Wizards lose 24th straight road game, fall to Mavericks
by Mike Prada on Jan 31, 2011 11:20 PM EST
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PrintAndray Blatche and Nick Young shot a combined 10-37. That's bad, real bad, and it probably obscures that it was probably even worse.
But the real issue here is that they took 37 shots while John Wall took just 13 shots. Look, you ideally want Wall setting everyone up, but at a certain point, you just need to take the ball out of your poor-shooting teammates, tell them to eff off and set up the offense on your own. Wall needs to be unafraid to do that.
Otherwise? A couple bad calls really hurt, and that's all I got. The inability to execute in the half court is killing the Wizards late in these games, and Wall needs to step forward and rectify that.
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I don't have a problem
with Nick’s performance. He was just missing a lot of shots that he usually makes, was playing okay defense and had a monster block on Terry. Blatche…SSDD. As for Wall, the reason he only takes a few shots is because, simply put, his offensive arsenal sucks. He has very little midrange game to speak of, no long-range shooting, and even when he attacks the rim, he often fails to get clean looks at the basket, instead being totally out of control.
i had a problem with Flip forcing him to work the corner iso game
when NY was struggling..if it doesn’t work the first 10 times why are we constantly relying on it
Yeah...
I had trouble figuring out why we were iso-ing Nick down the stretch, why couldn’t someone set a screen or run a pin-down or anything to help him get open, instead everyone else was just standing around and not doing anything.
by Marine4Life51 on Feb 1, 2011 12:31 AM EST up reply actions
Yeah as bad as they were I strongly disagree that Wall needs to take over
He in no way has a half court game… for the reasons you explained. He gets points in transition and some drives to the basket, but that also gets him in trouble. He needs to work oh his jump shot and a floater in the lane.. that shot could be deadly for him b/c he is always open in that range but is afraid to pull up so he usually just takes it in too deep. We don’t have enough scorers on this team to go away from Nick when he’s not hitting his usual shots.. and even Dray is considered a scorer on this team.. (that hurts to think about). But Wall just doesnt have the half court game yet to take over.. our only chance when Nick is struggling is to get easy buckets in transition.
Those free throws kind of set me off though.. could of been a one possession game. Wall has been to the line late in games a few times this year and missed both. Thats not something he can continue if he’s going to be a “star”
Do you have any idea the amount of touch it takes to lay it in at the speed he plays?
Wall isn’t out of control, he just needs practice
Additionally, his vertical is suffering because of his knee injury, meaning his angle of approach is off.
Layups work like jumpers. At those those speeds it’s a rhythm shot
Perhaps the problem is
He’s playing at the wrong speed? Instead of utilizing a hesitation or stop-and-go move, he just charges or euro-steps his way to the basket.
by Marine4Life51 on Feb 1, 2011 10:51 AM EST up reply actions
he does need to do a better job at changing speeds
he can get by the defender by just sprinting but at that point he’s usually out of control
just stuff hopefully the coaching staff works with him and he continues to learn
no
He needs to get healthy and practice
Westbrook hits the hole that fast
Well the uphill climb due to refs was pretty steep tonight.
But mostly it looks like we have a couple of guys playing to lose. Some of those shots at the end of the game were just silly. There is such a thing as resetting in the half court.
It’s hard to really blame it on anything but youth and inexperience. There is a reason our team gets nervous and panics and a veteran team like Dallas executes their basic plays at the end of a game.
Inconsistency seems to be the trend.
One night Nick Young’s on fire, the next he’s 6 for 20. One night Yi can’t do anything right, the next he’s got a double double. One night Booker is a beast, the next he gets more fouls than rebounds.
@addc
Always start forwards and centers on your fantasy team the night they play the Wizards
Well hello rebounds
On one play, Wall saw Blatche wide open on the three point line
and turned away …best decision of the night.
And he should reinforce it.
Hey PF, if you are out here by me, you don’t get the ball.
Peace out playa
Flip ought to have a zero-tolerance policy on that
If Dray is loafing on the perimeter, take him out
by Emmet O'Neal on Jan 31, 2011 11:33 PM EST up reply actions
then Dray would never play
every one of Dray’s moves starts about 20 ft from the basket, the man lives on the perimeter.
he needs to effectively use that 7 ft frame of his
but then again he couldnt finish over Brian Cardinal at one point, so I don’t know if he’ll ever use it effectively
I saw that – Dray held up his hands after he was denied the ball and was like, “what happened?” “I’m open!” At the 3-point line.
by Tbonebullets on Jan 31, 2011 11:39 PM EST up reply actions
Next play he dribbled down the court
not sure the message was received.
Start the rebuilding process, FIRE GRUNFELD!
loved Yi's play tonight
worked hard on both ends, grabbed some big boards and even showed some explosiveness on the offensive end ( that missed dunk that went off the back iron, i have NEVER seen Yi explode like that)
To Flip’s credit, he stuck with Yi. But he also played Blatche all effin’ game, which I understand somewhat because Booker collected fouls all game.
by Tbonebullets on Jan 31, 2011 11:43 PM EST up reply actions
Hilton has become the most irrelevant big on the team
which is kinda of shame..i mean he could play hard for a few minutes
i felt so bad for him that game
finally gets a chance to play after being inactive for so long and he gives that performance. that was the nail in the coffin for meaningful playing time
I agree
He looked aggressive and played a great game, perhaps the best I’ve seen him, but the problem is he is never consistent.
by ThePGPhenomenon on Feb 1, 2011 9:43 AM EST up reply actions
Not sure if there's anything to it
But a lot of times I see John Wall drive, get to the basket and then flip up a shot from below the rim. This isn’t good. The Westbrook’s and Rose’s, etc play above the rim when going to finish in traffic but Wall seems to be harmlessly flipping up shots well below.
This will take time for John to learn, but
when he attacks the rim, whether in the half court or on a fast break, he jumps horizontally rather than vertically. When he drives in traffic he gets no lift which causes his releases to be well below the rim, easily blockable. He needs to learn to slow down his last two steps and jump vertically to attack the rim the way Rose and Westbrook do. Right now, he is moving way too fast and his momentum drifts him horizontally along the floor. Hope that makes sense to everyone else.
by PhenomenalSwag on Feb 1, 2011 12:03 AM EST up reply actions
It does
When you are moving full speed, it is difficult to get any lift. Wall has speed but doesnt really know how to use it unless he’s going straight forward.
It seems though that everyone continues to praise him for his speed
even though he doesn’t know how to use him. Coaches keep telling him to get out and run the fast break as often as possible when he really doesn’t know what to do, which is evident by the charges he draws, turnovers, missed layups, etc. You would think the coaches would tell him to slow down a little bit and learn how to use his speed to get by a defender but slow up once you reach the basket.
by PhenomenalSwag on Feb 1, 2011 2:48 AM EST up reply actions
Its a matter of strength. His legs aren't strong enough, yet, to slow down at a rapid rate.
Start the rebuilding process, FIRE GRUNFELD!
I don't know about his legs strength, but he is a very ambitious and confident type of player.
He is a rookie.and he is fearless.Even his passes are ballsy. He isn’t a subtle player yet.He thinks he blow by and he tries to. He will learn to control himself more. No player goes into their 1st year and just trashes the league, M agic couldn’t shoot when he came into the league. Neither could Jordan. LBJ wasn’t a very good shooter when he came into the league and neither is Wall. They all depended on getting to the basket and Wall does the same thing and like them he will develop his shot and then the charges will go down. he will stop and pop or do the Parker tear drop. something Parker had to learn. Wall is typical. once he does start hitting his shot he is going to be quite the player to watch.
by hambonejackson on Feb 1, 2011 7:04 AM EST up reply actions
WALL IS HURT
Look at his high school/college footage.
Wall has hella hops.
He is just hurt.
And young.
And raw.
And a rookie.
Yi was great tonight
Hustling and banging with people. Call it Booker’s influence.
I thought Wall actually played better tonight. His shot looked better. But as time goes on, it’s going to get harder and harder to ignore the fact that Wall has more open opportunities than anyone on the team, but he he doesn’t take them. Is it better to shoot and miss (a lot) than never to shoot at all? This is the Wall quandry.
Yi can be good if given the chance
Players need to have a defined role, especially young ones. What Flip has done to the rotation confuses everybody. JaVale was not ready this game, why play him? I still think Booker is nothing but a flash in the pan. Yi is a lot better in most areas.
Flash in the pan?
You’re nuts. Offensively Booker is not as good as Yi, but defensively he is much better. Booker is also a better rebounder. Don’t get confused by one game. This is just one game by Yi and Booker has shown he can be consistently effective defensively and on the boards.
by ThePGPhenomenon on Feb 1, 2011 9:45 AM EST up reply actions
I don't think Booker has demonstrated consistency.
Not that I’d expect him to, he’s still halfway into his rookie year.
by MR on Feb 1, 2011 10:43 AM EST up reply actions
Perhaps
because he doesn’t get consistent minutes, but the strength of his game is his defense and rebounding. There is no way Yi is better than him in either category.
by ThePGPhenomenon on Feb 1, 2011 1:29 PM EST up reply actions
I actually think Booker's defense
is at a disadvantage because of his size. Take a look at Kyle’s piece on TAI about the team’s defense.
by Marine4Life51 on Feb 1, 2011 10:53 AM EST up reply actions
It's match-ups
I wouldn’t necessarily want Book on Nowitzki, because no one can stop Dirty’s jumper. By contrast, I loved Book against Zach Randolph. What I like about his game is that he compensates for the lack of height in other ways. For example: a guy like JaVale might take it for granted that he’s going to be able to block an opponent’s shot. Booker doesn’t expect that, so he tends to put a body on his man, or gets a hand on the ball before an opponent can raise it – techniques that are actually more effective.
That's all relative
There’s a difference between playing bad defense and struggling to stop someone because of an attribute. For instance, Hinrich may struggle to guard against quicker guards like Rondo, Westbrook or someone like that, but does that mean Wall is a better defender? I don’t think Booker height, discredit his effort and ability on defense.
by ThePGPhenomenon on Feb 1, 2011 1:27 PM EST up reply actions
I think its very interesting to see Grunfeld in Dallas
Maybe he is picking up his Super bowl tickets and thought he’d catch the Wiz while he was there.
Dallas played down to the Wizards level...
and the Wizards still could not beat them.
Wall is a work in progress. Of late, he has cut down incredibly on his turnovers.
When your two top scorers cannot buy buckets, and when you shoot 61% of your FTs you will lose.
If they take the streak into Cleveland in two weeks and fail to win, however, it will be Flip and not the players who get the axe.
I don't think Grunfeld and saunders jobs are in jeopardy
I do foresee the possibility of trading Howard for Stojakavic. they could uee Howard the Wiz could use Stojakavic.
by hambonejackson on Feb 1, 2011 2:27 AM EST up reply actions
Look for Yi to start the next game at Power Forward
I think Flip was itching for Yi to play this well so he could have an excuse to start Yi over Andray.
My guess is 33% chance that this happens the next game
Yi is no good, despite the occassional flashes.
He’s done the EXACT SAME THING throughout his career. Very doubtful he’ll be here next season, whereas the team is basically stuck with Blatche since Ernie unnecessarily extended him. Dray is a made man on this team unless he totally tanks like he did in New York
why not? He can’t play worse than Blatche. Replace AB and NY with Yi and Booker and Cartier Martin and this team will start winning. Blatche and Young are cancers, all they do is shoot and miss, they don’t get rebounds or do anything else. Get them off the court.
by ReturnofBillyJOe on Feb 1, 2011 8:25 AM EST up reply actions
one game does not warrant a start
it would be better if flip kept the rotations similar to last night and lets see if Yi can be consistent.
Blatche isn't sitting until the 83rd game of the season
Saundes is determined to make Blatche into the kind of 4 he sees Blatche as being and he is going to keep sticking Blatche out there until Blatche is ready to explode, To Blatches credit, he never stops trying no matter how much he is ready to give up. Blatche is getting better. He is not physically healthy, but that isn’t the point.. They are looking 2 seasons down the road. They are looking at Blatche when he is 26. He has all the skills, now he has to learn dedication through perseverance. In short, to focus on the game and he is struggling with that right now.
Blatche
His skill set is HOF caliber.
His desire and maturity are JV at best
That being said, if he ever dedicated himself to the weight room…..
So much ab Blatche and the weight room is said around here
how come noone is interested in him dedicating himself to conditioning, his jump shot, and his finishing around the rim?
I don’t see him get bullied to a great extent on either end of the court.
Why does he have to focus on getting bigger? Why can’t her perfect his “finesse”?
shine like bald head, smoke trees call me log head
because your big players need to play big…guards and small forwards can not. you should have three players that can hit from the perimeter…you dont need a fourth…especially when your center is a defensive sieve
besides…jump shot teams do not win championships. you’ve got 30 or so championships won by balanced teams…are there any …detroit maybe? but they still had wallace who controlled the paint and defended…and wallace played both inside and out.
we have mcgee and blatche…no defenders no offenders inside lol
by les boulez bomber on Feb 1, 2011 12:15 PM EST up reply actions
The KG/PP/RA Celtics are a jump shooting championship team.
The MJ Bulls didn’t get their points in the paint by posting up.
The Spurs get/got points from TD in the post, but TD also took a lot of 15 ft J’s.
The rule changes have skewed the balance of power more towards the perimeter. Formerly illegal defensive spacing makes the defense stronger inside. Elimination of hand checking makes the defense weaker on the perimeter. I think we are going to see a lot more jump shooting from NBA champions than we did earlier in NBA history.
I am not so sure how much that really affects anything
The 3 point shot made all that somewhat irrelevant. What good is a hand check or a zone if everyone is lining up behind the arc? Thats where the Wiz get beat most games. A team knocks down a 3 and the Wiz get a 2 and the other team hits a 3 and the wiz hit a 2 and the wiz are losing the game. What the Wiz need are players like Foye and Miller. it was the right idea, but the wrong team to do it with at the time. The only reason teams go inside is for the 2 and 1. So basketball is now a 3 point game. 2 is what you settle for because its better than nothing
by hambonejackson on Feb 1, 2011 6:48 PM EST up reply actions
Hand checking
Hand checking isn’t just for when someone tries to back you down. It’s also to slow someone down or redirect them when they try to drive past you or around a screen. When you can hand check, you can play up tighter on a player on the perimeter. When you can’t hand check you have to leave more of a cushion. So hand checking helps the defense defend the three point line, too.
Weight room is an all encompassing term used for
Strength and Conditioning
If he gets physically right he will be able to do all those things you mentioned
Wall, McGee and Young...
…are regressing over the past couple of weeks. Blatche never brought it this year.
Is this rebuilding?
I would think rebuilding meant developing the young players that have talent (with the implication that W-L isn’t the highest priority).
Also, developing doesn’t impy to me playing the young guys for 50 minutes on a back-to-back.
Exactly what is Flip trying to accomplish this year?
Thoughts
Blatche took some horrible shots down the stretch and he made a poor decision out of that timeout in the 4th throwing it into the corner to no one in particular. Did he not see the play getting drawn up? He should have been well aware of where everyone is supposed to be. Maybe Wall was in the wrong position, I don’t know, but that was costly.
McGee picked up two quick fouls because he had to rotate to prevent someone else’s man from scoring. It wasn’t his fault because if he didn’t move they would have had a easy basket, so the poor defense caused him to rotate and be put in a bad position.
Wall looked a lot more comfortable shooting the ball last night. He has to continue to stay aggressive with his shot because he will get a lot of open looks. Eventually they will fall more consistently.
Despite his poor shooting, NY played pretty good. I thought he did very well defensively and caused some problems. He just needs to work on taking the ball to the basket more when his shot is not falling. He is strong and athletic enough to get in the lane and make some plays.
Yi played a great game. I was pleasantly surprised. Looked tough, played aggressive and made good decision. I thought that last play where he got the rebound and tried a put back after NY missed the free throw was a foul.
Refs definitely blew the over the top out of bounds call. I’m applauded how 3 refs couldn’t see what had just happen. It seemed like they stop calling things after the 3:00 minute mark and when the game was about over.
And finally Flip needs to sit Blatche in the 4th when he plays like that. I believe Blatche shot the Wizards out of this. If Flip doesn’t have the cajones to bench him, then he needs to be shown the door. If you are trying to win a game, you can’t continue to play players who make poor decisions like that. This is the reason they keep losing on the road. These aren’t rookie mistakes, he’s been in the league 6 years, if he hasn’t gotten it by now then you need to sit his butt on the bench.
NY's defense is really improving this season
Kind of an obvious observation, but man, that block of Jason Terry in the 2-on-1, and the hustle to save the ball… that was incredible.
I would've been crazy happy just with the block
He had to switch between Jason Kidd and Jason Terry to get there. But the save.. the save!
That was a jaw dropping play
Bad night on offense for Nick but he played hard on defense and to be fair he was taking mostly good shots. They just weren’t dropping for him.
wall attacking
the problem with wall saying “screw you” to blatche/young and taking it himself is that he has no one to dump the ball too when the d converges on him in the paint. blatche, shard, yi all hang out by the 3-pt line. mcgee is mcgee. the d collapses on wall and there’s often no one there for him to pass off to, to keep the d honest. i see that as a big problem
by insidethelines15 on Feb 1, 2011 1:24 PM EST reply actions
We do have a logjam...
of big guys who prefer to shoot from outside.
That’s not bad in and of itself, but it makes it problematic when two (much less the entire Blatche, Yi, Shard triumvirate) are on the floor at the same time.
I do get the feeling that one or two of these guys might be traded before the deadline, which would open things up a bit. Getting Howard back will also be a plus, as he is more of a classic wing player and can defend.
As Wall is the future, the objective should be to surround him with players who can optimize his game, steepen his learning curve, whatever you want to call it.
And having seen the absolutely stunning “coachability” accolades that David Thorpe gave Yi on his espn chat today, I think that we need to see more of him in order to make a judgement.
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