Wizards Vs. Lakers (Fake) Recap: Five Things We Should Be Talking About

by Mike Prada on Nov 16, 2011 11:41 AM EST in Recaps

In a parallel universe somewhere, the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Wizards in an entertaining game. In our universe, this game never happened because of the NBA lockout. The parallel universe sounds more fun, so let's discuss five topics from this game based on that.

NOTE: Feel free to use this space to talk about yesterday's college action too.

That was easily John Wall's best game of the season: Granted, this was entirely predictable against the horrendous point-guard defense of the Lakers, but you could argue that Wall was the best player on the floor last night. His pick-and-roll play was fantastic, and I mean technically in the way he was rubbing off the screener and shooting the jump shot with confidence. In transition, he was unstoppable. It's just unfortunate only one other player showed up.
That player? Nick Young, of course: This is what happens when he plays in Los Angeles. He pours in points, shoots often and goes at Kobe Bryant. To his credit, after the game, he said all the right things about how he was more upset the team lost than happy with his own performance. I guess he had the Orlando incident in his head.
Andray Blatche vs. Pau Gasol: Ugh.
Should Flip Saunders have gone small? Not sure I especially like closing with Trevor Booker and Blatche up front. Obviously, this wasn't JaVale McGee's best game, but he was doing far better than Blatche was. Why close with Blatche over JaVale there? Maybe it doesn't make a difference in the outcome, but I still wasn't wild about that call.
It's OK, Jan Vesely: Kobe makes a lot of people look bad.

Tweet Comment 28 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Is it too early to yell "TRADE BLATCHE NOW" haha

god i hope we get started before christmas…

by pick1 on Nov 16, 2011 11:47 AM EST reply actions

It’s OK, Jan Vesely: Kobe makes a lot of people look bad.

That’s true. But why must Jan make so many people look good!??

by Dutch Hoopfan on Nov 16, 2011 1:10 PM EST reply actions 2 recs

What’s up with Crawford? Is He in Flip’s doghouse?

by Janber on Nov 16, 2011 2:06 PM EST via mobile reply actions

When you chuck up a ton of bad shots....

and shoot only 24% from the 3-point line, but still put up 4.5 threes per game…. uh…. Coaches tend to get a bit touchy.

I used to have super powers until my psychiatrist took them away.

by Rook6980 on Nov 16, 2011 2:18 PM EST up reply actions

great game sort of

Kobe scoring 53 wsn;t all that bad considering. Mcgee blocking 8 shots wasn’t that bad either along with his 20 pts and 7 turnovers. And Nick the sorta Quick having a quality game was a pleasant surprise of sorts.

by jazzy1 on Nov 16, 2011 2:54 PM EST reply actions

chris singleton

looked good on kobe in limited minutes.

(its make believe right lol)

by jaygo on Nov 16, 2011 4:10 PM EST reply actions

Yessir

SB Nation DC | Bullets Forever | SBNation.com | Twitter.

by Mike Prada on Nov 16, 2011 4:14 PM EST up reply actions

Relief

It’s nice to see Javale finally complete the in game foul line dunk. We can all sleep easy knowing he got THAT out of the way.

by CNUwizkid on Nov 16, 2011 4:42 PM EST reply actions 2 recs

Can't we at least be a good team in fantasy world?

by jones-y on Nov 16, 2011 5:20 PM EST reply actions

No dude! It has to be realistic. Otherwise it would be an unrealistic fantasy!

;-) lol

by Dutch Hoopfan on Nov 16, 2011 7:16 PM EST up reply actions

Booker needs more minutes

Blatche is lazy
Javale thinks he’s a point guard
How about Nicks hair!
This is so real…

by g zeller on Nov 16, 2011 7:42 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

I like Javale, i do, but he pisses me off almost the most

Our starting C doesnt know how to set a pick, he NEVER picks anything, just does the motion. Another thing you’ll never see him do is box out, ever….u can win with that.

by KurisuDevil on Nov 17, 2011 7:50 AM EST up reply actions

interesting read on the lockout just came out

nba.com/2011/news/features/steve_aschburner/11/16/labor-update/

Go Wizards

by ag3ntzero on Nov 16, 2011 8:37 PM EST via mobile reply actions

John Wall played great but

he’s still getting too many minutes! I wonder when Flip will actually let Shelvin Mack take off his warmups.

by Jaba on Nov 17, 2011 5:12 AM EST reply actions

No improvement

Not a single Wizards so far has shown even an iota of improvement over last year. And some like Blatche have gone seriously downhill. Flip and Ernie need to go! It looks like we’re going to be getting the same high draft pick we would have gotten if the season had been cancelled. But at least then we could have spared ourselves the pain of having to watch a miserable team go through the motions night after night. [Isn’t this what we would have written if the lockout had been settled and the Wizards got off to the start Mike has sketched for them?]

by Koperro on Nov 17, 2011 7:41 AM EST reply actions

Flip isnt an 'improvement' guy

He’s more of a manager in my view, he cant develop, just micro-manage. We’;; never get anywhere til we 1. Play real defense, 2. get rid of the lazy clowns on this team.

by KurisuDevil on Nov 17, 2011 7:48 AM EST up reply actions

you can only be as lazy as your coach lets you be.

by DCrez on Nov 17, 2011 10:14 AM EST up reply actions

Wait a minute..... Let's just back up a minute...

Not a single Wizards so far has shown even an iota of improvement over last year.

Not a single Wizards so far has shown even an iota of improvement over last year.
Nets – Win
Heat – Loss
Magic – Loss
Lakers – Loss

First of all, the Wizards have played 3 of their 4 games against TOP contending teams. Teams with considerably more talent, experience and star power than the current Wizards band of youngsters. They played against arguably the top 4 or 5 players in the entire League in the last 3 games. I expected them to be blown out….

Second – Let’s remember that this is only the second year of a multi-season rebuild. Anyone who thought the Wizards would contend with the Heat, Magic and Lakers this year is seriously fooling themselves. The Wizards youth; their relative inexperience; their lack of a significant training camp and exhibition games; and the addition of several new core pieces makes Flip’s job extremely difficult. It’s hard to come together as a “team” and learn how to win when you’ve only played a (relatively) few games together. Defensive rotations, reliant on people knowing where their teammates are and where they WILL BE, are slow. Half court offensive sets are works in progress (to put it nicely). There is poor timing on picks, cuts, etc. Help defense is almost non-existent. Right now, the Wiz kids are playing purely on athletic ability, young legs, one-on-one skills, and individual talent.

Let’s at least give them 20 games (1/4 season) before we vilify them for a lack of improvement.

I used to have super powers until my psychiatrist took them away.

by Rook6980 on Nov 17, 2011 12:56 PM EST up reply actions

Besides... I see SOME improvements

John Wall looks better than at any time last year. His explosiveness is back. His vertical is back. His first step is back…. and it’s showing on the court, even if it’s not showing up in the box scores.

Nick Young has shot the ball well… So far he’s shooting 47% for the year (50% from three) … He’s still shooting coming off picks and corner threes… (his most efficient shots).. and we almost never see any of the “old” dribble-dribble-dribble shoot Nick… And although his rebounding and assists are STILL not where they should be, he has at least shown consistency…. at 21 ppg (Nets=20, Heat = 17, Magic = 18, Lakers = 30)..

Andray Blatche has had poor shooting nights (Heat and Magic) – but he seems more determined to take to ball down low this year…

McGee – well… he’s doing his McGee thing… Let’s hope he turns into the McGee we saw the last two months of last year (focused on defense and rebounding)… I will say that he looks considerably stronger in the upper body area… His shoulders, although not anywhere near the truck-tire sized shoulders of Dwight Howard – are much bigger.

Seraphin looks more athletic this year… and he’s shown flashes (Miami) of an offensive game that we didn’t see last year; and he’s still beating people up inside on defense.

Booker – Well… Book is still bringing energy and attitude… and a whole lotta highlight dunks.

I’ll admit that Rashard Lewis and Jordan Crawford have been disappointing so far… But Crawford just needs to have his reigns yanked back; he’s taking too many bad shots. – and although Shard has not shot the ball well so far this year, he’s taking the RIGHT shots… He also looks much more active and athletic than I’ve seen him in years… He’s playing pretty good defense and his rebounding numbers have been very good….

Too early to tell about Vesely – it looks like the game is still moving too fast for him.. Wait until later in the year and see if the game slows down for him…. And Singleton and Shelvin Mack haven’t had enough time on the floor to even break a sweat….

So – Yeah – I don’t see MAMMOTH improvement yet… but I do see some incremental changes…. The biggest problem is still not skill, work ethic, talent or effort – it’s inexperience.

I used to have super powers until my psychiatrist took them away.

by Rook6980 on Nov 17, 2011 1:12 PM EST up reply actions

whoa...little too in depth for a pretend game...I hope you got to see the St.John's-UCONN game

Nurideen Lindsay has a nasty crossover and can finish at the hoop…best player I’ve never heard of in awhile.

by tw10 on Nov 18, 2011 1:21 AM EST up reply actions

Could there also be an alternate universe

…where the Wiz are undefeated?

Maybe?

by terpsDC on Nov 17, 2011 9:21 AM EST reply actions

The schedule is not very kind....

with 8 of their November games on the road, including a killer 4 game West Coast road trip with 4 games in 5 nights (Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Nuggets)…

Not much better at home, where they had/have to face Orlando, Chicago and New York.

The only “easy” games on the first month’s schedule were the home opener against NJ, the last game of the month at home against Cleveland and a home game with Minnesota (second night of a back-to-back)…..

The NBA Schedule makers really did an early season number on this year’s young Wizards

I used to have super powers until my psychiatrist took them away.

by Rook6980 on Nov 17, 2011 1:25 PM EST reply actions

I like how in even these fake recaps the Wizards still are horrible. Heh, a man after my own heart. But hell, even I ain’t this misachostic.

At some point Nick Young’s gotta go for 50, right?

Michael Jordan’s Final Comeback, Rewritten

by jahidi_jones on Nov 17, 2011 1:53 PM EST reply actions

hehe

I like how in even these fake recaps the Wizards still are horrible.

by Dutch Hoopfan on Nov 17, 2011 2:45 PM EST up reply actions

I've been a big fan of parallel universes

since the Justice League of America cosmically crossed paths with the Justice Society of America. This one sounds okay, but I’d prefer the one in which Vesely plays like a first team All-Rookie selection.

I didn’t think I’d missed the Wiz (and the league) this early, but I’ve been on Basketball Reference a lot recently, kind of constructing my own parallel reality.

by Elvin Unseld on Nov 17, 2011 10:54 PM EST reply actions