Game Thread: Crabaliers @ Wizards

[FAH1223]

Here's another problem, tHi franchise is just too loyal where a team that wants to win a championship could clearly see, Whitman can't get this or any team to the next level. It's frustrating to watch the Cavs outplay us with a coach Out of nowhere!

David Blatt was talked about on this board in 2012 to replace Flip.

He's a damned good coach. We'd actually have an offensive system with him as HC.

[DCZards]

Here's another problem, tHi franchise is just too loyal where a team that wants to win a championship could clearly see, Whitman can't get this or any team to the next level. It's frustrating to watch the Cavs outplay us with a coach Out of nowhere!

David Blatt was talked about on this board in 2012 to replace Flip.

He's a damned good coach. We'd actually have an offensive system with him as HC.

Yeah, a lot of fans underestimate Blatt simply because they never heard of him. But, having said that, I don't really know how good an offensive system he has when most of the Cavs plays revolve around simply putting the ball in the hands of the best player on the planet and letting him do his thing.

In fact, if I'm the Cavs, I'd be a little concerned about the failure to find a consistent role for Love in the offense.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think several other teams that have outworked the Wizards are actually Milwaukee, Detroit, Boston, and Charlotte. Miami also did great getting Whiteside and now Dragic. Don't discount all of what Philly has done, either, because they own about half this draft.

I'll give you Boston and Milwaukee. They've done some nice things. I'm not impressed with Detroit and Charlotte.

Detroit lucked into Drummond who slipped all the way to 9th where Detroit happened to be picking while in need of a center. They haven't done anything else very good. They made the Josh Smith disaster. They failed to lock Monroe into a long term contract and now he's an UFA.

Charlotte is still a sub.500 team in the East whose best player is a 30-year old. All of their decent young players are pretty flawed.

The Cavs got Lebron ... but then they did go out and make some darned good moves. They got rid of Waiters. They gave up two firsts for a young big man; something Ernie would never, ever, ever be sharp enough to do. He goes for near-30 or over players. The Cavalier GM got it done when he traded 2 picks for Mozgov and then fleeced Phil Jackson by getting JR SMith and Shumpert for basically nothing.

The Cavs deserve no credit at all. They lucked into Lebron because he wanted to come home. They lucked into #1 overall picks in 3 out of 4 drafts. And despite all that, they had to trade two future firsts just to acquire the necessary role players to field a functional team. How could you not build a contender with Lebron, 3 #1 overall picks, a few other high picks, and an unlimited bank account? And it still might all fall apart if Love leaves.

None of this means the Wizards are doing well though. EG's has two huge problems that make him a terrible GM. First, he's a lousy drafter. He hasn't picked a player who exceeded expectations since Trevor Booker. EG's other problem is that he doesn't know how to sell high. He falls in love with guys as soon as they play decently, and waits until they play poorly before moving them. Utah traded Kanter for picks rather than overpaying him as a free agent. We just keep Seraphin, forcing us to either overpay, or let him walk. Seraphin should have been shopped.

Likewise, we really ought to take a look at shopping Nene. He has been extremely good this year and there has to be some contenders who would give real value for him. And Beal shouldn't be off the table either. How about trading him for a guy of equivalent value, but who has another year or two on his rookie deal? That would open up a lot more cap room in 2016. Heck, he should have looked to see what he could get for Rasual Butler too.

Yeah, nate, the Pistons blew it with Josh Smith. They get a flier on Reggie Jackson who will be playing for a contract and for the playoffs. He averaged 20 points, 8 assists as a starter when Westbrook was out. Detroit will be able to match on Jackson, as he is a RFA. Yep, Monroe is going to be playing for big money, likely elsewhere.

Cleveland gave their coach stability by signing Mozgov. Lebron will come back to Cleveland next season now that Waiters is gone and JR and Shumpert are running mates. They can withstand Love leaving. Tristan Thompson can start now that they have Mozgov.

Totally agree with on Seraphin. They didn't shop him and I guarantee you they will pay to retain him. I wish Kevin and Martell Webster were shipped out.

You might get your wish on Nene. He expires next season, and with Karl in Sacramento one coach sure will be interested.

We concur on the Wizards not doing enough this trade deadline.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The thing about Wall on defense is that he isn't getting any help on high pick and rolls.

The scheme seemingly calls for him to fight through the screens and when he ends trailing his mark, the bigs are left in limbo having to stop penetration and guard the big they're defending.

Teams are exploiting Washington's pick and roll approach relentlessly, and Wittman refuses to make any adjustments.

Instead of having our bigs show and blitz on occasion, we're giving opposing guards every opportunity to go where it hurts the most, the middle.

Our schemes suck on both ends of the floor and it starts with Wittman.

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Trevor Ariza covered up a multitude of flaws last season. He brought help big time. This time last season the defense was on point, much better than right now.

Washington is losing at the three point line. Scheme and personnel are problems. Pierce is not flying all over court like Ariza did, and the guy who is exposed is Gortat.

I thought this would happen when Ariza left, but this season started out so positive I figured I was wrong.

Right now Pierce might need to play PF, primarily.

[nate33]

Yup. I agree with you CCJ. The team misses Ariza more than people realize.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The thing about Wall on defense is that he isn't getting any help on high pick and rolls.

The scheme seemingly calls for him to fight through the screens and when he ends trailing his mark, the bigs are left in limbo having to stop penetration and guard the big they're defending.

Teams are exploiting Washington's pick and roll approach relentlessly, and Wittman refuses to make any adjustments.

Instead of having our bigs show and blitz on occasion, we're giving opposing guards every opportunity to go where it hurts the most, the middle.

Our schemes suck on both ends of the floor and it starts with Wittman.

We need Ariza. Plain and simple.

I swear I did not read this before my last post where I mentioned Ariza.

After last playoffs I posted that I thought Ariza was even more responsible for the Wizards success than Gortat.

No way in hell should they have rushed to pay Gortat $60M and refused to budge over $32M for Ariza. (Note: The 8M per offered by Houston is tax free).

Despite early success, this team right now is not any better than last year's team.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Here's another problem, tHi franchise is just too loyal where a team that wants to win a championship could clearly see, Whitman can't get this or any team to the next level. It's frustrating to watch the Cavs outplay us with a coach Out of nowhere!

David Blatt was talked about on this board in 2012 to replace Flip.

He's a damned good coach. We'd actually have an offensive system with him as HC.

Yeah, a lot of fans underestimate Blatt simply because they never heard of him. But, having said that, I don't really know how good an offensive system he has when most of the Cavs plays revolve around simply putting the ball in the hands of the best player on the planet and letting him do his thing.

In fact, if I'm the Cavs, I'd be a little concerned about the failure to find a consistent role for Love in the offense.

For years to come one thing Cleveland must deal with is Andrew Wiggins could have been there next to Lebron.

If/when Love departs they just gave away the last two number one picks for nada! (BENNETT is not as good as Otto Porter).

[hands11]

The Cav won like 3 out of 4 first round picks and Lebron decided to come home. They aren't even in the conversation as a comparison. That beyond being lucky. And they got that #1 to get Lebron to begin with.

Here is the thing with the Wizards. They are still building. They blow it up after sucking for 25 years and they still had to dump Gil worst in the league contract even after that.

They blow the Ves pick and that set them back some. But Wall, Beal and Otto all look like solid pieces. I think Otto is going to be a gamer. Even in that blow out last night I saw some nice things from him. And one thing I like a lot about him is he is scrappy. For a thin dude, he isn't afraid to put a body on someone.

So Wizard have 24, 21 and 21. They loaded up with vets to get Wall and Beal to the playoffs. Hell, even Otto was around for the ride and he got to experience that is his first year. I like that. Beal was only in his 2nd year. Thats also good.

Now we are seeing them trim off some of those vets. Professor was the first to go.
They kept their pick so next year they will start adding young pieces again. The old will fade off and they will get reloaded with draft picks the next two year. And hopefully they get a top flight coach.

There is a lot of progress to make in the next two years. Even if you don't see it in increased wins, they team will be transforming and build a solid base.

The team that remains will be 26, 23 and 23 with two new draft picks min. By then, hopefully they will have been to the playoffs 4 straight years. Again, solid base. From there you can go all in for a 4-6 year push while Wall is in his prime. And if you do it right, you put something together that can last.

25 years of sink does not wash off quickly or easily. This season is just part of the process. Its just we saw a glimpse were they could have made this year more then what was projected. But 50 wins is still progress. Just not sure they will luck out and get matched up so perfectly like they did last playoffs. We will see.

[hands11]

David Blatt was talked about on this board in 2012 to replace Flip.

He's a damned good coach. We'd actually have an offensive system with him as HC.

Yeah, a lot of fans underestimate Blatt simply because they never heard of him. But, having said that, I don't really know how good an offensive system he has when most of the Cavs plays revolve around simply putting the ball in the hands of the best player on the planet and letting him do his thing.

In fact, if I'm the Cavs, I'd be a little concerned about the failure to find a consistent role for Love in the offense.

For years to come one thing Cleveland must deal with is Andrew Wiggins could have been there next to Lebron.

If/when Love departs they just gave away the last two number one picks for nada! (BENNETT is not as good as Otto Porter).

Not even sure how much they really need Love anymore. But they will go deep in the playoff. And he will get paid.

And Kyrie. Look out for that young man. Getting moved off ball with LeBron playing PG/F a lot is the best thing that could have happen to him. And adding a JR Smith. Great move. Kyrie is not going to learn to be a winner in the NBA. He gets his first playoff experience this year. Going to be interesting to see how he does.

He will be the next Step Curry. Both have sick handles. And both can shoot. Kyrie is a very talented player. He was just in a really bad situation until this year. Now watch his blossom. And all that said, he numbers have been good and consistent since he was a rookie. And he is just 22 and in his 4th year. He just has to stay healthy and as we have seen, lots of young player battle with injuries.

[AFM]

The thing about Wall on defense is that he isn't getting any help on high pick and rolls.

The scheme seemingly calls for him to fight through the screens and when he ends trailing his mark, the bigs are left in limbo having to stop penetration and guard the big they're defending.

Teams are exploiting Washington's pick and roll approach relentlessly, and Wittman refuses to make any adjustments.

Instead of having our bigs show and blitz on occasion, we're giving opposing guards every opportunity to go where it hurts the most, the middle.

Our schemes suck on both ends of the floor and it starts with Wittman.

We need Ariza. Plain and simple.

I swear I did not read this before my last post where I mentioned Ariza.

After last playoffs I posted that I thought Ariza was even more responsible for the Wizards success than Gortat.

No way in hell should they have rushed to pay Gortat $60M and refused to budge over $32M for Ariza. (Note: The 8M per offered by Houston is tax free).

Despite early success, this team right now is not any better than last year's team.

This team is significantly worse than last year.
Remember when Beal, Ariza, and Webster were draining corner 3s like free throws?
Those were da days