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

[zero2hero]

He had 8 pts (3/3 FG) 7 rbs, 1 ast, 2 stl 2 blk in 20 mins…what was the issue? I thought he looked pretty good. Otherwise, I agree with the rest of your post. This team is gonna be fun to watch.

I watched the first half very intently but dozed off in the second ish. In the first half I saw him get beat on a straight line drive and commit a pretty unnecessary foul on a pedestrian - I want to say - Barnes post up. Then I remember him getting beat back door on a dish to Boucher.

Look, I'm not sounding the alarm here. Avdija looks like a natural on offense. But when we're defending our half court, just watch his movements a bit. He's good on rotations but when he's in the play he can get lost and/or exploitable. Thankfully, Neto right now fits the stereotype so he gets the majority of the plans run through him on PnR action but Avdija still has a lot to improve on that end.

I think his 1-1 defense is great in general. Also, He has good instincs and reactions at defense, so i'm not worried. He does get lost sometimes when we talking about team defense and communication between him and another players, but the coaching staff has a part on that too (also logical things of non-experience lack by Deni). I think we will see an improvement at all his aspects in defense and offense as the season goes.

100%. Like I said, I wasn't trying to sound alarmist. I was just saying there were things I noticed that stood out to me, but everyone makes bad plays and can improve

[dlts20]

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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-------------------------VS-------------------------



Projected Lineups :










Bench:

Start the indy game thread... Lol

[payitforward]

Absolutely great outings from Avdija, Gafford & Harrell. Wow.

Last 1/3 of the game was sloppy. But, once you're up by 30 points I suppose it's to be expected.

Then there was Aaron Holiday; in 13 minutes he went 0-4, turned the ball over 3 times, & committed 2 fouls. He did get 3 defensive boards.

One of the fouls he committed was a good one- Raptors had the ball on the final possession of the period and Holiday smartly committed a foul on Dragic since the Wizards had a foul to give. He didn't telegraph it so Dragic would attempt to shoot the ball.

Thanks -- fair enough. I hope to see him succeed.

[payitforward]

Wow... the negative comments on Deni seem really strange to me. Deni Avdija had an absolutely great game last night. On a per-minute basis it was almost as good as Harrell's game.

If he did every night what he did last night, he'd be one of the best forwards in the league.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I like that TO that was called. Just as soon as Toronto hit the 3, and the crowd started to make noise, coach called a TO. He doesnt want Toronto back in the game. Huge difference from previous coach.

you got me by a second

This is the mark of a good in-game coach, I feel. Hope there are other qualities in him that lend to being a good coach, but this certainly is good.

Watch on YouTube

I'm willing this into existence

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Watch on YouTube

[willbcocks]

Deni looks like he belongs out there athletically--he has the size, strength, and quickness. Doesn't seem like a great leaper, but footspeed is more important.

He can't keep his quickness when dribbling though. He really needs to work on his handle. If he improves either his handle or his shot, he's a solid player; if he improves both, he's a very good player. If he improves neither, he's probably a minor role player.

[Ruzious]

Deni looks like he belongs out there athletically--he has the size, strength, and quickness. Doesn't seem like a great leaper, but footspeed is more important.

He can't keep his quickness when dribbling though. He really needs to work on his handle. If he improves either his handle or his shot, he's a solid player; if he improves both, he's a very good player. If he improves neither, he's probably a minor role player.

He looks stronger than last year - which should have been expected. That combined with experience adds confidence, and all of those factors combined should make the finishes of his drives more productive and efficient.