Posts for category ‘ed tapscott’

So I got home after a dinner on Monday night and caught about the last five minutes of the Wizards-Pacers game….seeing the Wiz down 100-91 at the 5:45 mark didn’t exactly instill confidence in the possibility of a win, but I figured that the deficit was at least manageable.

Three minutes is all it took for the atrocious display that is the Washington Wizards to go from being down nine points to 20 points.

Actions taken by Jeff Foster, Danny Granger, and T.J. Ford were the tipping point which led me to easily conclude that not only were things falling apart, but the Washington Wizards were also rising down.

The photoshop concept, suggested by Bullets Forever user Jon L in the comments section here, derived from a Roots album…..the title of which stems from a book by this guy, similar to books being the basis for titles of previously alluded to Roots albums, Things Fall Apart and The Tipping Point, both also good candidates for some Wizards photoshopping.

Frustration is futile….might as well have some fun with this until the depression sets in.

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Hey…..did you guys know that the Wizards beat the Pistons [game blog on Bullets Forever]? In the midst of yesterday’s trade frenzy, I was unable to get down any thoughts on the game.

Once again, the Wiz had to claw their way back. In the first meeting with Detroit, they had to fight back just to be down 10, 31-21, at the end of the first quarter (the Wiz had been down 17 at the 3:30 mark). So, after putting themselves in a 29-14 hole after one quarter on Tuesday, you’ll have to excuse me if I wasn’t exactly confident in the ability to get a win.

But the team kept fighting, and that’s the main reason why people are saying that the Wizards are a much better team than their 4-15 record.

The Washington Post’s Ivan Carter especially noted Darius Songaila’s bucket to put the Wiz up 6 with 2:08 in the 4th as the turning point. I guess timeouts work because it wasn’t 20 seconds prior that the Pistons got three chances at the hoop, converting on the third, capping a quick 8-2 run in 2:15 to bring the Pistons within two points. But Tapscott halted play, Wes Unseld Jr. drew it up, and D-Song came to the rescue.

To withstand a final push from the Pistons and live to tell about it was huge for the psyche of the team.

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People are beginning to question the decision-making of new Washington Wizards coach, Ed Tapscott, leading some to wonder if he’ll even make it through the season.

For those not local to the DC area, and thus not frequent viewers of Washington Wizards games on Comcast, each game, Legal Sea Foods sponsors a “Question of the Night.”

I think last night’s LSF question speaks for itself.

Now, Steve Buckhantz went on to clarify that the question didn’t necessarily mean hired and fired in the same season, and that’s why Bernie Bickerstaff, now an assistant for the Chicago Bulls, was eligible to be the answer. Nevertheless, not a good sign for Tapscott.

There’s been talk, mostly from Ed Tapscott, about the Wizards needing to do more of the ‘little things’. The Washington Post reports that Tapscott recently wrote ‘Little Things’ on a dry-erase board and then had this quote after the game last night, “We’ve got to take a look at the little things that cause us to have poor possessions at the end of games or some of the plays we have to make defensively against a drive. Those things will be addressed.”

The need for little things works on a sliding scale. The better the team, and talent, the more room there is to fudge on those little things. With injuries and the what-not, the Wizards have no wiggle room. Of course, teams like the Spurs have talent and do the little things; that’s why they have multiple championships under their belt.

Last night, some of the ‘little things’ the Wizards did not do include:

• Andray Blatche using only his upper body on block out attempts (although, I believe this has blossomed into an epidemic).
• Caron Butler lacking consideration in blocking out Rudy Fernandez, who was allowed to get a running start and a huge offensive put-back to put Portland up three with 2:24 left.
• Caron Butler using too much shot clock and then putting a rookie, JaVale McGee, in a difficult position to hit a contested baseline jumper from a though angle with the shot clock running down and 1:30 left in the game.
• Nick Young turning the wrong way (270 degrees instead of 90) in trying to defend a cutting Rudy Fernandez which led to a bucket and a foul at the very end of the 3rd period.
• DeShawn Stevenson not stopping the ball, and Sergio Rodriguez, after made FTs, which set up the previously mentioned gaffe.
• Ed Tapscott going with Darius Songaila instead of Dominc McGuire on a crucial defensive possession with the Wizards down two, 13 seconds left, and mostly perimeter players in for Portland.

You can read the game blog at Bullets Forever for the full run-down.

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Ball movement and DeShawn Stevenson….that’s what everyone has been buzzing about today. Well, where the hell have those two been? It’s baffling to try to explain, so I’ll give all the credit to Dee Brown.

Brown pushed the rock in transition, whipped the ball to spots in a timely manner in the half court, and even hit a couple treys. I should also mention that Brown had zero turnovers to his seven assists. He was even unafraid to stick his nose in the paint for an offensive rebound here and there.

Should Dee Brown start until Gilbert Arenas is healthy….allowing for Antonio Daniels to keep coming off the bench? I’m on board with that…..so far.

Dee Brown FYI

You can easily find out that Brown played quarterback in high school from his Wikipedia profile….but did you know? From an article about him in high school:

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I’ve been a little MIA over the Thanksgiving holiday. It’s nice to take a step back from the computer to hang with family…and that’s been graciously guided by severely limited internet access.

So the Wizards lost games 2 and 3 of the Tapscott era….ho hum. I have yet to read all reactions to losses to both Orlando and Atlanta, and I only was able to watch the Wizards face the Magic from a bar because it was on national television, but the indication seems to be that no one is surprised.

Yea, Dwight Howard is a bad man. In his time on the court against the Wizards this season, he pulls down a rebound every 2.43 minutes, attempts a free-throw every 2.61 minutes, and makes a FG every 3.84 minutes. Not many teams can stop Howard, and the Wizards are especially bad at doing so.

But it boils down to the fact that this Washington team is still not very good, just as indicated by their game performances all season. They’ve fallen short of pretty much everyone’s expectations, even those knowing that Gilbert Arenas would be absent. I would be more disappointed at failing to meet expectations if the team were not trying hard, if they weren’t displaying the want to win. For the most part, the Wizards are making an effort, but for some reason, things just aren’t clicking.

I still refuse to subscribe to the theory that the Wizards played completely above their heads last year. There is still a ton of talent and depth on this team, but not enough healthy fuel to keep the train going. At this point, there’s not much anyone can do outside of giving it the ol’ college try. Unfortunately, most teams the Wizards will be matching-up against graduated from the university long ago.
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Seen, Heard & Said

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Win #1 is in the books for Eddie Tapscott…..thank god. Sure I’m disappointed that Eddie Jordan had to go, but at the same time….I suppose Eddie Jordan had to go. No sense in doing anything other than fully supporting the man in place, whether it be for the long haul or the short term.

But a win is what Tapscott really needed, almost more so than the team. He needed to get the monkey off his back so that nerves could be calmed. The pressure on the Wizards’ coach to win simply did not dissolve with Eddie Jordan’s departure, rather, it was transferred to his successor.

Now, surely a lot of people are giddy over last night’s win…and I fully realize that things could have gone entirely different. But we can’t judge the history of this battle until we get further along in the war. Did all the energy and effort suddenly appear because of Tapscott’s presence, or Eddie Jordan’s absence? Was it the ineptitude of the opposition? Or was it a ‘We got our coach fired, is it now time to be fed up with this sh*t?’ Q&A session with the team in the mirror?

I personally can’t get psyched-up about a single victory. I’ll go with Jim Zorn on this one and try to stay medium. Naturally, such a win sparks two immediate questions: Why couldn’t the Wizards/Andray Blatche do this before?, and, Can the team, not just Andray Blatche, build on this in the immediate future? Stay tuned to find out.

Wizards-Warriors Game 12 Blog on Bullets Forever

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We now know the scapegoat threshold on an NBA season in the District of Columbia: 10 losses against a solo win. As head coach of the Washington Wizards, Eddie Jordan is no more. If the WizzNutzz only had the foresight to include this among their Screaming Headlines…..

Someone had to take the fall. The Wizards crack medical staff? Well, they can’t exactly control the environment in which they work, but by most accounts, they are no medical staff of the Phoenix Suns.

The most glaring problem for the Wizards during Jordan’s tenure was bottom-of-the-barrel defense. Despite these facts surrounding the team’s stars: Gilbert Arenas, a bad defender; Caron Butler, a bad defender; Antawn Jamison, a bad defender; Antonio Daniels, a bad defender……when the pattern of defensive inefficiency creeps into its sixth consecutive year, the ultimate responsibility falls on the shoulders of the head coach.

All the tinkering and gimmicks in the world…..match-ups zones, doubling the ball off screens, the scheming of Randy Ayers (and to a lesser extent, Flip Saunders, who made a cameo in training camp as an instructor of zone defense)…….could not circumvent the fact that it’s easier to get rid of a coach than make roster adjustments.

Unfortunately, many Washingtonians are rejoicing with election night enthusiasm at their cubicles today. Can’t exactly blame them for doing so, it’s just unfortunate that it had to arrive at this point. I have been a staunch supporter of Eddie Jordan through and through, but was even beginning to wonder myself if Jordan getting Sam Cooke’d was the right move to make.

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