Washington Wizards 2013 - 2014 Season Thread - Thanks for a great season!

[dt43]

This is the worst half of basketball the team has played all season. Wth

 

[dt43]

Anyone who didn't watch that game... consider yourself lucky. That's all I have to say.

 

[extraordinary swag]

Our bench is god awful, we shoulda lost by double digits if Wall didn't save us and expend every ounce of energy he had in the 4th quarter. The minutes he's playing is not a good look

 

[j3rm00]

Scrolled through the TV guide and tuned in when Wolters drove it in and made the shot over vesely in the 2nd quarter.. Then tuned out after Jan threw it down before halftime. Happy I didn't watch the rest lol

How did porter look...?

 

[dt43]

Porter looked pretty shaky/unconfident at first, missed a few open jumpers (he has a weird 'push' release, kinda like Tayshaun Prince) and generally played hot potato with the ball.

However, he was very focused on defense and stuck to whoever he was guarding like glue. His offense will probably come along slowly, but there's no doubt in my mind that he will be a great defensive player in this league.

 

[Platinum State]

Im glad Otto finally starting to play. Hopefully he can contribute soon.

 

[dt43]

Wall is anti-clutch..

Dude is just gonna have to learn how to come up big in important moments, because right now he doesn't have it

 

[AgentZero]

Another frustrating loss

Now back to fighting to get to .500 again

 

[joe cool23]

Simply sloppy

 

[Methodical Management]

Wall needs to trust his teammates more down the stretch.  He's trying too hard to play hero ball right now.

With five seconds left on the shot clock, the team flubs whatever "play" Randy drew up (if any) and Wall winds up taking some wild fallaway three.  We somehow manage to come away with an offensive board, and how do they use the full possession gained? 

Wall pounds the ball for 20 seconds at the top of the three point line, then hurls himself into the teeth of the defense to try and lay the ball up in heavy traffic.

That's not a great look under the best of circumstances, but when you do it damn near every time what do you expect to happen?  There's NO movement from the other four Wizards.  Wall's the fastest guy in the building, but what difference does it make if everyone knows where he's going and three defenders are already waiting there?  "Quick ain't fair" when you use it to shred your opponent in transition.  Running into a brick wall at 100 mph is no more effective than running into a brick wall at 50 mph.  The defense was set and ready. The refs are NOT going to let you win the game from the line.  If you must go iso on the final play, make sure it's 1 on 1, not 1 on 4.

A professional basketball coach does not just say "you four stand in the corners and let John drive."  [Sir Charles]Lionel Hollins is rollin' over in his grave.

And admit it: you all know it's killing you that Jordan Crawford was named Eastern Conference player of the week.  He looked every bit the selfish, inefficient, "me-first" chucker on our roster.  We traded him to the Celtics for half a sandwich and suddenly he's become the scoring combo guard our bench desperately needs.

 

[victor page]

I'd play hero ball if I were him too with the way the supporting cast looked tonight.

If Chris Singleton has to play 20+ minutes...things ain't looking good.

This is the 2nd game John blew by missing a point blank layup at the rim.

That **** can't happen again.

 

[og_Rodney]

The offense becomes SO stagnant when it's close at the end of games. Not sure if this is a product of Wittman not having any plays or the players just not running them, but it's miserable to watch.

 

[gotjz]

We're always going to have late game problems because of our personnel as well as the coaching. It's more of a personnel issue in my opinion though. Who's the closer? Who's the guy that can create on the perimeter? Wall is not a clutch player, and he's definitely not a clutch scorer. But guess what? At the end of games the ball is in his hands by default. So what are we really expecting here lol? I feel as if people know he can't make the clutch bucket, but it appears as if people expect him to make the clutch pass or play. That's not happening at this point and I'm not sure it ever will. I hate to sound pessimistic, but I'm not sold on Wall even though I've tried to force myself to be.

 

[hypebeast5]

This is that game that screams we badly miss Bradley Beal

 

[Methodical Management]

This is that game that screams we badly miss Bradley Beal

And Martell Webster and Nene... 

Take three starters off of just about any roster in the league and put them up against a .500 ball club, they'll be happy to have a shot to win it on the final possession.  It's a valid excuse - to a degree.

However, you still want to see an attempt to execute on that final possession.  The Wizards' failure to so much as run a play underscores our coaching problem.  A good team can always take away your first and second options.  That's when Michael Jordan has to pass to John Paxson or Steve Kerr.  That's when Tim Duncan has to kick it out to Bruce Bowen.  Even MJ on Russell is 1 on 1, not 1 on 4, and that's by design.  You've created spacing.

On a well coached team, all five guys on the floor know exactly what's being run.  They understand the progression.  They understand the contingencies.  I guarantee you that all five Denver players knew how to defend that final play, and four out of five Wizards didn't know what the hell they were doing.  

 

[victor page]

We're always going to have late game problems because of our personnel as well as the coaching. It's more of a personnel issue in my opinion though. Who's the closer? Who's the guy that can create on the perimeter? Wall is not a clutch player, and he's definitely not a clutch scorer. But guess what? At the end of games the ball is in his hands by default. So what are we really expecting here lol? I feel as if people know he can't make the clutch bucket, but it appears as if people expect him to make the clutch pass or play. That's not happening at this point and I'm not sure it ever will. I hate to sound pessimistic, but I'm not sold on Wall even though I've tried to force myself to be.

Dude has been one of the best point guards in the league this season. What is it you aren't sold on?

 

[dt43]

Wall is a great player overall, but he's still an inefficient scorer.. kinda like Jason Kidd in a way, or Rondo

He isn't really a guy you want trying to create his own offense late in games. He may develop that in the future, but as of right now John Wall isolation plays are bad offense. Not his fault, that's on the coaching. Granted, when Nene or Beal are playing Wittman usually goes to them in crunchtime. Wall was forced into an unfamiliar position, and not surprisingly he looked like he didn't know what he was doing.

Not sure what dude means by not being "sold" on Wall.. as far as scoring, he's not Kyrie Irving or Damian Lillard and is never going to be. I think the team just needs to find ways to put players in a position to succeed, according to their strengths.




Re: Jordan Crawford.. Stevens has dude balling out. Not only is he a dynamite scorer, but he can run the point and rack up assists when he wants to. He is only 25 and had been improving every season

I wouldn't say I miss him, because he acted like an uncoachable jack-*** when he was here. Classic case of a guy who needs a change of scenery, it was never going to work in Washington. However, I do wish we had gotten more for him given his age and potential.

@John_Wall
I gotta do better at end of games and make big plays....#wizplayoffs !!
11:26 PM - 9 Dec 2013

 

[jsindaa]

Woah wall isn't clutch now? It's just a tad difficult to score when you're already not a great shooter and have NO second option on the floor. The coach has to draw up something

 

[extraordinary swag]

Wall did make the play for Ariza to hit that corner three before the final possession but he simply missed it. But those other three possessions where Wall threw up a fadeaway 3,was swatted by Faried in the paint and the final lost ball attempt were just awful. Yes it's obvious he missed Beal, Webster or Nene but he still has to get better, he's the franchise player you gotta be able to get a shot off. Wittman really looked like he didn't draw up a single thing on that last play :x

5 bench points last night.....F-I-V-E :x :x :x :x :x :x :x :x that is just PATHETIC for professional NBA players

 

[gotjz]

Dude has been one of the best point guards in the league this season. What is it you aren't sold on?

Wall is a great player overall, but he's still an inefficient scorer.. kinda like Jason Kidd in a way, or Rondo


Not sure what dude means by not being "sold" on Wall.. as far as scoring, he's not Kyrie Irving or Damian Lillard and is never going to be. I think the team just needs to find ways to put players in a position to succeed, according to their strengths.



Re: Jordan Crawford.. Stevens has dude balling out. Not only is he a dynamite scorer, but he can run the point and rack up assists when he wants to. He is only 25 and had been improving every season

I wouldn't say I miss him, because he acted like an uncoachable jack-*** when he was here. Classic case of a guy who needs a change of scenery, it was never going to work in Washington. However, I do wish we had gotten more for him given his age and potential.

Earlier in the season, I was telling my cousin how Bradley Beal's numbers somehow felt empty even though they weren't "empty" numbers so to speak. Hope I don't sound too confusing there. But he agreed. I feel the same way with Wall but to way more of an extent. Don't get me wrong, there are a number of things that Wall does well, but as of right now I'm just not too high on him.

Shooting hasn't really improved granted he does take more 3's now. Still a pretty high turnover per game guy. And doesn't make the right plays consistently in crunch time.

And to compare to Kidd and Rondo is really a non comparison. Both of those guys define the word clutch. They're simply not clutch scorers, but look to them to grab/make the most important rebound, steal, save, FT, or pass of the game. On such a consistent basis.

Wall is still young, no doubt. But he's not making the strides in development to where I would expect to see a positive trajectory. That's all I'm saying really.

 

[jjs07]

Wall is a great player overall, but he's still an inefficient scorer.. kinda like Jason Kidd in a way, or Rondo

He isn't really a guy you want trying to create his own offense late in games. He may develop that in the future, but as of right now John Wall isolation plays are bad offense. Not his fault, that's on the coaching. Granted, when Nene or Beal are playing Wittman usually goes to them in crunchtime. Wall was forced into an unfamiliar position, and not surprisingly he looked like he didn't know what he was doing.

Not sure what dude means by not being "sold" on Wall.. as far as scoring, he's not Kyrie Irving or Damian Lillard and is never going to be. I think the team just needs to find ways to put players in a position to succeed, according to their strengths.




Re: Jordan Crawford.. Stevens has dude balling out. Not only is he a dynamite scorer, but he can run the point and rack up assists when he wants to. He is only 25 and had been improving every season

I wouldn't say I miss him, because he acted like an uncoachable jack-*** when he was here. Classic case of a guy who needs a change of scenery, it was never going to work in Washington. However, I do wish we had gotten more for him given his age and potential.

You hit the nail on the head, bro.

People seem to be forgetting that part of the reason that Crawford was moved out was that he was constantly undermining Bradley Beal. There were things happening off the court that partially led to him being traded. It's a classic "hindsight is 20/20" argument regarding him. It was never going to work out here in DC. I'm happy for him in Boston b/c he's playing real well. As a matter of fact I did like the guy because he was fearless on the court and seemingly had a cool personality. Brad Stevens is going to be a great coach in this league, and I think Boston struck gold when they hired him.

Anyways, it was a disappointing loss last night. We had 3 prime opportunities to win and came up short. Can't make too many excuses because the game was right there for the taking. On the bright side, Beal is close to coming back. On the negative, with each day that passes, we see how much of a colossal bust Eric Maynor is. Unfortunately, barring a miracle, he's stuck with us for the next season as well If you want to add salt to the wound, I think Nate Robinson has a similar contract. Ernie needs to do something ASAP. We're a mediocre bench away from being a few games over .500

 

[victor page]

Yeah bench definitely needs some tuning. They need to move whatever they can out of Ariza, Ves, Singleton, Maynor, etc. or find some D-League talent....anything. 

 

[jjs07]

Two trades that I saw mentioned on RealGm...

Ariza for Bayless/Davis

Seraphin for Novak

Gortat/Davis
Nene/Booker/Novak
Webster/Porter
Beal/GRJ
Wall/Bayless

Man...I'm honestly up for ANYTHING that 1) improves the bench and 2) keeps Maynor off the floor.

*edit*

With Al Harrington out for a month, there is space to sign someone from the D-League, right? Seth Curry, anyone?

 

[frshstunna]

Other than Ariza, the d league or free agants is the only way to shake up the bench..no team wants anybody else from the current bench

 

[jsindaa]

:x :x :x :x zomg at the move Wall put on Teague. He's playing possessed the past 2 minutes. Even though the rest of the game he's shot poorly