User Blog: tarheel723 Posts made by tarheel723 on Laying Out Candidates for a Nat'l TV Game tarheel723 Thu, 30 Jan 2014 21:06:07 -0500 <p>Over the course of this season, I've heard a lot of warranted rumblings among <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Wizards</a> fans questioning why we don't have one national TV game (that is, TNT, ESPN, and ABC games), especially when teams like the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Knicks</a> are doing badly and you get a game like tonight with the likes of the Cavs, currently losing 60-36 on TNT. There has been questioning about whether or not the Wiz could get one of their games flexed onto national TV. I'm here to tell you all that it isn't going to happen this season.</p> <p> </p> <p>I've gone through all of the Wizards games that land on nights that there are NBA games on national television, and found that, realistically, network executives aren't going to flex us into these slots. Here are the candidates, and why they won't be flexed (I've left out next Wednesday's game vs. SA because at this point it's too late to be flexed).</p> <p> </p> <p><b>-Wednesday, Feb. 19 7:30 @ <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Atlanta Hawks</a></b></p> <p> -The 8:00 ESPN game for that night is IND@MIN. Indiana currently has the top record in the NBA (and will continue to be top-3), Minnesota a .500 team just like us. That's a win over a matchup of two teams around .500 in ATL and WAS.</p> <p> -Won't get flexed.</p> <p> </p> <p><b>-Sunday, Feb. 23 @ Cleveland Cavliers</b></p> <p> -This would be a candidate for the Sunday evening ESPN game, which is currently held by the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Nets</a>@<a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Lakers</a>. While Wall vs. Kyrie always has some intrigue, there's no way ESPN execs. give up the NY and LA ratings. Next.</p> <p> -Won't get flexed.</p> <p> </p> <p><b>-Thursday, Feb. 27 @ <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Toronto Raptors</a></b></p> <p> -The current TNT early game slot for this date is held by Knicks @ <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Heat</a>. Again, no way Turner execs. are giving up NY and LeBron ratings.</p> <p> -Won't get flexed.</p> <p> </p> <p><b>-Wednesday, March 5 vs. <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Utah Jazz</a></b></p> <p> -ESPN early game is DAL@DEN, but that doesn't matter, this is against the Jazz.</p> <p> -Won't get flexed.</p> <p> </p> <p><b>-Wednesday, March 12 vs. <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Charlotte Bobcats</a></b></p> <p> -Again with this theme, ESPN won't give up the ratings for BKN@MIA.</p> <p> -Won't get flexed.</p> <p> </p> <p><b>-Wednesday, March 26 vs. <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Phoenix Suns</a></b></p> <p> -ESPN game is Heat vs. <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Pacers</a>. Are you kidding me? Next.</p> <p> -Won't get flexed.</p> <p> </p> <p><b>-Wednesday, April 2 vs. <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Boston Celtics</a></b></p> <p> -It's against the Celtics, and ESPN is getting mega NY ratings for Nets-Knicks.</p> <p> -Won't get flexed.</p> <p> </p> <p><b>-Wednesday, April 9 vs. Charlotte Bobcats</b></p> <p> -While the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Grizzlies</a> aren't a very big draw, MIA-MEM is definitely the winner over CHA-WAS.</p> <p> -Won't get flexed.</p> <p> </p> <p><b>-Wednesday, April 16 vs. Boston Celtics</b></p> <p> -Atlanta and Milwaukee are almost certain to get flexed out, but there's a plethora of better options than C's-Wiz in DAL@MEM, HOU@NO, DET@OKC, LAL@SA, BKN@CLE, and TOR@NYK.</p> <p> -Won't get flexed.</p> <p> </p> <p>Sorry, Wiz fans. I hate it just as much as the rest of you, but it looks like we won't be getting any national television games until the playoffs roll around. We can definitely look for multiple games to be scheduled for us next season, but we won't be getting any this season.</p> Why We Won't Get Durant in 2016 tarheel723 Fri, 06 Dec 2013 09:51:42 -0500 <p>Jay-Z.</p> <p>What I've learned through this whole Robinson Cano mess is that there are two types of bad agents: those who don't know what's best for their clients and therefore ultimately lowball them, and those who don't know what they're doing and always go way higher than their client is worth.</p> <p>If you didn't already know, the Yankees, again, the NEW YORK YANKEES, the third most valuable sports franchise in the world at $1.85 billion, have shot down any offers that Jay-Z and Cano have brought to the table, which go upwards of $300M. <a href=""></a></p> <p>Now, Cano has been in serious talks with the Seattle Mariners, who were, as of last night, prepared to hand out a 10 year, $225M contract to him. Well, here comes greedy Jay-Z again, who has constantly been making horrible demands of teams. He demanded that they pay Cano $252M over 10 years, $27M more than what the Mariners were willing and able to offer. <a href=""></a></p> <p>The fact of the matter is that Jay-Z is one of the worst and greediest agents in the history of the business, and while personally I don't care whether or not he runs his client into the ground on NO team, what worries me is what he's going to do with his NBA players.</p> <p>The NBA has a soft cap (OT: isn't Silver trying to change that?), but nonetheless, it's a cap, something that the MLB doesn't have. So, under a cap system, he has to understand that there has to be room for other reasonable starters on a team, and he can't go demanding 100 Million Trillion Billion dollars for Durant.</p> <p>BUT, he's going to demand as much as the cap allows, and Wall and Beal are already going to be on big contracts for us by that time, and there will be no room whatsoever for such a lucrative contract, even if Wall and Beal were to adjust their contracts.</p> <p>If it were some other agent who was a little bit more reasonable, and of course is Durant were actually interested in coming here, I think we could make it work with him, Beal, and Wall. But Jay-Z is the greediest agent of all time and is going to be demanding too much for us to handle.</p> <p>UPDATE 11:10 AM: This is supposed to be a basketball post with Cano as just an explanation, but if anyone cares, the Mariners DID remain in talks and finally bit on $240M. <a href=""></a></p> Embarrased tarheel723 Tue, 26 Nov 2013 00:13:46 -0500 <p class="MsoNormal">Tonight was my most embarrassing game as a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="">Redskins</a> fan. Even more than the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="">Eagles</a> MNF game of a few years ago. The score was 27-6, "only" a 21 point win for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="">49ers</a>. It wasn’t 59-28 (Eagles ’10) or 52-7 (<a class="sbn-auto-link" href="">Patriots</a> ’07), but it went much deeper than that. First of all, I’d like to say that the performance by <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="">Josh Wilson</a> tonight was quite possibly the worst secondary performance of football history, maybe even the worst defensive performance of football history. He never put any pressure on the line of scrimmage, playing a good 5-7 yards from his receiver (usually Boldin) as the ball is snapped, instead of even attempting to be physical with him for 5 yards. He then proceeded to at times watch the ball and the quarterback constantly, and then therefore having his back to his assignment. Even when he wasn’t doing that, 90% of the time he was allowing a good 5 yard cushion for the receiver to make the catch and gain yards after the catch. The rest of the secondary played like s**t as well but Josh Wilson especially was just horrible. Our front 7 actually played well for most of the game, putting pressure on Kaep and stopping runs to about 2 yards, but NONE of that mattered when Kaep could make quick, easy, and long throws to his receivers. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Robert Griffin III will receive all of the blame for this game. THAT is the sad truth, and that is what I am dreading the most about the backlash from this game. Griffin didn’t play horrible tonight, in fact he didn’t play all that bad. He greatly reduced his amount of overthrown balls, except for that one to Aldrick. However, his receivers dropped some crucial balls tonight, including a few by Paulsen and that crucial one by Aldrick deep against Carlos Rogers. The offensive line continued to be absolute s**t; in my estimation, the worst in the league. I actually didn’t know this until tonight when Gruden pointed it out, but we have the LIGHTEST offensive line in the league, giving reason as to exactly WHY they get CONSTANTLY PUMMELED by opposing D-Lines and Linebackers. This s**ty O-Line is why Robert is have so many troubles and doesn’t have ANY time to allow his receivers to get open OR throw it away, allowing FOUR sacks tonight. Even though Alfred did well when he could, including Helu sometimes, I’d say well over half of our running plays went no further than the line of scrimmage. It also comes down to Kyle’s play-calling, which (there’s a theme here) was also total, absolute s**t tonight. Those screen passes BARELY WORKED, and were stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage quite a few times because the SF linebackers were right there. What I would have liked to have seen from Kyle is for some bootleg action, because it would have been perfect against this defense and with our offensive line. It would have taken the linebackers away from the QB and allowed for the possibility of some good medium gains. Unfortunately, Kyle doesn’t know how to make adjustments and didn’t see this. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">With all of this in mind, as I said, Griffin will receive all of the blame from outside media. They will continue to question him as a leader and may even start to bring up the "fluke" word for his season last year. While it does come with the territory of being "the savior" of the franchise and a leader, it is, at least for the most part, undeserved toward Griffin. And what we will see is not only him being blamed for the loss, but more things such as Darrell Green, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="">Santana Moss</a>, and the article coming out about him, mostly untrue, portraying him as "the bad guy" and making people detest the man. That is what I’m dreading most about the aftermath of this game.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The Redskins and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="">Robert Griffin III's</a> supporting cast played like s**t on national TV, and will unfortunately pay the consequences for it. Unfortunately, us Redskins fans will also pay the consequences, and while I will always wear my burgundy and gold with pride, EXPECT jeering galore until we can nationally be considered "good" again.</p> <p><br><br></p> GRJ, You're Doing it Wrong! tarheel723 Tue, 06 Aug 2013 13:47:31 -0400 <h3 class="link-title"><a href="" rel="nofollow">GRJ, You&#x27;re Doing it&amp;nbsp;Wrong!</a></h3> <div class="description"><p><p>You need to "Unveil the Wizard", not flaunt the jersey, kid! </p> <p></p></p></div> Re-Sign Garrett Temple tarheel723 Thu, 27 Jun 2013 10:18:33 -0400 <p>Yes, it's draft day, and yes, on draft day, of all days, I'm making a fanpost that doesn't have anything to do with the draft, well sort of (you'll see at the end).</p> <p>Anyways, besides for obviously drafting the right player is THE top priority right now for the offseason (I swear to the lord baby jesus, Ernie, if you draft a Euro with that pick just because he's "the next Dirk" I will personally drive to DC and find where you live and leave a burning industrial sized trash bag full of dog feces on your lawn), what everyone else is focusing on is <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">John Wall's</a> contract, and of course, re-signing <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Martell Webster</a>.</p> <p>All of which are important moves to me (please Re-Sign Webster, even if you pick Porter), however, one thing that I don't think has been focused on enough is the situation with <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Garrett Temple</a>. I think one of the most important things, if you're going to contend in the NBA or to have any solid foundation as an NBA team, is you have to have a fairly consistent bench throughout the years. I mean that in both ways, as in keeping them together because they're a good second group, and in that you need a second group that can consistently play well, or as well as a second group can.</p> <p>I liked what I saw from Garrett Temple this past season, or at least when he was coming off of the bench. On some nights, when <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Bradley Beal</a> was hurt, he had to start, and unfortunately, that's not quite the best fit for him. What he is good at, however, is being a role player coming off of the bench when he needs to as an influential part of the second group. This season he averaged about 23 minutes per game, partly because of the nights that Bradley Beal was injured. He scored about 5 ppg, also racking up 2.3 apg and 2.4 rpg. What I really liked is his three point shooting ability, shooting .325% from three, which isn't bad. These aren't bad numbers for a backup SG, and while they aren't great, I for the most part have based the idea of re-signing Garrett Temple on the eye test, one that I think he has surely passed.</p> <p>Now, if Bradley Beal is one of those players that always gets hurt in the NBA, then we might need to find a low-money SG that has had experience starting in the NBA, compared to someone like Garrett Temple (I'm thinking maybe Stackhouse). If Beal can stay healthy, then Temple can succeed in a bench role. </p> <p>Temple is a Restricted Free Agent this offseason, meaning whenever someone tries to sign him, the Wiz will get a chance to match or exceed the offer. Get crackin', Ernie.</p> <p>_____________________________________________________</p> <p>Off-Topic: As far as our backup PG spot goes, I really DON'T like AJ Price as our backup. I'd like for us to keep one of (the first one) the second rounders and go after Peyton Siva (someone who I've been growing on, and had a good workout for the Wiz) or even Erick Green, who, mind you, carried a bad Virginia Tech team in a really good ACC, and will excel in a reduced role in the NBA.</p> A Couple of Roster Ideas, With Your Help tarheel723 Wed, 29 May 2013 19:25:12 -0400 <p><br>Hi, guys. Ya'll know me, I'm the one who comes up with the overly-grandiose ideas for <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Wizards</a> roster moves that never seem to work out under the cap....</p> <p>Well, I saw this <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">John Wall</a> tweet earlier: "@John_Wall: "Big homie @DwightHoward and I coolin !!"</p> <p>It got me thinking.... What IF Wall were to somehow bring Dwight to Washington?</p> <p>It would have to come with some roster moves in order to make it work cap-wise, but that's where you come in. You see, I'm not exactly the greatest with understanding the cap.... In other words, I have no idea what our cap limit is and what each of our players make, or what types of stipulations they all have in their contracts. I think mainly we'd have to get rid of OkAriza to clear up space.... But I came up with this kind of "dream" roster kinda real quick, and maybe some of you guys could tell me if it works cap-wise:</p> <p>Starting Lineup: Wall-Beal-Porter-Nene-Howard; Bench: Webster, Ryan Kelly, <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Trevor Booker</a>, <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Kevin Seraphin</a>, <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Garrett Temple</a>, <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Nate Robinson</a>, Vesely/Singleton (one in the D-League).</p> <p>Would that roster work cap-wise? Cause if it would, as I expect it would with getting rid of a few players in some form or fashion (Okafor, Ariza, Martin, Price), it would definitely be something where we would at least be in contention with the likes of the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Heat</a>, <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Pacers</a>, (kinda sorta) <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Knicks</a>, and possibly <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Celtics</a> in the East.</p> <p>If it does work, I'm not sure in what form/fashion we go about making some of the moves, or what exactly we do with the other 2nd rounder, but that would be debatable in the comments. Also not sure about Satoransky (probably butchered his name), but, whatever.</p> <p> </p> <p>Not afraid to be shot down, just something grandiose that I thought of at the spur of the moment..... Just let me know if it doesn't work. If it does, well then, this will be quite a fun comments section to read.</p> <p> </p> <p>My other (I said a couple) idea would be basically that same roster except for making trade moves with OkAriza, whoever for Cousins. Not so sure we could get him w/o that first though, idk..</p> <p>_______________________________________________</p> <p>On another note I'd like to point out...... Wall also put on twitter his desire for a ring :). So that's a good thing.</p> Starting to Distrust any Local Media except BF tarheel723 Sat, 25 May 2013 12:07:32 -0400 <p> </p> <p>Is anyone else?</p> <p>I've been getting agitated as of late with all of the local DC media: Washington Post, Chris Miller, and ESPECIALLY CSN as a whole. </p> <p>I guess the main reason I'm hating on the Washington Post is because Mike Wise soemtimes says the most idiotic things (but you already knew that), and sometimes I don't quite agree with the sentiments of Michael Lee.... Mike Wise is saying we should go after another veteran...... NO!</p> <p>But who really pisses me off is Chris Miller and the CSN "<a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Wizards</a> Insiders". They're a broken record in that they REALLY want us to draft Alex Len, because they're Maryland-ites who, like most Maryland fans, think that Alex Len is one of the best players in the nation (they seem to think he was better at his college game than Mason Plumlee and Nerlens Noel even..... and let's face it, Maryland fans are already delusional in that they think Dook and UNC are their rivals). Chris Miller I think needs to shut up with his constant sentiments that the Wiz should take a look at Len at number 3. Now I just saw another article on CSN today saying that we need ANOTHER veteran. Again, as with Mike Wise..... NOOOOOOO! We have veterans on the team... And in particular, Nene has a lot of playoff experience with the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Nuggets</a>. If we were to (for some reason) resign <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Jason Collins</a>, he has FINALS experience. We cannot keep signing these veterans who aren't going to give you much, and not for very long. And I think my fellow Redskins fans knows exactly what I'm talking about: Deion Sanders, Donovan McNabb, etc. etc. And I'm wondering WHY they think we need more veterans. We need to continue building our young core. And quite frankly, you talk about these veterans "knowing what it takes" in the playoffs..... I think the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Pacers</a> have proved otherwise in that they only have one player on their roster (benchwarmer) who's every played in a conference final game, and look how the Pacers have done. <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">John Wall</a> will continue to keep building himself as a leader, and once we get to that point, guess what, after game 1, you can say you have experience. But that's just the playoffs. They see adding veterans as a way to win now. But in reality, we need to think winning in the future.</p> <p>So that brings me to Bullets Forever. BF knows what their talking about a million times over CSN, and I don't think we really have a "we have to win NOW" mentality on BF, in fact, I've seen people completely disagree with that sentiment in that it's just Ernie's way to keep a job. And BF doesn't come up with unrealistic scenarios like CSN and WP constantly do (did you guys see Mike Wise say we should try to trade for Melo? NYK would hang up as soon as him name was mentioned). </p> <p>The only other place I'll trust for my Wiz analysis (when they rarely talk about it) is 106.7 the fan, in particular Holden and Danny. I guess that's mainly because they share the same hate for Ernie as I do and I love to hear them rip him, but they have pretty good insight otherwise too. </p> <p> </p> <p>Sorry, guys. This was a rant and I rambled quite a bit. Probably not even worth a FanPost honestly. But I wanted to get the steam off of my chest in that I'm getting tired as hell of some of the local media, PARTICULARLY ComcastSportsNet. Not sure what you guys thoughts are on the local media, but I, for one, am getting tired of some of the outlets. </p> <br><br> A Few Questions tarheel723 Mon, 13 May 2013 14:14:48 -0400 <p>Hi, guys. I'm new here to Japers Rink, however not new to SB Nation, as I'm an active member of Bullets Forever. </p> <p>Anyways, sorry if a FanPost really is supposed to be a place to "bring up new ideas", etc., but I wanted to use this thread to actually ask a few questions that honestly Google hasn't been too helpful with.</p> <p>Anyways, I've always known the sport of hockey, or the basics of it anyways, and have watched a few games here and there, but for the most part only the Stanley Cup Final. But over the past season, I've slowly fallen in love with the sport of hockey, and I became a Caps fan because that was (a) what's closest to home, (b) I listen to 106.7 the fan on my phone frequently and follow a lot of DC based sports personalities on twitter and know a lot of Caps fans, and (c) I just like the team and how they do things.</p> <p>But I'm still learning the more advanced aspects of the game, and still have A LOT to learn. Obviously I know what the rules are for the most part, etc. But I have a hard time sometimes with some of the terms that are used and what kinds of offensive and defensive plays are implemented, etc. Google and Youtube have, to some extent been helpful to me, for instance the other day I looked up what a forecheck was on Youtube because the announcers used the term alot, and I learned from there. But it seems as if whenever I try to do this research, every source kind of expects you to know everything else about the game. Which would be fine, if I were from Canada and grew up with the sport like football, or have actually learned to play the game, but I haven't. </p> <p>So I wanted to used Japers Rink, a place where I have lurked for a little while, for some help with my questions, as actual people listening to my questions would be more helpful to me than a source from google that expects me to know everything. I have just a few questions right now at this moment, but if I have any more, I'll come back to this fanpost and put it in the comments.</p> <p> </p> <ul> <li>What is a slew foot? People have been going crazy about it after the game last night and I have no idea what they're talking about.</li> <li>What is a corsi? I've seen you guys post the graphs on the recaps, etc., but they're incredibly confusing to understand.</li> <li>What is the difference between a slap shot, snap shot, wristshot, etc.?</li> <li>Is there an actual point to the two blue lines from a rules standpoint other than just to identify it as the "neutral zone", and what is the point of the blue paint in front of the net?</li> <li>Why is it that some icings they decide to not call, or "wash out"?</li> <li>What are the differences in the forechecks? I've learned what a forecheck is, but I'm not sure what a 1-2-2 or 1-2-1, etc.</li> <li>Could someone explain some of the different types of offensive styles/plays that teams run? I've picked up that some teams just play differently but I have a hard time kind of understanding how the play differently, and what roles certain players have in that offense, etc.</li> </ul> <p>Sorry if this is way too much to ask. I'm just trying to learn as much as I can about the game. I thoroughly enjoy the game and love the Caps, but am still learning.... </p> <p>Thank you guys so much! </p> 2013 Offseason: What Moves Do We Make? tarheel723 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 10:12:49 -0500 <p>Well, I just read on PBT that <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Josh Smith</a> is "highly unlikely" to re-sign with Atlanta this summer. So, that brings me to this...</p> <p>Should we attempt to sign him over the offseason?</p> <p>Personally, I believe that we should. We need some sort of star power here in Washington.</p> <p>He's a borderline all-star, and while he may not be considered one of the big "superstars" in the association, he at least gains recognition, and that's what we need. <br><br>Apart from bringing recognition, he brings a lot to the table stats-wise. This year, he has averaged 17.2ppg, 4.2apg, and 8.2rpg, which is up from what either <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Martell Webster</a> or <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Trevor Ariza</a> bring to the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Wizards</a>.</p> <p>If we acquired Smith, we'd obviously have to let go of either Webster or Ariza over the offseason, and as far as that goes, I'm a huge fan of Webster, and Ariza to me has become a bust of a trade asset. So I say we keep Webster, and trade Ariza someplace else to get rid of his contract.</p> <p>Would we be able to grab Smith money-wise, considering he wants a max contract? I don't know. I've never been real good with how the money works, so I'll let one of ya'll tell me in the comments, but I think if we can afford him, I think we should definitely grab him.</p> <p>Now, if we know that Smith won't be financially available, I strongly believe that we should draft Shabazz Muhammad out of UCLA (but still get rid of Ariza and keep Webster). I know the big mark on him is that he's only 6'6'', and people aren't sure that he'll be able to be a successful 3 in the league because of his size. However, as far as height goes, what if I told you that Martell Webster is only an inch taller and has been great for us?</p> <p>I talked about star power earlier, and I truly believe Muhammad will be a superstar in the NBA. I've said that people have the POTENTIAL to be a star before, but with Shabazz, I think he WILL be a superstar. That's because he's explosive, and people like explosiveness. He's explosive, and he can score you a lot of points.</p> <p>He's only had one game this season where he's scored less than 10 points, and he's had multiple games in which he's scored 25+ points. His averages this season are 18.5ppg, and 5.2rpg, which is pretty average rebounding ability for a player of his size, and actually up from Webster's rebound stats.</p> <p>I'm really interested to hear what moves you guys think we should make during the 2013 offseason, so comment below with what you would do!</p> <p>_____________________________________</p> <p> </p> <p>EDIT: This is something that I saw in the Nugs-Wiz post-game thread, and quite frankly, it really enticed me, and I want to see some more discussion about it. </p> <p> </p> <p>And that was to possibly have a 3-guard line up, and to draft Victor Oladipo from Indiana. Quite frankly, that justentices me. I found myself thinking the other day when watching the Indiana-Michigan State game "dang, too bad we already have a 2 Guard, cause I would love to have this kid." </p> <p> </p> <p>Well, looking on, Oladipo is 6'5", only an inch shorter than what Muhammad would be, and only two inches shorter than Webster. But here's something that I found really interesting:</p> <p> </p> <p>I found that Oladipo has a big-game mentality. For the season, he averages 14ppg and 6rpg. However, I went and I looked at all of the games that he played vs Ranked Teams. For those games, he averaged 20ppg. Doesn't anyone else think that this could be a huge asset for us considering we have to play teams like the Heat a multitude of times each season? That is a quality of his that I really like, he always steps his game up for these big games. </p> <p> </p> <p>Someone in the postgame thread said that he could be a matchup problem to other SFs in the NBA, and I agree with that statement. He's explosive, he can create his own shot when he needs to, he can drive the lane when he needs to. Oh, and one more thing, he can dunk, and he can throw it down hard. </p> <p> </p> <p>I don't think Ernie would really have the ability to think outside the box like this and create the possibility of a 3-Guard line up, but man, this would be something special. </p> Will Jan Vesely pan out? tarheel723 Sun, 10 Feb 2013 23:45:46 -0500 <img alt="" src="" /> <p>I posted this in the other thread about <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Jan Vesely</a> (if it did end up posting, it was taking forever), but I figured that it was so long and in depth, that I would just create a whole fan post about it. I don't know if ya'll see it the same way as me, but here it is:</p> <p>Yes, he fouls a lot. Yes, he got 10 fouls in a summer league game and fouled out. Yes, he's capable of attaining 6 fouls in 6 seconds. But.</p> <p>That's fixable.</p> <p>Not very, but fixable. That aspect of the game is one of the least fixable of them all. Sure, it'll take some work. It'll take someone, not just a coach, to really bond with him and help him develop and mature, and help him not have a natural instinct to foul. He CAN fix that.</p> <p>As far as him game away from the fouls....... He can be VERY good, I believe. I'm not sure if ya'll have seen what I've seen, but I've seen flashes. When he doesn't foul so much that Wittman isn't forced to take him out of the game, and he gets quality minutes (yes, I know that's rare), you can really see good things out of this kid. Here's the thing with him: I truly believe that it takes him a minute or two to really "get the hang of things," if you know what I mean. It takes a moment for him to get settled, for him to get "comfortable with the situation". However, once he's been in for a couple of minutes, and I've seen it a couple of times when he's been able to be in there for multiple minutes at the time, his game really starts to pick up. He's comfortable with the floor, with the ball, with his opponent. I've seen some great dumpoffs from him in the lane, I've seen some pretty good defense from him when he's not fouling, and of course, we've all seen some pretty good dunks by him as well.</p> <p>He's not perfect, he's got work to do, sure. On defense, obviously he has to stop fouling. That's a thing that has consciously be stopped, and that's going to be a challenge. Other than that, I think he can be a great defender. On offense, obviously we know he's a dunker. I also pointed out that he has some great dumpoffs under the rim and in the lane. From what I've seen, he's not a great shooter or much of a jump hook guy. That's something that he can work on if he so chooses, but I really don't seen where he's really going to try to majorly improve those aspects of his game other than POSSIBLY work on the short jump hook a little bit.</p> <p>I said that he's fixable and that he could have the potential to be a really good basketball player, and this seemed like a really optimistic post, but quite frankly, I don't think his game is GOING to be fixed and therefore he WON'T turn out to be anything on the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Wizards</a> or in the NBA in general.</p> <p> </p> <p>Would I love to see him work on his fouls, his shot, and his jump hook? Absolutely. Will it happen? No. Don't get me wrong, I love the kid, from an off the court standpoint, and he seems like a really cool, goofy, fun guy, but he's not a great basketball player, and he never deserved to be 6th overall in the Draft to begin with. He has the tools to be a good starter, but he has so many flaws that it would be overwhelming to fix them all, and, by the way, once they all were fixed, it would just be too late in his career, and he would definitely be gone from the Wizards.</p> <p>He may turn out to be a good player, EVENTUALLY, towards the end of his career (if he stays that long), but he wouldn't be on the Wizards. This stuff takes too long, and particularly I'm speaking of the foul troubles. A shot, which concerns me a whole lot less, could take only a couple of offseasons. A good jump hook with feel, that could really be developed in a couple of days.</p> <p>It's the fouls that concern me. That's a mental problem. Basketball is equally as much, if not more, of a mental game than it is physical. Setting up a good play, finding the right man to pass it to, thinking of a good way to get one up on your assignment, yeah, those can all be considered mental. But I'm talking about things such as confidence and natural instincts.</p> <p>Well, being a consistent fouler (especially one that commits such bad fouls like Vesely) falls into that realm of confidence and natural instincts. He doesn't have the confidence to go up against his assignments, so his natural instinct is then to do something like wrap the guy up or reach in, or whatever the foul may be. This is going to take work, and lots of it to fix. And then here's something that isn't given: someone to help him along the way. I think that would be one of the most important factors to make this thing work. Someone, not just a coach, but a peer, needs to help boost his confidence up and try to slowly work his way out of just having that natural instinct to foul.</p> <p>I'm going to give you guys a perfect example: the game of golf, and the golf swing. It's one thing to know what's wrong with your swing in golf. My problem has always been having the instinct to slide my hips instead of rotating, and that affects the direction that the club head faces. I know that. I work on it, I use techniques to try to get my body into the habit of rotating and not sliding before I actually go up to hit the ball. And then, I go up to the ball, and I don't have the CONFIDENCE that I'm going to swing correctly, and guess what? My natural instinct kicks in and there I am, sliding my hips instead of rotating. I'm slowly but surely actually improving in this aspect of my game, and that's been through the help of family and buddies that I go play with, boosting my confidence for that.</p> <p>Same exact thing with Jan Vesely. Substitute a golf swing and hips with basketball and fouls. I guarantee you that Jan Vesely knows about his foul problem, and he tries desperately not to do it. But once his assignment slips past him or goes up in the air, or whatever, then he relies on his natural instincts. He doesn't have the confidence in himself not to foul.</p> <p>This can take years upon years for him to develop the type of confidence that he needs for his game to progress and for him not to rely on his natural instincts. And, back to the point, that's why I don't think he'll turn out to be any good, on the Wizards at least. By the time that he would have developed the confidence, we would have already gotten tired of him, and would have gotten rid of him. Heck, I don't even know what his rookie contract is like or anything, because I'm never good with those types of things, but if at all possible, I wouldn't be surprised if we waived or traded (most likely waivers) him this offseason.</p> <p>Why I don't think he'll be any good ever in the NBA is simply because of the inconsistency in his teams. He won't have that one teammate with him all the time along on the ride boosting his confidence, so he'll never be able to build that confidence consistently, unless he has a mentor or something of the like in his home country.</p> <p>Could be great, but won't be.</p> Thoughts on the Eastern Conference 8 Seed tarheel723 Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:46:08 -0500 <p>I went through the #8 Seed contenders for the Eastern Conference from Boston all the way down to Washington (not including Charlotte). I went through them and took into account what I've seen from each of these teams, where the game was held, etc., and predicted all of the games, and what their final record would be. Here they are:</p> <p><a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Boston Celtics</a>: Current Record- (21-23); Projected 2nd-Half Record- (18-20); Projected Final Record- (39-43). Of course, no one is exactly quite sure what to expect from this team in the second half, with <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Rajon Rondo</a> being out for the season with an ACL injury. This team has already been sub-par and fallen below their expectations for the season, and have been losing a lot of games lately, and I predict them to, even without Rondo, go at about .500 for the rest of the season. That's because they do have quite a bit of "cake walk games" on their schedule, and also, this is a "big-game" team, and while they probably won't win most of their remaining "big" games, they should probably be competitive in them.</p> <p><a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Philadelphia 76ers</a>: Current Record- (18-25); Projected 2nd-Half Record- (20-19); Projected Final Record- (38-44). .418 isn't a bad percentage for a team that has had their starting center out for the entire season and has only had to work with <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Lavoy Allen</a> and <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Kwame Brown</a>. It's been up to stars <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Jrue Holiday</a> and <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Evan Turner</a>, the Sixers' talented back court, to take them to where they are today. It's no doubt that it's been a fairly rough start to the season for Philadelphia, but Sixers fans are expected to get good news soon, that <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Andrew Bynum</a> will be returning soon. When Bynum returns, there will most likely be a few chemistry issues, but this team will most definitely be better. With him (and his eccentricities in hair) back on the court, this team can surely go at or above .500 for the remainder of the season, but with multiple meetings with playoff teams such as Miami, the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Clippers</a>, and Atlanta remaining on their schedule, it will be a hard path to get there.</p> <p><a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Detroit Pistons</a>: Current Record- (17-27); Projected 2nd-Half Record- (16-22); Projected Final Record- (33-49). From a <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Washington Wizards</a> perspective, the Detroit Pistons aren't a team to really worry about, other than a couple of meetings coming up on the schedule. This Detroit team does not have a lot of talent at all, and quite frankly, is far from being a playoff contender, much less getting any wins in the playoffs against a #1 seed, where as some of the other teams on this list could get anywhere from 1-3 wins against a #1. That being said, they have greatly overachieved their expectations for the season, but still don't really have anything to take that next step into the postseason. The Pistons don't have any players that jump off the page at you. Possibly their best player is <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Kyle Singler</a>, while their most-well known player, <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Andre Drummond</a>, is coming off of the bench. Andre Drummond is a rebound machine, averaging about 7.3 RPG in about 22 minutes per game, and is still rapidly improving. There is a lot of room to build around him, and Detroit fans should be happy about the future. However, there seems to be no hope on the Pistons' 2013 Season.</p> <p><a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Toronto Raptors</a>: Current Record- (16-28); Projected 2nd-Half Record- (8-30); Projected Final Record- (24-58). Toronto has had a "not good, but not horrible" start to their season. They do have 16 wins this season, however, they don't have any marquee wins against marquee teams. Arguably, their biggest wins this year have been a nail-biting, low-scoring, 2-point win against Indiana, and a 5-point victory over the woeful <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Lakers</a>. They have a lot of tough teams remaining on your schedule, and when you also take into consideration that they have multiple long road trips, they do not have an easy second have schedule by any means, and that is why they should only win about 8 games for the remainder of the year.</p> <p><a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Orlando Magic</a>: Current Record- (14-29); Projected 2nd-Half Record- (8-31); Projected Final Record- (22-60). Charlotte is obviously the worst team in the Association right now. However, they aren't alone. The Orlando Magic have made the postseason for the past six season, and after the soap opera that was the 2012 season, the franchise has tanked. They lost their only star in <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Dwight Howard</a>, and they do not have much talent outside of JJ Reddick. The franchise is in complete re-building mode, and there is no where to go but up for the Magic franchise. They have 14 wins on the season, but have been an embarrassment otherwise. They also have a lot of tough games against playoff-caliber opponents left in their remaining schedule, so they will not be any threat to teams seeking the #8 seed in the East.</p> <p><a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Cleveland Cavaliers</a>: Current Record- (13-32); Projected 2nd-Half Record- (13-24); Projected Final Record- (26-56). This is a franchise that has a lot to build around, and for good reason. In just his 2nd season, <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Kyrie Irving</a> has already broken out as an All-Star point guard, with all of his flashy moves and scoring abilities. However, Cleveland just does not have any pieces to compete for a playoff spot this season. They won 13 games in the first half of the season, all of them thanks in part to huge performances by "Uncle Drew." I predict they will win another 13 games this season, and Kyrie Irving will continue to have his almost-common 30+ point games. If they had a couple of pieces around him, they may well could be a title contender, but without that, the Cavaliers aren't even a playoff contender.</p> <p>Washington Wizards: Current Record- (11-31); Projected 2nd-Half Record- (23-17); Projected Final Record- (34-48). This is a new Washington Wizards team. This isn't the team that started the season 0-11. This is a Washington team that has its franchise player back and with him, quite a bit of confidence. When you add in the confidence boosters such as buzzer beaters against the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Thunder</a> and <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Trail Blazers</a>, this is a team that is playing playoff-caliber basketball. This team may very well not win 23 more games this season, but one who has had a close eye on the Washington Wizards as of late may very well be able to argue that this is the team that definitely deserves to be in the playoffs this season. It would take an extremely steep mountain for the Wizards to climb for them to end up making the playoffs, but if they continue to play the way that they are playing, anything is possible, against any team in the Association.</p> <p>*Note, Washington has just now lost to the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Sacramento Kings</a>*</p> <fieldset class="poll-box"> <legend>Poll</legend> <h5 class="poll-title">Who will be the #8 Seed in the Eastern Conference?</h5> <div id="poll_container_164199_372422468" class="poll_container"> <div class="poll_option clearfix"> <div class="poll_option_percentage" style="display:none">16%</div> <div class="poll_option_result"> <h5>Boston Celics </h5> <div class="poll_option_bar"><span class="vote_count">9</span> votes</div> </div> </div> <div class="poll_option clearfix"> <div class="poll_option_percentage" style="display:none">43%</div> <div class="poll_option_result"> <h5>Philadelphia 76ers</h5> <div class="poll_option_bar"><span class="vote_count">25</span> votes</div> </div> </div> <div class="poll_option clearfix"> <div class="poll_option_percentage" style="display:none">7%</div> <div class="poll_option_result"> <h5>Detroit Pistons</h5> <div class="poll_option_bar"><span class="vote_count">4</span> votes</div> </div> </div> <div class="poll_option clearfix"> <div class="poll_option_percentage" style="display:none">2%</div> <div class="poll_option_result"> <h5>Toronto Raptors</h5> <div class="poll_option_bar"><span class="vote_count">1</span> votes</div> </div> </div> <div class="poll_option clearfix"> <div class="poll_option_percentage" style="display:none">0%</div> <div class="poll_option_result"> <h5>Orlando Magic</h5> <div class="poll_option_bar"><span class="vote_count">0</span> votes</div> </div> </div> <div class="poll_option clearfix"> <div class="poll_option_percentage" style="display:none">3%</div> <div class="poll_option_result"> <h5>Cleveland Cavaliers </h5> <div class="poll_option_bar"><span class="vote_count">2</span> votes</div> </div> </div> <div class="poll_option clearfix"> <div class="poll_option_percentage" style="display:none">29%</div> <div class="poll_option_result"> <h5>Washington Wizards </h5> <div class="poll_option_bar"><span class="vote_count">17</span> votes</div> </div> </div> <p class="poll-total-votes"><strong>58</strong> votes | <span class="poll-has-closed">Poll has closed</span> </p> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> jQuery(document).ready(function(){ new SBN.Poll('poll_container_164199_372422468').animateResults({renderImmediately:true}); }); </script> </fieldset> Story of the Season for the Wiz tarheel723 Wed, 21 Nov 2012 23:01:50 -0500 <p>Tonight was plain and simply the story of the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Wizards</a> season.</p> <p>For those of you who didn't watch the game, I'll explain to you the storylines of the game and what happened in the end.</p> <p>First of all, our starting lineup was as follows: 1-Livingston 2-Crawford 3-Beal 4-Vesely 5-Seraphin</p> <p>-Beal fouled out with 6 pts<br> -Seraphin was easily the Wiz player of the night with 21 pts 10 rebs<br> -We saw Nene play tonight, and when he was in, you could really tell his presence and difference (he finished with 12 pts)<br> <br>Now, as far as how the game turned out:</p> <p>In the fourth quarter, we had a 2 point lead, and the <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Hawks</a> forced a little bit of contact, enough to draw the foul and bring them to the free throw line, tying it and bringing it to overtime. Tough, right? Well it get's worse.</p> <p>In OT, the game was tied at 98, and I was sitting there thinking to myself, "Just bring the clock all the way down, and try to get a good opportunity to score." Well, with 7 seconds left, Seraphin was open, and hit the jumper. This just left too much time for the Hawks. With about 1-2 seconds left, Korver hit the open pull up three pointer for the Hawks to take the 101-100 lead. Now, the Wizards would take it from the front court, and they pass it in to Seraphin, who misses the jump hook to win the game. However, <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">Martell Webster</a> tipped it in as time expired. There was confusion on the court as one referee called it as good and another as no good. The Wizards began to celebrate. Upon review, what was clear was that the tip by Webster was just barely a split second later than the light came on.</p> <p>Tough loss for the Wizards, as they fall to 0-10.<br>____________________________________</p> <p>Now, I want to say that this is just the story of the Wizards season. All but one, the one against Charlotte, of our games this season have been VERY close games. I DO NOT think that we're a really bad team, as our record suggests. We just can't get over the HUMP of winning a game. Call me delusional if you want to, because I know that losing doesn't entail being a good team, and that GOOD teams find ways to win. But we're not HORRIBLE. We have the tools to win games, and I think that once we get over that hump, we can really take off, ESPECIALLY when we get <a href="" class="sbn-auto-link">John Wall</a> back.</p> <p>I've been watching Sportscenter for the past few minutes, and they went over the Wizards game. Anyways, this NBA guy goes on there (forgive me if I can't remember his name) and just speaks on how bad he feels for us. For this, I'm grateful. However, I don't think that anyone who doesn't actually WATCH all of the games fully understands the heartbreak. They were like, "Oh, yeah, they finally had a chance of winning tonight, but they suffered heartbreak." That in itself shows me that they don't quite understand. They think that we've just been sucking it up the whole season, but we really haven't. We wouldn't be such an embarrassment if people understood this. But, hey, we still have 72 games left, and we have John Wall returning to us soon. With such a bad start, we really don't have any playoffs to think about, but we can hopefully take our team away from the realm of embarrassment.</p> <p>No matter how good or bad we are, I'll always say: LET'S GO WIZARDS!</p>