Washington Wizards 2017-2018 Season Thread

[mrtarheel]

what is it going to take for Ernie to go? I believe that if we had a better GM we could have had Brad Stevens as coach, but for some reason we held on the Wittman for soooo long.

 

[Methodical Management]

what is it going to take for Ernie to go? I believe that if we had a better GM we could have had Brad Stevens as coach, but for some reason we held on the Wittman for soooo long.

I blame Ted for that one. After letting Flip Saunders go with practically two full years left on his contract (they canned him after a 2-15 start), the Wizards got cheap. Rather than hire a real coach in the summer and pay the salary of two top tier coaches, Ted kept Wittman.

They felt they couldn't get rid of him while the team was not only making the playoffs, but winning series. Everyone felt that if Wall had been healthy, they'd have beaten Atlanta and made the ECF. It took missing the playoffs to finally get Randy out of the paint. By then, Boston had already scooped up Stevens - who was, to their credit, not yet an obvious choice. The Celtics were able to take their moon shot while they were rebuilding - as the Wizards could have done after Wittman had served out his single season as interim head coach. They chose instead to stay the course, either out of cheapness, a misguided sense of loyalty to Wittman, or some combination thereof. (Making a virtue of cost cutting.)

Ultimately, the blame rests with Ted regardless, as he's the one keeping Ernie around as well. If missing the playoffs didn't cost Ernie his job, one wonders, what will? Perhaps a first round loss this year, after Ted spent more money than you know he feels comfortable with to keep this team together, will prove sufficient.

Granted, there isn't much a new GM can do about Ian Mahinmi. They're handcuffed until that comes off the books, because you know Ted's too cheap to agree to a buyout. A new GM, however, could at least have the discipline to keep their hands out of the draft pick cookie jar and would undoubtedly make better choices in free agency. Running to Meeks with the full MLE was lunacy.

 

[joe cool23]

Tim Frazier time everybody!!!

John's out two weeks.

 

[extraordinary swag]

 

[Methodical Management]

Tim Frazier time everybody!!!

John's out two weeks.

 

[Methodical Management]

What a great game for Beal, who’d been struggling badly in Wall’s absence. Exactly what he, and this team, needed after last night’s debacle against Utah.

 

[joe cool23]

What a great game for Beal, who’d been struggling badly in Wall’s absence. Exactly what he, and this team, needed after last night’s debacle against Utah.

He almost outscored whatever team that was that played in Utah. Unbelievable

 

[AgentZero]

Saw the highlights of tonight's game and the Wiz were absolutely robbed. Clock operator started the clock early so Beal's shot at the buzzer didn't count. They were then forced to re-run an out of bounds play somehow with .1 less seconds on the clock. Reminds me of when the Clippers clock operator pulled the same stunt against the Spurs in Game 7 of the playoffs a few years back. If it's the same guy, it has to be intentional by this point.

This explanation by the NBA doesn't make any sense:

 

[s0lefunk]

Anyone know where I can get the white/Association Edition or navy/Statment Edition Nike Swingman Personalized Jerseys?

All I can find for the white jerseys are the FansEdge replicas and the red/Icon Edition Swingmans. Really looking for a white Porter jersey in a large but having absolutely no luck...

 

[Methodical Management]

The Wizards replaced their popular "stars and stripes" home alternate with this new "district" uniform, which was finally revealed officially today:

The side panels are supposed to resemble the Washington monument:

Any thoughts?

 

[AgentZero]

Anyone know where I can get the white/Association Edition or navy/Statment Edition Nike Swingman Personalized Jerseys?

All I can find for the white jerseys are the FansEdge replicas and the red/Icon Edition Swingmans. Really looking for a white Porter jersey in a large but having absolutely no luck...

Not sure about but personalized jerseys, but I did ask a local Champs if they had any idea when they’d be getting the navy jerseys about a month ago and they had no idea. Heard that Nike’s been having trouble with jersey inventory, which isn’t good.

As far as the new jerseys, I think they’re alright, but I wonder why they didn’t bring back the stars and stripes jerseys and add “The District” to them instead. Would be a shame if the only time the Wizards wore those was for half of the last season Adidas sponsored the NBA.

 

[jjs07]

I like just about everything w/ the jersey, except for the "of Columbia" text. Too many words on there. Would have been dope w/ just "The District."

This team is ridiculously bi-polar. Here's the problem...they THINK they're elite, when in actuality, they're nothing more than average. The difference between elite teams and average is that elite teams can coast in the games vs. sub-.500 teams and come out with a convincing victory. Wizards get up for marquee matchups, but think they're good enough to skate by vs. bad teams. Well, when the gap between those teams and the Wizards ins't nearly as wide as they may think, it's a recipe for disaster.

I'm not liking what I'm seeing at all.

 

[extraordinary swag]

I agree, they remove the "of Columbia" text and the jersey looks much better. Still feel like our merch is the worst in the league, we never have anything that looks nice. I'd kill for a black alternate jersey

Without looking at who we played I could guess bout 15 of our losses are against teams who have athleticism/agility in the front court. We just do not have it with Gortat, Mahinmi and Markieff. They can't contest a shot at the rim to save their lives because they're slow as hell. Any big man with a shred of leaping ability or effort kills us. We'll be lucky to win 45 games this year, I just don't see a big win streak or major turnaround coming

 

[Methodical Management]

This team is ridiculously bi-polar. Here's the problem...they THINK they're elite, when in actuality, they're nothing more than average. The difference between elite teams and average is that elite teams can coast in the games vs. sub-.500 teams and come out with a convincing victory. Wizards get up for marquee matchups, but think they're good enough to skate by vs. bad teams. Well, when the gap between those teams and the Wizards ins't nearly as wide as they may think, it's a recipe for disaster.

I'm not liking what I'm seeing at all.

Without looking at who we played I could guess bout 15 of our losses are against teams who have athleticism/agility in the front court. We just do not have it with Gortat, Mahinmi and Markieff. They can't contest a shot at the rim to save their lives because they're slow as hell. Any big man with a shred of leaping ability or effort kills us.

I agree with all of the above.

I'd like to think that the "playing for stats" comments are a sign that players intend to hold themselves accountable and address the underlying deficiencies in focus and effort that have thus far sabotaged their season, but it feels like blame shifting to me.

When a player says "we played selfish," generally they're trying to blame other players without naming names. So now, on top of everything else, you have a trust/chemistry problem.

We heard Beal and Wall call the entire team out for the bad losses, but apparently neither said "and it starts with us." If Gortat took bad shots, fine, you definitely want to clean that up - but 8 bad shots over 48 minutes isn't what caused this team to lose to the Hawks.

They only had one more assist in Boston, I believe, than in Atlanta. They let the Hawks score 35 in the fourth. That's your ballgame.


Winning an NBA game requires sustained focus. Teams won't just roll over. This is the best league in the world. If you're in a tug of war for 48 minutes, you will lose if you let go of the rope. Once you do that, the opponent no longer needs to be stronger than you in order to win. They need only seize the opportunity.

That's exactly what happened against the Lakers, against the Blazers, against the Hornets... they let go of the rope.


How would you fix this?

The problem is, at least partly, a personnel problem. Is there a trade out there that you believe would help turn things around?
Or is it even worth it to try and salvage the season with another mid-season Grunfeld special?

The Wizards don't have much flexibility, especially when it comes to upgrading the frontcourt, thanks to their atrocious cap management. Any move, at this point, would likely require giving away Oubre at the very least. Are we better off trying to ride out the Cavs/Warriors era, roll the dice in the draft, waste yet another of Wall's prime years, and wait until 2019 when Kief, Gortat, Meeks, and Jason Smith finally come off the books?

 

[joe cool23]

This team is so wishy washy, they're liable to get swept by the Knicks or something.

 

[Methodical Management]

So the Wizards lost to another bad team, again, and this time, apparently, Scott Brooks was not having it. After the game, Brooks reportedly channeled Wizards fans everywhere in delivering a blistering post-game tirade to his underachieving squad.

When describing Brooks' post-game remarks to reporters, a subdued Bradley Beal said, "he's gonna make a change."


While that may sound promising in theory, as we all know, Scott Brooks is the coach - not the owner, not the general manager.

My question to you is this: what can he change?

 

[tireless drive]

So the Wizards lost to another bad team, again, and this time, apparently, Scott Brooks was not having it. After the game, Brooks reportedly channeled Wizards fans everywhere in delivering a blistering post-game tirade to his underachieving squad.

When describing Brooks' post-game remarks to reporters, a subdued Bradley Beal said, "he's gonna make a change."


While that may sound promising in theory, as we all know, Scott Brooks is the coach - not the owner, not the general manager.

My question to you is this: what can he change?

The Dream Trade
Wizards receive: DeAndre Jordan, Lou Williams

Clippers receive: Ian Mahimi, Jason Smith, Jodie Meeks, Tim Frazier, Washington’s 2018 1st and 2nd round picks.

 

[extraordinary swag]

My question to you is this: what can he change?

not a damn thing that will make the results any different. This team has been plagued with the same effort issues for two different coaches. It's not on Brooks anymore, it's the leadership and the players

The band-aid route that Grunfeld has used has clearly failed, we're the new Atlanta Hawks during Joe Johnson's era

 

[Sonny Corinthos]

The band-aid route that Grunfeld has used has clearly failed, we're the new Atlanta Hawks during Joe Johnson's era

Might be worse

 

[Methodical Management]

The Dream Trade
Wizards receive: DeAndre Jordan, Lou Williams

Clippers receive: Ian Mahimi, Jason Smith, Jodie Meeks, Tim Frazier, Washington’s 2018 1st and 2nd round picks.

Why even include the picks?

not a damn thing that will make the results any different. This team has been plagued with the same effort issues for two different coaches. It's not on Brooks anymore, it's the leadership and the players

The band-aid route that Grunfeld has used has clearly failed, we're the new Atlanta Hawks during Joe Johnson's era

That's my point exactly: I couldn't think of any "change" available to Scott Brooks that will solve this problem. Perhaps he can, and he's being paid $35 million to figure it out.

As a coach, however, the only real lever you can pull is lineups/playing time - and what options does he have there? Gortat's not performing, so you start Mahinmi? Wall gave a sub-par effort, so you start Sato and alienate your only All Star? Porter's going through a rough stretch, so you devalue the guy you just maxed out and undermine any trade potential he might still have to a bad team with ample cap space?

The only realistic starting lineup change is sending Morris to the bench, and Morris hasn't been the same player he was last year coming off his injury, but the blame for this season can hardly be heaped on his shoulders alone.

If he intends to lobby for a trade, I think most of us would argue that's likely to be even worse for this team in the long run.

I'm not on board with another Ernie Grunfeld deadline deal.

 

[AgentZero]

Anyone else heard about the players-only team meeting gone wrong after the Hornets loss? John mentioned it in his postgame interview after Friday's win that some players didn't react well to being called out and he downplayed it like it wasn't a big deal, however it is somewhat alarming to me that he'd mention it after a solid win.

Fast forward to today and the Post had article on it and it was talked about on ESPN...could this be a bigger deal than previously thought?

 

[frshstunna]

The wiz are just a 2nd round playoff team , it is what it is

They can see what offers they get for Otto if they serious bout making changes

 

[steevoo1]

Anyone else heard about the players-only team meeting gone wrong after the Hornets loss? John mentioned it in his postgame interview after Friday's win that some players didn't react well to being called out and he downplayed it like it wasn't a big deal, however it is somewhat alarming to me that he'd mention it after a solid win.

Fast forward to today and the Post had article on it and it was talked about on ESPN...could this be a bigger deal than previously thought?

Heard about that on the radio this morning smh. Beal and wall were saying players took it the wrong way. Team is a hot mess wouldn't be surprised if we get bounced first round depending matchup.

Anyone know when the new jerseys go on sale? Thinking of copping one at the game vs OKC but if they go on sale around the same time then I'd rather just wait

 

[s0lefunk]

The John Wall City Edition Swingmans are available at ****'s and Lids but selling fast. Wizards store is supposed to carry them too in limited quantities.

I'm just waiting for the Association and Statement edition Swingmans to become available. Need a Wall and Oubre jersey.

 

[jjs07]

Anyone else heard about the players-only team meeting gone wrong after the Hornets loss? John mentioned it in his postgame interview after Friday's win that some players didn't react well to being called out and he downplayed it like it wasn't a big deal, however it is somewhat alarming to me that he'd mention it after a solid win.

Fast forward to today and the Post had article on it and it was talked about on ESPN...could this be a bigger deal than previously thought?

I read a lot of rumblings that it was Gortat who was tight....this is on the heels of his retirement talk, amongst other things