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Impressions from section 417 vs. Zalgiris

[editor's note, by Pradamaster] Seeing as how I wasn't there, this will act as the postgame thread. Thanks to hotplate for sending in his thoughts. -PM

General impressions of the game from my vantage point in the upper deck:

Evidently there are Black people in Lithuania, although they all seem to have shortened their names. The starting guards were named Dujuan Collins and Marcus Brown. And a key substitute was named Tanaka Beard. Collins in particular, had a good game.

Andre Blatche is the MAN. I am amazed at how mature his overall game seems to be. He seems like he can be one of the rare players whose very  appearance on the floor leads the entire team to play better. He shot well, made several nice passes, made a couple of nice defensive plays, and started a couple of nice fast breaks after taking down the defensive rebound. But more than that, he seems to have great court awareness and to be a genuine presence on the floor. I heard radio man Glenn Consor compare him to Danny Manning, but I'd like to go back further for a comparison. He reminded me a bit of my namesake, John Williams (later nicknamed "Hot Plate"). Taller and thankfully much skinnier. Williams did everything well except perhaps shoot. He could influence the game without scoring. When Williams was on the court, the team's offensive spacing and ball movement was much better than when he was off. I think that Blatche could have similar impact and it may be as soon as this year.

Dominic McGuire had at least 4 assists. These were all excellent passes that led directly to an easy layup or dunk. He really sees the court well. In 2 years, he and Blatche could be an amazing tandem with their all around skillz.

Pecherov is too enamored with his jump shot. He shoots every single time that he has an open look from the 3 point line. He missed them all tonight. He needs to realize that one reason he has that open shot is that the opponent doesn't particularly mind him taking it.
Butler played a solid game including a dunk in which he sent a Lithuanian defender into the goal post.
Haywood also was solid and showed a lot of hustle.

I hate myself for it, but I find myself doing a "Donnell Taylor watch" as soon as he comes on the floor. I check the score in order to track his plus/minus which I know is going to be a minus. I start counting the number of missed shots and turnovers. I see how quickly he can pick up fouls. He had a rough start during the first half although he settled down when AD came into the game. His second half showing was uneventful, but I think the potential is there for him to become wildly unpopular with the fans.

The Wizards promotion staff led by the annoying man at the mike Chris Stiles and mascot G-Wiz/GMan seemed genuinely annoyed by the presence of a large contingent of very enthusiastic Lithuanian fans. The fans were seated in 2 lower level sections behind their team's bench and were all clad in green. They cheered and chanted throughout and didn't appear concerned that their team was losing. From my distant vantage point they seemed very good natured and looked like they would be fun to hang out with. But during 1 time out, G-Wiz went over and got one of the green Lithuanian t-shirts. He then tossed it on the ground, stomped on it, picked it up and pretended to use it as toilet paper, and then tossed it back down on the ground and stomped on it about a dozen more times. He continued this for about 30 seconds after the game resumed. I thought that he might be doing this in fun, but once he was finished, he simply walked off the other side of the court rather than return to the Lithuanian section and hanging out. It seemed mean spirited, humorless, and almost offensive. Had he engaged in a t-shirt exchange and sat amongst the fans clowning around, he would could have gained new fans for the 'zards. Similarly, Stiles and the promotions crew carefully avoided those 2 sections during the t-shirt tosses and the give aways. During one t-shirt toss, Stiles said into the mike "Don't make me go there" referring the the Lithuanian sections. Honestly why not act like HOSTS and practice sportsmanship? These fans were cheering for their national team. They don't play in our league and don't directly compete with the Wizards. Its not like they were rooting for the Cavaliers. They knew their team was going to lose but stayed cheerful throughout.  Instead of ignoring them, the promotions group should have lavished special attention on them. Give them extra t-shirts. It seems like it would be good business and kind of cool to have people in Vilnius wearing Wizards t-shirts. Why not have G-Wiz sit among the fans and party with them for a time out? Why not have a brief interview with one of the fans? Just petty and short sited. I was very surprised as the Wizards public relations seemed to have really improved over the years.

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.

0 recs  |  Comment 12 comments

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1 quote
"This place will be out of beer by halftime!"

Gotta love the European fans.

Bullets Forever: Your place for the very latest in Wizards news and PhD-level analysis.

by JakeTheSnake on Oct 20, 2007 2:27 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

great analysis
As a wiz fan, that's disappointing to hear about the announcing crew.  That shows absolutely no class.  If a DC team should be able to do one thing right, it should be acting like an ambassador to teams from other countries.

by sierradave on Oct 20, 2007 11:07 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

blatche
Thats some praise youre throwing on blatch, prada.  Again, i didnt see the game so i dont know, but you basically described kevin garnett his rookie year.  Ive yet too hear of blatche having a bad preseason game, practice, or trip to the corner(wait, nevermind).  Im gonna burn myself with these expectations, but i see a 14pts 9boards 2ass 1.5block season for blatche, which would be exceptional.  I need to stop thinking like this, im just gonna get my little heart broken when eddie starts playing massenburg over him.

by Wooz on Oct 20, 2007 1:39 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

not prada
just realized prada didnt right up that analysis...either way it sounds good

by Wooz on Oct 20, 2007 1:40 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Blatche vs. Hot Plate
I like that comparison.  Always appreciated Fat Magic's game. Blatche's handle isn't as good but I like that he's come in this year ready to dominate.

by ucantstopbernard on Oct 20, 2007 2:23 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

And the award for the most original username...
Goes to ucantstopbernard!
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Oct 20, 2007 11:03 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

LAst night
I was there. I sat next to Dajuan Collins' family and it was pretty cool that their star was the only one making shots for Lithuania.

I laughed my ass off so hard when I saw G-Wiz take one of their shirts and started stomping on it.

Apparently, I'm getting flamed by their fans in my highlight reel and I'm loving it. Hahaha, check it out, btw.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HhnHfMb3WE

by Asian Zero on Oct 20, 2007 2:50 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Blatche
Yeah, I've probably gone overboard praising Blatche. Believe or not, I spent most of the summer thinking that we shouldn't be counting on a big leap from a 3 pt, 3 rebound a game guy. But in the 3 games I've seen, I've been really impressed with his on court presence. He just looks in control. O My only fear for the future is that McGuire and Blatche will make so many highlight reel passes to each other that they'll forget to put the ball in the basket.

by hotplate on Oct 20, 2007 3:30 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Looking out for it
If/when Blatche gets minutes in the regular season, that'll be the real test.  How good is his work ethic?  When defenses start paying more attention to him, how does he react?

That said, if he does well in those regards, the dude could easily be a candidate for Most Improved by year's end.

And on that note, I'd like to reiterate the played-him-for-few-minutes-to-keep-the-price-tag-low theory.  We've got this dude for about 2.5 mil/year for 5 years.  That's half of Haywood's price, and Haywood is considered cheap.  If he blows up, having a quality player like that who takes such a small bite out of the salary cap could be the secret to building a successful franchise.  It's the inverse of Kobe and KG.  You can't build around a superstar in his prime, because he takes up too much cap space and wins enough games for you that you have a tough time in the draft.  Locking players up early (or having them develop quickly after the draft), that's what lets you build a real squad.

Yeah, I know it's way too early to coronate AB.  But give it time.  I smell a theme for the upcoming season...

by sierradave on Oct 20, 2007 4:53 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

limiting blatche's PT
Could be some of that.  Blatche showed potential, wasn't thrown to the deep end to sink or swim like a top 1st round pick would have been.  

If he blows up and really shows professionalism and consistency on and off the court he will get paid off the charts.

by ucantstopbernard on Oct 20, 2007 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

At the same time
I also think that Blatche looks a lot different than he did last year.  He's bigger, quicker, and generally more prepared to play in games.  When we signed him to that deal, it was because he was the raw, skinny dude from last year.  Had he played more, I'm not sure he would have looked like he does now.

Basically, I'm saying he's surprised the team thus far, and I doubt they held him out on purpose last year.

You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.

by Mike Prada on Oct 20, 2007 10:43 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Blatche Contract
Yes we did get him for cheap but i think alot of that had to do with the prostitution thing for one.  Also, he was restricted and the whole offer sheet thing probaly kept teams away for awhile as none would make the huge enough offer that would be worth their time.  But with that being said, i wouldnt be shocked if there was some kind of opt out after 3 years or so.

I really wish i had caught some of these games, what stations are they coming on?  Im on the eastern shore now and the baltimore coverage is ok but the dc coverage is hurting.

by Wooz on Oct 21, 2007 3:00 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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