GT #8: Cavs @ Wizards 7 PM (ESPN/NBCSW/1500 AM) [11/3/2017]

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

As Wall goes, so goes the Wizards. Wall has been a shell of his former self this season and we’re struggling because of it.

Can’t believe Cleveland played a 34 year old Lebron the entire 2nd half but if there was ever a player who could handle that, it’s him I suppose.

Not trying to start a rumor or anything but it’s amazing what you can do with an extra application of the cream or the clear.

Just saying.

No need to pass it on or anything

[80sballboy]

Well, the good news is that Cleveland had to play Lebron 43 minutes to beat us. And he had to score 57 points. Also, we were inexplicably bad from the FT line. If we shot the same percentage from the line as Cleveland, it would have been a 1-point game.

The bad news is that our defense is terrible and Wall can't seem to make jumpers, layups, or free throws. (Kudos to Wall for the 15 assists and just 1 turnover though.)

Cleveland treated this as a playoff game. A must-win game. That's why they played LeBron the entire second half and well, he was hot so Lue/James kept him in. Nothing to do with the immature and idiotic comments by Beal and Wall. They had lost four straight and LBJ was going to make sure he wasn't going to lose five. That's what a great player and a leader does. And as bad as their defense was, they forced 16 turnovers and had 11 steals. They did some different things defensively and our passing a times was predictable and dreadful so they just played the passing lanes. Love Beal but his passing still needs work (4 TOs).

At some point, this team has to be serious about playing both ends of the floor and can't wait for the second half of the season. I also think Brooks shares some responsibility in the way we defend or choose not to.

[AFM]

Fellas we gotta stop watching the Wizards

[CobraCommander]

As Wall goes, so goes the Wizards. Wall has been a shell of his former self this season and we’re struggling because of it.

Can’t believe Cleveland played a 34 year old Lebron the entire 2nd half but if there was ever a player who could handle that, it’s him I suppose.

Not trying to start a rumor or anything but it’s amazing what you can do with an extra application of the cream or the clear.

Just saying.

No need to pass it on or anything

That’s not a hot take...thats a given...

[payitforward]

Wall got to the line 12 times yet had a TS of only 36%.

Sure is nice to see KO continue to drain 3s. That is the key to his career because he just has bad instincts when it comes to finishing inside when someone is actually defending him.

Beal's 3 pt shot has been a little off but the rest of his game looks better than ever. Small sample obviously but he is setting career highs in pts per 36, 2pt % and free throw attempts.

Last year, Beal shot 29% from 3-point range over his first 7 games. He found his rhythm after than and shot 41% for the rest of the year. Let's hope that pattern holds. So far this year, he has been terrific other than the 3-point shooting. Check out his field goal percentages at the rim and from midrange:





.929 at the rim.
.500 from 3-10 feet.
.524 from 10-16.

Those are incredible numbers! The drop in % of FGA's from 3-point range is a bit troubling though.

After last night's game, Beal's 2 pt. % is higher than last year, & so is his FT%. He's also getting to the line almost 70% more frequently than last year.

Going into last night's game his TS% was down from 60.4% last year to 57% this year. But he added 16% to his total minutes last night & posted a TS% of 74%, which brought him most of the way back up to last year's number in a single outing.

Given that after last night's game his 3pt. % is 31.7%, he is certainly killing it in every other aspect of scoring!

Brad is also getting 50% more defensive rebounds & more than twice as many offensive rebounds as last year. As well, his steals are slightly up, his TOs are slightly down, his fouls are slightly down & his blocks are up. Assists are down a bit, but so far Bradley Beal, overall, is playing at a meaningfully higher level this year than last.

[CobraCommander]

Fellas we gotta stop watching the Wizards

I tried to not watch but NatP4 was blowing up my phone with updates...so i had to watch...and curses! The Wiz are bad. It’s also interesting that if we really had a big 2 or big 3...wouldn’t we do what Golden State does when one of their big 3 is off...just move to the next guy and have him lead them to victory? The GSW can win if Curry and Klay are off because Durant carries them. Or pick Any one or two of them that can carry the team. If Beal is hot on offense we should be able to win with Beal leading the team...except the reality is its not John, Beal or Ottos scoring that is the problem. It’s our collectively bad defense at the worse times. If you cant get stops you cant win games...its that simple. The fact that our only choice in the end was to put Wall on Lebron shows how bad our defensive scheme is. Johns giving up 50+ pounds and 4-6 inches and we got him ONE ON ONE against a RED HOT LBJ. Think about it...we got 6’2/6’4 200-220 pound John Wall playing man to manon the perimeter AND in the post on an All time —great-on the Mount Rushmore of all players all time - that is BIGGER and Taller than John while he is having one of the BEST nights of his career. You guys are kidding me if you gonna put this on the offense, the players, the free throws, the refs....etc. You put this L on James being that Great and you the rest of the blame goes to the coach. How ever little you put on the coach you have to put it there. This game wasn’t lost in the first half...it was lost when we couldn’t stop LBJ. So its either we couldn’t stop him no matter what we did or we didnt do the right things to stop him. The wiz scored enough points to win but they didnt get enough stops to win.

[NatP4]

hey man, I told you not to turn the game on

[TheBabyMaker]

I'm glad I missed it.

Eff this team right now with their no D playing a***s.

[J-Ves]

The record is probably going to get worse before it gets better but its not all bad. In fact, outside of two big issues(Wall sucking, and team defense) I like how this team compares to last years squad. I especially like Oubre, Porter, and Beal's improvement on the offensive end.