nate33 wrote:queridiculo wrote:I am really curious what the Wizards plan on doing to address their gaping hole at small forward.
Assuming the Wizards win out and face off against the Sixers, I just don't see how they can reasonably expect to keep starting Westbrook, Beal and Neto.
There just isn't much they can do. I think they're just going to hope that Westbrook or Beal can guard small forwards. Obviously, we will see some of Bertans at SF but they won't start him. I don't think they'll have much confidence in Hutchison, particularly if he bricks his first couple of shots.
I'm a little surprised that Mathews has fallen out of the rotation. I guess they think that even though he is taller than Neto, he's not really any better defensively. They're rather just have Beal/Westbrook guarding their small forward with Neto on their PG, instead of having Mathews guarding their small forward.
Over the last few monts, for whatever reasons, Mathews has rarely seen the floor in lineups where he has much opportunity to do the thing he does best. He gets very few shots, & increasingly the shots he does get are last-second, last resort attempts.
As a result, his numbers have fallen. Now... we are winning, so it's hard to worry too much about him. But, I put this on Brooks all the same. & it reminds me distinctly of what his "coaching" did to Troy Brown.
On the assumption that Brooks will be gone next year & that Mathews will be with us, I'm optimistic that this will be a short-term problem.