GT #33: Wizards @ Spurs 8:30 PM [1/3/2015]

[AFM]

If I told you two months ago that YOUR Washington Wizards would have a better record than the legendary San Antonio Spurs, would you have scoffed and called me a fool? Of course you would, because you post on the RealGM Wiz board which means that years of watching this team closely has left you a broken, pessimistic, sad man. I am at least speaking for myself.
But pinch yourself so you know you aren't dreaming--your Wizards are actually pretty good this year! Not even Nivek with his "burst your bubble" brand of statistics can paint a different picture. And they certainly will have a chance to prove themselves Saturday, as they take on the machine that is the San Antonio Spurs, who are reeling from an absolutely brutal schedule.
Will the Wizards take advantage of the fatigued Spurs, like a boxer in the 12th round, side stepping their opponent, bobbing, weaving, waiting for them to drop their hands? I always thought Seraphin would have been a good boxer. Good mix of power and grace. And you don't have to pass in boxing. Anyway, I digress.



VS



Barring a last minute injury, the Wizards will use their preferred starting line up of John "GOAT PG" Wall, Bradley "Corner 3" Beal, Paul "The Truth" Pierce, Nene "Fogo de Chao" Hilario, and Marcin "Polish Vodka" Gortat.

Both Leonard and Parker are out, which means that once again the Spurs will start G Cory Joseph. G Danny Green, F Kyle Anderson, F Tim "Swaggy T" Duncan, and C Matt "Red Rocket" Bonner.


Go Wiz!

[Illmatic12]

I had us pegged to go 1-3 on this trip (didn't think we'd beat Houston, but I'm expecting us to handle the Pelicans as usual)

With the Spurs reeling a bit and having some guys out, I'm leaning towards a 'must-win' for this game, as it would be disappointing for us to play so wel against a lot of top teams and then lay an egg against the Spurs B-Team. You'd think we'd be better than that by now, let's send a message to Popovich that he can no longer Wiz games as a JV practice

[Hypnotizer]

Will the Wizards take advantage of the fatigued Spurs, like a boxer in the 12th round, side stepping their opponent, bobbing, weaving, waiting for them to drop their hands?

[stevemcqueen1]

Haven't won in San Antonio since the days leading up to the Y2K apocalypse. Haven't beaten them period in ten years. This is probably our best chance to bust the streak. Let's do this.

[gambitx777]

We need to at least have a good game tonight, the best thing is, I doubt they will pull punches against the wiz tonight. Therefore being a good test of how the wiz do against them. The wiz play them twice this year, if they beat Spurs both times that could be a huge mental advantage if we some how make it to a finals match up with them.

[payitforward]

Go Wizards!

With Kyle Anderson instead of Kawhi Leonard, and Joseph instead of Parker, this is a game we have a reasonable shot to win. Despite it being the 2d night of a road back-to-back.

[hands11]

I like their chances tonight after a close game that was well played last night until late in the game.

It is a back to back but we didn't run hard last night. Instead we controlled the pace most the game at a slower pace which is smart against a team like OKC with KD and Westbrook.

I projected this a lose before season, but now I think this is the one we have a better chance to win instead of the SAS at home game later in the year Jan 21 OKC ESPN.

Then we can follow up with a win against NO.

That would keep them in schedule for a 52-53 win season.

[montestewart]

VS



Go Wiz!

We have four players. They only have three. We got this one! Great thread, AFM!

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Channel Jahidi White. Party like its 1999.

Break the streak! Beat the Spurs (split squad)!

[Illmatic12]

Go Wizards!

With Kyle Anderson instead of Kawhi Leonard, and Joseph instead of Parker, this is a game we have a reasonable shot to win. Despite it being the 2d night of a road back-to-back.

Porter worked Anderson over in summer league. Iirc they got into it and we're trashtalking . Hopefully Witt unleashes Otto tonight.

[Wes_Tiny_Abe_]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT05H5NP1Ys[/youtube]

The Spurs are old.
The Wizards are only doing well because the Eastern Conference blows this year.

The only reason I am watching the game tonight is to see the Coyote hit incredible shots like this during timeouts.

[AFM]

WTA I forgot to give you a shout out in the OP. I'll remedy that next time. I was just thinking about you man. I was over at Union Market in NoMa. Full of hipster foodies. You would have loved the korean kale slaw bbq taco I had. Chock full of antioxidants to make my hipster bones grow nice and strong!

[dlts20]

I want to make a quick post about John Wall. My favorite thing this year about Wall is the fact that you can tell he is starting to feel that he belongs and is taking the challenge. Remember when he use to get killed in every matchup against a top PG? Now he goes at all of them. He never gets killed in any matchup. I dont care who he is. He might get outplayed sometimes or have a bad game but he never looks like he's inferior, submissive, or doesnt belong.

Im really looking forward to seeing him in the All Star game. To me that is one of the last hurdles. I want to see him on the court with all elite players and not look nervous or turn the ball over. I said in the Summer that he wouldnt make team USA. Not only for the Coach K stuff but I felt that he probably wasnt in top shape since he rested alot after the long season and I also felt that he would be another season away from feeling like he's on the same level of those guys or not feeling submissive. I think next summer he balls on that team but a good test will be the All Star game "if" he is named the starter.

I just loved seeing him trying to guard Russ hard, then doing crossovers and pull ups in his face. Loved seeing him attack on the break and kick it out for 3. I loved seeing him have that flurry against Rose. Rose came back and closed it but the old Wall wouldve never went at him like that. Loved seeing him go at Kyrie and Rondo. He's a new guy now and he believes he belongs. I actually think we win tonight strictly because of him and the fact that he feels that he lost the last game for us.

In the past that may have meant that he would be passive tonight, not shoot, and just definitely not be the reason why we lose but I think he's different now and will try to be the reason why we win. He's even had some bonehead 3's late at games that we lost trying to be the hero. They were stupid plays but I love the fact that he has the balls to do that now. I wish Parker was playing just to see if Wall has overcome that hurdle. Im loving it though. I still wish we would play small more so we can really see him go to work, especially since KS, Gooden, and Blair can be iffy at times but it is what it is. If Witt wants to do the whole line shift then I think with Web back and some of our bigs being iffy, I think we should try starting Wall-Beal-Butler-Pierce-Gortat with Miller-Web-Porter-Nene-Hump on the 2nd unit. Wall would beast like that. You can switch Porter & Butler if you like but I would love to se it

[TheBabyMaker]

Loss, its always a loss against the Spurs.

[FAH1223]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bT05H5NP1Ys[/youtube]

The Spurs are old.
The Wizards are only doing well because the Eastern Conference blows this year.

The only reason I am watching the game tonight is to see the Coyote hit incredible shots like this during timeouts.

You do know that the Wizards are the oldest team in the NBA, right?

I also love the Coyote. He did this during the NBA Finals, trolling Miami beach

[nate33]

Go Wizards!

With Kyle Anderson instead of Kawhi Leonard, and Joseph instead of Parker, this is a game we have a reasonable shot to win. Despite it being the 2d night of a road back-to-back.

Porter worked Anderson over in summer league. Iirc they got into it and we're trashtalking . Hopefully Witt unleashes Otto tonight.

I can understand that Wittman can't effectively utilize both Porter and Webster in the same game. Letting them both scrap over the 10-12 bench minutes available behind Beal, Pierce and Butler isn't a recipe for success. He needs to designate one guy to be the guy for a particular game. Webster played yesterday, let him take the B2B off and use Porter today. Besides, we're better off having Webster playing every other game for 12 minutes than to play him every game for 6 since every DNP contributes toward making his final contract year a team option.

[dlts20]

Now its time for me to say things that people arent going to agree with. I felt like if we won last night then we would beat the Spurs tonight. I feel like on a regular night we would beat this Spurs lineup. However, after a tough loss, I now am worried but still have faith that we will win. I felt during the Rox game that we were truly the better team. I just felt it and felt that we would win. I felt the same last night. Even with the L, I felt that we were the better team. People around the NBA and our fans included are down on us against the top teams but Im not. I feel like we should win alot of these games and are not the same inferior Wiz anymore. Tonight will prove alot

[RustyMagoo]

Tonight I'm gonna party like it's 1999.

[Illmatic12]

Go Wizards!

With Kyle Anderson instead of Kawhi Leonard, and Joseph instead of Parker, this is a game we have a reasonable shot to win. Despite it being the 2d night of a road back-to-back.

Porter worked Anderson over in summer league. Iirc they got into it and we're trashtalking . Hopefully Witt unleashes Otto tonight.

I can understand that Wittman can't effectively utilize both Porter and Webster in the same game. Letting them both scrap over the 10-12 bench minutes available behind Beal, Pierce and Butler isn't a recipe for success. He needs to designate one guy to be the guy for a particular game. Webster played yesterday, let him take the B2B off and use Porter today. Besides, we're better off having Webster playing every other game for 12 minutes than to play him every game for 6 since every DNP contributes toward making his final contract year a team option.

Randy had a mancrush on Webster last season despite him clearly not deserving all those minutes. Let's see if that continues. Imo Martell should really only play in blowouts and whatnot, let him get out there and run around, get some shots up. It's not necessary to forcefeed him minutes to get his legs underneath him, at the cost of other players in the rotation.

Butler is like Gooden from last year, we're squeezing out the last few useful months of good basketball he has left in him. Gradually I think he needs to start getting phased out of the rotation for Porter, who does a lot of things better than both Butler and Webster without even really trying. Once Otto gels with the second unit and starts regularly knocking down shots from his sweet spots, there will be no reason to continue the SF-by-committee thing.



Someone from the FO needs to come down and let Wittman know, that he can't continue to jerk around with Otto's minutes like this. We really need that kid to develop this season.

[Illmatic12]

Anyways, I'm gonna be watching the Ravens game with some friends, will be staying updated on my phone.

This is good fellow Wiz fans, anytime we play a superior team and I don't watch I am always pleasantly surprised to check the scores and see that we won. When I do watch it's always a heartbreaking loss.