1/18 - Wiz/ Por GT - MLK Day Matinee

[closg00]

Nice, three enjoyable games in a row from this group.

[imonaboat]

wow is foye really the 2nd best ft shooter in the nba or just on the wiz?

[hands11]

Maybe no Roy he missed the last game with a hammy.

Blake and Howard are coming home. No not that Blake and not that Howard.
Howard actually started against Orlando.

They also have Blake on the injury list as of 1/16

Hey on any given night anything can happen.

Portland has recently beat. Dallas, the Lakers, SA, Denver. Pretty impressive.

But they have also recently lost to .. Phili, LAC, and Memphis

5-4 over the last 9 games. First game of their east coast swing for them.

Last east cost swing they were 1-3 They lost to NY on the first game, beat Indi, then lost to CLE and MIL

A nice two game win streak would do wonders for these guys right now as the gel behind AJ.

Can DS build on his recent success ? Since his last return to the stating line up he has been playing better and magically found something that looks like a 3 ball. It will be harder against an athletic ATL like PORT team but hopefully he can at least bring some D.

These kind of teams are usually tougher on CB also. Hopefully he stick to the spot up shots and lets the game come to him or else he will log a charge or two. We are going to need NY to show up. Nick like playing against other athletic younger teams. He is due for a back to back good outing. He does it about every 4 games. Last game was his 4th and he played well so this would he his two in a row game.

AJ seems to play well against them. Besides, AJ has been on a tear. Last year even without a center he played ok. McGee even played ok against them.

Last time we play them at home with CB, AJ and Haywood we did well. We had a starting line up of
AD, DS, CB, AJ, BH. Crushed them actually.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=271117027

Still pulling for my Wizards to get this turned around. Coach us a good game Flip.

Excellent win. HUGE WIN.

Stick with me people. We can still have some fun.

Next up Dallas. They are just as volnerable.

[PDXKnight]

I'm willing to bet Washington can still pull off a playoff spot. Flip always seems to roll once his teams get on track. While beating the worst team in the league in the Blazers isn't great, it's a start.

[Tyrone Messby]

Woo hoo. Two game winning streak.

[closg00]

People, we have witnessed the return of.....Tough! Juice!

[Donkey McDonkerton]

Miller... 4-1 in last 5 MLK games. They lost last year, and that's it.

[yungal07]

Good win. Any game that makes our players more enticing to other teams is a good game. Portland's GM is going to be salavating at the thought of Butler/Jamison/Haywood/Miller being available.

[PDXKnight]

Good win. Any game that makes our players more enticing to other teams is a good game. Portland's GM is going to be salavating at the thought of Butler/Jamison/Haywood/Miller being available.

Nah, KP doesn't want to give up value to get value. As much as I would like those guys, our GM tends to overvalue his players, meaning he probably won't offer anything of value to get value.

[hands11]

Sure nice to have MM back. Makes the bench a bit better having a vet like him there.

Looks like Dray contributed some which is nice. Hopefully he can build on this.

And then you got something from Boykins.

There ya go. Three player off the bench that helped.

Hopefully we can get something from DS like we did the previous two games. Just a 3 pointer here and there along with is D helps a lot. He is going to start regardless becuase Nick is to inconsistant and MM need to play low minutes until he heals up. Besides, I like MM off the bench right now.

Now if we can get Nick worked in so MM can play some SF in relief of CB.
And find 5-7 minutes of energy minutes from McGee to give Haywood a rest.

That's something I can get excited about.

We were a half of a hair away from a 3 game winning streak.

Who says AJ can't lead this team. January numbers are 50% shooting 26.7 pts 10.3 rb

Who is posting better numbers then that ? That is a true ALL STAR.

I'm telling you. This team is geling. They just shot 51.5% against Portland and held them 5.5 under their average.

[verbal8]

I think the best line-up is:

Foye
Miller
Butler
Jamison
Haywood

That was the line-up the last 8 or so minutes. I think that will be the line-up that finishes most games.

I think Stevenson is starting to set a defensive tone early. It also makes it easier to rotate Miller into some back-up SF as well as SG. The rotation looks better if Young can outplay Stevenson and earn more minutes.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

If Miller can stay healthy, he and Foye have half a season to boost their value and to also improve the Wizards' play. They both can shoot and both can pass well.

That lineup verbal8 probably is the best the Wiz can run with.

[dobrojim]

The Wizards terrible season aside, we never seem to play well in afternoon games (throughout the years) it seems.

MLK early days are magical....sundays suck. Remember the 06/07 game against UTAH on MLK?

I was at that game as was Daughter-II, the Wiz/Gil fan. It was amazing.

Nice solid win today. That was a quality win. PS - I think it was good karma
since I made a solid donation to Wiz Care Haiti relief when I came in.

Kinda disgusted driving home. Consor tried to claim AJ is a solid/good
defensive player, basing his argument mostly on rebounds. In this instance,
he's a clueless homer. Opp teams know who to go after when they need a bucket.
That said, he's been playing phenomenally well of late.

[dobrojim]

I'm willing to bet Washington can still pull off a playoff spot. Flip always seems to roll once his teams get on track. While beating the worst team in the league in the Blazers isn't great, it's a start.

humility is all well and good but get real. You guys are FAR from that title.
Unluckiest/most injured, yup. But still a solid and talented team.

BTW - does your board pine for a do-over on the Oden-Durrant thing?
A friend told me Durrant didn't miss a shot in his workout in POR.
And they still didn't take him. Big mistake going with the conventional
wisdom and picking Oden. If Durrant keeps it up, he could end up a HOFer
but it's obviously still VERY early but the flip side of that is he is REALLY
good at a young age. Not bringing this up to gloat.

[dobrojim]

If Miller can stay healthy, he and Foye have half a season to boost their value and to also improve the Wizards' play. They both can shoot and both can pass well.

That lineup verbal8 probably is the best the Wiz can run with.

And I would say it's not a bad lineup.

@Nate, what could CLE really offer us that would be worth their
getting AJ who despite his well-chronicalled defensive deficiencies,
would help CLE and could put them over the top to a title. We do
NOT want that.

[montestewart]

Kinda disgusted driving home. Consor tried to claim AJ is a solid/good
defensive player, basing his argument mostly on rebounds. In this instance,
he's a clueless homer. Opp teams know who to go after when they need a bucket.

Think of him as a defensive decoy that creates match up nightmares for the other team; when Jamison's on the floor, the opposing team's four worst offensive players are continually matched up with the Wizards' four best defenders. Advantage, Wizards.

[closg00]

I think the best line-up is:

Foye
Miller
Butler
Jamison
Haywood

That was the line-up the last 8 or so minutes. I think that will be the line-up that finishes most games.

I think Stevenson is starting to set a defensive tone early. It also makes it easier to rotate Miller into some back-up SF as well as SG. The rotation looks better if Young can outplay Stevenson and earn more minutes.

Meh, I have to throw a little cold water on this. Portland out-rebounded us w/o a center today 39 -33. If Portland had gone at AJ & Wood more, they could have won. Aldridge must have shot over Wood and AJ 5 times while Wood stood-there flat-footed.

This line-up works if FLip knows when to move AJ to SF and pair Wood and AB together. I think we really could have controlled the game comfortably had we gone big. Nice to closeout though against a team missing their star player and Center.

[montestewart]

I think the best line-up is:

Foye
Miller
Butler
Jamison
Haywood

That was the line-up the last 8 or so minutes. I think that will be the line-up that finishes most games.

I think Stevenson is starting to set a defensive tone early. It also makes it easier to rotate Miller into some back-up SF as well as SG. The rotation looks better if Young can outplay Stevenson and earn more minutes.

Meh, I have to throw a little cold water on this. Portland out-rebounded us w/o a center today 39 -33. If Portland had gone at AJ & Wood more, they could have won. Aldridge must have shot over Wood and AJ 5 times while Wood stood-there flat-footed.

This line-up works if FLip knows when to move AJ to SF and pair Wood and AB together. I think we really could have controlled the game comfortably had we gone big. Nice to closeout though against a team missing their star player and Center.

Haywood had a pretty bad game for him, hands of clay, looked a little off (I couldn't always see him behind the post, but ball would fly out and I'd hear a whistle). Still, Aldridge is just the kind of player to exploit those shortcomings: too tall to defend outside (gave Jamison trouble) and height and quickness avoiding Haywood and others closer in. He got nine offensive rebounds. Nine!

[hands11]

From Truth_About_it tweet

Mike Miller is active today, just said, "We'll see if they let me play."

Just sitting down to watch the win.

Pre-game they said MM is back and he said the leg great. It's 100 % better.

Now that doesn't say 100% healed but I'll take it.

[hands11]

wow is foye really the 2nd best ft shooter in the nba or just on the wiz?

Yes it is. Nice to have someone like that as your PG at the end of a game. Huge asset.

CB has been on a roll from the line also. 33-36 in January,