Category: Wizards

DC Better than Both Super Bowl Cities?

DefeatingTheCurseLeave a comment

That’s right, you read it right! Is Washington D.C. better than both Boston and Atlanta? YES!!! In basketball that is. The Wizards beat both the Celtics and the Hawks this week. Not only did the Wizards beat them but you can say they put a beat down on them.

The Wizards are arguably playing their best basketball of the season right now. Is that what matters right now? Probably not, it matters most in April, May and June. Is it sustainable? That remains to be seen. The Wizards starters are playing a lot, and averaging minutes near the highest in the league. The Wizards bench can be suspect at times, but Jason Smith, Kelly Oubre, Trey Burke, and Tomas Satoransky have been stepping up in key moments. I think you can credit Wizards head coach and coaching staff put together by Scott Brooks for the improvement of players and the improvement of the team, specifically Otto Porter and Kelly Oubre.

We know that the Wizards can win at home, going on a 14 game win streak. The question really remains is that can the Wizards improve on the road at only 7-14? I think its really a tough road with teams like the Cleveland Cavs and Toronto Raptors ahead of them, but I think it’s possible. The Wizards have been playing lights out since December but is it really sustainable??? I believe the Wizards are eventually going to need a little bit more of bench help. The hope that I am holding onto is that players like Oubre, Satoransky, Burke will come through. Over those players I am really hoping that the Wizards rim protector, Ian Mahinmi, who they thought will be able to contribute when they signed him to a 4 year 64 million dollar contract, will be able to play in the second half of the season.

Earlier this week John Wall said the ultimate goal of this season is to reach the Eastern Conference finals. I think John was pretty reasonable with the team goal but the team needs help from the bench and I think Scott Brooks knows that. Whether Grunfeld knows that or not seems to be seen, with the trade deadline approaching.

In my opinion the Wizards can reach their goal of Eastern Conference finals but it will take a total team effort to include the bench. The Wizards need to find bench help at little cost to the team and to the future of the team or they need some improvement from their current bench (Ahem Ian Mahinmi) to reach their goal.

For now let’s just celebrate John Wall’s 4th all star appearance and the Wizards 14 game home win steak.

John Wallstar – A True All Star

DefeatingTheCurseLeave a comment

johnwallIn a week where we, D.C. sports fans, have been impatiently waiting to hear who the Redskins hire as their offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, I have been severely distracted. Distracted by the one, John Wall, point guard for your Washington Wizards.

The wizards have had an incredible week! Starting with the pure domination of a show against the Portland Trailblazers, followed by wins at home against the Memphis Grizzlies and in the legendary MSG. John Wall’s numbers haven’t been Russell Westbrook good but I would make the biased case that John Wall is a better pure point guard. Per basketball-reference.com John scored 24, with 7 assists against Portland, 25 and 13 against Memphis and 29 and 13 in MSG. Wall also racked up 2 steals in each the Portland and Memphis game and had 3 in the Knicks game.

At this point I am not going to try to convince you that John Wall is a better point guard than Russell Westbrook, Steph Curry, James Harden, or Kyrie Irving because to me that is pointless, there are many great NBA players. My point is John Wall is the best pure point guard to me. What makes him the best? The energy he plays with, his ability to make his team competitive in every game, and finally his ability to MAKE PLAYERS BETTER! Sure Bradley Beal, Otto Porter, Kelly Oubre, and Marcin Gortat are very good players but at times John Wall makes his teammates elevate their game to ultimately help the Wizards win. To me that’s what matters. Take a look around the league there are plenty of great players who don’t make their team better, point proven in today’s game against the Knicks. What has Melo done to make his TEAM better? Sure he racks up the numbers but what does that matter if they can’t win the game?

The NBA All-Star game, sure it’s a more credible “all-star” game than the NFL pro-bowl but is it really a showcase of the most valuable players or the best players in a ranked order? Or is it just a popularity contest? In a comparison between the guy who beat John Wall to become Eastern Conference All Star starter, Kyrie Irving, did Kyrie make the Cavs better before Lebron James and his superstar crew joined the Cavs?

My point is that John Wall, the Wallstar, has elevated his game to greatness the past few weeks. Oh and despite his wrist sprain and having two fingers wrapped. For a team that was struggling early and started off just 2-8 John Wall has made an impact, brought this team together, elevated the play of his teammates and his own and brought this team back to 23-19, a top eastern conference team in the past month, and should earn his right to a fourth all-star appearance.

Oh and by the way, who cares if he is a Cowgirls fan??? Do you think Oakland is mad that Kevin Durant is a Redskins fan? Oh wait Oakland won’t have a NFL team for much longer.