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Wizards lose to Rockets: Final wrap, where the Wizards play hard, but not smart
by Mike Prada on Mar 10, 2010 5:29 PM EST
in Recaps
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If you were an alien from another planet and you were placed into the Wizards locker room immediately following a game with the task of trying to figure out if they won, all you have to do is look at Andray Blatche's face. When the Wizards win, he's so excited that he's speaking very, very quickly. When they lose, his shoulders are slumped and he's pausing a little bit more, trying to find the right words to criticize himself.
Last night, of course, it was the second Blatche that reporters saw in the locker room. He took full responsibility for his poor play, calling it the worst game he's played in the second half of the year and denying that Houston did anything special to stop him. But there was still one thing about Blatche's game that bugged me: the zero in the "free throw attempts" column. So I had to ask, what's up with that?
"I'm going to stop trying to avoid contact," Blatche declared. "I'm going to start trying to go through guys. I'm getting [called for] the charges anyway, so I might as well try to go through them anyway and finish that way."
I didn't dare ask Blatche why he waited until after the game to declare this. That would have been pointless. And I'm not bringing this up to single out Blatche. I am bringing this up because the Wizards as a team played right into the Rockets' hands in every way. They did exactly what Houston wanted them to do.
On paper, neither the Rockets or Wizards have offensive talent. However, the Rockets understand the core principle of offensive efficiency: the way to get it done is shoot threes and get free throws. The Rockets had 28 three-point attempts and 28 free throw attempts; the Wizards had 12 three-point attempts and 16 free-throw attempts. That means the Wizards were taking -- and missing -- a lot of mid-range jumpers. As any smart team such as the Rockets will tell you, the mid-range shot is the one everyone wants you to take. The Wizards took many of them and missed many of them, which is exactly what Houston wants.
"We were non-physical early," Flip Saunders said. "We were taking all perimeter shots and not attacking the rim, and when we did attack the rim, we did a lot of stuff out of control."
In general, while the Wizards played relatively hard, they were outsmarted. Just think of all the transition buckets Houston got in this game. Their big men -- Luis Scola, Jordan Hill and Chuck Hayes -- should never outrun Blatche and JaVale McGee, but that's exactly what they did. Since Houston doesn't have much half-court scoring capability, this was especially problematic.
"Their bigs outran our bigs," Saunders said, before uttering this zinger directed toward Blatche and JaVale McGee. "We run uphill on defense and downhill on offense. For some reason, our court is tilted."
Or, as Blatche explained it: "I see what they do. Like, say if I crash [the offensive boards], then Hayes [Blatche's man] will just get out and they'll run. Or, say, if JaVale crashes, then Scola [McGee's man] will get out and run. Someway, somehow, it'll always be their two bigs against one of our bigs." When I followed up by asking, "Okay, what do you do then to combat that?" Blatche responded: "If we crash, we definitely have to get the rebound."
Yup. Outsmarted.
Later, I asked Al Thornton what it was like to go up against Shane Battier, one of the premier defenders in the league. Battier's best strength as a defender is making you think he's giving you what you want, when in reality it's exactly what he wants. So it should come as no surprise that Thornton gave this answer:
"Shane's a real good defender and I give him a lot of credit, but I got the shots that I wanted," Thornton said. "They just didn't go in."
Yup. Outsmarted.
Again, this isn't really about effort. Crashing the offensive boards requires effort. Fighting for position against Shane Battier requires effort. Let there be no doubt that the Wizards played hard tonight. I appreciate that as a fan, I really do. However, they don't always play smart, and tonight was the best example of that.
Oh well. That's the next step in the growth of this team.
Four Factors (Bold=very good | Italics=very bad)
| Team | Pace | Off Eff | eFG% | FT/FG | OREB% | TOr |
| Houston | 98 | 98 | 41.9 | 32.6 | 34 | 16.3 |
| Washington |
89 | 44 | 19.3 | 25 | 18.4 |
Snap Reaction: One veteran media member told me this was one of the ugliest games he's ever seen. The stats definitely show that. Fast-paced and erratic.
Lineup Details, via Popcorn Machine
- Highest individual plus/minus: Shaun Livingston (+6 in 20:00)
- Lowest individual plus/minus: JaVale McGee (-15 in 17:06)
- Best five-man unit: Randy Foye/Mike Miller/Al Thornton/Andray Blatche/Fabricio Oberto (+6 in the first quarter)
- Worst five-man unit: Randy Foye/Mike Miller/Al Thornton/Andray Blatche/JaVale McGee (-5 to begin the second half)
Snap Reaction: More on Livingston below the jump.
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Andray Blatche needs to chill out, though I can't blame him for having absolutely no idea what to do at this point in his career.
The guy's been fantastic since the Wizards sent Antawn Jamison to Cleveland, but he also forces shots and really has no idea how to react when a wrench is thrown into the proceedings. It's not that he's being selfish when he makes up his mind before going into a move that he's going to shoot the ball no matter what, it's that he has no idea how to execute anything other than putting up a shot. He's never had to deal with being the focus before.
And with the way that he took it to defensive mastermind Chuck Hayes early on; you couldn't blame the guy for thinking that everything was going to fall. But from what I saw, as the game went on, Blatche kept forcing things, and it turns out that Flip Saunders kept him on the bench for the final four and a half minutes of the Wizards loss.
Not sure I agree with that (you can't find some way to squeeze him in for a play or three, mindful of the fact that he needs to settle down?), but I can understand why.
Briefing: Forget a win, let's just score in triple digits for once
by JakeTheSnake on Mar 10, 2010 9:29 AM EST
in Recaps
5 comments
Game Hub | Box Score | Game Flow
Wizards Struggle To Put Together A Full Game, Again - Joe Glorioso, Wizards Extreme
The first half of this game was like many the Wizards have played this year. The two teams traded buckets, one taking a lead then relinquishing it to the other team. Andray Blatche came out hot in the first quarter and then disappeared until the end of the second quarter. Luis Scola, Orberto’s Argentinian teammate along with Blatche led all scorers with 12 points after two quarters. Mike Miller who has shown signs of life only to quickly turn them off had a strong half in the rebounding department but after putting up 5 shot attempts in the first quarter only managed 4 more the rest of the game.
Wizards fail to reach 90 points for fifth game in a row - Mike Miller, Wizards Insider
Miller looked like he was finally about to assert himself offensively, as he took five shots and scored four points in the first period. But he only took four shots the rest of the game and finished with seven points. Miller has only scored in double figures two times since the all-star break and is averaging just 8.1 points his last 11 games. "Like I said at the beginning of the year, I'm going to pick my spots," Miller said.
Instant Analysis: Rockets-Wizards - Chase Hughes, CSN Washington
After a fairly strong first quarter the Wizards struggled over the next two periods, falling to a deficit that reached 18 points in the third quarter. Sparked by a Shaun Livingston substitution, Washington was able to cut the lead to eight at the end of the third with a 13-1 run. In the fourth, the Wizards continued to fight but in the end could not fully claw their way back. Nick Young pitched in for 11 fourth quarter points but it was to no avail as the Wizards lost 96-88 to drop their fourth straight game.
Young had been in the midst of a major slump since the all-star break, but he surpassed his scoring total from the previous five games combined (15 points). Young made a fadeaway jumper to bring the Wizards to within 94-88 with 48.7 seconds remaining, but the Rockets were never in serious danger of losing the game. "I feel if I don't play well, I got to come out and play with everything," Young said. "Just being myself, trying to get comfortable out there, playing the game I played all my life and playing comfortably. I got my shot going a little earlier and told myself to keep going."
5 comments | 0 recs |
Rockets beat Wizards
by Mike Prada on Mar 9, 2010 9:27 PM EST
in Recaps
7 comments
Good news: Shaun Livingston has hopefully played well enough to take Earl Boykins' backup point guard minutes.
Bad news: Andray Blatche had a bad game. Eighteen points isn't nice when it comes on 22 shots without a free throw.
Otherwise? Meh. About what we all expected.
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Houston Rockets vs. Washington Wizards: Regular Season Game 61 Open Thread
by Mike Prada on Mar 9, 2010 6:53 PM EST
in Game Threads
110 comments
The Essentials:
Rockets (31-31) vs. Wizards (21-39)
7 p.m.
Verizon Center
TV: CSN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
Notable Rockets numbers this season
15th in expected winning percentage (.498)
8th in pace (93.6 possessions per game)
15th in offensive efficiency/offensive rating (106.8 points/100 possessions)
14th in defensive efficiency/defensive rating (106.8 points allowed/100 possessions)
Pre-game links
The Dream Shake, SB Nation's Rockets blog
Red94 blog
Clutch Fans
Jonathan Feigen's blog for the Houston Chronicle
The Dream Shake: The Spring Of Our Discontent
| Tonight's Projected Starters | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rockets | vs. | Wizards |
| Aaron Brooks | PG | Randy Foye |
| Kevin Martin | SG | Mike Miller |
| Shane Battier | SF | Al Thornton |
| Luis Scola | PF | Andray Blatche |
| Chuck Hayes | C |
JaVale McGee |
Flip Saunders has taken some heat from you all about his post-game comments regarding Andray Blatche. Over two-thirds of you felt he was out of line to call out Blatche for his behavior while feuding with Kevin Garnett in the Wizards' loss on Sunday.
Saunders confirmed that he and Blatche had a discussion, to put it mildly. As Saunders said it, "we screamed, talk, and did a lot of everything." Blatche was still arguing that he couldn't let someone talk to him like Garnett did, while Saunders stressed that the best course of action is to not talk back.
"[Garnett] gets more frustrated with guys like Tim Duncan who don't talk back to him," Saunders said. "Guys that talk back to him, he feels like he's getting inside their heads. It motivates him. It gets his juices flowing."
I decided to ask Saunders why he elected to, in my words, "challenge" Blatche when some coaches always defend their own player in similar situations. Here's what Saunders said.
"The bottom line is to win the game," Saunders said. "There might be personal agendas within the game, but the proof in the pudding is that Garnett won. In the last six minutes, Dray didn't score, had three turnovers, went to three different spots offensively, so [Garnett] clearly got to him from that standpoint."
"I'm always going to defend my player," Saunders continued, "but my argument to him was 'You've got to be above those kind of things.' Because here's the thing: the intensity we saw in the last six minutes, and the intensity we saw in the Milwaukee game, that's what you see in the playoffs for all 48 minutes. So to take that next step [as a player], you've got to understand that's how it's going to be all the time. You have to be able to withstand those things.
"It's a mental game," he continued. "You never want to let your opponent know he's getting the best of you. That's just how I think. If that's how you want to be, that's how you want to be."
Saunders also told the story of one of his former players, Darrick Martin. During the Bulls dynasty, Martin apparently talked some trash to Ron Harper in a Timberwolves win in Minnesota. The next time the two teams played, Michael Jordan checked Martin on the first possession and defended him so well that Martin couldn't even advance the ball to halfcourt. Saunders was forced to take Martin out, and Jordan apparently walked by Saunders and told him, "I knew I was going to send [Martin] back to the CBA. I didn't know I could do it in a half." The lesson, according to Saunders, is to not get great players riled up, or something.
Back to Blatche, Saunders closed with this: "I told him that if you're going to be the main guy, you have to be the guy who everyone else is looking to," adding that Boston's main leader, Paul Pierce, always keeps his cool on the court. He said Blatche eventually understood what he was saying after the long talk.
Convincing? I'm not sure, but regardless, I appreciate Saunders explaining himself in great detail.
Some other notes before tipoff:
- I was curious about whether the Wizards were one of 16 teams represented at last weekend's Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, hosted by Rockets GM Daryl Morey. Basically, the conference is a place for people to discuss the growing use of advanced stats and other analytics in sports. (Here's more information). I asked a Wizards source, who told me that, to the best of his knowledge, the Wizards weren't represented. However, one conference attendee, Ryan J. Parker, informed me on Twitter that assistant GM Tommy Sheppard was in attendance. Another conference attendee told me Sheppard was on the attendee list, but that he didn't see him. I really hope Sheppard was there, because the teams that are putting resources into this stuff are the ones winning games. Last year, six of the final eight teams in the playoffs had an analytics department (the Lakers and Hawks were the only ones who didn't). The Blazers apparently sent a large contingent of people there this year. I know that Ernie Grunfeld is not a big stats guy, because he told me himself, which is a shame. Hopefully he either changes his tune or we get someone in here who is into this stuff, because it's a great tool for evaluation.
- If you watched the video Jake posted earlier today, you'd know that James Singleton is big on pranks. I asked him about the video and he said that, yes, Elie Seckbach talked to him, and yes, he's into pranks. Several of us then informed him about some of Gilbert Arenas' pranks, which perked his eyebrows. Intrigued, I asked him what he'd do if Gilbert Arenas pulled some prank on him. He said he wasn't sure, but added that "don't worry, I'll be ready."
- Sam Cassell was the master of the mid-range pull-up jumper when he played, so it should come as no surprise that Cassell was specifically working on Randy Foye's pull-up mid-range jumper in warmups today.
- This probably means nothing, but Alonzo Gee already has a nameplate above his locker. Mike Harris did not. Just throwing it out there.
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NBA Power Rankings: Where March Matters
My power rankings for this week.
1 day ago
Mike Prada
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No real surprise here, but Wiz have signed PG Shaun Livingston to a 2nd 10-day contract.
Michael Lee. The Wizards just sent a press release too.
1 day ago
Mike Prada
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Need something to wear for big games?
by JakeTheSnake on Mar 9, 2010 10:01 AM EST
in Site News
2 comments
No Wizard embodies the spirit of the new roster better than James Singleton. Don't believe me? Let's see how he fits within the team's new identity.
- Young and energetic? Check. (28 still counts as young, right?)
- Facing a contract year? Check.
- Capable of delivering highlight reel plays for a fan base who had grown accustomed to lifeless basketball over the first-half of the season? Check!
- Short on talent, high on effort? Check plus.
In the days following last month's roster-altering trades, Mike began calling Singleton "Big Game James" after coming up with big play after big play to help the Wizards win their first two games after the roster shuffle. Sure, the nickname isn't entirely original, but it captures Singleton, and buzz he has helped bring the team quite well.
To commemorate James Singleton's contributions to the team, we would like to introduce the latest addition to the Bullets Forever store:
You can purchase the shirt here in a variety of blues for $15.99 plus shipping & handling. We promise if you buy a shirt we won't break into your room and leave your mattress in the shower.
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Next 5 Games
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Detroit
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Fri 03/12 | 8:00 PM EST |
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Orlando
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Sat 03/13 | 7:00 PM EST |
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Utah
|
Mon 03/15 | 9:00 PM EDT |
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Denver
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Tue 03/16 | 9:00 PM EDT |
Last 5 Games
|
Houston
|
Tue 03/09 | L 88 - 96 |
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Boston
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Sun 03/07 | L 83 - 86 |
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Milwaukee
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Fri 03/05 | L 74 - 102 |
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Milwaukee
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Wed 03/03 | L 87 - 100 |
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New Jersey
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Sun 02/28 | W 89 - 85 |
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