We have a ticket to the second round don't we

[nuposse04]

Well the important thing was our bench was not a giant sucking black hole in the playoffs last season. I'm afraid that's going to be the case this season, unless Humphries can hold things together.

If we did the smart thing and playing Nene off the bench we're probably be alright.

I don't care much for Gooden as a starter, and truthfully i'd rather it be Pierce at the 4, but Randy probably won't do that. That and our wing production with Butler has had a harsh regression to the mean.

While here in DC, Ramon is averaging 14-6 per 36, a TS% of 55, a ortg/drtg diff. of +4, and a WS/48 of .123. I don't think we can really say we have bad backup PG play right now. Those are solid numbers.

[Ruzious]

Sessions jump shot is the difference maker? That's odd because Sessions is shooting considerably worse than Miller.

A backup being the difference make in 2-3 games in 2 playoff series? I'll take it.

Good to know I wasn't the only one who figuratively spewed coffee at my monitor over that comment.

[nuposse04]

Well the important thing was our bench was not a giant sucking black hole in the playoffs last season. I'm afraid that's going to be the case this season, unless Humphries can hold things together.

FAH pointed out that it would be best if Randy cut his bench way down... who would you play?

Wall/Ramon
Beal/Porter/Wall
Porter/Pierce/Spinkle some Butler/temple
Pierce/Hump/Nene
Gortat/Nene

I'd avoid Gooden in a Bulls series, but I think he'd be useful against the raps, mainly, because I fully believe the bulls would take away any utility Gooden has, and i doubt the Raps would.

If we had a legit stretch big things would be a lot easier, that and if Butler didn't become a piece of crap.

[Kanyewest]

If the Wizards play the Bulls, they should start Nene. If they play the Raptors, then they could go small.

[Dat2U]

I'd avoid playing Gooden, Butler, Sessions, Humphries, Seraphin, Temple, Webster, Blair & James in the series if I could but unfortunately I don't think our guys are capable of playing 48 minutes.

[nuposse04]

I'd avoid playing Gooden, Butler, Sessions, Humphries, Seraphin, Temple, Webster, Blair & James in the series if I could but unfortunately I don't think our guys are capable of playing 48 minutes.

I think Hump and Sessions are useful players....but I can understand the sentiment towards the rest. :/

[Sluggerface]

Bulls fan here. I don't know much about your guys team this year, but it seems like some don't know a lot about ours either. The Wizards have always been a pretty good matchup for us. I think you guys could make us work to get to the second round, and it's one of the reasons I prefer not to play you. If we get the 4 seed I think it's a very hard taught 6 game series that we win. Pau Gasol over Boozer is a huge upgrade and even if Noah is hampered in the series I think it actually helps us vs you guys.

Noah has always had trouble against Nene and Gortat. I actually prefer the Taj/Gasol lineup vs the Wiz. The bonus to that is Mirotic at the 4 is a huge problem for you guys. Rose looks really good since his return and although Wall might have the advantage on him, Rose loves playing against other star PG's. I think Wall will win the matchup but he's going to have to actually work on both sides of the ball in this series. Last year nobody could guard him on our roster, and he didn't have to guard anyone on our roster. That also means Butler can just stick to Beal all game instead of rotating between who's hot.

I realize this is your guys team and if I were you I'd totally believe you could beat the Bulls, but I also think you guys are vastly underestimating what our team can do when everyone is playing...I think around 16-2 with all players in the lineup. Either way we may not even see you guys in the playoffs but if we do, it should be a real fun series to watch, and I'd love getting the opportunity to pay y'all back for last year. Sorry for intruding...just excited to talk playoff ball. If you play the Raptors, I'll be rooting for you guys.

Your Bulls will beat the Wizards in 5. I've watched both teams plenty and the Bulls have the better starting lineup and bench. Bulls have the superior coach. Bulls will have homecourt and won't lose both Games 1 and 2 at home again to the same Wizards team.

ThreeKola is going to murder us. Aaron Brooks is a Wizard killer. Rose will get up for playing Wall. Joakim isn't going to let Nene dominate him again.

The Wiz have no chance to get beyond Round 1.

The bulls aren't that good bro.

[queridiculo]

Well the important thing was our bench was not a giant sucking black hole in the playoffs last season. I'm afraid that's going to be the case this season, unless Humphries can hold things together.

FAH pointed out that it would be best if Randy cut his bench way down... who would you play?

With the Wizards it's easier to answer that question by anwering "who would you not play under any circumstance"?

The answer, Seraphin, Webster, Temple, Bynum, Butler.

I don't love the idea of playing Sessions, or Gooden for that matter, but it's much like the US two party system, a choice off lesser evils.

I'd start Wall/Beal/Porter/Humphries/Gortat, and I'd bring Nene and Pierce off the bench alongside Sessions, Gooden and a combination of either Wall and Beal.

Butler and Bynum should only see minutes if their two counterparts are in foul trouble, and Seraphin should only be on the court if the Wizards are up by 30 points with two minutes left to play.

[Dat2U]

The bulls aren't that good bro.

QFT and bolded for emphasis!

Gasol may be worlds better than Boozer but Gasol & Noah get in each others space which has muted Noah's impact and screwed up spacing. Gibson & Noah is the better tandem IMO. Noah or Gibson & Mirotic at the 4 is the pairing that really scares me but how often will we really see that? There's only so many minutes to go around and Mirotic at the 3 won't have the same impact.

Rose can't guard anyone at this stage, much less Wall. Wall should eat his lunch throughly. If Beal becomes playoff Beal then forget about it. Wiz will win in 6.

[payitforward]

...I am convinced another coach could have these same players at 50 wins and a three seed.

The Randy obvious low hanging fruit blunders to account for at least 6 more wins was documented along the way. Yes...50 win was min this team should have done even accounting for Randism.

And for the record folks, CCJ isn't just posting that number because its what he projected before the season because he projected a good bit lower then that. Which for me, makes his current take less tethered to accusations of bios.

Every team would do better with a better coach. Just not all that much better -- the players play the game and any one of them who plays significant minutes has a hugely greater effect than the coach -- so it's kind of a meaningless statement.

There isn't a coach alive or dead who would have gotten 6 more wins -- especially not the dead ones!*

But, seriously: we started out 22-8. That was against a weak schedule. We've played 51 games since then; there's some mythical coach out there who was going to turn 6 of the 27 losses in that time into wins?

Well... lets see, before last night we were 5-1 April, and our only loss was by 37 points. I guess that wouldn't have been one of those extra wins. So that leaves 26 losses for this brilliant imaginary coach to work with in creating the 6 extra wins Hands thinks we'd have if he were at the helm. That doesn't sound so hard, does it? Well, lets see:

First off, unless you really don't think the players have any big role in wins and losses, lets just assume those 6 extra wins would have to have come in games we lost by less than 9 points. Of the 26 losses our coach of the ether has to work with, 15 of by less than 9.

We lost at OKC, at Portland, at Phoenix, at Toronto (2 times), at Charlotte, at Philly, at Chicago, at Milwaukee & last night at Indiana. That's 8 road losses against, in many cases, very good teams. Where are the brilliant mythical coach's wins in that bunch? Those Western Conference teams are better than we are. Toronto matches up against us extremely well. Are we so great that we can just say 'oh we should beat the Bulls on their court' because we have a different coach? I don't know about that.

Charlotte? Milwaukee? Was that it? We should never lose a road game to Charlotte or Milwaukee? If we do, it's Wittman's fault? Haven't they beaten a bunch of other teams at home this season?

We certainly shouldn't have lost at Philadelphia -- but was that really a coaching issue? After all, we blew them out last week on the same court w/ the same coach. As to last night -- both teams were awful; it was an ugly game. But Indiana had more at stake than we did and was at home. If they'd made their free throws in regulation, there'd have been no OT.

At home we lost to Houston, Golden State, OKC, Toronto, Charlotte & Indiana by less than 9 points. The first two of those teams are among the best in the league. Their road records are way better than our overall record! OKC is a much better team than we are -- anyone doubt that? Toronto has owned us this season.

That leaves the Charlotte & Indiana losses at home. It's possible that, with a better coach, who knows? maybe we win 1 or both of those games. It's not an altogether fanciful notion, and it's in the realm of possibility for the differences of one coach and another on a season.

Don't get me wrong: along with Ernie, Randy should go. But overall our record reflects how good our roster is. We do need a better coach, but waaaay more than that we need better players -- and for that... we'll have to have a better GM. So there's your real problem.

[TGW]

Every team would do better with a better coach. Just not all that much better -- the players play the game and any one of them who plays significant minutes has a hugely greater effect than the coach -- so it's kind of a meaningless statement.

There isn't a coach alive or dead who would have gotten 6 more wins -- especially not the dead ones!*

But, seriously: we started out 22-8. That was against a weak schedule. We've played 51 games since then; there's some mythical coach out there who was going to turn 6 of the 27 losses in that time into wins?

Well... lets see, before last night we were 5-1 April, and our only loss was by 37 points. I guess that wouldn't have been one of those extra wins. So that leaves 26 losses for this brilliant imaginary coach to work with in creating the 6 extra wins Hands thinks we'd have if he were at the helm. That doesn't sound so hard, does it? Well, lets see:

First off, unless you really don't think the players have any big role in wins and losses, lets just assume those 6 extra wins would have to have come in games we lost by less than 9 points. Of the 26 losses our coach of the ether has to work with, 15 of by less than 9.

We lost at OKC, at Portland, at Phoenix, at Toronto (2 times), at Charlotte, at Philly, at Chicago, at Milwaukee & last night at Indiana. That's 8 road losses against, in many cases, very good teams. Where are the brilliant mythical coach's wins in that bunch? Those Western Conference teams are better than we are. Toronto matches up against us extremely well. Are we so great that we can just say 'oh we should beat the Bulls on their court' because we have a different coach? I don't know about that.

Charlotte? Milwaukee? Was that it? We should never lose a road game to Charlotte or Milwaukee? If we do, it's Wittman's fault? Haven't they beaten a bunch of other teams at home this season?

We certainly shouldn't have lost at Philadelphia -- but was that really a coaching issue? After all, we blew them out last week on the same court w/ the same coach. As to last night -- both teams were awful; it was an ugly game. But Indiana had more at stake than we did and was at home. If they'd made their free throws in regulation, there'd have been no OT.

At home we lost to Houston, Golden State, OKC, Toronto, Charlotte & Indiana by less than 9 points. The first two of those teams are among the best in the league. Their road records are way better than our overall record! OKC is a much better team than we are -- anyone doubt that? Toronto has owned us this season.

That leaves the Charlotte & Indiana losses at home. It's possible that, with a better coach, who knows? maybe we win 1 or both of those games. It's not an altogether fanciful notion, and it's in the realm of possibility for the differences of one coach and another on a season.

Don't get me wrong: along with Ernie, Randy should go. But overall our record reflects how good our roster is. We do need a better coach, but waaaay more than that we need better players -- and for that... we'll have to have a better GM. So there's your real problem.

Yep--this is clearly not a 50 win roster, and even if it were...WHO CARES? 50 wins in the East is about as meaningful as cutting out soda out of your diet when you're 400 lbs. It means nothing. The only thing that matters is whether this team--as currently constructed--a championship calibre team, and we all know the answer to that. Right now, there are 4 teams in the East that are clearly better than the Wizards, regardless of who's coaching, and sadly enough it looks like Turd is going to stay status quo until the backlash gets to a point where he can't ignore it anymore.

I mean look at his self-serving blog posts on Ted's Take regarding playoff conflicts between the Wizards and Caps. He's already proud of this "dilemma" like people give a rats ass what games he's watching and when:

These are all good problems to have. I wanted to post what we had decided as I am sure that the issue will be discussed and opined on by someone in the blogosphere and I wanted to reach our fans directly so they could understand what our dilemma was in regards to scheduling. Thanks in advance for understanding and for showing empathy for these scheduling issues. As noted - I believe this is a wonderful dilemma to face.

[Kanyewest]

Every team would do better with a better coach. Just not all that much better -- the players play the game and any one of them who plays significant minutes has a hugely greater effect than the coach -- so it's kind of a meaningless statement.

There isn't a coach alive or dead who would have gotten 6 more wins -- especially not the dead ones!*

But, seriously: we started out 22-8. That was against a weak schedule. We've played 51 games since then; there's some mythical coach out there who was going to turn 6 of the 27 losses in that time into wins?

Well... lets see, before last night we were 5-1 April, and our only loss was by 37 points. I guess that wouldn't have been one of those extra wins. So that leaves 26 losses for this brilliant imaginary coach to work with in creating the 6 extra wins Hands thinks we'd have if he were at the helm. That doesn't sound so hard, does it? Well, lets see:

First off, unless you really don't think the players have any big role in wins and losses, lets just assume those 6 extra wins would have to have come in games we lost by less than 9 points. Of the 26 losses our coach of the ether has to work with, 15 of by less than 9.

We lost at OKC, at Portland, at Phoenix, at Toronto (2 times), at Charlotte, at Philly, at Chicago, at Milwaukee & last night at Indiana. That's 8 road losses against, in many cases, very good teams. Where are the brilliant mythical coach's wins in that bunch? Those Western Conference teams are better than we are. Toronto matches up against us extremely well. Are we so great that we can just say 'oh we should beat the Bulls on their court' because we have a different coach? I don't know about that.

Charlotte? Milwaukee? Was that it? We should never lose a road game to Charlotte or Milwaukee? If we do, it's Wittman's fault? Haven't they beaten a bunch of other teams at home this season?

We certainly shouldn't have lost at Philadelphia -- but was that really a coaching issue? After all, we blew them out last week on the same court w/ the same coach. As to last night -- both teams were awful; it was an ugly game. But Indiana had more at stake than we did and was at home. If they'd made their free throws in regulation, there'd have been no OT.

At home we lost to Houston, Golden State, OKC, Toronto, Charlotte & Indiana by less than 9 points. The first two of those teams are among the best in the league. Their road records are way better than our overall record! OKC is a much better team than we are -- anyone doubt that? Toronto has owned us this season.

That leaves the Charlotte & Indiana losses at home. It's possible that, with a better coach, who knows? maybe we win 1 or both of those games. It's not an altogether fanciful notion, and it's in the realm of possibility for the differences of one coach and another on a season.

Don't get me wrong: along with Ernie, Randy should go. But overall our record reflects how good our roster is. We do need a better coach, but waaaay more than that we need better players -- and for that... we'll have to have a better GM. So there's your real problem.

True. Still, I'm not sure what will get Ted Leonsis to cross that bridge to fire Ernie Grunfeld especially since he didn't cross it in the past few offseasons. Maybe Ted is just happy that the Wizards are not a knucklehead group.

While this board is ready to fire Grunfeld, I still don't feel like the sentiment is really there among the casual fans that I know. I tried to explain to one of my friends about the disaster of the 2011 draft- but he remained unconvinced that Kawai Leonard was a sure thing and that GMs make mistakes. I then pointed out that two of the guys he drafted were now out of the league. He conceded my point but for now but he just seems to be happy watching NBA games. That represents a large portion of the increase viewership of Washington Wizard fans who are just happy to be competitive and to watch a playoff team - but don't realize all the mistakes that EG has made since 2009.

I also think the national expectations of the Wizards have been relatively low. Yes, most sportswriters predicted that the Wizards would win the division but that's before the Hawks meteoric rise to a 60 win team. The Bulls have always been deeper, and the Raptors since the Rudy Gay trade have been a better regular season team than the Wizards. Part of it may also be as fans that we have become victims to our own expectations ut this is around where most national media analysts had the team.

I think it will take the Wizards getting knocked out of the first round and missing the playoffs altogether for Washington to make any changes in the front office. Wittman could lose his job but I'm not holding my breath especially since I'm not sure if EG will find a good head coach.

[Joe_Wiz]

The biggest question in my mind is what we'll see out of Pierce and Nene. Will they look like well-rested, savvy veterans who know how to play in the playoffs, or will they look like they're done? Another key question is how many minutes Wall will sit (and whether we can stay in the game during that time). And will the team be focused and clicking like they were in the recent win at Memphis (and like they often were before the All Star break) or . . . not.

I'm not at all confident that they'll pull it together, but they COULD rock.

I don't post here often anymore, and a lot of you know a lot more about basketball than I do, but I want my props on this one. At least as of game 1, Pierce (20 pts on 7-10 shooting, 4-7 on 3's, and +6) and Nene (12 pts, 13 boards, and +10 in 21 minutes) were huge. Wall and Beal of course played their adzes off despite poor shooting nights, but we knew they were going to bring it. Nene and Pierce getting the job done was the difference.

[Dat2U]

I agree with the OP but for different reasons. Nene & Pierce are our 2nd & 3rd best players respectively but they are part time guys who need their rest to be effective. With games more spread out time wise and no back-to-backs in the playoffs, plus the recent rest both Nene/Pierce received, we are going to be a really tough out. Especially if Beal is rounding into form and poised for a similar situation where he raises his game to a higher level.

I've actually felt this way for a few weeks... with Nene/Pierce we are specfically built for a playoff series. I'd bet on Wittman securing his job into next season as the Wizards will likely manage to win another 1st round series & give another solid, if unfulfilling effort in a second round series loss.

We are getting a different version Pierce & Nene than we did in the regular season. We should expect to... these guys are still quality players but limited by the grind of the NBA schedule. With the playoffs, that's no longer the case. Now if we can somehow get Wall & Beal going, we may be able to beat Toronto in game 2 and win this series in 5 much like we did against Chicago last year.

[TGW]

Next year, we should just put Nene and Pierce in a stasis chamber until the playoffs start.

[Ruzious]

The bulls aren't that good bro.

QFT and bolded for emphasis!

Gasol may be worlds better than Boozer but Gasol & Noah get in each others space which has muted Noah's impact and screwed up spacing. Gibson & Noah is the better tandem IMO. Noah or Gibson & Mirotic at the 4 is the pairing that really scares me but how often will we really see that? There's only so many minutes to go around and Mirotic at the 3 won't have the same impact.

Rose can't guard anyone at this stage, much less Wall. Wall should eat his lunch throughly. If Beal becomes playoff Beal then forget about it. Wiz will win in 6.

Rose made 3 3rd quarter 3's against the Bucks - 2 of them just about 30 feet out. I think he's somewhat reinventing himself as a jump shooter who can penetrate rather than a penetrator who can occasionally make a jumper. I wouldn't under-estimate the Bulls. They have the most quality offensive weapons (including Atlanta) in the East and probably the best combination of bigs in the East. I said at the beginning of the season that Cleveland and Chicago are 1 and 2 in the East, and I haven't changed that view. Atlanta has to prove it to me in the playoffs.