There wasn't even a locker room to lose. They're a broken franchise; Billups was thrown onboard while the ship was in the midst of sinking.
Random NBA Observations 2021 - 2022
- Thread starter Big Jo
- Start date
Turn on him but not the FO? Yeah ok
well the head of the front office just got fired, so I think its fair to say they were held accountable too
the issues are specific to his handling of players and his demeanor with them. two things can be broken at once
is it some stretch to say he lost his locker room? he was questioning their effort in the damn preseason
its 2021, no 2001 - that old school coaching shyt is
Dolan gonna make sure to fleece the fan baseWas gonna drop a bag on Tonight’s Knick game to see the record but I just came back from vacation
them msg prices
Nick Nurse IS coaching shyt
JoelB
All Praise To TMH
This is why I can't be mad at young athletes getting caught up. You go from city to city with thousands of hoes throwin p*ssy at you...you gonna break down eventually
This is why I can't be mad at young athletes getting caught up. You go from city to city with thousands of hoes throwin p*ssy at you...you gonna break down eventually
Exactly. shyts literally an easy layup
BK The Great
Veteran
Damn
Now you believe me when I told you a couple of months ago that Dinwiddie isn’t a full time starting PG
All I'm asking for is about 16 PPG, 6 assists, good shooting splits, and getting to the FT line.
DENVER — As the fading Washington Wizards finally started to show some life Monday night, attempting a frantic comeback after an atrocious first two and a half quarters, Spencer Dinwiddie sat on the bench, reduced to cheerleader duty.
Dinwiddie had not played well against the Denver Nuggets. Aaron Holiday, the team’s third-string point guard, had provided a spark. Coach Wes Unseld Jr., therefore, allocated minutes down the stretch to Holiday, not Dinwiddie.
It wasn’t the first time Dinwiddie has been ineffective recently. On a roster where slumps now run rampant, Dinwiddie’s regression may be the most worrisome of all. On Monday, he looked passive to the point of being practically invisible, attempting only one shot in nearly 12 first-half minutes. Something did not seem quite right. The same can be said for the entire Wizards offense these days — even Bradley Beal — but Dinwiddie’s recent struggles are conspicuous.
“He loves to play in pick-and-rolls,” Unseld said of Dinwiddie after Monday’s 113-107 Wizards loss. “I want him to play in pick-and-rolls and be aggressive. I want him to attack. I want him to get downhill. I think that’s where he’s at his best.”
What makes Dinwiddie’s fall-off so perplexing is how effective he was early in the season. In Washington’s first 13 games, when the team was soaring, he averaged 20.4 points on 16.8 field-goal attempts per 36 minutes. In Washington’s past 15 games, he averaged 11.5 points on 11.2 field-goal attempts per 36 minutes. That significant decline in the volume of his shot attempts seems peculiar since Unseld has said repeatedly he wants Dinwiddie to be aggressive.
In a postgame interview Monday night, after the Wizards allowed Denver to carve out a 33-point lead in the third quarter and then narrowed that margin in the fourth, Dinwiddie indicated multiple times he is playing the way he is being asked to play. He emphasized that he fully agrees Beal should be the team’s primary option on offense and should take a larger share of the shots than everyone else. But Dinwiddie also said the rest of the offense, after Beal gets his looks, is designed to spread the ball around and give everyone else, including himself, equal opportunities to score. It didn’t sound as much like a knock as an explanation.
“As you see, our offense has changed quite a bit multiple times,” Dinwiddie said. “So I try to do what’s asked of me in any situation. Sometimes that’s as a screener. … Sometimes it’s getting to the corner for spacing. Sometimes it’s attacking the rim. I think everybody right now is looking for consistency.”
Indeed, over the past 15 games, there has been a near uniformity in the volume of players’ shot attempts. Corey Kispert, Daniel Gafford, Dinwiddie, Deni Avdija, Montrezl Harrell, Kyle Kuzma, Holiday, Davis Bertans, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Raul Neto all averaged between 10.2 to 12.9 field-goal attempts per 36 minutes. Beal attempted 18.0 shots per 36 minutes.
Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. has said he wants Spencer Dinwiddie to be more aggressive. (Geoff Burke / USA Today)
“We run an equal-opportunity system,” Dinwiddie said, referring to everyone other than Beal. “So then people are like, ‘Spence, what’s going on?’ Look at our shot chart. Look at our play chart. Everybody got eight to 10 shots. Everybody got two to three assists. Obviously, that’s outside of Brad, but that’s our primary guy. That’s who we go to, as we should.
“But if we’re going to be equal-opportunity after Brad, then you’re going to see that even distribution. So people are like, ‘Oh, Spence, why haven’t we seen a 20- or 30-point game?’ Well, it’s a volume thing. Then everybody goes, ‘Well, you did that when Brad wasn’t playing.’ But remember, Dame (Lillard) and CJ (McCollum) play together. Steph (Curry) and Klay (Thompson) play together. DeMar (DeRozan) and Zach (LaVine) play together. We’ve got Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum playing together (in Boston). We’ve got a lot of dynamic duos in the league. The process has got to be right, though. So if we’re equal-opportunity, and that’s our thing, then that’s our thing, and I’m fine, whatever it is. I told you from the jump, whatever it may be, I’m here to do whatever I’m asked to do.”
And that’s where Dinwiddie’s understanding of his own role and Unseld’s expectations seem to diverge. When asked after Monday’s loss about Dinwiddie’s recent performances, Unseld said again he’d like Dinwiddie to be more aggressive and less concerned with distributing the ball evenly to others.
“I think he’s trying to search out and be a facilitator, which is fine,” Unseld told reporters. “But you’ve still got to play your game and be aggressive.”
Dinwiddie played some of his best games this season when Beal did not play. On Oct. 22, a night Beal sat out due to an injury, Dinwiddie scored 34 points on 13-of-24 shooting in an overtime victory against the Pacers. When Beal missed two games in mid-November following the death of a relative, Dinwiddie scored 23 and 27 points, respectively, and Washington won both games.
And one of the Wizards’ most impressive wins of the season occurred in Dallas on a night when Dinwiddie rested on the second game of a back-to-back. That game, Beal had one of his best performances of the season, scoring 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting and dishing out seven assists.
Beal and Dinwiddie have not jelled yet, and advanced analytics show they have not fared well when they play together. When they’re on the floor simultaneously, the Wizards have been outscored by 7.3 points per 100 possessions.
It’s an obvious point — but an important one: Beal and Dinwiddie, along with whomever they’re playing with, need to figure things out, something Unseld reiterates often in his public comments. Opposing defenses have made it a priority all season to devote so much attention to guarding Beal that he is forced to pass. Those defenses won’t be able to stymie Beal so aggressively if Dinwiddie attacks successfully in those situations.
“I said it in the preseason: I think they have the ability to be one of the most dynamic backcourts in the NBA,” Unseld said. “We’ve seen glimpses of it, but we need to see it consistently. I think at times they’ve deferred to each other, so we’ve got to find a balance where they can both stay aggressive, not only to score but play-make and play with a little bit more pace and thrust.
“But I think they’re still feeling each other out. I know it seems (like after) 27 or 28 games they should have some synergy, but Spencer missed a full season (last year due to injury). So he’s working through not only … missing a full year, but playing with a new teammate, playing a new style for a new coach. So all those things together do take time.”
Time may be a luxury Dinwiddie, Beal and their teammates do not have. Their team has stumbled to a 5-10 record over its last 15 games.
But perhaps it’s less Dinwiddie and Beal who have to get on the same page.
Perhaps Dinwiddie and Unseld have to get on the same page first.
He's a below average shooter and has been for all of his career. He's literally a Ricky Rubio in the shooting department without the criticism or attention.
