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I agree, I blame Lady Gaga.

pineappleheadindc wrote:.

Our backs are against the wall, dudes.

We've been cursed by the Lada Gaga-ites. Gonna have to pull out the secret weapon to combat their negative juju.






__________The Meat Dress



It's coming in time to bring us a win in game #5.



Go Wizards!

Nene is 8-28 the last two games. He has made only 5 foul shots in the series. He is averaging 4.3 rebounds in the series.

Hibbert-esque

Indiana was always the better team. Like I said, they began to figure things out in Game 6 against Atlanta. Realistically, the Wizards probably could have won a game or two in this series but to beat them in 6 or 7? Nope, I think most people thought Indiana was going to continue to play the way they were against Atlanta and this was going to be a cake walk. It is what it is, I'm proud of this team, great season. But I really hope Ted looks at this team and sees major changes need to be made. This is our ceiling, a 2nd round team. Open up the wallet and go after Bosh.

I don't think the problem is that Wall "choked" or that Wall lacks the "moxie" to handle these situations. It's much more simple than that. Wall just isn't a good half-court PG. When teams see enough of him (like in a playoff series), they take away his strengths and make him be a jump shooter.

Wall will never be a superstar player until he becomes a much better shooter. He's not even an above average PG in a playoff game when the fast break is taken away.

Losing a big lead and the game was disappointing. However the last play(or lack thereof) was the worst part for me. Yeah the odds are against making a shot, but to not even get the ball inbounded cleanly is really frustrating.

pineappleheadindc wrote:.

Our backs are against the wall, dudes.

We've been cursed by the Lada Gaga-ites. Gonna have to pull out the secret weapon to combat their negative juju.






__________The Meat Dress



It's coming in time to bring us a win in game #5.



Go Wizards!

That meat looks like it could use a little rub.....

Rafael122 wrote:Indiana was always the better team. Like I said, they began to figure things out in Game 6 against Atlanta. Realistically, the Wizards probably could have won a game or two in this series but to beat them in 6 or 7? Nope, I think most people thought Indiana was going to continue to play the way they were against Atlanta and this was going to be a cake walk. It is what it is, I'm proud of this team, great season. But I really hope Ted looks at this team and sees major changes need to be made. This is our ceiling, a 2nd round team. Open up the wallet and go after Bosh.

Lol, the Wizards are two brain farts away from being up 3-1.

Indiana isn't that good. The Heat will smoke them next round.

nate33 wrote:I don't think the problem is that Wall "choked" or that Wall lacks the "moxie" to handle these situations. It's much more simple than that. Wall just isn't a good half-court PG. When teams see enough of him (like in a playoff series), they take away his strengths and make him be a jump shooter.

Wall will never be a superstar player until he becomes a much better shooter. He's not even an above average PG in a playoff game when the fast break is taken away.

Agreed - and we have no other player that can penetrate "at will".

Kind of tells the story with Wall:
http://i59.tinypic.com/b6apgh.jpg

nate33 wrote:I don't think the problem is that Wall "choked" or that Wall lacks the "moxie" to handle these situations. It's much more simple than that. Wall just isn't a good half-court PG. When teams see enough of him (like in a playoff series), they take away his strengths and make him be a jump shooter.

Wall will never be a superstar player until he becomes a much better shooter. He's not even an above average PG in a playoff game when the fast break is taken away.

I agree that Wall's outside shooting, or lack thereof, is his biggest problem that is holding him back. However, he also needs to learn how to attack the rim more and draw fouls. He too often gets penetration and has daylight to go to the rack and instead looks to dish it off for a less efficient shot. He needs to learn how to finish better around the rim and draw contact to get to the line.

The other thing he can improve is his off the ball work. If he is not handling the ball, he simply stands in one spot. He never even tries to cut to an open spot. He needs to watch more video from Andre Miller and learn how to move when he doesn't have the ball.

God what a disappointing weekend. I went to both games and man was it bad...

John Wall I love you and all but you have GOT to step your game up. Yeah I know it's the playoffs and it's his first time there but if you want to be a superstar, you gotta show something in the postseason even if you're new to it. I mean look at Brad Beal, at least he played like a star and showed flashes.

The worst part about it was at the end of the game, Wall wanted nothing to do with the ball. Didn't take open shots and just did dumb things with the ball like dribble into the paint then run around in a circle and pass it out, wasting so much time. It's one thing to suck but I'd rather have soemone like Beal who'll still go out there and try to win and not play afraid. Dude was TERRIBLE this weekend. We were so much better with Andre Miller in the game, we probably win if he plays Wall's minutes(though I know he can't at his advanced age).

And where was our frontcourt? Nene talks all this big game, I am SO SICK of him yelling at the ref everytime he thinks he got fouled. First off, get back on defense you clown. Second off, it's not like you'll make the Free Throw(s) anyway so who gives an F? In fact the inability to hit FTs on this team is absurd. How are pros so bad at making FREE THROWS. It's inexcusable. And Gortat, wow was he a dog last night or what. I still think I'd resign him this summer, if only because even decent Cs are hard to find, but Hibbert destroyed him last night.

Our basketball IQ is just so bad at times. We don't attack the basket enough, we take terrible shots, waste too many possessions, and on defense we give up bad fouls and can't box guys out. In the playoffs you gotta maximize every possession and do the little things and we just didn't do enough of that. We played some of the dumbest basketball I have ever seen, and ultimately we deserved to lose. 19 point lead is nothing in the NBA.

All in all, this team needs some more work if it wants to content. We have to let Ariza go, even though he(along with Beal)were the only two starters that played well at all last night. I think Porter can eventually be at least as good as Ariza if not better. We need one more big piece though. I don't think Wall can be our best player if we want to win a ring, last night just ticked me off. I like our bench but they're all old guys and it's hard to think they'll be able to do what they did over the course of another season. We'll need some younger legs for us off the bench.

And Witman...I started to like him this playoffs but this weekend showed his flaws. He doesn't call timeouts enough, he doesn't do a good job designing out of diagram plays, and I just don't like his jump shot heavy offense. With that said, he'll probably be back, so no use wishing for someone else.

Good season though Wizards. Was fun while it lasted. We had a shot at going to the ECF and we blew it. Maybe next year...

dandridge 10 wrote:

nate33 wrote:I don't think the problem is that Wall "choked" or that Wall lacks the "moxie" to handle these situations. It's much more simple than that. Wall just isn't a good half-court PG. When teams see enough of him (like in a playoff series), they take away his strengths and make him be a jump shooter.

Wall will never be a superstar player until he becomes a much better shooter. He's not even an above average PG in a playoff game when the fast break is taken away.

I agree that Wall's outside shooting, or lack thereof, is his biggest problem that is holding him back. However, he also needs to learn how to attack the rim more and draw fouls. He too often gets penetration and has daylight to go to the rack and instead looks to dish it off for a less efficient shot. He needs to learn how to finish better around the rim and draw contact to get to the line.

The other thing he can improve is his off the ball work. If he is not handling the ball, he simply stands in one spot. He never even tries to cut to an open spot. He needs to watch more video from Andre Miller and learn how to move when he doesn't have the ball.

IMO it's not the lack of outside shooting. It's simply a refusal to attack the rim and finish strong. I don't know what has happened to the guy I was a huge fan off, but whoever this current version of Wall is that's replaced the aggressive, attacking playing I once knew is someone I'd trade away in a heartbeat.

The biggest problem is Wall's slow transition throughout this year from being a difference maker to a game manager. From a guy that attacks that basket and puts pressure on defenses to a guy that lives & inevitability dies of his jumper and rarely ever tries to finish at the rim. I'm so sick of the drives all the way to the rim and without even looking at the basket he throws a quick kickout for a tougher look than the one he just passed up. This version of John Wall, I DO NOT WANT!

If we have any hope of winning next game, John needs to watch some game tape from March 2013 and remember what it was like to be a dominant player. This John Wall will not do.

John Wall needs to take at least 20 shots in game 5. No excuse to not give it your all in a do or die game.

jeffsays wrote:If we have any hope of winning next game, John needs to watch some game tape from March 2013 and remember what it was like to be a dominant player. This John Wall will not do.

At this point you look to win one game at a time. Get game 5 in Indy and come back home and give the fans what they deserve, a long overdue win in a semifinal playoff game at home. Then go back to Indy and play the game of their lives. It's not inconceivable that the Zards make things interesting and extend this series to 7. It all starts by getting the next.

Higga wrote:

Our basketball IQ is just so bad at times. We don't attack the basket enough, we take terrible shots, waste too many possessions, and on defense we give up bad fouls and can't box guys out.

We did that all season long. It shouldn't be a surprise.

I haven't read the many pages of this thread and can't go back to do it now. Others may have said what I'm about to, but this is what I saw:

1. We got beat by a better team. They deserved to win. We competed hard, but they prevailed. No shame and no blame. No point in going into "if this..." and "why not that...?" etc.

2. I thought Randy's plan to give big minutes to guys they *hadn't* done a lot of preparation for was brilliant. Harrington disrupted everything w/ huge energy, and his shots dropped. Gooden contained West and played great. It almost worked.

3. They played their starters 207 out of 240 minutes -- essentially they looked at this game as do or die. And they have obviously rebooted as a team. They are intense and interactive.

4. Paul George had an amazing half of basketball. There was just no way to contain him and no way to win w/ him playing the way he did.

It would be great to win the next one in Indy, but even if we don't I think our team deserves congratulations for having gone as far as we have. There's no point in grumbling. We've had plenty to grumble about (and there will be more!), but this has been great fun! And, we ain't out of it yet!

Higga wrote:God what a disappointing weekend. I went to both games and man was it bad...

John Wall I love you and all but you have GOT to step your game up. Yeah I know it's the playoffs and it's his first time there but if you want to be a superstar, you gotta show something in the postseason even if you're new to it. I mean look at Brad Beal, at least he played like a star and showed flashes.

The worst part about it was at the end of the game, Wall wanted nothing to do with the ball. Didn't take open shots and just did dumb things with the ball like dribble into the paint then run around in a circle and pass it out, wasting so much time. It's one thing to suck but I'd rather have soemone like Beal who'll still go out there and try to win and not play afraid. Dude was TERRIBLE this weekend. We were so much better with Andre Miller in the game, we probably win if he plays Wall's minutes(though I know he can't at his advanced age).

And where was our frontcourt? Nene talks all this big game, I am SO SICK of him yelling at the ref everytime he thinks he got fouled. First off, get back on defense you clown. Second off, it's not like you'll make the Free Throw(s) anyway so who gives an F? In fact the inability to hit FTs on this team is absurd. How are pros so bad at making FREE THROWS. It's inexcusable. And Gortat, wow was he a dog last night or what. I still think I'd resign him this summer, if only because even decent Cs are hard to find, but Hibbert destroyed him last night.

Our basketball IQ is just so bad at times. We don't attack the basket enough, we take terrible shots, waste too many possessions, and on defense we give up bad fouls and can't box guys out. In the playoffs you gotta maximize every possession and do the little things and we just didn't do enough of that. We played some of the dumbest basketball I have ever seen, and ultimately we deserved to lose. 19 point lead is nothing in the NBA.

All in all, this team needs some more work if it wants to content. We have to let Ariza go, even though he(along with Beal)were the only two starters that played well at all last night. I think Porter can eventually be at least as good as Ariza if not better. We need one more big piece though. I don't think Wall can be our best player if we want to win a ring, last night just ticked me off. I like our bench but they're all old guys and it's hard to think they'll be able to do what they did over the course of another season. We'll need some younger legs for us off the bench.

And Witman...I started to like him this playoffs but this weekend showed his flaws. He doesn't call timeouts enough, he doesn't do a good job designing out of diagram plays, and I just don't like his jump shot heavy offense. With that said, he'll probably be back, so no use wishing for someone else.

Good season though Wizards. Was fun while it lasted. We had a shot at going to the ECF and we blew it. Maybe next year...

Agree 1000%. We let a great chance slip away. I believe we are the better team...but we are mentally weak and execute poorly. That is coaching and I was a HUGE Wittman fan until this series. It was a great run...I'm still proud of the team.

Losing that 2nd game was the critical point of this series. Changed everything.

But, wiz win games 5 and 6. Have no faith they can win game 7.

Paul George is that good.

And i've changed my opinion that Beal will be as important as Wall. I now believe that Beal will be more important then Wall. The kid didn't get to work on his game last summer. He will this this summer. Tighten up his handles a bit. learn a post move or two. Beal has "it". Great things coming from the 20 year old!

Anybody else noticed miller going tougher in the paint than wall......right now walls avg he needs to stop taking so much jump shots.

noworriesinmd wrote:Agree 1000%. We let a great chance slip away. I believe we are the better team...but we are mentally weak and execute poorly. That is coaching and I was a HUGE Wittman fan until this series. It was a great run...I'm still proud of the team.

Its funny because a week ago, we said the Pacers are mentally weak (which they are) and they execute poorly (which they do).

They just had to play us.

Dat2U wrote:
IMO it's not the lack of outside shooting. It's simply a refusal to attack the rim and finish strong. I don't know what has happened to the guy I was a huge fan off, but whoever this current version of Wall is that's replaced the aggressive, attacking playing I once knew is someone I'd trade away in a heartbeat.

The biggest problem is Wall's slow transition throughout this year from being a difference maker to a game manager. From a guy that attacks that basket and puts pressure on defenses to a guy that lives & inevitability dies of his jumper and rarely ever tries to finish at the rim. I'm so sick of the drives all the way to the rim and without even looking at the basket he throws a quick kickout for a tougher look than the one he just passed up. This version of John Wall, I DO NOT WANT!

Totally agree. I don't give a damn about his jumpshots. I want him to get into the paint because the paint is WIDE OPEN ALL THE DAMN TIME. He has so many chances at efficient shots. What happened to the floater he talked about when watching Tony Parker all the time? What happened to the guy who would attack with reckless abandon when his shot wasn't falling? What happened to the kid who was getting us triple doubles in his first few games of his career when we knew he couldn't shoot? Where is the kid with no fear? He looks scared and shook as hell.

Brad Beal doesn't have that fear in his eyes and isn't shying from the moment. I am quite stunned with how Wall looked in that last minute playing scared. I don't think I've seen him like that in his career. Yeah, there's nights we know he didn't bring it because its the regular season, he's doing something the night before, its 82 games everyone has those issues. But to look so scared in a pressure moment. REALLY disappointing.