GT #21: Bullets @ Bulls 8 PM (NBCSW/1500 AM)

[Frichuela]

Len's solid play on the defensive end was at least as important as his offense. His smart positioning and ability to defend without fouling on that last Chicago possession was a big reason why Lavine missed that layup.

Agreed. He is the best defensive big we got. I know it is still a small sample but look at his stats since he joined the Wiz: per 36 he is averaging 17.3 pts, 9.7 reb, 2.8 blocks, 3.7 assists (and 2.5 TOs). His advanced stats are very solid so far: Ortg of 124 and Drtg of 110, DBPM of +3.0 and OBPM of +0.7

Cody Zeller would disagree. Matchups will dictate his success. He's going to have huge problems with quicker bigs.

Indeed. That's when Mo Swag comes in handy.

[Ruzious]

I am going to be the party pooper here and point out how awful the Bulls are.

I am struggling to take anything positive from this victory, Wizards gained two games in the race for lottery balls

Agreed, and the Bulls were playing without their starting bigs. The win was very unimpressive.

[nate33]

I thought this was one of Deni's best defensive games of the season. He did get out-muscled by Lavine a few times but did hold his ground.

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Brooks had Beal guard Lavine for much of the first half, but when Beal picked up his 4th foul early in the 3rd, Brooks had to turn to Avdija. (The team doesn't really play any other athletic wings who could theoretically stick with Lavine since Bonga and Brown are glued to the bench.) Avdija did a nice job making Lavine work for his.

It's kinda weird. Avdija isn't the type of defender that can lock you up, which would have been bad in years past. But these days, it's downright impossible to lock anyone up because of the way they call fouls. All you can do now is just try and contest without fouling. Avdija does that well. He has good body control.

[nate33]

I am going to be the party pooper here and point out how awful the Bulls are.

I am struggling to take anything positive from this victory, Wizards gained two games in the race for lottery balls

Agreed, and the Bulls were playing without their starting bigs. The win was very unimpressive.

Agreed. The Bulls were awful. The only thing that's worth a bit of praise is the fact that the Wizards managed to win despite shooting so woefully bad.

Over the past 2 seasons, the Wizards were 0-11 when shooting under 25% from 3. They were 4-28 when shooting less than 33%. Last night, they shot 23.1% and actually won.

[payitforward]

Make it a winning record now without Westbrook lol

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That’s telling, isn’t it?

The trade gets worse and worse.

What's our record with Wall? Houston is not even competitive when he sits but look amazing when he plays. What did we really give up here?

On the season, John Wall is playing at a level of productivity that is a little above his career average. His best year was 2016-7. He's not producing at that level. But, he is about as good now as his 2d best year, 2014-15.

That's great, obviously -- have to wish the very best to John Wall.

Obviously, he's a better player than Russ at this stage of both guy's careers. But, the trade wasn't about basketball. How could it have been?

[Kanyewest]

Make it a winning record now without Westbrook lol

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OTOH, IIRC the Wizards were unusually good on the 2nd nights of back backs. Still, 2-13 is disheartening.

[dlts20]

That’s telling, isn’t it?

The trade gets worse and worse.

What's our record with Wall? Houston is not even competitive when he sits but look amazing when he plays. What did we really give up here?

On the season, John Wall is playing at a level of productivity that is a little above his career average. His best year was 2016-7. He's not producing at that level. But, he is about as good now as his 2d best year, 2014-15.

That's great, obviously -- have to wish the very best to John Wall.

Obviously, he's a better player than Russ at this stage of both guy's careers. But, the trade wasn't about basketball. How could it have been?

I've watched all of their games and IMO, Wall has been alot better than his numbers. Pretty much any negative from him has to do with playing with Harden(bad fit and James was clearly tanking), then missing multiple games and throwing off his timing with the contact tracing, then missing multiple games due to leg soreness, was on a minutes restriction, and hasn't played much with any of the top guys.

I actually expect Wall to start to take off because this is the 1st time he is playing consistently. The only thing that I don't like about Houston is wood and alot of their main guys always slip the pick so wall is never freed up, unlike Gortat who was like a wall (no pun intended)... Lol

[dobrojim]

One of the more impressive defensive efforts of the season.

They managed to win a game where they shot just 6-26 from 3-point range.

I’m not sure how much credit we should give. DaBulls were missing 3/6 top players
and couldn’t hang onto the ball. They committed a ton of unforced TOs. And they still
dang near won.

[dobrojim]

Chris Miller talking about Ish Smith MVP of the game....

Wizards school of team self evaluation.