Official Thread - Wizards vs Thunder (1/21/15)

[LyricalRico]

Why wasn't Gortat even in the game?

The Thunder went small.

I think with 3.6 seconds you could just have Gortat protect the rim and switch everything else. It isn't quite as big a dumb move when Vogel took Hibbert out on that LBJ gamewinner, but why is your best/2nd best defensive big man not in the game on a 3.6 possession? Small ball be damned, he's athletic enough to keep up for a second or two if need be in that situation.

Exactly.

[Dat2U]

Of course CCJ threw Wall under the bus in this thread ... undeserved even though it's expected .... but my biggest gripe outside of the general over-dependence on mid-range shots was the play of Gortat. I thought he was terrible out there, a step late on everything, struggled with a lot of passes and wasn't really involved offensively... he also had 6 measly rebounds in 37 minutes.

[jivelikenice]

Gortat has been ehhh this year. Not sure if he's lost focus after the extension and publicity recently. That being said where's the pick and roll? Why don't we continue it?
Blaming Wall for yesterday was comical. The end of regulation shot was terrible and he needs to attack more but they had no chance w/o him yesterday. He was +5; Miller was -7....OKC's lead was 7 before Wall came back in and scored 6 consecutive points at one point I believe. My only grips is his offense is coming around and he needs to be more assertive at times. There was little to the basket, no floaters, and no post game yesterday. He needs to make guys like Rose/Westbrook work harder on D.

[DCZards]

He's been a fairly inefficient mid range shooter since he entered the NBA. Why do we blast Wit for pushing a mid range system yet call Beal's shots "good open looks". Even if he's open, its not an efficient shot and I feel like we've been making this excuse for Beal his entire career. He takes about 2 shots PER GAME where he shoots a jumper with one foot in front of the 3 point line. I dont need a coach to tell me thats a bad shot. That's just simple bball iq.

I don't think people blast Witt for pushing midrange jumpers. They blast him for (allegedly) pushing long jumpers. A shot from just inside the 3pt line is not a midrange jumper.

I consider an open midrange (12-15ft) jumper a good, makeable shot for an NBA player.

[Nivek]

He's been a fairly inefficient mid range shooter since he entered the NBA. Why do we blast Wit for pushing a mid range system yet call Beal's shots "good open looks". Even if he's open, its not an efficient shot and I feel like we've been making this excuse for Beal his entire career. He takes about 2 shots PER GAME where he shoots a jumper with one foot in front of the 3 point line. I dont need a coach to tell me thats a bad shot. That's just simple bball iq.

I don't think people blast Witt for pushing midrange jumpers. They blast him for (allegedly) pushing long jumpers. A shot from just inside the 3pt line is not a midrange jumper.

This distinction doesn't mean much. Two-point jumpers -- whether they're long twos (16+ feet) or shorter ones -- are low-yield shots. They're the shots the defense wants to be taken.

League average efg is .497.
At-rim: .629
3-10 feet: .389
10-16 feet: .404
16 feet to 3pt line: .396
3pt: .523

Whether it's mid-range or close or long, two-point jumpers should be taken as a last resort.

[DCZards]

Whether it's mid-range or close or long, two-point jumpers should be taken as a last resort.

Agreed. But those 2pt jumpers will often be the only available open shot. Yes, it would be nice to have all your shots be at the rim or wide open 3s...but it ain't going to happen when you've got opponents/defenders working hard to limit those type of shots. So it's important to learn to take and make those short/midrange jumpers.

[Ruzious]

Fish Thooooooooughts!

Hell of a game and tough loss, but damn if it wasn't entertaining. Great vibe in the building last night. FWIW, I saw a few KD T-shirts, but just a few. There weren't any chants or anything. The whole thing was sort of overhyped.

I really thought the game was lost in the first half. OKC had no energy and we couldn't hit a shot. I thought our play was choppy and somehow we were up 10. If Pierce and Beal could have hit a couple of shots earlier, we could have build a lead big enough to hold on.

Russell Westbrook is an evil basketball cyborg. It's scary. If he was smarter, he'd be unstoppable. Speaking of unstoppable -- god damn, Kevin Durant. We should get that guy. And yet, from an aesthetic standpoint they're not that great to watch. I mean, their inidivdual talents are breathtaking, but they don't move the ball the way Atlanta or San Antonio does (at least not often). There's so much 1-4 stuff, so much bal watching. I do honestly believe that Durant's skills would be better used playing with Wall. I dont care how good Westbrook is -- you can;t have 4Q possessions where KD is being guarded by Rasual Butler and KD not touch the ball.

Coaching move I absolutely hated: Wittman not resting Pierce when KD rested. Durant was cold in the first half, but you knew his shot would start falling. Brooks brings him out early and then brings him back with the 2's when Westbrook sits. I thought at the time that Witt made a huge mistake not mirroring PIerce's minutes to Durant's. We needed Pierce as fresh as possible down the stretch.

Big ups to Nene for that effort last night. I like his attitude and that people hate him and hate playing against him. Steven Adams is a beast, by the way.

Our 21 year olds looked every bit of 21 last night. Otto looked intimidated on the floor, unfortunately.

OKC's D is fabulous and suffocating. They don't get enough credit for it because they have two offensive superstars.

On the one hand, we had a crazy low efg% of .415 and only lost to a great team by 2 points in OT. OTOH, we held a great team to and efg% of .422 and still couldn't win :-/

Nothing to be ashamed of. No great lessons. Just got to dust ourselves off and figure out how we're going to beat Portland.

Onward.

This is my favorite segment of the game threads - even though the title could use some work. Fish food for thought?

The game was often painful to watch. So many open jumpers - so many misses. Pierce made a couple late, but he was awful. Beal hustled, but he rushed almost every shot he took - and he didn't have to. Clang off the front of the rim. Clang off the front of the rim. Again and again. Just set your feet, use your legs, and follow through. It shouldn't be that hard when you're open.

The refs sucked, but ya gotta overcome bad calls. I thought the team let down after a couple of really bad ones. And we did get the benefit of that questionable goal tend call - which I thought was unreviewable. Pet peave: So tired of officials waiting to see if a ball goes in before blowing their whistles. A foul is a foul, and whether the ball goes in has no effect on whether it should be called. Every official make that intentionally delayed foul call should be fined.

[Higga]

Was at the game. The vibe was awesome even though the 1st half was a horrible display of basketball. Durant and Westbrook turned it on in the 2nd half though, and our big guns just couldn't quite match them. Even still, it took Durant hitting an incredible 3 and Westbrook burning Beal on a bad gamble for them to win the game in OT.

We should have had a bigger lead but our bench guys in the 2nd quarter just couldn't buy a basket. And when you let a team like OKC hang around, you eventually get burned.

[fishercob]

Fish Thooooooooughts!

Hell of a game and tough loss, but damn if it wasn't entertaining. Great vibe in the building last night. FWIW, I saw a few KD T-shirts, but just a few. There weren't any chants or anything. The whole thing was sort of overhyped.

I really thought the game was lost in the first half. OKC had no energy and we couldn't hit a shot. I thought our play was choppy and somehow we were up 10. If Pierce and Beal could have hit a couple of shots earlier, we could have build a lead big enough to hold on.

Russell Westbrook is an evil basketball cyborg. It's scary. If he was smarter, he'd be unstoppable. Speaking of unstoppable -- god damn, Kevin Durant. We should get that guy. And yet, from an aesthetic standpoint they're not that great to watch. I mean, their inidivdual talents are breathtaking, but they don't move the ball the way Atlanta or San Antonio does (at least not often). There's so much 1-4 stuff, so much bal watching. I do honestly believe that Durant's skills would be better used playing with Wall. I dont care how good Westbrook is -- you can;t have 4Q possessions where KD is being guarded by Rasual Butler and KD not touch the ball.

Coaching move I absolutely hated: Wittman not resting Pierce when KD rested. Durant was cold in the first half, but you knew his shot would start falling. Brooks brings him out early and then brings him back with the 2's when Westbrook sits. I thought at the time that Witt made a huge mistake not mirroring PIerce's minutes to Durant's. We needed Pierce as fresh as possible down the stretch.

Big ups to Nene for that effort last night. I like his attitude and that people hate him and hate playing against him. Steven Adams is a beast, by the way.

Our 21 year olds looked every bit of 21 last night. Otto looked intimidated on the floor, unfortunately.

OKC's D is fabulous and suffocating. They don't get enough credit for it because they have two offensive superstars.

On the one hand, we had a crazy low efg% of .415 and only lost to a great team by 2 points in OT. OTOH, we held a great team to and efg% of .422 and still couldn't win :-/

Nothing to be ashamed of. No great lessons. Just got to dust ourselves off and figure out how we're going to beat Portland.

Onward.

This is my favorite segment of the game threads - even though the title could use some work. Fish food for thought?

The game was often painful to watch. So many open jumpers - so many misses. Pierce made a couple late, but he was awful. Beal hustled, but he rushed almost every shot he took - and he didn't have to. Clang off the front of the rim. Clang off the front of the rim. Again and again. Just set your feet, use your legs, and follow through. It shouldn't be that hard when you're open.

The refs sucked, but ya gotta overcome bad calls. I thought the team let down after a couple of really bad ones. And we did get the benefit of that questionable goal tend call - which I thought was unreviewable. Pet peave: So tired of officials waiting to see if a ball goes in before blowing their whistles. A foul is a foul, and whether the ball goes in has no effect on whether it should be called. Every official make that intentionally delayed foul call should be fined.

How kind of you to say! I enjoy writing my postgame impressions and appreciate that you and a few others have noted that you enjoy reading them.

Agreed on Pierce and Beal. I didn't expound on Beal in my "21 year olds" comment, but just looked a hair out of sync. He rushed stuff, shorted stuff, etc. And for all Pierce's performance in the so-called "clutch," it would have been pretty clutch if he could have hit a couple of those open looks in the 1H.

The refs may have made some mistakes, but I don't know if they did so at a remarkably higher rate than normal for human refs (cue NIvek: "that's why I think robots should ref the games." Well what happens when they turn on us, Kevin? What then??). Sorry. What I meant to say was that it struck me as a very tough game to officiate because it was extremely physical. Serge freaking Ibaka actually looked small on the floor with Adams, Gortat and Nene.

A few thoughts on the Wall 5th foul: It was on the other end of the court from where I sat, and I didnt get a good look at the replay. It may well have been a chintzy call, but the mistake is John's, not the ref's! What are you doing reaching in 75 feet from the basket? Weigh the expected return versus the risk and it's pretty clearly a bad idea.

That said, I wasn't a fan of how Wittman handled Wall with 5 fouls. If you want Beal on Westbrook some of the time, fine. But part of Wall's still ongoing maturation process should be learning how to play with foul trouble. All the greats can do it. And by the way, if Witt didn't want Wall on Westbrook, why wouldn't he bring Temple in to guard Westbrook on that last possession and not Beal. Seems curious given how Witt has used GT during key defensive possessions.

Last night demonstrated a bit of what we miss about Ariza and why Otto's development is so important. Ideally, Otto could have provided everything that Butler did last night but with better defense. In fact, you'd like to be able to stick him on Westbrook in that late game situation, let him play off of him to coax a jumper and use his length to contest the shot.

Much as it sucks to lose, I do think last night was pretty positive overall. I think everyone sees how wonderful a fit Durant is for the Wizards. The arena and crowd looked great on TV. The team fought their assess off, even if they came up short, against an elite Western team (record be damned). The springtime is going to be fun.

[Nivek]

The refs may have made some mistakes, but I don't know if they did so at a remarkably higher rate than normal for human refs (cue NIvek: "that's why I think robots should ref the games." Well what happens when they turn on us, Kevin? What then??).

Way to totally misstate my idea. It's like you're a Republican or Democrat or something.

My ACTUAL idea is to get the refs off the court. Have them call fouls from the sideline (or a booth in the stadium, or in a room in New York for all I care) using HD monitors. Have a couple game-runners on the floor -- guys to break up fights, get the ball to FT shooters, keep an eye on things that might happen outside game action, but don't make actual foul calls.

Maybe use technology for out-of-bounds calls and/or 3pt vs. long 2pt calls -- foot on line stuff.

All that said, I think your idea of robots who punish players for taking 2pt jumpers early in the shot clock is a good one.

[fishercob]

blah...blah...blah....

All that said, I think your idea of robots who punish players for taking 2pt jumpers early in the shot clock is a good one.

[Nivek]

blah...blah...blah....

All that said, I think your idea of robots who punish players for taking 2pt jumpers early in the shot clock is a good one.

Yes, Popovich also likes your proposal.

[Ruzious]

The refs may have made some mistakes, but I don't know if they did so at a remarkably higher rate than normal for human refs (cue NIvek: "that's why I think robots should ref the games." Well what happens when they turn on us, Kevin? What then??).

Way to totally misstate my idea. It's like you're a Republican or Democrat or something.

My ACTUAL idea is to get the refs off the court. Have them call fouls from the sideline (or a booth in the stadium, or in a room in New York for all I care) using HD monitors. Have a couple game-runners on the floor -- guys to break up fights, get the ball to FT shooters, keep an eye on things that might happen outside game action, but don't make actual foul calls.

Maybe use technology for out-of-bounds calls and/or 3pt vs. long 2pt calls -- foot on line stuff.

All that said, I think your idea of robots who punish players for taking 2pt jumpers early in the shot clock is a good one.

I think it comes down to the true fact that Fish and fowls don't mix.

[dobrojim]

Fish Thooooooooughts!

Hell of a game and tough loss, but damn if it wasn't entertaining. Great vibe in the building last night. FWIW, I saw a few KD T-shirts, but just a few. There weren't any chants or anything. The whole thing was sort of overhyped.

I really thought the game was lost in the first half. OKC had no energy and we couldn't hit a shot. I thought our play was choppy and somehow we were up 10. If Pierce and Beal could have hit a couple of shots earlier, we could have build a lead big enough to hold on.

Russell Westbrook is an evil basketball cyborg. It's scary. If he was smarter, he'd be unstoppable. Speaking of unstoppable -- god damn, Kevin Durant. We should get that guy. And yet, from an aesthetic standpoint they're not that great to watch. I mean, their inidivdual talents are breathtaking, but they don't move the ball the way Atlanta or San Antonio does (at least not often). There's so much 1-4 stuff, so much bal watching. I do honestly believe that Durant's skills would be better used playing with Wall. I dont care how good Westbrook is -- you can;t have 4Q possessions where KD is being guarded by Rasual Butler and KD not touch the ball.

Coaching move I absolutely hated: Wittman not resting Pierce when KD rested. Durant was cold in the first half, but you knew his shot would start falling. Brooks brings him out early and then brings him back with the 2's when Westbrook sits. I thought at the time that Witt made a huge mistake not mirroring PIerce's minutes to Durant's. We needed Pierce as fresh as possible down the stretch.

Big ups to Nene for that effort last night. I like his attitude and that people hate him and hate playing against him. Steven Adams is a beast, by the way.

Our 21 year olds looked every bit of 21 last night. Otto looked intimidated on the floor, unfortunately.

OKC's D is fabulous and suffocating. They don't get enough credit for it because they have two offensive superstars.

On the one hand, we had a crazy low efg% of .415 and only lost to a great team by 2 points in OT. OTOH, we held a great team to and efg% of .422 and still couldn't win :-/

Nothing to be ashamed of. No great lessons. Just got to dust ourselves off and figure out how we're going to beat Portland.

Onward.

This is my favorite segment of the game threads - even though the title could use some work. Fish food for thought?

The game was often painful to watch. So many open jumpers - so many misses. Pierce made a couple late, but he was awful. Beal hustled, but he rushed almost every shot he took - and he didn't have to. Clang off the front of the rim. Clang off the front of the rim. Again and again. Just set your feet, use your legs, and follow through. It shouldn't be that hard when you're open.

The refs sucked, but ya gotta overcome bad calls. I thought the team let down after a couple of really bad ones. And we did get the benefit of that questionable goal tend call - which I thought was unreviewable. Pet peave: So tired of officials waiting to see if a ball goes in before blowing their whistles. A foul is a foul, and whether the ball goes in has no effect on whether it should be called. Every official make that intentionally delayed foul call should be fined.

Have not had time to read the whole game thread but good comments above. (I like Fish thoughts)

My condensed version - this game was coulda, shoulda, woulda.

We coulda won if: We played just a wee bit better (biggest reason we lost) or if the zebras hadn't given
RW and KD every benefit of the doubt, or if Dre Miller hits even 1-2 of 2 FTs he took while OKC was rallying.
Or if Beal hadn't gambled or somebody else helped better on the last play, we hit somewhere even close to
our average %age on 3s. Or... the list goes on as it always will in an OT game.

One optimistic note on the game though was that we did have a chance to win with the shot
clock turned off and playing with our strong suit, defense. Most teams that don't have players
like KD (does any team have a player like him?) or RW would have lost in that situation. We're a better
defensive than offensive team and we were poised to have our defense seal the win for us.