The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[RonArtest15]

In a point guard driven league, your PG better damn well learn to shoot the ball. With that said, yes, he's done a damn good job running the team, but you can't dribble penetrate on every possession. Wall HAS to learn to shoot the ball better. So yeah, I'm interested in his shooting percentage getting better.

And there was an improvement between his rookie season and year two. I'm more interested in him being able to control his pace and break down a defense to get easy buckets close to the hoop. This is what Rondo does masterfully. Wall can get there. Perimeter shooting is something he'll have to work on, but that's the least of my concerns when discussing Wall's game.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

A. I think the NBA is better now than it has been at any point since the glory years of '84 to '94.

B. Having said that, there are some things missing. And I think the problem actually starts at the high school level. And the problem at the high school level is AAU. In the old days, you had one high school coach - who if you were good enough recruited you and maybe paid you. You stuck with that coach for four years. If you were good enough, you were in a junior high program that answered to that coach. So you spent six years in a "System" that was completely coach-driven and designed to teach you the basics of basketball. College ball was basically finishing school.

I mean, do you think the guys under Morgan Wooten needed to learn all that much when they got to college?

Isiah Thomas got most of his basketball IQ from that prick coach in Hoop Dreams and Bobby Knight just put the finishing touches on it the two years he had him.

Now, elite players are constantly moving between high schools and AAU clubs. Their world is player driven and a lot of what they do is just a slightly better version of And-1 basketball.

There is an upside to this however. The player of today are playing a lot MORE basketball and playing against better competition. So, their skills get better but their understanding of the game gets stagnant.

If Magic and Bird came along today, they would probably have been teammates on some kind of midwest 16 and under club. They may have chosen to go to school together.

What's ironic is that the exact opposite thing is happening in high school football. I think the reason that all these rookies come into the NFL ready to play is because they have been running sophisticated offenses since Junior High.

My high school football team was really good and sent a number of players to D-1. We recently had a reunion of the team that won a state title my junior year. We were watching game tape and were amazed at the caveman offense we were running. And it was sophisticated compared to the offenses our opponent's were running. The same high school has a mediocre team today, but they are running a spread attack with read option elements. Our QB had to make one decision on most plays - keep it or pitch it. The school's QB today has to make 8 or 9 decisions at the line.

In Texas, the offenses in high school would confuse Bill Walsh. The good teams run no-huddle and call everything at the line. These QBs get to college and are ready to run these sci-fi offenses. See: Johnny Football. I don't know if he will have the natural physical ability to succeed in the NFL, but after two or three more years in that A&M offense, an NFL offense will seem childish.

[Destino]

And there was an improvement between his rookie season and year two. I'm more interested in him being able to control his pace and break down a defense to get easy buckets close to the hoop. This is what Rondo does masterfully. Wall can get there. Perimeter shooting is something he'll have to work on, but that's the least of my concerns when discussing Wall's game.

What do you think improved in year two? I'm curious because I didn't see any improvement.

[stevemcqueen1]

And there was an improvement between his rookie season and year two. I'm more interested in him being able to control his pace and break down a defense to get easy buckets close to the hoop. This is what Rondo does masterfully. Wall can get there. Perimeter shooting is something he'll have to work on, but that's the least of my concerns when discussing Wall's game.

I'm in agreement. I'll add that my other big concern is his half court defense. He needs to become that elite on ball defender his potential says he can become. He's a great transition defender already. Some of the stuff he does there is amazing and that's just all pure instincts and improvising, not a set thing. That's how he's like LeBron or Wade. What he needs to do next is become like those two are in the halfcourt defense. And if people remember, LeBron wasn't really a good defender when he came in. It took LeBron several years to become who he is now.

If he improves his defense and his game management, it won't even matter that much whether he can shoot or not. We'll be getting outstanding PG play already. Become Rondo first Wall. You can worry about becoming Rose or Westbrook and shooting later.

---------- Post added November-16th-2012 at 03:13 PM ----------

What do you think improved in year two? I'm curious because I didn't see any improvement.

Getting to the line.

[pjfootballer]

And there was an improvement between his rookie season and year two. I'm more interested in him being able to control his pace and break down a defense to get easy buckets close to the hoop. This is what Rondo does masterfully. Wall can get there. Perimeter shooting is something he'll have to work on, but that's the least of my concerns when discussing Wall's game.

.409 to .423 is a slight improvement, but still needs improving. Wall can get to the hoop, but on those occasions that he can't, like Rondo, he'll have to prove he can hit shots.

[Destino]

Wittman blame lack of respect by the refs for the Wizards failing to get to the free throw line
http://www.csnwashington.com/basketb...et-any-respect

After his team took only 11 free throws - or 22 less than the Mavericks - in Wednesday's 107-101 loss at Dallas, Wizards coach Randy Wittman threw another factor into mix: respect, or rather the lack of it by officials.

"Well we made shots, and we played inside out. And we talked about needing to do it more. And we had a couple possessions there late that we didn’t get balls thrown inside, and took some ill advised shots. But that’s basically what it was; we made some shots, we played inside out, we moved the ball, had 24 assists. For whatever reason this team doesn’t get any respect," Wittman said.

Washington, last in the NBA with 16.6 attempts per game, finished 10 of 11 from the line while Dallas went 26 of 33. Only three players - Jordan Crawford, Martell Webster and Trevor Booker - even attempted a free throw for Washington.

"We go to the rim, and had 11 free throws tonight. These young guys just have to make a name for themselves, and it’s just baffling some of the things that are said to me by the refs for why they don’t call it. So, maybe we just have to send the game film everyday to the league.”

IMO that's complete bull****. I watch the games and they get to the line when they attack the basket the problem is they go through long periods of time where they seem allergic to contact. When the entire team starts jacking up shots the coach is to blame. He needs to own this and fix it rather than pretend the refs are to blame.

---------- Post added November-16th-2012 at 03:23 PM ----------

.409 to .423 is a slight improvement, but still needs improving. Wall can get to the hoop, but on those occasions that he can't, like Rondo, he'll have to prove he can hit shots.

How much of that improvement in overall FG% came from abandoning the three point shot?

[StillUnknown]

Wittman blame lack of respect by the refs for the Wizards failing to get to the free throw line
http://www.csnwashington.com/basketb...et-any-respect


IMO that's complete bull****. I watch the games and they get to the line when they attack the basket the problem is they go through long periods of time where they seem allergic to contact. When the entire team starts jacking up shots the coach is to blame. He needs to own this and fix it rather than pretend the refs are to blame.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports...7_story_1.html

The roster might not be stacked with talent, but the players have created difficult situations for themselves. They rely heavily on three-pointers without having many serious threats from long distance. They go through several scoring droughts but refuse to attack the rim for layups for free throw opportunities. Wittman has complained about his team not getting respect from officials but the Wizards are last in the league in field goal attempts within eight feet.

I thought Wittman was supposed to be the "no excuses" guy?

[RonArtest15]

Wittman blame lack of respect by the refs for the Wizards failing to get to the free throw line
http://www.csnwashington.com/basketb...et-any-respect


IMO that's complete bull****. I watch the games and they get to the line when they attack the basket the problem is they go through long periods of time where they seem allergic to contact. When the entire team starts jacking up shots the coach is to blame. He needs to own this and fix it rather than pretend the refs are to blame.

---------- Post added November-16th-2012 at 03:23 PM ----------



How much of that improvement in overall FG% came from abandoning the three point shot?

and?

There are guys around the league who are not good perimeter shooters but keep doing it. Wall's bump in FG% was due to him realizing that his bread and butter will be scoring closer to the hoop. Like I mentioned before, I hope that he has worked on controlling his pace and breaking down defenses. If he has, we'll see another increase in year 3 of his FG%.

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

Wall is not good around the basket.

If he can improve that, if he could finish around the rim as much as he should, his scoring will obviously increase.

A. I think the NBA is better now than it has been at any point since the glory years of '84 to '94.

B. Having said that, there are some things missing. And I think the problem actually starts at the high school level. And the problem at the high school level is AAU. In the old days, you had one high school coach - who if you were good enough recruited you and maybe paid you. You stuck with that coach for four years. If you were good enough, you were in a junior high program that answered to that coach. So you spent six years in a "System" that was completely coach-driven and designed to teach you the basics of basketball. College ball was basically finishing school.

I mean, do you think the guys under Morgan Wooten needed to learn all that much when they got to college?

Isiah Thomas got most of his basketball IQ from that prick coach in Hoop Dreams and Bobby Knight just put the finishing touches on it the two years he had him.

Now, elite players are constantly moving between high schools and AAU clubs. Their world is player driven and a lot of what they do is just a slightly better version of And-1 basketball.

There is an upside to this however. The player of today are playing a lot MORE basketball and playing against better competition. So, their skills get better but their understanding of the game gets stagnant.

If Magic and Bird came along today, they would probably have been teammates on some kind of midwest 16 and under club. They may have chosen to go to school together.

What's ironic is that the exact opposite thing is happening in high school football. I think the reason that all these rookies come into the NFL ready to play is because they have been running sophisticated offenses since Junior High.

My high school football team was really good and sent a number of players to D-1. We recently had a reunion of the team that won a state title my junior year. We were watching game tape and were amazed at the caveman offense we were running. And it was sophisticated compared to the offenses our opponent's were running. The same high school has a mediocre team today, but they are running a spread attack with read option elements. Our QB had to make one decision on most plays - keep it or pitch it. The school's QB today has to make 8 or 9 decisions at the line.

In Texas, the offenses in high school would confuse Bill Walsh. The good teams run no-huddle and call everything at the line. These QBs get to college and are ready to run these sci-fi offenses. See: Johnny Football. I don't know if he will have the natural physical ability to succeed in the NFL, but after two or three more years in that A&M offense, an NFL offense will seem childish.

this is exactly what ive been saying throughout this debate. Nail on the head.


And Ive noticed the jump in college football too. Some Texas HS offenses are more sophisticated than some college programs. They also have the 7 on 7 teams as well in the summer. It is 100% the opposite of basketball player development in this country.

[RonArtest15]

Wall is not good around the basket.

If he can improve that, if he could finish around the rim as much as he should, his scoring will obviously increase.

Which is why I said he needs to learn to control his pace and break down defenses to get easy buckets - like Rondo. The bump in his FG% was partially due to him cutting down on 3's. But why fault the man for making a correction to his game? Would people rather him keep chucking from outside of his comfort zone like Trevor Ariza or Josh Smith?

[AsiaticSkinsFan]

Which is why I said he needs to learn to control his pace and break down defenses to get easy buckets - like Rondo. The bump in his FG% was partially due to him cutting down on 3's. But why fault the man for making a correction to his game? Would people rather him keep chucking from outside of his comfort zone like Trevor Ariza or Josh Smith?

I dont disagree

That slow down in speed may help him run the half court offense better too, I hope.

[RonArtest15]

I dont disagree

That slow down in speed may help him run the half court offense better too, I hope.

Yeah man...i really think if he can figure out how to control his pace, we'll see a MUCH improved Wall going forward.

*Read Nene is 3 weeks out from playing.

[stevemcqueen1]

I think John does need to continue improving his touch around the basket. He gets there so easily. His best looks are going to be coming from that range.

He also needs to keep adding those advanced ball handling moves to his repertoire to improve as a finisher.

I think he will though. He may never become CP3 or DWade as a ball handler and finisher, but he'll be good IMO.

If John had MKG's finishing touch, man he would shoot for a crazy percentage. John's speed when he drives is absolutely shocking. He can get by anyone.

What I'm looking for most from John is defensive improvements. I think that's the main way he can make himself completely invaluable. His offensive will be fine just in that drive and dish mode, he has good vision and he gets to the line at will. I don't think getting a dribble pullup or a step back is going to make as big a difference in his level of play as becoming the top notch defender he should.

[StillUnknown]

Crawford and Vesely in the starting lineup tonight, Beal & Booker off the bench.

[Fight4RGIII]

So instead of starting off dead then getting a little punch off of the bench, we start off great to set the tone? I'll take that.

---------- Post added November-17th-2012 at 07:21 PM ----------

Jan is in BEAST MODE