WE Wrap Up Report: Wizards burned by the Suns

Wizards Lose At Home To The Suns 109-91

It was a tale of two half's once again.  The Wizards were up 53-52 at the end of the first half but it all went down hill from there.  In the first half, Nick Young was on fire, he ended up with 20 points in the 1st half, 5 in the 2nd.  What was the reason? Reston, Virginia's finest, Grant Hill.  Not only did he play great defense, there is a reason to that.  Grant called out the plays for Nick.  It was the same old plays and Grant knew that.  He was studying film about Nick and figured out the offensive plays.  Grant actually has some advice during the game for Nick, "if the first play don't work, then you gotta go to the second one," explained Nick.

Wow, does that mean that this offense is so predictable and easy that someone like Grant Hill, who isn't a top 5 defender in this league, can figure out this offense? Looks like there is lots of work to be done about this offense.

Chaning Frye went off in the 2nd half and when I mean he went off, he went off!  Channing Frye finished with a team high 25 points with 7 of 11 from 3 point land.  For a guy 6`11, he does create lots of mismatches, especially shooting the three. Pick and Roll is the death of this Wizards ball club.  Channing would just pick and pop out for the three and in the NBA, you don't allow anybody open as he was on most of his three point shots.

Blatche after the game was a little frustrated, "everybody try to put the team on their shoulders, that's not the type of team we are."  Blatche mentioned that they do not have a Kobe or DeWayne Wade to have a player go iso (isolation) and put the team on their backs.  Which is true because in order for this team to win, they need to pass the ball and stick to the game plan.

He later added about the adjustments from the Phoenix Suns and the difference of play from the Wiz Kids, "no, no, we turned into our old selves in the 3rd quarter, there is nothing different than they did in the 1st half that they did in the 2nd half, except for Channing Frye turned it up and hit some shots, but besides that, nothing different."

The mood of the locker room was a grim one, as the one person I could say took it the hardest was, Al Thornton.  He shot 1 of 7 for 4 points, which lead to a frustrating night.  He was down in the locker room and didn't even dress as he sat there in daze.  I feel like Al Thornton has all the talent and just needs to continue to be aggressive and give Coach Flip Saunders solid minutes and show people he could be a great asset to this team. 

John Wall and Steve Nash went head to head tonight.  They were similar in stats as both John and Steve ended up with 14 assist.  John had 11 points and Steve had 17.  Both had double-doubles and the same amount of turnovers, five.  John was on a roll in the first quarter alone as he had 9 assist with 3 minutes left.  He didn't get his 10th assist till the 3rd quarter.

"First quarter, he (John) was fabulous, guys made shots, if guys would have made shots, he (John Wall) could have ended up with 20 assist."

The Wizards must work on the flow of the game because the Suns got to the free throw line alot. With the Suns getting to the free throw line, it throws the Wizards offense off balance.  Flip after the game said that Gortat was huge as he brought some physicality to the inside.  Gortat is a big man but he is no Kevin Garnett.

Speaking of K.G, he is coming into town and you know what that means?  Blatche v.s KG!

Wizards and Suns Box Scores Courtesy of ESPN.com

STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Grant Hill, SF	37	4-12	0-2	4-4	0	3	3	2	2	2	3	1	+5	12
Channing Frye, C	40	9-15	7-11	0-0	1	7	8	1	0	0	1	3	+10	25
Robin Lopez, C	14	3-7	0-0	2-2	1	1	2	1	0	0	1	1	-4	8
Steve Nash, PG	32	7-13	2-3	1-1	1	3	4	14	0	0	5	1	+6	17
Vince Carter, SG	37	5-17	1-4	1-2	1	9	10	1	0	2	2	2	+18	12
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Hakim Warrick, PF	10	2-2	0-0	0-0	1	3	4	1	0	0	1	0	+11	4
Jared Dudley, SF	22	1-4	1-3	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	+13	3
Garret Siler, C	1	2-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4
Marcin Gortat, C	30	4-7	0-0	5-5	4	10	14	0	3	0	2	3	+19	13
Goran Dragic, PG	16	4-7	0-1	3-5	0	1	1	5	1	0	2	1	+12	11
Josh Childress, SG	DNP COACH'S DECISION
Mickael Pietrus, SF	DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		41-86	11-24	16-19	9	38	47	25	6	4	18	13		109
		47.7%	45.8%	84.2%
Fast break points: 20 Points in the paint: 46 Team TO ( points off ): 19 (13)

STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Rashard Lewis, PF	38	6-15	0-5	4-4	3	9	12	1	1	1	3	2	-18	16
Andray Blatche, PF	35	7-17	0-0	0-0	2	5	7	5	1	1	4	2	-2	14
JaVale McGee, C	21	2-4	0-0	0-0	1	2	3	0	1	2	0	1	-3	4
Nick Young, SG	41	10-20	4-8	1-2	1	7	8	2	0	0	2	4	-17	25
John Wall, PG	40	4-13	0-1	3-5	0	4	4	14	4	0	5	0	-20	11
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	+/-	PTS
Kirk Hinrich, G	13	3-5	2-3	0-0	0	2	2	2	1	0	2	3	+1	8
Cartier Martin, GF	2	1-1	1-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Al Thornton, SF	22	1-7	0-0	2-2	0	4	4	0	0	0	0	2	-14	4
Yi Jianlian, PF	6	0-2	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-2	0
Trevor Booker, C	8	1-2	0-0	0-0	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	-8	2
Kevin Seraphin, F	15	2-5	0-0	0-0	3	2	5	1	0	2	0	2	-7	4
Hilton Armstrong, C	DNP COACH'S DECISION
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF		PTS
		37-91	7-18	10-13	13	35	48	25	8	6	16	16		91
		40.7%	38.9%	76.9%
Fast break points: 15 Points in the paint: 36 Team TO ( points off ): 18 (19)

 

What I Saw/Heard

* Vince Carter yapping at the mouth to some dude who called him "old," Vince responded, "who you talking too? You got manboobs."

* Andray Blatche's shoes (Fresh Custom Kobe Bryants)

* John McCain was at the game for his Phoenix Suns and got boo'd (poor guy)

Pictures Courtesy of Joe G. of WizardsExtreme.com

 

Wizards Post Game Quotes Courtesy of The Wizards PR Department

 

WIZARDS HEAD COACH FLIP SAUNDERS

On the game:

“It’s a tougher pace.  We had some good opportunities, even in the third quarter we missed some wide open shots, we missed some layups.  The biggest thing in the second quarter… they got to the free throw line so much that they got back in it and we couldn’t keep adding pace into the game.  We couldn’t get in any running game because they were shooting free throws.  We had to take the ball out of bounds after made free throws, so we did not have that free flow that we had in the first quarter.”

“There’s nothing they did in the second half that they didn’t do in the first half, except for (Channing) Frye turning it on and hitting some shots.  As far as that, they didn’t do anything different.”

“We did not hit any shots and they did a good job of making us take contested shots.  They did a great job of finding guys and getting out into the break.”

On Steve Nash:

“Steve Nash always keeps his dribble alive, dribbles all the way through the baseline, so you got to keep chasing him. I think I did a better job than what I did the last time we played them in Phoenix.”

On Channing Frye:

“We had to chase Steve Nash, and we had to help a lot tonight. Frye has a quick release and if you give to much help and he can get it off in a quick second.  He made three-pointers contested and wide-open.”  

“The second half turned the game around, but in the first half we turned the ball over way too much. We ended the half with 14 turnovers, which were 14 chances we didn’t get a shot at the basket.  I was a little disappointed with that, but I thought the second unit really did a good job of fighting and getting us back in the game. During the second half we were a lot more focused and did a much better job of not turning the ball over.”

On Channing Frye:

“When Channing shoots the ball like that we are really tough, it allows us to have an open avenue for drives. It also allows the help to come and we become a really unselfish team.  We are able to find an open guy and for whatever reason they left him open. He played a very good game defensively too; he had a good overall game and was able to give us separation.”

On John Wall:

“Steve Nash and John Wall are two great players, Steve played a great game and John Wall played a great game. John Wall is a great kid and he’s learning, you can’t expect him to do it all his rookie year, Steve didn’t do it his rookie year and neither did Derrick Rose.  It is a process you have to go through and he’s going to be a great player in this league for a lot of years to come.

“They came out and hit some shots.  We turned the ball the over a little bit too much and they got out into transition.  We had a bad first quarter.  We kept our composure.  I thought in the second quarter, the second unit did a great job and got us back in the game.  At halftime, we were down one and were talking amongst ourselves as players and said hey we’re down one, we’re back in the game and we played terrible.  Let’s just come out and take care of business.  We had a good third and just finished them out there in the second half.”

On guarding Nick Young:

“He hit some tough shots going early and hit a bunch of three-pointers.  I tried to get in his face and not let him get open looks.  I tried to use my length and my size on him.  He’s a good player and he’s playing with a lot of confidence.  We knew that coming in.  I just tried to stay in front of him and not let him get open looks.”

"We're very difficult to defend when he shoots the ball like that. That obviously was a blessing, but we also got a lot of stops and we held them at the end to 91 points after giving them fifty-something points in the first half.  I thought that was big and Channing's shooting was awesome.”

 

SUNS FORWARD CHANNING FRYE

On his play:

"I came out and got in the rhythm and just shot it.  I have been getting my shots up and some games it goes like that. I think our defense really got our offense going tonight. Steve (Nash) of course is going to hit you in a good spot and Gortat does a great job of screening."