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November
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Muresan Returns, But The Winning Ways Don't
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What's A Muresan Worth?That's an interesting question, wouldn't you say? I don't expect to completely answer it, but it is worth bearing some further examination.
When the Bullets began the season without Gheorghe Muresan and the Bullets struggled, the obvious answer for the Bullets offensive woes was that the Bullets were missing a true center to begin their offense. With Muresan in the middle, teams would have to respect his post presence and the Bullets would get the open outside shots.
Recent games, and the latter half of last year, show that to be a fallacy (for the most part). Yes, Gheorghe generally demands a double team. But it's not resulting in better offensive flow. Also, teams are not sending a double-team to Webber or Howard UNTIL Webber or Howard commit themselves to a dribble into the lane. Then the double-team comes--HARD!
Part of the reason for the offensive woes is not the post play, but the lack of outside shooting. I'm leaving that issue for next time. But I don't think Muresan is going to solve the Bullets offensive problems. He helps, but the system is still flawed. Help here resides with getting better looks for Murray, Whitney, and Jackson.
So, what does Gheorghe bring? Help defense. It's great to watch Gheorghe shut down a lane just with his presence. Players have a hard time figuring out how to shoot over a 7'7" player. If they hesitate, they wind up taking off balance or awkward shots. It also allows the other parts of the help defense, in particular Webber and Grant, to rotate and block double-clutched shots.
A perfect example was the Celtics game. Dino Radja was abusing Webber in the post. Webber could not get the defensive position to keep Radja away from the basket (possibly another future column). In comes Muresan. Radja should have the speed to get around Big Gheorghe, but Radja never figures it out. Instead, Rajda settles for jumpers over Gheorghe that don't even come close.
In this game, Muresan also clogged the middle. With Muresan, he has now learned to not reach for every shot. He's wide and tall enough to make other players go around him, forcing that extra step, dribble or awkward release that allows help to arrive. Muresan just changes shots.
So, where I really expect Gheorghe to help is on the defensive end. Yes, he will occasionally get into foul trouble. But if the Bullets can force opponents to execute out of half court sets, then watch the correlation between Gheorghe's playing time and opponent's shooting percentages. It's not a fluke.
What's That Song?
Have you been to a Bullets game this year? You know that driving percussion/bass/guitar riff that the Bullets use after introducing the visitors but before introducing the Bullets? Well, for a while there, I couldn't figure out the song that it was taken from. But now I know.
The song is called "Enough," and it's by Gravity Kills. However, don't go out and get the rest of the song--it sucks. I love a hard rocking song, and this riff I really like, but the rest of the song bites. I like that style of music, among others, but this one ain't worth it.
What's That Noise The Fans Are Making?
It's not obscene, but it was definitely a new sound. It was the fans booing the Bullets during the first half of the game against the Pistons last Tuesday. And Juwan Howard wasn't too thrilled with the treatment after the game.
To make things even more absurd, do you know what the highlight of the evening was? At halftime, the Bullets announced (like they do at every home game so far this year) that if the Bullets scored 120 points, everybody in attendance would get free food at a local burger chain. The laughter was a great way to break the tension of scoring so few points. Was it justified? Well, when a team scores 15 points in each of the first two quarters, for a total of 30 points, you might think so. But this seems a little different. The Bullets could have (and did) play this bad, and there wouldn't be enough fans in the seats who cared enough to boo. The Bullets were expected to be bad, and sometimes they lived up to that expectation.
- "I felt it [the booing] was unfair. The fans have freedom of speech and sure enough, they expressed it. I tune it out. It doesn't bother me at all. I'm going to stay strong. ... But if you're booing, you're not a real fan. ... This is supposed to be our back yard."
- "First amendment. Bill of Rights. That's what our ancestors fought and died for. But the real fans don't boo you. They support you."
But a booing fan isn't a bandwagon fan. It shows the fans actually care. Funny as it seems, times have changed. This team is expected to win. They're expected to make the playoffs and possibly advance in the playoffs. These expectations mean that the fans are a little more edgy when they see their hopes for a successful season looking like yet another pipe dream.
Does this give the fans the right to boo? Well, I don't think it really comes down the First Amendment for the right to boo and jeer, as Juwan says, but fans will do it. Especially when the expectation is that the Bullets would be more competitive. Fans will boo to vent their displeasure, much as Juwan will vent his displeasure at the referees when they are really screwing things up. We just don't quite use the same colorful language.
So, us fans will have to get used to the team struggling a bit more recently. Defense is up in the league, so awful offensive outputs are bound to happen. However, the natives are restless--their patience for losing times is wearing thin. Mine included. But at least the fans are paying attention and showing they care. That, IMO, is a real fan. Venting displeasure at the absurdly bad (as in the first half of the Detroit game), cheering like mad in a comeback (like the 4th quarter of the Boston game).
What's Up With The Public Domain Stats Issue?
Just another quick update, if you will indulge me. I first raised your awareness in my previous column about some threatened changes in the way stats and other database-type records may be made available to the rest of us. The Ad Hoc Copyright Coalition has released a white paper that warns that the pending international copyright treaty, which has similar legislation winding through the U.S. Congress, could stunt the growth of the Internet.
The paper is titled "Intellectual Property Protection in Cyberspace: A View From the Ad Hoc Copyright Coalition." These people aren't cyberlibertarians, calling for the freedom of all information, but they take a solid, balanced stance on the issue. Please, continue to educate yourself on the issue, and if you care strongly about it (like I do), make your viewpoint known to people who can influence it's course.
wtf 20 November 1996
