GT #1: Bullets @ Raptors Wed Oct 20 7:30 PM (NBC Sports Washington/980 AM)

[FAH1223]

YOUR Washington Bullets are entering a new chapter in franchise history!

Wes Unseld Jr. has returned home to take the mantle of Head Coach and Tommy Sheppard seems to be solidified as Monumental Basketball's top executive.

Bradley Beal is still in DC. To the shock of many around the NBA but not to anyone here. Of course, where would he have the power he has with this organization? He can sign a 4 year $182M extension at any time or wait until July to sign a 5 year $235M deal. Even with those options, we may see our homegrown star who's coming off back to back 30 PPG campaigns ditch town so we may be witnessing the start of his final campaign in the nation's capital.

Westbrook is gone and we have a bunch of ex-Lakers in Harrell, Kuzma, and KCP. The latter two won the NBA Championship exactly a year ago in The Bubble. Will those habits and defensive attention to detail translate to DC?

Rui Hachimura won't be available most probably as he just returned to the team.

The Raptors are another team in transition. Lowry out but Dragic and Achiuwa in. Will Siakam once he gets back from injury return to the form he showed after the 2019 NBA Finals? Or another repeat of last season? Nick Nurse is going to coach up these young Raptors as we saw in preseason play.

Let's get on with showtime!

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Projected Lineups :










Bench:

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Bullets come out slowly, dig a double digit hole. Then storm back to get to a double digit third quarter lead… then fritter it away.

Raps close better down the stretch and win by 7

[daSwami]

must-win game.

[J-Ves]

If you are bullish on the Wizard's season then these games vs the middle of the pack eastern conference teams are near must wins. The thing is the Wiz are pretty middling themselves and depending on who you ask could be considered a tier bellow Toronto

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Read on Twitter

[SUPERBALLMAN]

Read on Twitter

[nate33]

The Wizards always lose on opening night. I just checked and they have lost 9 of the last 11 opening nights.

[Halcyon]

This is a team they will probably be competing with all season for one of the last playoffs spots. Would be big to get a win here.

[Frichuela]

This is a team they will probably be competing with all season for one of the last playoffs spots. Would be big to get a win here.

This. I am hopeful on Wes Unseld. Let's trust he can counter the Wiz usual trend of bad season starts!

[dlts20]

Continue to move the ball and I think think that we will win. I think that the game comes down to Brad and Kuz. Again, I think that Brad will have a hot start to the season but it may not start until game 3 or so. If he's 30ppg Brad in game 1 then I am confident in victory. If Kuz plays well or even sucks but tries not to do too much then we win. He has to know when he has the hot hand or just move the ball otherwise

[doclinkin]

Continue to move the ball and I think think that we will win. I think that the game comes down to Brad and Kuz. Again, I think that Brad will have a hot start to the season but it may not start until game 3 or so. If he's 30ppg Brad in game 1 then I am confident in victory. If Kuz plays well or even sucks but tries not to do too much then we win. He has to know when he has the hot hand or just move the ball otherwise

Interesting. I'm the other way around on Brad. This is a big contract year for him, but I wonder if that means he will stop playing Team ball and start gunning for stats. As Dinwiddie said about Beal, he thinks his job with Brad is to simply get out of the way. Not me, I would love to see those two develop synergy. Dinwiddie standing back to let Brad dribble and attack just invites teams to pack the paint. Dinwiddie is not a threat if he is off the ball, Brad needs to be. I think if we have to trade off on one or the other guy being on the floor and on the ball we may have issues. But Brad gunning for 30 weakens the rest of the team. We don't win in years when Beal is contending for the scoring leader status. We do win when he is playing off ball and as a playmaker with 5+ assists a game and high 3fg%.

I do agree that how Kuz goes can make a big difference on whether or not this team can win. I think this whole season turns on Wes' ability to maximize chemistry while minimizing any individual's weaknesses. The parts are there for any player to have a hot hand and win us a game. The vulnerability is there for any player's selfish play to shoot us out of a game. Brad included.

[NatP4]

The Raptors rotation looks terrible. They really should win games like this.

[queridiculo]

The Raptors rotation looks terrible. They really should win games like this.

That's the way I look at it.

Yeah, I get it, the place is going to be rocking after basically not having had a home game in almost two years, but with Boucher and Siakam out I really don't see how Washington is going to lose this one.

The Raptors are dogs at home for a reason.

[Wizardspride]

Update: Wiz games are now broadcast on the Team 980 AM

[smoothSeph]

The Raptors have a lengthy team. Their wings Barnes/Anunoby gave Beal fits in preseason. This game could tell us a lot about our supporting cast because I wouldn't be surprised if Beal had a tough outing.

[queridiculo]

In 24 games against the Raptors Beal's career average is 24/5/5 on 45% from 2-pt range and 42% on 3-pt range.

I am not worried about Toronto stopping Beal.

[J-Ves]

In 24 games against the Raptors Beal's career average is 24/5/5 on 45% from 2-pt range and 42% on 3-pt range.

I am not worried about Toronto stopping Beal.

Ok but are you worried about the random Toronto scrub hitting 8 threes against us? That seems to be the way these games go.

[I_Like_Dirt]

The Raptors rotation looks terrible. They really should win games like this.

Raptors are a bit better than they look on the surface but the Wizards have the best player and that's even more pronounced with Siakam out. And the Wiz have better depth overall. This is the kind of game they really do need to take care of if they have playoff aspirations.

[TGW]

I see a loss here. The wizards have 4 new starters and a new coach. The Raptors have the more proven squad and coach, and they’re at home.

And Vegas is calling the Raptors as 3 point favorites. The wizards are the underdog here, and rightfully so.

[dlts20]

Continue to move the ball and I think think that we will win. I think that the game comes down to Brad and Kuz. Again, I think that Brad will have a hot start to the season but it may not start until game 3 or so. If he's 30ppg Brad in game 1 then I am confident in victory. If Kuz plays well or even sucks but tries not to do too much then we win. He has to know when he has the hot hand or just move the ball otherwise

Interesting. I'm the other way around on Brad. This is a big contract year for him, but I wonder if that means he will stop playing Team ball and start gunning for stats. As Dinwiddie said about Beal, he thinks his job with Brad is to simply get out of the way. Not me, I would love to see those two develop synergy. Dinwiddie standing back to let Brad dribble and attack just invites teams to pack the paint. Dinwiddie is not a threat if he is off the ball, Brad needs to be. I think if we have to trade off on one or the other guy being on the floor and on the ball we may have issues. But Brad gunning for 30 weakens the rest of the team. We don't win in years when Beal is contending for the scoring leader status. We do win when he is playing off ball and as a playmaker with 5+ assists a game and high 3fg%.

I do agree that how Kuz goes can make a big difference on whether or not this team can win. I think this whole season turns on Wes' ability to maximize chemistry while minimizing any individual's weaknesses. The parts are there for any player to have a hot hand and win us a game. The vulnerability is there for any player's selfish play to shoot us out of a game. Brad included.

I agree but I don't assume that both are mutually exclusive. I think that Brad is capable of close to 30 while doing less and being more efficient. I'm all for the team ball led by a great backcourt. With that being said, there will still be games where he will have to go for nearly 40 to win. At this point of his career, Brad should know when to pick his spots and when to take over. If he doesn't have that IQ by now then he never will