GT #22: Timberwolves @ Bullets 7 PM (NBCSW/106.7 FM) [12/1/21]

[FAH1223]

YOUR Washington Bullets are 13-8 and coming off continuing their 22-year losing streak in San Antonio!

The Bullets return home after a 2-2 road trip and will face another team that's in the midst of a roadie in the T-Wolves to kick off a big month of December!

Minnesota at 11-10 has been playing some inspired ball lately, winning 7 of their last 8 with thrilling victories @ Philadelphia and @ Indiana in the past couple of games. They're led by their big 3 - Russell, Edwards, and of course KAT. Coach Finch has them playing defense and they're 8th in the NBA in defensive rating according to BBall Reference.

Will this be another game we see Wes Unseld Jr. get outcoached? Will Spencer Dinwiddie continue to be invisible and play like a slow old man? Will Bradley Beal be able to get going against defenders like Okogie? Will Davis Bertans finally be benched?

STAY TUNED



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


Projected Lineups :










Bench:

[FAH1223]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[FAH1223]

Upping

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Decided after last game to take a more measured approach with this team to cut down on my own frustration. They are going to look real good some games and downright disappointing others as the continue to build chemistry.

For this game, I like that we are back home, but the first home game after lengthy road swings often deliver duds. To boot, Minny has been playing a lot better as of late after getting off to a decent start followed up by a hefty slump. They're back above .500 and Edwards and Towns appear to be starting to gel. Throw in DR and they have three legit 20 point scorers.

With that being the case, not feeling super optimistic about this game even though we have thus far been a good home team. It'll be interesting to see who gets the matchup with KAT, but I'd like to see a healthy dose of Deni on him. It may also be getting to the point to tighten up the rotation a bit IMO, choosing one of Neto or Holiday to role with at this point. Maybe one of them becomes more consistent if given a more established role as both are struggling for any type of consistency.

[queridiculo]

Don't care for the matchups in this one, I've got the Timberwolves in a laugher.

[nate33]

Decided after last game to take a more measured approach with this team to cut down on my own frustration. They are going to look real good some games and downright disappointing others as the continue to build chemistry.

Yup. I originally picked the Wizards to win 39 games. They got out to a fast start, but I still think of them as a roughly .500 team. That's what I expect to see going forward, losing about half their games.

The Wizards have 61 games to go. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they went 29-32 over that stretch (which is a 39-win pace). If they did so, they'd still finish with a pleasantly surprising 42-win season. If they play .500 ball and go 31-30, they'll finish with 44 wins, which is honestly pretty impressive in a tough Eastern Conference. I'd be pretty happy with that.

I definitely don't expect them to continue to play at their current 51-win pace. That's just unrealistic. For that to happen, Beal definitely needs to play like last season, Dinwiddie has to play like 2 seasons ago, and Bertans needs to end his funk now. It's plausible, but not at all likely.

[payitforward]

Decided after last game to take a more measured approach with this team to cut down on my own frustration. They are going to look real good some games and downright disappointing others as the continue to build chemistry.

Yup. I originally picked the Wizards to win 39 games. They got out to a fast start, but I still think of them as a roughly .500 team. That's what I expect to see going forward, losing about half their games.

The Wizards have 61 games to go. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they went 29-32 over that stretch (which is a 39-win pace). If they did so, they'd still finish with a pleasantly surprising 42-win season. If they play .500 ball and go 31-30, they'll finish with 44 wins, which is honestly pretty impressive in a tough Eastern Conference. I'd be pretty happy with that.

I definitely don't expect them to continue to play at their current 51-win pace. That's just unrealistic. For that to happen, Beal definitely needs to play like last season, Dinwiddie has to play like 2 seasons ago, and Bertans needs to end his funk now. It's plausible, but not at all likely.

Plus, that's not really our current pace -- we started 5-1, but we've gone 8-7 over the last 15 games.

At the same time, that 15-game stretch doesn't really represent our pace either, since 9 of those games were on the road. We went 4-5 in those away games but 4-2 at home. Use the percentages, & that's a 45-46 win pace. Apply that pace to the remaining 61 games & it comes out a 47 win season.

Except, we've played more road games than home to this point. Our road pace over the last 15 games, if we continued it over the remaining 29 away games, would garner 12.89 wins -- call it 13. If we continue our pace at home from the same period, it extends to 21.33 wins -- call it 21. Again that would give us 47 wins.

Seems like it's somewhere between nate's conservative projection of 42 wins & a not outlandish projection to 47 wins.

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[montestewart]

Decided after last game to take a more measured approach with this team to cut down on my own frustration. They are going to look real good some games and downright disappointing others as the continue to build chemistry.

Yup. I originally picked the Wizards to win 39 games. They got out to a fast start, but I still think of them as a roughly .500 team. That's what I expect to see going forward, losing about half their games.

The Wizards have 61 games to go. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they went 29-32 over that stretch (which is a 39-win pace). If they did so, they'd still finish with a pleasantly surprising 42-win season. If they play .500 ball and go 31-30, they'll finish with 44 wins, which is honestly pretty impressive in a tough Eastern Conference. I'd be pretty happy with that.

I definitely don't expect them to continue to play at their current 51-win pace. That's just unrealistic. For that to happen, Beal definitely needs to play like last season, Dinwiddie has to play like 2 seasons ago, and Bertans needs to end his funk now. It's plausible, but not at all likely.

Plus, that's not really our current pace -- we started 5-1, but we've gone 8-7 over the last 15 games.

At the same time, that 15-game stretch doesn't really represent our pace either, since 9 of those games were on the road. We went 4-5 in those away games but 4-2 at home. Use the percentages, & that's a 45-46 win pace. Apply that pace to the remaining 61 games & it comes out a 47 win season.

Except, we've played more road games than home to this point. Our road pace over the last 15 games, if we continued it over the remaining 29 away games, would garner 12.89 wins -- call it 13. If we continue our pace at home from the same period, it extends to 21.33 wins -- call it 21. Again that would give us 47 wins.

Seems like it's somewhere between nate's conservative projection of 42 wins & a not outlandish projection to 47 wins.

dck's not doing anything. Maybe he should start a Projections After 20 Games thread. Many will raise their projections, a few will lower theirs. Then the Wizards will go 5-15 or 15-5 over the next 20 games, paving the way for dck's Projections After 40 Games thread. Then he'll duclerize the concept, with a new projection thread going up on every board after every game. And then they win 51 and CCJ says, "Well of course!"

[80sballboy]

Gaff is taking some shots lately. Geez.

[80sballboy]

Good to see Rui finally on the bench. The few times we run, we're not finishing.

[80sballboy]

WTF is wrong with these refs. A foul is a foul. There's going to be a fight if this continues to happen. KCP is getting hammered.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

This team collectively has no clue what they are doing when they have a numbers advantage or fast break. A missed KCP dunk, Dinwiddie passing the ball to Gafford at nearly the top of the three point line, and Kuzma running into two defenders.

[Frichuela]

WTF is wrong with these refs. A foul is a foul. There's going to be a fight if this continues to happen. KCP is getting hammered.

Agreed, it’s getting ridiculous.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

Neto is allergic to passing the ball.

[80sballboy]

Wiz look completely lost on offense and I still don't know what DInwiddie's role in this offense is. That's why we have to go out and run. Beal also getting bumped every time he touches the ball and when he goes to the basket. Hey, it's a smart move to get physical with Beal if they are not going to call it.

[nate33]

Beal cannot get a call. This is getting ridiculous. You can't just shove a guy every time he drives to the basket.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

How did Trez not get a foul on that dunk?

[WallToWall]

Man, you can get away with almost anything and it will not be called a foul.

Physical guards are favored in this league now.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[queridiculo]

What's a foul anymore?