Before Going To DC…A Pit Stop At The Wiz of Awes!

Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s get right down to it Pippen Peoples and be honest. The season is riding on Game three for the Chicago Bulls on Friday night. It doesn’t matter about what has gone wrong for the first two games. It’s all about this game in front of the Bulls right here and right now. If the Washington Wizards lose this game, we can all pack it up and start arguing if Carmelo Anthony will come to Chicago or not. Before Pippen Ain’t Easy take our analysis and in your face comments about the ins and outs of the series to the Nation’s capital, We had to make a quick pit stop to talk to the Editor of FanSided’s Wiz of Awes, Ben Mehic to get his reaction on the happenings of what happened in Game two and what may happen in Game three.

Pippen Ain’t Easy:

1) Umm yeah, the Washington Wizards are now shopping at the Home Depot looking for brooms these days. How in the world have the Wizards done this?

Ben Mehic- Wiz of Awes:

Well first off, I think the Wizards were underestimated right from the start. Virtually no one besides a few “analysts” picked them to win, and without any nationally televised games during the regular season, the public simply didn’t know the Wizards were actually pretty good. Believe it or not, the Wizards might actually be a better team than the Bulls. John Wall and Bradley Beal make up one of the best backcourts in the NBA, while Nene and Marcin Gortat have been solid all season long. As for the brooms, well, I think it’s too early to go to Home Depot. I’d be  surprised if Washington swept Chicago.

Pippen Ain’t Easy:

2) Randy Wittman has embarrassed Tom Thibodeau on the bench outcoaching him in the fourth quarter. Your thoughts.

Ben Mehic- Wiz of Awes:

I’m surprised, just as much as I am the Wizards are up 2-0 in the series. Listen, people have criticized Randy Wittman as  soon as he got the gig as Washington’s head coach following an interim position, but he has done a solid job in turning the team around. The Wizards have been a top-10 defense ever since Wittman took over and though Chicago’s defense has been well documented, Washington’s has been just as good during the playoffs. Both Wittman and Thibodeau seem like stubborn coaches and I think that’s played a crucial part in the series. Can Jimmy Butler continue to play 1000 minutes per game (53 in Game two), while giving his all on the defensive side of the floor? I guess that’s Thibs being Thibs.

Pippen Ain’t Easy:

3) It looks like the Wizards backcourt decided to join the playoff festivities. Talk about Bradley Beal. That’s a bad boy right there.

Ben Mehic- Wiz of Awes:

Bradley Beal is big time and I’m glad people are finally beginning to realize it. Ron, he’s just 20 years old! He’s hit clutch shot after clutch shot and has become Washington’s go to guy down the stretch. His ability to shoot the three ball is very Ray Allen-esque, but his willingness to crash the boards and get after it defensively has also been impressive. I think we’re finally beginning to see the type of player Beal will become in the future. Needless to say, I’m glad he’ll be ballin in a Wizards uniform.

Pippen Ain’t Easy:

4) What in the world happened to Marcin Gortat? He had a career high of 15 points along with 13 rebounds in Game one. Then his game went to DC early. What gives?

Ben Mehic- Wiz of Awes:

Marcin Gortat has had a few “what is he doing?!” games in the past and I think we saw one of those in Game 2. Don’t get me wrong, Gortat is one of the more consistent bigs in the NBA, but he’s also capable of stinking it up. With that said, he’ll bounce back soon. Gortat was very bad in Game 2, yet Washington still left Chicago with a ‘W’. Pretty telling, right?

Pippen Ain’t Easy:

5) Have the Wizards been looking at the Pippen Ain’t Easy website? I pointed out the issues the Bulls could run into in this series. One thing I said was the Wizards would use Trevor Ariza eventually to slow DJ Augustin. It happened in Game two. Will this become a trend?

Ben Mehic- The Wiz of Awes:

I think it depends on how well DJ Augustin is playing. If he plays like the second coming of Allen Iverson like he did in Game 2, then I have no doubt that Trevor Ariza will get the assignment. Augustin is not the most reliable guy, but he is streaky. If he gets it going early on, then Ariza will most likely defend him for the rest of the contest. It worked out pretty well in Game 2, so why fix it?

I would like to thank Ben Mehic for his continued analysis from a Washington Wizards perspective.  We are both going to continue this collaboration throughout the series. Let’s just hope that Ben is right and the Chicago Bulls are not swept from the playoffs.