SB Nation - Fabricio Oberto

Keys to the Palace

JakeTheSnake — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:52:13 -0000

More photos » by Alex Brandon - AP

Scott Skiles shows his outrage after being given a Red Lock of Shame.

Last week, we got an e-mail from user ledellforlife asking if we could do a weekly segment in the same vein as Japers' Rink's Capital Ups and Downs. After some brainstorming and tinkering, we are proud to unveil the first installment.

Most of you probably know that the title refers to Ed Tapscott's famous response to why Nick Young wasn't getting playing time last season. In case you don't remember, here's the quote:

"Someone asked me the other day if I have a dog house. I said, 'No I don't have a dog house, I have a Palace of Good Play.' I'm looking for someone who's playing well so I can put them in that palace."

Each week, we'll be handing out golden keys to the players whose good play has earned them the right to stay in the Palace of Good Play. Each player who makes it inside the Palace will be rewarded with the Gold Key to the Palace of Good Play.

Likewise, those who do not play well enough to enter the Palace of Good Play will receiver their own logo. Their scarlet letter will come in the form of the Red Lock of Shame.

After the jump, we'll take a look at each player on the roster to see who gets to stay in the Palace, and who will be forced to sleep in the cold.

Gilbert Arenas

#0 / Guard / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 25 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds in 41 minutes
vs. Indiana: 22 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds in 35 minutes

It's hard to deny entrance to the palace for someone who recorded a triple-double and played a solid week of basketball, but those free throws are going to stick out in people's minds until he can prove that he can hit clutch shots again.

Final Verdict

Andray Blatche

#7 / Forward / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists in 26 minutes
vs. Indiana: 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 assists in 19 minutes

There were questions about how Andray Blatche would adjust after Antawn Jamison returned. So far, he's done a magnifcent job of showing that he can still be productive in a more limited role. Maybe it would have been premature to do so earlier this season, but I think we can finally give kudos to Blatche for finally turning the corner.

Final Verdict

Earl Boykins

#12 / Guard / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 2 points, 3 assists in 12 minutes
vs. Indiana: 14 points, 2 assists in 19 minutes

After playing the shortest amount of time he has played all season against the Celtics, Boykins saw his playing time rebound to the norm against Indiana. Fortunately for Earl, it looks like his diminished PT was just an abberation and he will continue to be a key reserve for the team moving forward. Unfortunately, his playing time was the only rebound he collected all of last week.

Final Verdict

Caron Butler

#3 / Forward / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 10 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists in 41 minutes
vs. Indiana: 23 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists in 38 minutes

Saturday night's game against Indiana was the first game this season where Caron took over 15 shots and hit over half of them. Although they lost on Saturday, it is the most comfortable the Big 3 have looked playing together all season long. Caron holds the key to getting the Big 3, and in turn, the rest of the team in sync, but I'm not ready to give him the key to the palace just yet.

Final Verdict

Javaris Crittenton

#8 / Guard / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: DNP - Injured
vs. Indiana: DNP - Injured

One has to wonder if the presence of Earl Boykins hasn't totally eliminated Javaris Crittenton from the picture. Nick Young has been in and out of the doghouse all season long and the team picked up his option, unlike Crittenton. If he can't find a way to contribute early on, don't be surprised to see those DNP - Injureds to into DNP - Coach's Decisions once he comes back.

Final Verdict

Randy Foye

#15 / Guard / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 6 points, 3 rebounds in 13 minutes
vs. Indiana: 0 points, 2 assists, 1 rebound in 7 minutes

You have to wonder if Randy Foye feels a little bit like Wally Pipp, watching as the player who was supposed to just be an injury replacement end up taking most of his playing time. Then again, when you hurry up an off-balance three pointer with 8 seconds left because you didn't realize how much time you had left, it's hard to pass blame off on someone else.

Final Verdict

Brendan Haywood

#33 / Center / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 17 points, 8 rebounds in 35 minutes
vs. Indiana: 6 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assists in 35 minutes

It's a good thing that Haywood's play speaks for itself, because his blog was not doing a very good job. While insightful at times, his controversial takes on some issues (most notably the Tiger Woods fiasco) got him in some hot water and he has decided to pull a Gilbert Arenas and retire from the blogging game.

Final Verdict

Mike James

#13 / Guard / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: DNP -Injured
vs. Indiana: DNP - Injured

He might be injured, and he might be on the trading block, but he's still a bbbeeeeeaaaaasssssttttt.

Final Verdict

Antawn Jamison

#4 / Forward / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 16 points, 8 rebounds in 35 minutes
vs. Indiana: 20 points, 7 rebounds in 45 minutes

Antawn Jamison is more consistent than you are, he's tougher too.

Final Verdict

JaVale McGee

#34 / Center / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 0 points, 0 rebounds in 3 minutes
vs. Indiana: 0 points, 0 rebounds in less than a minute

JaVale McGee made sure the void for a blogging presence from a Wizards center did not last for long. In his latest entry, he told readers:

So really really the point of this blog secretly is to dare anyone with a Ps3 to a challenge on Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2.

I seriously think i'm one of the best in that game, let alone the NBA.

This should be interesting.

Final Verdict

Dominic McGuire

#5 / Forward / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: DNP - Coach's Decision
vs. Indiana: 4 rebounds, 1 assist in 6 minutes

After receiving a nice palm to the face on Thursday, Taser responded with a solid performance in limited minutes against Indiana. We'll see if his solid rebounding and positive +/- are enough to get him some more burn in the future.

Final Verdict

Mike Miller

#6 / Guard / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: DNP - Injured
vs. Indiana: DNP - Injured

Odds are, if Mike was playing he would have a key to the palace, but I just can't give him a key for looking nice in a suit. Maybe if he got a haircut I would reconsider.

Final Verdict

Fabricio Oberto

#21 / Forward / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 1 assist, 3 fouls in under 2 minutes
vs. Indiana: DNP - Coach's Decision

Remember when this guy was starting games this season?

Final Verdict

DeShawn Stevenson

#2 / Guard / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 5 points, 0 assists in 15 minutes
vs. Indiana: 2 points, 3 assists, 4 rebounds in 19 minutes

Starting DeShawn Stevenson might bethe key to creating a balance between Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler. In the two games Stevenson has started, Gilbert has averaged 21.5 points per game and Caron has averaged 21. Then again, the Wizards have lost both games he has started, so maybe it isn't worth exploring any further.

Final Verdict

Nick Young

#1 / Guard / Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: 4 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound in 11 minutes
vs. Indiana: 1- points, 2 rebounds in 13 minutes

Flip has been tough with Nick Young this season. He has put him in the doghouse a few times for poor play, but he has also been fair in giving him chances to work his way out. His recent stretch of strong play makes it appear that the hard work is paying off.

Final Verdict

Flip Saunders

Coach - Washington Wizards

This Week

vs. Boston: Lost to Boston 104-102
vs. Indiana:

The start of the year hasn't gone the way Flip would have wanted or expected, but there are still some bad habits that he has to break the team of before they can truly move forward. The good news is that he is doing a good job of starting to break the team of their worst bad habit, sloppy defense.

Final Verdict

Bobcats Pound Wizards 90-78; Four Game Winning Streak

David Arnott — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:30:43 -0000

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The Charlotte Bobcats won their fourth game in a row and their first on the road this season, crushing the Washington Wizards, 90-78. Again, Gerald Wallace led the way, and for the second night in a row, the Cats jumped out to a big double digit lead in the third quarter.

The Wizards' bench showed signs of life and briefly threatened to make a fourth quarter charge and cut the lead, but the Cats' starters came back in and put a stop to it. As explosive and, for lack of a better term, as Name Brand as Arenas and Jamison are, when they were on the floor, Washington's offense sputtered, but when guys like Dominic McGuire and Fabricio Oberto came on, the offense just seemed to flow a little better. It was a testament to efficiency over volume.

Even that lineup, though, wasn't enough to blunt the Cats' attack, as they're at full throttle now, combining great defense and adequate offense. That's a winner.

Highlights and lowlights after the jump.

BAD

-- Boris Diaw's struggles continued. It was awesome that Antawn Jamison ended up with only 6 points on 2-9 shooting, but Diaw was only 3-12 from the field, himself. Without a dominant scorer, everyone has to contribute, and Diaw hasn't been carrying his weight. Whether that's due to a simple slump or due to injury, it'd be best if the Cats didn't have to overcome his offensive deficiency every night.

GOOD

-- Wallace's play is All Star caliber at the moment. Should he continue this production for the next twenty games or so, he'll be a strong candidate to be a reserve forward on the East team. Usually, I don't think players have to "give up" their concentration on scoring in order to emphasize rebounding, but it certainly seems that way with Crash. Given that he wasn't the most efficient scorer to begin with, that seems like a great tradeoff. 14 points and 14 rebounds from the small forward spot, with top-notch defense, is a line we'll take any night.

-- In the last four games, Raymond Felton has attempted 7, 10, 11, and 8 field goals. He's never averaged fewer than 12 per game in any season of his career, and he's led the Cats in field goal attempts in three of his four seasons. However, recently, Felton finally seems to have accepted that he improves the team's chances of winning when he facilitates rather than finishes. I've deliberately chosen the word facilitate instead of create because the ethos is more about cutting down on mistakes than on conjuring effective offense himself. In these four games, he's turned the ball over only 1 time. This is a welcome change, and I'm glad someone convinced Felton he should be more like Chris Paul and Steve Nash, both excellent scorers, yet rarely their teams' leaders in attempts. I'll be ecstatic if he reinvents himself, mid-season, as a defense-first facilitator, because he's absolutely capable of it, and it's what probably works best with this roster: Felton and Diaw facilitating and scoring a little, Wallace, Jackson, and Murray finishing, and Wallace and Chandler cleaning up.

-- Stephen Jackson finished with 11 points on only 4-12 shooting, but, again, he had the kind of all-around game from the off guard position that makes it okay for us to have a luxury like Diaw in the front court. 6 boards and very good defense on Caron Butler.

-- Tyson Chandler actually contributed some scoring to go with his usual solid defense and rebounding. 12 points on 4-6 shooting, including a twelve foot jumper.

-- Man, I love Derrick Brown. 10 points on 4-7 shooting in more than 15 minutes.

Spurs vs Wizards: Stats of the Game

BlaseE — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:54:44 -0000

Sorry for the lateness on this, but Sunday is a slow day for all of us to catch up on our NFL (I think). The Cowboys are really playing ugly right now and the Titans (and VY) get a MNF game to conflict with a Spurs home game. Cedric Benson is hurt so I rooted against the Bengals today and they lost! To the Raiders! Ricky Williams dominates for the Dolphins on the Thursday night game, but I'm stuck watching our Spurs lose to the Jazz.

So yesterday, I skipped watching the UT game live on TV to go see our Spurs in person. UT ate the Jayhawks' dinners (night game) without my mojo from watching and wearing my burnt orange. The Spurs treated me to what I've needed whether they needed my mojo or not: a dominating beatdown of an opponent to end this misery streak. Stats and a song after the jump.

Your song sounds sad but it is optimistic. I'm breaking out my favorite band for this one Copeland's "When Finally Set Free". We are "finally set free" of this losing streak. Not only that, but I think we are just starting a winning streak. I posted a couple of weeks ago that if we could make it past the Wizards game over .500 we'd stay that way for the rest of the season. At 5-6, we're just going to have to wait until after Golden State on Wednesday and then @ Houston on Friday to cement it.

1. You think Pop was pleased with our defense holding them to 33.3% shooting for the game? They averaged less than 20 points for the first 3 quarters. We only had one more offensive rebound, but if you factor in that they missed 56 shots, holding them to less than 20% offensive boards is damn impressive. The league's worst offensive rebounding teams are Cleveland at 20.6% and New York at 20.7%.

2. I worship at the shrine of TD. Tim Duncan was just shy of a triple double at half. We were dominating them so bad, he only had to play 27 minutes which is probably the only reason he didn't get it. He didn't even get a double double finishing with 9 rebounds and 7 assists. TIM DUNCAN DOMINATES!!!

3. Our bench, without Manu, shot 17 of 40 (43%) compared to their 10 of 37 (27%). Hill was not good at 3 of 10 and no FTA's which I'll take as room for improvement. Finley didn't help with his 2 of 7 either, but 2 of 7 is good for a zombie. Without those guys having coldish shooting nights, this game could have been ugly.... If Bonner can get 12 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block after every Fred Silva bashing of him, I think Fred might need to make his analysis more regular.

4. Oberto co-lead their team in +/- at +1.

5. Mike Miller has been having a great season and his 7 minutes were really disappointing. I mean he wasn't disappointing. The fact that he got injured and had to leave was really disappointing. I like the Wizards, mostly because I think they have the talent (if healthy) to challenge one of the Eastern powers in the playoffs. Many people will throw this game away as beating a bottom dweller fodder team. The Spurs wanted this game more. Parker and Duncan's aggression was amazing so if this is your only time watching the Wizards, know they are better than this. I hope this team can get healthy and makes this win look even more impressive in hindsight. They did just beat Cleveland last week in Jamison's first game of the season. I think that is the Wizards team we should expect on a nightly basis.

6. Bonus: I just noticed this and had to add it. Parker lead all Spurs with a +/- of +31. The next closest was Duncan at +19. Oh, Parker, we missed you so...

This is the win I think we all needed. Enjoy it and I'm predicting it right here: The Spurs are going to go into that Boston game with a 9-6 record.

Wizards lose to Heat: Final wrap, including some questioning of Flip Saunders' in-game strategy

Mike Prada — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:36:55 -0000

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It's true that a large reason (okay, fine, very large reason) last night's game against the Miami Heat was so frustrating was the outcome. To lose in the final seconds because of two missed free throws and two poorly-executed late-game plays against a team that you should probably beat really hurts.

But the truth is, I don't think I would have felt so good about this game even if we had pulled it out. The way we started the game was so frustrating and should never happen at a home game. Even if we had managed to come back, we did it by once again abandoning a lot of our principles. Gilbert Arenas almost won the game by himself, but with the exception of the brief moments Mike Miller displayed his toughness after the shoulder injury, this was a team reverting back into a one-on-one approach. Too many players either didn't show up or didn't get a chance to show up (or both).

There are a lot of reasons for those problems, and it's tough to nail down exactly who deserves the lion share of the blame. We'll try to do so below the jump. But several people involved with the team took a questionable approach to tonight's game. That list, sadly, includes head coach Flip Saunders, as we'll discuss below.

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Four Factors: (Bold=very good | Italics=very bad)

Team	Pace	Off Eff	eFG%	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Miami	89	104.5	54.2%	20.8	22.2	19.1
Washington		100	40.9%	26.8	30.2	13.5

Snap reaction: This looks like a Four Factors chart we'd see a lot when Eddie Jordan was coaching. Terrible shooting defense, poor shooting offense, a lot of turnovers forced and not a lot of fouls committed on defense. It's the first time out shot defense has not been good, which I guess is a good sign. Overall, looking at this, it's a pretty big surprise that the Wizards were even as close as they were.

Lineup Details (via Popcorn Machine)

Highest individual plus/minus: JaVale McGee (+11 in 8:18)
Lowest individual plus/minus: Brendan Haywood (-18 in 36:00)
Best five-man unit: Randy Foye/Mike Miller/Caron Butler/Andray Blatche/JaVale McGee (+8 in the second quarter)
Worst five-man unit: Gilbert Arenas/Randy Foye/Caron Butler/Fabricio Oberto/Brendan Haywood (-12 in the first quarter)

Snap reaction: I was surprised to see Haywood's plus/minus so low, but he basically only played when Dwyane Wade played, so that explains a lot. That also explains a lot of why McGee's plus/minus was so good.

Let's start with Flip Saunders. After four games of nearly flawless in-game management, I thought Saunders made some decisions that can be questioned. Among them:

Starting out with Mike Miller guarding Dwyane Wade and Caron Butler guarding Quentin Richardson: I'm still scratching my head about this decision. I guess Saunders wanted Butler to focus on finding his offense, because he had been struggling, but that obviously didn't work out. Wade is an incredible player, no doubt, but Butler's ability to move laterally would have given him more trouble than Miller, who just can't slide his feet fast enough. Instead, Miller laid way off Wade, Wade got into a rhythm, Miller got into foul trouble and Wade couldn't be turned off. Meanwhile, Butler, who has always been prone to lapses off the ball, allowed Quentin Richardson too many open looks from three, and Richardson burned the Wizards every time.
Going to a zone in the second quarter: I get the logic here - nobody can stop Wade, so throw a different look at him and maybe it'll mess up his rhythm. But with a team this behind in basic defensive principles, I don't think it's a good idea to have them try to pick up an exceedingly complicated scheme to go along with their basic scheme. I'd like to see them master the basic scheme first.
Not going back to JaVale McGee after his boneheaded play in the second quarter: At the time, I also wanted McGee out for the game after he tried to go from the free throw line to the rim. But looking back, McGee did help the club when he was in the game, and Miami had trouble dealing with him. It might have been better to reward him for his energy and give him another chance.
Not giving Dominic McGuire a shot: I'm still wondering why McGuire isn't getting his chances. I'd think he could at least guard Wade for stretches, and with DeShawn Stevenson shooting so poorly, I'm less inclined to worry about McGuire's perimeter shooting problems.
Allowing Gilbert Arenas full freedom: A lot of this is on Gilbert, as we'll discuss below. But if you were watching ESPN, you heard that Saunders basically encouraged him to attack and call his own number. That might be wise in the fourth quarter, but in the third quarter, the emphasis should have been on getting some of the other players in the game. Yes, it's true Miami couldn't guard him, but the other guys have to stay involved.
Keeping Mike Miller in the game after he was initially hurt: Not sure how I can excuse this one. I mean, I'm sure Flip wanted him out of the game, but Miller insisted he come back, so this isn't all on the coaches. But once it was clear his shoulder was bothering him, I'm really surprised it took so long to get him back out of the game. It's game five, not game 65.

So, all those were decisions I didn't agree with. But let's be honest, tonight's loss is also on the players. The way they came out in that first quarter was pretty unacceptable. It is true that one of Flip's jobs is to get his team ready to play, but that's also the players' jobs. Caron Butler, in particular, came out so poorly last night. He wasn't shooting when he was open, which is a killer in a continuity offense. If he's not playing well, this team is in real trouble, as we saw last night.

It was around this point that Gilbert Arenas decided to take over. He hoisted 27 shots and had 15 free throws, but also only had three assists. The only time the offense really ran well, in fact, was when Arenas was not in the game (though, to be fair, neither was Wade). Obviously, in the long run, that's not a sustainable way to win. If I had to break the game down into stages, here's how I'd do it.

Quarter 1, first part: Everyone comes out flat, Gilbert defers most of the time.
Quarter 1, second part: Gilbert decides he's the only one who's in the game and tries to score every time down. His teammates remain flat.
Quarter 2, first part: Gilbert goes out, everyone else in the game realizes they need to step up and come to play, and they rise to the challenge.
Quarter 2, second part: Gilbert comes back in, still doesn't fully trust his teammates, but does pass a bit more. However, Wade hits some big shots and the Wizards fall back by 9.
Quarter 3: Gilbert gives up the ball a bit more, but still shoots a lot. The offense runs very well, led by Brendan Haywood early and Mike Miller late.
Quarter 4: Gilbert gets into a duel with Dwyane Wade, everyone else gets freezed out, Gilbert and the team lose.

It's hard for me to fully blame Arenas in Quarter 1. It was clear nobody was in the game, and Gilbert has every reason to think that he needs to carry more of the load himself until his teammates ido get into the game. But once the Wizards cut the lead down, Arenas should have committed himself more to stepping back a bit and playing more under control. Obviously, in the fourth quarter, he should get the ball, but there were too many times when he predetermined what he was going to do instead of trying to create for others.

When you do too much freezing out of your teammates, it has an effect. Butler never got back into the game after the beginning. Yes, a lot of that is on him, but he also didn't exactly get a ton of good chances in the second half. Randy Foye also didn't do much tonight, in large part because most of his shots came off the dribble when he was paired with Arenas. The Heat played him pretty well, but he still gets hurt when Arenas predetermines what he's going to do. It speaks to Arenas' incredible physical skill (he's officially back there) that he can score so many points when he predetermines like this, but it's still not good for the entire team. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Wizards' best lineup tonight didn't include Gilbert.

It's early, and his mental game still isn't there, but it should be noted that Arenas did not play particularly well despite his high point total.

More notes:

The unquestioned MVP of tonight's game was Brendan Haywood. He dominated Jermaine O'Neal, scoring 16 points and notching 11 rebounds while holding O'Neal to just four points. He also was absolutely flawless helping out on defense tonight, particularly in the fourth quarter. On offense, after a bit too much forcing early on, Haywood didn't do anything out of his comfort zone, and that made him a far more effective player. The Wizards don't come anywhere close to winning tonight without Haywood's contributions.
Lots of people are annoyed that DeShawn Stevenson was on the court at the end of the game. I don't really have a problem with it, because Stevenson was doing a good job on Wade in the fourth quarter. Wade did most of his scoring damage against other guys, not DeShawn. Now, DeShawn's play at the end to go one-on-three wasn't a smart one, for sure, but with Miller injured and Foye very incapable of guarding Wade, I'm not sure what else Flip could have done. Normally, I'd think Miller closes that game with Butler guarding Wade, but Miller was hurt, so Flip was stuck.
Gilbert is right about Caron Butler when he criticized him for taking too long to make decisions on the court. Caron can't be pump-faking and surveying the defense in this system. However, I would also like to see some different plays be run for Caron in order to empower him more. Maybe more post-ups like Tayshaun Prince used to run? I'm not sure.
I have to admit, I was impressed with how well-coached Miami is. They have little talent, but they execute extremely well. Credit Erik Spolestra for that. Then again, I am a bit confused as to why Michael Beasley didn't play very much.
Getting Antawn Jamison back will be such a big help. Right now, Fabricio Oberto is being completely ignored on offense. You can't do that with Jamison in the game.

All in all, considering where our team is at now, it's not terrible to be 2-3. I just wish I didn't have to feel so queasy about this game, win or lose. We should have taken this one.

Wizards lose to Cavaliers: Final wrap and a word about our half-court offense

Mike Prada — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:17:33 -0000

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Last night, in our emotional game recap, I mentioned that last night's game proved that we're still not there when it comes to the true contenders for the title. It was a bit of a snappy line that was put there in effect, in part because it sounded right and in part because there was something more to it that I needed time to think about.

Well, now I've thought about it and I realize what I meant.

The sign of a true contender is one who can run their half-court offense effectively in the face of stepped-up defensive pressure. A true contender trusts their offensive system and offensive sets enough to run them better when the defensive pressure increases rather than abandoning them. The Wizards didn't run their halfcourt offense well last night. Therefore, they aren't there yet.

More below the jump, but first, some numbers.

Four Factors: (bold=very high, italics=very low).

Team	Pace	Off Eff	eFG%	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Washington	88	102.3	42%	46.4	29.3%	14.8
Cleveland		115.9	48.3%	22.1	26.5%	8

Lineup stats, via Popcorn Machine

Highest individual plus/minus: JaVale McGee (+1 in 11:24)
Lowest individual plus/minus: Mike Miller (-16 in 34:36) and Randy Foye (-14 in 19:30)
Best lineup: Gilbert Arenas/Mike Miller/Caron Butler/Fabricio Oberto/Brendan Haywood (+6 to start the game)
Worst lineup: Gilbert Arenas/Randy Foye/DeShawn Stevenson/Andray Blatche/Brendan Haywood (-9 in the fourth quarter)

Think about it for a second. When did the game turn? In the second quarter, when the Wizards started fouling too much on defense. What happens when you foul? The other team goes to the free throw line. What happens when the other team goes to the free throw line? You're constantly taking the ball out of the basket. What happens when you constantly take the ball out of the basket? You have no transition game to rely on to use your speed advantage. How do you win when you can't rely on your transition game? You need to execute your half-court offense well.

That didn't happen at all. Credit Cleveland's defense for a lot, of course. They basically decided to play Gilbert Arenas straight up and let him try to score, and it worked tremendously. But eventually, with the game slowed down and the Wizards frustrated by perceived bad calls, they stopped running the sets and instead broke plays to make mad dashes to the rim. They figured that the refs were calling the game tight and could take advantage by creating contact. That worked, in a sense, because the Wizards ended up with 41 free throws (which was 14 more than Cleveland despite referee mistreatment, for what it's worth). But all it did is slow the game down even further, which works to Cleveland's advantage.

It wasn't just Arenas either. Caron Butler, after an excellent offensive first quarter where he did a great job of running LeBron James off picks and tiring him out, didn't do the same in the third quarter. When he did get the ball in the second half, the offensive flow just stopped as we waited for Butler to size up his defender, jab step, then either shoot or drive. Those types of things hurt your offensive flow, even if the play is designed to get Butler isolated somewhere. Randy Foye slugged his way through 19 minutes and just one assist, while Brendan Haywood continues to look for his offense a bit too much for my taste.

The Wizards' halfcourt offense needs quick and decisive moves to work. It's all a bunch of cuts and screens that fold into each other. If you take too long on one play, then you hamper your chances of continuing the offense. Too often, there was a lot of sizing up the defense rather than just going and making a play right off the bat. That, along with driving just to draw fouls, slows down the pace of the game and only exacerbates Cleveland's size advantage.

The good news here is that, if this is the problem, the remedy may simply be more time in Flip Saunders' system. That'll occur naturally as the season goes on, as everyone gets more comfortable running those sets after so many years in the Princeton. Here's hoping that time can heal those wounds.

Other notes:

Mike Miller took just three shots last night (although he did draw a number of fouls). Frankly, it's just mind-boggling how this happens. He does so many things that just make you wonder, like throwing the ball into JaVale McGee in the post with the shot clock running down. The Wizards really need to do something to force him to shoot instead of relying on him to find his offense. For example, why not let him come off the bench and start DeShawn Stevenson? Miller could come in for Caron Butler and immediately become the second- or third-best offensive player in the lineup. Then, run some plays for him and have him handle the ball in pick-and-roll situations.
I was very disappointed that Foye, Arenas and Miller never shared the court last night. I guess Flip Saunders was concerned with how they'd match up defensively with LeBron James in that lineup, but LeBron only played 36 minutes. Why not play that lineup during that stretch? Cleveland has small guards anyway. Instead, either Butler or Stevenson was in the game at all times. I think that was a mistake. UPDATE: As Aldo points out, they did end the second quarter together and were outscored by six points. My bad. Of course, the Wizards were playing Caron Butler at PF, but the point still stands.
It's only four games, but I'm a bit worried with how much Brendan Haywood is looking for his own shot. I talked to him after the Nets game about this, and he sounded so happy that he was shooting. He pointed out that he's taken 32 shots in three games (not including last night), and that it would have taken a month in the Princeton offense to get that many. This may be true, and I'm not opposed with the occasional post touch for Haywood, but Haywood is one of those guys whose efficiency goes down with increased usage. Since his efficiency was such a huge part of his value in the past, it's important his usage remains low. Don't force things, Brendan. Run the offense.
Once again, Fabricio Oberto did some positive things, but it was amazing how little respect Cleveland showed for him. Anderson Varejao basically didn't guard him the halfcourt offense. This is where Antawn Jamison's return will help most. The spacing with Oberto on the floor is brutal.
Andray Blatche didn't play badly, but he still needs to work on improving his play when he runs into a little adversity. He wasn't the same after he picked up those three fouls.
A positive sign: JaVale McGee has put together four very good games. He hasn't played much, but he's doing several positive things out there. I like his aggression fighting for offensive boards.

And finally, a note to Cleveland fans...

I imagine if you check out our game thread, you'll be a bit put off by all the whining about the officials. I understand that -- you want to enjoy your win and you don't want to deal with comments that make us seem like sore losers. But please, consider a few things.

Game threads are our sounding board. They're meant to be where we make our snap reactions to plays. They're meant to be places where our passion shows itself the most. Everyone on this site is a smart, rational fan that, like any other, is prone to emotional anxiety in the heat of the moment. So don't use those comments as fuel to your long-standing belief that Wizards fans are either stupid, crybabys or sore losers. Consider context first. Understand that those threads, and the immediate post-game threads that follow, are meant to be venting places when the Wizards lose. We do plenty of self-analysis, so don't say all we do is whine about the officials. To make an analogy - coaches complain to the officials during games all the time, but nobody would consider them whiners. It's just what happens in the heat of the moment. We understand that and we ask you do too.
Please, please, please admit this is a rivalry and that you dislike the Wizards and their fans emotionally. I mean, your own local broadcast had a poll running that said "Which Wizards player do you hate the most?" We're willing to admit that our hatred for the Cavs affects us, please be willing to do the same. And please, the players on the Cavs don't like the Wizards either, as much as they may say otherwise. As long as you're willing to admit your biases, we're willing to talk to you, because we're all aware of ours. The second the tone turns into "You pathetic Wizards and your fans, you're not our rival, we don't care about you," is the second things go south. It's wrong and you all know it.
You are welcome to comment on here, but please understand you're talking on someone else's turf. You may not agree with us or our rules, but you need to be respectful of the location. So don't come on here to pick fights. Don't call us whiners even if you believe we are. Be careful with how you phrase your comments because you know we're a sensitive lot. It's not the fairest way to talk in the world, but that's just how it is. You wouldn't go over to someone's house and tell them that their cooking sucks or their house isn't clean enough.
Finally, it is possible for us to have intelligent, rational discussion as long as we set some ground rules.

Thanks. If you are here to comment rationally and follow those ground rules, we look forward to hearing from you.

Game #5: Miami Heat (3-1) vs. Washington Wizards (2-2)

DolPhanDave — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:44:14 -0000

Tonight is a game I have been looking forward to for a while. The Wizards have some very talented players on their roster and with the Heat playing so well, this could be a hell of a season series. Make no mistake, the Southeast Division is much improved this year and will be much more competitive.

The biggest difference in the Wiz from last year to this year is that Gilbert Arenas is back. He was/is one of the best point guards in the league but is still working his way back into his ‘normal' game shape. The main knock on his in the early season has been his D, but with the way Mario Chalmers has played the last couple games, who knows how Arenas will look tonight. He is tied for seventh in the NBA in scoring thus far in the season, averaging 26.5 points/game. Who is he tied with...? Why none other then our own Dwyane Wade. The difference between the two; Arenas is shooting 50% from beyond the arc and Wade is shooting only 14%.

The Heat's power forward tandem will face a solid defender in Fabricio Oberto, whose athletic ability on D almost makes up for a poor jumper and very erratic offensive contributions. This is certainly a mis-match in favor of the Heat, hopefully making up for the huge mis-match at PG. The Wizards normal starting power forward, Antawn Jamison, will be out at least another week with a shoulder injury.

Washington will throw a couple of good defending centers at the Heat tonight. Brendan Haywood and Andray Blatche are very hot/cold when it comes to offense, but you can bet they will make you work on D and block a couple shots while doing it. After the block party the Suns threw last night in the Heat's house, you better believe that Miami will be making a better effort in getting their shots off (meaning more open looks).

GAME NOTES

Caron Butler returned to the Wizards lineup last night after missing their previous game with a bruised kneecap. He may be slowed a bit considering the back-to-back games, but we all know how capable this guy can be.

Daequan Cook will sit out another game tonight, still nursing his sore right shoulder. Hopefully the Heat will get him back sometime this week, but if Dorell Wright can hit the few long jumpers that he takes, then we wont miss Cook as much.

Wright has been doing what he always does, playing good defense in a limited role. Now you may not have known this, but Wright is actually a good shooter. He works on his jumper A LOT, and now that he is getting some meaningful minutes, the hard work is starting to show.

The Heat will be going for their 5^th consecutive win against the Wizards after sweeping them 4-0 last season.

Look for the Heat to bring a strong shooting effort tonight after the abysmal 4^th quarter last night against the Suns. Miami missed 18 of their 23 shots and scored only 15 points after Phoenix switched to a zone defense.

Wizards lose to Hawks in Atlanta: Final wrap. Tempo, tempo, tempo

Mike Prada — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:28:55 -0000

More photos » by Gregory Smith - AP

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You hear it a lot from Doug Collins, in between long rambling thoughts about 300 different things all at once. It's the reverse of what so many people say about the league when they bash it. But it really is true.

The NBA is a first-quarter league. Tonight's game really proved it.

The Wizards struggled with three things in tonight's loss against Atlanta: transition defense, overly-frantic offense and fouls. In the first quarter, after the Wizards took a 15-5 lead by playing smart, efficient basketball and dictating tempo, we saw too much isolation and too many mad dashes to the hoop by Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood on offense. We saw too many guys go for offensive rebounds, allowing Atlanta to run off misses and use their superior athleticism to finish plays. FInally, we saw foul difficulties -- Mike Miller had two, Fabricio Oberto had two and DeShawn Stevenson had three.

It's not easy to slow down a game once it gets sped up. The Wizards could never regain control of the game's tempo, and that's why they couldn't catch up. Had they been more vigilant about establishing their style of game early, they would have won the game.

Oh well. Lesson learned.

Four Factors: (Bold=very high | Italics=very low)

Team	Pace	Off Eff	eFG%	FT/FG	OREB%	TOr
Washington	92	96.8	47.5%	17.7	18.2	16.3
Atlanta		109.9	44.2%	39.7	25.6	14.3

Lineup details, via Popcorn Machine:

Highest individual plus/minus: Mike Miller (+7 in 32:48) and Fabricio Oberto (+7 in 18:12)
Lowest individual plus/minus: Andray Blatche (-17 in 33:36) and DeShawn Stevenson (-9 in 11:18)
Best lineup: Gilbert Arenas/Mike Miller/Caron Butler/Fabricio Oberto/Brendan Haywood (+4 to start the game)
Worst lineup: Gilbert Arenas/Randy Foye/Dominic McGuire/Andray Blatche/Brendan Haywood (-7 to close the first half)

More below the jump:

How much of tonight is Gilbert Arenas' fault?

As mentioned above, the biggest problem tonight was the Wizards' inability to dictate tempo. Atlanta is not a fast-paced team, and 92 possessions is pretty average all things considering, but they were running on missed shots and converting a high percentage of their fast-break opportunities. A lot of the time, the Wizards were caught out of position in their transition defense, both on fast breaks and secondary breaks, when the Wizards got in trouble with cross-matches from guys not getting back.

A large part of the problem was that Arenas was breaking a lot of plays to drive to the basket. Yes, it's true that you want Arenas to be aggressive, in particular because it would wear down Joe Johnson. However, that has to come more in the flow of the offense than it did tonight. Arenas kept calling his own number instead of letting the offense run itself and then dumping the ball to another scorer. The rest of the players were often not prepared for Arenas' decisions and didn't get in position to defend in transition. Gil's 9-22 line kind of proves how much this strategy didn't work.

I get Arenas' logic on one level. With so many difficult calls going against him, Arenas, like most superstars, drove to the rim because if you don't get the call one time, you tend to get the call the next time. But this process repeated itself over and over and over again tonight. It became clear that the referees were not going to give Arenas the call for constantly creating contact (even though they gave the call when Atlanta ... ah nevermind, no whining about the officials). When that happens, maybe you should try changing your strategy.

So a part of this was indeed Arenas' fault. But there were a couple other problems to note.

One, of course, was the loss of Caron Butler. His injury meant Arenas was out there with a bunch of guys best suited to playing off the Big 3. Running the offense means running a lot of plays that end with Butler getting the ball n a good spot. Without that luxury, there are significantly fewer plays you can run out there. Having Butler makes it much easier for Arenas to slow things down and run Flip Saunders' sets.

The other was the big men. Brendan Haywood looked for his offense too much last night, pressing and keeping guys out of position. Meanwhile, a lot of the other players, such as Blatche and Mike Miller, were too aggressive going for offensive rebounds. You can get offensive rebounds on Atlanta, but it's a major risk you take because of their ability to fast break. In large part, they want you to go for offensive rebounds, because it allows them to leak out and get easy buckets. There were so many plays where there were at least two guys trailing the ball because they were fruitlessly going after an offensive rebound. That's how tempo gets controlled.

So, it's part Arenas, part the bigs and part Butler (for getting hurt).

The fouling has got to stop

Yes, it's true that there were a lot of questionable ticky-tack fouls called on the Wizards tonight. But nevertheless, for the second straight game, the Wizards committed far too many fouls on defense. What makes it particularly frustrating is that the Wizards did a great job contesting Atlanta on the perimeter, as evidenced by the mediocre eFG% put up by the Hawks.

What separates the good defenses from the defenses that seem good, but aren't is the ability to contest drives without fouling. You don't need to go for the strip when you can simply force guys into your big players, contest and live with the results. The latter is a form of disciplined defenses that you always see from the best defensive teams (San Antonio, Orlando, Houston). So, when Joe Johnson gets into the lane and has to take that difficult floater, don't do him a favor and bail him out. Don't play these guys so close on the perimeter where you have to hand-check them every time they drive. That's just not necessary.

Getting to the line also allows you to control when you run. The Wizards could never get very many fast breaks going because they were always taking the ball out of bounds after Atlanta's free throws. By contrast, Atlanta played tough defense without fouling, and they were able to run very easily. This is something the Wizards need to fix.

Covering Joe Johnson

How did the Wizards do on Joe Johnson? Well, it was mixed. They did hold him down to 5-16 shooting, mostly because when he was forced to shoot, the Wizards did a great job of contesting those shots. On that front, they were very successful.

However, Johnson still got his 17 points and six rebounds despite a bad shooting night. Why? Too much fouling once he got in the lane, for one. For another, the Wizards still trapped him and sagged on him a little too often tonight. He was able to set up a couple guys for threes and open shots, which empowered the rest of the Hawks.

So, I guess I'd say mixed results here. There still was too much overhelping on guys other than Johnson (don't ever leave Mo Evans open for the corner three!) as well. But at least Flip has some data on times when the Wizards did something right on a big gun defensively. He needs to use those clips in future film sessions.

Other thoughts

This wasn't Brendan Haywood's best game. Yes, he did have 19 points on 12 shots, with nine rebounds, but I was not happy with how he did on the defensive glass. A lot of those rebounds came late in garbage time. He was looking for his shot a little too much as well. Atlanta's speedy frontcourt gave him a lot of problems, but there were also times when he just wasn't as active boxing out as he normally is. I'm not concerned, but it's worth pointing out that his numbers still were a bit hollow.
Is it ever possible to get 10 rebounds selfishly? If so, I thought Mike Miller teetered close to that. He took a lot of rebounds away from the Wizards' bigs, rushing in there to get the board instead of waiting for an outlet pass to start the break. He also desperately needs to shoot more, particularly when Butler was injured. There was one play where he had a layup, but instead threw it back to Andray Blatche for a 20-footer that clanked off the rim. Then again, Miller needs more plays run for him, and Arenas didn't do that because he was driving a ton.
Nick Young's stint was definitely forgettable. He's playing like he has no confidence in his game.
Yet another solid game from Andray Blatche, though his defense wasn't as good as it was against Dallas.

All in all, I wouldn't be too worried about this one. Atlanta has fewer pieces to integrate, and they were healthy and at home. We made it a game and it would have been even closer if we hit more free throws. We'll get them next time.

Thursday Practice Report: Andray Blatche’s late-night workout, Randy Foye says playing with Gilbert Arenas off the ball is "easy," and Javaris Crittenton’s injury isn't getting better

Mike Prada — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 20:34:58 -0000

Andray Blatche works with Assistant Coach for Player Development Gene Banks, as Paul Davis looks on. Via my IPhone.

Coming off a big win over Dallas on Tuesday, the Wizards were in pretty good spirits after practice today. Flip Saunders said the club went through a very good practice and emphasized the importance of maintaining those winning habits throughout the "process."

Once again, Gilbert Arenas did not talk to the media, telling NBC's Lindsay Czarniak that he only talks when they make him. So, once again, nothing new on that front. However, there's a lot of interesting nuggets to chew on from today. Make the jump to read about Andray Blatche's late-night workout, an update on Javaris Crittenton's injury, some thoughts about the Randy Foye/Gilbert Arenas backcourt and more.

Andray Blatche isn't resting on his laurels

Andray Blatche had an outstanding first game of the 2009/10 season last Tuesday, notching 20 points, 7 rebounds and only 3 fouls in 35 minutes. But as we all know, Blatche has had plenty of good games in his career. Sustaining that success has proven to be an elusive quest for the 23-year old.

After practice today, Blatche made it clear that he knows his big opening game means nothing if he can't sustain it.

"Tuesday's in the past," Blatche said. "Right after the game, Flip came up to me and said, ‘Last game don't mean s***,' excuse my French."

So how did Blatche try to build on last Tuesday's performance? He called Sam Cassell late last night and asked him to come in to do a workout with him. Blatche said they came to the Verizon Center at around 11:15 and went until about 12:30 in the morning.

"[We worked on] all the situations that would be in the game," Blatche said. "Post-ups, pick and pops, stuff like that. All game-type situations."

It's yet another example of the new "Seven-Day Dray." When asked whether he would have ever come in for a workout that late in the past, Blatche said no. He also joked that the empty arena spooked him a bit.

"Man, it was a little scary, I ain't gonna lie," Blatche said. "I called my best friend. I had to go to the locker room by myself, I was a little scared. It's so quiet, and dark a little bit. I'm telling you all, it's different at nighttime, but I was alright."

Eventually, though, the conversation veered back into Tuesday night. Blatche said Fabricio Oberto did a great job guarding Dirk Nowitzki, and also praised the team's pick-and-roll coverage. He also once again sung the praises of Flip Saunders' offense.

"It just seems like you're always moving, you're always setting picks, you're always rolling, always popping," Blatche said. "You're always doing something. Last year, you set one screen and you stand still and you waiting for something. This year, we're always moving and sharing the ball a lot more."

Even Antawn Jamison admits he thinks Blatche's new approach is paying dividends.

"I think he's getting it," Jamison said. "I think he understands that it's not about what [he] does on gameday, or the day before, or the night before. Little things like that will help you stay consistent and be able to do that night in and night out."

Video below, courtesy Truth About It:

Javaris Crittenton's injury gets worse

Those of you looking forward to seeing Javaris Crittenton return to the court will need to wait a lot longer. Crittenton was limping around on crutches today, with yet another boot on his injured ankle.

Team spokesman Scott Hall told me that Crittenton went to get "an exploratory scope" last Friday that revealed nothing new. Hall didn't mention anything about how long Crittenton was expected to be out, nor did he say that the injury got any worse.

However, Mike Jones talked to Crittenton, and Crittenton told a slightly different story. Crittenton told Jones that he had surgery last Friday to clear up some torn cartilage that had been found in previous X-Rays. But Crittenton also admitted that he was hoping to get this procedure done sooner.

"I wish the procedure would have been happened, so I could have recovered by now," Crittenton told Jones. "They actually saw it on the X-ray a long time ago, but they had to continue looking at different cat scans and X-rays to get it done."

Would having the surgery earlier have changed things? Did they really see these problems a long time ago and unnecessarily looked several more times before having the surgery? I don't know. I think there's a lot of information missing here. But it certainly seems odd, doesn't it?

Crittenton said he has two more weeks of recovery, followed by four weeks of rehab, which means he'll be out at least another six more weeks.

Randy Foye and the "small" backcourt

As I mentioned yesterday, when Gilbert Arenas and Randy Foye played together last Tuesday, the Wizards outscored the Mavericks by 14 points. When I asked Saunders about why he turned to that pairing despite not using it much in the preseason, Saunders joked that "there are a lot of things I do during the regular season that I don't do in preseason." I then asked when we might see it in the future.

"You'll see it a lot," Saunders said. "A lot of it depends on the defensive end. If we're playing Kobe Bryant at the 2, you might not be able to put Randy on Kobe because of Kobe's size. A lot of that is going to depend on defensive matchups. There was a situation in Dallas where they played a couple smaller guards."

Foye said he was wondering when he was going to get a chance to play more with Arenas, but added that "[Saunders] probably didn't want people to see it."

"When you put us in together, Dallas didn't have an answer to that," Foye said. "With two scorers in there together, because if you pay too much attention to [Arenas], you gotta help, then we kick it out to me for an open shot. It's the same [vice versa]."

I was particularly struck with what Foye said later, when he talked about how his mentality and comfort level change when he plays with Arenas.

"When you play with someone of that caliber, it's easy," Foye said. "Everything else comes easy. Like, when they were pressing at the end, they couldn't get the ball, because we could both break the press. When they press and denied him, I got the ball, and when they doubled me with his man, I passed him the ball. It just makes it so much easier playing with another ball-handler."

Foye also praised Saunders' strategic instincts, saying, "it's like he's playing chess up in his head." Regardless, with so many teams nowadays playing small backcourts, the Foye/Arenas backcourt should be a regular staple.

Other stuff:

Flip Saunders was asked again about Nick Young not playing at all on Tuesday. "We haven't really talked," Saunders said. "I think he knows what he's got to do." When asked what he has to do, Saunders said, "Be more consistent, as far as what you're doing. You can't rely on making shots as a criteria for whether you are going to play." Saunders added that Young did some extra work yesterday and that "he'll get an opportunity." Young himself slipped out the door before anyone could talk to him.
Antawn Jamison was there shagging rebounds for JaVale McGee, and showed no major limitations on his shoulder. It's obviously not in game shape, but it wasn't in a sling or anything. That's pretty encouraging.
DeShawn Stevenson was asked about his thoughts on Antonio Daniels potentially signing with Cleveland. In typical DeShawn fashion, he responded in a way where you wonder whether he was joking or being serious. "Traitor," Stevenson said. "I don't talk to nobody that plays to Cleveland." Chris Miller then said to Stevenson, "I'm sure you have a reaction to them starting 0-2." Stevenson's response. "Yeah, yeah I do," and then he walked away.
Saunders said that while his top eight players will remain pretty consistent, his rotation is not 100% set in stone right now, saying that JaVale McGee in particular had a great practice and may play more tomorrow against the Atlanta Hawks. "Now, we're playing a team with a lot more athletic ability, where a guy like JaVale could have an impact."

More pictures:

BWood working on his free throw stroke.

Caron Butler works on his shot while Randy Wittman looks on

Dominic McGuire works on his shot while Nick Young looks on

Wizards beat Mavericks in regular-season opener: Final wrap

Mike Prada — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:11:57 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

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It's late, and there's already been so much written about last night's win that there isn't a whole lot to add. I have nobody to blame but myself for the tardiness. NBA League Pass is pretty damn addicting, what can I say?

So this extended recap isn't going to be so extended or deep. Fair warning:

Four Factors: (italics=very bad. bold=very good)

Team	Pace	Off Eff	eFG%	FT/FG	OREB%	ToR
Washington	90	113.3	48.8	23.8	22.5	10
Dallas		101.1	42.1	35.5	22.9	10

Lineup details, via Popcorn Machine:

Highest individual plus/minus, total: Randy Foye (+16 in 30:18)
Highest individual plus/minus, rate: Fabricio Oberto (+15 in 17:24
Lowest individual plus/minus, total: DeShawn Stevenson (-1 in 17:54)
Lowest individual plus/minus, rate: Dominic McGuire (-6 in 2:24)
Best lineup (one stretch): Gilbert Arenas, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Andray Blatche, Brendan Haywood (+8 for a stretch in the second quarter)
Worst lineup (one stretch): Gilbert Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler, Andray Blatche, Brendan Haywood (-5 to close the third quarter)

The one thing that struck me about Tuesday's performance was how much we actually resembled a professional team.

I'm sure that's going to ruffle some feathers, particularly those who are fans of Eddie Jordan. I don't come here to suggest that Jordan is not a good coach. Far from it.

But what always struck me about watching an Eddie Jordan-coached team was how the players would alternate between overly robotic and overly free-flowing play. Either they used none of their brains, which happened when they'd take quick contested jumpers and miss a defensive rotation, or they thought too much, mostly when they ran the same three-man weave into the same cut, with the same players settling for the same shots too often. I didn't see enough moments where they achieved that happy medium of playing instinctively while also playing smart. To be frank, they were too inconsistent.

While some of that is our personnel, a lot of that was Eddie Jordan's style. One game in, and I'm starting to see where Gilbert Arenas was coming from when he dubbed Jordan's style as being suitable only for very experienced teams. Jordan's entire offense was reactive rather than proactive. He jammed a zillion different reads and counters into his players' heads, hoping to prepare them for every situation. Jordan also threw out several different defensive "plays" of sorts, also in an attempt to confuse the defense. This meant that Jordan and the Wizards were impossible to plan for, but also were not well-prepared, if that makes any sense. Many of the Wizards tried to pick it all up, but ultimately played too antsy to make a consistent impact.

Flip Saunders' gameplan, on the other hand, is far simpler, and I think it showed tonight. The Wizards came down every possession and ran their offense. If it resulted in an open shot, great. They ran the play and got the shot off it. If that didn't work, the players all knew that the ball was to go one of three places -- Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, or whoever possessed the hot hand. Simple, simple simple. And on defense, the rules were consistent -- contest shots, let Dirk Nowitzki get his, shut down everyone else, deny dribble penetration and seal off the weakside rebounding. No zone defense, no zone traps, no matchup zone, even. Just one philosophy that the players needed to execute.

The Wizards didn't execute Saunders' gameplan perfectly. Too many possessions ended with Butler forcing things. On defense, there were a number of blowbys, particularly from Jason Terry and JJ Barea. But there were also no major defensive breakdowns with guys in the wrong place, at least not the type that seemingly happened every other possession in the past. There were also very few offensive possessions wasted by an unnecessarily quick shot. Finally, nobody was pump-faking, dribbling aimlessly or making passes without a purpose. When a guy was open, he shot in rhythm and without dribbling much.

This is where Flip Saunders has made a dent on this team. Against Dallas, the Wizards did everything efficiently. Every dribble. Every pass. Every defensive slide. Every defensive rotation. Every contest. Every open shot. Things might not have always worked out, but there were very few wasted moments. That's what I mean when I say they resembled a real professional team.

Other quick thoughts:

Score one for the Gilbert Arenas/Randy Foye backcourt. The Wizards outscored the Mavericks by 14 points when the two of them played together.
I thought Flip Saunders displayed some masterful psychology in the post-game press conference when he went out of his way to say Caron Butler was "Mr. Steady." This was not a particularly strong game for Butler. He shot just 6/17 and he allowed Shawn Marion to have a solid game against him, a game that, if Dallas gave Marion more touches, would have been better. More importantly, he didn't play in crunch time when the Wizards really extended their lead, which I'm sure wasn't exactly what Butler had in mind (or anyone else). Butler certainly didn't play like a "Mr. Steady" tonight. But Saunders knows it's a long season, and he has to keep one of his stars in good spirits. By praising him, Saunders is indirectly saying, "Yes, I went away from you in crunch time, but it wasn't because of anything you did wrong. It was because the combination we had out there was playing great. I didn't bench you because you made any mistakes." That's great management by Saunders. It eliminates any possibility of Butler getting annoyed for not playing in crunch time, because his contributions were recognized, and it allows Saunders the luxury of not playing the starting five if they aren't the most effective lineup.
The one guy who didn't play particularly well was DeShawn Stevenson. The offense died when he was out there, and while he tried on defense, I counted him being beat by Terry at least four times in the second quarter. I think he'll probably end up being a utility guy that's useful only against certain teams. Atlanta, with Joe Johnson, is one of those teams, so Stevenson could very well play much better tomorrow.
I thought Oberto played pretty poorly until the fourth quarter. Then, he played great.
Brendan Haywood turned in 39 minutes of solid basketball, clogging up the middle, displaying offense when needed and playing great help defense. The most significant number, though, is the 39 minutes. Saunders believes in Haywood, and that's very, very refreshing.
For all the great things Andray Blatche did, I was most impressed with how quickly he moved his feet to cover for guards on pick and roll defense. He consistently was able to slow down the ballhandler and then recover quickly back to his own man.

The Road to the Promised Land is Fraught With Difficulty

C.A. Clark — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:12:58 -0000

We here at Silver Screen and Roll have done just about everything we can to prepare you for the upcoming season. We’ve looked at everybody on the team, all 5 positions, and even the coaches. We’ve identified the important and telling statistical features to pay attention to in the upcoming season. We’ve even taken you on a bit of a history lesson, looking at how things played out every other time the Lakers have attempted to defend a championship. The only thing left to do is spend some time talking about the teams that are the most likely to keep L.A. from reaching the intended destination: Repeat champions.

In former seasons, a Contenders preview might have been a short piece. Earlier this decade, for example, one would really only have to mention the Kings and the Spurs, and perhaps pay lip service to whichever Eastern Conference teams were likely to be served up as sacrificial lambs to the almighty Western Conference. In the 80’s, the entire piece would probably be about Boston (until Detroit got involved later in the decade). Philadelphia was good in the early part of the decade, and Milwaukee was always pretty strong, but in the end, it was likely going to be Boston and L.A. This year is different. This year, there are four main contenders the Lakers will have to deal with, and each one of them has a legitimate chance to win the title, at least on paper. And paper is all that we can deal with at this point.

What does the paper tell us? It tells us this season is going to be something special. Historically special, if you ask me. So many circumstances have come together to create a perfect storm of ridiculously talented teams.

The Summer of 2010 has created a very unique free agency situation, where the only teams interested in adding players are those who think they can win a title. All other teams are content to sit this season out so that they have the necessary cap space to go after the big name free agents next season. That’s why you’ve seen deals like Artest and Sheed for the Mid Level Exception, Brandon Bass for less than the MLE. Hell, even Odom’s 8 mil per year probably wouldn’t happen in a normal year, somebody would have out bid us for Odom’s services, but nobody wants to commit long term money this year, unless they are going for broke.
Adding to this "Contenders will spend, everyone else will not" mode is that the economy sucks (both in general, and specifically related to the NBA). There are lots of small market teams who are losing a lot of money, and they don’t want to shell out for anything. In fact, they are pretty much willing to give you anybody on their team for a contract that won’t last as long, or isn’t fully guaranteed.
There are three teams who are legitimately in "This is our last chance, we have to give it everything we have" mode. Boston and San Antonio have aging core players who will only get worse as seasons pass. And Cleveland has to win this year so that they can convince The King not to jump ship in the offseason. That, combined with factor #1 and #2, has led to deals like Richard Jefferson and Shaq being traded for expiring contracts. And Boston and Cleveland signed an entire roster’s worth of decent players to come off the bench.
Further adding to the economic uncertainty of the entire league, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire in 2011, and there is a very decent chance that a work stoppage will occur at that time, because the owners have made it clear that many things will have to change, or the smaller market teams may go out of business. The main point here is: If you aren’t building a team that can win in the next two seasons, you might as well not even bother.

The result of all of these collective circumstances coming together is not one, but 5 incredibly good teams. If you don’t believe me, consider this statement. Every team that has participated in the NBA Finals in the last three seasons is entering this season with a team which is better than the one that won a championship, or came close. There are 5 teams this year which might all be better than the champions of the past three seasons. I can’t verify it with research, but I’d be willing to bet a small fortune that this has never happened before. In fact, taking it one step further, if you assume that San Antonio is a better version of their own previous championship-winning teams this year, you could make a legitimate case that any one of the 5 best teams from this year might be better than ALL of the past champions dating back to the beginning of the post Lakers dynasty. There is simply no precedent for this level of improvement in so many championship quality teams.

I think this will go down as the most top heavy season in NBA history. All four of these teams (plus the Lakers of course) could win 60 games. If (and this is of course the big if) all 5 teams stay relatively healthy, I think all 5 will do it, because these teams are all that good, and they all know that there are 4 other teams which are just as good as they are. Everyone will be looking for every advantage they can get, and home court advantage is the biggest prize that can be had. They say that the regular season is a marathon, not a sprint. This year, such an attitude will see you get left in the dust. All these teams know it, and all of them (except maybe San Antonio) will come out of the gate hard and never turn back. As I’ve written before, I think that it is possible a team could win 70 games this season, and NOT win the NBA championship. There are simply no impossible scenarios this year.

Sorry for the extremely long intro. In truth, it could and should be treated as its own piece regarding the nature of the NBA this season. Now, without further ado, here’s a breakdown of the four main contenders to the Lakers throne (in alphabetical order, so as to not stir up additional argument).

Boston Celtics

On paper, this may be the most formidable team of the bunch. Their starting 5 contains 3 Hall of Famers, a point guard who nearly averaged a triple double in a playoff series last year and is generally considered an All-Star in the making, and a brick wall for a center who’s only job is to rebound and block shots. In case you are wondering, he’s pretty good at his job. Their bench has turned from a weakness into a strength with the signings of Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels to a unit already boasting a very good shooter in Eddie House, and a decent backup power forward in Big Baby Davis.

The Celtics’ defense is what makes this team so potentially special. Two years ago, they were one of the better defenses of all time (statistically proven). They still have the same core of guys, although the loss of James Posey definitely hurts them on that side of the ball. With the addition of Rasheed Wallace (in his prime, a very good defender), the potential exists for this team to be even better on defense than they were two years ago, which is a scary thought.

Unfortunately for the C’s, the regular season and the playoffs aren’t played out on paper. While the Celtics have the best potential for greatness of the four teams previewed here, they also have the biggest question marks. I’m sorry, I meant question mark. Because any analysis of the Celtics’ potential boils down to one question, what are they getting from KG? If KG is at his best, returning to the form he had two years ago, captaining the Celtics’ defense and instilling them with the intensity and mentality for which he is known, the Celtics become an extremely difficult team to beat. If he remains limited, because his knee injury isn’t an injury at all, instead just wear and tear at the end of a very long career, then the Celtics become very beatable. Not as vulnerable as last year, because picking up Sheed should help them if Garnett turns out to be limited again, but not a favorite, especially in this stacked field. The Celtics’ entire season hinges almost entirely on the health of Kevin Garnett. There are other questions (will Pierce and Allen decline at all? Was Sheed’s failure last season due to lack of motivation, or deterioration of skill and athleticism), but in the end, KG decides almost everything for them.

A Lakers-Celtics matchup in this year’s Finals would be almost as if envisioned by God himself. Sure, there’s the rivalry itself, the major media markets involved, but the main factor is the style of play these two teams possess. They are the NBA’s Yin and Yang. Kelly Dwyer described these two teams so perfectly at the beginning of last season (before KG went down) that I simply have to use that description.

The Lakers are a devastating offensive team who play defense so well you can’t possibly hope to outscore them. The Celtics are a devastating defensive team who play offense so well you can’t possibly hope to keep them from outscoring you.

That’s why, in terms of being able to observe a legendary matchup, Lakers-Celtics should be what you root for. In terms of who the matchups favor, that’s a tough, tough question. If KG is what he should be, Pau will have to prove once and for all that he can handle KG’s physicality, and Bynum will have to have success against a very good post defender in Perkins. Also, the Lakers ability to handle the pick and roll will be vital to success against Boston, because the PG position is the only place where the Celtics have a clear cut advantage on the floor.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The truth is, no one really knows what to make of this Cavaliers team, because their regular season and the end of their playoff run were so incongruous. Is the real Cavaliers team the one that won 66 games, good for home court advantage throughout the playoffs? Or is it the team that crashed out to the Orlando Magic, lucky to extend that series even 6 games, even though the Magic were without their All-Star point guard and the Cavs had no serious injuries?

The answer to that question? None of the above, because this year’s team bears little resemblance to last year’s squad. Gone are Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic, entering are Shaq, Anthony Parker, Jamario Moon, and Leon Powe (once he recovers from injury). This is a completely different team, which is why the Cavs have the greatest potential of any of the 5 to fail. The addition of Shaq cost them basically nothing, in terms of player personnel. But Shaq changes the way a team plays offense, and it will be interesting to see how well he is incorporated to the offense, while maintaining the same model which enjoyed success last season. Also, the addition of Shaq does little to address the matchup problems which Orlando created for Cleveland last season. They still appear to be a team that can be pick and rolled to death, as neither Shaq nor Big Z have the quickness to be able to do much with a quick guard coming off the screen. But the biggest question, the biggest problem, facing this Cavaliers team doesn’t have to do with players at all. The Cavs might struggle more this season because they lost Jon Kuester, who was the offensive mastermind that turned the Cavs offense from a slightly upgraded version of the Los Angeles Kobes (circa 2005) into a very decent offensive team last year. Kuester is now the head coach for the Pistons, and his offensive mind has not been replaced. That, combined with head coach Mike Brown’s lack of offensive acumen, and the addition of an offense changing force like Shaq, could be the biggest issue with the Cavs recapturing even last season’s success.

Still, this is a team that won 66 games last season, and they have improved their depth over last season’s squad. And they have LeBron James. Regardless of where you fall on the James scale, there is simply no denying that he is a dynamic force that is capable of carrying a team. If the Cavs overachieved last season, he’s the reason why. No team with LeBron is going to be a bad one, and he has more talent around him than he’s ever had before.

A Lakers-Cavs matchup would have a ton of storylines attached to it. Kobe vs. LeBron. Shaq vs. the Lakers (and Shaq vs. Kobe specifically). Nike (and something like 10 other sponsors) would have an absolute field day. That said, for me the Lakers cause far more matchup problems with the Cavs than the Cavs do with the Lakers. They played twice last season and the Lakers won relatively comfortably both times. Despite all their success, one never got the impression that the Cavs were better than the Lakers in a head to head matchup last season, and I see too many questions this season to believe that has changed.

Orlando Magic

More than any other team on this list, the Orlando Magic are in a similar situation to the Los Angeles Lakers. They will be good next year, there is no doubt. But they will also be good the year after that, and the year after that, and so on. Unlike Boston and San Antonio, Orlando’s core are young players. Vince Carter is no spring chicken, but Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson are both still in the ascension phase of their careers, and Rashard Lewis isn’t on the way down. Unlike Cleveland, there’s no doubt regarding their young star’s presence on this team for years to come. Like LA (with Bynum, Farmar, Brown etc.), Orlando has the greatest possibility of improvement simply because their players are still improving. Howard should continue to develop an offensive game, and Nelson was having a truly breakout year before he got seriously injured.

However, unlike LA, Orlando was very busy in the offseason. They allowed Hedo Turkoglu to sign with another team, but they traded for Vince Carter, who is theoretically an upgrade over what Hedo provided. They also signed Brandon Bass, and pimp slapped the Dallas Mavericks by matching Dallas’ offer for Marcin Gortat, after Dallas did not match Orlando’s offer for Bass. It remains to be seen, but they appear to have significantly improved upon a very good team, especially considering they made the Finals with Jameer Nelson playing the role of "The Shell of Jameer Nelson". A healthy Nelson alone would be reason for this team to be optimistic about their chances. However, they were taken to 7 games by a depleted Celtics roster, and Boston does have the personnel to deal with Orlando’s matchup nightmare, Rashard Lewis. So it’s easy to see why the Magic felt the need to make so many plays to try and keep ahead of the curve in the Eastern Conference.

Similar to the Lakers situation, the Magic’s season will be defined by how well they incorporate their new star player into a very successful, and somewhat unorthodox, offensive system. If the ball gets sticky in Vince Carter’s hands, and he isn’t as successful a playmaker as Turkoglu was, Orlando might not be as successful. Then again, Vince Carter’s best is far beyond Hedo’s best, so it seems likely that everything gets worked out. VC isn’t the best defender in the world, and Orlando was a very good defensive team last season, but Howard is the best backstop in the league, so VC’s defensive weaknesses will be somewhat masked. Besides, when was Hedo ever known as a defensive juggernaut.

A matchup between Orlando and LA doesn’t seem particularly interesting to me, if only because we have seen it so recently. Yes, a few of the faces have changed, but the core matchup problems still exist, and those matchups seem to be heavily in favor of L.A. Although Bass should help them in the rebounding category, he is still very undersized, and the Lakers should be able to take advantage of their very good length, regardless of whether Bass or Lewis is playing PF. The only area that the Magic truly have the advantage against LA is at the PG position, and Jameer Nelson was definitely the main reason why Orlando swept LA during the regular season, but Orlando has gotten worse, not better, at defending on the perimeter, so if the two do end up re-matching last year’s Finals, look for Kobe to have even more success than he had the year previous.

San Antonio Spurs

Always included in a list of contenders, the Spurs are the only team on this list that weren’t particularly good last year. They limped into the playoffs (literally and figuratively) before exiting in Round One to a Dallas Mavericks team that seems to consistently have their number. So, if they are to truly be included in this list, they clearly have the furthest to travel from last season’s mediocrity. And yet, here they are, undisputedly included amongst the league’s best. I guess a core that has won 3 championships, and is led by one of, if not the, greatest power forwards of all time, gives you a little bit of street cred.

And yet San Antonio would probably not be on this list if they didn’t make what has to be the most one sided trade since Pau to the Lakers. The terms of that trade with the Milwaukee Bucks? Richard Jefferson, a former All-Star, for Bruce Bowen, Fabricio Oberto, and Kurt Thomas. Of the three, only Thomas is still on the Bucks roster. And that’s not all San Antonio did. They signed Antonio McDyess to be their big man off the bench. They drafted Dejuan Blair, despite the fact that he apparently has no knees, and are making every team who let him slide through the first round look foolish as Blair looks like an absolute beast. The kid may not last 5 years in the league, but the Spurs are going to get a huge Return on Investment while he’s here. It’s quite possible the Spurs have had the most successful summer of all, but they needed to do so in order to even be included on this list.

Like Boston, San Antonio’s entire season is defined by how healthy their stars are. I guess all teams can be defined this way, but San Antonio’s case is special, because they have the most injury prone star of any of these teams, Manu Ginobli. A healthy Ginobli is a game changing force, fearlessly driving the lane, getting layups at ridiculous angles, hitting 3’s and making plays for his entire team. A Ginobli hampered by injury is depressing, trying to do all the things he knows he can do, and having no success. San Antonio hasn’t seen healthy Ginobli in the playoffs since their last championship, three years ago. That’s why the Lakers beat San Antonio with little trouble in 2008, and why the Spurs were dispatched in the first round in 2009. If anything, trading for Jefferson has better prepared the Spurs to deal with an injury to Ginobli, but if he isn’t 100% come playoff time, it’s hard to imagine the Spurs making it through the Gauntlet to give TD a 5^th ring. But Ginobli isn’t even the Spurs most important health concern, just the most troubling. The most important is, of course, Tim Duncan. Duncan is getting up in years, and in games played, and he definitely took a step back in 2009, the type of step back that won’t be reversed by another step forward. If Duncan continues on the slow, steady decline rate, and Ginobli is healthy, the Spurs are a force to be reckoned with, backed by more Championship experience than any other team in the mix. But if Duncan drops off considerably, or even worse, his body starts giving up on him, the Spurs simply can’t be successful without their anchor in the middle.

A Spurs-Lakers matchup is extremely likely, as they do seem to be the cream of the crop in the Western Conference. It’s a matchup that always excites, but the new faces this time around make it a bit tough to analyze properly. Tony Parker will always kill LA, and his speed is absolute death to Derek Fisher. However, the Spurs no longer have a Bruce Bowen type to even slow down Kobe Bryant. Ginobli will need to be at his absolute peak to even have a chance at matching up with Kobe, and if he isn’t, Bryant will be able to dominate enough to counter-balance the Spurs advantage at the point. Artest should be able to do alright with Jefferson, and you have to like the Lakers front court depth over the Spurs’, even if Duncan is close to as good as he is capable of at this point.

Some quick snippets on the sleepers

Portland has the greatest potential of any team to crash this Big 5. They have a ton of young talent, and they made a huge jump from two years ago to last year. Another huge jump is quite possible. But, in the end, they need too many people to improve, and have to change their entire team mentality regarding defense, so it seems unlikely. Besides, even if they do join the ranks of the elite, it will be their first time on the dance floor when they come up against the championship experience of the Lakers or the Spurs, and it’s a pretty safe bet they won’t be able to handle the pressure, even if everything else is equal. They are still 1-2 years away.
Dallas has made improvements, but they have serious holes on the defensive side of things. Besides, I’m not sold at all on Shawn Marion’s ability to change the dynamic of a team that, even at its best, was a step behind a few other teams in the West
Denver seems likely to fall back down to earth this season. I don’t see any particular reason to expect dramatic improvement over last year’s squad, and last year’s squad had a great deal of things go right for them. I expect them to take a step back.
Washington is an interesting team in the East. They’ve added a bunch of pieces, and getting a player like Arenas back is nothing to sneeze at. They have to prove to be worth their salt on defense before anybody will consider them a threat to the 3 powers already residing in the East.

Sorry for the tome, but this subject just keeps on going and going. Did anybody even make it to the end? Who do you think poses the biggest threat to the Lakers’ repeat aspirations?

Poll

Who poses the greatest threat to the Lakers in 2009-2010?

Boston Celtics

459 votes

Cleveland Cavaliers

122 votes

Orlando Magic

165 votes

San Antonio Spurs

275 votes

Somebody else

125 votes

1146 votes | Poll has closed