Wizards beat Bulls - close out the series

On a night where both teams struggled from the field, the Wizards used their offensive rebounding to put the game away.  It was actually a pretty boring game.  The Bulls just seemed to lack energy and flow particularly given that their season was on the line.  Even their fans seemed to lack any energy.  The Wizards weren't great but they did enough to pull out the win.  Give Gortat, Nene, and Booker a lot of credit for picking up several offensive rebounds late in the game to ice it for the Wiz.  Chicago looked beat in the fourth quarter.  They really looked like they had had enough of the Wizards and understood who was the better team. 

Wizards get a couple of well deserved days off as they await their opponent for Round 2.  If the Hawks beat the Pacers tonight, we end up having home court advantage against them in the second round.  Frankly, the way the Pacers have been playing the last month (what happened to Hibbert?), the Pacers might be the easier draw.  In any event, the Wizards played very well in the first round and I don't see any signs of this team letting up or being satisfied with what they have accomplished thus far.

Nobody beats the WIZ!!!

Wizards have a chance to close out the first round of the playoffs against the Bulls tonight.  I really like the way they have played in this series.  They seem to be playing like a team with much more experience and maturity than they have.  Wall and Beal have proven to be unfazed by their first taste of playoff basketball and show a maturity of not settling for a win or even a series win.  They really do seem focused on carrying this team as far as possible. 

Then the play of Nene and Gortat at the bigs has been huge.  They are proven veterans that have shown not to be intimadated by the physical Noah and Gibson.  Ariza had a huge game in Game #4 but has been solid all season.  Andre Miller has provided tremendous veteran leadership and a calming presence and good change of pace to Wall's up tempo game.  Miller was exceptional in the third quarter of Game #1.  The role players of Webster, Booker, and Gooden have been huge.

What you really love to see is the mix of youth and veterans coming together where everyone understands their role and is comfortable with it.  It truly looks like these guys play unselfish basketball and play for each other as opposed to themselves.

Not to be forgotten in this is the coaching of Randy Wittman.  He seems to have gotten the most out of this team and it appears the players really enjoy playing for him. 

In the end, it's a fun team to watch that doesn't look scared or overly excited on the bigger stage.  There is a lot of talent on the team and they can beat you in many ways.  If one guy isn't shooting well, they have several other guys that can pick it up.  We saw that in Game #1 where both Wall and Beal struggled from the field but others picked up.  In Game #2, Gortat wasn't great.  In Game #4, Ariza was on fire.  Each night/game it could be someone else. 

This is a fun team to watch that has talent and given the way the playoffs are shaking down who knows what could happen.  Still, can't look ahead.  Have to take care of business with the Bulls tonight.  Hopefully we can close it out and get some rest to get into round 2.  Should be fun.

Oates and McPhee gone!

Too bad it didn't work out.  McPhee has been with the team for 17 years and has had much success starting a youth movement in bringing in Ovi, Semin, Backstrom, Green, etc.  He also took a chance on an unknown coach in Bruce Boudreau and they saw tremendous regular season success culminating with a President's Award a few years back. However, the regular season success never translated into playoff success.  The aging of the "young guns" and the firing of Boudreau seemed to be the start of the end for McPhee.  In came Dale Hunter whose defensive minded approach was a vast difference to Boudreau's high flying offense didn't seem to fit with the personnel.  After he left, in came Adam Oates who seems like a brilliant tactician but not sure he connected well with the players.  Under Oates, we became a one trick pony.  The PP was fantastic but we were not great 5 v 5 and the constant shuffling of defenders, lines, and goalies seemed to create an atmosphere of distrust with the team.  After a number of interviews with people throughout the team and organization, Leonsis felt it was in the best interest to remove both McPhee and Oates.  For me, it seems like the right move.

What made matters more difficult was that apparently, Oates and McPhee did not see eye to eye on things.  So what is done is done.  The question is what should be done now?  I think the search for a GM takes precedence.  The draft is coming and we need a GM prior to the draft.  The GM will need to evaluate our current roster and see what are our needs and then make decisions on the draft and FA based on where we need help.  The GM also needs to find a coach that he can get along with and shares his vision of the team.  Ideally, we need a coach similar to the Chip Kelly school of thought.  Not bring a system and force it on the players but rather look at the players and build a system that suits the players.  I also think it will be important to find a veteran coach.  Given that this is mature team with a proven superstar, it will be important to find a guy that is proven and has had success and can work with the stars on this team.  The guys that immediately come to mind are Barry Trotz and Peter Laviollete.  I don’t know these guys well but I do know that they have experience and have had success.  Should Pittsburgh falter in the playoffs and Bylsma get fired, he too would be another potential candidate.  In any event, will be interesting to see where the Caps go from here.