Official Thread - Wizards vs Suns (12/21/14)

[stevemcqueen1]

What strikes me is the 3 total assists we logged outside of Wall.
None of our other 4 starters got a single assist.

They really stifled us in the second half and kept us uncomfortable. We really rely on keeping the ball movement and they just swarmed our ball handlers every time we made a pass. Ran us off the three point line while simultaneously clogging the paint. It was an impressive defensive performance. But we also played into their hands, we couldn't figure them out on offense.

[Dat2U]

Randy Wittman will never consider playing Seraphin with Gortat.

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Wittman will never consider simply nailing Seraphin to the freaking bench where he belongs!

I don't care how much athleticism & energy he plays with... he's still horrible.

Seraphin was one of our only good performers last night. He damn sure outplayed all of our other big men.

Good point, we where only -5 when Seraphin was in.

[Dat2U]

To me, keeping Seraphin in and leaving Gortat on the bench basically meant no late game run was coming last night. To play the type of defense we needed to play to get stops, Gortat needed to be in the game.

[Higga]

We were due to lose and the Suns have always been a tough matchup. No big deal, move on and beat the Bulls before going into the Christmas Day showdown in New York.

[dobrojim]

Meh, I don't understand the groaning and moaning about this loss. Yeah, its disappointing anytime you lose, but what did people think...that we were not going to not lose the rest of the season? I chalk this loss up to the Suns just playing really well (they were hitting shots everywhere, even with hands in their face) and outworking us and the Wizards just having an off night. Nene was getting the same looks he has the last few games. He was just not hitting tonight. We missed a lot of free throws. The refs were definitely making calls in favor of Suns. It just wasn't our night.

The only thing that really disappointed me again tonight was Beal. Although he has had a few good games this year, overall he has been pretty bad. He's missing open shots, making silly fouls and making careless turnovers. He is also playing tentative out there and needs to be more assertive. I know he missed some time and I am willing to give him some slack, but he has played enough that he should have shaken the rust off by now. We need him to start stepping up or we will be in trouble. Can't count on Butler to keep bailing us out.

Agree with you except the bolded part. Nene was off in no small part because he was
taking absolutely horrible shots. His shot selection flat out stunk compared to recent
games. He was taking Dirk shots fading off the wrong foot. He's not Dirk, so he
missed pretty much all of those shots.

Also to TGW - Both Morris twins were taken in the lotto with successive picks.
I don't remember giving up a lotto pick for Miller (and yeah, Thomas might be
the worst matchup for Miller in the league).
Didn't we get Miller for a 2nd round pick? It certainly wasn't for a lottery pick.

[FAH1223]

Meh, I don't understand the groaning and moaning about this loss. Yeah, its disappointing anytime you lose, but what did people think...that we were not going to not lose the rest of the season? I chalk this loss up to the Suns just playing really well (they were hitting shots everywhere, even with hands in their face) and outworking us and the Wizards just having an off night. Nene was getting the same looks he has the last few games. He was just not hitting tonight. We missed a lot of free throws. The refs were definitely making calls in favor of Suns. It just wasn't our night.

The only thing that really disappointed me again tonight was Beal. Although he has had a few good games this year, overall he has been pretty bad. He's missing open shots, making silly fouls and making careless turnovers. He is also playing tentative out there and needs to be more assertive. I know he missed some time and I am willing to give him some slack, but he has played enough that he should have shaken the rust off by now. We need him to start stepping up or we will be in trouble. Can't count on Butler to keep bailing us out.

Agree with you except the bolded part. Nene was off in no small part because he was
taking absolutely horrible shots. His shot selection flat out stunk compared to recent
games. He was taking Dirk shots fading off the wrong foot. He's not Dirk, so he
missed pretty much all of those shots.

Also to TGW - Both Morris twins were taken in the lotto with successive picks.
I don't remember giving up a lotto pick for Miller (and yeah, Thomas might be
the worst matchup for Miller in the league).
Didn't we get Miller for a 2nd round pick? It certainly wasn't for a lottery pick.

We gave up a lottery pick for Andre Miller.

It was the #6 pick of the 2011 draft.

[dobrojim]

Gotcha. Far from defending EG, I'll just make the obvious point that Ves
/= to a lottery pick then or when drafted.

[payitforward]

To me, keeping Seraphin in and leaving Gortat on the bench basically meant no late game run was coming last night. To play the type of defense we needed to play to get stops, Gortat needed to be in the game.

I'm wondering why Gortat only got 20 minutes. It certainly wasn't because of how he was playing! He went 3-4 and had 7 rebounds. Maybe he had some kind of physical problem? (haven't read all the way back thru this thread; sorry, if this was mentioned)

As you know I'm no fan of Seraphin's play, but even though what you write above seems quite true, it's a little hard to pin last night's loss on Kevin. Our starters and the first 2 subs went 16 for 51 (leaving Gortat out).

[queridiculo]

Judging by the minutes distribution another head scratcher by Wittman.

9 points on 4 shots and 7 boards in 20 minutes for Gortat, yet Seraphin somehow ends up with 16 points on 12 shots with 5 boards in 28 minutes, I just don't understand where the love for Kevin is coming from.

The real story is 33% from the field from Wall, Pierce and Beal, with only 8 assists between the starters, all of them by Wall.

When teams don't let the Wizards get into their sets their mo seems to be an endless barrage of jumpers, when the better option might just be to get our bigs going down low.

Washington has a considerable front court advantage with Nene and Gortat, would be nice to see them paired up more in those kind of situations.

It doesn't help of course if Nene continues to be delusional about his outside game instead of using his body to bang down low.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

To me, keeping Seraphin in and leaving Gortat on the bench basically meant no late game run was coming last night. To play the type of defense we needed to play to get stops, Gortat needed to be in the game.

That and if Seraphin really had it going well there could have been a different substitution pattern to at least try Marcin Gortat with Kevin.

Wittman has a tough job. He also has MANY options he can explore. In hindsight, a lineup of Miller, Porter, Butler, Seraphin, Gortat might have forced Phoenix to adjust.

Others have mentioned that Otto Porter or Garrett Temple could have checked Isaiah Thomas better than Andre Miller. I think Andre needed more than 8 minutes and he needed help defensively. I think Miller can play with any other 4 guys. Give him Gortat with Seraphin on a night when Nene goes 1-8. Gortat had 9 and 7 but only 4 attempts and only 20 minutes. Like Dat2U, I believe Gortat is a guy who could have sparked a comeback. Miller needed to spell Wall more minutes so John could have been fresher at the finish.

I am not a Seraphin hater, but I hate Wittman's rotation paradigm that currently reads Seraphin or Gortat, and absolutely no DeJuan Blair.

Randy is looking great at 19-7, but there are even more options than he could try against teams like Phoenix, Atlanta, and Toronto. Opposing quick guards, stretch fours who can out flank Wizards big men, post players who push Nene out of the paint, and teams that don't succumb to Wall ball or Beal; there are other ways to beat them.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

What strikes me is the 3 total assists we logged outside of Wall.
None of our other 4 starters got a single assist.

They really stifled us in the second half and kept us uncomfortable. We really rely on keeping the ball movement and they just swarmed our ball handlers every time we made a pass. Ran us off the three point line while simultaneously clogging the paint. It was an impressive defensive performance. But we also played into their hands, we couldn't figure them out on offense.

Their strategy might have been countered with a lineup of Miller, Porter, Butler, Seraphin, Gortat

Their bigs needed to be forced to defend. Big boy ball and going over the top is the opposite of trying to out small superior smaller players. Make a guy like Plumlee foul. Len, too.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The good news about losing to Phoenix is that hopefully the Wizards are going to be ready next game against the Bulls.

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