Official Thread - Wizards vs Suns (12/21/14)

[pineappleheadindc]

.

___________VS_________

__19-6 Overall (6-1 vs West), 9-1 Last 10__________14-14 Overall (8-6 vs East), 4-6 Last 10
___1st Southeast Div / 2nd Eastern Conf_____________3rd Pacific Div / 8th Western Conf

Winners of their last 6 in a row -- the longest current winning streak in the NBA -- and 10 of their last 11 games, YOUR Washington Wizards return home from the nightlife of South Beach for an early Sunday evening matchup with the visiting Phoenix Suns.

The Suns come off of a Saturday afternoon victory over the reeling New York Knicks at MSG. PG Eric Bledsoe led the Phoenix effort with 25 points and 10 boards. Suns reserve PG Isaiah Thomas came off the bench to scorch the Knicks for 22 points on 7-12 shooting from the field. And I just wanted to put that in to say how odd it is to write that an(other) Isaiah Thomas was responsible for a Knicks loss. The Morris twins (Markieff - 19 points - and Marcus - 9 points) also played well. Suns SG Goran Dragic is having a good season, averaging 16.2 points per game. His back-up, reserve SG Gerald Green averages a little over 14 ppg.

YOUR Washington Wizards' express train continues to roll past its opponents. They continue their good defensive play -- 5th in the NBA in opponents points allows, tied for 5th in opponents FG%. PG John Wall is the head of the snake, the tip of the spear, the edge of the knife. When he goes into lockdown mode, the team's defensive energy level seems to spike. Wall sits 3rd NBA in dimes, averaging 10.6 per game and 3rd in the NBA in steals (2.08 per game) The Wizards also lead the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage thanks to the dead-eye shooting of SG Bradley Beal, SF Paul Pierce and reserve SG/SF Rasual "Hi Toronto!" Butler. Wizards head coach Randy Wittman has a bench mob rotation that includes PF Nene, C Kevin Seraphin, PG Andre Miller, and SF Otto Porter.


Let's meet the starting lineups.

_____

_______PG John Wall, 6'4" (Kentucky)_________________PG Eric Bledsoe, 6'1" (Kentucky)
________17.8 ppg, 10.6 apg, 4.8 rpg____________________15.4 ppg, 5.8 apg, 4.7 rpg


_____

_______SG Bradley Beal, 6'5" (Florida)________________SG Goran Dragic, 6'3" (Slovenia)
________15.1 ppg, 3.3 apg, 2.9 rpg_____________________16.2 ppg, 4.2 apg, 3.4 rpg


_____

_______SF Paul Pierce, 6'8" (Kansas)____________________SF P.J. Tucker, 6'6" (Texas)
________13.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.4 apg_______________________7.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.6 apg


_____

____PF Kris Humphries, 6'9" (Minnesota)______________PF Markieff Morriss, 6'10" (Kansas)
________7.9 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 0.7 apg________________________15.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.2 apg


_____

______C Marcin Gortat, 6'11" (Poland)__________________C Alex Len, 7'1" (Maryland)
________13.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.4 bpg______________________5.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.0 bpg

---------------------------------------------------

If you're going to the game in person, please note the early start time.


What: Wizards vs Suns
Where: Verizon Center -- Washington, DC
When: 6:00 p.m. EST
TV: Comcast SportsNet, NBA League Pass, Quasi-legal internet streams
Radio: WNEW 99.1 FM / WFED 1500 AM

----------------------------------------------------

This game promises to be a fast-paced and entertaining one as both team's strengths are at their guard positions. Washington has had a fortunate schedule thus far. While the Wiz are 6-1 versus the Western Conference, the Suns are only the third Western team in a playoff slot that Washington has faced so far (loss to Dallas, win over the Clippers). Can YOUR Washington Wizards keep their roll going versus Phoenix?

Drop your thoughts, predictions, and opinions below.

Go Wizards!

[Tricky_Kid]

I hope Gortat will play better and show all PHX fans He is legit C. At the end on their boards i saw pure hate about Hammer

Let the winning streat keep rollin!

[FAH1223]

Gortat's going to play well against his former teammates.

Alex Len is still raw and the Suns rim protection isn't great.

[Tricky_Kid]

Gortat's going to play well against his former teammates.

Alex Len is still raw and the Suns rim protection isn't great.

yes but only vs Orlando

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

I'm worried.

The Suns three headed pg monster is a matchup nightmare for us.

Much will be determined when the second units come out. Can Dre keep up with Thomas? Almost certainly not. Can we match them point for point with the professor playing bully ball against the speedy, but diminutive guard? Hope so.

[GhostsOfGil]

Last time these teams met John took a terrible shot during a crucial possession with a minute left to go (which basically cost us the game). Im hoping he has this game circled on his calendar because this one is going to be tough.

[pineappleheadindc]

Comcast Sportsnet DC reports that G?F Martell Webster could make his debut today on a minutes restriction. If he does, will be interesting to see who Randy/Ernie put in the inactive list?

Temple? He's your break glass for emergency PG and designated situational defending against an opponent's small. (And Phoenix is, except for the Morris twins, guard-centric).

Perhaps Gooden sits. Particularly if Nene's foot is okay and there's little chance of him pulling out of the game with his foot -- again.

Edited to add:

NVM. I completely blanked on DeJuan Blair...Randy never plays him. Blair is going to the inactive list, I bet.

Link to CSN story about Webster's possible debut.

[pancakes3]

Not to give the impression that I'm actually giving GMEG a compliment but you know the roster's solid when DJ Blair's the odd man out.

[Tricky_Kid]

Comcast Sportsnet DC reports that G?F Martell Webster could make his debut today on a minutes restriction. If he does, will be interesting to see who Randy/Ernie put in the inactive list?

Temple? He's your break glass for emergency PG and designated situational defending against an opponent's small. (And Phoenix is, except for the Morris twins, guard-centric).

Perhaps Gooden sits. Particularly if Nene's foot is okay and there's little chance of him pulling out of the game with his foot -- again.

Edited to add:

NVM. I completely blanked on DeJuan Blair...Randy never plays him. Blair is going to the inactive list, I bet.

Link to CSN story about Webster's possible debut.

Gooden played awful lastly He is not the same productive guy as He used to be last year.
Randy gave up with Blair.

[Youheardme90]

The Pierce - Tucker matchup will be one to watch. I expect a double tech at some point in the game

[dlts20]

The Suns are scary because they are healthy again and are confident after 2 wins but they are on a b2b and their fans say they still arent as fun as last year. Wall always goes hard against his friend bledsoe but gets beat by thomas. Wall is playying at a high level right now though and Im sure he's ready.

Im really loking forward to matchups like this and the raps now because finally dimwitt has learned to go small when needed so it wouldnt shock me at all if we start beating these type of teams now with small ball if the big lineups arent working. Going to be exciting seeing Dre vs Thomas. Will IT be to quick or will Dre post him up all night? Also would love to see Wall get some post ups on him "if" Witt lets him go to his strong hand.

2 Thoughts. I havent watched every other ec team this week but Im pretty sure Wall will br pow again if he has another great game tonight. 2nd thought is that quite a few on this board felt bledsoe and dragic were better or atleast equal players to Wall before. I bet they feel different now.

[dlts20]

Beal better be able to score on these guys too

[LyricalRico]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jorgeccastillo/status/546777331101351937[/tweet]

[hands11]

[jeffsays]

Lets go wizards! Here's to hoping All-star Wall shows up again tonight.

[jeffsays]

Playing good so far, other than that last TO.

[edukator1]

LOL wher Gortat gets those 2 blocks o.O

[closg00]

Is PP's shooting % still in the dumps? Seems like it.

[jeffsays]

Ugh, everyone in foul trouble.

[20MexicanosIn1Van]

Anyone know why they play the fresh prince theme song whenever Rasual scores?