Briefing: It's Been a Cold, Cold December
by Jake Whitacre on Dec 7, 2009 8:02 AM EST
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For whatever reason everything about the Wizards' performance was cold. The team's shooting was frigid (although their field goal percentage was higher than Detroit's). Players were freezing each other out on offense; only four players registered assists. Flip Saunders got a rather icy reception from the Detroit, where he used to coach. Then there was Gilbert Arenas, who complained about the building being cold and never seemed to thaw out on the hardwood.
As we get closer and closer to the 20-25 games that Flip Saunders predicted it would take for the team to get used to the new system, it looks like the team is closer to being stuck in a deep freeze than setting the league ablaze. Hopefully some hot cocoa and some nice, cozy sweaters are just what the Wizards need to heat things up again.
For Jamison, it was a matter of not being able to find the bottom of the basket. The Wizards captain only shot four of 14 from the field including a measly one of five from three and an uninspired four of seven from the charity stripe. Jamison registered no assists and only two rebounds in his second worst effort since returning from a shoulder injury that caused him to miss much of the start of the season. Arenas on the other hand only took nine shots from the field, and was three of five from inside the ark, while shooting o-for-four from three. Arenas only got to the line two times on the night.
Pistons 98, Wizards 94 - Mike Jones, Outlet
Earl Boykins had eight points in the fourth quarter, but the Wizards still lacked offensive flow. As in the other three quarters, there were far too many one-on-one plays. Here's a stat for you: Arenas had nine assists. His fellow starters combined for . . . . ZERO. Butler, Jamison, Haywood and Young (who didn't play much because Flip said he wasn't where he was supposed to be on a few early plays) instead combined for eight turnovers. Butler said the lack of assists weren't because of a lack of effort. He said "guys did some wonderful things out there tonight. ... The effort was there." Um, I didn't see much wonderful out there tonight. And the effort? Well, it was in spots, but not from everyone.
Wizards sport a familiar look in loss to Pistons - Michael Lee, Washington Post
A small crowd at the arena greeted Saunders mostly with silence. But as the game carried on, one Pistons fan behind the Washington Wizards' bench started heckling him.
"Hey Flip, you grooming Sam Cassell?" the fan shouted. "Michael Curry replaced you after one year as an assistant!"
"How'd that work out?" Saunders replied.
Last Night's Action: Only This Team - Aaron Morrissey, DCist
Yesterday's game was a homecoming for coach Flip Saunders, who was let go as Pistons coach in 2008, despite winning two straight Eastern Conference championships. Suffice it to say, his charges didn't really give a the kind of effort which would have made his former employers regretful.
Wizards Lose Close One To Pistons - CSN Washington, Dave Johnson
Unlike Friday’s loss to the Raptors, energy to start the game was not the issue for the Wizards. They were active on defense early, but struggled to develop any rhythm on offense, turning to Earl Boykins midway through the first quarter in a quest for some consistency. "Right now the guy that has been the savior for us has been Earl," said Wizards head coach Flip Saunders. "He has been keeping us in games and getting us back in games." Boykins scored 10 of his 18 points in the first half. In addition, Randy Foye scored 6 of his 12 points in the second quarter to help the Wizards shave a 12-point deficit down to three with a 52-49 halftime score.
Wizards fall short in Saunders' return - Mike Jones, Washington Times
The Wizards had one more run left in them. Brendan Haywood's layup with 3:49 left pulled his team within 85-84. But from there the Wizards missed five straight shots and turned the ball over two times over the next 2 1/2 minutes. For the final gaffe, Arenas - who took only nine shots all game and finished with eight points and nine assists - drove the lane and tried to send a pass to the other side of the court. But Ben Wallace plucked the ball out of the air with both hands.
Pistons 98, Wizards 94 - Michael Lee, Wizards Insider
The Wizards seemed to move closer to the goal after winning four of five games. But these past two losses have proven that the Wizards just are not a good team right now. They have the talent -- or at least the names -- but they still appear to be dealing with a prolonged feeling-out process. Players don't seem to understand their roles or to be willing to accept whatever Saunders is asking of them. You have to wonder when -- or if -- it's going to click.
Recap: Pistons 98, Wizards 94 - Perry A. Farrell, Detroit Free Press
TWO CENTS WORTH: Antawn Jamison had plenty to say to the referees and Kuester early about how he was being defended by Jason Maxiell. Jamison and Kuester are North Carolina grads.
It's unfortunate the odds of the Detroit Pistons meeting the Washington Wizards in the playoffs this season are astronomical. Based on the two competitive games the teams have played this season, I can't help but imagine it would be a fantasic seven-game series.
The Pistons make it two in a row against The Wizards - Natalie Sitto, Need4Sheed.com
As for Stuckey’s game against Washington, he was great. Hot early, and had in not been for early foul trouble he would have led the Pistons by more than just 25 points. Stuck went 9-for-18 with 2 assists, 4 boards a steal, 3 turnovers and some clutch shots down the wire when the Wizards were gaining ground.
Riding the (Wealthy) Bench: Pistons 98, Wizards 94 - Packey, Motown String Music
In fact, you could make a strong argument that three of the bench players (Gordon, Villanueva, and Will Bynum) should be regular starters (at least while Rip and Tayshaun are out). And so it shouldn't come as a surprise that these three, with a little help from their bench friends, combined to score more points than the starters tonight against the Wizards, 55-44. With Ben Gordon still somewhat nursing that ankle injury he suffered two weeks ago against the Cavs, someone else had to step up and fill the spotlight, though. That was the Pistons' 1st round pick, Austin Daye.
Best of Twitterville
Twitter / Agent Dagger
Through the first half, Arenas has an asst/to ratio of 6-0, the rest of the #Wizards starters are at 0-5
Twitter / wizznutzz
oops, sorry. just find out that's Charlie Villaneuva RT @wzzntzz: when did Rip start suffering from alopecia???
Twitter / Mike Prada
I'm tired of fourth-quarter Boykins. Takes ball away from the good players (Gil, Caron) and doesn't let you put in another shooter.
Twitter / Michael Lee
Can this game end already. These refs a making us wait with all this confusion over Arenas's foul. Finally, it's a wrap. Wiz lose 98-94.
Twitter / Mike Jones
Flip: "We held them to a low FG% and turnovers again killed us tonight in the first half. We just aren't getting that overall consistency."
Twitter / Truth_About_It
My heart is now as dark as Dan Snyder's. The Wizards suck & I'm beginning 2 succumb 2 the fact they need 2 trade & rebuild. Major FML.
Twitter / Kevin Cheng
Still fuming over the game. Can't believe we lost. They didn't even have half their starters playing! Ugh. #wizards
Twitter / Jason
Man, what the hell. #redskins ruin my upcoming work week and now the #wizards have just blown the hell out of me.
Twitter / tPFmariah9999
What the hell are Nick Young & Blatche laughing about on the bench??? I don't find this game funny at all! #wizards #NBA
Twitter / Alex Minoff
Is this it? Is this all the #wizards are this year?
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Let's start over
Flip’s offense takes a while to gel. In the past, patience has paid off. However, no two players or teams are alike. And nobody is even vaguely similar to Arenas.
Flip needs to go back to ground zero and reflect upon what he has. The most gifted player has had three knee surgeries and sat out for two years. He’s finicky. He’s a shooter. He’s an entertainer (not a serious guy). He’s declined leadership responsibilities in the past. He is not suited to be pure point guard and the sole ball handler. Until Flip says this out loud, he will be acting like someone addicted to the past.
After he comes to grip with this reality, he needs to assess how to best utilize Arenas’ skills and get him to regain his confidence. Part of that will be getting a ball-handler on the floor with him.
After that, there are a whole lot of second order steps to take, but at a minimum, he needs to bury DS and DM, and stick to a predictable 10 man rotation (with fewer minutes for the Big 3).
Let’s not go into a pressure-filled, panic-mode and keep saying we need to play harder and be more aggressive. Instead, we need to start over with a new approach.
I Don't Get It
Let’s not go into a pressure-filled, panic-mode and keep saying we need to play harder and be more aggressive.
I had understood that those who are going “into a pressure-filled, panic-mode” are NOT the same ones who “keep saying we need to play harder and be more aggressive.” You are speaking about two different sets of fans, IMO.
Furthermore, I don’t think Flip has the time in between games to completely remake his offense, even if he could or wanted to. Training camp and preseason are over. One or two practices can’t fix what is wrong with this team. The players are either going to get it and start coming together or this whole thing is probably going to come apart by the trade deadline, if not sooner.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
Hmm...
Training camp and preseason are over.
Makes me wonder what was actually going on then. You really didn’t hear anything along the way of, “This offense will take some getting used to” or “I’m not really sure what my role is right now.”
It’s like these guys just decided they don’t like playing with each other anymore.
Injuries happened, and the team didn't come together
Everything with the offense was cool as long as everyone was healthy. Once people got hurt, the players panicked and haven’t come together.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
“Everything with the offense was cool as long as everyone was healthy.”
I’m curious. Why do you say that?
I'm saying that people were picking stuff up well in training camp
At least they said they were. As Pryme mentioned, the rhetoric then wasn’t that this would take time.
Then, people get hurt, and suddenly, the rhetoric changes. It’s like one guy went down and everyone was like “what the heck do we do?”
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
That's Not Good
Then, people get hurt, and suddenly, the rhetoric changes. It’s like one guy went down and everyone was like "what the heck do we do?"
Every team faces injuries. This was supposed to be a team close to elite status, if not an elite team. If this is what happens when our supposedly deep team gets a couple of injuries, then we definitely aren’t where we need to be. Every game that we should win and let slip through our fingers, I get less and less confident that we will ever turn it around.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
it would help
if we could run basic plays.
or didn’t look robotic.
or seemed to care.
Its always Roger Mason (Jr.) time!
Right, I totally agree
That’s what’s bugging me the most. We should have enough trust in the team where injuries aren’t going to dampen the effort or the enthusiasm.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
yeah, but
I thought we were supposed to have the “depth” to overcome any injury (except Haywood). I thought that was the point of the trade. The problem is – and I said this at the time of the trade – you can only play 5 guys at a time. So the “depth” gets you nowhere without production from your starters. Unfortunately, up to now at least, we are finding out that it is better to have 1 or 2 great players (Cleveland, Lakers, Orlando) than a bunch of good players, like we do.
We are deep on paper but not on comfort
We have a lot of talent and many guys for each role on the team, but we just don’t really have any one who is really comfortable in their role (except maybe Brendan and Blatche).
Depth in talent doesn’t mean anything unless that talent knows what to do.
by Manimal Smith on Dec 7, 2009 11:50 AM EST up reply actions
I guess I agree
which means we should definitely look into a trade as soon as possible, right? I mean, how long do we give these guys? I don’t see other teams having this sort of problem incorporating new players. Look at Detroit. They’re don’t seem to be struggling with chemistry issues, and they’ve had a lot more turnaround then us.
We're also deep in similar kinds of players
That’s the real problem here – everyone plays the same way.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Well that depends....
we are finding out that it is better to have 1 or 2 great players (Cleveland, Lakers, Orlando) than a bunch of good players, like we do.
That only applies if your one or two great players are being productive…. because if they’re not, you are in trouble….
and if you have a bunch of good players – and the team struggles, then it’s because a LOT of players are not being productive…. not just one or two.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
I'm surprise that
a Young/Foye/Arenas combo hasn’t been attempted. You would think that having Young/Foye slash and then give it up to Foye on the perimeter would be effective.
Its always Roger Mason (Jr.) time!
which is why
I mentioned Cleveland, the Lakers, and Orlando.
Anyway, maybe the answer lies in yours AND Mike’s comments. A bunch of “similar players” who are not being productive. Which sounds more like a chemistry problem to me. And maybe the “bunch of good players” scenario makes gel-ling that much tougher (or impossible)
we're going down right now
I don’t know what’s the solution to this problem; it seemed Arenas was now scared after missing an important shot during the Raptors game
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