Wizards are champions again!

[Phil89]

23/1/14

Oklahoma City Thunder [25-16] vs Washington Wizards [26-13]

Thunder can't handle Wizards without Durant



OKC - 24 19 27 26 96
WAS - 26 23 26 32 107

Player of the Game: John Wall
(17pts, 4reb, 13ast)
(7-8 FG, 0-0 3PT, 3-3 FT)


Top Scorers
Russell Westbrook - 22
Bradley Beal - 19
Jeremy Lamb - 19
Kevin Martin - 18
John Wall - 17
DeMar DeRozan - 15
Serge Ibaka - 14
Jarrett Jack - 11
Nerlens Noel - 10
Derrick Favors - 10

Rebounds
Nerlens Noel - 10
Serge Ibaka - 8
Kendrick Perkins - 7
Derrick Favors - 7
Pau Gasol - 6
Robin Lopez - 6

Assists
Russell Westbrook - 13
John Wall - 13
Jarrett Jack - 6

Steals
Russell Westbrook - 5
Nick Collison - 2
Kevin Martin - 2

Blocks
Earl Clark - 2
Derrick Favors - 2

Durant started the game on the bench and didn't have much impact when he came on.

[Phil89]

25/1/14

Washington Wizards [27-13] vs Minnesota Timberwolves [19-20]

Timberwolves outgunned by Wizards in Washington



WAS - 28 32 30 20 110
MIN - 23 16 17 30 86

Player of the Game: John Wall
(19pts, 4reb, 12ast, 2stl)
(7-9 FG, 0-1 3PT, 5-6 FT)


Top Scorers
Bradley Beal - 24
Nerlens Noel - 20
John Wall - 19
DeMar DeRozan - 13
Ricky Rubio - 11
Landry Fields - 10

Rebounds
Gorgui Dieng - 9
Nerlens Noel - 8
Derrick Favors - 7
Amir Johnson - 7
DeMar DeRozan - 5

Assists
John Wall - 12
Jarrett Jack - 10
DeMar DeRozan - 6
Alexey Shved - 5

Steals
Ricky Rubio - 3
DeMar DeRozan - 2
John Wall - 2

Blocks
Kirk Hinrich - 2

[SuperHueyNewton]

Who is that on the dunk? Clark? And what's with his shoes?

[Phil89]

Earl Clark yep. He's wearing KD shoes which give him 5+ 3pt ability. They have yellow soles.

[Phil89]

26/1/14

Washington Wizards [28-13] vs Cleveland Cavaliers [21-22]

Beal explodes as Wizards survive scare against Cavaliers



WAS - 34 25 27 31 117
CLE - 19 24 32 33 108

Player of the Game: Bradey Beal
(44pts, 3reb, 4ast)
(16-24 FG, 6-11 3PT, 6-6 FT)


Top Scorers
Bradley Beal - 44
JR Smith - 38
John Wall - 17
Kyrie Irving - 14
Alonzo Gee - 13
Tristan Thompson - 13
Nerlens Noel - 16
DeMar DeRozan - 13

Rebounds
Nerlens Noel - 8
Tristan Thompson - 7
Pau Gasol - 7
DeMar DeRozan - 7

Assists
John Wall - 14
Kyrie Irving - 7
Jarrett Jack - 6

Steals
Trsitan Thompson - 4
Anderson Varejao - 3
Alonzo Gee - 3
Kyrie Irving - 3
JR Smith - 2
Dion Waiters - 2

I led by 25 halfway through the second quarter and it look like I'd get a 40+ point win, but they fought back and I barely escaped with the win.

[Phil89]

28/1/14

Washington Wizards [29-13] vs Sacramento Kings [19-26]

Wizards' backcourt run riot against Kings



WAS - 32 19 28 33 112
SAC - 12 25 23 19 79

Player of the Game: John Wall
(21pts, 9reb, 10ast, 1stl)
(9-11 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-2 FT)


Top Scorers
Bradley Beal - 27
John Wall - 21
Nerlens Noel - 19
Marcus Thornton - 18
DeMarcas Cousins - 17
Tyreke Evans - 14
DeMar DeRozan - 14

Rebounds
Derrick Favors - 10
DeMar DeRozan - 10
John Wall - 9
Nerlens Noel - 8
DeMarcus Cousins - 8
Chuck Hayes - 7
Jason Thompson - 6

Assists
DeMar DeRozan - 10
John Wall - 10

Steals
DeMarcus Cousins - 3
Tyreke Evans - 2

Blocks
DeMar DeRozan - 2
DeMarcus Cousins - 2

Almost two triple-doubles in the same game, and probably my best rebounding game ever

[Durant35]

Wall's assists are dropping lately, what's up?

[Phil89]

I've just been using his speed to get him more baskets lately instead of passing on every possession.

[SuperHueyNewton]

Clamped down on the first and forth quarters, good win!

[Phil89]

29/1/14

Wizards targeting more top talent in the upcoming draft



Drafting young players is always a fairly risky business. Building a successful team through the draft over several years is even harder. Washington seem to be on the right track though.
Following the example set by Sam Presti and the Oklahoma City Thunder, Washington in recent years have drafted well and now have a talented young core that is gelling nicely this year.
They are a few games clear of Brooklyn and hold the third seed in the east behind Philadelphia and Miami. They may not win the title this year but they'll gain experience along the way.
Rather worryingly for the other twenty-nine teams in the league is that at this moment in time the Wizards are first in line to receive the top overall pick in the upcoming 2014 NBA draft.

The Wizards received Toronto's 2014 first round pick in the trade which sent Rudy Gay north of the border. Now they are in pole position to draft the very highly rated Andrew Wiggins.
In a cruel twist of irony, since acquiring Gay the Raptors form has nosedived and find themselves with the worst record in the league. Hindsight is quite harsh on the deal for Toronto.
A once in a generation athlete, who also happens to be Canadian, could have been theirs if they hadn't decided to shake things up and make a big push for the playoffs through trades.
Odds are that Wiggins could well have stayed a Raptor his whole career as he was born and raised in Toronto. It's a big blow for Raptors fans as Steve Nash is also retiring at seasons end.
One positive for the Raptors though is that with Nash's $10 million contract coming off the books next season they will have around $26 million to spend on signing out of contract players.
Patrick Patterson and Ed Davis will need to be re-signed, but neither has expressed any desire to leave. Still, the Raptors should have just about enough to sign a max contract free agent.

The city of Chicago has been mourning Ben Wilson since he was murdered in 1984, but several Chicago-born players have come into the league since. Jabari Parker is about to join them.
The Bulls could have a shot at drafting Parker and pairing him with fellow hometown hero and Simeon graduate Derrick Rose if the ping pong balls are kind to them during the draft lottery.
It has been a disappointing and injury-hit season for the team that promised so much after finishing with the best record in the league in both 2011 and 2012. They could really use Parker.
With Rose, Parker and a fit Joakim Noah the Bulls could push back to the top of their conference if their supporting cast contribute. All Bulls fans will have their fingers crossed on May 21.

It's tricky to project future drafts with half the season left to play and the added variable of the draft lottery itself, but Washington are supposedly keeping tabs on around ten prospects.
According to ESPN sources they include Andrew Wiggins from Canada, Duke's Jabari Parker, Oklahoma State's Marcus Smart and LeBryan Nash and Indiana's Victor Oladipo and Noah Vonleh.
They are also scouting Glenn Robinson from Michigan and Kentucky foursome Julius Randle, James Young and the Harrison twins, Aaron and Andrew heavily. It depends which pick they get.
At this point in time the obvious first preference would be for the consensus top prospect Wiggins. He would probably send DeMar DeRozan to a bench role if the Wizards were to get him.
Allegedly Parker is their second choice and there is a group of 6-8 guys after that which could all be taken by the Wizards if they happen to fall down in the lottery between now and then.
Twitter rumours have suggested that the Wizards scouts have been spending a lot of time watching Robinson at Michigan and Smart at Oklahoma. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Washington Wizards top lottery pick drafting history



The Wizards haven't always had the best luck when it comes to selecting players early in the draft. Hopefully their next pick will be more of a John Wall than a Kwame Brown.
With the obvious exception of Brown, Washington have always picked winner when selecting in the top 3. Although it's not exactly rocket science at that stage of the draft.
So excluding any miracle turnaround in form from Toronto the Wizards should be looking at selecting at the pointy end of the draft and hopefully acquiring another young star.

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2014 top 10 prospects



At this point Wiggins and Parker are seemingly the consensus top two, but the rest of the top ten may well come down to how the lottery balls fall and what teams need.
One noticeable thing about this draft pool is the apparent lack of quality big men. The top rated centers are Willie Cauley from Kentucky and Ilimane Diop from Senegal.

[Mark.]

No Aaron Gordon? Nice coverage though

[Phil89]

I'm not really up to speed on most of these players in real life. I'm just going by the draft class that I'm using.

Maybe I'll spend some time doing a little research and then making some adjustments to certain players.

[Phil89]

30/1/14

Philadelphia 76ers [34-10] vs Washington Wizards [30-13]

Wizards beat conference leaders on their home court



PHI - 25 23 30 28 106
WAS - 25 28 32 32 117

Player of the Game: DeMar DeRozan
(24pts, 6reb, 4ast, 1stl)
(11-14 FG, 1-2 3PT, 1-1 FT)


Top Scorers
DeMar DeRozan - 24
Bradley Beal - 23
Nerlens Noel - 22
David Lee - 17
Evan Turner - 17
Jrue Holiday - 16
Andrew Bynum - 14
John Wall - 14
Derrick Favors - 13
Jason Richardson - 12

Rebounds
Derrick Favors - 9
DeMar DeRozan - 6
Andrew Bynum - 6
David Lee - 6
Thaddeus Young - 5
Evan Turner- 5
Nerlens Noel - 5
John Wall - 5

Assists
John Wall - 15
Jrue Holiday - 11
Derrick Favors - 7
Bradley Beal - 7

Steals
Jrue Holiday - 4
David Lee - 2
Evan Turner - 2

Blocks
Nerlens Noel - 3

I can't remember the last time I had 3 players scoring 20 or more. Another strange thing is that all 10 starters scored in double figures.

[Phil89]

1/2/14

January 2014 Summary

Conference Standings

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League Leaders

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Player Awards

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Award Race Leaders

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Transactions

[Mark.]

I'm not really up to speed on most of these players in real life. I'm just going by the draft class that I'm using.

Maybe I'll spend some time doing a little research and then making some adjustments to certain players.

Just another big talent in the 2014 draft

Wiggins is obviously the main prize, but if you got Gordon I wouldn't expect you would be that sore!!

[Phil89]

The trade deadline is coming up and I'm not sure what to do with Derrick Favors.

He isn't really living up to the level that I expected from him. He isn't playing badly, but he just isn't giving me a reason to offer him big money next season. Given his overall rating and his age he'll probably want something like $12m-$15m per season. Averages of 9.1ppg, 5.5rpg and 2.3apg just don't deserve that much money.

I'm wondering whether I should trade him for someone on a decent contract ($6m-$8m per season, several years left), and maybe land another draft pick. It would give me another $5m-$8m to spend on free agents and another promising (and cheap) rookie (depending on which pick I get).

Or I could just keep him and try to adjust my playing style to get him more involved. He is after all only 22 and the 13th best PF on the game. Plus he was the third overall pick in 2010.

I was looking at the potential free agents list and I think I'll throw some money at restricted guys like DeMarcus Cousins, Greg Monroe and Paul George just to see if I can land one. Maybe if I'm still undecided on Favors at that point I'll just match whatever offer he gets (if I don't land either Cousins or Monroe beforehand).

I'd prefer to keep him honestly, and I haven't really found any deals for him that I really like. There's still several games before the deadline though so I'll just keeping thinking about it until it arrives.

[SuperHueyNewton]

Try getting a pick out of him, if not, look for someone who has potential, but isn't paid that much, like Javale McGee

[Phil89]

1/2/14

Memphis Grizzlies [23-22] vs Washington Wizards [31-13]

Beal stars as Wizards extend winning streak to seven games



MEM - 25 21 18 28 92
WAS - 26 27 20 24 97

Player of the Game: Bradley Beal
(30pts, 8reb, 1ast)
(12-18 FG, 4-9 3PT, 2-3 FT)


Top Scorers
Bradley Beal - 30
Mike Conley - 16
MarShon Brooks - 13
Derrick Favors - 13
Nerlens Noel - 12
Jerryd Bayless - 12
Marreese Speights - 11
DeMar DeRozan - 11

Rebounds
Kris Humphries - 9
Bradley Beal - 8
Derrick Favors - 7
Chris Andersen - 6
John Wall - 6
Marreese Speights - 5
Mike Conley - 5

Assists
John Wall - 14
Jarrett Jack - 8
Jerryd Bayless - 6

Steals
Jerryd Bayless - 4
Marc Gasol - 2
MarShon Brooks - 2
Mike Conley - 2

[Phil89]

2/2/14

San Antonio Spurs [23-25] vs Washington Wizards [32-13]

Wizards fall short of amazing comeback in San Antonio



SAS - 22 32 25 34 113
WAS - 24 23 32 30 109

Player of the Game: John Wall
(15pts, 2reb, 23ast, 2stl)
(6-8 FG, 0-0 3PT, 3-7 FT)


Top Scorers
Bradley Beal - 36
Nick Young - 24
Dwight Howard - 20
Chris Paul - 20
DeMar DeRozan - 19
Josh Smith - 17
Derrick Favors - 16
John Wall - 15
Nerlens Noel - 11

Rebounds
Josh Smith - 7
Corey Maggette - 7
Dwight Howard - 6
Derrick Favors - 6
Bradley Beal - 6
JJ Hickson - 5
Kenny Kadji - 5

Assists
John Wall - 23
Chris Paul - 12
Jarrett Jack - 6
Dahntay Jones - 5

Steals
Dwight Howard - 3
Chris Paul - 3
John Wall - 2
Corey Maggette - 2

Blocks
Derrick Favors - 2

I trailed by as much as 16 points at one point in the second quarter. Beal scored 17 of his 36 in the third.

Might have won this game if Wall hadn't missed so many free throws.

[Phil89]

Try getting a pick out of him, if not, look for someone who has potential, but isn't paid that much, like Javale McGee

I would have considered McGee, but he earns like $10m per season and the Wizards only just got rid of him. Plus, I don't really want players who feature on Shaqtin' a fool regularly.

I was thinking something more like Derrick Williams and a first from Minnesota. He's still on his rookie deal and they've already got Dallas' pick this year which is top 2 at the moment.

Another one I was thinking about was Andrew Bogut form the Warriors. He is earning $14m this season but recently signed an extension and will be earning like $8m per season from next year onwards. I figure that Golden State are struggling this year and may want to add a younger player like Favors to their core of Curry, Thompson, Barnes and McAdoo.

I'm still 51% for keeping Favors right now though.

[Mark.]

I like the Bogut option, especially if you are looking to make a title push and the Warriors are looking to secure more young pieces that fit their core.

Not sure about Derrick Williams, although the versatility could work with your team, but he seems like a guy who needs an awful lot of shots to be effective.

[Durant35]

I don't really like Williams, so I'm taking Bogut over him.

[Phil89]

4/2/14

Washington Wizards [32-14] vs Los Angeles Clippers [33-16]

Wizards grab strong win against western leaders



WAS - 23 30 34 29 116
LAC - 23 31 28 22 104

Player of the Game: Bradley Beal
(30pts, 6reb, 2ast)
(12-18 FG, 6-10 3PT, 0-1 FT)


Top Scorers
Bradley Beal - 30
Tony Parker - 22
DeMar DeRozan - 21
Derrick Favors - 15
Manu Ginobili - 15
Blake Griffin - 14
Eric Bledsoe - 13
Lamar Odom - 12
Nerlens Noel - 12
John Wall - 12
Jamal Crawford - 10

Rebounds
Blake Griffin - 11
Derrick Favors - 7
Nerlens Noel - 6
Bradley Beal - 6
Trey Thompkins - 6
John Wall - 5

Assists
John Wall - 13
Jarrett Jack - 8
Eric Bledsoe - 7
Tony Parker - 5
DeMar DeRozan - 5

Steals
Tony Parker - 4
Blake Griffin - 2
DeAndre Jordan - 2
Jamal Crawford - 2

[Mark.]

Man Beal is firing on all cylinders for you!

[Phil89]

He's like a young Ray Allen (Not that I ever saw Ray Allen play when he was young )

I noticed yesterday that Beal's 51 point game is the highest score this season in the league, which is pretty cool.