Rose-less Bulls Beat The Wiz

The Wizards are now 1-9 after a loss to a Bulls team without their best player Derrick Rose.  The Bulls didn't really know what to do without DR who had played in something like 90 straight games, but luckily for them they were playing the Wizards.  I thought the Zards played well and I wouldn't have been upset that they lost, but in the final 8 or so minutes they really let down and then gave up.

Raise your hand if you knew who John Lucas was...No he didn't make the Star Wars movies.  However, he did torch the Wizards for 25 points, 8 assists, and 8 rebounds.  That wasn't Derrick Rose.  That was John Lucas.

Booker, Singleton, & McGee were the Wizards good players in this game, but those guys didn't have much help.  You already know what they do.  Continue to do it...

John Wall played awful.  If he doesn't slow down he is 1) never going to make a layup 2) never going to get back on defense when he misses the layup, and 3) is going to get hurt.  He can't make a 3 pointer, he can't make a jump shot, he can't make a foul shot, and he can't make a layup.  A non-quadruple threat.

Vesely, who was exciting last game, played well off the ball but he is very small.  His rebounds and steals come from poking with his long arms, hustling, and playing sneaky.  It doesn't come from size or power.  I still like him in the lineup.

Missing Blatche hurt the Wizards too.  Yeah I actually just typed that.  McGee played almost 40 minutes.  That is too much.  He actually needed to play 48 minutes because when he was out the Bulls owned the inside.  Seraphin is not an answer.  So yes Andray, I'll admit the Wizards need you

And now the bad...

In the 4th quarter the Wizards just got manhandled by the Bulls on the boards.  It was embarrassing.  One possession the Bulls picked up 3 or 4 offensive rebounds in a row and killed about 4x24 seconds.  The Bulls big men also scored at will on the inside.

What didn't help was Flip Saunders insistence that Jordan Crawford is a talented player.  Saunders seemed pissed at Nick Young (as he should be) but he gave Crawford who is worse, lots of key minutes.  This guy will never stick with an NBA team ever.  He is not an NBA player.  An example.

With a little over 8 minutes left, Kyle Korver ran Crawford off a screen to hit a 2 pointer.  Crawford decided he would be the point guard on the next possession and he went down the floor, didn't pass to anyone, and air balled a layup.  Down on the other end, Korver hit another jumper with Crawford on him.  Crawford went down on offense, caught a John Wall pass, and fired up a brick.  After a Wizards play on the other end that led to a fast break, Crawford picked up a technical foul by pushing Korver who fouled him on the open layup.

From now on he is not Jordan Crawford.  He will now be known as Jud Crawford. 

The sad part is that Nick Young isn't too much better, and on top of that Flip doesn't like Young it seems.  Roger Mason gets 0 minutes, so I don't know what the answer is.  I do know that Young would have kept the game closer than Jud.

Despite all the negatives, the Wiz didn't really regress.  They are gonna be outplayed often this year but they put in another solid effort until they gave up.  Flip needs to keep the hard workers in the game, and the players who don't work hard out of the game.  If they do that the team will be respectable.