Wizards lose to Timberwolves in Minnesota: Final wrap and it's a broken record, again

by Mike Prada on Dec 27, 2009 11:05 PM EST in Recaps

There's a reason I went to satire earlier today. We've seen this story before. They're the same problems that have been ailing this team all season. The same problems that will resurface at some point later this year unless the roster changes.

No attention to detail. Nobody to do the "little" things every team needs to do to take care of business. Nobody to settle down the masses when things start to go south. No role players willing to fall in line and really sacrifice stats or accolades for the good of the team.

In last night's game, this manifested itself on the glass. Minnesota hung around the rim on every missed shot and nobody really bothered to put a man on anyone. (Which, by the way, should never have happened - the only thing the Timberwolves do well offensively is rebound). The Timberwolves got 19 offensive rebounds in a fast-paced game, which is certainly bad, but it felt worse, probably because when the Wizards did get a rebound, it only came after someone from Minnesota tipped the ball to keep it alive. It wasn't even like one guy in particular killed us - no Timberwolves player had more than four offensive rebounds (Ramon Sessions, of all people!) and nine different players had at least one.

I mostly blame the forwards here. It's truly frustrating to watch Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison either forget to box out or just not even bother. It's as if they expect Brendan Haywood to take care of everything for them. Haywood does all the dirty work, they think, and then they get all the credit. Jamison in particular really pissed me off tonight. He played 40 minutes and had six rebounds. Meanwhile, as he kept sitting there watching the ball, the Timberwolves guys snuck in, pushed him underneath like any good offensive rebounder and rendered him totally useless. Not once did I see Jamison or Butler box anyone out, which is so frustrating because just one game ago, it seemed both had finally realized they need to partake in the little things like everyone else and not just leave them all to Haywood.

Offensively, both Gilbert Arenas and Randy Foye really struggled. Foye in particular seemed to take us out of our offense a lot last night, almost like he was trying to stick it to his old team. Meanwhile, Arenas took 28 shots, most jumpers, despite being hounded by the long Corey Brewer. Again, when things get rough, the individuals on this team take it upon themselves to solve it all. I'm only slightly annoyed at Arenas for this because, well, that's kind of his job. Everyone else, though, really needs to fall in line, and nobody has. Foye in particular has not displayed the ability to blend in at all since he got here. His whole career kind of depends on him doing that.

That's kind of the bottom line. If and when this team is remade, the new GM (because there will be a new GM) is hopefully one who understands the importance of role players and how to separate the ones who can play, but focus on those little things from the ones who just can't play. Teams with guys like that don't lose like this to Minnesota. I'm sorry, it's just the truth.

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

Team	Pace	Off Eff	eFG%	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Washington	101	88.1	42.6	29.6	15.9	17.8
Minnesota		100	40.1	42.9	33.3	11.9

Snap Reaction: Ugly, ugly offensive game. The extreme fast pace made the offensive rebounding woes seem better -- 33.3% is high, but not obscene -- but it certainly felt a lot worse. The free throws for Minnesota are also pretty unacceptable, seeing as none of their players except Jonny Flynn are slashers.

Lineup Details, via Popcorn Machine

Highest individual plus/minus: Nick Young (+2 in 7:36)
Lowest individual plus/minus: Randy Foye (-17 in 32:06)
Best five-man unit: Gilbert Arenas/Randy Foye/Caron Butler/Antawn Jamison/Brendan Haywood (+7 to start the game)
Worst five-man unit: Gilbert Arenas/Randy Foye/Caron Butler/Antawn Jamison/Fabricio Oberto (-8 right after that in a 2:24 stretch)

Snap Reaction: Two very telling stats here. Young deserves the lions share of the shooting guard minutes at this point, and I'm not sure why he doesn't get them. Oberto also just doesn't have it and really shouldn't be playing anymore. He's too slow to guard anyone, too unable to hold his position on the glass and too offensively-challenged. You have to love his mindset, but he doesn't have the legs. Of course, Flip Saunders said today that Oberto is the team's best post defender. That sound you heard was me throwing up in my mouth.

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Comments

You really think a new GM is inevitable?

Assuming he doesn’t make a trade that solves everything before the deadline.

by DaGribb on Dec 28, 2009 2:03 AM EST reply actions

I also do not think a new GM is inevitable

You say that this team has no role players?….Haywood, Miller, McGuire and Oberto seem like pretty classic role players, and that’s a third of the team. And Caron Butler began his Wizards career as the ultimate role player and I think that Foye can be a fantastic role player.

I still do not place much, if any, blame on Grunfeld. Forget about the media, the rest of the NBA was worried about the talent the Wizards had assembled and expected them to be a contender. But so far, there are no players on the roster playing at or above expectations except for maybe Andray Blatche.

Not every good idea pans out, and that may be the case here, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good idea. Something bigger than the individual players seems to be the problem and I don’t know whether that’s Grunfeld’s fault or not. The massive injury bug seems to have ruined the continuity over the years but something is not right.

I still believe that Butler and Jamison remain the biggest problems, with their “leadership” meaning guaranteed minutes and shots and no accountability unless they are blaming the “young guys”.

This is tough to take as a long time fan. This was supposed to be the end of the curse and I can’t figure it out.

by JonathanJoseph on Dec 28, 2009 2:37 AM EST reply actions

The only way that this team is the end of the curse...

is that if the present GM parlays his most movable assets (Jamsion and Butler plus selected expiring contracts) into high draft choices and new role players to surround Gilbert Arenas.

The Wolves game was a hideous loss (conceding the offensive glass to a team whose ONLY strength is on the offensive glass, sheesh!) and I am not particularly optimistic about what is going to happen in Memphis tonight or against OKC when the Wizards slouch home tomorrow morning.

So instead of 13-17, we will probably go into 2010 at 1020 and only the absolute disasters in NJ, Chicago, Philly, NY and Indiana (oh, wait, they’ve beaten us TWICE) stand between us and the absence of all playoff hope (which would also be pretty meagre redemption given the big talk in September and October).

Leonsis may bring a new GM sooner than later, but I think EG has enough rope left to either pull himself off the precipice or kick the chair out from under his feet.

by khrabb on Dec 28, 2009 6:39 AM EST up reply actions

Young

Young has a passing rating of 1.8 and ball handling/turnover rating of 9.7 (both exceedingly low). Given that Arenas is a combo scoring guard (and not a very good ball handler), the Arenas/Young combo is suspect .

If EJ were still here, AB would be playing at the 2.

Foye should start until MM returns to action. At that point, the Wiz will know for sure what they need to do with the backcourt.

by Izman on Dec 28, 2009 8:30 AM EST reply actions

Dominic

might be a better fit as our starting SG than Young. Last year, he posted a passing rating of 5.3 and a hands rating of 13.0 as our primary starter at the 2. His low usage rate is a good fit with our Big 3, and he’ll help ensure that we don’t give up 19 offensive rebounds.

by yop32 on Dec 28, 2009 10:22 AM EST up reply actions