Official Thread - Wizards vs Jazz (12/14/14)

[Dat2U]

Nice to see Beal have another good game. Also nice to see him get 7 rebounds. His rebounding has been Nick'esque so far this season.

Wall had a good game except for the 5 turnovers.

Hope they keep bringing Nene off the bench. I think the ball movement among the starters is quicker without him. He tends to hold it awhile before deciding what to do.

Gortat/Hump seemed really bothered by Gobert.

If we had an Ed Davis or Festus Ezeli type instead of Blair off the bench, we would be outright NASTY as a team.

Starting to really want to get Webster back. Otto isn't ready.

I want Webster back but not to bench Otto. Why in world would you want to bench Otto and lower his confidence further? Otto is an important long term piece, I want Webster back so we can slide Pierce to the 4, Humphries to the 5 and Seraphin to the bench.

If anything, lets talk about your boy KSLife. He's a cool individual and an absolutely wretched basketball player. Why in the world is he still in the rotation? Why in the world is he in his 5th season here making $3.8 mil when outside of a 2 month stretch at the end of the '13 season he's been one of the worst bigs in basketball since being drafted?

[stevemcqueen1]

Is it safe to say Porter is a bust? He's getting close. I hope not, but I wouldn't be surprised. It will be another Ernie Grunfeld draft pick failure.

Otto has played decently, imo. No, the shot hasn't be there. But he plays smart, aggressive D, rebounds and keeps balls alive, and generally uses his high bball IQ to often be in the right place at the right time.

At this point, Otto (and the Wizards) have the luxury of not having to really to force things or prove anything. Mainly because of the surprising off-the-bench play of a vet (Butler), the solid cast of players Otto's surrounded with when he plays and, most importantly, the fact that the Zards are winning.

No way am I going to label him a bust at this point. FAR too early to make that call.

Pretty much exactly how I feel.

Me too. We have the luxury of years for developing Porter. We're already good. We've got good vet production at his position.

Otto is going to slowly progress and gain experience and veterancy and grow into an important role with the team. I'm not worried about him.

We don't need him right now, all we need to do is keep his development on track. We'll need him in a year or two though, because Pierce/Butler/Webster aren't going to last forever. I think, by that point, he'll be ready.

[Ruzious]

Nice to see Beal have another good game. Also nice to see him get 7 rebounds. His rebounding has been Nick'esque so far this season.

Wall had a good game except for the 5 turnovers.

Hope they keep bringing Nene off the bench. I think the ball movement among the starters is quicker without him. He tends to hold it awhile before deciding what to do.

Gortat/Hump seemed really bothered by Gobert.

If we had an Ed Davis or Festus Ezeli type instead of Blair off the bench, we would be outright NASTY as a team.

Starting to really want to get Webster back. Otto isn't ready.

I want Webster back but not to bench Otto. Why in world would you want to bench Otto and lower his confidence further? Otto is an important long term piece, I want Webster back so we can slide Pierce to the 4, Humphries to the 5 and Seraphin to the bench.

If anything, lets talk about your boy KSLife. He's a cool individual and an absolutely wretched basketball player. Why in the world is he still in the rotation? Why in the world is he in his 5th season here making $3.8 mil when outside of a 2 month stretch at the end of the '13 season he's been one of the worst bigs in basketball since being drafted?

Yeah, Seraphin is really looking like the weak link on the team - making too many mental errors. At some point, you gotta give up on him. Dat was right about Pierce's defense - it's been much better than I thought it'd be. Pierce said he doesn't want to take the pounding that a 4 would take, but I'd like to see some of him and Otto playing together - whichever one defends the 4. Otto could handle a few minutes there a game.

[tontoz]

Pierce has been better than i thought. It is a tribute to his skills/IQ that he can still perform at this level. His TS is up to 57% and his turnover rate is very low. His defense has definitely been a surprise.

Last month i wasn't very impressed with Wall's defense. He seemed to be coasting quite a bit and we were getting lit up by opposing pgs. His effort has picked up a lot this month. He has always been a guy who could play tough D when he wanted to but sometimes the effort wasn't always there.

[fishercob]

17-6.

Ho **** ing hum.

[nate33]

Pierce has been better than i thought. It is a tribute to his skills/IQ that he can still perform at this level. His TS is up to 57% and his turnover rate is very low. His defense has definitely been a surprise.

Pierce really does a nice job of denying penetration. He's old so he has to cede the jumper, but it's usually a long 2 - a low percentage shot. Nobody hits that shot all night so nobody ever really goes off on Pierce.

[Dat2U]

IMO Pierce has been invaluable in terms of being in both Wall & Beal's ear before, during & after games. I gotta believe Pierce is playing a role in Wall's development on the defensive end of the court as well.

[Higga]

It's refreshing watching the Wizards after a 3 hour suckfest of the Redskins.

I was never really worried about the game. Knew from the start we'd win. We always seem to start slow and sluggish in these weekend games. Too much partying Saturday nights I guess.

[stevemcqueen1]

You can hear Pierce talking on defense over the game broadcasts a lot of the time. He's... intense. And that attitude definitely rubs off on the other guys. And it's disconcerting for opponents. That sheer peskiness keeps us dialed in and helps keep that opposing offense from getting comfortable.

Wall is noticeably vocal now too. I agree he's really taking after Pierce.

Pierce has taught us how to to let our dicks swing. He's a crucial part of the whole culture change we've been through.

[dobrojim]

don't know if anyone was listening to the radio postgame after the UT game. I got on
and after praising EG for a good job this offseason I defended the people, like
me, who pointed out that he had done a really poor job for a number of years
before this past offseason, 3rd worst in the league during his tenure. Glenn
didn't like it too much. But I was really only responding to the people who
were calling in after the BOS game talking about how great he was and how
we the EG detractors were all wrong. We weren't wrong then no matter how
good a job EG did this summer. You can't change history. It is what it is.
Those who claims to be a tell it like it is folks should admit as much.