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We’re going to approach this one from two fronts tonight first I’m going to talk about something positive and offer a lifeline to the drowning fan base, then I’m going to deal with reality.
So to start off with I will remind everyone that this is a seven game series, this was just one game and while it may feel like we should just forfeit the rest of the games rest assured the NBA will not allow us to do that.
So we can come right back out Wednesday night and try and redeem this loss.
As bad as this felt, and believe me it felt pretty bad, there were moments that in truth we really had chances to change the outcome of this game. If Ariza just hits 50% of his three point shots, which is still one hell of a clip to shoot at, this is a different ball game. In fact while they didn’t shoot the volume of three’s that Atlanta did if they just hit 40-50% of their three’s (still a hell of a clip) instead of 63% then this is a different ball game.
We never really were out of this game until the end of the 4th quarter, so there is that. Okay I’ve given you all of the positive I can for one night, now the reality.
While we never really were out of the game we never really were in it either. Oh sure we had runs where we looked like we had a pulse and got the lead down to where it was manageable and even took a slight lead in the 2nd but we had to spend all of our energy just trying to stay caught up and we could not maintain the effort.
I do believe that we can control the Wizards three point shooting but what I have no faith in is our ability to hit an open shot. So many times in the first quarter we would hit the open man only to have them clank off a wide open shot and well we all know how the rebounding went. So just like with the Hawks the Wizards were able to pretty much pack the paint and dare us to shoot. However unlike the Hawks the Wizards have some great interior defenders and Gortat interior help defense tonight was just out of this world good.
Also I can’t stress this enough, we have got to stop letting teams jump out to big leads where we have to play from behind all night long. I know that is easier said than done but we have got to figure it out.
The rebounding was so atrocious that I don’t even know what to say. Well yes I do and people aren’t going to like it.
We are soft as a baby’s ***. Why in the name of God anyone ever considers us a physical team is beyond me. For all of David West’s strength and ability he does not put out hard fouls or impose himself in the post. We all know about Roy so I won’t even bother but then you go to Scola and well as sad as this is to say he may have been our most physical player out there tonight. Mahinmi was absolutely useless and well that just covered all of our bigs.
We just simply lost this game because we could not match the effort of Drew ****ing Gooden on the boards. Do you know how hard it was for me to sit there and watch Drew Gooden destroy our front line?
I mean I get Gortat and Nene they are both horses and very physical, but Gooden? If our front line were Generals for the Japanese Imperial Army during WW2 each of them would take turns eviscerating themselves with their swords out of a sense of honor and shame.
There is just no excuse on the planet earth why we let Drew Gooden destroy us on the glass.
Okay I’m going to go ahead and deal with once again the elephant in the room. I do NOT care what Roy Hibbert’s problem is. I do NOT care if he is injured, has a physical or mental ailment or has problems at home.
NONE OF THAT MATTERS TO ME.
If he is incapable of playing then sit him, period. He not only was ineffective tonight but he actually was a detriment to our club as his best contribution came in the 3rd quarter when he fouled Gortat from behind and was forced to the bench.
I don’t ask for much from Roy. He doesn’t have to score a lot of points and he doesn’t even have to grab a lot of rebounds or block a ton of shots.
But he has to do something. Rebounding is a combination of positioning and effort and Roy had neither tonight.
Now as bad as Roy was, and he was just God awful, Ian Mahinmi was no better. For as great as he played in the Atlanta series he was that bad tonight. In fact I am going to say that the Wizards are going to be a bad matchup for Ian because where his speed and athleticism was an advantage vs. the Hawks, his lack of strength is going to be an issue vs. the Wizards. I know this is never going to happen in a million years but right now we really need to see if LaVoy Allen could give us some minutes in this series.
Also I know this is a pipe dream but has there been any form of official announcement about Bynum yet from the team? I don’t even think he has been to the past few home games. Believe me if there ever was a series we could use him, this is it.
We have depended on our wings to handle the load on the boards all season long but we now are facing an opponent that offers up bigs that are physical, quick and somewhat athletic. We need our bigs to counter them, but I do not know if they can or not.
One defensive thing I believe we are going to have to change is Paul George guarding Trevor Ariza. Ariza is a spot up shooter and Paul just can not stand being that disengaged during a defensive stand. So he hedges off of Ariza and tonight we saw the end result of that. I do not believe that Ariza can continue at this type of clip, if he did then he will be in the record book, but he can be a factor all series long. So either Lance or Hill are going to need to go hang out with him.
Here is my real problem. I was afraid of Atlanta because of our inability to play well, in other words I didn’t think a whole lot of the Hawks. But the Wizards are a different animal. Their starting five is better at 3 of the 5 spots and we break even on one. The one matchup that should have been in our favor tonight was not there, as Ariza outplayed George.
But again it was just one game so we will see if we can come back Wednesday.
Let’s do grades.
Paul George: C
Don’t let that final stat line fool you, he really didn’t have a good game. He could not hit any shot tonight and as I said above he could not force himself to stay with Ariza and was burned time after time because of it. This is the one spot on the floor where we were supposed to have somewhat of an advantage, however I’ve seen Ariza enough to know that he is a tough defender and I’ve seen him hit like this before. We are going to need a hell of a lot more from him than this if we hope to advance.
David West: B-
West once again allowed himself to be baited into another idiotic technical because he didn’t like the fact that Drew Gooden was being physical. IMO Drew Gooden had every right to stand at the mid court symbol and pound his chest and scream ala Tarzan. West was the only one of our starters who actually brought it all game long but even he wasn’t all that great. To his credit the Wizards big men are just a load to handle and he was getting no help.
Roy Hibbert: F
Again I don’t care what his issue is, this game is unacceptable from Solomon Hill let alone Roy Hibbert. If you can’t play for whatever reason then don’t. Let someone else get on the court who can do something, anything. Oh congrats to Roy on setting this record, he is now the first all-star player in NBA history to post 0 points and 0 rebounds in two post season games.
Lance Stephenson: C-
To much Rucker Park in his game at times tonight, very sloppy with the ball and missed shots that he often hits. Also I’m not sure he even defended anyone tonight as any of the wings actually lit up our club. We might as well address this right now, when he was taken out in the 3rd he and Frank had words. In fact Frank went down and actually said something (not nice) to him when he was standing in front of Herb. This was not a good game from Lance.
George Hill: C
I don’t know, he didn’t play bad but I never felt like he did much either. He had a run there at the end when he got some three’s to elevate his scoring total but overall did that feel like an 18 point game to anyone else? It didn’t to me.
Luis Scola: C+
Whenever I hear someone talk about Roy’s value in blocking shots I think about games like tonight when Scola had as many blocks as he did. He also had 12 points and 5 boards. As sad as this is to say he was probably the most physical player we had tonight and he was still demolished by Drew Gooden.
Evan Turner: C-
Hit a couple of shots and got to the line a couple of times but once again provided the defensive tenacity of a three toed sloth. Not sure what to make of him at times but for whatever reason he just doesn’t work in our system very well. Yes I am aware of the criticism that our system is flawed and I won’t argue against it.
Ian Mahinmi: F
It is reprehensible to be that big, that athletic and that strong and to play 12 min of ball and not grab a single rebound. Rim protection means nothing when you just get out muscled and out hustled.
C.J. Watson: B-
Did what you would expect from a backup point guard. In fact I will say that for whatever reason our offense just runs better when he is on the floor. He hit shots and he didn’t blow on defense.
I’m not grading Copeland.
Look it’s this simple we have to come out Wednesday and play from the start of the game and we absolutely have to match their effort on the glass and in the paint.
Again it is just one game however the same problems have been creeping up on us for over 2 months now.
Here is some Zakk Wylde to sooth you into a new day.
So to start off with I will remind everyone that this is a seven game series, this was just one game and while it may feel like we should just forfeit the rest of the games rest assured the NBA will not allow us to do that.
So we can come right back out Wednesday night and try and redeem this loss.
As bad as this felt, and believe me it felt pretty bad, there were moments that in truth we really had chances to change the outcome of this game. If Ariza just hits 50% of his three point shots, which is still one hell of a clip to shoot at, this is a different ball game. In fact while they didn’t shoot the volume of three’s that Atlanta did if they just hit 40-50% of their three’s (still a hell of a clip) instead of 63% then this is a different ball game.
We never really were out of this game until the end of the 4th quarter, so there is that. Okay I’ve given you all of the positive I can for one night, now the reality.
While we never really were out of the game we never really were in it either. Oh sure we had runs where we looked like we had a pulse and got the lead down to where it was manageable and even took a slight lead in the 2nd but we had to spend all of our energy just trying to stay caught up and we could not maintain the effort.
I do believe that we can control the Wizards three point shooting but what I have no faith in is our ability to hit an open shot. So many times in the first quarter we would hit the open man only to have them clank off a wide open shot and well we all know how the rebounding went. So just like with the Hawks the Wizards were able to pretty much pack the paint and dare us to shoot. However unlike the Hawks the Wizards have some great interior defenders and Gortat interior help defense tonight was just out of this world good.
Also I can’t stress this enough, we have got to stop letting teams jump out to big leads where we have to play from behind all night long. I know that is easier said than done but we have got to figure it out.
The rebounding was so atrocious that I don’t even know what to say. Well yes I do and people aren’t going to like it.
We are soft as a baby’s ***. Why in the name of God anyone ever considers us a physical team is beyond me. For all of David West’s strength and ability he does not put out hard fouls or impose himself in the post. We all know about Roy so I won’t even bother but then you go to Scola and well as sad as this is to say he may have been our most physical player out there tonight. Mahinmi was absolutely useless and well that just covered all of our bigs.
We just simply lost this game because we could not match the effort of Drew ****ing Gooden on the boards. Do you know how hard it was for me to sit there and watch Drew Gooden destroy our front line?
I mean I get Gortat and Nene they are both horses and very physical, but Gooden? If our front line were Generals for the Japanese Imperial Army during WW2 each of them would take turns eviscerating themselves with their swords out of a sense of honor and shame.
There is just no excuse on the planet earth why we let Drew Gooden destroy us on the glass.
Okay I’m going to go ahead and deal with once again the elephant in the room. I do NOT care what Roy Hibbert’s problem is. I do NOT care if he is injured, has a physical or mental ailment or has problems at home.
NONE OF THAT MATTERS TO ME.
If he is incapable of playing then sit him, period. He not only was ineffective tonight but he actually was a detriment to our club as his best contribution came in the 3rd quarter when he fouled Gortat from behind and was forced to the bench.
I don’t ask for much from Roy. He doesn’t have to score a lot of points and he doesn’t even have to grab a lot of rebounds or block a ton of shots.
But he has to do something. Rebounding is a combination of positioning and effort and Roy had neither tonight.
Now as bad as Roy was, and he was just God awful, Ian Mahinmi was no better. For as great as he played in the Atlanta series he was that bad tonight. In fact I am going to say that the Wizards are going to be a bad matchup for Ian because where his speed and athleticism was an advantage vs. the Hawks, his lack of strength is going to be an issue vs. the Wizards. I know this is never going to happen in a million years but right now we really need to see if LaVoy Allen could give us some minutes in this series.
Also I know this is a pipe dream but has there been any form of official announcement about Bynum yet from the team? I don’t even think he has been to the past few home games. Believe me if there ever was a series we could use him, this is it.
We have depended on our wings to handle the load on the boards all season long but we now are facing an opponent that offers up bigs that are physical, quick and somewhat athletic. We need our bigs to counter them, but I do not know if they can or not.
One defensive thing I believe we are going to have to change is Paul George guarding Trevor Ariza. Ariza is a spot up shooter and Paul just can not stand being that disengaged during a defensive stand. So he hedges off of Ariza and tonight we saw the end result of that. I do not believe that Ariza can continue at this type of clip, if he did then he will be in the record book, but he can be a factor all series long. So either Lance or Hill are going to need to go hang out with him.
Here is my real problem. I was afraid of Atlanta because of our inability to play well, in other words I didn’t think a whole lot of the Hawks. But the Wizards are a different animal. Their starting five is better at 3 of the 5 spots and we break even on one. The one matchup that should have been in our favor tonight was not there, as Ariza outplayed George.
But again it was just one game so we will see if we can come back Wednesday.
Let’s do grades.
Paul George: C
Don’t let that final stat line fool you, he really didn’t have a good game. He could not hit any shot tonight and as I said above he could not force himself to stay with Ariza and was burned time after time because of it. This is the one spot on the floor where we were supposed to have somewhat of an advantage, however I’ve seen Ariza enough to know that he is a tough defender and I’ve seen him hit like this before. We are going to need a hell of a lot more from him than this if we hope to advance.
David West: B-
West once again allowed himself to be baited into another idiotic technical because he didn’t like the fact that Drew Gooden was being physical. IMO Drew Gooden had every right to stand at the mid court symbol and pound his chest and scream ala Tarzan. West was the only one of our starters who actually brought it all game long but even he wasn’t all that great. To his credit the Wizards big men are just a load to handle and he was getting no help.
Roy Hibbert: F
Again I don’t care what his issue is, this game is unacceptable from Solomon Hill let alone Roy Hibbert. If you can’t play for whatever reason then don’t. Let someone else get on the court who can do something, anything. Oh congrats to Roy on setting this record, he is now the first all-star player in NBA history to post 0 points and 0 rebounds in two post season games.
Lance Stephenson: C-
To much Rucker Park in his game at times tonight, very sloppy with the ball and missed shots that he often hits. Also I’m not sure he even defended anyone tonight as any of the wings actually lit up our club. We might as well address this right now, when he was taken out in the 3rd he and Frank had words. In fact Frank went down and actually said something (not nice) to him when he was standing in front of Herb. This was not a good game from Lance.
George Hill: C
I don’t know, he didn’t play bad but I never felt like he did much either. He had a run there at the end when he got some three’s to elevate his scoring total but overall did that feel like an 18 point game to anyone else? It didn’t to me.
Luis Scola: C+
Whenever I hear someone talk about Roy’s value in blocking shots I think about games like tonight when Scola had as many blocks as he did. He also had 12 points and 5 boards. As sad as this is to say he was probably the most physical player we had tonight and he was still demolished by Drew Gooden.
Evan Turner: C-
Hit a couple of shots and got to the line a couple of times but once again provided the defensive tenacity of a three toed sloth. Not sure what to make of him at times but for whatever reason he just doesn’t work in our system very well. Yes I am aware of the criticism that our system is flawed and I won’t argue against it.
Ian Mahinmi: F
It is reprehensible to be that big, that athletic and that strong and to play 12 min of ball and not grab a single rebound. Rim protection means nothing when you just get out muscled and out hustled.
C.J. Watson: B-
Did what you would expect from a backup point guard. In fact I will say that for whatever reason our offense just runs better when he is on the floor. He hit shots and he didn’t blow on defense.
I’m not grading Copeland.
Look it’s this simple we have to come out Wednesday and play from the start of the game and we absolutely have to match their effort on the glass and in the paint.
Again it is just one game however the same problems have been creeping up on us for over 2 months now.
Here is some Zakk Wylde to sooth you into a new day.
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