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WiggyRuss
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At one time this season on the Hoop there has been a lot of talk about the Raptors when they started off hot, the Hawks with their winning streak, the larger than life Cavs, and the deep and talented Bulls.
The one Eastern Conference Contender that has kinda slipped under the radar here is the Wizards. They are 29-15 which basically makes them tied with Chicago, Toronto for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots in the East.
They give up the 4th least points in the East and score the 6th most so they appear to be a balanced team. They lead the East in FG% at over 47%. As a team they are 2nd in the East in 3pt% at 38% which is a great advantage though that number is misleading since they are 15th (LAST) in the East in 3 point attempts.
It makes you wonder why they do not shoot more 3's since their efficiency is so great on them. For reference sake Toronto takes the most 3'sin the East at about 26 a game. Washington takes the least at 16 a game and the 2nd least is the Bobcats at 19 a game- so they are last by a good margin in attempts.
Rebounding wise they are 5th in the league. They really do not appear to have a glaring weakness anywhere as in just about every category they are in the top third of the East.
Starting Lineup
PG-Wall
SG- Beal
SF- Pierce
PF- Nene
C- Gortat
I think the Wizards starting lineup is the 5th best in the East after the Cavs, Bulls, Hawks and Raptors respectively- and right in front of the Heat and Bobcats. Gortat has really established himself as a legit center and a fringe all star at 12 and 8 with almost 55% shooting. He has proved worthy of his extension.
I think everyone thought Beal was on the cusp of turning into a guy worthy of all star consideration but instead of progressing he has actually taken some steps back in his play. He is shooting under 42%, and scoring less than 15 a game while seeing his turnovers tick upward slightly. His 3 pt shooting has been absolutely superb though. He should probably make a few all star teams in his career but it will def not be this year. He is a good player right now but DeRozan, Butler, Korver, Wade, are all better- and Joe Johnson, Avery Bradley, Victor Oladipo and the rejuvenated Jr Smith are not too far off from his level of play. If he gets going like he did the last half of the season like he did last year- the Wiz go from very good to downright dangerous but if he continues this level of play by merely matching opposing SGs on good teams- the Wiz are in trouble. He is very important to the Wizards.
They have done a great job of limiting Pierce's minutes to about 26 a game- who continues to play efficient basketball- and of course he is a great leader and clutch performer. He is a guy you trust with the ball in his hands at the end of the game- but he was never an amazing athlete- and at his age his defense has really started to slip and he is a liability against quick SF's.
Nene has had a lot of injuries, and is getting up there in age. While once he used to be a super efficient player who was a monster on the boards- he has regressed- Humphries off the bench actually averages more rebounds. Nene is only at 11.1 pts and 5.3 rebounds on 25 minutes a night. Its a good thing the Wiz have plenty of front court depth- because I think Nene is their biggest hole in the starting lineup at this point in his career.
John Wall has really come into his own as a big time all-star player. #1 in the NBA in assists at 17 pts, 10 assists and 4 rebounds a game. He is definitely one of the top 5 athletes in todays NBA- and the 2nd most athletic PG after the INSANE Russ Westbrook. The only part of his game that is sub-par is his 3 pt shooting at only 30%. His FG% is about 46% which is solid but not spectacular considering the few 3's he takes. He is #2 in the league in steals and is a defensive force. I think he is solidly a top 20 player- and could make a case for the top 10-15. He does turn the ball over a lot 3.7 a game- only 2PGs turn it over more often but Beal does not handle the ball much so he almost always has the ball in his hands. At age 24 he is right at the beginning of his prime and playing amazing basketball.
Last postseason Wall played in 11 games. The Wiz beat a rose-less chicago in the first round. overall though Wall only scored about 16 pts a game in the post season and shot a paltry 36.5% and only 22% from 3 with a dip in assists to only 7 a game. It was his first post-season experience so some fall off can be expected- but if the Wiz are going to win a series this year in a much-improved East- they will need a LOT more from Wall- instead of the regression we saw in last years playoff.
In the playoffs teams usually go to substantively 8 man rotations with a 9th and maybe 10th guy that get small minutes here and there. The best bench players on the Wizards are Kris Humphries, the returning Martell Webster, Rasual Butler (who will see his minutes go down to Webster), Andre Miller and Otto Porter. Humphries is solid and actually #2 in rebounding on their team. Webster has the highest ceiling and is the one impact guy on their bench in my opinion when healthy but he has had a bad back and not played all season until recently. Miller hardly plays anymore but is still crafty.
the Bulls with Mirotic, Gibson, Heinrich, Snell and Brooks i think have the best bench in the east. Gibson and Mirotic are both big time impact bench players- and Heinrich and Brooks bring different looks- defense and offense respectively- The Cavs bench is not deep- but Tristan Thompson and Jr Smith are high impact bench guys, and Marion and Miller are solid vets- TT and Smith would each be the best bench guy on theWiz...Toronto with Lou Williams and Patrick Patterson are both big impact bench guys- Greivs Vazquez might be the best bench Pg in the East. I dont know anything about most of the Hawks bench guys for the most part. Schroeder i do know i guess- and i think he can be a good player one day and start- and Sefolosha plays very solid perimter D off the bench and can guard ones, twos or threes...
i just really dont think much of the Wizards bench- sure they have a deep bench- for big guys alone Humprhies, Blair, Gooden, Seraphin...but are any of them really any good?
All in All- with a fairly healthy Rose, the addition of Gasol and Mirotic, and the development of Butler- i have to give Chicago the edge as long as Butler can slow down Wall. Nene has declined and gasol should tear him up while Gortat and Noah fight eachother to a relative standstill. Pierce does give them a leadership/clutch aspect- but against the Cavs they really have no one that can even slow down Lebron. LeBron would eat Pierce alive at this point- and Kyrie can play Wall to a relatively even position. Nene would get eaten alive by Love and cant run out to the perimeter and back. Shumpert was brought in to specifically slow down guys like Beal or Bron can move to covering Wall while shump covers Pierce-. The Wiz will have a very hard time stopping the Hawks offense- but they should be able to score on a Hawks defensive backcourt of Teague and Korver which is pretty soft-
The Wiz really need to get the 3 seed or i think they are busted first round. If they can get the 3 seed and stay away from the top 4 east teams (not counting themselves)- they can move on- but if they have to play the Hawks, raptors, Cavs or bulls first round
The one Eastern Conference Contender that has kinda slipped under the radar here is the Wizards. They are 29-15 which basically makes them tied with Chicago, Toronto for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th spots in the East.
They give up the 4th least points in the East and score the 6th most so they appear to be a balanced team. They lead the East in FG% at over 47%. As a team they are 2nd in the East in 3pt% at 38% which is a great advantage though that number is misleading since they are 15th (LAST) in the East in 3 point attempts.
It makes you wonder why they do not shoot more 3's since their efficiency is so great on them. For reference sake Toronto takes the most 3'sin the East at about 26 a game. Washington takes the least at 16 a game and the 2nd least is the Bobcats at 19 a game- so they are last by a good margin in attempts.
Rebounding wise they are 5th in the league. They really do not appear to have a glaring weakness anywhere as in just about every category they are in the top third of the East.
Starting Lineup
PG-Wall
SG- Beal
SF- Pierce
PF- Nene
C- Gortat
I think the Wizards starting lineup is the 5th best in the East after the Cavs, Bulls, Hawks and Raptors respectively- and right in front of the Heat and Bobcats. Gortat has really established himself as a legit center and a fringe all star at 12 and 8 with almost 55% shooting. He has proved worthy of his extension.
I think everyone thought Beal was on the cusp of turning into a guy worthy of all star consideration but instead of progressing he has actually taken some steps back in his play. He is shooting under 42%, and scoring less than 15 a game while seeing his turnovers tick upward slightly. His 3 pt shooting has been absolutely superb though. He should probably make a few all star teams in his career but it will def not be this year. He is a good player right now but DeRozan, Butler, Korver, Wade, are all better- and Joe Johnson, Avery Bradley, Victor Oladipo and the rejuvenated Jr Smith are not too far off from his level of play. If he gets going like he did the last half of the season like he did last year- the Wiz go from very good to downright dangerous but if he continues this level of play by merely matching opposing SGs on good teams- the Wiz are in trouble. He is very important to the Wizards.
They have done a great job of limiting Pierce's minutes to about 26 a game- who continues to play efficient basketball- and of course he is a great leader and clutch performer. He is a guy you trust with the ball in his hands at the end of the game- but he was never an amazing athlete- and at his age his defense has really started to slip and he is a liability against quick SF's.
Nene has had a lot of injuries, and is getting up there in age. While once he used to be a super efficient player who was a monster on the boards- he has regressed- Humphries off the bench actually averages more rebounds. Nene is only at 11.1 pts and 5.3 rebounds on 25 minutes a night. Its a good thing the Wiz have plenty of front court depth- because I think Nene is their biggest hole in the starting lineup at this point in his career.
John Wall has really come into his own as a big time all-star player. #1 in the NBA in assists at 17 pts, 10 assists and 4 rebounds a game. He is definitely one of the top 5 athletes in todays NBA- and the 2nd most athletic PG after the INSANE Russ Westbrook. The only part of his game that is sub-par is his 3 pt shooting at only 30%. His FG% is about 46% which is solid but not spectacular considering the few 3's he takes. He is #2 in the league in steals and is a defensive force. I think he is solidly a top 20 player- and could make a case for the top 10-15. He does turn the ball over a lot 3.7 a game- only 2PGs turn it over more often but Beal does not handle the ball much so he almost always has the ball in his hands. At age 24 he is right at the beginning of his prime and playing amazing basketball.
Last postseason Wall played in 11 games. The Wiz beat a rose-less chicago in the first round. overall though Wall only scored about 16 pts a game in the post season and shot a paltry 36.5% and only 22% from 3 with a dip in assists to only 7 a game. It was his first post-season experience so some fall off can be expected- but if the Wiz are going to win a series this year in a much-improved East- they will need a LOT more from Wall- instead of the regression we saw in last years playoff.
In the playoffs teams usually go to substantively 8 man rotations with a 9th and maybe 10th guy that get small minutes here and there. The best bench players on the Wizards are Kris Humphries, the returning Martell Webster, Rasual Butler (who will see his minutes go down to Webster), Andre Miller and Otto Porter. Humphries is solid and actually #2 in rebounding on their team. Webster has the highest ceiling and is the one impact guy on their bench in my opinion when healthy but he has had a bad back and not played all season until recently. Miller hardly plays anymore but is still crafty.
the Bulls with Mirotic, Gibson, Heinrich, Snell and Brooks i think have the best bench in the east. Gibson and Mirotic are both big time impact bench players- and Heinrich and Brooks bring different looks- defense and offense respectively- The Cavs bench is not deep- but Tristan Thompson and Jr Smith are high impact bench guys, and Marion and Miller are solid vets- TT and Smith would each be the best bench guy on theWiz...Toronto with Lou Williams and Patrick Patterson are both big impact bench guys- Greivs Vazquez might be the best bench Pg in the East. I dont know anything about most of the Hawks bench guys for the most part. Schroeder i do know i guess- and i think he can be a good player one day and start- and Sefolosha plays very solid perimter D off the bench and can guard ones, twos or threes...
i just really dont think much of the Wizards bench- sure they have a deep bench- for big guys alone Humprhies, Blair, Gooden, Seraphin...but are any of them really any good?
All in All- with a fairly healthy Rose, the addition of Gasol and Mirotic, and the development of Butler- i have to give Chicago the edge as long as Butler can slow down Wall. Nene has declined and gasol should tear him up while Gortat and Noah fight eachother to a relative standstill. Pierce does give them a leadership/clutch aspect- but against the Cavs they really have no one that can even slow down Lebron. LeBron would eat Pierce alive at this point- and Kyrie can play Wall to a relatively even position. Nene would get eaten alive by Love and cant run out to the perimeter and back. Shumpert was brought in to specifically slow down guys like Beal or Bron can move to covering Wall while shump covers Pierce-. The Wiz will have a very hard time stopping the Hawks offense- but they should be able to score on a Hawks defensive backcourt of Teague and Korver which is pretty soft-
The Wiz really need to get the 3 seed or i think they are busted first round. If they can get the 3 seed and stay away from the top 4 east teams (not counting themselves)- they can move on- but if they have to play the Hawks, raptors, Cavs or bulls first round
