The very, very, very simple recap

by Mike Prada on Nov 1, 2007 4:02 AM EDT in Recaps

The good:

The bad:

Everything else.

More tomorrow. I need to sleep on this. Just remember that, as bad as tonight was, it's just one of 82. There's a looooonnnnggggg way to go in this season.

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Disagree, last second shot by Gil is not good

It should have never come to that. This is turnig to "cold soup warmed over"...every year training camp motto "better defense"..develop the bench. And as the season start, you see no evidence that either goal was accomplished. The "big 3" seem to be intent on jump shooting their way out of game slumps, instead of taking the ball to the basket. Any game I see where BulletProof played less than 25 mins and he did not foul out, then I know Eddie Jordan just does not have a clue about dividing the mins for this team and his player rotation is game to game, making it different than any other coach in NBA history! This year is very different. The talent in the East is very very close. No defense + The Big 3 playing 40+ mins = NO PLAYOFFS !!!

by LoneWiz54 on Nov 1, 2007 9:08 AM EDT reply actions

It's good

In the sense that it was exciting.

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

by Mike Prada on Nov 1, 2007 11:52 AM EDT up reply actions

The Loss is Not the Problem

Just remember that, as bad as tonight was, it's just one of 82. There's a looooonnnnggggg way to go in this season.

Even if the Wizards had squeaked out a victory last night, I think most Wizards fans would still be disappointed with last night's performance. I think most were hoping the Wizards would make the necessary off-season moves to avoid the wild roller-coaster ride from last season. That hasn't happened. Unless Ernie makes a move during the season (I'm not sure what), it looks like bad teams will continue to upset the Wizards, especially when the Wizards are on the road.

Remember the Hornets game from last season, when they beat our boys with a bunch of NBDL scrubs? Remember the Nuggets game without Mello (and before Iverson)? Prepare yourselves for more of the same this year. Also, prepare yourselves for Gil having to make more desperation shots at the buzzer just to tie or barely beat teams the Wizards should be beating by 15 or more points. Bust out the Maalox, we're in for another up and down season.

"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier

by cuppettcj on Nov 1, 2007 10:47 AM EDT reply actions

I gotta agree with first 2 comments

I only saw little bits of the 3rd and 4th quarters, but we looked pretty lame. The observation that it's one game of 82 is fine, but it continues a pattern of us losing to already beatable teams that are further undermanned.

And it's one of far fewer than 82 games against beatable opponents. It's easy to understand that we lost twice to powerhouses like San Antonio and Houston last season, and sure we beat good teams like Dallas and Phoenix, but those ought to be the icing. We need to dig into some cake against teams like Indy.

"Now, obviously individual production does not unilaterally equal better team production, but there's a high level of causation."

by Vanilla Gorilla on Nov 1, 2007 11:07 AM EDT reply actions

The team is who we thought they were

And that's not as bad as everyone thinks it is. This is a team that is bad on defense and lives and dies with the performance of the big three. Good game or bad game, it's only one game and plenty of opportunities for things to change. There's no reason to think this is part of a bigger pattern for the rest of the season.

I'm totally sick of people using Eddie Jordan's rotation as a scapegoat for poor performances. The team did play poorly last night, but the rotation was not to blame.

by Aldo on Nov 1, 2007 12:03 PM EDT reply actions

Then you won't like my next post

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

by Mike Prada on Nov 1, 2007 12:23 PM EDT up reply actions

Same-Old, Same-Old Not a Good Thing

The team is who we thought they were

And that's not as bad as everyone thinks it is.

I have to disagree. A team being exactly where it was last season is not where any team that didn't win the title wants to be. The Wizards were and are a good team, but they can't hang with teams like the Bulls, Cavs, and Pistons. Those teams are well-coached and put away teams like the Pacers in the 3rd quarter at the latest. The Wizards were and are on the door-step, but they can't seem to make that next move to step in to title contention. A lot can change in the course of the season, but so far, the Wizards have done little to show that they are any better and more consistent than last season.

"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier

by cuppettcj on Nov 1, 2007 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm upset about the loss too,

don't get me wrong.
But, it's been one game. It is literally impossible to show that you're more consistent after one game. The reason why the team was so inconsistent last year was injuries and poor bench play. The bench has improved this year but will still be a much smaller factor than the big three. If the big three stay healthy, this team should be more consistent.

I didn't say, or mean to say, that the team was exactly where they were last season. I said they are who we thought they were. I think once a few games have been played, we'll see this is the team we thought they were going to be going into the season. That is, an offense minded team centered around three players, with a young bench, that is going to win around 45 games or so. They're still going to lose to teams they shouldn't, like last night, but they will beat some of the best teams too.

by Aldo on Nov 1, 2007 1:07 PM EDT up reply actions

disappointing but

i'm not ready to give up on the season.

i think they were very tired towards the end last night. they were walking it up the court most of the fourth quarter and overtime. that is definitely not to their advantage. the big 3 were tentative the whole game. it looked like they had a big weight on their shoulders. i hope they settle in and start playing their game.

the good news is that while gilbert was reportedly cramping up at the end of the game, the knee looked okay. he looked better than i thought he'd be at this point. watching him try to guard tinsley at the end was painful, but he went to the hole several times during the game and that's a great sign.

various thoughts/insights:

caron played poorly. he started hitting some big shots toward the end but then missed crucial free throws. i expect that he'll play much better very soon.

haywood had like 10 offensive rebounds and only 3 defensive rebounds. i think he got yanked after giving up a bad offensive rebound to indiana down the stretch. he played okay though.

dunleavy ate up stevenson. i would have liked to have seen mcguire out there to shut him down. or put caron on dunleavy and mcguire on granger. o'brien went at mismatches the whole night.

i hope stevenson's knee is okay.

they gave indiana, particularly granger, way too many uncontested threes.

blatche made a couple highlight plays, but looked kind of lost to me during stretches. at least now he gets to watch film and learn from each game.

songaila didn't look as good as i thought he would on this squad. still early though.

i sincerely hope eddie doesn't play the big 3 40+ minutes every night. he needs to make use of that bench and let those guys get some run and get better. if this team does improve from last year, that's how it will happen.

eddie needs to work on managing his lineups. i don't have high hopes here. i still remember him sitting caron on the bench for the first month and a half of the 2005-2006 season.

by DarrellWalkerFan on Nov 1, 2007 2:26 PM EDT reply actions

Not tossing away the season, but....

Unfortunately, I have to agree with many of the posts here and on the Wizards Insider blog. I did not see the entire game, but what I did see looked so much like last year, a combination of exciting offense, stupid mental mistakes, little or no bench at all (EJ must give them a chance), way too many minutes for the stars (hope that repaired knee can hold up for 40 minutes a night?), and senseless substitutions. How many games did we lose last year to undermanned teams with a star or two out who simply outhustled and outsmarted us? Way too many! And now after 1 game, we have our first of the season. Geeeeez!

I am not giving up on the season, and I love this team. How can you not love a group of very likeable guys who are fun to watch? It's kind of like being a parent, you love your kids even though they do stupid things and drive you crazy sometimes. Having said that, this team should be more mature basketball-wise than many of our children are. They looked the same as last year, and the year before, and the year before. If their FG% is over 40%, a pretty good chance of winning, if not, they can't stop anyone on a consistent basis, so they are going to lose. EJ has to see the handwriting on the wall at some point. The Wiz are stuck in this comfortable position of winning around 40-44 games, making the playoffs and getting bounced early. That's excellent for our team, given our history, but now, we all need to expect more.

GA, AJ, EJ, and co. talk a good game about playing D, but EG and Abe and most importantly the fans, will not be satisfied with the same old line and deficiencies. We are not breaking in a new starter this year, so why were we not a more well-oiled machine on offense and improved on D last night? Those 1 yr. contracts for the assistants should be telling EJ that his time in DC is short, unless things change. Unfortunately for EJ, but possibly fortunately for the rest of us who have waited 20 years for an NBA title, EJ may not be the one to take us to the promised land. Who knows, maybe many of the other guys on the teams are not the ones either? GA and AJ may think they are holding the cards this season and next summer, but EG has shown in the past that he will make drastic, wide scale changes to a team, if necessary. If their effort and deficiencies displayed in the first game continue, I would not be surprised to see a very different looking team when the season opener rolls around next year.

Ron

by WizGuyinAlex on Nov 1, 2007 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions