Line-ups, rotation, analysis thread - Part II

[payitforward]

As to Davis playing -- absolutely! He should be getting 20 minutes a night!

Just for starters, let's not forget that there are no wins at stake in any of these decisions!

[NatP4]

I don’t think you need to make any statement, just shut him down for the year with some fluff injury like every tanking team does. Play Davis and Butler already. It’s getting ridiculous.

[Frichuela]

Wasn't sure where to put this but i am listening to the latest Zach Lowe podcast and he was dogging the Lakers offense. In order to emphasize how disorganized it was he said "you can't run a Wizards style offense"

Man, this is so embarrassing and another reflection of Nepo Wes bad coaching. This roster sucks but the coach does too!

[dobrojim]

I don’t think you need to make any statement, just shut him down for the year with some fluff injury like every tanking team does. Play Davis and Butler already. It’s getting ridiculous.

We should definitely be playing Butler. He's been good enough to raise concerns
he could derail the tank.

[tontoz]

Wasn't sure where to put this but i am listening to the latest Zach Lowe podcast and he was dogging the Lakers offense. In order to emphasize how disorganized it was he said "you can't run a Wizards style offense"

Man, this is so embarrassing and another reflection of Nepo Wes bad coaching. This roster sucks but the coach does too!

Lowe has clowned the wizards a few times, in a good natured way. He had a ranking of the teams he liked to watch on league pass. Wizards were last of course.

He has given props to Bilal though.

[Endless Loop]

I was thinking about this year's Wiz compared to last year, and thought that it's hard to figure out why this year's version is THAT much worse than last year.

Beal is gone. But last year he was injured for much of the year, and (RECENTLY) Poole's level of play has improved. If Poole continues at this level, then is the falloff really that big?

At PF/SF, Kuzma is back; Deni's stats are better; and Kispert is doing well.

At point, Jones has been very good, certainly as good as what the team had last year

Center is where there's been a big fall-off. And also, Bilal gets a lot of minutes and is promising, but he is not currently at the level of last year's forward group.

All in all, it's hard to understand why this year's group is so bad.

I'm thinking their record for the rest of the year would be much better than to date, assuming no trades. But I think there'll be trades, especially at PG, in order to keep the tank going.

The trend has been positive, and that's one point in favor of this coaching and off-court regime.

[9 and 20]

I was thinking about this year's Wiz compared to last year, and thought that it's hard to figure out why this year's version is THAT much worse than last year.

Beal is gone. But last year he was injured for much of the year, and (RECENTLY) Poole's level of play has improved. If Poole continues at this level, then is the falloff really that big?

At PF/SF, Kuzma is back; Deni's stats are better; and Kispert is doing well.

At point, Jones has been very good, certainly as good as what the team had last year

Center is where there's been a big fall-off. And also, Bilal gets a lot of minutes and is promising, but he is not currently at the level of last year's forward group.

All in all, it's hard to understand why this year's group is so bad.

I'm thinking their record for the rest of the year would be much better than to date, assuming no trades. But I think there'll be trades, especially at PG, in order to keep the tank going.

The trend has been positive, and that's one point in favor of this coaching and off-court regime.

Going from (healthy) Zingus to Muscala and Galinari is like replacing Katt Williams with Steve Harvey.

[payitforward]

I was thinking about this year's Wiz compared to last year, and thought that it's hard to figure out why this year's version is THAT much worse than last year.

Beal is gone. But last year he was injured for much of the year, and (RECENTLY) Poole's level of play has improved. If Poole continues at this level, then is the falloff really that big?

At PF/SF, Kuzma is back; Deni's stats are better; and Kispert is doing well.

At point, Jones has been very good, certainly as good as what the team had last year

Center is where there's been a big fall-off. And also, Bilal gets a lot of minutes and is promising, but he is not currently at the level of last year's forward group.

All in all, it's hard to understand why this year's group is so bad.

I'm thinking their record for the rest of the year would be much better than to date, assuming no trades. But I think there'll be trades, especially at PG, in order to keep the tank going.

The trend has been positive, and that's one point in favor of this coaching and off-court regime.

Going from (healthy) Zingus to Muscala and Galinari is like replacing Katt Williams with Steve Harvey.

The last 20 games of last season, we went 5-15. Oooh, if only we could get back to the good old days, huh?

[nate33]

The last 20 games of last season, we went 5-15. Oooh, if only we could get back to the good old days, huh?

We tanked the last 6 of those games with Kuzma, Beal and Porzingis all benched. We went 1-5.

I think it is an interesting question that has confused me too. The Wizards were bad last year but not generationally awful. The team was 10-16 in games that Beal missed (excluding the last 6 with Porzingis and Kuzma also out). That's a 32-win pace. Was Porzingis so good that his absence turned a 32-win team into a 15-win team? Shouldn't we at least be a 24-win team?

It's worth noting that there were a total of 3 games last year that Beal and Porzingis both missed, but Kuzma played. The Wizards went 2-1 in those 3 games.

[payitforward]

The great problem with numbers is -- as we all know! -- you can use them to prove anything. & if, on top of that, one also gets to pick the dataset to use, well... all the more so.

Moreover, we aren't last year's Wizards minus Porzingis & Beal. For example, Delon Wright has only played 310 minutes, & we've played a just-turned-19 rookie about 1000 minutes.

Above all, of course, Jordan Poole has been god-awful! If he had played at the level of his '21-22 season (i.e. not "great," but unquestionably "good"), I speculate that we'd have 4-5 more wins.

[nate33]

Above all, of course, Jordan Poole has been god-awful! If he had played at the level of his '21-22 season (i.e. not "great," but unquestionably "good"), I speculate that we'd have 4-5 more wins.

Yeah, this is the biggest factor IMO.

Jordan Poole was the primary cause of our horrific 3-20 start. He was breathtakingly bad in those first 23 games - worst player in the league bad. We had five losses of 5 or fewer points during that stretch. If 3 of those close losses were wins, we'd be talking about a rather ordinary 6-17 start and a 10-29 record through our first 39 games. That's a 21-win pace.

I predicted 25 wins, so 21 would be rather disappointing but not totally unbelievable. What I didn't see coming was a 15-win season.

[Endless Loop]

The great problem with numbers is -- as we all know! -- you can use them to prove anything. & if, on top of that, one also gets to pick the dataset to use, well... all the more so.

Moreover, we aren't last year's Wizards minus Porzingis & Beal. For example, Delon Wright has only played 310 minutes, & we've played a just-turned-19 rookie about 1000 minutes.

Above all, of course, Jordan Poole has been god-awful! If he had played at the level of his '21-22 season (i.e. not "great," but unquestionably "good"), I speculate that we'd have 4-5 more wins.

Yeah, this and also that Bilal has been a significant net negative. The difference being that Bilal is an investment while Poole is the worst sort of sunk cost.

Continuing to give Poole big minutes while he was playing so poorly had to be a whole management team decision- not just WUJ. But what's interesting about the decision is that it raises all the same questions that Kispert raised in his exit comments last year- when there was an entirely different management team other than WUJ.

[nate33]

Continuing to give Poole big minutes while he was playing so poorly had to be a whole management team decision- not just WUJ. But what's interesting about the decision is that it raises all the same questions that Kispert raised in his exit comments last year- when there was an entirely different management team other than WUJ.

Yeah, I think Wes is gone this summer.

The lack of effort and organization on defense is appalling. You can't lose in embarrassing fashion like this for an entire season and still command the respect of the locker room going forward.

[Frichuela]

Continuing to give Poole big minutes while he was playing so poorly had to be a whole management team decision- not just WUJ. But what's interesting about the decision is that it raises all the same questions that Kispert raised in his exit comments last year- when there was an entirely different management team other than WUJ.

Yeah, I think Wes is gone this summer.

The lack of effort and organization on defense is appalling. You can't lose in embarrassing fashion like this for an entire season and still command the respect of the locker room going forward.

Man. I hope so. Nepo Wes has been a calamity.

[WallToWall]

With Bagley, our lineup choices have become more interesting. Gafford, and Bagley manning the C and PF spot, with Kuzma or Avdija as the SF will give us a very tall lineup. Rebounding may not be as much of a problem as it was.

[CntOutSmrtCrazy]

With Bagley, our lineup choices have become more interesting. Gafford, and Bagley manning the C and PF spot, with Kuzma or Avdija as the SF will give us a very tall lineup. Rebounding may not be as much of a problem as it was.

No way you can run Gafford-Bagley together at C-PF in today's NBA. Bagley has only improved on his efficiency because he's basically stopped shooting threes, so just not enough ability to stretch the floor there.

If Cleveland has struggled to make Allen-Mobley work together, no way Gafford-Bagley has a prayer of working. That doesn't even on the defensive side of the court where Allen-Mobley are easily a better duo.

[FAH1223]

The last 20 games of last season, we went 5-15. Oooh, if only we could get back to the good old days, huh?

We tanked the last 6 of those games with Kuzma, Beal and Porzingis all benched. We went 1-5.

I think it is an interesting question that has confused me too. The Wizards were bad last year but not generationally awful. The team was 10-16 in games that Beal missed (excluding the last 6 with Porzingis and Kuzma also out). That's a 32-win pace. Was Porzingis so good that his absence turned a 32-win team into a 15-win team? Shouldn't we at least be a 24-win team?

It's worth noting that there were a total of 3 games last year that Beal and Porzingis both missed, but Kuzma played. The Wizards went 2-1 in those 3 games.

After last season's 10 game losing streak to go to 11-20, I think that's when Wes went with the twin towers lineup with KP-Gaff and then they went 17-10 to get to 28-30 with an impressive win in Minnesota before the All-Star break. I believe the defensive rating went to as high as 14th.

Then they went 2-2 after the break and after that, season over.

[gambitx777]

Is there any legit reason why gaff should be starting over Bagley the way he's been playing.

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[nate33]

Is there any legit reason why gaff should be starting over Bagley the way he's been playing.

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

First of all, you don't lose your job because of injury. That's demoralizing.

Second, Gafford has been fine. Since returning, he has posted 18 points, 8 boards and 2.2 blocks per 36 on a TS% of .787. And he is doing it against starters.

Third, from a fit perspective, I think Gafford fits better with the starting unit, and Bagley is better with the reserves. Gafford is a better defender than Bagley, but a more PG dependent offensive player. Our starters need all the defensive help they can get, and they do have a pure PG who can still make Gafford an effective offensive player. Meanwhile, Bagley can get more buckets on his own without PG help, so he is better on the second unit, which needs more scoring and lacks a pure PG. And his weaker D is a little less of a problem since the 2nd unit has better defensive players (Wright, Shamet, Bilal, Deni).

All that said, Bagley has been really good. If he keeps this up for a while longer, he may just force himself into the starting lineup. But I'd give it a bit more time.

[badinage]

Wasn't sure where to put this but i am listening to the latest Zach Lowe podcast and he was dogging the Lakers offense. In order to emphasize how disorganized it was he said "you can't run a Wizards style offense"

Man, this is so embarrassing and another reflection of Nepo Wes bad coaching. This roster sucks but the coach does too!

Lowe has clowned the wizards a few times, in a good natured way. He had a ranking of the teams he liked to watch on league pass. Wizards were last of course.

He has given props to Bilal though.

What does he mean, “a Wizards-style offense”? What style is it that he thinks they play?