The Good, Bad and Ugly from Washington Wizards Early Season: With the Washington Wizards sitting at 2-1 on the young season, its been somewhat of a mixed bag in terms of the teams production at both ends of the floor. Electric point guard John Wall has come out of the gates on fire, commanding the offense and leading a group thats shooting better than 50 percent from the floor. Washingtons offense is explosive, and Wall is the catalyst. Despite its offensive prowess, the team is far from a finished product on the defensive end. With injuries and free agency decimating the perimeter, a team that finished in the top 10 last year in opponents points per game has plummeted to 21st this season. Its a process, and the team needs to make strides on both sides of the ball as the season unfolds if they want to make a run in the Eastern Conference. Health and defensive focus will go a long way in correcting some of these issues, as the Wizards certainly have the talent and experience to do so. Lets take a look at the good, bad and ugly of the Wizards young season. The Good: Walls Exploits and an Efficient Offense Through three games, Wall is playing some of the best basketball of his young career. Im basically the head of the snake on offensive and defensive ends, Wall said, via the Washington Post, and hes been deadly thus far. Hes also been an infusion of energy and swagger. Just ask Jerryd Bayless. After posting a player efficiency rating of 19.5 last season, hes brought that number up to a personal best of 25.8 this year, thanks in large part to increased production in a variety of statistical categories. His true shooting percentage of 56.3 is also a personal best, which has led to an impressive scoring average of 21.7 points a night. He leads the league in assists, tallying a career-high of 11 per game. His ability to control the game and distribute the ball has been crucial while his backcourt-mate Bradley Beal recovers from wrist surgery. Walls control of the offense has led to good shots for his teammates, as the Wizards currently have the second-highest shooting percentage in the league (50.4 percent). In addition, they are seventh-best beyond the arc, shooting 37.8 percent. Those numbers are impressive considering the absence of Beal and the loss of three-point specialist Trevor Ariza in free agency. Guys like Garrett Temple, Otto Porter and savvy veteran Paul Pierce have all stepped in admirably, each shooting better than 40 percent from three-point range. The Bad: Inconsistent Defense On the flipside, its been the Wizards inability to defend, particularly behind the three-point line, that has been a cause for concern in the early part of this season. For a team that shoots the three so well, they are equally inept at defending it. Washington is ranked 23rd in opponent three-point percentage (36.9) after getting torched by the likes of Chris Bosh, Norris Cole, Evan Fournier and Brandon Knight during its first three games. Perhaps this is where the absence of Beal and Ariza is truly magnified. Last season the Wizards ranked sixth in the league at defending the three, as Beal was a sound, physical defender on the perimeter and Ariza has the ability and length to lock up opponents. Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post talked about the defensive woes from the 107-95 opening-night loss to the Miami Heat: The source of their struggles, they concluded, was an inability to prevent penetration and a lack of physicality that resulted in losing out on loose balls and on the boards. The struggles didn’t allow for many points generated off of their defense and collided directly with the identity Washington is attempting to reestablish, that of a hard-nosed, defense-first unit. Overall, the team ranks 21st in opponent points per game and 22nd in opponent field-goal percentage. Those ranks are far too low for a team looking to challenge the Chicago Bulls and Cleveland Cavaliers in the East. The Ugly: Rebounding For a team that starts Marcin Gortat and Nene, its surprising to see the Wizards as one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA. After three games, they are ranked 29th on the boards, which could be a huge detriment come playoff time. Its not just a matter of opportunities, either. The Wizards rank in the bottom third of the league in total rebounding percentage and opponent differential. Cleveland and Chicago—the two teams widely projected to be best in the East—have excellent big men who can rebound, despite their pedestrian team totals in the first week of the season (they rank 15th and 16th, respectively). Chicagos trio of Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson all hound the glass. The Bulls traditionally have one of the best defensive units in the league as well, leading to plenty of rebounding opportunities that they usually capitalize on. This years iteration of the Cavaliers have Kevin Love, one of the best rebounders in the entire NBA. He averages 12.2 boards a night for his career and has bumped that up to 15 in two games so far with Cleveland. Tristan Thompson pulled down 12 offensive rebounds against Chicago last Friday, and Anderson Varejao isnt afraid to mix it up under the boards, either. Its hard to really rail on Gortat, as hes played pretty well in the early going this season. His 19 points and nine rebound averages have gone a long way towards justifying the five-year, $60 million contract he signed over the summer. Its the supporting cast that needs to pick up the slack. Nene has never been a tremendous rebounder throughout his 13 NBA seasons. Despite being a bull in the post and standing at 611, he only averages 6.8 rebounds a game for his career. Hes averaging just five in his two games this season. Drew Gooden and Pierce are each averaging 4.3 boards a night. After three games, Wall has the second-most total rebounds on the team with 14, which is a recipe for disaster. There needs to be an emphasis on crashing the glass, running opponents off the three-point line and forcing tough shots. All these issues are connected. If the team can get healthy and improve their total defense, the rebounding numbers are likely to go up. More missed shots equals more rebounding opportunities. If the defense can catch up to this offense—look out. Advanced stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference. Team stats courtesy of ESPN. Follow Stephen on Twitter: @S_Albertini Read more NBA news on BleacherReport #NBA #NBASoutheast #WashingtonWizards #Opinion #fantasybasketball
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 04:39:06 +0000
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