Game Changer: Willie Green's 16 1st Quarter Points

by Kyle Weidie on Jan 30, 2009 10:54 PM EST in Game blogs

Ok, one new thing I'm going to try and do is a 'Game Changer' for each game. It could be a single play, it could be an extended moment, it could be a run......it could be, like tonight, 16 points from one player in one quarter.

The key to this segment will be screen shots, when possible, and an explanation. Hopefully they won't be as lenghty as tonight's because the Wizards suck way too much for this to be the case every game.

Willie Green scored 16 points in the first quarter.

Here's how it went down:

9:33: Play run for Willie. He starts in right corner....Mike James has a foot in the lane, playing help-side, but turns his head too much (he does is not deep enough allowing him to properly see ball and man). There is too much separation as Green cuts to the other corner. James tries to go over the screen (set on the opposite block), Songaila is not in position to help.....baseline jumper. 2 points.

Uh-oh-mike-jamesjpg_medium

7:03: James shoots, misses, holds his release....while Green sneaks into the backcourt. Butler, the other guard, is who I assume should take the defensive responsibility of getting back on D. He doesn't.....easy layup. 4 points.

5:33: Wiz in their pseudo zone. Sixers have overload with four on the right side. Right side cutter goes through and Songaila misses his assignment on Green all alone on the left wing. Open three. 7 points. COMMUNICATION IS KEY!!

4:16: Green gets a ball screen on the left wing that allows him to drive right. D-Mac is slow to get over and recover. Caron Butler fakes like he will help stop the ball, but quickly jumps back to his man. Why? I don't know...because you gotta stop the ball first. Songaila is thrown off by this and can't step up to help in time. Green tough finger-roll runner. 9 points.

2:38: Nice play by Philly.....Green sets two off ball screens as a decoy, but pops open on the left elbow when McGuire allows too much separation (he and Songaila got tangled). Open jumper. 11 points.

2:12: Sixers in transition. Dominic McGuire gets caught in terrible position, trying to help in places where no help is needed. His man, Green, is open for three on the left wing. Miller finds him. 14 points. You cannot lose track of shooters in transition.

Too-much-space-mcguire_medium

1:44: In transition again...Igoudala picks up the ball on the left wing. Green goes over Iggy and Caron Butler does too, but inexplicably stops and leaves Green open. I guess Butler expected someone else in the zone to pick up....but the Sixers are in transition, Caron probably needs to stay with the hot man. Green open, easy pass for Iggy...jumper. 16 points.

And that's how it happened.

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Comments

Fantastic

I love the first graphic.

The Wizards just don’t make any sense.

Krem's Sports Blog

by Matt K. on Jan 30, 2009 11:53 PM EST reply actions

I like the breakdowns!

They make my inner basketball-geek happy . . .

On the first screenshot, “uh oh” is right. Where you froze it, James is pretty much screwed. His only possible hope is for Songaila to see it and step out on Green, with James picking up Songaila’s man in the post. Sure, that leads to a pair of bad matchups, but you’d rather see that (with the possibility of help) than the wide open shot. But for that to happen, the Wizards would have to actually communicate on defense, and apparently Haywood was the only one capable of doing that (per Jamison’s comments from earlier this season).

On the second one, I don’t know what happened immediately before the screenshot (and I am too lazy to run it down, especially for a team playing under .200 ball), but it looks like McGuire might have been helping out on the post man to defend against the lob over the top, which would be consistent with the Wizard’s “defend the middle at all cost” philosophy. So maybe McGuire was in a pick your poison situation—help out on the post man and hope to recover in time, or let the Sixers get an easy layup. He chose door 1, and couldn’t make the recovery back to his man.

by Bucky Katt on Jan 31, 2009 12:33 AM EST reply actions

You know, I thought the same thing....but

One, I’m thinking that D-Mac would better play the cross court passing lane since Songaila had the correct position on his man, and D-Song was seeing ball and cutter.

But…still, Jamison is so close to the trailer, McGuire could stand to bump up higher in the key.

In any case, know the pre-game scouting report, and the in-game scouting report……Willie Green was smokin’ Mr. Nice Guy.

Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It Dot Net

by Kyle Weidie on Jan 31, 2009 3:26 AM EST up reply actions

Nice Breakdown

Nice breakdown and freeze frames. As a Sixer fan, we are not accustomed to seeing Willie Green being praised for doing anything well. Seriously, the guy generally takes up space and chucks up shots at an alarming rate. He did have a solid first quarter last night but then disappeared for the remainder of the game.

I do think his first quarter performance was crucial to the game’s outcome, but I think Andre Iguodala’s fourth-quarter performance might be more of a game changer. After Green’s outburst, the Wizards were able to rally and even take the lead for a short period of time. IT wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Iggy was able to put the game away.

Chris Iafolla http://heardinthecheapseats.com/

by Chris Iafolla on Jan 31, 2009 10:21 AM EST reply actions