GT #11: Lakers @ Wizards 7:00 PM (NBCSW/1500 AM)

[prime1time]

I would say it is a lock that Wall ends up with more shots than Porter, probably Beal too.

Sure enough Wall ended up with more shots than both even though he played only 32 minutes. Beal played 37, Porter 38. Wall is all about getting his numbers.

@ Mahinmi's statline. 2 pts, 1 rebound, 2 turnovers, 6 fouls. Money well spent.

Wall has a strangle hold on the offense and loves to call his own number. He's successful enough where calling his own number is effective just enough to where you can't openly call him out on it. Sadly until Wall accepts the fact that he's not an effifcirnt scorer the Wizards won't be playing to the best of their ability. If Wall has it going, fine take all the shots you want. If the rest of the team is struggling, fine take the more shots. But, calling you number early and often, regardless of the situation is very problematic. To take the next step we need John to bring it defensively every night (not the flashy blocks or impressive steals, but rather the consistent defense that doesn't give up easy buckets, correctly plays screens and is on time with switches) and make the right decision offensively EVERY time.

If a team switches a pg onto Porter you have to get him the ball. If a team brings in an on-defender to guard Beal, you have to get him the ball. If a team is playing lackadasical defense and Gortat is open for an easy layup you have to get him the ball. This is what John can do to improve. Right now he's very good at getting scripted assists. Off screens, drive and kicks for 3 or to Gortat but what about the unscripted assist. If he can do what I listed above I'll be fine live with his current shooting. When one player has a complete stranglehold on the offensive decision making process the team goes as he goes. If he makes good decisions and gets the right people the ball, we are golden. If he doesn't...

[prime1time]

I'm starting to believe that the Wizards have maxed out their ability under Scott Brooks. To take the next level we need a coach who's going to push a more cerebral style like Brad Stevens and Greg Popovich. Just like I talked about in the earlier post that John needs to get the ideal guy the ball in every situation, our defense should be playing the same way. On defense you have to make hundreds of small decisions every play. How to play the screen and role, who to help off of, whether to rotate or not. The best defenses know what they are comfortable with and try to take certain things away. I have never seen the Wizards even come close to this level of defense. Usually things like this won't be an issue, teams have won without playing great defense, but when there is the juggernaut like the Warriors your B game won't be good enough.

[tontoz]

Beal with his typically quiet 22 pts with 60% TS.

[nate33]

I'm starting to believe that the Wizards have maxed out their ability under Scott Brooks. To take the next level we need a coach who's going to push a more cerebral style like Brad Stevens and Greg Popovich. Just like I talked about in the earlier post that John needs to get the ideal guy the ball in every situation, our defense should be playing the same way. On defense you have to make hundreds of small decisions every play. How to play the screen and role, who to help off of, whether to rotate or not. The best defenses know what they are comfortable with and try to take certain things away. I have never seen the Wizards even come close to this level of defense. Usually things like this won't be an issue, teams have won without playing great defense, but when there is the juggernaut like the Warriors your B game won't be good enough.

I disagree. I've seen massive individual improvement out of Beal, Porter and Oubre, even though it may not be translating in the win/loss column. I'm okay with at least one more season of Brooks because ultimately, improvement of your talent is the most important component of building a contender.

That said, I agree with the general notion that Brooks is substantially worse than elite coaches in X's and O's and team strategy. I rarely feel like he is getting the most out of the club's talent. Guys like Pop, Stevens, Carlisle, Spoelstra, and Budenholzer are much better at quickly analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and putting together a game plan to exploit matchups and win. I think those guys can scheme their way into an extra 4-8 wins in the regular season. Fortunately, I think that kind of coaching advantage doesn't matter as much in the playoffs beyond the first game or two of a series. After that, everyone knows the other team's stuff and it really just boils down to talent.

[zero2hero]

I didnt see the game, so I am reduced to looking at the stat line and reading the comments here. I would like to know if Porter disappeared during any stretch of the game. If yes, was it because he wasnt looking for the ball, or because others were hogging it?

I thought Otto stayed pretty active when he was on the floor. Was aggressive in calling for post-ups and took a couple of drives to the rim. Ideally you'd want to transfer some of Wall's iso pull-ups to Otto taking a mid-range fading J. But overall, I felt our starting offensive unit wasn't overly stagnant.

[ClutchDJ]

The difference between Frazier & Burke is night & day. Frazier plays like he knows how to run a damn offense.

[Kanyewest]

I didnt see the game, so I am reduced to looking at the stat line and reading the comments here. I would like to know if Porter disappeared during any stretch of the game. If yes, was it because he wasnt looking for the ball, or because others were hogging it?

It looked like Otto was gassed in the 4th quarter. He lead the Wizards in minutes played. I don't think he got his normal rest in the 2nd half and would have been on pace for 40 minutes plus if the game wasn't a blow out. Anyways, Porter seemed to be less effective offensively and committed a few mental mistakes but did play solid defense throughout the game.

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[Kanyewest]

Frazier was not terrible tonight. That makes a difference. Doubtful he can be consistently not terrible.

Are you kidding? Frazier has been excellent so far this season. & last night, not only was he "not terrible," he was outstanding.

I mean... in 17 minutes he went 3-3 including a 3-pointer (7 points on 3 shots!) & had 5 assists. He did commit 2 turnovers, but he got one of them back with a steal. He even blocked a shot.

Minute for minute, he was the best player on the court last night -- & that's 2 games in a row, as he was also our best player minute for minute against the Mavs.

I was 100% against the trade for Frazier, & I was vociferous about it as well. Wrong. So far, he has been a big plus. I'm going to find the thread about him here & bump it with his numbers.

Edit: actually, Kieff was our best player minute for minute last night. Frazier was close behind, however.

I was surprised to see that Frazier's plus minus was negative and that Mahinmi was plus 8.

Anyways Frazier has been playing alright in this one. Whenever Frazier can knock down a 3, then the Wizards should feel happy considering he is shooting in the neighborhood of 22 percent from distance.

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[Illmatic12]

I'm starting to believe that the Wizards have maxed out their ability under Scott Brooks. To take the next level we need a coach who's going to push a more cerebral style like Brad Stevens and Greg Popovich. Just like I talked about in the earlier post that John needs to get the ideal guy the ball in every situation, our defense should be playing the same way. On defense you have to make hundreds of small decisions every play. How to play the screen and role, who to help off of, whether to rotate or not. The best defenses know what they are comfortable with and try to take certain things away. I have never seen the Wizards even come close to this level of defense. Usually things like this won't be an issue, teams have won without playing great defense, but when there is the juggernaut like the Warriors your B game won't be good enough.

I don't believe the defensive issues are on coaching. Brooks defenses in OKC were elite.
The issues are due to personnel - we don't exactly have a wealth of elite defenders, particularly at the frontcourt positions.

[trast66]

Frazier was not terrible tonight. That makes a difference. Doubtful he can be consistently not terrible.

Are you kidding? Frazier has been excellent so far this season. & last night, not only was he "not terrible," he was outstanding.

I mean... in 17 minutes he went 3-3 including a 3-pointer (7 points on 3 shots!) & had 5 assists. He did commit 2 turnovers, but he got one of them back with a steal. He even blocked a shot.

Minute for minute, he was the best player on the court last night -- & that's 2 games in a row, as he was also our best player minute for minute against the Mavs.

I was 100% against the trade for Frazier, & I was vociferous about it as well. Wrong. So far, he has been a big plus. I'm going to find the thread about him here & bump it with his numbers.

Edit: actually, Kieff was our best player minute for minute last night. Frazier was close behind, however.

Agree to disagree. I don't think he was good at all, just not terrible. This opinion is based on watching the game. His box score, at least as I see it, over rated his performance. But in the big picture if he plays like last night going forward (opposition adjusted) will really help.

I'm going to game Saturday in large part to see if Mahinmi is even worse in person than on TV. HIs atrocious performances have been an underrated part of being a wiz fan this year.

[prime1time]

I'm starting to believe that the Wizards have maxed out their ability under Scott Brooks. To take the next level we need a coach who's going to push a more cerebral style like Brad Stevens and Greg Popovich. Just like I talked about in the earlier post that John needs to get the ideal guy the ball in every situation, our defense should be playing the same way. On defense you have to make hundreds of small decisions every play. How to play the screen and role, who to help off of, whether to rotate or not. The best defenses know what they are comfortable with and try to take certain things away. I have never seen the Wizards even come close to this level of defense. Usually things like this won't be an issue, teams have won without playing great defense, but when there is the juggernaut like the Warriors your B game won't be good enough.

I disagree. I've seen massive individual improvement out of Beal, Porter and Oubre, even though it may not be translating in the win/loss column. I'm okay with at least one more season of Brooks because ultimately, improvement of your talent is the most important component of building a contender.

That said, I agree with the general notion that Brooks is substantially worse than elite coaches in X's and O's and team strategy. I rarely feel like he is getting the most out of the club's talent. Guys like Pop, Stevens, Carlisle, Spoelstra, and Budenholzer are much better at quickly analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition and putting together a game plan to exploit matchups and win. I think those guys can scheme their way into an extra 4-8 wins in the regular season. Fortunately, I think that kind of coaching advantage doesn't matter as much in the playoffs beyond the first game or two of a series. After that, everyone knows the other team's stuff and it really just boils down to talent.

I definitely agree that Porter, Beal and Oubre have improved. So if that's the basis for keeping Brooks I agree with you. At the same time, however, is it fair to attribute that improvement to Brooks? Would it stop if he's gone? Has there ever been a situation where young guys stop improving after a head coach leaves? I don't know the answer to all those questions, but I might not want to find out. Perhaps, like his players, Brooks can improve also...

[prime1time]

I'm starting to believe that the Wizards have maxed out their ability under Scott Brooks. To take the next level we need a coach who's going to push a more cerebral style like Brad Stevens and Greg Popovich. Just like I talked about in the earlier post that John needs to get the ideal guy the ball in every situation, our defense should be playing the same way. On defense you have to make hundreds of small decisions every play. How to play the screen and role, who to help off of, whether to rotate or not. The best defenses know what they are comfortable with and try to take certain things away. I have never seen the Wizards even come close to this level of defense. Usually things like this won't be an issue, teams have won without playing great defense, but when there is the juggernaut like the Warriors your B game won't be good enough.

I don't believe the defensive issues are on coaching. Brooks defenses in OKC were elite.
The issues are due to personnel - we don't exactly have a wealth of elite defenders, particularly at the frontcourt positions.

Hmmm, good point. I remember the Spurs OKC WCF very well. Spurs looked like a juggernaut until they weren't. The question going forward, is how do we fix our defense.

[benb331]

Frazier played like a man possessed last night. Guy's got attitude and crazy eyes. Between running the offense and dialing in on D, his intense play led the squads he commanded: a true floor general. For the first time since Ramon Session's fluke season, I am happy with the 2nd string PG. Count me as a cautious believer. Let's see him perform to this level against a real team.

[NatP4]

Frazier sucks

[NatP4]

The starters have a net rating of -8

Oubre lineup is +23 and has a defensive rating of 90

I rest my case

[dangermouse]

I didnt see the game, so I am reduced to looking at the stat line and reading the comments here. I would like to know if Porter disappeared during any stretch of the game. If yes, was it because he wasnt looking for the ball, or because others were hogging it?

I thought Otto stayed pretty active when he was on the floor. Was aggressive in calling for post-ups and took a couple of drives to the rim. Ideally you'd want to transfer some of Wall's iso pull-ups to Otto taking a mid-range fading J. But overall, I felt our starting offensive unit wasn't overly stagnant.

Yes, absolutely. Compared to our last few losses, the offense was much better. There's been far too much stagnation: ISO ball with no one else moving or cutting, our bigs not setting good screens (even Gortat).

Like i said before i think Gortat has got a step slower. Maybe its frustration, he's been getting a hell of a lot of ticky tack calls doing his regular thing so maybe he is being taken out of his game via officiating (which I will say has been the worst ive seen in a while, even other non-Wizard games). Either that, or its age, or perhaps a combo.

Looking at other teams like LA with smaller, more mobile bigs it makes me wish we had a young C like that.

[zero2hero]

I didnt see the game, so I am reduced to looking at the stat line and reading the comments here. I would like to know if Porter disappeared during any stretch of the game. If yes, was it because he wasnt looking for the ball, or because others were hogging it?

I thought Otto stayed pretty active when he was on the floor. Was aggressive in calling for post-ups and took a couple of drives to the rim. Ideally you'd want to transfer some of Wall's iso pull-ups to Otto taking a mid-range fading J. But overall, I felt our starting offensive unit wasn't overly stagnant.

Yes, absolutely. Compared to our last few losses, the offense was much better. There's been far too much stagnation: ISO ball with no one else moving or cutting, our bigs not setting good screens (even Gortat).

Like i said before i think Gortat has got a step slower. Maybe its frustration, he's been getting a hell of a lot of ticky tack calls doing his regular thing so maybe he is being taken out of his game via officiating (which I will say has been the worst ive seen in a while, even other non-Wizard games). Either that, or its age, or perhaps a combo.

Looking at other teams like LA with smaller, more mobile bigs it makes me wish we had a young C like that.

Yeah, I feel like that's the key piece that's really holding us back offensively, and for sure defensively. Is that we don't have a modern big. Gortat is lethal when he's involved in a pick and roll, but other than that, he's not very useful. And he's definitely a liability on defense when Wall gets too lazy and switches on PnR's as well, which happens way more often than I like.

[dckingsfan]

...

Game thread please!

[payitforward]

I'm recording the game to watch later. Just gave the box a quick check, & obviously a lot of good shooting -- nice to see an outstanding game from Kieff.

Nance is definitely their best player, no doubt about it. But... there is no way it would work to acquire him for a R1 pick, even if the Lakers would make the trade.

He's on the same rookie schedule as Oubre, & given what we have invested in Wall/Beal/Otto, I can see no way we would be able to keep them both.

How about this: Beal, Morris & McCullough for Nance, Hart, Zubac & their 2019 R1 pick? Saves us $25m & would be fantastic for us in every other way as well. But... they would never go for it.

Hmmm, if you think this season's Clarkson is the real Clarkson, we could absorb him as well.

edit: I am anticipating shrieks of outraged opposition to this suggested trade. Yet, I think it would upgrade our team a whole lot!

What kind of team gives away a star player for role players? Nance, Hart and Zubac are role players at best. There's a good chance that the 2019 R1 pick will never be as good as Beal. And with the extra cap space we have, we will likely give it to a player like Mahimi because good players will go to teams where they can compete for Championships while also getting paid. If we are going to go this route, we might as well trade Wall and Otto as well and start to tank.

Yeah, there's no way the Wiz trade Beal - whether or not it makes sense to. I still think my trade is workable - with some luck - given that Nance is still cheap this season and next. Extend him asap - before his value shoots through the roof. He was a late 1st, and that stigma still holds for a little while. And give away Morris to whoever will take him for a 3rd round pick.

Well I didn't say I thought it would happen!

Prime1 - if you think Nance is a role player you haven't watched him much. & if you think you can put a rookie like Hart in the "role player" box, you are way off. & Zubac is a year younger than Oubre. & enormous. He has a shot to be very very good.

You do understand, btw, that if we keep Beal, Wall & Porter it will be more or less impossible to keep Oubre? Right?