There's no dominant team in the East. The Wizards could go to the Finals or lose in the 1st round, or, hell, miss entirely. There's not a better starting 5 in the East but it'll all depend on bench play and if they give a shit on defense.
They should win 4 of their next 5. The play three 10-win-or-less teams in Atlanta, Chicago, and Memphis, plus the Knicks and Rockets. I don't have high hopes for them beating Houston but they should take care of business with the other four. That'll leave them at 23-16 and likely in the top 5 or 6. We'll see.
Wiz starting to put it together. Mopped the floor with the Knicks last night. If they could only get rid of Mahinmi so they could have some flexibility to add at the TDL.
I've seen Wall and Beal connect on outstanding plays that would have other players chest-bumping and they just walk away from each other to celebrate with other teammates. They are not friends or even friendly and it will eventually sink the team.
I would trade Beal now, honestly. For Cousins. Would need to get Cousins resigned as part of it. Cousins is 3 years older, so thats the rub (but hes 27, in his prime). We may even be able to get something more from NO for an already signed Beal.
Wizards can deal Gortat or Mahimni in a separate deal for a shooter.
Mahinmi has negative value. He's a bad player on a terrible contract.
The problem w/ Wall and Beal is they're both absolutely awful in the 4th quarter. Both are bottom 10 this year in 4th quarter shooting percentage. You are going to lose leads and lose close games when your two best players can't perform in the clutch. Here's another article that highlights their struggles.
Hence why I'd like to have a guy like Cousins. Having a "true" low post performer at crunch time opens a lot of doors for the rest of the squad (Wall, Porter...even Morris). Plus Cousins can run with the best of them.
far as Gortat and Mahimni... Gortat doesnt have negative value. Deal him to a team that needs length (Milwaukee?) for a shooter
When was the last time Ernie made an actual meaningful basketball trade that didn't involve a 1st round pick?
I think never?
Coach Ken staying at Navy. He interviewed at Arizona and almost left for that role but ultimately decided he wanted to stay in Annapolis (for next season, at least).
If ken did go, you think Ivan would have gone with him? Think he's the next coach in waiting
This wizards team is an absolute disgrace. Imagine the caps constantly losing to Arizona. This is what is going on. Utah is not good. Charlotte is not good. Brooklyn is not good. This has to stop. This team had expectations to win the east. It was their time. How can they look this bad?
This wizards team is an absolute disgrace. Imagine the caps constantly losing to Arizona. This is what is going on. Utah is not good. Charlotte is not good. Brooklyn is not good. This has to stop. This team had expectations to win the east. It was their time. How can they look this bad?
A few reasons:
Overall, most of this boils down to effort. They don't put in the effort so the execution isn't there.
- Their compete level is abysmal. They look like a team that thinks they've arrived so they don't show up against teams they feel are inferior. They get beat to loose balls, don't box out, don't rebound, don't try and take charges, etc. They just exist when they play bad teams.
- Their half-court offense is not great. Most of the time it consists of passing the ball slowly around the perimeter until the shot clock is winding down, then Wall drives to the bucket and tries (unsuccessfully) to draw a foul or throws up a brick from 12-18ft.
- Their defense is bad.
- They're really only dangerous when they can get out and run. If you can't get stops on defense and can't rebound you can't consistently create fast breaks.
Is there any possibility that Grunfeld gets fired when they get bounced in the 1st round by Miami?
Also, is there any pair of stars in this league who are worse at closing games than Wall and Beal? I seriously doubt it.