GT #6: Washington Wizards @ Minnesota TWolves 1/1/2021 8:00PM

[nate33]

Umm... You seem to have forgotten Ish and Robinson ???

No. I didn't.

[nate33]

The rotation should be this:

Starters (first 6 minutes of each half)
Westbrook
Beal
Bonga
Hachimura
Bryant

The Beal Shift (final 6 minutes of 1st/3rd quarter)
Brown
Beal
Avdija
Bertans
Lopez

The Westbrook Shift (first 6 minutes of 2nd/4th)
Westbrook
Brown (or Mathews)
Avdija
Bertans
Wagner (or Lopez, or Hachimura, depending on matchups)

Crunch Time Shift (last 6 minutes of each half)
Westbrook
Beal
Bonga (option to bring Avdija in for final 3-4 minutes)
Hachimura (option to bring Bertans in for final 3-4 minutes)
Bryant

It addresses all of our issues. We are big so the defense is better. Bonga gets 20-24 minutes, but he is always surrounded by strong offensive players. Avdija and Brown get playmaking opportunities in the absence of a pure PG during the Beal shift. The Westbrook shift has Westbrook surrounded by shooters a la Houston. He gets his opportunity to go "full Westbrook" during this shift so he can keep his usage rate down for the rest of the game. Brooks has flexibility to play anyone in the final 3-4 minutes, nobody will be exhausted. Everyone in the regular rotation is part of our future and worth investing time in (except Lopez and Wagner).

I like it. Two questions. No Neto, no Ish. Do you see a role for either of them? What would you do on b2bs?

They would, of course, play when Westbrook or Beal sat on back-to-backs.

And I might try Neto in place of Troy Brown on the "Westbrook shift" occasionally. And there might situations when extra ball handling or FT shooting are needed, like when milking a lead near the end of a game, or if I needed to junk things up with a helter skelter face-paced attack because we're down 20 in the 3rd quarter. But in general, they wouldn't be part of my normal rotation. At least not for a while. I'd want to give Brown a good 10-20 games as the primary 3rd guard first.

I would never play Ish and Westbrook on the court at the same time.

[J-Ves]

The rotation should be this:

Starters (first 6 minutes of each half)
Westbrook
Beal
Bonga
Hachimura
Bryant

The Beal Shift (final 6 minutes of 1st/3rd quarter)
Brown
Beal
Avdija
Bertans
Lopez

The Westbrook Shift (first 6 minutes of 2nd/4th)
Westbrook
Brown (or Mathews)
Avdija
Bertans
Wagner (or Lopez, or Hachimura, depending on matchups)

Crunch Time Shift (last 6 minutes of each half)
Westbrook
Beal
Bonga (option to bring Avdija in for final 3-4 minutes)
Hachimura (option to bring Bertans in for final 3-4 minutes)
Bryant

It addresses all of our issues. We are big so the defense is better. Bonga gets 20-24 minutes, but he is always surrounded by strong offensive players. Avdija and Brown get playmaking opportunities in the absence of a pure PG during the Beal shift. The Westbrook shift has Westbrook surrounded by shooters a la Houston. He gets his opportunity to go "full Westbrook" during this shift so he can keep his usage rate down for the rest of the game. Brooks has flexibility to play anyone in the final 3-4 minutes, nobody will be exhausted. Everyone in the regular rotation is part of our future and worth investing time in (except Lopez and Wagner).

I haven’t soured on Brown or anything, but if I’m a coach trying to win rather than develop the young guys, I’m playing Neto over Brown at least until Neto reverts back to his career norms.

[nate33]

The rotation should be this:

Starters (first 6 minutes of each half)
Westbrook
Beal
Bonga
Hachimura
Bryant

The Beal Shift (final 6 minutes of 1st/3rd quarter)
Brown
Beal
Avdija
Bertans
Lopez

The Westbrook Shift (first 6 minutes of 2nd/4th)
Westbrook
Brown (or Mathews)
Avdija
Bertans
Wagner (or Lopez, or Hachimura, depending on matchups)

Crunch Time Shift (last 6 minutes of each half)
Westbrook
Beal
Bonga (option to bring Avdija in for final 3-4 minutes)
Hachimura (option to bring Bertans in for final 3-4 minutes)
Bryant

It addresses all of our issues. We are big so the defense is better. Bonga gets 20-24 minutes, but he is always surrounded by strong offensive players. Avdija and Brown get playmaking opportunities in the absence of a pure PG during the Beal shift. The Westbrook shift has Westbrook surrounded by shooters a la Houston. He gets his opportunity to go "full Westbrook" during this shift so he can keep his usage rate down for the rest of the game. Brooks has flexibility to play anyone in the final 3-4 minutes, nobody will be exhausted. Everyone in the regular rotation is part of our future and worth investing time in (except Lopez and Wagner).

I haven’t soured on Brown or anything, but if I’m a coach trying to win rather than develop the young guys, I’m playing Neto over Brown at least until Neto reverts back to his career norms.

I don't really disagree. Neto is clearly outplaying Brown at the moment. But I think it's important to get Brown on track so I'd give this rotation a try for a little while. Ultimately, we aren't going to win any playoff games with Neto in the rotation. Little guards like that get played off the court in the playoffs.

[badinage]

The rotation should be this:

Starters (first 6 minutes of each half)
Westbrook
Beal
Bonga
Hachimura
Bryant

The Beal Shift (final 6 minutes of 1st/3rd quarter)
Brown
Beal
Avdija
Bertans
Lopez

The Westbrook Shift (first 6 minutes of 2nd/4th)
Westbrook
Brown (or Mathews)
Avdija
Bertans
Wagner (or Lopez, or Hachimura, depending on matchups)

Crunch Time Shift (last 6 minutes of each half)
Westbrook
Beal
Bonga (option to bring Avdija in for final 3-4 minutes)
Hachimura (option to bring Bertans in for final 3-4 minutes)
Bryant

It addresses all of our issues. We are big so the defense is better. Bonga gets 20-24 minutes, but he is always surrounded by strong offensive players. Avdija and Brown get playmaking opportunities in the absence of a pure PG during the Beal shift. The Westbrook shift has Westbrook surrounded by shooters a la Houston. He gets his opportunity to go "full Westbrook" during this shift so he can keep his usage rate down for the rest of the game. Brooks has flexibility to play anyone in the final 3-4 minutes, nobody will be exhausted. Everyone in the regular rotation is part of our future and worth investing time in (except Lopez and Wagner).

I haven’t soured on Brown or anything, but if I’m a coach trying to win rather than develop the young guys, I’m playing Neto over Brown at least until Neto reverts back to his career norms.

I don't really disagree. Neto is clearly outplaying Brown at the moment. But I think it's important to get Brown on track so I'd give this rotation a try for a little while. Ultimately, we aren't going to win any playoff games with Neto in the rotation. Little guards like that get played off the court in the playoffs.

J.J. Barea?

[nate33]

I haven’t soured on Brown or anything, but if I’m a coach trying to win rather than develop the young guys, I’m playing Neto over Brown at least until Neto reverts back to his career norms.

I don't really disagree. Neto is clearly outplaying Brown at the moment. But I think it's important to get Brown on track so I'd give this rotation a try for a little while. Ultimately, we aren't going to win any playoff games with Neto in the rotation. Little guards like that get played off the court in the playoffs.

J.J. Barea?

I gotta grant you that one. Carlisle really knew how to utilize Barea. It was really weird how he could guard guys like Lebron at times.

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Last game Pasecsniks surprisingly got in for some minutes. He played hard, and seemed to me was really trying to show the coaches he can play with more physicalty. I would actually like to see him given a shot as the #2 center off the bench before he's let go. We've seen what Lopez can do, and maybe Pasecsniks has learned what he needs to do watching him and going against him in practice. His size and length in the post is something lacking in this team, and he may not get the block but he does alter shots inside. He averaged 13 pts 9 boards & a block per 36 last season.

We should either see what he's got now, or cut him and bring in Justin Patton.

[nate33]

Last game Pasecsniks surprisingly got in for some minutes. He played hard, and seemed to me was really trying to show the coaches he can play with more physicalty. I would actually like to see him given a shot as the #2 center off the bench before he's let go. We've seen what Lopez can do, and maybe Pasecsniks has learned what he needs to do watching him and going against him in practice. His size and length in the post is something lacking in this team, and he may not get the block but he does alter shots inside. He averaged 13 pts 9 boards & a block per 36 last season.

Not sure if serious.

Pasecniks played about the worst 6-minute stretch of basketball I've ever seen. He had 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 6 minutes! The team was -13 with him on the floor. And that was against the garbage time lineup of Minnesota.

Pasecniks current +/- is -100 points per 100 possessions

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Last game Pasecsniks surprisingly got in for some minutes. He played hard, and seemed to me was really trying to show the coaches he can play with more physicalty. I would actually like to see him given a shot as the #2 center off the bench before he's let go. We've seen what Lopez can do, and maybe Pasecsniks has learned what he needs to do watching him and going against him in practice. His size and length in the post is something lacking in this team, and he may not get the block but he does alter shots inside. He averaged 13 pts 9 boards & a block per 36 last season.

Not sure if serious.

Pasecniks played about the worst 6-minute stretch of basketball I've ever seen. He had 5 turnovers and 2 fouls in 6 minutes! The team was -13 with him on the floor. And that was against the garbage time lineup of Minnesota.

Pasecniks current +/- is -100 points per 100 possessions

True, but I think that was a result of it really being garbage time and complete helter skelter ball out there. But what I liked was just how he was playing, he was pushing guys and fighting for the ball, and he was running. I'm sure the coaching staff has been on him about what he needs to do to get on the court, and it looks like he's taken it to heart. I just liked the hustle he showed. I mean we're talking about Lopez and Wagner, I'd either like to see if he can work himself ahead of them, or cut him now for Patton.

[NatP4]

Wiz play in 6 hours, no GT

[J-Ves]

Wiz play in 6 hours, no GT

incoming bad juju

[tontoz]

Paging Nate, the wizards fate rests in your hands.

Maybe the delay is deliberate, getting his tank on early