GT: Bulls @ Wizards 1-26-13 7:00pm

[sfam]

I was thinking, a funny thing about this season, everyone here was right with their preseason predictions... everyone who said this season was going to be a disaster and this team had no chance was right, and everyone who said this team with Nene, Okafor, Ariza, Beal and Wall with guys like Crawford, Webster, Price, Seraphin off the bench was going to be good team capable of making the playoffs was also right.

Except for we thought they "would" make the playoffs. Those who were right thought this team would suck at full staffing.

I still am very eager to see if this run is permanent, meaning we finish above .500 the rest of the way. If so, I don't know that we make any major trade moves to our now expanded core. Perhaps a Seraphin for Cousins type thing, but at this point, I want Nene and Okafor staying, along with Booker for his defense - and might even be able to stand Crawford if Beal keeps his development.

[GhostsOfGil]

Wizards are now ranked 6th in the NBA in dRTG.

[TheKingOfVa360]

Think about this guys, Serph and Beal played bad and we still blew out the Bulls. This team has came along way. I love watching them play. A lot of credit has to go to Wall for leading the way on offense and defense. Okafor has come alive and makes up for Nene's so-so rebounding

[Mickstix]

and might even be able to stand Crawford if Beal keeps his development.

I dont really have a problem with Crawford.. He's young, he could still learn to tone it down a bit, imo.. He can be out of control and all that but I've not see him disrupt the flow TOO much lately.. Plus, he can score and Wall seems to really like the guy..

[AFM]

Yeah Ruzious I watched the Bulls' feed as well. That old man is turrible.

[tontoz]

Wizards are now ranked 6th in the NBA in dRTG.

I am a little confused here. I thought defensive rating and defensive efficiency were the same thing, points allowed per 100 possessions.

However ESPN has the Wizards defensive efficiency at 100.6 which is tied for 8th. BR has them at 102.9 drtg which is 6th.

[dobrojim]

I expect Wall to explode tonight.

Not something I'd like to see with our medical staff.

good point

You guys are silly.

[dobrojim]

Anyone else think Noah looks like hands11?

there are pix of Hands somewhere? Don't know if I should look or not.

[dobrojim]

Wait, so a F-1 and a tech doesn't equal an ejection?

he played so badly better for us he stayed in the game. I can't believe he only
had like 2 boards in the game. Nene/Meka/Sera/Book punked his ugly rear end.

[dobrojim]

We're supposed to destroy a team without Deng and Rose.

Without Rose they were still in the top half of the east AND they had the best road
record in the ENTIRE NBA. If we had lost, one could just as easily have said we were
supposed to lose.

[dobrojim]

Terrible offensive execution down the stretch, but it doesn't matter because the D is so good. Chicago has been stuck in the 60's forever.

At the game last night I was thinking the same thing. Even when they cut the lead
in half, they were unlikely, due to p-poor offense and/or our good D, to be able
to score enough in the time left to pull out a W. Funny feeling for a Wizards fan
given how many heartbreak collapses we've witnessed over the years.

[dobrojim]

double post

[sfam]

Terrible offensive execution down the stretch, but it doesn't matter because the D is so good. Chicago has been stuck in the 60's forever.

At the game last night I was thinking the same thing. Even when they cut the lead
in half, they were unlikely, due to p-poor offense and/or our good D, to be able
to score enough in the time left to pull out a W. Funny feeling for a Wizards fan
given how many heartbreak collapses we've witnessed over the years.

I've been in Central America the past week (first Honduras - wow, does that place have probs, now in beautiful Costa Rica), but have the games recorded. Rarely have I ever had the urge to go back and watch a Wizards game, but I may do so in this case.

[dobrojim]

onward and upward with Sacremento coming to town MON going for 6 straight Ws at home...i gotta say since Walls come back I've been really impressed with his intangibles...effort,determination,focus just his sheer will wheather up 10-20 or down 10-20...unquestionable leader of this team

I like what Wall does defensively. His activity really rubs off on the rest of the team.
And we know that when you can be disruptive defensively against the other team's PG,
the rest of your defense has a much easier time. Price plays solid D too but Wall just
seems to make it a point to get in the opp PG's grill and stay there. Sometimes that's
a gamble but his teammates are doing a great job of covering for him until he can
recover when he does get momentarily beaten.

[dobrojim]

If we keep balling like this we might as well push for the playoffs. Unless we get a lucky ping pong ball bounce we are not going to get who we want in the draft.

thing is, the draft doesn't look like something that is only X players deep (x= 2 or 3)
so it's not nearly as clear that we would lose out on some obviously great talent
by finishing lower in the lottery odds.

[sfam]

If we keep balling like this we might as well push for the playoffs. Unless we get a lucky ping pong ball bounce we are not going to get who we want in the draft.

thing is, the draft doesn't look like something that is only X players deep (x= 2 or 3)
so it's not nearly as clear that we would lose out on some obviously great talent
by finishing lower in the lottery odds.

I think we're destined to finish at the end of the lottery. Assuming we pick wonderfully, we could end up with a good contributor, but I don't think we can bank on anything. More likely is we get a project who is either a marginal/serviceable backup our someone out of the league in a few years.

[hands11]

I was thinking, a funny thing about this season, everyone here was right with their preseason predictions... everyone who said this season was going to be a disaster and this team had no chance was right, and everyone who said this team with Nene, Okafor, Ariza, Beal and Wall with guys like Crawford, Webster, Price, Seraphin off the bench was going to be good team capable of making the playoffs was also right.

Except for we thought they "would" make the playoffs. Those who were right thought this team would suck at full staffing.

I still am very eager to see if this run is permanent, meaning we finish above .500 the rest of the way. If so, I don't know that we make any major trade moves to our now expanded core. Perhaps a Seraphin for Cousins type thing, but at this point, I want Nene and Okafor staying, along with Booker for his defense - and might even be able to stand Crawford if Beal keeps his development.

There were some of us who said, we would suck to start the year because of injuries and then when we got healthy, we could play like a playoff team. We tended to prediction low to mid 30s.

It was always about the injuries this season. Just to many for a team so early in a rebuild. Only chance they had at doing better would have been starting Crawford at PG from the beginning and Randy didnt do that.

Even now, if they lose Nene, everything changes. They can get away with it for a few games but it would be a different team. Someone like Kevin and or Ves would have to step up huge. It could happen but I wouldn't expect it to. Now if they can play like this over the next 10 games or so, then maybe some of the roll players can develop enough game and confidence to keep it going. Right now, this is all very new. It hasn't settled into their bones.

They need to keep building to build out the depth. But healthy, this is a good roster for this year in the rebuild.

[hands11]

Think about this guys, Serph and Beal played bad and we still blew out the Bulls. This team has came along way. I love watching them play. A lot of credit has to go to Wall for leading the way on offense and defense. Okafor has come alive and makes up for Nene's so-so rebounding

And at some point, Ted and EG will deserve some credit as well.

Still wish we had Nikola and there were things they could have done differently, but... this doesn't suck like some have claimed.

And they are not stuck. They can still build this.

[hands11]

If we keep balling like this we might as well push for the playoffs. Unless we get a lucky ping pong ball bounce we are not going to get who we want in the draft.

thing is, the draft doesn't look like something that is only X players deep (x= 2 or 3)
so it's not nearly as clear that we would lose out on some obviously great talent
by finishing lower in the lottery odds.

I think we're destined to finish at the end of the lottery. Assuming we pick wonderfully, we could end up with a good contributor, but I don't think we can bank on anything. More likely is we get a project who is either a marginal/serviceable backup our someone out of the league in a few years.

Nahh. There is talent to be had in this draft. Just not Duncan talent. There will be starters picked from this group and solid bench players who are no projects.

C.J. McCollum
Otto Porter
Victor Oladipo

They will all be good players.

Even C.J. Leslie is moving up the charts. Now at 25 up from 30

[penbeast0]

Think about this guys, Serph and Beal played bad and we still blew out the Bulls. This team has came along way. I love watching them play. A lot of credit has to go to Wall for leading the way on offense and defense. Okafor has come alive and makes up for Nene's so-so rebounding

And at some point, Ted and EG will deserve some credit as well.

Still wish we had Nikola and there were things they could have done differently, but... this doesn't suck like some have claimed.

And they are not stuck. They can still build this.

If Ted and EG's aim was to get a veteran team that could make the playoffs but with a realistic ceiling no higher than the 2nd round, yeah, they deserve credit. That's where most of us projected them before the injuries too. Where they deserve blame is that after sucking and drafting high and having cap space to use for several years, the young core doesn't look like a potential contender which was the dream.

It's like the Bob Ferry years; yes, he managed to make us competitive for the #8 spot in the lottery every year with a collection of aging stars but never managed to get a young competitive core that could move beyond that. Wall and Beal are a nice pair, but the other top 10 picks were (a) traded for Foye/Miller, (b) used on Jan Vesely and those should have been the rest of our young core. Seraphin might be a rotation player but not the 3rd piece of a big 3. I hope I'm wrong.