GT #30: Raptors @ Bullets 7 PM (NBA TV/MSN//980 AM)

FAH1223 · Post #1 » by **FAH1223** » Tue Dec 26, 2023 8:10 pm

YOUR Washington Bullets are 5-24!

After another loss to the Magic, they get right back to the hardwood for the visiting Toronto Raptors.

Historically, the Raptors have dominated the Bullets over the years. The Raps have been struggling and are well below .500. Pascal Siakam seems to be a prime trade candidate. OG Anunoby is an impending free agent. And there just isn't the same cohesion we've seen from Toronto over the years. Bobby Webster and Masai Ujiri have a lot to think about before the deadline.

Will the Bullets be able to jump on the Raps while they're down?

-------------------------VS-------------------------

Projected Lineups :

Bench:

Post #2 » by **nate33** » Tue Dec 26, 2023 8:34 pm

FAH1223 wrote:YOUR Washington Bullets are 5-25!

FAH1223 expects such a bad loss to Orlando on Tuesday that it will drop them from 5-23 straight to 5-25!

FAH1223 · Post #3 » by **FAH1223** » Wed Dec 27, 2023 8:10 am

nate33 wrote:
FAH1223 wrote:YOUR Washington Bullets are 5-25!

FAH1223 expects such a bad loss to Orlando on Tuesday that it will drop them from 5-23 straight to 5-25!

Whoops! I got ahead of myself there!

Frichuela · Post #4 » by **Frichuela** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 12:19 am

Kuzma has become such a selfish player over the past few games. I really hope they ship his ass somewhere by the trade deadline.

tontoz · Post #5 » by **tontoz** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 1:06 am

Considering how cold he has been it's funny to see that Deni is the only guy in double figures at the half.

The Bandit · Post #6 » by **The Bandit** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 1:46 am

Yeah, better game from Deni, but Unseld has decided to bench him in the 3rd :banghead:

MikeTheKid · Post #7 » by **MikeTheKid** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 1:54 am

SMH.............That's All

Chocolate City Jordanaire · Post #8 » by **Chocolate City Jordanaire** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 2:01 am

Jordan Poole sucks.

Sent from my SM-A146U using RealGM mobile app

CntOutSmrtCrazy · Post #9 » by **CntOutSmrtCrazy** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 2:18 am

The Bandit wrote:Yeah, better game from Deni, but Unseld has decided to bench him in the 3rd

Deni hasn't played up to his ability this month, but this is a classic game to why it's so frustrating watching his role on this team.

He has a great start to the game, and get's completely frozen out the rest of the game. He was sat for the vast majority of the second half. He takes 8 shots in the first half, 0 the second half; he barely even touches the ball in the second half because the Pooles and the Kuzmas of the world are hunting for stats. Teammates looking him off constantly when he's running up court. This happens all the time; Kuzma, Jones, and Poole are habitual offenders of refusing to give him the ball as he's running up court.

Deni has some confidence issues (I wonder why :roll:

) but it feels like some of the veterans play politics out there with who they are passing to. I've pretty much told myself nothing will change with WUJ as head coach, he enables this type of play on the court.

badinage · Post #10 » by **badinage** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 3:32 am

^ Yeah, what is UP with this shxt, and why is it allowed to continue?!?

NatP4 · Post #11 » by **NatP4** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 4:12 am

CntOutSmrtCrazy wrote:
The Bandit wrote:Yeah, better game from Deni, but Unseld has decided to bench him in the 3rd

Deni hasn't played up to his ability this month, but this is a classic game to why it's so frustrating watching his role on this team.

He has a great start to the game, and get's completely frozen out the rest of the game. He was sat for the vast majority of the second half. He takes 8 shots in the first half, 0 the second half; he barely even touches the ball in the second half because the Pooles and the Kuzmas of the world are hunting for stats. Teammates looking him off constantly when he's running up court. This happens all the time; Kuzma, Jones, and Poole are habitual offenders of refusing to give him the ball as he's running up court.

Deni has some confidence issues (I wonder why ) but it feels like some of the veterans play politics out there with who they are passing to. I've pretty much told myself nothing will change with WUJ as head coach, he enables this type of play on the court.

Better days ahead. WUJ is just a tank commander. He, along with Poole, Jones, and Kuzma will all be gone by the end of next season.

Halcyon · Post #12 » by **Halcyon** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 5:16 am

I'm not sure if we'll be able to get rid of Poole that easily.

NatP4 · Post #13 » by **NatP4** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 2:46 pm

Halcyon wrote:I'm not sure if we'll be able to get rid of Poole that easily.

True. I’d expect Kuzma to be traded for actual assets in the offseason/next deadline. Jones is gone at this deadline. WUJ will be let go after next season. Poole is the #1 tank commander for the next few years until he turns into an expiring contract.

Coulibaly+2024 1st+2025 1st+new coaching hire is what we have to look forward to.

Post #14 » by **nate33** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 3:06 pm

NatP4 wrote:
Halcyon wrote:I'm not sure if we'll be able to get rid of Poole that easily.

True. I’d expect Kuzma to be traded for actual assets in the offseason/next deadline. Jones is gone at this deadline. WUJ will be let go after next season. Poole is the #1 tank commander for the next few years until he turns into an expiring contract.

Coulibaly+2024 1st+2025 1st+new coaching hire is what we have to look forward to.

At least Poole has been a bit better lately. Over the entire season, he has been an absolute train wreck at both ends of the floor, but over the past 7 games, he has at least been the streaky, instant-offense scorer we saw in Golden State.

Over the last 7 games his per 36 numbers are:
25.9 points
5.1 assists
3.2 rebounds
1.3 steals
2.7 turnovers
.590 TS%
.383 3P%

I'm not suggesting he's a net positive player or anything; but at least he is no longer playing like the worst player in the league. If he keeps scoring on high volume with reasonable efficiency like this, he might plausibly be movable prior to the end of his contract.

dobrojim · Post #15 » by **dobrojim** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 3:29 pm

Frichuela wrote:Kuzma has become such a selfish player over the past few games. I really hope they ship his ass somewhere by the trade deadline.

To me, it's his inconsistency that is the biggest issue. When he is good, he can be quite good.
Unfortunately for the Wizards, that only happens maybe 20-40% of the time. Selfishness
when you are consistently good isn't an awful thing. Of course that partly depends on
how you define selfishness. When you are the best player on a team, you should typically
take more shots. Ideally, this should lead to better efficiency for your lessor talented teammates.

This game was pretty disgusting given that by W-L record, TOR isn't very good.
But they still kicked our @sses to an embarrassing degree.

Barnes, Siakem and OG were all better than any player for the Wizards.

FAH1223 · Post #16 » by **FAH1223** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 7:25 pm

Read on Twitter

DCZards · Post #17 » by **DCZards** » Thu Dec 28, 2023 9:00 pm

Frichuela wrote:Kuzma has become such a selfish player over the past few games. I really hope they ship his ass somewhere by the trade deadline.

Kuzma’s selfishness is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a curse when he dominates the ball and then ends up taking a bad midrange jumper or contested 3. (Or turning it over.) But it can be a blessing when he uses his size and quickness to get downhill for easy lay ups. He actually did a lot of the latter in the second half of this game.

The Zards absolutely awful half-court offense and the failure/refusal to get Deni more involved offensively are bigger problems than Kuz.