GT #51: Pacers @ Wizards 8 PM (ESPN/NBCSW/1500 AM)

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I really like Dekker's role on this team when he plays. If Morris does in fact come back it would be a shame to see Dekker fall out of the rotation

It really is amazing how Dekker, a guy with no discernible basketball skills, manages to be so effective simply by playing hard.

He handles the ball speedily. Can grab a rebound and lead the break by himself. He skies above the rim. He has nice reverse layups near the rim.

Sam just cannot shoot a lick, Nate. Worst free throw bricks I've seen in a long while.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

T.J. Leaf, another poster boy for somebody who should have stayed in school at least one more year.

I disagree.

He's been injured. Dude is a stud. You'll see, 80s.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Whoever is matched up with Beal needs to see a dermi...sheesh.

I would think Mahinmi falls out of the rotation but sure, Dekker might see less time. It seems like he's a guy that will have nagging injuries because he plays so hard but he has found a niche as a hustle guy and decent defender off the bench. If he could only make 35% of his threes...

They need to jettison Morris.

Ian is hopefully going to be traded.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Is it me, or does McRae look a bit like Gilbert Arenas?

He looks like he can put up 18 plus every night. Baller

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I would think Mahinmi falls out of the rotation but sure, Dekker might see less time. It seems like he's a guy that will have nagging injuries because he plays so hard but he has found a niche as a hustle guy and decent defender off the bench. If he could only make 35% of his threes...

Any minutes that Morris plays will come at the expense of players playing better than him. If we can't trade Morris, the best thing we could do is cut him.

If they want to make the playoffs, they should cut him if they can't trade him. If they want to tank, he'll go back to playing 20-25 mpg off the bench playing alongside Green and Dekker. The guy you'll never see will be Troy Brown, esp. if McRae starts playing.

Totally agree that the Wizards SHOULD just cut Kieff if they can't trade him.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

:banghead: Otto is such a miserable player. Always hiding. Dude is stealing money, injured or not. This season is lost anyway so don’t know why I’m complaining. so weak

Shocker, Otto injured his ankle.

Blaming a very good player for earning his contract. Hating on an injured Porter.

I think Porter is expendable but when healthy he's leaps and bounds better than average.

Otto came into the league after Beal. He had to endure Randy Wittman. He played behind Ariza.

I will not argue that Porter isn't overplayed. Won't argue that he hasn't been injured a lot. I'm just saying Porter TO YOU HATERS

...IS another Rip Hamilton.



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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I’ve always been an Otto fan. I can’t make any more excuses, he has not been good this season. It’s perplexing.

Not to me.

Reggie Williams was slender. He didn't get better when he tried to put on weight. Porter got bigger but not better. He also has lingering injury concerns.

Thus, his performance has been spotty.

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Caron Butler was glass man, but Otto isn't anywhere near as good as he was. Does Utah still want him? He's starting to remind me of Jared Jeffries.

Porter is better.

Y'all forget Arenas and Jamison made life easier for Caron. What did Butler do with any other team? Lakers? Heat?

Porter plays better defense, rebounds better, scores without ball stopping, and he's much more unselfish than Caron.

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[nate33]

Read on Twitter

I don't understand this tweet. Isn't it good to be the only team in the NBA with a double-digit net rating in fourth quarters? While I assume some of that is due to quality garbage time play, is there any reason to believe that some of that isn't also due to us coming back and winning games, or extending leads in the 4th quarter to put teams away?

It sure beats the routine collapses we had last season when Scott Brooks insisted on isolating Wall or Beal in every offensive possession over the final 5 minutes in an attempt to milk a 10 point lead and run out the shot clock.

[nate33]

I’ve always been an Otto fan. I can’t make any more excuses, he has not been good this season. It’s perplexing.

John Wall's fault obviously.

Porter has looked okay for the most part, it's just that his shot isn't falling. For about 5 games now, he has front-rimmed every one of those little fadeaway midrange jumpers he likes to take. For the last 3 years of his career, that shot has been automatic.

[nate33]

I really like Dekker's role on this team when he plays. If Morris does in fact come back it would be a shame to see Dekker fall out of the rotation

It really is amazing how Dekker, a guy with no discernible basketball skills, manages to be so effective simply by playing hard.

He handles the ball speedily. Can grab a rebound and lead the break by himself. He skies above the rim. He has nice reverse layups near the rim.

Sam just cannot shoot a lick, Nate. Worst free throw bricks I've seen in a long while.

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I was being hyperbolic when I said that he had no discernible basketball skills. Obviously, any NBA player has way better basketball skills than 99% of the people on the planet. But it's hard to put a finger on any particularly thing that he does at an above-average level in the NBA (like ball handling, shooting, passing, footwork, size, agility, etc.).

His greatest skill is his Dennis Rodman-like nose for the ball. He just senses which way the ball is going to bounce and he's there.

[nate33]

Caron Butler was glass man, but Otto isn't anywhere near as good as he was. Does Utah still want him? He's starting to remind me of Jared Jeffries.

Porter is better.

Y'all forget Arenas and Jamison made life easier for Caron. What did Butler do with any other team? Lakers? Heat?

Porter plays better defense, rebounds better, scores without ball stopping, and he's much more unselfish than Caron.

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Good point. Butler never did much except in his 3-year peak here.

Butler was an All Star with the Wizards though. I don't think Porter has hit that level of production.

[Wizardspride]

I’ve always been an Otto fan. I can’t make any more excuses, he has not been good this season. It’s perplexing.

John Wall's fault obviously.

Porter has looked okay for the most part, it's just that his shot isn't falling. For about 5 games now, he has front-rimmed every one of those little fadeaway midrange jumpers he likes to take. For the last 3 years of his career, that shot has been qaaa,automatic.

I agree with you.

He's obviously a great shooter. Just in a little slump right now.

[Ruzious]

I'm going to the game - rooting for the good guys... I mean rooting for the Wizards. Trap game. Actually, if I was a sports betting man (I'm not), I'd take the Wiz vs the spread. I've never tracked it, but it seems like the home end of a back to back after a loss... home team usually bounces back. Hope McRae and the rest of the young'ns play a lot in a blowout win.

I'm POSITIVE that you had a good time, Ruz! They played with great energy, unselfishness and enthusiasm.

Beal is a bonafide star.

Jeff Green is so much more impactful than Markieff Morris.

Sam Dekker played like a Kenneth Faried, but with much better handles. He dominated in spurts.

The one glaring concern is the Wizards couldn't match Sabonis on the inside. TJ Leaf also seemed to have his way scoring in the paint.

I think Leaf is BETTER RIGHT NOW than Gordon Hayward. I really liked Leaf at UCLA. The guy is highly skilled, athletic and a legit 6'10".

I liked the Wizards' play today so much so that I might get the rest of the season NBA League Pass.

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It was a great time. Some things that stuck out to me...

- The double-teams that Beal attracts makes it so much easier for the team to whip the ball around and find an open 3 point shooter

- Dekker did indeed consistenly out-hustle players, and if he can add some muscle, he can make some money in the NBA. He's listed at 230 lbs, but he looks thinner than Otto, and he gets pushed around easily.

- Jeff Green... at 32 looks every bit as athletic as when he was 22. He's not exactly Gortat when setting screens - I had to laugh at some of his attempts. He played a terrific all-around game. Glad he wasn't asked to play small-ball center even if it meant Mahinmi got some run.

- Ian... ouch. He's a good athlete, he's not a good basketball player. Had to laugh when one time he grabbed a Pacer with both hands and then acted like the ref was out of his mind for calling a foul on him.

Ariza - several times he drove to the basket, got stopped, but still jumped and had nowhere to go with the ball - either forcing up an ugly shot or turning it over. His drives never ended well.

Thomas Bryant - For Pif, he DOES look awkward when he starts running up court - it's true, but he still gets from point a to point b quidkly, so it's not a big deal.

Indiana - just had no flow to their offense without Dipo. They should have gone inside more - especially to Sabonis.

Randle, McRae and Glove Jr - all looked good. Randle's got the best PG skills, McRae's the best scorer, and Payton's the best defender. I think they all belong in the NBA and would rate them: 1. McRae, 2. Randle, and 3. Payton.

[dobrojim]

Good game for us (obviously). Interesting in that we often used to choke in natl TV games.

Play good D, win or at least give yourself a chance to win.

As much as I like Sato, I do get frustrated with his very inconsistent scoring ability.
It's great that he doesn't force bad shots but dang, he does seem to have a lot of games where
he scores 3-7 points. Randle OTOH, seems to score more 'naturally'. It would be nice if
having brought Randle, McRae and Glove II (still hasn't played enough to say as much about him)
in and having them show they do belong in the league if we couldn't jettison enough trash
to be able to keep them.

PS to Ruz - would have enjoyed meeting you. Please consider a shout out to me
next time you go to a game. That said, I'm going to be traveling in Feb and will
miss most of the few home games we have beginning with Saturday night's game
vs MIL who I know you follow. I may be back for the game on the 23rd vs IND.

[Ruzious]

Good game for us (obviously). Interesting in that we often used to choke in natl TV games.

Play good D, win or at least give yourself a chance to win.

As much as I like Sato, I do get frustrated with his very inconsistent scoring ability.
It's great that he doesn't force bad shots but dang, he does seem to have a lot of games where
he scores 3-7 points. Randle OTOH, seems to score more 'naturally'. It would be nice if
having brought Randle, McRae and Glove II (still hasn't played enough to say as much about him)
in and having them show they do belong in the league if we couldn't jettison enough trash
to be able to keep them.

PS to Ruz - would have enjoyed meeting you. Please consider a shout out to me
next time you go to a game. That said, I'm going to be traveling in Feb and will
miss most of the few home games we have beginning with Saturday night's game
vs MIL who I know you follow. I may be back for the game on the 23rd vs IND.

Have to admit - it was the first game I've been to in 3 years. Hopefully I'll get to another game or 3 this season, and I'll let you know.

On your point re Sato, he had a huge size advantage most of the time he was in there. Gotta figure he could have taken advantage of it - just shoot over the top of 6' guards.

[80sballboy]

T.J. Leaf, another poster boy for somebody who should have stayed in school at least one more year.

I disagree.

He's been injured. Dude is a stud. You'll see, 80s.

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He’s talented but he needed one more year to get stronger and work on his defense.

[80sballboy]

I’ve always been an Otto fan. I can’t make any more excuses, he has not been good this season. It’s perplexing.

Not to me.

Reggie Williams was slender. He didn't get better when he tried to put on weight. Porter got bigger but not better. He also has lingering injury concerns.

Thus, his performance has been spotty.

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He’s had three different injuries this season from the toe to the hip to the knee. I don’t hate his game. He’s a very good player when healthy and engaged. Beal had the same durability issues until last season.

[Illmatic12]

Caron Butler was glass man, but Otto isn't anywhere near as good as he was. Does Utah still want him? He's starting to remind me of Jared Jeffries.

Porter is better.

Y'all forget Arenas and Jamison made life easier for Caron. What did Butler do with any other team? Lakers? Heat?

Porter plays better defense, rebounds better, scores without ball stopping, and he's much more unselfish than Caron.

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Butler stepped up and carried the team anytime Gil and/or Jamison went down with injuries. Please do not insult him by comparing him to Otto Porter

Caron ,was a junkyard dog and true hooper to his core.. he came up playing ball to get off the streets and feed his family . Otto just plays ball as a past time when he’s not working on his cars. You can’t teach a player to care about basketball or to care about being great, sadly that’s always been the question with Porter.

[NatP4]

LOL ^^