GT #15: Bullets @ HEAT (NBCSW/980 AM)

[payitforward]

No need to feed the trolls.

I couldn't watch last night but intend to some time today. Off the numbers, it's easy to see the problem. We shot great -- better than they did, & they shot well too. But, we had 5 fewer shots & took 14 fewer FTAs, & even a .60 TS% can't overcome that.

Kudos to PJ Tucker, who had a hell of a game for guy who's collecting social security! Between him & Jimmy, there was a mountain to high for us to climb. On our side, good to see Kispert get burn & compete well. I might have to eat crow on him! Great offensive outing from Kuzma.

We are 10-5. Just rest & beat Miami in our house. Great season so far!!

[nate33]

I watched the first 3 quarters this morning. My takes:

Not a horrible loss. Miami is a good team playing at home. The Wizards were on a back-to-back with 5 good rotation players out of the lineup. The odds were stacked against us going in.

Mostly, I thought the Wizards played pretty well as far a shot selection, sharing the ball, and attacking the right matchups. It was nice to see Beal look like the Beal of last year. And Kispert finally looked like the guy we thought he would be when we drafted him. The biggest issue was finishing around the rim. Lots of guys, including Deni, Harrell and Gill missed a bunch of makeable shots at the rim, which cost us dearly in a low scoring first half. We had a few too many sloppy turnovers as well.

I continue to be encouraged by the play of Avdija. He was aggressive on offense, looking to penetrate off the bounce. And he has definitely improved his handle with his left hand. The shots didn't go in on his forays to the rim, but right now, I'm more worried about process, not results. I really like that Avdija's confidence seems to be growing. When he gets the ball, he wants to do something with it, rather than just get rid of it.

Spoelstra did a nice job of maneuvering our defense into bad switches. It seemed like there were a zillion possessions that ended with Jimmy Butler posting up Neto or Holiday. It also looked like the defense just got tired as the game wore on. We were not closing out hard on 3's and we gave up some fast break points by not getting back on D. We can't ignore the toll it takes when you don't have a rim protector behind you. Any mistake or weak effort results in points. There is no margin for error.

I usually don't complain much about the refs, but I really felt like the calls didn't go our way very often. The same incidental contact that sent Jimmy Butler to the FT line 10 times didn't seem to send Beal or Harrell to the line at all. Lowry also got away with a few of his flops.

All that said, Miami was the better team tonight. It happens.

[Zonkerbl]

I saw a team that could not play the kind of defense they wanted to play. On the plus side, their offense was merely stagnant and predictable instead of atrocious and they managed to make some open threes. But he Heat offense picked the defense apart. Is the zards good three point defense merely a statistical aberration?

But yeah it's not the end of the world - Heat's a good team playing at home, they were playing well, hats off to them. Nice to see the offense come out of its slump, but the D needs to be there to win. Wasn't there tonight.

[Ruzious]

I saw a team that could not play the kind of defense they wanted to play. On the plus side, their offense was merely stagnant and predictable instead of atrocious and they managed to make some open threes. But he Heat offense picked the defense apart. Is the zards good three point defense merely a statistical aberration?

But yeah it's not the end of the world - Heat's a good team playing at home, they were playing well, hats off to them. Nice to see the offense come out of its slump, but the D needs to be there to win. Wasn't there tonight.

Right, it was an expected loss, and when Gafford couldn't play, that really hurt us on defense. And they had Tucker and some guy I never heard of flipping up 3's. When that happens, we have to cover the 3 point line, and when you do that - both Bam and Butler kill you inside - and Butler had an easy time of it against smaller players. The only way to beat Miami is to force Butler to shoot from 15 feet out, and that requires packing in a zone. But when their other players are hitting from outside, it's hard to stay in a zone, and we didn't have the shot-blocking presence of Gafford.

[tontoz]

This game was a reminder that our depth is concentrated in the front court.

Loss was expected though. It was a long shot to beat the Heat on the road with so many guys out. At least some 3s went in. We got 5 made 3s just from Deni/Kispert.

[Kanyewest]

Guys i watched the game and it really seemed like you were one Westbrook away from winning that game. Honest opinion here.

You obviously don't watch us very often. We were missing two guys who have been starting this year, another two guys who started last year, and one of our key bench players.

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2135373

[tontoz]

didn't realize it was the same guy.

[bsilver]

Neto and Holiday aren't getting it done when facing good defensive teams. Can't get their shots off. May be less of a problem if Dinwiddie stops taking games off.

Ayayi?

[nate33]

Neto has now missed 5 consecutive free throws. He is a career 81% free throw shooter. The odds of that happening are about 1 in 4000.

[Ruzious]

Neto and Holiday aren't getting it done when facing good defensive teams. Can't get their shots off. May be less of a problem if Dinwiddie stops taking games off.

Ayayi?

Ayayi's not much of a scorer. I said it before - we could really use an offensive-minded 3rd guard - not to mention one with adequate size. Holiday's a 4th guard, and Neto's a 5th.

[payitforward]

Hate to lose, & we were getting used to winning, so a 2d loss in a row is stimulating a little more hand-wringing than needed. As Ruzious pointed out, we were expected to lose this game.

The only problem with our offense was turnovers. We were 23-41 on 2-pt. attempts (.561 -- significantly above our season %), & we shot 41.7% on threes. We could have shot FTs 100% without making a difference.

They had 6 turnovers; we had 17 turnovers. They had 10 steals; we had 4 steals. That's all you need to understand why they won & we lost.

[bsilver]

Neto has now missed 5 consecutive free throws. He is a career 81% free throw shooter. The odds of that happening are about 1 in 4000.

Last year 88%. This year 58%.
Last year 3pt perecentage 39%. This year 26%.

Obviously, needs to play better. When everyone is back healthy and we have a surplus in front court, upgrading the G position may be a priority, via trade.

[nate33]

Neto has now missed 5 consecutive free throws. He is a career 81% free throw shooter. The odds of that happening are about 1 in 4000.

Last year 88%. This year 58%.
Last year 3pt perecentage 39%. This year 26%.

Obviously, needs to play better. When everyone is back healthy and we have a surplus in front court, upgrading the G position may be a priority, via trade.

Well, he was shooting 100% from the FT line through his first 11 games. Then he missed 5 in a row.

[Benjammin]

Neto has now missed 5 consecutive free throws. He is a career 81% free throw shooter. The odds of that happening are about 1 in 4000.

Except they are not independent variables as he loses confidence...

Sent from my motorola edge plus using RealGM mobile app

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Neto has now missed 5 consecutive free throws. He is a career 81% free throw shooter. The odds of that happening are about 1 in 4000.

Except they are not independent variables as he loses confidence...

Sent from my motorola edge plus using RealGM mobile app

I think he’s playing hurt. Cranky shoulder is throwing off his shot. He’s missing a ton of shots he normally makes.

[GoneShammGone]

Neto and Holiday aren't getting it done when facing good defensive teams. Can't get their shots off. May be less of a problem if Dinwiddie stops taking games off.

Ayayi?

Ayayi's not much of a scorer. I said it before - we could really use an offensive-minded 3rd guard - not to mention one with adequate size. Holiday's a 4th guard, and Neto's a 5th.

John Wall after the buyout?

Just kidding...

Or maybe not?

[bsilver]

Neto and Holiday aren't getting it done when facing good defensive teams. Can't get their shots off. May be less of a problem if Dinwiddie stops taking games off.

Ayayi?

Ayayi's not much of a scorer. I said it before - we could really use an offensive-minded 3rd guard - not to mention one with adequate size. Holiday's a 4th guard, and Neto's a 5th.

John Wall after the buyout?

Just kidding...

Or maybe not?

My favorite Wizard. Would love to see him back, but can’t see him agreeing to lose all that money. And he’d have lots of suitors.