Official Thread - Wizards vs Pacers (5/11/14)

[Deivy202]

!^^^^^^^ next game he has nothing to lose.

[Jay81]

john walls play reminds me of this guy we used to bring off the bench named Eric Maynor.

[DCZards]

I haven't read the many pages of this thread and can't go back to do it now. Others may have said what I'm about to, but this is what I saw:

1. We got beat by a better team. They deserved to win. We competed hard, but they prevailed. No shame and no blame. No point in going into "if this..." and "why not that...?" etc.

2. I thought Randy's plan to give big minutes to guys they *hadn't* done a lot of preparation for was brilliant. Harrington disrupted everything w/ huge energy, and his shots dropped. Gooden contained West and played great. It almost worked.

3. They played their starters 207 out of 240 minutes -- essentially they looked at this game as do or die. And they have obviously rebooted as a team. They are intense and interactive.

4. Paul George had an amazing half of basketball. There was just no way to contain him and no way to win w/ him playing the way he did.

It would be great to win the next one in Indy, but even if we don't I think our team deserves congratulations for having gone as far as we have. There's no point in grumbling. We've had plenty to grumble about (and there will be more!), but this has been great fun! And, we ain't out of it yet!

Great post, pif. I agree with all of it...especially the stuff about Paul George.

Go Zards!

[Sonny Carson]

john walls play reminds me of this guy we used to bring off the bench named Eric Maynor.

Thats a littler harsh.


I TRIED to tell KingofVA that the Pacers have owned Wall all year. He pointed back to the 2013 season when Wall dropped 40+.

Well that Wall is needed. Cant believe he's letting George HIll of all people son him.

RANDY needs to tell Wall to GO FOR IT.

Enough of the driving to the hoop and throwing the ball behind you. Gooden blew a basket when Wall easily could have got a layup instead.

Enough of this passive aggressive PG play.

[Dark Faze]

There's a lot of talk about Wall but what about Nene?

He's the guy with the first step and the ability to put Hibbert in foul trouble. He's the guy who's struggling on the glass. He missed two layups late in the game last night.

[fishercob]

Soak it in.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsbdswlg7VM[/youtube]

[dandridge 10]

I don't think the problem is that Wall "choked" or that Wall lacks the "moxie" to handle these situations. It's much more simple than that. Wall just isn't a good half-court PG. When teams see enough of him (like in a playoff series), they take away his strengths and make him be a jump shooter.

Wall will never be a superstar player until he becomes a much better shooter. He's not even an above average PG in a playoff game when the fast break is taken away.

I agree that Wall's outside shooting, or lack thereof, is his biggest problem that is holding him back. However, he also needs to learn how to attack the rim more and draw fouls. He too often gets penetration and has daylight to go to the rack and instead looks to dish it off for a less efficient shot. He needs to learn how to finish better around the rim and draw contact to get to the line.

The other thing he can improve is his off the ball work. If he is not handling the ball, he simply stands in one spot. He never even tries to cut to an open spot. He needs to watch more video from Andre Miller and learn how to move when he doesn't have the ball.

IMO it's not the lack of outside shooting. It's simply a refusal to attack the rim and finish strong. I don't know what has happened to the guy I was a huge fan off, but whoever this current version of Wall is that's replaced the aggressive, attacking playing I once knew is someone I'd trade away in a heartbeat.

The biggest problem is Wall's slow transition throughout this year from being a difference maker to a game manager. From a guy that attacks that basket and puts pressure on defenses to a guy that lives & inevitability dies of his jumper and rarely ever tries to finish at the rim. I'm so sick of the drives all the way to the rim and without even looking at the basket he throws a quick kickout for a tougher look than the one he just passed up. This version of John Wall, I DO NOT WANT!

Obviously, I agree that Wall's failure/unwillingness to attack the rim is a huge issue. However, I think the lack of an outside shot contributes to that problem. Defenders are packing the paint when Wall has the ball because they want him to take the long 2. Hill is playing off of Wall daring him to shoot. Hill always goes behind the picks when defending Wall. If Wall can improve his jump shot enough where teams will have to respect his shot and play up on him, it will open up more driving lanes to the hole.

I still think that Wall passes away to many balls at the rim when he is in a position to score and that this is a huge problem. I just think that improving his jumpshot will cure a lot more of our offensive woes.

[Hypnotizer]

I've got my fingers cross for our (*cough*) MAX PLAYER to show up in game five.

[Hypnotizer]

.

Our backs are against the wall, dudes.

We've been cursed by the Lada Gaga-ites. Gonna have to pull out the secret weapon to combat their negative juju.






__________The Meat Dress



It's coming in time to bring us a win in game #5.



Go Wizards!

In Gaga we trust!