Washington Wizards 2012-2013 Season Thread - Thanks for a great year!

[pcasupreme]

WIZARDS. We about to win 20 straight to get to .500

 

[the coolness]

Bradley Beal has completely exceeded my expectations. If we would've gotten a contributor with our pick last year we would have a nice squad.

He's been coming along nicely

 

[jjs07]

He's been coming along nicely

It's not just the PPG rise, but look at his actual shooting efficiency since January 1st. Dude has really elevated his game. I was saying this last night, but if he can keep playing at this level and the Wizards can stay over .500 going forward, Damian Lillard won't be a sure-bet lock for ROY.

Also, no matter where the Wizards pick, Otto Porter need to be their guy. He's almost TOO perfect of a fit for this team.

 

[shirt1995]

i know im new here but good W last night i hope this isnt typical end of season nothing to lose wizards false hope we're seeing. i love this kid beal and the attitude he plays with (did u see how pissed he was when they took him out after that fall against denver?) wall+beal+webster+one very good post player and we may have something going forward (who gets love next year? is nerlens still gonna come out of school?) NATS ,SKINS,  & GOD WILLING THE WIZ ALL ON THE COME UP

 

[jking0821]

I agree with you guys on Brad Beal. I did not think he was this much of a gamer. I thought he would be a soft spoken...try to get the job done....chris singleton type

I was obviously wrong. But i also don't think its a coincidence that he has gotten better since John Wall has been back. I know everyone has got better. But we all said....if wall comes back and he doesn't have to really create his shot as much we will be a lot better. And John's ability to drive and kick really opens up the floor for Beal and Webster.

I hope we keep okafor...i know his contract is up soon...but he is so under rated.

 

[jjs07]

I agree with you guys on Brad Beal. I did not think he was this much of a gamer. I thought he would be a soft spoken...try to get the job done....chris singleton type

I was obviously wrong. But i also don't think its a coincidence that he has gotten better since John Wall has been back. I know everyone has got better. But we all said....if wall comes back and he doesn't have to really create his shot as much we will be a lot better. And John's ability to drive and kick really opens up the floor for Beal and Webster.

I hope we keep okafor...i know his contract is up soon...but he is so under rated.

Outside of a few tweaks, I think the majority of the team is going to look the same going into next year. That's not a bad thing, and if they can maintain reasonable health for the majority of the year there is no doubt in my mind they'll be competing for a playoff spot.

We'll obviously add a few players via the draft but there is little-to-no flexibility (due to the current contracts) to lure in free agents. We have enough to re-sing Martell Webster, and that should be a top priority.

Okafor/Ariza will be off the books at the end of next year, freeing up some cap space. That being said, they should also garner some interest at the trade deadline (or before) due to their expiring deals. Personally, I would much rather have their deals expire than to trust EG to trade them for players who he feels as though would help this team going forward.

These are the players who I don't expect back next year:

Cartier Martin
AJ Price
Jason Collins
Leandro Barbosa

Outside of Price, none of them are major contributors to our roster. What this team needs is a back-up PG who can keep this team afloat if John wall has to miss extended time due to injury. Remember how much they struggled in his absence?? We can't have that again. I don't know if Satoransky is that type of player or if we'll look to add another 1st round pick to draft a player to fill that void, but something needs to get done to have a capable backup behind Wall.

As far as Beal, I would love to see him work on creating his own shot. Right now, he's just a spot up shooter who has really benefited from the spacing created by John Wall. If he can become a player who can not only knock down the open shot, but also be a threat to do damage w/ the ball in his hand, he's going to take his game to the next level. He'll put in the work (no doubt) to do this. Kid is VERY special.

For the draft - Otto Porter or bust. That's all.

 

[victor page]

Team will be in the lottery again next season

 

[mrtarheel]

Team will be in the lottery again next season

That means we have a shot at Andrew Wiggins then

 

[mrtarheel]

It's not just the PPG rise, but look at his actual shooting efficiency since January 1st. Dude has really elevated his game. I was saying this last night, but if he can keep playing at this level and the Wizards can stay over .500 going forward, Damian Lillard won't be a sure-bet lock for ROY.

Also, no matter where the Wizards pick, Otto Porter need to be their guy. He's almost TOO perfect of a fit for this team.

I would take Otto Porter too, but he aint from Europe, so we might not pick him lol

 

[jjs07]

Team will be in the lottery again next season

We need A LOT of things to go right to be in the playoff hunt next year...and I'm hoping that this franchise finally gets blessed by the B-ball Gods for that to happen.

Here's another thing...I think EG is on a one-year deal. I wonder what happens with him after the season/

 

[pmatic]

L.A. CLIPPERS: The Clips stood pat, but not by their basketball people's choice. L.A. and Washington had a done deal Wednesday night that would have sent forward Trevor Ariza to the Clippers in exchange for Caron Butler, giving L.A. a long, defensive-oriented body to throw at the likes of Kevin Durant in the playoffs. (Butler, who still has an offseason home in the D.C. area, and who was loved by the locals, didn't have a problem returning to a non-Arenas Wizards locker room. He'd have been welcomed back as a much-needed offensive option, according to sources.)

But sources indicated that Clippers owner Donald Sterling nixed the deal Thursday morning, not wanting to gamble on the team's chemistry being affected in any way down the stretch. My interpretation: we don't want to do anything that could, in any way, be held against us by assistant general manager Chris Paul this summer if we don't get far in the postseason.
Either way, the Clips probably are just as well. If Paul couldn't convince Kevin Garnett to come West, there wasn't another game-changing deal out there.

Link

 

[mrtarheel]

Link

would have been a strange move to make

 

[jjs07]

Link

It would have been a lateral move. Ariza is a better fit for this team. I'm glad this was nixed.

 

[jjs07]

Good win tonight...

Brad Beal = THE GOODS.

Also, Rudy Gay doesn't go 1-11 w/ Caron Butler guarding him. Probably shoot 2-11, but u get the point JK...Ariza did a hell of a job and he's our best perimeter defender. Would have been EPICALLY stupid to trade him for Caron Butler...as others have suggested, there had to have been a draft pick involved. Swapping them straight up made no sense.

 

[hypebeast5]

Always felt Beal would get better once wall came back cause he can't create his own shot, and wall being able to create shots easier would help

Next year if we are still in the lottery it will be from 12 to 14 essentially a pick that keeps us in mediocrity

 

[jking0821]

Please god john learn to shoot a mid range jay.

Soooo many times in the game he is wide open and doesn't shoot. Then when the shot clock is low and he has the ball he throws up some ugly bricks. Beal looked great last night...great job on the boards. Even AJ price played well last night. We got to keep up the defense though.

The Steve and Phil mentioned last night that Emeka is a work out freak. 5% body fat...works out every single day (even game days). Was in the gym for a solid 3 hours the morning before the raptors game they said. Will probably pay dividends to dudes longevity. But he has that kind of mentality. A lot of good tip outs last night. I don't know who gets credit for the rebound but he swatted a bunch of O-bounds back out.

 

[victor page]

Always felt Beal would get better once wall came back cause he can't create his own shot, 

I strongly disagree. He's been getting better and better at scoring off the dribble.

 

[extraordinary swag]

I strongly disagree. He's been getting better and better at scoring off the dribble.

Yeah I've noticed it too he doesn't have that one blow by move but he can find his way to the cup like a young Ray Allen

John Wall REALLY needs to work on that jumper, it's getting annoying now and it gets exposed in brutal team shooting games like we had last night, some of his shots just be way off like hitting the backboard and no rim :x

 

[victor page]

I've already accepted that fact that he'll never be a good shooter. Maybe later in his career he'll figure it out like Jason Kidd did. 

 

[jjs07]

I've already accepted that fact that he'll never be a good shooter. Maybe later in his career he'll figure it out like Jason Kidd did. 

It blows my mind how people are ready to give up on him. You can't go on RealGM or anywhere else without seeing ridiculous trade proposals for Wall. He's 22 and still has a ridiculous upside. This franchise has a penchant of giving up on players too soon. Webber, Sheed, Rip, etc. all come to mind. The last thing I want to see happen is for Wall to reach his full potential on another squad. We have a GREAT thing going here with both Wall/Beal in the backcourt. It would be insanely stupid to break that up prematurely. On top of it all, despite his shooting woes and turnovers, you can't argue the team's success with him in the lineup. This is the best basketball we've seen out of the Wizards in YEARS. It's no coincidence that this team was beyond putrid when Wall was missing time due to injury and they turned things around when he came back. I want this franchise to give this duo a chance to flourish. There is something special building here and more fans need to realize this.

 

[jsindaa]

It's way too early to say he will never be a good shooter. He just needs time and most important, confidence in his own shot. In his 3rd season...I think he will be quite ok personally

 

[jjs07]

It's way too early to say he will never be a good shooter. He just needs time and most important, confidence in his own shot. In his 3rd season...I think he will be quite ok personally

Exactly. I think confidence is the biggest thing with him (in regards to his jumper). In the meantime, I think he should take the ball to the rack as much as possible. This is what Rondo does, and I'd like to see Wall emulate him there.

 

[victor page]

I'm confused. Did I imply the team should "give up on him" because he can't shoot?

Rondo's been in the league for 7 years now...and still can't shoot. I don't think it's "too early" at all to say that Wall won't be a good shooter. He's a historically bad jump shooter and I just don't see that turning around any time soon. Same with Kidd...he didn't become a shooter to fear until that athleticism departed.

Not that they were AS bad at shooting as Wall was but look at the improvements Rose and Westbrook made from year one to year two. Wall still shoots as if he's going to miss every time it leaves his hand. It's just not a pretty shot. Who knows when Wall will turn it around or if he ever will? I'm not counting on it. I'd just like to see him continue to use what he is good at.

Just like Rondo...he has stretches where he finds a groove and that shot looks pretty good but I think the scouting report on both of those guys will always be back off and let them shoot.

 

[hypebeast5]

I feel like he's been getting better at scoring off the dribble to but at the beginning of the season he had a weak *** handle

I would see him be guarded by some slow *** dudes he couldn't shake, now he's take many open threes and knocking them down, and I see him scoring more cause dudes are closing out aggressively and he's just driving by

Edit : what I'm trying to say is that I don't see us ever depending him on ISO situations

 

[jjs07]

I'm confused. Did I imply the team should "give up on him" because he can't shoot?

Rondo's been in the league for 7 years now...and still can't shoot. I don't think it's "too early" at all to say that Wall won't be a good shooter. He's a historically bad jump shooter and I just don't see that turning around any time soon. Same with Kidd...he didn't become a shooter to fear until that athleticism departed.

Not that they were AS bad at shooting as Wall was but look at the improvements Rose and Westbrook made from year one to year two. Wall still shoots as if he's going to miss every time it leaves his hand. It's just not a pretty shot. Who knows when Wall will turn it around or if he ever will? I'm not counting on it. I'd just like to see him continue to use what he is good at.


Just like Rondo...he has stretches where he finds a groove and that shot looks pretty good but I think the scouting report on both of those guys will always be back off and let them shoot.

Not at all...I was talking about folks on RealGM and elsewhere that say that he should be traded. I know where you stand on him, bro.