tontoz]

Why did Ves play so much? Even Singleton is better. Dude can at least hit the occasional free throw.

Choosing between those two is like deciding whether to drink prune juice or castor oil. Neither is a very attractive option.

On a positive note it was a great night for the tank. We lose an important game to the Cavs and NOH won. Plus Eric Gordon will be coming back soon.

[hands11]

Why did Ves play so much? Even Singleton is better. Dude can at least hit the occasional free throw.

Because everyone got a chance and he contributed in the flow of the game and played better then Kevin S did.

Nene can only play 26 minute right now. Okafor played 30. That only leave Ves and Kevin and both need experience. Ves played better so he stayed out there. Ves may not shoot well but at least he plays an NBA style game. Kevin things he is a SG or something.

This team needs to rework this roster. They don't need Booker and Singleton both being undersized PFs. One is enough. One has to be a SF or one or them has to go. They should have kept only one of them if that and kept James Singleton.

They also need another big which they should be able to get in this next draft. Should have never let Dray walk for nothing. Ted and EG really blow it this summer and you can't afford to do that in this league. There are to many other good franchises. You can't blink.

You know what, this youth movement isn't working and how often does that really work anyway. Its going to take forever for them to get any better this way. It take 3 years for a rookie to become a real NBA baller. Very few of them are good enough that you can plug them into a starting line up on a good team. And that the key, you need a more vet establish team to plug them into. Can't put a bunch of first, second and third year players together and expect them to do much.

First thing the screwed up is over blowing up the team. Should have kept CB and probably Haywood.

Since then, they have made some nice moves, but they have also missed on a lot or drafted the wrong players. And the pieces don't fit together. And now they are tanking for another young piece ? This is going to take forever. Nene will be a wheel chair by the time the new pieces are ready.

I would blow the hole thing up short of Nene. They have enough pieces and asset to get the core starters they need in return. Do what Boston did. Offer Wall, Beal, Kevin. All of them. What you need in return for all of the assets are at least 3 top 10-15 players that are complete NBA players at their positions.

Had they followed suggestion I have made through the years, this would be a much better team. Starting back with trading Gil while he had peak value. I remember Kobe wanted to leave LA and there was talk about how he was washed up but people here were not even willing to think about Gil in a package for Kobe. Those are the moves that present themselves once in a blue moon. You can't miss out on them. Just like the Harden thing. Look what the Skins had to give up for RG3. They gave up a ton. But you have to know how to identify those opportunities and then move on them.