Wizards 2012-2013 Regular Season

[ThruTheEyesOfRuby]

Wizards halt road-loss streak at 8

The 3-15 Wiz are well ahead of their 2012 pace of losing the first 25 road games in a row, courtesy of their 77-70 win over the 5-15 New Orleans Hornets. Watch out Miami!

As you'd probably expect from this matchup, this was the first game since April 1, 2005 that both NBA teams shot below 33%.

"That first quarter, I thought I was getting my teeth pulled at the dentist without any Novacaine," Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. "It was pretty painful."


The Wiz host the Hornets 3/15/2013. That game could very well affect draft pick positioning if these two teams have the kind of season most people expect.

 

[ciprian]

Rudy Gay heading to Washington?

Seems like the Wizards set their sight on Rudy Gay and rumor has it they offered a large package, including Bradley Beal, for him.

The Grizzlies are near the top of the Western Conference, so i wonder if they're going to give away their leading scorer in this season. Wonder what'll happen...:confused2:

Rudy Gay trade rumors: Wizards reportedly offered Bradley Beal - SBNation.com

 

[HammerDown]

The Wizards are stuck in 1990's Clippers mode. It looks like Memphis is serious about this.

 

[wildturkey]

So the Wiz wouldn't trade Beal for James Harden but they would trade him for Rudy Gay? Wow...

 

[ThruTheEyesOfRuby]

I want to see Beal with Wall for a time before the team thinks about doing anything. I don't like anything that smacks of desperation and, frankly, the team has to do something to keep its fans feeling like there is a sense of cohesiveness. Obviously doing the 'flavor of the month' thing (or flavor of the year, really) isn't always going to keep the fans hopeful and feeling like management has a plan. Think of the players we had on this squad just a year ago and where they are now.

I think we need to just stand pat for the rest of the year, see what we have, and make any moves in the offseason that aren't gonna put any more undue stress on our cap space. Let's just try to get all the players on the court at the same time for once this season and assess what we have.

 

[HammerDown]

I'm no Wizards fan but I've never liked my teams making gambles and mortgaging the future on a whim and that's what this feels like to me.

 

[HammerDown]

Rumors are that Rudy Gay is staying in Memphis.

 

[ThruTheEyesOfRuby]

Rumors are that Rudy Gay is staying in Memphis.

Thank God. Hope that holds true.

 

[ckhokie]

Sending Beal to Memphis without letting him play for an extended with Wall would be a ridiculous Wiz thing to do. Hoping actual basketball heads prevail

 

[ThruTheEyesOfRuby]

Wiz beat Denver, win 4 of 5

Washington Wizards Blog » Wizards Report January 19

Fresh off the sting of their 95-94 loss in Sacramento, the Wizards responded by winning in Denver for the first time since December of 2005. It ended a five-game road losing streak in Denver and it was only the Nuggets third home loss of the season.

Wall, who was frustrated by missing two free throws late in the one-point loss to the Kings, made sure the Wizards did not let the Nuggets’ game slip from their grasp. With the Wizards leading 110-108 Wall blocked Ty Lawson’s driving layup attempt with 2.7 seconds left and then scored the game’s final two points from the free throw line.

For the second consecutive game Wall came off the bench to deliver a double-double with 14 points, 12 assists, and two blocked shots in 25 minutes on the court. Lawson led the Nuggets with a game-high 29 points. He had 23 of those points in the third quarter when the Nuggets built a ten-point lead.

Down 87-80 to start the fourth quarter, the Wizards stormed out on a 12-0 run in 2:24 to take a 92-87 lead and then never trailed again. In that surge Kevin Seraphin scored four points and had a steal that led to a three-pointer by Jordan Crawford. Seraphin scored 14 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter including a put-back of a Trevor Ariza miss to make it 108-104 with 28.9 seconds left in the game.

Beal is averaging 20.8 points per game on 61.7 percent shooting (37-60) over the last five games.


This was only Denver's third loss at home this season, so this win comes across as even more meaningful in that light. So good to see everyone coming back from injuries and starting to gel.

 

[ThruTheEyesOfRuby]

Ted Leonsis wants the Wizards to play .500 ball the rest of the year

Ted Leonsis wants to see .500 basketball for the rest of this season

“We would all find it unacceptable if we finished with the second- or third-worst record in the NBA this year,” Leonsis said in October, after the injuries to John Wall and Nene. “That would be a failure and the failure would start with me.”

Then the Wizards got off to a horrific start. Indeed, as of this writing, they still have the worst record in the NBA. But since Wall returned, giving them a pretty much complete roster, the Wizards have gone 4-3. And in doing so, they’ve looked like an exciting, hard-working, competitive team.

So, what is a realistic goal moving forward, a benchmark for something other than failure? Leonsis recently suggested it was a .500 mark.

“I really want to see what the team can do,” he told WRC’s Dan Hellie last week, on the day of the Caps’ open practice at Verizon Center. “And we obviously have to add to the team, bring more talent in. We can do that through the draft, we can do that through trades and free agency.

“I did think we could compete and be a .500 kind of team, and if we had played .500 we’d be in the playoffs right now, or at least the playoff hunt. So I’d like to see us play .500, playoff-caliber like basketball for the next 45 games, 48 games, whatever’s left this year, and just see what we’ve got.

“Yeah, it’s been disappointing, but now we see John, and we see what he’s capable of. But he can only play 20 minutes. We’ve got to ease him back in. And Nene’s just up to 25 minutes. So we are playing a lot better, but I really want to see what the team’s like when everyone’s healthy, [when] we add another piece here or there. And my bet is that going into the rest of the year, that we’ll be much improved, and we can have a lot of upside for our next season.”

The Wizards have 42 games left. A 21-21 split would give them a final record of 30-52. That would be Washington’s best finish since making the playoffs in the spring of 2008.

 

[ThruTheEyesOfRuby]

Since that article came out the Wizards are 9-7. They traded Jordan Crawford for a pair of expiring contracts, and Bradley Beal has shown real potential since John Wall's return. Nene and Okafur have made good contributions. Martell Webster has filled in nicely at times, and Trevor Ariza is finding his groove with starter-minutes in his current reserve role.

Probably the most important thing is that the players are adopting Wittman's system and buying into it. When they were 4-28 this team could've thrown in the towel. You've seen other teams do it in similar circumstances. Not so with this team.

 

[ThruTheEyesOfRuby]

Beal: "The sky's the limit for us"

..This was said after his 29 point 11 rebound performance in the Wiz loss to the Knicks. He was referring to teammate John Wall, who has struggled in recent games and seems to be ever-so-slightly putting on a pouty demeanor in the eyes of some observers. Really hope this isn't an issue, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

Bradley Beal's development takes another step with a new career-high against the Knicks - Bullets Forever

...Wizards Coach Randy Wittman was asked after the game whether he has put more of an onus on Beal to makes plays given Wall's recent struggles.

"Well, Beal's kind of created that on his own too, with the way he's played and the way he's developed," Wittman said. "So, not necessarily has anything to do with John. I think it's more Bradley's development, and the things he can do and the comfort level he's at now in doing those things, has added me putting the ball in his hands."

"Lately coach has been putting the ball in my hand a little bit more, and I'm just doing a pretty good job of making sure I'm taking care of it more than anything and just trying to make the play that's best for our team," Beal said.

Still, Beal acknowledged the role Wall has played in his development and emergence as Washington's top offensive option. Beal said he can feel his and Wall's feel for each other growing "every game."

"You can just see on the break, it's hard to stop us because [Wall is] either going to kick it out to me or he's going to lay the ball up, so it just puts the other team in a bind," Beal said. "We always make eye contact. I always know where he is, he always knows where I am, so that connection is always there. We just have to keep it up. We're only scratching the surface. We have a lot of things we both have to improve on. The sky's the limit for us."


Wizards vs. Pistons: Randy Wittman questions team?s commitment in 96-95 loss - The Washington Post

Washington Wizards Coach Randy Wittman had plenty of reason to be disappointed with his team after a 96-95 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. Trevor Ariza’s rushed, air-balled three-pointer from the left corner as time expired was somewhere at the bottom of the list.

At the top was a collection of players who resisted Wittman’s efforts to give them guidance and direction, pouted over playing time and shots, got wrapped up in the emotion of poor play and weren’t committed on the defensive end.

...

“It didn’t boil down to that,” Wittman said of Ariza’s shot. “We got what we deserved. We didn’t deserve to win that game. We were more caught up in ourselves as individuals than the team. That’s the bottom line. We got guys that haven’t been in the rotation, complaining. The older guys trying to help them, they won’t listen. And that just tells me: ‘I’m worried about myself. I’m not worried about winning this game.’ ”

...

Mired in a recent shooting slump, Wall made several careless passes and the offense was stagnant with him running the show. He finished with just six points on 3-for-9 shooting, committed seven turnovers and was outplayed by his backup, A.J. Price, who led the team with eight assists and scored nine points.

Wall has struggled from the floor in his past six games, shooting just 30.8 percent (20 for 65) from the floor. In three of the five games, since the all-star break, Wall has committed at least six turnovers. After the loss to Detroit, Wall said he didn’t have any problems with his left knee or any other health concerns.



Truth About It » Stand and Deliver, John Wall

There is no way to sugar coat it. John Wall played a very bad game on Wednesday. And it was not just the poor shooting and turnovers (or as Wall likes to call it: “great passes” that his teammates dropped). It’s the body language. Wall looked like he would rather be anywhere but the Verizon Center. This screen shot shows Wall as he entered a very winnable game with 3:38 left in the fourth quarter and Washington down 88-81. Not exactly the look of someone ready to lead a comeback after sulking on the bench for ten and a half minutes.

 

[ThruTheEyesOfRuby]

Welp, John Wall came alive in the final minutes of the Wiz win over the Sixers.. after Beal sprained his ankle and had to be carried off. Hopefully it's not too serious.