Official Thread - Wizards at Magic (10/28/15)

[benb331]

I've seen some concerns about - other than John Wall - who replaces Pierce's ability to make something out of nothing? I say Gortat. Get that man the ball within 16' of the basket and tell him to make it happen. I know it's not his offensive strength (catching hard passes for easy bunnies would qualify), and it'd probably drop his FG% a bit, but the dude has some post moves and a very reliable knack for dropping the ball through the net.

[J-Ves]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aGxgXjHjPM[/youtube]

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Yep. Pace and space quickly became chuck and duck. (Pace and clank?)

Something has to give. If our depth improves because Anderson and Dudley come back solid and Nene gets the anvil out of his pants, it just may work.

But you saw what happens when other teams take away what we want and our legs get tired. I haven't seen so many bricks since LaBradford Smith.

It is tough to maintain that kind of intensity on both sides of the court. I loved how we played defense in quarters 2-4, but we won't be able to weather those kinds of dry (and I mean arid) spells against better teams.

I also worry that we were playing with playoff like intensity out there. Nine man rotation, that kind of effort on D, hitting the ground hard a lot... I hope it is sustainable, but I do have my doubts.

I do agree with other posters that suggest we force feed Gortat a bit... also, and you all will hate me for saying this, but I think we missed KSera last night. There was just no one who could get his own shot on the 2nd team... and pace and space relies on one big with back to the bucket skills to get the defense to sag a bit. Nene doesn't catch the ball in the block much and he doesn't need to be doubled.

[lastemp3ror]

Yep. Pace and space quickly became chuck and duck. (Pace and clank?)

Something has to give. If our depth improves because Anderson and Dudley come back solid and Nene gets the anvil out of his pants, it just may work.

But you saw what happens when other teams take away what we want and our legs get tired. I haven't seen so many bricks since LaBradford Smith.

It is tough to maintain that kind of intensity on both sides of the court. I loved how we played defense in quarters 2-4, but we won't be able to weather those kinds of dry (and I mean arid) spells against better teams.

I also worry that we were playing with playoff like intensity out there. Nine man rotation, that kind of effort on D, hitting the ground hard a lot... I hope it is sustainable, but I do have my doubts.

I do agree with other posters that suggest we force feed Gortat a bit... also, and you all will hate me for saying this, but I think we missed KSera last night. There was just no one who could get his own shot on the 2nd team... and pace and space relies on one big with back to the bucket skills to get the defense to sag a bit. Nene doesn't catch the ball in the block much and he doesn't need to be doubled.

I agree with most of this except for the Seraphin part. Maybe I am wrong but my memory tells me that for every game Seraphin got into the flow of the game and did well, he had 2-3 games where he was bricking it all the time.

[Sluggerface]

Yep. Pace and space quickly became chuck and duck. (Pace and clank?)

Something has to give. If our depth improves because Anderson and Dudley come back solid and Nene gets the anvil out of his pants, it just may work.

But you saw what happens when other teams take away what we want and our legs get tired. I haven't seen so many bricks since LaBradford Smith.

It is tough to maintain that kind of intensity on both sides of the court. I loved how we played defense in quarters 2-4, but we won't be able to weather those kinds of dry (and I mean arid) spells against better teams.

I also worry that we were playing with playoff like intensity out there. Nine man rotation, that kind of effort on D, hitting the ground hard a lot... I hope it is sustainable, but I do have my doubts.

I do agree with other posters that suggest we force feed Gortat a bit... also, and you all will hate me for saying this, but I think we missed KSera last night. There was just no one who could get his own shot on the 2nd team... and pace and space relies on one big with back to the bucket skills to get the defense to sag a bit. Nene doesn't catch the ball in the block much and he doesn't need to be doubled.

That's making too much out of nothing IMO. When you're shooting close to 30 threes a game, there's going to be variance. Sometimes they'll shoot the **** out of it, sometimes there will be a lid on the rim, sometimes they'll be right on the money of what you would expect them to shoot. The question is if they can maintain a paint presence with the spacing and get to the rim consistently. TBH we wouldn't even be making a big deal about this if the team didn't miss 10 free throws and turn the ball over 18 times. That's so many potential points left off the board due to the team shooting themselves in the foot.

And no, this team doesn't miss a blackhole who is an ineffecient scorer due to the fact that he can't draw fouls and turns it over at a high clip on the block.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Blair didn't get any playing time. Wittman is ruining his career. Has nothing to do with weight or preseason play this time.

Nene wasn't having a good game, Nene and Gooden in together...Oof!! Randy isn''t going play Blair or KO.

Did you watch Oubre in preseason? He's not ready on the offensive end. As for Blair, we need athletes up front. Last time I checked, Blair isn't athletic. I know, he lost a lot of weight. He's a hustler, rebounder, screener, garbage point, old school, ground-bound big. Not suited for today's game, but I think after one game, you don't give up on Nene. Gooden is only playing a ton of minutes because I guess they don't think JD is in shape yet.

My philosophy (if I were a head coach) on young guys: Let them play for the energy and exuberance. Forget the mistakes and watch them run, dunk, and just be unafraid/unrestrained/spontaneous for small minutes. Tell them "Great! Good job, good effort!", even when they get out played by seasoned veterans.

I remember 18 year old Kobe shooting airballs in the playoffs to lose games.

Play KO IMO.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I've seen some concerns about - other than John Wall - who replaces Pierce's ability to make something out of nothing? I say Gortat. Get that man the ball within 16' of the basket and tell him to make it happen. I know it's not his offensive strength (catching hard passes for easy bunnies would qualify), and it'd probably drop his FG% a bit, but the dude has some post moves and a very reliable knack for dropping the ball through the net.

Good point.

Gary Neal can manufacture a shot.

Bradley Beal has attempted to step up with better ball handling, (dude gets it that he's not Klay Thompson yet but he thinks he can be).

Oubre can get his shot off and create, even from three.

I'm thinking Jared Dudley can do much of what Pierce did.

Unfortunately, no big guys create (except Blair and his effective floater--but Wittman hates him judging by lack of minutes).