Truth About It: Indiana's last play an example of Wizards ineptitude

Brilliant job by Kyle to show how the Wizards have nobody to blame but themselves for the last play against Indiana. Rec'd *1000.

(Note: Apologies for the last of posting, I've been working on a long column for SBNation.com that I'll link to once it goes up. I'll have more on this game later before tonight's game.

about 2 years ago Mike Prada 13 comments 0 recs |

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this is pretty damning

didn’t see the game, but o’brien obviously drew that up to put his most likely height mismatch, dunleavy, under the hoop, and it worked. that is o’brien winning the coaching battle on that possession.

i don’t think the whole game came down to that possession, but we should have had a W on saturday. yet another punch in the gut. ouch.

by DarrellWalkerFan on Dec 14, 2009 12:21 PM EST reply actions

No – the Wizards had plenty of height in the game….

7-ft Haywood, 6’11" Blatche, 6’9" Jamison, 6’9" McGuire and 6’5" Stevenson…..

They just had the wrong guy (Stevenson at 6’5") guarding Dunleavy (6’9")…. Stevenson should have been either guarding the out of bounds passer or TJ Ford….

I think I would have left the passer uncovered, put Stevenson on Ford – and double covered either Dunleavy (who had been extremely hot), or Troy Murphy….

I’m sure if you ask Flip Saunders the question, 9 times out of 10 he’d say he wants a taller guy guarding Dunleavy in the Post….

With .5 seconds left, the only thing you can to is catch and shoot.. No time to dribble… and theoretically, there’s no time to jump, catch, come down, go back up and shoot…. theoretically.

Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......

by Rook6980 on Dec 14, 2009 12:53 PM EST up reply actions

I would have had

McGee in, and planted either him or Blatche under the basket. Tell them to put their hands straight up in the air, and don’t foul. If the guy makes the shot over McGee’s (or Blatche’s) outstretched hands, then you live with it. But putting Stevenson under the basket was ludicrous, and even Stevenson knew it.

by CJHutch on Dec 14, 2009 2:36 PM EST up reply actions

you lost me rook

i’m not understanding what you are correcting about my statement. it seems we are saying the same thing.

by DarrellWalkerFan on Dec 14, 2009 4:27 PM EST up reply actions

o’brien obviously drew that up to put his most likely height mismatch, dunleavy, under the hoop

The Wizards had PLENTY of length, height, tallness, whatever you want to call it… they had it on the court…. They just deployed their players poorly. O’Brien didn’t draw up a great play – Flip screwed up by putting a smaller guy on Dunleavy…..

They have enough time to catch-and-shoot…. only .5 seconds….. yet, you put a guy 4-inches shorter guarding a guy in the Post? That’s not O’Brien’s genius… That is Flip’s mistake ….

Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......

by Rook6980 on Dec 14, 2009 5:35 PM EST up reply actions

i never said o'brien drew up a "great" play

and i don’t care who the wiz put on the court but who matched up with dunleavy. o’brien did something obvious and the wiz fell for it. o’brien 1 flip 0. or o’brien 0 flip -1. same difference.

i feel like i’m speaking greek or something.

and just in case it isn’t obvious, the reason dunleavy is the most likely mismatch for the pacers is that he’s a 6’9" shooting guard. that’s pretty tall for a guard. wiz were dumb enough to match up with their own shooting guard, who is 6’4", right under the hoop!

by DarrellWalkerFan on Dec 14, 2009 6:45 PM EST up reply actions

Done and Dusted

i feel like i’m speaking greek or something.

Ποτέ δεν είπα O’Brien συνέταξε ένα “μεγάλο” παιχνίδι και δεν με νοιάζει ποιος το wiz τεθεί στο δικαστήριο, αλλά που συνδυάζεται με Dunleavy. O’Brien έκανε κάτι το προφανές και το wiz έπεσε για αυτό. O’Brien 1 flip 0. ή O’Brien 0 flip -1. ίδια διαφορά. Νιώθω σαν να είμαι μιλούν ελληνικά ή κάτι τέτοιο. και μόνο σε περίπτωση που δεν είναι προφανές, ο λόγος είναι Dunleavy η πιο πιθανή ασυμφωνία για την Pacers είναι ότι αυτός είναι ένας 6’9 "φύλακας γυρίσματα. ότι είναι αρκετά ψηλό για φρουρό. wiz ήταν αρκετά ηλίθιος για να ταιριάζει με το δικό τους φρουράς γυρίσματα, ο οποίος είναι 6’4 ", δεξιά κάτω από την στεφάνη!

by ccrun1800 on Dec 14, 2009 7:17 PM EST up reply actions

That’s not O’Brien’s genius… That is Flip’s mistake ….

bet you avery johnson wouldnt have made that mistake

by dt3 on Dec 15, 2009 1:37 PM EST up reply actions

Damning is the word I would use, too

What’s even more damning is the type of play you would expect out of Indiana’s alignment. It would have been very easy for Dunleavy to set a back pick on Haywood, with Hansbrough diving to the rim. Stevenson then would have had to pick up Hansbrough, an even worse match up for him.

Plus, the words every coach should be uttering in that situation when they break from their timeout is, “No fouls — make them make a basket.”

Epic fail by Wiz coaches.

by disgrunted on Dec 14, 2009 1:25 PM EST up reply actions

Why coaches?

I mean yes, coaches…but Haywood was the one that got whistled.

by MR on Dec 14, 2009 5:54 PM EST up reply actions

Haywood got the foul

because he was out of position to begin with. Why haywood was not guarding the rim has to come down to the coaches.

Epic fail by Wiz coaches.

Indeed.

by ccrun1800 on Dec 14, 2009 6:11 PM EST up reply actions

Good point, MR.

by disgrunted on Dec 14, 2009 6:37 PM EST up reply actions

Yes

Plus, the words every coach should be uttering in that situation when they break from their timeout is, "No fouls — make them make a basket."

And the saddest thing is that it looks like both guys are fouling him as he’s catching the ball.

I was blaming Stevenson when watching the game, but clearly this a lousy defensive scheme by Flip. I can somewhat understand putting McGuire on Ford because he’s so quick he might lose Stevenson before the ball is passed (open jumper to a skilled shooter). Stevenson is going to be a liability no matter who he’s guarding. But why guard the passer? What good does that do? 0.5 seconds isn’t enough time to shoot a regular jump shot (yes, it’s possible, but it would have to be a really quick heave), which makes the area around the rim the most important place to defend. Put Haywood in the middle (not Javale, because he might foul, while the veteran knows better…uh…theoretically), match up everyone else and don’t guard the passer (there’s not time to get it to him, and with BH parked in the middle, a lob isn’t going to work.)

by steadyhand on Dec 14, 2009 9:40 PM EST up reply actions