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Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread

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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#81 » by dobrojim » Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:03 pm

picked up a game in the loss column with BOS losing last night.
BOS now has 21 losses. Next lowest in the EC is PHL at 25 losses.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#82 » by mohammed10 » Wed Jan 23, 2013 5:29 pm

Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:I don't about them but I think about pizza a lot.

Oh, that's not the P word you meant is it Upper Decker? :)


Maybe he meant...

You down with OPP?


* ahem *


Other people's.....playoffs?
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#83 » by hands11 » Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:03 am

Get your jug of your favorite flavor out because if we win tonight, its time to take another gulp.

Big game if this train is going to get up to speed. Wiz vs Mem on the road. Game 5 of the trip. So far, so good.

6-2 over the last 8 and only a some terrible refs calls away from 8-0

Then they get to come back home for a game against Min who is 17-21 playing a tough stretch 3-7
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#84 » by AFM » Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:25 am

tontoz wrote:
AFM wrote:No, they are the bobcats. Maybe you are thinking about the Mavericks.


:lol:


No chance he got that. Your avy fits your posts perfectly btw.

Thanks, that's why I chose it. Dead pan!
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#85 » by hands11 » Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:37 pm

That was a big game they just lost if we wanted to keep the Kool-aid flowing.

I feel a little bit of a hangover and I'm getting a little nervous.

The only exciting move left is to get Wall starting. Everything will rise or fall from there.

If that looks bad and the rotations don't work, that's it. There are no other cards to pull out short of a trade.

Good or bad, we are going to see what they are very soon. :o
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#86 » by hands11 » Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:56 am

Well that was the first test. Minny is banged up with injuries... again... so it wasn't against a good team but man... Walls return to the starting line up went well.

That was fun to watch.

Should have a good chance for another win tonight over Chicago. Wiz got their players plenty of rest. Chicago played 3 starters 39, 39, and 44 minutes.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#87 » by hands11 » Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:22 am

Image


13 pt win on a back to back game against Chicago who is 26-17 and 12-6 away.

Okafor with 16 rebounds 15 pts in 30 minutes :o

Nice
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#88 » by doclinkin » Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:04 am

Re: Wiz trade Shard and 2nd rounder for Okafor and Ariza

Post on Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:09 am...

Whatever you think of the deal right now, and whatever it does for our long term prospects, capspace and other phantoms-- when I squint at it I foresee that fans on this board and in the stands are really going to come to appreciate our squad next year. They'll prove pretty easy to cheer for. And I see significantly hopeful signs that they will surprise in their results, significantly outperforming the dismal projections made by many in this thread.

This team is going to be a fierce deep tough forceful strong bastard of a defensive monster. Fast, tireless, active, exhausting fast-break power-dunking finisher on offense. And in the half court I think the team will prove a revelation, earning grudging admission and appreciation that it's not as bad as the night terrors suggested.

What do you need for a successful fast break team: First you have to have the ball. And this begins with defense. Tough to run on a made basket and even then you're only keeping even with the opponent if you trade back and forth. So you have to stop the opponent, then secure the rebound.

This team has been awful in both regards. Late season however simply by jettisoning JaVale, before Nene joined the team even, we began to show an uptick in our defensive habits and improved interior dEFG%. Pick and roll defense, interior lane clogging, etc all improved by degrees. Adding Nene (when healthy) only improved the effect. Our late season run was fueled by defensive stops, detering interior attack with wideload minsters in the paint, even forcing 24-second violations.

However, our defensive rebounding has been notoriously awful for years, and the big Brazilian himself has never been much of a defensive boardsman for all his brawn.

This fact is deceptive though, since plus/minus stats show that whatever his personal box score tally the team generally improves their defensive rebounding when Nene is on court. That is: he boxes out, he seals his man from the lane, and wideload that he is he'll often screen two opponents to allow his interior ally to snatch the pill.

Still, playing next to him we had the raw but developing ex-rookie Kevin Seraphin, who himself posted similarly aenemic board totals in his short career, both here and overseas. Infact if anything there was a slight suggestion that his game was significantly similar to Nene in improving the board work of his teammates, though the effect wasn't as pronounced.

But here in tangent to the pair we add a player who, while suffering a leg tweak this year (injury history is not common in his career, posting back to back to back 82 game seasons before that) and taking a slight hit in his per40 boardwork in the shortened season, in his career has proved a rock-steady consistent double double machine, despite playing somewhat out of position as an undersized athletic center.

In rebounding, Okafor is the ideal complement to both Nene and Ksera. Active in pursuit of the ball, in position and in motion, calculates trajectory, uses speed anticipation and athleticism to outwork opponents and chase down bounces even out of position. Remember being startled at the rebounding acumen of Antawn Jamison, well picture that same skill with more muscle and moxie and no tendency towards any Ole' flinching from contact. You force a miss, Meka will go get it.

Good, we got the ball.

Next thing you need for an uptempo squad is the willingness to run hard, every possession. Recall how breathless we were at the possibility that JaVale would help our team earn the rep as the fastest end-to-end squad in the league. His speed at his size ought to have seen opponents huffing dust chasing after our big boy in the middle.

Except he wouldn't run. Unless of course he had the ball in his hands and could dribble the length of the court. He had a kick-the-cat rage-inducing tendency to sorta lazily float around on court until he felt he could star. Now it turns out some part of that was conditioning and exercise induced asthma and swollen ovaries and I don't know whatever excuse you want to come up with for him. Laziness. No matter what he never proved able to help the team much in this regard. Low IQ, poor situation recognition, lame lack of a competitive nature, disinterest, whatever. He wanted to earn style points from the judges more than respect from his peers and opponents.

Now let me say this: I've followed Meka since he was prospect for UConn. He is a 6' 10" center (maybe) in a league that requires 7 footers at that position. But has been able to play the position because he is the hardest-working best-conditioned player in the spot since Alonzo Mourning. He's in the weight room at dawn on game day, leastways he was at UConn. I was concerned for him coming into the league because he already had back spasms from how hard he worked, figured he was an injury risk,. But despite being undersized for the 5-spot he proved solidly durable, constantly tuning his body to meet the challenge. Playing undersized, yes, but active enough to make up the difference. He will run. Every minute he earns, he'll work.

An uptempo team takes its toll on the bigs most of all. For all the hair tearing angst on here at the supposed redundancy of adding another undersized Big many on this board fail to recognize the weapon that a deep frontcourt bench can prove to be. Especially for an uptempo squad. With this team we can afford to play 48+ minutes, 82+ games of run-them-to-death go! go! go! hyperactive basketball, without grinding our big men into the grave. Starter, finisher, bench, whatever, I suspect the roles of our 3 Bigs will alter depending on their condition and play. 'Interchangeable' is no epithet. We can bring bruisers off the bench in barrage after barrage, substituting freely, and when the opponent flags we can downshift and floor it, bringing even faster players like Booker and Vesely. Whatever he match-ups suggest.

And on defense, we can feel free to never be namby pamby on the inside, never allow a lay-up without a contusion. Nobody gets to nurse their 6 fouls, because we've got an even bigger and stronger guy on the bench behind him well rested and champing at the bit.

This team is going to be a nightmare to play defensively. No single longarmed shot swatter to evade (Seraphin has an aptitude there, despite lesser height) but whenever you turn the corner to drive the lane there will be an ogre in your path blocking you, bumping you with his belly putting, his armpit in your face. And yes, quite possibly hacking at you with clubbing forearms. We may not earn respect in the nationwide media, but teams will hate to face us. Trevor Ariza will be an excellent defensive role-model for JWall or even MKG if he's the best available.


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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#89 » by DCZards » Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:37 am

Toot on, doc. You have a right to. I remember thinking you had nailed it on Okafor when you first posted it. Love the way the African warrior is boarding and defending. He and the Big Brazilian really complement each other.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#90 » by fishercob » Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:56 am

Something tells me Kool aid isn't what Ernie's drinking tonight.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#91 » by Chocolate City Jordanaire » Sun Jan 27, 2013 4:09 am

DCZards wrote:Toot on, doc. You have a right to. I remember thinking you had nailed it on Okafor when you first posted it. Love the way the African warrior is boarding and defending. He and the Big Brazilian really complement each other.


Not only that, but they're also confident and motivated.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/okafor-hel ... --nba.html

Emeka Okafor had 15 points and 16 rebounds, helping the Wizards beat the Chicago Bulls 86-73 on Saturday night for their seventh victory in the last 10 games.

John Wall and Nene each scored 16 points for Washington, which has won consecutive games for the second time this season. The Wizards have won five straight at home for the first time in five years.


We are the team we thought we were supposed to be," Okafor said.


The run began before Wall returned from a left knee injury, and now the injury-riddled team is healthy again. ''We have back all the players. There is our team,'' Nene said. "We gonna shut up people's mouths. That's what we're going to do".'
Bye bye Beal.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#92 » by montestewart » Sun Jan 27, 2013 4:10 am

Wizards have seven wins and three moral victories in the last ten. Now it's time to pay Sacramento back for last week's loss.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#93 » by AFM » Sun Jan 27, 2013 4:13 am

In the past 2 weeks we have seen Nene absolutely destroy Griffin and Boozer. Minus his dead against Utah, he is looking elite out there. And don't even get me started on Okafor. Someone must have slipped an energy drink into his diet. He's getting boards like his life depends on it. Going HAM in the paint.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#94 » by montestewart » Sun Jan 27, 2013 4:18 am

AFM wrote:In the past 2 weeks we have seen Nene absolutely destroy Griffin and Boozer. Minus his dead against Utah, he is looking elite out there. And don't even get me started on Okafor. Someone must have slipped an energy drink into his diet. He's getting boards like his life depends on it. Going HAM in the paint.

Whether or not it's a world beater over the long haul, the Beal/Wall backcourt is pretty exciting to watch, and it's probably exciting for the teammates too.

Boozer looked totally sucky. Is that where he is nowadays?
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#95 » by Chocolate City Jordanaire » Sun Jan 27, 2013 4:20 am

As a matter of fact, Boozer has averaged a double double and some mention Deng and Noah making the AS game and Boozer not as a slight.

Nene when he's healthy and has bounce is a damned good player.
Bye bye Beal.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#96 » by Zonkerbl » Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:06 pm

Seven wins and three losses is actually pretty close to the "three wins for every loss" pace the zards have to reach to make the playoffs. They needed to go eight and two, so they've lost a little ground, although losing on the road is actually ok - not very many teams have winning road records. Split all remaining road games, be undefeatable at home.

Well, let's take a closer look at this. We have 40 games left to play and need to go 30-10 to get to 41 wins, a .750 pace. There are four team currently that have won 70% of their games or more: Miami, San Antonio, OKC, and the Clippers (holy cow!!!). All of these teams have winning road records. Collectively they have won 54 road games and lost 33, good for 62%. At home they have won 76 games and lost 13, 85%.

The zards have 20 home games and 20 road games left. To win 85% of their home games, they have to go 17-3. To win 62% of their road games, they have to go 12-8. That would give them 40 wins and a sniff at the playoffs.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#97 » by leswizards » Sun Jan 27, 2013 1:26 pm

Zonkerbl wrote:Seven wins and three losses is actually pretty close to the "three wins for every loss" pace the zards have to reach to make the playoffs. They needed to go eight and two, so they've lost a little ground, although losing on the road is actually ok - not very many teams have winning road records. Split all remaining road games, be undefeatable at home.

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Actually, Boston has lost 6 in a row, and is now 20-23 with the eight best record in the east. While still being probably an impossibility, the playoffs are starting to look a little more doable. A 27-13 record the rest of the way might be sufficient, which would be ~2 wins for every loss. Also, with last night's win, the Wizards have moved ahead of Charlotte, and no longer have the worst record in the NBA.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#98 » by closg00 » Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:24 pm

Re: The playoffs, the Cavs have been keeping pace with us, they have won 3-straight and are 5-5 the last 10 games. Last night Speights chipped-in 17 points. The Cavs and Washington both could overtake Orlando and Toronto.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#99 » by hands11 » Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:44 pm

AFM wrote:In the past 2 weeks we have seen Nene absolutely destroy Griffin and Boozer. Minus his dead against Utah, he is looking elite out there. And don't even get me started on Okafor. Someone must have slipped an energy drink into his diet. He's getting boards like his life depends on it. Going HAM in the paint.


I haven't follow his career much but it seemed like a tough one. Drafted 2 and put on the expansion Cats all those years. Then moved to a rebuilding NO.

Always asked to be more then he was.

It must have felt the same when he was moved here. At least he had his friend Trevor A come along with him to help in the transition. And here he wasn't added to a team that was a stage 1 of rebuilding.

And here, he has Nene in the post with him. Getting Nene on the floor with him is what is making the biggest difference. If Nene goes down, this team would be pretty bad.

This roster is starting to show its potential. Its pretty balanced. They still need a little more, but healthy, they are a solid B.
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Re: Kool-Aid Drinking, Season Turnaround Thread 

Post#100 » by Zonkerbl » Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:41 pm

I am feeling really, irrationally exuberant and excited about this team. I think they can do it. The players know they can do it. Would be one of the most amazing, exciting sports stories EVAH to make it to the playoffs cause in order to do so they'd have to play at championship contender level. If they make the playoffs, they will go DEEP into the playoffs.

CHAMPEENSHIP OR BUST!!!!
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