Official Thread - Wiz vs Knicks (1/31/17)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I'm tryna tell you guys, Satoransky is the next Manu

The guy IS a baller but prime Manu was IMO on another higher level.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Wizards are 21-7 in their last 28 games. Spurs are 21-7 in their last 28 games. OMG! Millie!

And I am not dead or at this moment deluded. The Wizards are "hit powerball lottery number" good!

This is incredibly pleasing to me as a fan!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

6 players in double figures. Gortat 15-10 on 7-7 shooting.

He is the unsung hero on this team. The screens he sets are huge. His selfless rebounds and his quiet forcefulness and his mental toughness are those of a GREAT leader.

[queridiculo]

Midway through the third I had a decision to make.

Keep watching, or just close the laptop and get some sleep. In years past I probably would have just hung on to see how things turned out but last night I didn't waste a second thinking that the Wizards were going to give this one away.

There was still this soWizards PTSD moment in the morning when I rushed the box to check the final score but as expected the Wizards hung on.

Washington played an extremely sloppy game and even before I fell asleep Wall seemed to have forced some bad shots, but despite the poor play the Wizards still ended up with a double digit win.

There's a sense of calm with this team and a quiet confidence now that has been lacking for a while.

Granted, the Knicks aren't very good, but this is the same team that has given this years bottom feeders of the league quite a few victories already.

Incredible for this team to be tied for fourth a couple of games out of the second seed given how poorly they've started the season.

There was a time when things looked like they might unravel, but Gortat's finger pointing seems like ages ago.

Let's hope the Wizards remain relatively healthy and that the curse of the Boulez is limited to Mahinmi this year.

[queridiculo]

6 players in double figures. Gortat 15-10 on 7-7 shooting.

He is the unsung hero on this team. The screens he sets are huge. His selfless rebounds and his quiet forcefulness and his mental toughness are those of a GREAT leader.

I don't remember the exact numbers, but when Gortat made his first few buckets Chenier mentioned that Gortat hit something 25 out of his last 30 shots

Edit.:

In his last 6 starts Gortat has hit 36 out of 45 shots for a .800 FG%.

[nate33]

Lebron has made the Finals in 6 consecutive seasons. He'll make it again this year. The Cavs are in a midseason lull but they'll get it together by the playoffs.

Don't overrate us. We're decent, but part of it is that the rest of the league outside of the 3 Superteams aren't very good. (Actually, I have my doubts about San Antonio, but Cleveland and Golden State are in a class by themselves.)

Honestly, Golden State may well be the greatest team ever assembled, and Cleveland can give them all they can handle. We can't beat them in a 7 game series.

We still have more potential to unlock this year. Satoransky is going to be a game changer when they let him handle the ball more. Mahinmi will transform our defense off the bench. Ernie will make a move for a guard I think.

As of now, Cleveland literally has 2 players that can dribble a basketball and ZERO rim protection. Lebron looks visibly pissed off every game.

Will we beat them in a 7 game series? I wouldn't bet on it, but we can, or atleast push them to 6 or 7 I would think.

Question: how come we never talk about the fact that eventually Lebron will slow down and retire and after we lock up Otto, we might be the best team in the east year in and year out? Perennial finals contenders. lol it's not all that far fetched

You are right IMO NatP4. I think nate33 is wrong about Clwveland.

Is there a "-1" button?

[dangermouse]

I cant be the only one who thinks this every time we play the Knicks right?

[bsilver]

We were greatly out-hustled. 35 foul shots to 15 for us, and it was deserved. Good thing NY couldn't shoot. Porter can't guard Melo, but maybe no one can when he's hot. Thought Morris and Oubre provided a lot more resistance. Maybe we were too overconfident with 2 NY starters out.

We used to lose games like this, but won by 16. A testament to how good our offense has become.

Watching Burke dribble around for 15 seconds, many times, was painful to watch for anyone that appreciates good basketball. Maybe it's a good thing to see if it highlights the need for a true backup PG. Was hoping Sato would get a try at that role, but he seems to be the secondary ball handler.

[dckingsfan]

Solid

[AFM]

I cant be the only one who thinks this every time we play the Knicks right?

Whoever said Luke Skywalker nailed it...

[stevemcqueen1]

I'm tryna tell you guys, Satoransky is the next Manu

The guy IS a baller but prime Manu was IMO on another higher level.

Yeah there is no way Sato is going to be as good as Manu. For one thing, he's not as creative as him, nor quick and coordinated. Manu has some of the best feet in the game to go along with all of that creativity. And as good a passer as he is, he'll never be as good as Manu because Manu is one of the most impressive passers ever. Also I think Manu is a better shooter than Sato.

BUT, I think Sato can eventually become a poor man's Manu. He is a good passer. He is a creative player with good footwork around the basket. He is a very good ball handler and I think he's taller and a better vertical athlete than Manu was. He's got great size and defensive instincts suggesting that he can become a really good defender like Manu was. Well maybe not quite as good as prime Manu was, but very good. Ginobili was one of the best wing defenders in the league when he was in his 20s.

The only thing holding Sato back is experience and confidence in his jumper. He'll gain strength and situational awareness and experience over the next few seasons and grow into a really fine player. He's also going to start making threes. He's a much better shooter than he's shown so far, it's just a matter of time before he's confident and fluid from deep.

Sato is going to be a really valuable player for us in the near future. He's the key to being able to field a good bench.

[stevemcqueen1]

Cleveland is beatable, but if we played them in a series, they would be heavy favorites. LeBron would be the best player in the series and any time you've got that, you've got a really good chance to win.

Cleveland also has a strong starting five and the galvinzing experience of a championship run under the belt. They're going to be very tough in the playoffs, even if they're undermanned.

However, they've got some roster flaws that we can exploit. Their back court is pretty damn dreadful outside of Kyrie, and there is no way he can guard either Wall or Beal. Their wings have a ton of mileage on their legs too, it's going to be tough for Jefferson and Dunleavey to keep up with Kelly and Otto. We don't have a great answer for Kevin Love and Channing Frye, but Love's got some back trouble that could be a limiting factor for him. And as solid as he is, Channing Frye doesn't exactly scare you. Tristan Thompson is their only rotation-worthy interior player. He's a pretty undersized C and you don't have to guard him. And he wouldn't start for our team. Birdman is the only thing resembling a true center on their roster, he's a hundred years old and not playable any more.

Cleveland is undersized and paper thin. We would have a real chance at beating them, and that's as much as you can ask for.

[dobrojim]

6 players in double figures. Gortat 15-10 on 7-7 shooting.

He is the unsung hero on this team. The screens he sets are huge. His selfless rebounds and his quiet forcefulness and his mental toughness are those of a GREAT leader.

arguably OP could also be our unsung hero.
Only the true cognoscenti recognize how good he's been this year.

[dobrojim]

We were greatly out-hustled. 35 foul shots to 15 for us, and it was deserved. Good thing NY couldn't shoot. Porter can't guard Melo, but maybe no one can when he's hot. Thought Morris and Oubre provided a lot more resistance. Maybe we were too overconfident with 2 NY starters out.

We used to lose games like this, but won by 16. A testament to how good our offense has become.

Watching Burke dribble around for 15 seconds, many times, was painful to watch for anyone that appreciates good basketball. Maybe it's a good thing to see if it highlights the need for a true backup PG. Was hoping Sato would get a try at that role, but he seems to be the secondary ball handler.

who dribbled around more, Burke or Jennings?

[dobrojim]

Cleveland is beatable, but if we played them in a series, they would be heavy favorites. LeBron would be the best player in the series and any time you've got that, you've got a really good chance to win.

Cleveland also has a strong starting five and the galvinzing experience of a championship run under the belt. They're going to be very tough in the playoffs, even if they're undermanned.

However, they've got some roster flaws that we can exploit. Their back court is pretty damn dreadful outside of Kyrie, and there is no way he can guard either Wall or Beal. Their wings have a ton of mileage on their legs too, it's going to be tough for Jefferson and Dunleavey to keep up with Kelly and Otto. We don't have a great answer for Kevin Love and Channing Frye, but Love's got some back trouble that could be a limiting factor for him. And as solid as he is, Channing Frye doesn't exactly scare you. Tristan Thompson is their only rotation-worthy interior player. He's a pretty undersized C and you don't have to guard him. And he wouldn't start for our team. Birdman is the only thing resembling a true center on their roster, he's a hundred years old and not playable any more.

Cleveland is undersized and paper thin. We would have a real chance at beating them, and that's as much as you can ask for.

If you believe in conspiracy theories or confirmation bias, the refs might not let us beat CLE.

[bsilver]

We were greatly out-hustled. 35 foul shots to 15 for us, and it was deserved. Good thing NY couldn't shoot. Porter can't guard Melo, but maybe no one can when he's hot. Thought Morris and Oubre provided a lot more resistance. Maybe we were too overconfident with 2 NY starters out.

We used to lose games like this, but won by 16. A testament to how good our offense has become.

Watching Burke dribble around for 15 seconds, many times, was painful to watch for anyone that appreciates good basketball. Maybe it's a good thing to see if it highlights the need for a true backup PG. Was hoping Sato would get a try at that role, but he seems to be the secondary ball handler.

who dribbled around more, Burke or Jennings?

Jennings was over the top also. Looked like he was desperately trying to make things happen himself when no one else could put the ball in the basket.

[nate33]

I'm tryna tell you guys, Satoransky is the next Manu

The guy IS a baller but prime Manu was IMO on another higher level.

Yeah there is no way Sato is going to be as good as Manu. For one thing, he's not as creative as him, nor quick and coordinated. Manu has some of the best feet in the game to go along with all of that creativity. And as good a passer as he is, he'll never be as good as Manu because Manu is one of the most impressive passers ever. Also I think Manu is a better shooter than Sato.

BUT, I think Sato can eventually become a poor man's Manu. He is a good passer. He is a creative player with good footwork around the basket. He is a very good ball handler and I think he's taller and a better vertical athlete than Manu was. He's got great size and defensive instincts suggesting that he can become a really good defender like Manu was. Well maybe not quite as good as prime Manu was, but very good. Ginobili was one of the best wing defenders in the league when he was in his 20s.

The only thing holding Sato back is experience and confidence in his jumper. He'll gain strength and situational awareness and experience over the next few seasons and grow into a really fine player. He's also going to start making threes. He's a much better shooter than he's shown so far, it's just a matter of time before he's confident and fluid from deep.

Sato is going to be a really valuable player for us in the near future. He's the key to being able to field a good bench.

Yeah, Manu is in a completely different league than Sato. I consider Manu one of the top 5 passers of all time.

I think the maximum upside for Sato would be someone like Doug Christie - a defensive guard who posts an uncommonly high number of assists but is otherwise unremarkable offensively. Hmm, another example could be peak Garrett Temple.

[montestewart]

6 players in double figures. Gortat 15-10 on 7-7 shooting.

He is the unsung hero on this team. The screens he sets are huge. His selfless rebounds and his quiet forcefulness and his mental toughness are those of a GREAT leader.

arguably OP could also be our unsung hero.
Only the true cognoscenti recognize how good he's been this year.

By OP I assume you mean Pine and his winning streak game threads