Bauru Basket vs Wizards Preseason Game #3

[Illmatic12]

The shots he's making now don't indicate that he'd be good during the season. But there's precedent with journeyman guys coming here and shooting better (look at Sessions, Rasual, etc)

Yeah..and two years ago Webster showed up and had a productive year...and there were a lot of naysayers when he was signed.

Ariza (who's DC tenure is now the stuff of legend on these forums, lol) had a lot of naysayers also, people are quick to forget that. No one really cared for him until Wall came back from injury in that 2013 season and TA went on to have a great ~1.5 season run for us.

[manifested]

Why is everyone so down on Neal? He's played decent from what I've seen and he hits 3s. Some of you would rather have Temple?? Christ, did I miss something?

Agree on Neal. I'm also a little surprised at the negativity toward him. He's been very productive as an off-the-bench scorer this preseason. Guy may not defend or pass well...but he knows how and when to score. I expect Neal to be an important role player for the Zards this season.

Agreed. Seems to me that Neal has some use when the second unit's having trouble scoring. Put him in for a couple minutes here and there and see if he's hot. If not, you pull him.

Wouldn't it make more sense to cut Blair to keep Harrellson? If there's going to be an undersized rebounding F/C at least keep the one that can shoot a bit. The team can't afford to keep two slow bigs that don't protect the rim.

[manifested]

Otto Porter's move:

http://www.nba.com/video/games/wizards/2015/10/11/0011500041-bau-was-play3.nba/

I can't tell if he put it between the guys legs on purpose or if the behind the back dribble just got away from him. Or both.

Nice to see him with the confidence to take someone off the dribble. I usually think of him as more of a "safe" ball handler, but adding some more advanced ball handling could really help him take advantage of his length.

[closg00]

The shots he's making now don't indicate that he'd be good during the season. But there's precedent with journeyman guys coming here and shooting better (look at Sessions, Rasual, etc)

Yeah..and two years ago Webster showed up and had a productive year...and there were a lot of naysayers when he was signed.

The naysayers were proven to have made the right call on Webster, his injury history made him not worth bestowing a 4-year contract.
The Wizards have been trying to trade "Webby" for the past two years.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Weird that Nene started and Gortat off the bench. I wonder if it's a disciplinary action of some sort.

Randy isn't crazy about Marcin Gortat.

This was talked about before the game, they wanted to start Nene against the team from his home country (Brazil). Since the game was being broadcast live on Brazilian TV

Thanks for setting me straight and showing how falsehood can get innocently transmitted. My bad.

[stevemcqueen1]

Harrellson can shoot. What do you guys think about cutting Temple and signing Harrellson for the minimum? I think I prefer Temple because of his solid defense and ability to play PG at times, but Harrellson might be the more useful option considering the lack of depth at PF/C for the Wiz.

I'd cut Neal first.

That actually might be the smartest thing to do - cut Neal to open a spot for Harrelson.

Beal needs a rotation-caliber back up with the ability to handle the ball and three point range.

I think Webster is the most vulnerable roster spot. One of four players at the back up SF spot.

[nuposse04]

I'd cut Neal first.

That actually might be the smartest thing to do - cut Neal to open a spot for Harrelson.

Beal needs a rotation-caliber back up with the ability to handle the ball and three point range.

I think Webster is the most vulnerable roster spot. One of four players at the back up SF spot.

In an ideal setting I'd get rid of both, plus Blair (not a knock on blair but his skill set isn't what team needs IMO). My guess is that Neal will finish as a net negative and losing player. Webster is just redundant.

Getting rid of Neal is addition by subtraction, I'm not sure it will be the same of a "healthy" webster. He can give us potentially useful minutes from the 2-4 position.

[DCZards]

The shots he's making now don't indicate that he'd be good during the season. But there's precedent with journeyman guys coming here and shooting better (look at Sessions, Rasual, etc)

Yeah..and two years ago Webster showed up and had a productive year...and there were a lot of naysayers when he was signed.

The naysayers were proven to have made the right call on Webster, his injury history made him not worth bestowing a 4-year contract.
The Wizards have been trying to trade "Webby" for the past two years.

I'm talking about Webster's first season as a Zard. What happened after that is unrelated to this particular discussion of Neal, who has a one year pact like Webster did his first season when he was very productive...and proved the naysayers wrong.

As you say, those who opposed the 4 yr pact were right, but that's a totally separate issue.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

That actually might be the smartest thing to do - cut Neal to open a spot for Harrelson.

Beal needs a rotation-caliber back up with the ability to handle the ball and three point range.

I think Webster is the most vulnerable roster spot. One of four players at the back up SF spot.

In an ideal setting I'd get rid of both, plus Blair (not a knock on blair but his skill set isn't what team needs IMO). My guess is that Neal will finish as a net negative and losing player. Webster is just redundant.

Getting rid of Neal is addition by subtraction, I'm not sure it will be the same of a "healthy" webster. He can give us potentially useful minutes from the 2-4 position.

I disagree.

Neal will fit in like Sessions IMO. Solid player who can score in bunches. If Beal were traded it wouldn't shock me if Neal proved to be an effective stopgap.

[payitforward]

The shots he's making now don't indicate that he'd be good during the season. But there's precedent with journeyman guys coming here and shooting better (look at Sessions, Rasual, etc)

Yeah..and two years ago Webster showed up and had a productive year...and there were a lot of naysayers when he was signed.

Ariza (who's DC tenure is now the stuff of legend on these forums, lol) had a lot of naysayers also, people are quick to forget that. No one really cared for him until Wall came back from injury in that 2013 season and TA went on to have a great ~1.5 season run for us.

Zards -- no logic, sorry. Webster's good year doesn't make Neal any more likely to have one. Nor has Neal played well so far. When a guy is on the floor, you get *everything* he does and doesn't do. He's shot the 3 well; he's done everything else very very poorly.

Illmatic -- Ariza had been a good nba player. Neal not so much. And... why isn't Butler's 2d half season a precedent instead of his first 3d season?

Gary Neal is not a good NBA player.

[doclinkin]

Otto Porter's move:

http://www.nba.com/video/games/wizards/2015/10/11/0011500041-bau-was-play3.nba/

I can't tell if he put it between the guys legs on purpose or if the behind the back dribble just got away from him. Or both.

I think this was a very Otto Porter move. His awkwardness got away from him, but his perception of the game allowed him to improvise a mistake into something positive. He's just a smart savvy player even if his body doesn't always do what he wants it to do. No way he set that move up, he just found a way to make it work because he saw the opportunity in a split second.

[dobrojim]

Why is everyone so down on Neal? He's played decent from what I've seen and he hits 3s. Some of you would rather have Temple?? Christ, did I miss something?

Agree on Neal. I'm also a little surprised at the negativity toward him. He's been very productive as an off-the-bench scorer this preseason. Guy may not defend or pass well...but he knows how and when to score. I expect Neal to be an important role player for the Zards this season.

Agreed. Seems to me that Neal has some use when the second unit's having trouble scoring. Put him in for a couple minutes here and there and see if he's hot. If not, you pull him.

Wouldn't it make more sense to cut Blair to keep Harrellson? If there's going to be an undersized rebounding F/C at least keep the one that can shoot a bit. The team can't afford to keep two slow bigs that don't protect the rim.

That was my thought. I'm not saying I'm for this (CCJ would hunt me down!) but if there is a case to be
made for Harrellson, it seems like Blair's roster spot would be the one JH would slot into. He seems like
a fair last big on the bench to have on your team.

LOL at the guy sitting next to me at the game Sunday. Kept telling me with sincere conviction
that Temple was a really solid rotation player. I tried to tell him, NBA player? Yes. Regular rotation
player? Better hope not. Nothing personal. Seems like a good guy and happy for him that he's earning
an NBA paycheck.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Blair is way better than Harrelson.