Washington River Rats vs Boston Alcoholics Sunday 1:00 PM EST

AFM · Post #1 » by **AFM** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 3:46 am

LETS GO!!!!! POST DOGGOS AND HYPE MUSIC!!!!

daSwami · Post #2 » by **daSwami** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 3:47 am

dangermouse · Post #3 » by **dangermouse** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 4:25 am

A Wizard never wins a series late, or early. He wins precisely when he means to.

FAH1223 · Post #4 » by **FAH1223** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 5:22 am

Mojo Amok · Post #5 » by **Mojo Amok** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 5:25 am

Get to the Cavs and we'll go proper raucous with a hidden can't-feel-my-face-ace, but I'm bustin' Soulja early given that rocky Hot'lanta round and the Mahinmi power outage.

Seeing the Jazz fail to close at home gives an extra level of 'spect to the 'Zards for gathering that grit on demand in the witching hours of the series.

#gowiz

Sluggerface · Post #6 » by **Sluggerface** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 6:36 am

I see a ton of people already overrating the defensive aptitude of Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart (They're no tony allen or danny green). They're making the same mistake that we made in assuming that Kieff would be able to lock Millsap up. Unless both Brad and John forget how to shoot, they aren't slowing down. You don't defend stars in the playoffs. You just try to contain them.

This series is going to come down to whichever frontcourt produces more. If Kieff/Porter/Gortat can't keep their heads in the game, it'll be a short series.

Dat2U · Post #7 » by **Dat2U** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 8:09 am

Sluggerface wrote:I see a ton of people already overrating the defensive aptitude of Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart (They're no tony allen or danny green). They're making the same mistake that we made in assuming that Kieff would be able to lock Millsap up. Unless both Brad and John forget how to shoot, they aren't slowing down. You don't defend stars in the playoffs. You just try to contain them.

This series is going to come down to whichever frontcourt produces more. If Kieff/Porter/Gortat can't keep their heads in the game, it'll be a short series.

Yep the cream rises to the top in the playoffs. It's when all teams display basically the same effort level & focus as opposed to the regular season where it varies wildly on a game-to-game basis. Wall & Beal are the two best talents on the floor. If they get ANY help, they'll win this series comfortably.

Despite our weak bench, Boston isn't best positioned to take advantage of it despite better depth. They struggle to score when Isaiah Thomas sits.

We could really use Mahinmi this series. We can win without him but it will be tougher. A healthy Mahinmi and I would predict 5 games because he helps protect Bogs & Jennings on D when they inevitably allow dribble penetration. I predicted 5 for the Atlanta series but I didn't think Morris would be so bad. As is, I think we win in 6. They're not beating us in DC and I'm confident we'll steal one in Boston. My gut tells me it's game 1.

We should be looking at getting Porter involved more. I could see Stevens putting Isaiah on Porter with Smart & Bradley on Wall & Beal. Porter doesn't need to post up Isaiah because that's not his game. Just shoot over him. There's nothing Isaiah can do to stop Porter's shot. Porter is a money mid-range shooter. I want him coming off curls and screens all day. Use some the same action they run for Beal.

Morris will be another x-factor. They haven't played Amir Johnson the last four games. If they continue to go small with Green or Jerebko, Morris will have a decided advantage in the post... and we should win the battle on the boards.

The production of the SFs should give a clue to how the series is going. If Porter matches or out produces Crowder, were in really good shape.

Illmatic12 · Post #8 » by **Illmatic12** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 8:51 am

Sluggerface wrote:I see a ton of people already overrating the defensive aptitude of Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart (They're no tony allen or danny green). They're making the same mistake that we made in assuming that Kieff would be able to lock Millsap up. Unless both Brad and John forget how to shoot, they aren't slowing down. You don't defend stars in the playoffs. You just try to contain them.

This series is going to come down to whichever frontcourt produces more. If Kieff/Porter/Gortat can't keep their heads in the game, it'll be a short series.

Brad has destroyed Smart. Abused him in all facets.

Watch on YouTube

Bradley is their only perimeter defender who can somewhat take away parts of Beal's on-ball game. But Beal is offensively so gifted now, it's difficult to take away his off-ball game AND on-ball game. And if you take away his threes, he can score from the midrange and the 3-10ft areas just as well he does beyond the arc.

Realistically the Celtics can't stop our backcourt. Wall, Beal and Thomas will all probably get their numbers in this series. The difference will be in their role players vs ours, and whether Otto, Gortat, Kieff will play better than they did vs Atlanta. I think Markieff and Gortat might be jumping for joy vs Boston's frontcourt after battling with Millsap and Dwight for two weeks.

MOrgil · Post #9 » by **MOrgil** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 10:09 am

Go Wizards! Let's steal a game on their homecourt.

dlts20 · Post #10 » by **dlts20** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 11:42 am

This series may come down to Porter. I'm sure that they will try to hide IT on him so he has to stay active and make Thomas work

dlts20 · Post #11 » by **dlts20** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 12:47 pm

Anyone heard any reasoning from the NBA about why the quick turnaround compared to the teams who play Monday

20MexicanosIn1Van · Post #12 » by **20MexicanosIn1Van** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 12:56 pm

If they hide IT on Porter will Porter post-up? I can't seem to recall many times when Porter went to a post-up game this season but maybe I'm just being forgetful. What do you guys think?

CobraCommander · Post #13 » by **CobraCommander** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 1:12 pm

dlts20 wrote:Anyone heard any reasoning from the NBA about why the quick turnaround compared to the teams who play Monday

Because it would only make sense to give Boston and Washington more days off than Toronto and Cleveland but They want to make sure the OLD AZZ Cavs have adequate rest so that they can quickly dispatch of Toronto.

CobraCommander · Post #14 » by **CobraCommander** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 1:15 pm

20MexicanosIn1Van wrote:If they hide IT on Porter will Porter post-up? I can't seem to recall many times when Porter went to a post-up game this season but maybe I'm just being forgetful. What do you guys think?

Porter is amazingly inconsistent on offense. I cant tell if it is Brooks, Porter or Wall that takes him out the game offensively. If they put Isiah on him, Porter better give IT the BUSINESS with the quickness or he will be further reducing his value in the offseason.

Benjammin · Post #15 » by **Benjammin** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 1:23 pm

dlts20 wrote:Anyone heard any reasoning from the NBA about why the quick turnaround compared to the teams who play Monday

I can only hope, but doubt, that it has something to do with the playoff schedule of the Capitals..

Sent from my XT1575 using RealGM mobile app

CobraCommander · Post #16 » by **CobraCommander** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 1:25 pm

Easy win if 4 of our dogs come to play on Sunday. John and Brad...lock....who will the other two Dogs be...tune in at the same bat time on the same bat channel to find out

tontoz · Post #17 » by **tontoz** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 2:47 pm

If i was the Celtics coach i would definitely put IT on Porter, which would force Wall/Beal to give up a lot of shots to make them pay for the matchup. I am not so sure that Wall/Beal wouldn't continue looking to score first instead of consistently taking advantage of the mismatch.

I remember the Pistons did something similar against Shaq in the Finals. They left Wallace on Shaq without help even though they knew Wallace had no chance against Shaq 1 on 1. They were betting that Kobe wouldn't be willing to give up the ball enough to make them pay.

Post #18 » by **nate33** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 3:17 pm

Dat2U wrote:We should be looking at getting Porter involved more. I could see Stevens putting Isaiah on Porter with Smart & Bradley on Wall & Beal. Porter doesn't need to post up Isaiah because that's not his game. Just shoot over him. There's nothing Isaiah can do to stop Porter's shot. Porter is a money mid-range shooter. I want him coming off curls and screens all day. Use some the same action they run for Beal.

Morris will be another x-factor. They haven't played Amir Johnson the last four games. If they continue to go small with Green or Jerebko, Morris will have a decided advantage in the post... and we should win the battle on the boards.

Excellent points! Particularly the one about Porter coming off curls. That seems like a great strategy. We need to absolutely punish Boston for guarding Porter with Thomas.

Post #19 » by **miller31time** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 3:18 pm

The fact that there are fans here saying "easy win" should concern us. There are no easy wins in the playoffs. There are especially no easy wins in the playoffs against the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

This is going to be a great series and no cakewalk for either team.

Meliorus · Post #20 » by **Meliorus** » Sat Apr 29, 2017 3:19 pm

Sluggerface wrote:I see a ton of people already overrating the defensive aptitude of Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart (They're no tony allen or danny green). They're making the same mistake that we made in assuming that Kieff would be able to lock Millsap up. Unless both Brad and John forget how to shoot, they aren't slowing down. You don't defend stars in the playoffs. You just try to contain them.

This series is going to come down to whichever frontcourt produces more. If Kieff/Porter/Gortat can't keep their heads in the game, it'll be a short series.

Smart is a damn good player. He makes countless big plays.