Wizards embarrased by Bobcats at home: Stats only

by Mike Prada on Nov 29, 2009 9:51 AM EST in Recaps

I didn't watch this one, and can't rewatch it since it was on NBATV. I'm glad I missed it. I'm certainly not glad to read about what some of the players said to the media after this loss. In particular, Caron Butler and Gilbert Arenas' statements really bug me. That it's those two guys is very problematic, because they're the only two players on the team that are significantly underperforming. But that's for another post.

Stats only this time.

Four Factors (Bold=very good | Italics=very bad)

Team	Pace	Off Eff	eFG%	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Charlotte	87	105.7	48.7	23.7	24.4	13.8
Washington		87.4	41.6	15.6	18.4	16.1

Snap Reaction: Terrible offense across the board. Hey, Gilbert, guess what? We don't have all the scorers on this team that you think we have. So be aggressive and score the damn ball already. Make plays. We can't survive if you don't.

Lineup Details, via Popcorn Machine

Highest individual plus/minus: Dominic McGuire (+7 in 13:54)
Lowest individual plus/minus: Gilbert Arenas (-19 in 32:54)
Best five-man unit: Randy Foye/Nick Young/Caron Butler/Dominic McGuire/Andray Blatche (+7 in garbage time at the end of the game)
Worst five-man unit: Gilbert Arenas/Nick Young/Caron Butler/Fabricio Oberto/JaVale McGee (-6 for a tiny stretch in the third quarter)

Snap Reaction: McGuire got all his positive production from that garbage-time lineup, so we can mostly discount it. However, it would be nice to see him at least get DeShawn Stevenson's minutes. Eight minutes for DeShawn was eight too many.

Tweet Comment 16 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Piece on Abe Pollin in the NYTimes

Totally off topic, but there was a nice piece from Maureen Dowd about Abe Pollin in the NYTimes: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/opinion/29dowd.html

by satchmore on Nov 29, 2009 12:20 PM EST reply actions

Thanks for the tip

Maureen Dowd is a columnist for the NY Times but I think she lives in DC.

by mogoman on Nov 29, 2009 12:45 PM EST up reply actions

Fanshot please

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

by Mike Prada on Nov 29, 2009 2:32 PM EST up reply actions

I really didnt like the tone of this article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/24/AR2009112404054.html

I didnt know the capitals had such a step child relationship with the verizon center. From my read through it sounds like leonsis is going to be redirecting certain revenue streams to the caps. I would like to hear from other peoples opinion on the article.

by ccrun1800 on Nov 29, 2009 1:06 PM EST reply actions

I didn't take it that way-

Just more so that it presents a good opportunity for the caps to turn around the financial situation since they can streamline operations and actually share in some revenues that were previously off limits to them

by ooba on Nov 29, 2009 1:37 PM EST up reply actions

Again, fanshot please

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

by Mike Prada on Nov 29, 2009 2:32 PM EST up reply actions

Maybe it's time to bench Gilbert.

I love Gilbert, and I know it’s only a matter of time before he’s back in All Star form. But his play is hurting the team. In the balance of things, there’s no benefit to having him out there right now. Yeah, it gives him the experience, but at what cost? I’m not saying that the team will play better without him, I’m just saying that Arenas has to improve his play, and he has to do it soon. I don’t know of any better way to light a fire under a player than a little time on the pine (see, e.g., Nick Young).

I know he’s making scads of money, and I know he’s the face of the franchise, and I know that Saunders wants to create a good relationship with him. But at some point, Saunders is going to have to do something about this. Either he needs to drastically reduce Arenas’ minutes, or he needs to give Arenas some specific goals and hold him to them. Saunders bears some responsibility for what’s happened so far this season.

by satchmore on Nov 29, 2009 1:24 PM EST reply actions

Flip has been benching him in fourth quarters

Which is something almost no coach would ever do.

I also don’t buy the “light a fire by benching him” theory. That doesn’t always work in the NBA (see Haywood, Brendan), and I certainly don’t think it would work for Gilbert. I’d guess it would screw him up even more, because you’ve basically lowered his standards to being a role player. Right now, the problem is that Gilbert isn’t attacking, isn’t trying to be a star. You bench him, you only validate his lack of confidence.

Really, the only thing to do is to keep starting him and hope he turns it around. This team is going to sink or swim with Gilbert anyway.

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

by Mike Prada on Nov 29, 2009 7:06 PM EST up reply actions

I was referring to all 4 quarters

If you can’t bench him, you can’t have any accountability, and as a coach, you can’t get him to do what you want him to do. It doesn’t matter how you think they’ll do without him, their season is over with him on the court, especially if he keeps his current no accountability, no responsibility mindset.

Maybe the alternative is for Flip to get Gilbert’s teammates to openly criticize him (which shouldn’t be hard), and hope that fires him up. Flip obviously can’t do it himself, he can’t risk criticizing him. It doesn’t surprise me that there’s so much dissension among the players right now: Gilbert’s getting starter’s minutes, but if he was anyone else, he’d have been relegated to the development league by now.

by satchmore on Nov 30, 2009 12:21 AM EST reply actions

You Can't Really Do That in the NBA

Benching your established star player for all 4 quarters will not only backfire, it will also certainly lead to the coach getting fired sooner rather than later. Flip has coached in the NBA a long time. He knows that there is only so much a guy can do to manage the huge egos. Personally, I think his hands are tied with this under-performing team. He may not make it to next season, which is sad because I think he is a good coach.

"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 30, 2009 9:37 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah

Plus, I think benching Arenas would be really counterproductive. His problem isn’t that he doesn’t care, it’s that he’s letting too many voices get into his head. You bench him, you put yet another voice in his head that he has to fend off. I think it would really screw with him mentally.

Plus, he needs court time to get his rhythm back. And as bad as Arenas has been, there really aren’t any options elsewhere. Boykins can’t play extended minutes, and nobody else has proven they can play point guard. Arenas may be underperforming, but he’s still the best point guard on the team. This is different from Butler’s situation because there are a lot of alternatives at the 3 (Jamison, McGuire, Miller when healthy, going small).

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

by Mike Prada on Nov 30, 2009 9:59 AM EST up reply actions

What?

There is no way that Flip doesn’t make it through the season unless Ted blows up the entire team, coaching staff, front office, and everyone down to the ball boys.

The guy is a top coach who is 15 games into his 4 year contract.

by MR on Nov 30, 2009 10:41 AM EST up reply actions

Please Re-Read

I specifically said, “He may not make it to nextseason”. Of course he isn’t going to be fired this season. But if this team, with all of the off-season hype and hoopla, finishes with less than 30 wins (like their current winning percentage would imply), then I think it is at least possible that Flip is held accountable for the failure to meet expectations and doesn’t return for a second season. I stand by that claim that it is possible.

"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 30, 2009 1:40 PM EST up reply actions

I did read your word “next” and apologize for being unclear myself. What I said above was intended to apply to the offseason as well.

I really can’t see the next owner (assuming Ted) dumping a guy like Flip so fast even if the team is underachieving. I guess there is a wild card that a new owner might want to make a big splash, but I would still find that extremely unlikely even in a 30 (or less) win season.

by MR on Nov 30, 2009 3:10 PM EST up reply actions

I Don't Think it is Likely Either

But just possible. The scenario I see this happening in is this: Ernie Grunfeld is held accountable for investing so much in guys who could not get the job done. The season is over and the Wizards are still terrible, finishing with less than 30 wins after all of the off-season hoopla. Ted comes in and does his analysis: is the current lineup capable of competing for a championship? Less than 30 wins = fail. Hold the GM accountable, fired. New GM wants a new coach to bring along a new, young set of players. Flip is not his guy.

Again, not likely, but not inconceivable either, IMO of course.

"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 30, 2009 3:44 PM EST up reply actions

I guess

You’re right, it’s not inconceivable.

But if that were to happen it would be a stupid move and would most likely be roundly criticized. And it seems like it would be the product of an egotistical new owner. More like a Snyder move than a Leonsis move.

by MR on Nov 30, 2009 3:55 PM EST up reply actions