Preseason G2 Wiz vs CHI Oct 12 5:00 PM Brazil

[Kanyewest]

John Wall got shut down - either by himself or Hinrich.

[Illmatic21]

Maynor went full ****** on that one..

He thought this was an NCAA tournament game

[hands11]

I hope they are showcasing Ariza, because Webster is desperately needed in the starting lineup.

Watching a game played again Chicago is always like getting a tooth pulled.

Man that was ugly.

You're right. They really need to start Webster. Besides his shooting, he just brings a confidence and attitude to the court that they need. Trevor A is playing like a bench player. Webster beat him out last year and it looking like he will again this year.

Glen Rice Jr looks like he is going to get plenty of minutes backing up the two. He isn't intimidated to be out there. Still needs more playing time to settle in but he looks like he has some game and in a area we need it. He will driving to the basket. And he gives good effort on D.

Beal. Man, that was a quiet 16 pts. I had no idea he scored that much. Looks like he is trying to create his offense more this preseason so I don't mind the misses from that. He trying to learn what works. We haven't really seen the spread floor game he, Wall and Webster had working last year. I'm sure he can still nail it with his feet set and open.

The team is defiantly out of sync as they don't know who the starters are yet but thats why you have a preseason.

Maynor has been a mixed bag so far. He can run the sets pretty well but some really poor quality shots as well.

Good to see Booker out there. He did what he does. 6 rebounds in 18 minutes.

[keynote]

Watched on delay. My thoughts:

- The starters had a little too much fun at HELP last night.
- Without Okafor, the team looked small vs. the Bulls.
- Maynor is unremarkable. He's steady, but he's slow.
- Man, the Bulls know how to rotate on defense. It's so rare to catch them out of position.
- Rice looks like a gamer, but I'm worried that he's the type of guy who looks better than his impact.
- Why did they not call a time out to set up a good shot there at the end of the game? They looked so ragged and disorganized, and it's not like Maynor is some elite shot creator.

[dlts20]

I still stand by what Ive always said. I dont think Witt/Flip's system is the perfect fit for Wall and this team. I still would love an OKC type of system. I just think this doesnt let us get to the hoop enough. I still see it being more designed to get jump shots, espically with Oakfor out because you cant throw it downlow to Ves for points so its just all Nene alone.

IDK if I agree with you guys about Ariza-Webster but at the same time I do. I dont think Witt is that dumb. I think he feels Webster is the more consistent player and is the best fit for Wall and that group but I think he feels like with Wall, Beal, & Nene they should have enough scoring. Now he can bring Webster off the bench to team up with Harrington where we should be able to score even with the 2nd unit.. IDK if Ariza can score without Wall but Webster has proven he can. I think thats where Witt is coming from and he's just hoping that Ariza can play full time like he did at his best with Wall last year.

However, we drafted a guy in the 1st round. You want him to play and they seem to like him. To me that means that Ariza better get it right because he could soon go from having a great chance to start, to instead being almost totally out the rotation and us looking for a trade sooner than later. I wouldnt even be shocked that if Porter got back in time that he could possibly start for the same reasons I named earlier. Its not about Webster being worst then those 2. Its about the coaches trusting him and wanting to help the 2nd unit. Its actually a compliment in an odd way.

The problem with Witt's decision is bigger than Ariza though. It mostly comes down to the other guys. You pretty much hope Ves gives you something but you cant count on that. That means if Ariza is playing bad then its basically 3 on 5 on Offense. You could still get away with that if you have MVP Wall but he isnt playing like that right now and thats the biggest problem. If he played great then I think everything could fall into place like Witt wants but he hasnt found that groove yet

[stevemcqueen1]

Ugly game. Terrible quality of basketball from just about everyone but Taj Gibson. Both teams looked jet lagged and hung over and that arena was pretty lame. Nobody could hit jumpers but Webster. Legs looked tired and people were shooting the ball on the way down. Nobody put in the work to take it inside. Lazy passing, people did a crap job catching the ball. We really struggled to find good shots all game. The only thing that saved us is we did rebound and defend fairly well and Chicago was just as sluggish and sloppy as we were.

[noworriesinmd]

Watched on delay. My thoughts:

- The starters had a little too much fun at HELP last night.

They actually closed HELP a few years ago

[nuposse04]

My takes:

-John played his worst game I've seen since his stinker vs Pistons last season. Some of it seems be bad effort on his part and superior D to Hinrich.
-Beal played decently, hard cover for him against Jimmy but I thought he was solid.
-Ariza/Nene: Played like they didn't wanna really be there. Ariza made some odd defensive gambles at times.
-Jan, still offensively blah but at least he's rebounding. I want to continue to see him be aggressive.
-Booker: Not particularly productive but decent effort for first real game back against a fairly decent frontline
-Seraphin: I actually thought he wasn't bad, he tried to make some cross court passes that ended up being TOs when the double teams came. I think he'll improve on that aspect. He also had 2 dunks, i can't rememebr the last time Seraphin actually had 2 dunks. :/
-Maynor: Kinda shot happy but otherwise waaay better then last time.
-Webster: I'm convinced Randy is leaving Webster out of the starting lineup to just see how the starters react to additional adversity.
-Glen: Not a great shooting night, but there is clearly some potential. Needs to improve shot selection.

[stevemcqueen1]

Jan is going to have to keep rebounding like this because there is pretty much no one else to do it. Nene isn't really a glass eater. Seraphin and Harrington definitely aren't. Booker isn't reliable. Webster has a pretty big body for a SF but unless you've got Durant, Marion, LeBron, or Melo, you're really stretching if you're relying on a SF to rebound.

We're too undersized up front right now. Chicago and Brooklyn exploited the weakness. These big front courts are who we are going to have to deal with in order to get anywhere. Plus you've got Detroit, Indy, New York, Atlanta, etc.

Right now we're looking at having to play Nene more minutes than he's got in the tank or we're going to have to hope Ves makes an impact this year. We've got to figure out a way to turn a small player like Ariza into a big body.

[montestewart]

My takes:

-John played his worst game I've seen since his stinker vs Pistons last season. Some of it seems be bad effort on his part and superior D to Hinrich.
-Beal played decently, hard cover for him against Jimmy but I thought he was solid.
-Ariza/Nene: Played like they didn't wanna really be there. Ariza made some odd defensive gambles at times.
-Jan, still offensively blah but at least he's rebounding. I want to continue to see him be aggressive.
-Booker: Not particularly productive but decent effort for first real game back against a fairly decent frontline
-Seraphin: I actually thought he wasn't bad, he tried to make some cross court passes that ended up being TOs when the double teams came. I think he'll improve on that aspect. He also had 2 dunks, i can't rememebr the last time Seraphin actually had 2 dunks. :/
-Maynor: Kinda shot happy but otherwise waaay better then last time.
-Webster: I'm convinced Randy is leaving Webster out of the starting lineup to just see how the starters react to additional adversity.
-Glen: Not a great shooting night, but there is clearly some potential. Needs to improve shot selection.

Good summary. Maynor's stat line looks better than he did to me on the court, but I don't really care how he looks if he can find open corner men or Vesely cutting. Looked to be doing a little chucking a few times (as did Rice), but if those shots had gone in...

PS: Don't forget Childress, looking like he was hiding in plain sight on the court.

[dandridge 10]

My takes:

-John played his worst game I've seen since his stinker vs Pistons last season. Some of it seems be bad effort on his part and superior D to Hinrich.
-Beal played decently, hard cover for him against Jimmy but I thought he was solid.
-Ariza/Nene: Played like they didn't wanna really be there. Ariza made some odd defensive gambles at times.
-Jan, still offensively blah but at least he's rebounding. I want to continue to see him be aggressive.
-Booker: Not particularly productive but decent effort for first real game back against a fairly decent frontline
-Seraphin: I actually thought he wasn't bad, he tried to make some cross court passes that ended up being TOs when the double teams came. I think he'll improve on that aspect. He also had 2 dunks, i can't rememebr the last time Seraphin actually had 2 dunks. :/
-Maynor: Kinda shot happy but otherwise waaay better then last time.
-Webster: I'm convinced Randy is leaving Webster out of the starting lineup to just see how the starters react to additional adversity.
-Glen: Not a great shooting night, but there is clearly some potential. Needs to improve shot selection.

Good summary. Maynor's stat line looks better than he did to me on the court, but I don't really care how he looks if he can find open corner men or Vesely cutting. Looked to be doing a little chucking a few times (as did Rice), but if those shots had gone in...

PS: Don't forget Childress, looking like he was hiding in plain sight on the court.

Agree on the good summary. My only takeway after two preseason games is that we are going to get basically 0 production offensively from our PF position (unless possibly, Harrington is playing). Its going to be hard to score because we are basically playing 4 against 5 when Vesely or Booker are in. I know everyone is hoping that one of these guys steps up this year, but I just don't see it. On 95% of the teams out there, I don't think either Vesely or Booker would even get off the bench.

[nate33]

One word of caution before bashing Ariza: he was horrible last preseason as well. I don't think he bothers to play hard until the regular season starts.

[DCZards]

Agree with Nate on Ariza. The guy's a vet who will pick up his game when the season starts. We pretty much know what he can and cannot do. Ariza's strength and most important contribution is his D and that will be there.

I prefer Trevor starting and Webster bringing instant offense off the bench.

[montestewart]

One word of caution before bashing Ariza: he was horrible last preseason as well. I don't think he bothers to play hard until the regular season starts.

That's a good point. He looked like butt and miserable last preseason.

[nuposse04]

One word of caution before bashing Ariza: he was horrible last preseason as well. I don't think he bothers to play hard until the regular season starts.

I think you're right here, but it presents an issue for this squad. If one guy decides to suck major dick one night it has a fairly potent trickle down effect on the team. We're not good offensively to allow two offensively challenged dudes be getting minutes. At the very least Jan has been rebounding and been average on D. Ariza is just making me go O__o most of the game. I'm sure he'll "flip the switch" once the RS starts, but I think it makes it hard to evaluate the team holistically when its obvious dudes are just bojanglin out there.

[montestewart]

If one guy decides to suck major dick one night it has a fairly potent trickle down effect on the team.

Pure poetry.

[hands11]

I still stand by what Ive always said. I dont think Witt/Flip's system is the perfect fit for Wall and this team. I still would love an OKC type of system. I just think this doesnt let us get to the hoop enough. I still see it being more designed to get jump shots, espically with Oakfor out because you cant throw it downlow to Ves for points so its just all Nene alone.

IDK if I agree with you guys about Ariza-Webster but at the same time I do. I dont think Witt is that dumb. I think he feels Webster is the more consistent player and is the best fit for Wall and that group but I think he feels like with Wall, Beal, & Nene they should have enough scoring. Now he can bring Webster off the bench to team up with Harrington where we should be able to score even with the 2nd unit.. IDK if Ariza can score without Wall but Webster has proven he can. I think thats where Witt is coming from and he's just hoping that Ariza can play full time like he did at his best with Wall last year.

However, we drafted a guy in the 1st round. You want him to play and they seem to like him. To me that means that Ariza better get it right because he could soon go from having a great chance to start, to instead being almost totally out the rotation and us looking for a trade sooner than later. I wouldnt even be shocked that if Porter got back in time that he could possibly start for the same reasons I named earlier. Its not about Webster being worst then those 2. Its about the coaches trusting him and wanting to help the 2nd unit. Its actually a compliment in an odd way.

The problem with Witt's decision is bigger than Ariza though. It mostly comes down to the other guys. You pretty much hope Ves gives you something but you cant count on that. That means if Ariza is playing bad then its basically 3 on 5 on Offense. You could still get away with that if you have MVP Wall but he isnt playing like that right now and thats the biggest problem. If he played great then I think everything could fall into place like Witt wants but he hasnt found that groove yet

I agree that is where is coming from. That where I was coming from also when I suggested the starting line up he has been using. What I didn't expect is for Trevor A to look so bad. Its only two games and they were two good teams so nothing to freak about. He could get it a grove. But Webster has proven he is a good starter with those other players and I'm not sure Trevor A can do what Webster is doing out there offensively. And Wall needs that. Looks like Beal does also. Webster help create the spacing Wall and Beal need.

Hopefully Otto gets healed up soon and shows he can ball. Sooner that happens, sooner we can look at Trevor A trade ideas.

It was a pretty unorganized sloppy game. They were in Brazil. I'm sure the travel and everything didn't help. Next game isn't going to be any easier but they have to start getting it together.

And, Kevin man a couple man type plays, but still have a ways to go before he is doing enough to replace Okafor. But you have to throw them in there and see what they can do. Thats why you have preseason.

[DANNYLANDOVER]

Eric Maynor is so bad...this is gonna be a long season!

spreading the ball around with 8 assists, that is real awful

You clearly didn't watch this game. He couldn't beat anybody off the dribble and was turning the ball over a lot...never mind the small fact that he can't shoot.

[hands11]

One word of caution before bashing Ariza: he was horrible last preseason as well. I don't think he bothers to play hard until the regular season starts.

True. Good point.

Hey, everyone catch that nasty cross over Beal did early in the first. The first commentator thought it was Wall. The 2nd one corrected him.

[Kanyewest]

Agree with Nate on Ariza. The guy's a vet who will pick up his game when the season starts. We pretty much know what he can and cannot do. Ariza's strength and most important contribution is his D and that will be there.

I prefer Trevor starting and Webster bringing instant offense off the bench.

Hope the same applies to Wall/Nene.