Sometimes there are franchises that just need to be contracted and started over elsewhere. I know in my lifetime I actually am old enough to have seen the Wizards win a title, yes a title, but after that it has been basically almost 40 years of crap with a season or two here or there where they looked like they might be a playoff type team only to fall on their faces and crap out again. We are in the crap out phase again for the Wizards. I know John Wall is out but the last I knew John Wall not being there was actually helpful. But my God are they a poorly put together team and the fact that Beal signed an extension there is just beyond me. Give him credit I guess but once again they are going to go through a season where there single hope is going to be the lucky bounce of a lottery ball.
The fact we were coming off of an overtime loss less than 24 hours ago and out played them from the get go should be a point of pride for us but absolute and utter shame for them.
Some day in the not to distant future we are going to have to face a top tier team and we will see how we do but right now, other than last night, we are starting to catch our rhythm against these bottom feeders.
But enough downtrodden talk about literally one of the carps of the NBA. (google a carp if you don't get it).
Let's do the good the bad and the ugly tonight.
The Good
Now on the other hand while they deserve shame our team deserves praise and respect for coming off of a tough OT loss and then to lose one of the starters (while gaining another). We are short handed, tired and still getting to get to know one another and we still beat the living dog poop out of these guys. One thing so far that I've seen that I like with several of our player is that they are mentally tough and have some fight in them. Nobody more so than Domantas Sabonis. In all honesty he had a rough game, could not get his shot to fall at all but just put his nose down, went to work on the block and grabbed every rebound in sight while dropping dimes as though he were a point guard. To me right now he is the heart and sould of this team. You don't win this game without him and I'm telling you if he played vs the hornets you don't lose that game either.
Here is a little bit of an odd thing (fitting for my thoughts) but one of the good things that I do not know if all of you get to see or not because I have no idea what they show on tv for home games. But no matter what you think of Victor as a player, and I know most of you think very highly of him, he may even be a better leader. In the pre game Victor is the one to give the speech when the team gathers after the initial intro's, during the game he is the biggest cheerleader on the bench. Victor has a dance routine he does for almost every basket we score and depending on how they score he sometimes has a very elaborate dance routine. He is always talking to the bench players and you can watch him and Malcolm point out things to each other when they are sitting on the bench. I know that probably doesn't have a lot to do with a game report but it really struck me tonight how much of a team leader he is.
JaKarr Sampson has come out of nowhere and all of a sudden has become somewhat of a serviceable big who plays solid defense. The fact he dropped 14 points is just gravy. He is very quick on his feet and he does a very good job of guarding the pick and roll. I honestly don't know anything about him but for what he was supposed to be to what he is, this is a very unheralded signing.
T.J. Warren is a bucket maker, there is no doubt about that. As is typical of the Pacers org. he is making a real effort to defend as well. His shot is just so weird it really is hard to get a handle on him. Uncle Buck talked about Jeremy Lamb looking effortless and how he thought that Pacers fans would not perceive him well because he just looks like he's not trying even though he is. I kind of wonder if we won't have that issue going forward with Warren? He really is active but he sometimes just doesn't look like it. I'm saying this on a night he led us in scoring and after a game where he was on fire. But I'm saying it now on purpose because he's going to have a game or two where he will score 8 points or so and many are going to wonder what he was doing. It will be interesting to see going forward.
Before we move forward let's take this time to dance with fruit. (I apologize for those of you reading on phone since this won't show up.)
We actually had a Aaron Holiday sighting that did not cause us all to clutch our chest in pain. The fact that he only had one assist is kind of odd, he really did a decent job of passing but I think there were several times that he made the pass that led to the pass that made the score. Obviously hitting his shots is a major major major major improvement and you can not discount the fact that he replaced Lamb's 18 points with 18 points. But do not undervalue the defense he played on Isiah Thomas. He lost him a couple of times and fortunately didn't get burned to bad. But most of the time he was on him all night. He definitely has slowed down and his shot selection has improved. I knew going into this game that he was going to go one way or the other and we got lucky that we got the superb game from him tonight.
I love Goga. That's really all I want to say about him because I am now fully firmly and loudly on the Goga bandwagon. I will be happy to be the whistle blower to call on everyone else to jump on board. I don't know ultimately what he is going to be but I know what he is right now and what he is right now is highly valuable. He needs to play this season and I mean full time. Three man center rotation should be in full effect and he needs to be one third of the triumvirate.
McDermott had a good first half. struggled in the third quarter and did finally hit another shot at the end of the game. I'll give him a solid C game.
The Bad
Malcolm Brogdon's shot. Every other aspect of his game was perfection but man he could not buy a basket tonight and not a single person should complain about it. Sometimes you just can't get it to drop so instead he set a new career high in assist. His defense wasn't lock down but Beal is a hell of a player. This was the first game since he's been here that he hasn't almost been 100% the excellence of execution. So tonight we will award him the taco cat award. Not great to eat but still its a taco and a walking cat so you can't lose.
The Ugly
Oh my God. Alize Johnson checked into the game and his first basket attempt of the year was 2 foot short on an 8 foot shot. I was just going to try and stick to the theory that he was trying to alley oop to Goga but yea......... You could tell Alize was a bundle of nerves but he smoothed out. It will be interesting going forward to see who gets the scrub minutes here. I have a feeling Jakarr Sampson has played his way into the backup backup 4 spot.
One hell of a game fellas. Would have been disappointed to lose but would have understood. As it was this was one of the more pleasant games of the season.
The fact we were coming off of an overtime loss less than 24 hours ago and out played them from the get go should be a point of pride for us but absolute and utter shame for them.
Some day in the not to distant future we are going to have to face a top tier team and we will see how we do but right now, other than last night, we are starting to catch our rhythm against these bottom feeders.
But enough downtrodden talk about literally one of the carps of the NBA. (google a carp if you don't get it).
Let's do the good the bad and the ugly tonight.
The Good
Now on the other hand while they deserve shame our team deserves praise and respect for coming off of a tough OT loss and then to lose one of the starters (while gaining another). We are short handed, tired and still getting to get to know one another and we still beat the living dog poop out of these guys. One thing so far that I've seen that I like with several of our player is that they are mentally tough and have some fight in them. Nobody more so than Domantas Sabonis. In all honesty he had a rough game, could not get his shot to fall at all but just put his nose down, went to work on the block and grabbed every rebound in sight while dropping dimes as though he were a point guard. To me right now he is the heart and sould of this team. You don't win this game without him and I'm telling you if he played vs the hornets you don't lose that game either.
Here is a little bit of an odd thing (fitting for my thoughts) but one of the good things that I do not know if all of you get to see or not because I have no idea what they show on tv for home games. But no matter what you think of Victor as a player, and I know most of you think very highly of him, he may even be a better leader. In the pre game Victor is the one to give the speech when the team gathers after the initial intro's, during the game he is the biggest cheerleader on the bench. Victor has a dance routine he does for almost every basket we score and depending on how they score he sometimes has a very elaborate dance routine. He is always talking to the bench players and you can watch him and Malcolm point out things to each other when they are sitting on the bench. I know that probably doesn't have a lot to do with a game report but it really struck me tonight how much of a team leader he is.
JaKarr Sampson has come out of nowhere and all of a sudden has become somewhat of a serviceable big who plays solid defense. The fact he dropped 14 points is just gravy. He is very quick on his feet and he does a very good job of guarding the pick and roll. I honestly don't know anything about him but for what he was supposed to be to what he is, this is a very unheralded signing.
T.J. Warren is a bucket maker, there is no doubt about that. As is typical of the Pacers org. he is making a real effort to defend as well. His shot is just so weird it really is hard to get a handle on him. Uncle Buck talked about Jeremy Lamb looking effortless and how he thought that Pacers fans would not perceive him well because he just looks like he's not trying even though he is. I kind of wonder if we won't have that issue going forward with Warren? He really is active but he sometimes just doesn't look like it. I'm saying this on a night he led us in scoring and after a game where he was on fire. But I'm saying it now on purpose because he's going to have a game or two where he will score 8 points or so and many are going to wonder what he was doing. It will be interesting to see going forward.
Before we move forward let's take this time to dance with fruit. (I apologize for those of you reading on phone since this won't show up.)
We actually had a Aaron Holiday sighting that did not cause us all to clutch our chest in pain. The fact that he only had one assist is kind of odd, he really did a decent job of passing but I think there were several times that he made the pass that led to the pass that made the score. Obviously hitting his shots is a major major major major improvement and you can not discount the fact that he replaced Lamb's 18 points with 18 points. But do not undervalue the defense he played on Isiah Thomas. He lost him a couple of times and fortunately didn't get burned to bad. But most of the time he was on him all night. He definitely has slowed down and his shot selection has improved. I knew going into this game that he was going to go one way or the other and we got lucky that we got the superb game from him tonight.
I love Goga. That's really all I want to say about him because I am now fully firmly and loudly on the Goga bandwagon. I will be happy to be the whistle blower to call on everyone else to jump on board. I don't know ultimately what he is going to be but I know what he is right now and what he is right now is highly valuable. He needs to play this season and I mean full time. Three man center rotation should be in full effect and he needs to be one third of the triumvirate.
McDermott had a good first half. struggled in the third quarter and did finally hit another shot at the end of the game. I'll give him a solid C game.
The Bad
Malcolm Brogdon's shot. Every other aspect of his game was perfection but man he could not buy a basket tonight and not a single person should complain about it. Sometimes you just can't get it to drop so instead he set a new career high in assist. His defense wasn't lock down but Beal is a hell of a player. This was the first game since he's been here that he hasn't almost been 100% the excellence of execution. So tonight we will award him the taco cat award. Not great to eat but still its a taco and a walking cat so you can't lose.
The Ugly
Oh my God. Alize Johnson checked into the game and his first basket attempt of the year was 2 foot short on an 8 foot shot. I was just going to try and stick to the theory that he was trying to alley oop to Goga but yea......... You could tell Alize was a bundle of nerves but he smoothed out. It will be interesting going forward to see who gets the scrub minutes here. I have a feeling Jakarr Sampson has played his way into the backup backup 4 spot.
One hell of a game fellas. Would have been disappointed to lose but would have understood. As it was this was one of the more pleasant games of the season.
Comment