Wizards win, move down in draft lottery

by Mike Prada on Apr 14, 2010 10:32 PM EDT in Recaps

So much for the Juan Dixon special.

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right now

Couldn’t care less about the lottery. Tonight was a win for the players and for the fans that persevered through this hard season.

by liljavale14 on Apr 14, 2010 10:35 PM EDT reply actions

who the hell is going to remmeber this win five days from now!!!

if you didnt want to see us tank, then just stop watching.

Wins versus the Warriors, Celtics and Pacers. What the hell were we thinking?

by John Park Williams on Apr 15, 2010 12:02 AM EDT up reply actions

I could care less about lottery position as well

Like we REALLY had a shot at a top 3 pick at this point….

by TheRealBigMike on Apr 15, 2010 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions

i know that's right

GO WIZARDS!!!! GOOD JOB FINISHING THE SEASON STRONG!!!

by Fresh92 on Apr 14, 2010 10:36 PM EDT reply actions

I hate this team sometimes

Worthless win, that cost us possibly two spots in the draft. When we end up picking seventh, and the pick that y’all were hoping for goes fifth, remember this hollow win.

by sierradave on Apr 14, 2010 10:38 PM EDT reply actions

Those guys out there on the basketball court are people; they have feelings and emotions. If they’re going out there to play they should go out there and play to win. I’m certain they could give a fuck about what spot the Wizards get in the draft lottery.

I’m happy about the win because I know the team is happy about the win. I hope those guys go out and have a good time celebrating tonight.

by young, loud and Scotty on Apr 14, 2010 10:54 PM EDT up reply actions

You think they don't want a more-talented teammate next year?

I want to see this team compete for a championship, y’know, in my lifetime. That means working the system to your advantage. Tonight they didn’t.

And if this win honestly makes them feel substantially better about the godawful season of basketball, that suggests a whole other set of problems.

by sierradave on Apr 14, 2010 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Are you asking about the players or the management?

I think the answer is similar but different depending on who you’re referring to. Both want a competitive, winning team, but I think in the case of the players they look at the current game and play to win it. I think management and office staff would have preferred a loss, but that’s because their goals are aligned differently.

As a player you’re more concerned about the immediate and the present. It is the job of management to build a winning team, and plan for the future. Players just play. Did you really expect the players to go out there and just chuck balls up at the basket, and purposefully tank because they (management) want a high draft pick? Seriously? Especially with the bench playing most of the fourth quarter? I’m going to be frank and say that’s an insanely stupid idea to have.

Obviously I’m a fan of the Wizards and I want to see the team win, but I prefer to look at the players as humans rather than automatons. I think they should be happy that they won. How many of them are going to be here next year anyway?

by young, loud and Scotty on Apr 14, 2010 11:18 PM EDT up reply actions

i'm with scotty 100% here

i mean, that’s the heart of why we root for teams. the assumption that players, as individuals, are all out there trying to win and do well is the foundation of sports.

"how ironic - you came here with a mouse in a bottle, now YOU are the mouse in the bottle" - B.M. Smith

by little stevie colter on Apr 14, 2010 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree..

That is the reason we all fall in love with sports. Teams purposely losing for draft position definitely takes away from every major sports league. There is a difference between being bad and TRYING to be bad. I think we tried tonight and I am so glad we failed. For your best players not to be in the game, when you’re in a position to win is bad for sports and fans alike. When you go pay your hard earned money to go see your team, you expect them to give you full effort, unless the attendance was zero tonight, then the team should give a full out effort to win.

by SkinsWizStangs on Apr 14, 2010 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions

NBA Rules vs Team Strategieß

The complaints about tanking should be focused on the draft lottery system and not individual teams. If you build incentives into your system, teams would be wrong not to follow them. When the system rewards non-playoff teams based on how poor their record is, it is foolish to not lose on purpose once you’re realistically eliminated from playoff contention.
Now as for player attitudes, I expect every player on the team to have a championship mindset regardless of how bad the team is. That does not always mean winning games. For instance, as ESPN noted, several NBA playoff teams had incentive to lose in order to face higher-seeded opponents who had injury problems or who faded late in the season. If coaches play bums at critical moments or players don’t go for the win, its fine in my opinion if its part of working towards a long-term goal of facing a weak team in playoffs or improving draft position, which are more important to the overarching goal of a championship than a meaningless regular season game is.

by morethesamewiz on Apr 15, 2010 2:01 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

It was a win-win situation

Either win the actual game and the players go out on a good note or lose now to win a better chance of getting a higher pick to contribute to next season’s success.

Now the focus should be on new ownership, roster/management changes and the draft.

by Pryme on Apr 14, 2010 10:39 PM EDT reply actions

unbelievable

by les boulez bomber on Apr 14, 2010 10:44 PM EDT reply actions

We're no worse than 5th

because the Pistons won tonight. If the Warriors win its tied for fourth worst.

"I say he does have to shoot me now! So shoot me now!" --- Daffy Duck

by George Templeton on Apr 14, 2010 10:48 PM EDT reply actions

but we couldve gotten as high as 3rd, right? Talent usually drops off after 3 or 4, depending on the draft year

by CVC on Apr 14, 2010 10:50 PM EDT up reply actions

If I remember the scenarios

tied for 3rd was as good as we could do (and sadly we couldn’t even lose right!)

"I say he does have to shoot me now! So shoot me now!" --- Daffy Duck

by George Templeton on Apr 14, 2010 10:51 PM EDT up reply actions

ugh. moving down from 3 to 5 draft spots all because of one meaningless win. No chance of getting John Wall now. The curse of Les Boulez lives!!!

by CVC on Apr 14, 2010 10:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Now we don't know that

they might get 1 of the top 3, we can’t be unlucky forever?!

"I say he does have to shoot me now! So shoot me now!" --- Daffy Duck

by George Templeton on Apr 14, 2010 10:55 PM EDT up reply actions

you never know...

"Guess you guys aren't ready for that yet... but trust me, you're gonna love it." ~Marty McFly

by mr. 91 on Apr 14, 2010 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Nobody actually belives we had a shot at winning the lottery anyway, right?

I mean, it’s the Bullets. I said months ago that I was resigned to the Cole Ostertagg era, and when we get bumped down to 8, it officially begins. Could it really happen any other way? Again, it’s the Bullets.

by imperialme on Apr 15, 2010 1:03 AM EDT up reply actions

No, we are tied for the fourth-most ping pong balls

Because of Golden State and divine intervention, but we could fall to as far as eighth if three teams below us get into the top three.

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

by Mike Prada on Apr 15, 2010 1:00 AM EDT up reply actions

YAHHH GOLDEN STATE!!!

by DaGribb on Apr 15, 2010 1:04 AM EDT up reply actions

4th is fine --

where we should probably be anyway. The rest is up to luck!

by Tbonebullets on Apr 15, 2010 1:15 AM EDT up reply actions

Ay yai yai

by morethesamewiz on Apr 14, 2010 10:49 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

This is horrible.

This is horrible, I’ll say it again. It’s a four-player draft.

by Tbonebullets on Apr 14, 2010 10:53 PM EDT reply actions

look on the bright side, another Gilbert Arenas might be out there in the 2nd round.

by CVC on Apr 14, 2010 10:56 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm sure the team we sell the pick to will enjoy him.

by hotplate on Apr 15, 2010 8:38 AM EDT up reply actions

So when they got bumped from 3 to 5 or 6, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.

by imperialme on Apr 15, 2010 1:09 AM EDT up reply actions

Great Win!!

F*** the lottery, didn’t work out for us last year anyway! Way to end the season on a good note…7 games better than last year

by SkinsWizStangs on Apr 14, 2010 10:57 PM EDT reply actions 5 recs

i rec this

by young, loud and Scotty on Apr 14, 2010 11:01 PM EDT up reply actions

Fun win

Sure, they were trying a personnel tank (those might have been, by position, the 5 guys Flip has the least confidence in). But Indiana just kept missing, and our D-League guys were hungry. I just can’t be upset about my team winning, even if it’s bad for the team overall.

by steadyhand on Apr 14, 2010 11:03 PM EDT reply actions

basketball gods

surely we have earned the favour of the basketball gods with our play late in the season.

i do believe they shall grant us boons.

by joshp on Apr 14, 2010 11:07 PM EDT reply actions

I find it hilarious that Granger missed a potential game winner. He’s usually money. Sigh..only if it that was true tonight.

by purpleonblack86 on Apr 14, 2010 11:36 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn't purchase season tickets to watch

professionals tank games. I am glad that the Wizards ended the season with a win! The ping pong balls are all about chances/luck. Last year we got the worst possible spot that we could get and it could happen again or we could get a better spot. I don’t think tanking games will mean that we will get a better spot. What ever will be will be – let the balls pop next month.

Thanks guys for not tanking – from a long-time season ticket holder.

Long-Time Wizard Fan

by WizardFan on Apr 14, 2010 11:48 PM EDT reply actions

but a win is worse than a loss! I don't understand people who think that tonight was a good night

it was mathematically, scientifically, academically, anyotherwordly, better for the Wizards to lose this game.

of course its about luck with the ping pong balls, but its less about luck the worse your record is. So, LOSE!

by John Park Williams on Apr 15, 2010 12:05 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

What happened the last time they won the lottery?

And even if they ended up 3rd, do you really think they would have held that spot? Face it, the gods destined Cole Aldrich to us long ago. Enjoy the “meaningless” win, man. Seriously. It’ll hurt less when we drop from 5 to 8 than from 3 to 6.

by imperialme on Apr 15, 2010 1:07 AM EDT up reply actions

true dat

by Dreezy on Apr 15, 2010 1:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Not true. Last year we were all happy we won the coin flip with LAC, yet they won the 1st pick that would have been ours had we lost the coin flip.

Losing gives us a better CHANCE but it’s still up to chance.

by MR on Apr 15, 2010 7:20 AM EDT up reply actions

winning is good

I’m much happier that the Wizards are able to finish the season playing competitive basketball than playing like ass and finishing with more lottery balls. From a short-term and a long-term perspective, it’s better.

It’s just how the game works. If Blatche or Livingston don’t turn out to be the pleasant surprises that they have been, then the Wizards compete with the Timberwolves for 2nd worse record instead. But what would you choose?

Plus there are so many reasons why it’s bad for a basketball organizations if they have players who play to lose. It’s one thing to start pulling your best players near the end of the game (which the Wizards did), it’s another thing for the players on the floor to not give it their all.

by Johnnie Futbol on Apr 15, 2010 7:51 AM EDT up reply actions

Take the win. Chill out.

Since GSW also decided not to tank things did NOT change all that much.

This is what I mean.

Had we lost we would be in a coin flip (50-50 odds) for 3rd vs 4th worst record with SAC.

Now we are in a coin flip (50-50 odds) for 4th vs 5th worst record with GSW.

So either way, the odds are 50-50 that we will wind up in the 4th slot (wink-wink).

Considering that Detroit, Philly and NY were only a tad better than us, we are pretty much where we deserve to be.

Then of course we have to pray that three teams do not vault ahead of us in the actual draw.

My guess is that when the smoke clears we will be picking 4 or 5 and looking at Favors, Cousins or Wesley Johnson. I personally would take Johnson, because he is ready now, has no character issues and plays a position where the Wizzies most need help… SF.

Then pray Varnado drops to 30 et voila.

by khrabb on Apr 15, 2010 5:16 AM EDT reply actions

This means the lowest the Wizards can pick is 8th, though that would mean the top 3 are all teams that finished worse than the Wizards, so rather unlikely. My guess is if the Wizards don’t get in the top 3 they’re most likely to pick 5 to 7, which means Favors, Cousins, Johnson, Aminu or maybe Aldrich. Surely there’ll be one or two that move up in draft projections (Whiteside, Udoh?) that may also be intriguing?

I don’t know, the Wizards organizations clearly pulled some of their best players at the end, and the replacements played inspired basketball and pulled out the win. I’d rather have players that play that way than anything else. And the Wizards still have a pretty good shot at getting a 1-3 pick, or drafting from a decent pool of prospects if they don’t end up so fortunate.

However bad this season has been we’ve seen some positives in the development of some of their players. I’d rather that then see the team lose practically every game following the trades at the trade deadline. They’ve definitely got something to build on.

by Johnnie Futbol on Apr 15, 2010 7:44 AM EDT up reply actions