Game Thread #2 Wiz vs Philly Home Opener Nov 1, 7PM

[80sballboy]

People shouldn't just be blaming Randy or Beal. It's the team. They should be ashamed for giving up 74 points in the paint to a team with Spencer Hawes at center. Thad Young is a good player and I'd like to have him, but WTF. Who knew we'd miss Okafor this much defensively? And I really don't think Gortat's defensive performance is all about learning the defensive rotations. He was not exactly known for his defense with Phoenix, who by the way, was the worst defensive team in the league last year.

I think Gortat needs to play with a lengthy defender who can rebound a little. Nene would have helped but he doesn't fit that mode. Unfortunately we don't have that unless we start playing Ves, which I doubt happens. Is he the answer? Doubt it but Randy has to try something before he gets his ass canned.

Kinda felt bad watching Randy during the game as the 6ers were making shots and our guys were hanging their heads, and there's Ted sitting right there, and he did not look pleased.

I like Randy. He's brutally honest almost to a fault. When you start to question heart in the 2nd game of the season? OMG. Not good for him. Ted can't fire the players. EG already traded our first although we might be keeping it. Very depressing and frustrated but if we started out 2-0, we wouldn't have anything to complain about.

[Ed Wood]

I'm with you there Spence. I wouldn't say that the coaching decisions that were made over the course of the game were absolutely optimal, but I think what we got was a valid result given the variance in performance you're going to get between these two rosters; the Wizards, particularly this particular flavor of the hour, are not so much better than anybody really that something needs to be cocked up to explain their managing a loss.

And Harrington will probably manage to secure the coveted spot I reserve for the veteran who inevitably makes the roster and plays a fair amount to no profitable end every year and whom I come to hate as a person in a way that makes me very petty indeed. My mental narrative is that the front office once heard one of the stat guy say something like "huh, adjusted plus-minus stats make Yi Jianlian look okay" and seized on that to say "aha, the nerds want Yi so we'll give the number stuff a shot." Yi went on to be memorably himself and the rest of the NBA managed not to work any folding chairs into their regular rotations and since we've had a whole lot of Al Harrington pickups because it's been empirically shown that numbers can in no way improve upon kinda just looking at guys.

[miller31time]

Amidst all of the terrible performances and letdowns of this team from top to bottom, I'm most floored that Wittman would pull a scorching hot John Wall at nearly the 4-minute mark of the first quarter. I thought what could have been a disgustingly sick game from Wall became a forgettable one aside from one quarter of play. Shameful coaching.

Wall said he asked to come out of the game. Stop blaming Wittman for things that are not his fault.

Then I retract that comment. I wish the situation were handled differently though. I feel it's always a bad move to take out a scorching hot player early in the game. I'm surprised at John's decision.

[dlts20]

Id like to ask all my fellow Wiz fans a question. Can you name just one other coach in the league who wouldve taken their red hot, star, Franchise player out with 4min left in the quarter? Do you think Kobe, Rose, Lebron, KD, Melo, or anyone is coming out the game at that time? IDK what his reasoning was but whatever it was, it doesnt make sense. Maybe he thought we had a lead and you can bring Wall back to run with the 2nd team but to me that thinking is so backwards.

You dont bench a star just to help the 2nd team. If its about that then you just play him big minutes that night because he's hot. If you think its ok since you have the lead then that is also backwards. Yes you have the lead but you also have the chance to step on there throats almost single handily by this one player. You dont ever disrupt that. You worry about the consquences of something bad later but you dont shoot it down yourself.

To me thats a fireable offense in itself, espicially considering its not his 1st time and he's not for doing it. He's known for horrible rotations and benching hot guys. Im dead serious when I say he shuts down our hot guys or kills guys rhythm way more then the opposing team does. He does it all the time. Then Wall gets hurt on top of that. I bet anything that Wall probably wouldnt even have gotten hurt if this idiot doesnt do that. It makes no sense.

Its like he's thinking "this guy is on fire, the other team cant stop him, he could give us a 20pt lead by himself, and maybe go for 50. Quick, get him out!"

I just dont get his thinking. Its like he's coaching the opposing team. You think they werent happy to see Wall go to the bench right there? Then he sits down for a very very very long time. Just throwing a guy's rythm all off. On literally any other night, including if Wall sucks to the tenth degree, he would play Wall the whole 1st or nearly the whole 1st yet you take him out with a 3rd of the quarter left when he's looking unstoppable? Its not even mid or late season. He's got fresh legs. Its stupid

[Ed Wood]

Indeed, how are we to know that Randy wasn't punching Wall in the small of the back constantly during media timeouts with this very end in mind? We can't know how deep this goes, but we can certainly speculate really, really hard.

[W. Unseld]

Spence, way to stick with the post about Wall wanting to come out, it'll probably have to be posted 9-10 more times before that sinks in.

I think/hope that Wall was a little dinged up in the 4th. With that said he's a max guy and he just hasn't looked substantially better than his competition even on a good night like tonight.

Harrington: does remind me of playing younger guys & the loss of athleticism catching up to him--just being a hair too late or falling harder than he would've in years past.

Ves--they didn't extend him so they probably don't want to play him but if Nene or Gortat are out I think he's at least get a few minutes of hussel-f#ck length coupled with 4 on 5 offense.

Gortat--I think he'll be a lot better offensively once/if the pick & roll game really gets going. It wouldn't hurt Wall to master this anyway so he can be more effective in the 1/2 court.

Beal--confidence issues or are teams really keying in on him more than everyone else?

Ariza--found ways to contribute when his shot wasn't falling

Booker--always seems to be near the ball--he has a nose for it but just falls short of having enough length or talent to really effect the game. I can't fault the effort though.

[cdouglas]

My question is was it really in the best interest of the team for John to start shooting every shot instead getting the team involved first? It was fun to watch him score on every shot but did it stagnate the team? Is there an appropriate time to takeover a game when your team's shots aren't falling but not at the beginning of the game? I couldn't help but wonder if it affected Beal's game because mentally he wasn't in that game.
I just think there should've been more team ball in the beginning and then make good judgement on when to takeover the game.

[W. Unseld]

Id like to ask all my fellow Wiz fans a question. Can you name just one other coach in the league who wouldve taken their red hot, star, Franchise player out with 4min left in the quarter? Do you think Kobe, Rose, Lebron, KD, Melo, or anyone is coming out the game at that time?

Read Spence's last 5 posts

[dlts20]

I see some of you are blaming Wittman for taking Wall out with four minutes left in the first quarter. You should take it back. Wall says it was his idea. Using up a lot of energy in the first quarter and wanted to save some for later. He's also have back spasms, but thinks he should be fine to play on Sunday.

Well, in that case I owe Wittman an apology.

That doesn't change the fact that offense is still an afterthought to him.

I usually man up and apologize when Im wrong but Witt gets nothing from me. I still think he's a terrible coach with horrible rotations.

As for Wall, it better had been his back because if it was just about energy then he's an idiot. Not only that but if he's losing so much energy then stop celebrating after every single play when youre doing well. I defended him for it but if its draining him then he needs to stop

[DigitalBullets]

Just sad.

[noworriesinmd]

Just got back from the game. I'm sure this had already been said but

1. John Fu*kin Wall, can be a game changer. He is unstoppable when he attacks the rim
2. John Fu*kin Wall, got lucky the first quarter. The shots he took later in the game did not fall like the first quarter. I think that he got on a great streak, then totally cooled off. Whitman and shot selection to blame
3. Maynor is garbage...sorry HOT garbage. No cross-over, no shot...terrible passer
4. The second unit is BAD
5. Seraphin is still SOFT, two times he should have dunked and he didn't
6. Booker could be a beast
7. Gortat, is legit.
8. Webster had a quiet night that screams he is worth his contract. I think he'll continue at last years pace
9. Ariza had a great night. Shame if we let him go...but that will probably happen.
10. Bradly 'the real deal' Beal, could not hit a horny fat drunk chick who has five hot friends and is on the rebound.
11. Whitman's rotations suck.
12. Harrington thinks he is a point guard. (behind the back dunk, attempted cross over, attempted multiple threes).

Why we lost the game:
* Bad shot selection
* Bad coaching
* No killer instinct.

Bottom line:
Sixers were horrible against our A game. We made it look easy
Whitman's rotations suck
We got over confident too soon. Wall thought he had a money shot (1 Q = yes ; other 3 no).
Same Fu*kin Wizards....not sure if they make the playoffs
however....EVERYTHING IS CORRECTABLE!!

[Spence]

I'm a little surprised everyone seems so surprised by these results. I just never saw how this was a good team. Maybe they'll make the playoffs, maybe they won't. But if they do, it's not likely to be because they're a good team. They're not. Right now they're not even close. They may improve over the course of the season -- they probably will -- but I just never understood the optimism around this team. It's going to get very ugly if things go badly this season.

Did anyone else notice the Wiz could get only 17K and change into their gym tonight? That's the home opener. And whatever was left with 3 minutes left was booing pretty consistently -- and correctly so. Despite all the ridiculous hype I think it's clear a lot of fans are not convinced. Nor should they be. Wizards fans suffer from PTSD. I'm amazed anyone is capable of optimism when it comes to this franchise. One day they'll be good. Maybe soon. But it seems crazy to me to anticipate something that is almost completely unprecedented at this point.

No matter how I turn that roster over in my head I can't see a good team.

[Spence]

Have the Wizards ever had a coach that didn't have horrible player rotations, according to this forum?

I'm not trying to troll, that's a serious question.

Coach is hired. RealGM forum complains about his player rotations. Says coach sucks.

Team loses. Coach is fired.

New coach hired. RealGM forum complains about his player rotations. Says coach sucks.

Team loses. Coach is fired.

New new coach is hired...

Kinda odd that something that seems so easy and obvious to RealGM forum members seems to escape one lifelong basketball coach after another.

Or maybe the roster is inferior, the talent isn't there and this rotation or that rotation or any rotation isn't going to fix a bad roster.

[hands11]

80-2, here we come. No excuses!

Seriously, this is not a playoffs team... Randy has to do something really quick. And I think Gortat needs Nene or Vesely.
Where are the pick&rolls? Without p&r there was no point to trade draft pick for the Polish Hammer.

I said it before the first game. Wall doesn't know how to do that.

He came close one time but he drove himself instead of bounce passing it to Gortat.

And that's why Randy had to realize he needed to turn to Kevin. Kevin actually has a post game that doesn't require anything more then getting him the ball in the post. With no Nene and no pick and roll for Gortat, Kevin was the next logical option. Then you can play inside out from there.

Gortat and Kevin would have been a nice combo with Webster and Trevor.

Or what actually worked was Kevin, AH, Trevor A, Webster and Maynor. Could have done that with Wall and Beal as well. Or Wall and Glen so Glen could drive.

I think there are lots of line up that could work with the talent they have. Randy just isn't playing them. So yeah, I see that as a Randy problem not maximizing his talent in two games now.

[WizarDynasty]

lost because we have no half court offense. 76ers didn't but their offense was designed to intentionally take shots so that they can force the wizards into a half court set. They intentionally gave the wizards the drive because our guards can't finish and our bigs can't rebound. 76ers entire strategy was to force wizards into a half court set and then run the fast break. the shot they took on offense were intentionally designed to force the wizards into a half court set. If 76ers weren't running a fast break, they intentionally took shots with their bigs already back on defense before the wizards ever had a chance to run a fast break. you look at clumpsy wizard offense ...how many times was booker, seraphin, gortat, or harrington, back on defense clogging up the middle of the floor to slow down the fast break?
Seraphin get the ball out of the wing...and acts like he has never dealt with a harassing guard. Just shows how poor the scout team is in mimicking the opposing defense. We need high bbiq big men with athleticism. Seraphin and Booker have been with the wizards for 10 years and neither one of them can be relied on to draw a foul in the paint when the game is close? Neither one them is back on a fast break trying to draw a charge?

[Spence]

lost because we have no half court offense.

76ers scored 109 points tonight and 74 of them came in the paint. I think that probably had something to do with the loss.

[WizarDynasty]

Have the Wizards ever had a coach that didn't have horrible player rotations, according to this forum?

I'm not trying to troll, that's a serious question.

Coach is hired. RealGM forum complains about his player rotations. Says coach sucks.

Team loses. Coach is fired.

New coach hired. RealGM forum complains about his player rotations. Says coach sucks.

Team loses. Coach is fired.

New new coach is hired...

Kinda odd that something that seems so easy and obvious to RealGM forum members seems to escape one lifelong basketball coach after another.

Or maybe the roster is inferior, the talent isn't there and this rotation or that rotation or any rotation isn't going to fix a bad roster.

you can't have good rotations, when all your bench players are horrible. Maynor and Harrington at least have BBIQ. For years, we have had nothing but low BBIQ bigmen who happen to also be poor rebounders, and poor in transition defense, and who happen to also not be able to draw fouls and get to line. Person making the decisions up stairs before this year.

[thricethefun]

If anything this game showed that Wall is not worth the max. He is a player who can get hot at times but when his shot is not going he tends to try and force the issue with reckless play. He doesn't have the ability to take over games in the 4th quarter yet and I doubt he will ever gain it. The fact is we need a superstar it's the only thing that could save this franchise. Franchises like Memphis, Indiana, or Chicago that actually know how to build a roster and assess talent don't have this problem but I'm afraid with our front office it's the only hope of us actually developing a good team. That's why I'm hoping for a Wiggins, or a Jabari Parker because I'm afraid it's the only hope of actually turning the franchise around.

It's a pretty much guaranteed 0-3 start too with us playing in Miami next game and Miami having lost their last 2 games. I see us getting blown out in that one.

[montestewart]

Have the Wizards ever had a coach that didn't have horrible player rotations, according to this forum?

I'm not trying to troll, that's a serious question.

Coach is hired. RealGM forum complains about his player rotations. Says coach sucks.

Team loses. Coach is fired.

New coach hired. RealGM forum complains about his player rotations. Says coach sucks.

Team loses. Coach is fired.

New new coach is hired...

Kinda odd that something that seems so easy and obvious to RealGM forum members seems to escape one lifelong basketball coach after another.

Or maybe the roster is inferior, the talent isn't there and this rotation or that rotation or any rotation isn't going to fix a bad roster.

When the GM fires the coach, he's doing the same thing we're doing, blaming it on the horrible rotations employed by the coach rather than the horrible rosters assembled by the GM.

[WizarDynasty]

lost because we have no half court offense.

76ers scored 109 points tonight and 74 of them came in the paint. I think that probably had something to do with the loss.

How many points in the paint the wizards score. Point in the paint normally come from half court offense or fast break fouls.
Wizards bigmen don't get back in time because the offensive plays aren't designed to force the other opposing team into a half court offense. When you do force the team into a half court offense, our guards have no clue what's going on behind them, they seem to have no strategy as far as funnel the opposing guard into a weak shooting percentage area on the court. Wall doesn't not have ball handling skills to force his defender to accelerate into a pick. Wall only has one speed which is why he is so easy to guard in the half court.