Game 51: Wizards (18-32) vs Grizzlies (26-26) Sun, 2/9 @ 6 PM ET

[Ruzious]

Bryant has been really bad and Mahinmi has been good defensively. IT obviously is a big weight.

Wagner and Mahinmi were like polar opposites. Mahinmi had one of those games that he tends to where he can't make a layup, and Wagner couldn't defend. It's not that he can't defend; it's that officials seem to think he's flopping when he's getting hit in the mouth. It seems like officials are trying so hard to stop flopping that whenever it's close, they call it on the defender. So good defense is being punished. It's a shame, because there's an enormous difference between flopping and drawing a legit charge. Wagner's probably been coached all his life to do what he's doing. The loudest complaint's officials get is from players called for offensive fouls, and I think that's affected how they think.

I'm definitely a dinosaur, but I remember when taking a charge was not really an important part of the game. I believe it was Dean Smith who started emphasizing that strategy in about 1970. Before that, defense was about contesting the shot. Taking the charge gives less athletic and weaker players a chance to defend by just getting to a spot before the offensive player. It's ironic that Dean Smith came up with this when UNC usually had the most athletic players. I never liked it but complaining for 50 years has done no good.

Sometimes I wonder if there was a a racial aspect to the taking the charge strategy. The southern schools were slow to integrate, and around 1970 were suddenly faced with playing against athletic African-American players. If you couldn't defend someone in the air, then a concept involving not leaving your feet would seem like a good idea.

Getting back to Wagner - Taking the charge is really the only strategy that will work for him. He seems to not have the frame to put on much muscle, and is not much of a leaper. His talents are on the offensive side. I'd rather we had someone who could defend especially since our other Cs are not better defenders except for Mahinmi, occasionally, and he'll probably be gone soon.

Wow, so Dean Smith caused the college shot clock, the college 5 second rule (where you had to move forward within 5 seconds of controlling the ball), and... drawing fouls. Hey, he found areas where he could get a competitive advantage, because he was thinking outside the box. God, I hated that 4 corners stall with Phil Ford. It probably drove poor Lefty crazy.

[bsilver]

Wagner and Mahinmi were like polar opposites. Mahinmi had one of those games that he tends to where he can't make a layup, and Wagner couldn't defend. It's not that he can't defend; it's that officials seem to think he's flopping when he's getting hit in the mouth. It seems like officials are trying so hard to stop flopping that whenever it's close, they call it on the defender. So good defense is being punished. It's a shame, because there's an enormous difference between flopping and drawing a legit charge. Wagner's probably been coached all his life to do what he's doing. The loudest complaint's officials get is from players called for offensive fouls, and I think that's affected how they think.

I'm definitely a dinosaur, but I remember when taking a charge was not really an important part of the game. I believe it was Dean Smith who started emphasizing that strategy in about 1970. Before that, defense was about contesting the shot. Taking the charge gives less athletic and weaker players a chance to defend by just getting to a spot before the offensive player. It's ironic that Dean Smith came up with this when UNC usually had the most athletic players. I never liked it but complaining for 50 years has done no good.

Sometimes I wonder if there was a a racial aspect to the taking the charge strategy. The southern schools were slow to integrate, and around 1970 were suddenly faced with playing against athletic African-American players. If you couldn't defend someone in the air, then a concept involving not leaving your feet would seem like a good idea.

Getting back to Wagner - Taking the charge is really the only strategy that will work for him. He seems to not have the frame to put on much muscle, and is not much of a leaper. His talents are on the offensive side. I'd rather we had someone who could defend especially since our other Cs are not better defenders except for Mahinmi, occasionally, and he'll probably be gone soon.

Wow, so Dean Smith caused the college shot clock, the college 5 second rule (where you had to move forward within 5 seconds of controlling the ball), and... drawing fouls. Hey, he found areas where he could get a competitive advantage, because he was thinking outside the box. God, I hated that 4 corners stall with Phil Ford. It probably drove poor Lefty crazy.

The 4 corners was an abomination.
When I played in high school in 1996-7 we played a really bad team, Eastchester NY high school, that tried to freeze the ball right from the start. Their coach was Ron Rothstein - later a Miami Heat head coach and now an announcer.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The world is full of people who think they know what other people should do.

Out here in Delaware, Comcast went South at @ 8pm as I was watching the DVR; it was early in the 3d quarter, so I missed the meltdown.

Great to see such a nice game out of Wagner. He's doing stuff he didn't look like he knew how to do last Summer.

I don't know how good Jerome will be, but he didn't look like a stiff out there.

Building something kind of fun. Probably sneak in & give Milwaukee a little scare (emphasis on "little").

Many many years ago I briefly lived in Wilmington, DE. Hung out at a mall and a bowling alley, both in New Castle. Fresh out of high school I worked as a co-op student at was a GM assembly plant on Boxwood Road.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Wagner and Mahinmi were like polar opposites. Mahinmi had one of those games that he tends to where he can't make a layup, and Wagner couldn't defend. It's not that he can't defend; it's that officials seem to think he's flopping when he's getting hit in the mouth. It seems like officials are trying so hard to stop flopping that whenever it's close, they call it on the defender. So good defense is being punished. It's a shame, because there's an enormous difference between flopping and drawing a legit charge. Wagner's probably been coached all his life to do what he's doing. The loudest complaint's officials get is from players called for offensive fouls, and I think that's affected how they think.

I'm definitely a dinosaur, but I remember when taking a charge was not really an important part of the game. I believe it was Dean Smith who started emphasizing that strategy in about 1970. Before that, defense was about contesting the shot. Taking the charge gives less athletic and weaker players a chance to defend by just getting to a spot before the offensive player. It's ironic that Dean Smith came up with this when UNC usually had the most athletic players. I never liked it but complaining for 50 years has done no good.

Sometimes I wonder if there was a a racial aspect to the taking the charge strategy. The southern schools were slow to integrate, and around 1970 were suddenly faced with playing against athletic African-American players. If you couldn't defend someone in the air, then a concept involving not leaving your feet would seem like a good idea.

Getting back to Wagner - Taking the charge is really the only strategy that will work for him. He seems to not have the frame to put on much muscle, and is not much of a leaper. His talents are on the offensive side. I'd rather we had someone who could defend especially since our other Cs are not better defenders except for Mahinmi, occasionally, and he'll probably be gone soon.

Wow, so Dean Smith caused the college shot clock, the college 5 second rule (where you had to move forward within 5 seconds of controlling the ball), and... drawing fouls. Hey, he found areas where he could get a competitive advantage, because he was thinking outside the box. God, I hated that 4 corners stall with Phil Ford. It probably drove poor Lefty crazy.

I hated the four corners, too.

Lefty had the misfortune of having to go against Ford and Dean, and also the high-powered NC State Wolf Pack teams with David Thompson. Then, towards the end of his run in College Park he beat that NC State championship team, IIRC, three times but they won it all any way. I'm sure they beat Whittenburg and Lowe at least twice.

Wagner takes charges like Duke's Shane Battier.

[payitforward]

...Out here in Delaware....

Many many years ago I briefly lived in Wilmington, DE. Hung out at a mall and a bowling alley, both in New Castle. Fresh out of high school I worked as a co-op student at was a GM assembly plant on Boxwood Road.

I'm down in "slower, lower Delaware," as they call it. Just outside of Lewes -- where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic.

Write a memoir, brother. Pick ten events over your life. First write a couple of sentences about each -- more or less like what you just wrote above -- to fix them in your mind. Then, pick the one most vivid in your mind, & start writing about it.

Don't hesitate; start today.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

...Out here in Delaware....

Many many years ago I briefly lived in Wilmington, DE. Hung out at a mall and a bowling alley, both in New Castle. Fresh out of high school I worked as a co-op student at was a GM assembly plant on Boxwood Road.

I'm down in "slower, lower Delaware," as they call it. Just outside of Lewes -- where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic.

Write a memoir, brother. Pick ten events over your life. First write a couple of sentences about each -- more or less like what you just wrote above -- to fix them in your mind. Then, pick the one most vivid in your mind, & start writing about it.

Don't hesitate; start today.

Thanks, pif. That's a great idea!