Wednesday Windmill: The Washington Wizards are evolving into championship contenders

The Washington Wizards currently sit at the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference at 47-31, tied with the 3rd seeded Toronto Raptors. At just 3.5 games back of both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, the Wizards are in the middle of an intense battle for positioning atop the Eastern Conference standings, establishing themselves as a true championship contender.

During the past couple of seasons, the Wizards have flirted with championship contending status, reaching the conference semifinals in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons. With John Wall and Bradley Beal as their one-two punch in the backcourt, the Wizards have rightfully entered the conversation as a true contender in the Eastern Conference.

What's been lacking during the past couple of seasons is merely experience and development. While the Wizards had been playing really good basketball, they have needed more seasoning in order to bloom into a true championship contender. This season, the Wizards have continued to make strides towards their goal of being a championship contender and it has largely been due to the supporting cast that they have put around Wall and Beal.

During the Wizards' rise to prominence, Marcin Gortat has been a rock solid post presence, averaging 10.7 points and 10.5 rebounds per game this season. While not being the flashiest player in the world, Gortat produces consistently and brings his hard hat every night. Without having a strong post presence that demands respect, the offense would not open up for John Wall and Bradley Beal like it has.

During this same stretch of time, Otto Porter, Jr. has slowly but steadily gotten better. After looking like a bust during his rookie season, Porter is now averaging 13.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game on 51.8% shooting from the field, 43.8% shooting from three-point range, and 82.5% shooting from the foul line in his fourth NBA season. The emergence of Porter has been huge since the Wizards really had high hopes for him to become a cornerstone player of their franchise. Porter gives the Wizards a versatile wing that can attack the basket and do damage on the perimeter. He compliments Wall and Beal really well and allows them to be much more effective.Without his progress, the Wizards would not have the upward trajectory that they have.

As far as this season is concerned, the Wizards made a really good trade to bring in Bojan Bogdanovic from the Brooklyn Nets. Bogdanovic has given the Wizards another quality wing to work with, averaging 13.5 points per game during his 22 games with the Wizards on 47.3% shooting from the field, 39.6% shooting from three-point range, and 92.9% shooting from the foul line.

 By putting two quality wings around John Wall and Bradley Beal in addition to the steady of presence of Marcin Gortat, the Wizards truly appear to have a recipe for long-term success. I still think the  Cavaliers or Celtics come out of the Eastern Conference, but the Wizards are right there knocking on the door. They have the talent, the versatility, and the depth to do a lot of damage in the playoffs and give both of those teams a run for their money.


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Wednesday Windmill: The Washington Wizards are catching fire

The Washington Wizards have started to catch fire, winning 9 of their last 11 games, putting them at 25-20 overall, which is good for 5th in the Eastern Conference. The key to the Wizards success is the fact that everybody is healthy and Otto Porter, Jr. is starting to come into his own.

Otto Porter, Jr., in his fourth NBA season out of Georgetown, has really stepped up his game this season, averaging 14.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Porter took a little while to find his groove, being proclaimed a bust after his first NBA season due to his lowly 2.1 points per game average. Being the 3rd overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft placed a lot of expectations on Otto Porter, Jr. and after not living up to those expectations early on, he's starting to live up to them now.

 John Wall (23.1 points and 10.1 assists) and Bradley Beal (21.9 points) form a very dynamic backcourt while Marcin Gortat (11.3 points and 11.4 rebounds) has no trouble holding his own down low. With Otto Porter, Jr. now playing like a future all-star, the Washington Wizards have one of the better starting lineups in the NBA. They can beat you in multiple ways, whether it be inside or out on the wing. Instead of having two guys that can beat you out on the wing, they now have three guys, which makes them a lot tougher to defend.

So long as the Washington Wizards remain healthy, they have the pieces to do some serious damage in the playoffs. The Cleveland Cavaliers are heads and shoulders above the rest of the Eastern Conference, but the Raptors, Celtics, Hawks, and Wizards are all within striking distance of each other, which means that the Wizards are still very much in play for the #2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this Wizards team progresses through the all-star break and where they finish in the standings. If given the right circumstances, this could be a team that wins a series and makes a serious push to the Eastern Conference Finals. They're that talented.

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Bear Territory Tuesday: Don't forget about Stephen Domingo

     Over the last several weeks, much has been said about Jaylen Brown and Ivan Rabb, the two incoming freshmen expected to turn Cal into a national championship contending team. Given that both guys are expected to be top-ten picks in the 2016 NBA Draft, the attention and hype placed on them is understandable.

     But there is one other incoming player of interest that hasn't been talked about, and that is junior small forward Stephen Domingo, a transfer from Georgetown. Part of why he hasn't been talked about has to do with the fact that he transferred to Cal last season but had to sit out due to NCAA transfer rules. So, in a way Cal is getting a new player and in a way they are not. Domingo has been in the program for a year, but he hasn't yet played in a game.

     A big reason why you won't read many articles about him has to do with the fact that he is somewhat of an enigma. He graduated from Saint Ignatius high school in San Francisco a year early and went to Georgetown as a four-star recruit at the age of 17. Prior to playing for the Hoyas, he helped lead Team USA to the 2012 FIBA Under-17 championship along with many future NBA players like Justise Winslow (Heat), Dakari Johnson (Thunder), Jabari Parker (Bucks), Jahlil Okafor (76ers), Stanley Johnson (Pistons), and Tyus Jones (Timberwolves). During the 2012 FIBA Under-17 championships, he averaged 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game, including a 17 point game against Australia and a 16 point game against China.

     For him to even make the FIBA Under-17 USA team shows how highly recruited and hyped he was coming out of high school. There are plenty of fantastic high school players with NBA promise who aren't selected to make that team. With all the hype and expectations, it is fair to ask ourselves why he didn't pan out at Georgetown and whether or not all the hype was for nothing. That is really where the enigma part comes in.

     After having such a fantastic basketball career prior to joining Georgetown, his time at Georgetown was hardly anything to get excited about. During his two years at Georgetown, he played a grand total of 39 games with an average of just 5.1 minutes per game. During those limited minutes, he averaged just .7 points, .3 assists, .1 steals, and .1 blocks. As for his shooting percentages, he shot 40% from the foul line, 11.1% from three-point range, and 27.5% from the field. Those are really bad numbers, but given the limited amount of minutes that he got, it's hard to say if those numbers really indicate that he was simply over hyped.

     During his freshman season, future Wizards small forward Otto Porter, Jr. ate up a lot of the minutes at small forward, which is Domingo's most natural position given his 6'7" 210 lb. body frame. It's not a huge surprise that he didn't get many minutes during his freshman season considering Porter's presence. However, once Porter left for the NBA, Domingo didn't do any better during his sophomore season. He continued to ride the pine and not get a lot of minutes when there was certainly an opening at the small forward position. It was at this point that he decided to transfer to Cal and sit out a season.

     Last season, Domingo worked out and practiced with the Cal basketball team but wasn't allowed to play in any games. In essence, he was a practice player. He got to learn the system, work on his game, and develop his body for a season.

     What's amazing is that he is just 20 years old and he won't turn 21 until May 2016. Despite sitting out for a full season due to transferring, Stephen Domingo is still really young. It is possible that Georgetown simply didn't give him enough time to grow and develop. It is also possible that he simply began playing at the Division 1 level before he was ready.

     But now that he is 20 years old and has spent the last season as a practice player, there is hope that he can have a renaissance at Cal and flower into the player that he was originally expected to become. At the very least, there is hope that he can become an integral part of the 2015-16 team and help them achieve their goals of winning a national championship.

     Now, as far as what type of player he is, he is supposed to be a really good three-point shooter. During his time with Team USA at the FIBA U-17 games, he shot 35.9% from three-point range (5/8 against Australia and 3/5 against Egypt).  Expect Domingo to stretch the floor with his three-point shooting abilities and average anywhere from 7-9 points per game. It's possible he averages more points than that, but given the fact that Jaylen Brown, Ivan Rabb, Jordan Mathews, and Tyrone Wallace will do the bulk of the scoring, I really don't see Domingo averaging in double figures. That doesn't mean he won't be effective, it's just the way things are given Cal's stacked lineup.

     In conclusion, Stephen Domingo is a player who Cal fans should be aware of as we enter the 2015-16 season. He was a four-star recruit who was projected to be playing in the NBA when his career began at Georgetown. While it is true that things didn't go the way he hoped they would during his time with the Hoyas, there is still plenty of hope that with some maturation and seasoning during the past year, he can be a difference maker on the 2015-16 team. I'm excited to see what he brings to the table!

---Ben Parker: follow me on twitter @nba_lord  for NBA news and Cal basketball updates