Author: DefeatingTheCurse

Wizards Draft Predictions and the Eastern Conference shake up

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The finals are over. The Warriors are the champions. Lebron is still a baby, and now I hate KD even more. For many it’s easy to fall into the summer slump of watching meaningless Baseball games, however blockbuster trades and the rumor mill is keeping the NBA relevant.

NBA: Washington Wizards at Indiana Pacers
via USA Today Sports

The Wizards have the 52nd pick in the draft, since we traded away our first round pick to the Nets. As far as I’m concerned, unless you are in the top 10 of the NBA draft, via lottery or trade, it’s completely acceptable to ignore. The hope is we draft some technically sound players who could end up strengthening our bench. Be that as it may, the draft did have a huge shake up that will certainly impact the Eastern conference, and the Wizards.

The trash Celtics traded away the number 1 overall pick to the Sixers. If you haven’t been following, basically the Sixers will most likely draft Markelle Fultz to complement their core nucleus which will eventually turn into a playoff worthy team. The Celtics now get an extra pick in a pretty loaded draft. Thankfully they still have IT who can’t play defense. The story between the lines here is that the Sixers have improved, and the Celtics have all the assets plus the cap space needed for yet another blockbuster move. Paul George anyone?

So what does this mean for the Eastern Conference? Lebron Cry Baby James will most likely leave the east. Paul George will no longer be on a Pacers team that refuses to compliment him and end up somewhere where he is actually wanted, and the Celtics could bring in an all star such as Gordon Hayward of Blake Griffin. So what should the Wizards do?

As of this article, there have been reports that the Wizards could be in the hunt for Paul George himself. (I swear this article wasn’t supposed to be centered around him, but he appears to be on every team’s mind). How could the Wizards make that happen? Realistically Otto Porter would be the player to get leveraged  and then some guarantees from all teams involved would need to be made. I personally doubt this move happens, but the thought of Wall, Beal and George on the same team gives me goose bumps.

The take away thought from all these hypothetical and yet inevitably splashy moves is that the Eastern Conference will look entirely different next season. Curse or not, the Wizards still have a chance to be a top contender. With that being said, I still hate Lebron. I now hate KD (until he decides to come home to DC) and the West will still dominate.

Nationals Have Become the Kings of Queens

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The Nationals traveled to New York to face the Mets in a four game series and left with three BIG wins! Steve and Joe are joined by Mat (da Met) to discuss the weekend series including the Nationals continued pitching woes, the strength of their bats, and talk about the historical significance of Trea Turner stealing a team-record FOUR bases in the final game of the series. Steve and Mat also share some insights on other teams they are watching and make a few bold predictions regarding how the Mets can become competitive again and could the Nationals still find a way to lose the division… plus a whole lot more! (Photo credit to Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)

DTC Special: USMNT Win One & Draw on the Road … to Russia!

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In this Special Edition DTC Podcast Joe and LP are joined by John (by way or Rucker Park) and Dan (by way of Long Beach State) to discuss the US Men’s National Team [the Outlaws] performances against Trinidad and Tobago and against Mexico. The foursome breakdown Bruce Arena’s never changing long-ball tacitcs, highlight studs and duds, and one bold voice claims that 2026 is the year the U-S-A bring home the World Cup! I… I Believe… I Believe That We… I Believe That We Will Win! I Believe That We Will Win!

Triple R: Running Backs & Inside Linebackers

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This is the Redskins Roster Report, also known as the TripleR!. LP and FP dive deep into the current talent on the Redskins roster at the RB and ILB positions. Will Matt Jones be on the roster come opening day? How much of an improvement is Z.Brown as the “Mike”? Expectations for an unproven ILB core given their previous body of work? Has the roster improved at either position between this time last year and now? These are just some of the questions the boys discuss plus Joe chimes in with some observations specific to fantasy football too!

Nationals Bullpen Demoralizing for Everyone but Opponents

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At one point in 2014-2015, the Kansas City Royals won 111 straight games when leading after 7 innings. This year’s Washington Nationals have coughed up approximately 111 late leads.

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While a team would typically point to one or two culprits for an inflated E.R.A. or poor performance, that is not the case for this year’s bullpen. Sure, there have been glimpses of hope when you look hard enough; Enny Romero will come in and flash 101 with a nasty slider and you start to see a rough outline of Aroldis Chapman dominance, but then he’ll hit a guy, walk three more, and leave with another disaster outing having recorded 1 or no outs. Koda Glover, considered the most consistent performer in high-leverage situations, has given up multiple runs on three separate occasions (including 5 in a third of an inning in Oakland) and has now gotten injured due to not reporting an injury. From Shawn Kelley to Oliver Perez to Joe Blanton and opening day closer Blake Treinen, the Nationals bullpen has eaten into what could’ve been an even more incredible start by this team.

‘We need help.’ Three very poignant and simple words that spoke volumes to the state of the Nationals bullpen in 2017. Those weren’t words by a disgruntled fan or unhappy starter that was robbed of another win, but rather the words of a player’s manager in Dusty Baker. These sentiments were echoed after he watched his team battle back from an early deficit and an uncharacteristic Stephen Strasburg rough outing to put up 9 runs and lead 9-6 heading into the eighth. While most fans would chalk that up as a win given their teams’ solid relief at the back end of the bullpen, Nationals fan have gotten accustomed to sweating it out in the late innings. Sure enough the Nationals bullpen coughed up 5 runs and added another loss and blown save to their ledger this season. That brought their tally to 11 losses and blown saves, and a ghastly E.R.A. that now stands above 5.

With a 9.5 game lead in the division and an incredible offense that has remained hot, the Nationals bullpen has not cost the team dearly just yet. The starters have done their jobs for the most part, but with their workloads among the heaviest in all of baseball, the fear would be what the overwork will do to their arms as the season wears on. Even more than overwork has to be the demoralizing feeling that the team gets every time a reliever puts someone on base and thoughts of ‘here we go again’ creep into everyone’s minds. Time and again the relievers have been trusted with a late lead only to give it right back. An offense that is first in the national league in runs scored and second in the majors in OPS will keep the team in the game most nights and the starters have done their part to prop up the pitching staff to 11th in the majors in runs given up.

A 94 win pace is nothing to scoff at, but with even average relief pitching, the team could be on pace for 100+ wins for the first time in Franchise history. While you can’t fire or release an entire bullpen, it’s time for Mike Rizzo and the Nationals front office to bring in some outside help. Otherwise, this promising season will end with the Nationals and their fans demoralized by playoff failure once again.