The Official Washington Wizards Thread

[pjfootballer]

Take solace fellow Wizards fans. Why? Because it seems like its 10x more crummy to be a fan of the LA Lakers now. I was listening to the game locally last night and the radio announcers (John Ireland and Mykel Thompson) were going to cry after they got blitzed by the Knicks. What's worse than being a cellar-dweller? Thinking that you've got a dream-team roster, and squeezing out less than .500 basketball... if the Wizards make this game tonight one of these 70-80 point "no team can make a shot" games.... well... they are the Wizards.

But in all seriousness I think being in the Wizards position with a known dreadful roster is better than the Lakers where they think they are good, but playing mediocre and repeating to themselves "we'll be better soon... we'll be better soon... wait till Nash comes in...."

1977-78. Thirty-Five years of not getting past the 2nd round. SERIOUSLY? You really want to compare the Lakers who are only 23 games into a season with THIRTY-FIVE years of futility? This has got to be the dumbest post I've literally ever seen. Wholly Freakin God I can't believe you would even think this is comparible. That's like a YANKEES fan coming to a CUBS forum and telling them to be patient. Lord have mercy, Good golly miss Molly, pass the potatoes.

[StillUnknown]

http://www.nba.com/wizards/news/wizards-injury-update

The following is a statement from Dr. David Altchek on the stress injury to John Wall.

“John’s examination today showed improvement in his stress injury that will allow him to begin ramping up his activity level. There is still some irritation in the knee which we have treated over his last several visits with a series of three lubricating Synvisc injections, the last of which was given today. He will continue to be evaluated on an ongoing basis.”

Wall has missed the first 19 games of the 2012-13 season with the stress injury in his left knee. In two seasons with the Wizards, he has appeared in 135 games, averaging 16.3 points, 8.2 assists and 4.6 rebounds in 37.0 minutes per contest.

[Destino]

http://www.tedstake.com/2012/12/14/consider-the-source/



Close losses are acceptable. Unless we start getting blown out regularly, there is no chance Ernie is going anywhere.

He must be trolling fans. He can't be dumb enough to attempt selling moral victories to wizards fans. The fans mock close losses because they lost their silver lining long ago.

More interesting however is this part:

I would like to debunk though a statement and notion that originated in The Washington Post that a potential trade would have put our team in the luxury tax and thus we “turned down” a deal because we were “unwilling to commit” financially. That is simply not true. First, we would not have gone into the luxury tax – that is simple math. Second, economics were not a factor.

That seems like an awfully specific and narrow denial.

[Fight4RGIII]

Tough task again for Beal tonight.

---------- Post added December-14th-2012 at 07:27 PM ----------

If anyone just saw that move Kobe pulled on Seraphin...how did he not see that coming?[COLOR="Gold"]

---------- Post added December-14th-2012 at 07:45 PM ----------

[mboyd784]

I know he's streaky and limited, but I love Cartier Martin. When that dude gets hot, it's lights out!

[stevemcqueen1]

He must be trolling fans. He can't be dumb enough to attempt selling moral victories to wizards fans. The fans mock close losses because they lost their silver lining long ago.

More interesting however is this part:

That seems like an awfully specific and narrow denial.

I'm not sure I believe him. I'm against that trade for basketball reasons. I don't know if I believe the FO was against it purely for basketball reasons either. I hope so. But Ted has a pattern of fiscal conservatism that makes me question his words. He was one of the biggest luxury tax hawks during the lockout. He's been risk averse financially, with Nene being the only financially weighty move he's made. Look at how long it took him to amnesty Blatche.

I think the financials are a part of every decision we make. Too big a part sometimes.

[stevemcqueen1]

I know he's streaky and limited, but I love Cartier Martin. When that dude gets hot, it's lights out!

Me too. He's our guy. If he were a consistent defender, he would be a true keeper. He struggles to get on the floor though. I love rooting for players like him. We've had way too few guys like that emerge for us.

[Thinking Skins]

I freaking love Cartier Martin. Glad he's getting playing time tonight.

[abdcskins]

If the Lakers lose to us they truly are trash.

I had a feeling when they hired D'Antoni and dissed Phil Jackson that they'd be done for. That's just bad karma.

[stevemcqueen1]

The team has been playing better lately. Rotations and roles are crystallizing. I've got a feeling Wall is going to come back around February and we're going to play close to .500 ball to close out the year, finish around the 6th pick or so again. Do just enough for Ted to stick with Grunfeld and Wittman for at least one more year after which we can expect to start about 2-10.

[mboyd784]

Shooting 54% in the first half! When's the last time that happened?

[Fight4RGIII]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Kfog6nS-N8I

NSFW but the John Wall part hard me dying. This guys videos are great if you love the NBA.

[Thinking Skins]

The team has been playing better lately. Rotations and roles are crystallizing. I've got a feeling Wall is going to come back around February and we're going to play close to .500 ball to close out the year, finish around the 6th pick or so again. Do just enough for Ted to stick with Grunfeld and Wittman for at least one more year after which we can expect to start about 2-10.

My problem with Grunfield and Whittman this year is that after all the supposed excitement about the six game winning streak last year, we acted like it meant nothing going into the offseason and this year. You complain about our rotations and our offensive sets, but the problem (as I see it) with this team early on is taht we didn't trust or know each other. The players who finished out the year, many of whom are still here, were sitting at the bottom of the rotation getting replaced by Price, Okafur, Ariza, Webster and Beal. That totally ruuned the chemistry that we built last year and we basically were acting like an expansion team trying to throw together a brand new starting 5.

In a way the injuries to Price and Ariza have forced us to go back to some of the old faithful lineups and we're reaping some benefits of it. Even during the 0-11 losing streak we were still seeing the positives from Crawford, Singleton and the likes - the names we knew and trusted. People can say that its all a part of learning a system, but if you've got 5 guys learnign a system then they shouldn't be forced into the starting lineup over legit starters, or at least starters who haven't been beaten out in a practice atmosphere. That was my problem with the team this year.

---------- Post added December-14th-2012 at 08:27 PM ----------

I just hope that Whittman doesn't have a quick hook with Martin. How is a shooter supposed to get comfortable in the game if he has a feeling that if he misses three in a row he'll get benched and won't see the floor for 3 games or so?

[MonkFan8]

Beal the victim of 3 of the worst foul calls I've seen in the NBA this year. Tough luck for the rookie.

Not sure what the Lakers have done lately to get calls like that, especially on the ****ing road.

[Hersh]

My problem with Grunfield and Whittman this year is that after all the supposed excitement about the six game winning streak last year, we acted like it meant nothing going into the offseason and this year.

That's because the winning streak at the end of last season meant nothing. Seriously, what was there to get excited about? Beating a Miami team twice in which the big-3 didn't play either game, beating the worst team ever in Charlotte, beating an equally awful Cleveland team?