Wizards beat Mavericks in regular-season opener: Final wrap
by Mike Prada on Oct 29, 2009 2:11 AM EDT
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PrintIt's late, and there's already been so much written about last night's win that there isn't a whole lot to add. I have nobody to blame but myself for the tardiness. NBA League Pass is pretty damn addicting, what can I say?
So this extended recap isn't going to be so extended or deep. Fair warning:
Four Factors: (italics=very bad. bold=very good)
| Team | Pace | Off Eff | eFG% | FT/FG | OREB% | ToR |
| Washington | 90 | 113.3 | 48.8 | 23.8 | 22.5 | 10 |
| Dallas | 101.1 | 42.1 | 35.5 | 22.9 | 10 |
Lineup details, via Popcorn Machine:
- Highest individual plus/minus, total: Randy Foye (+16 in 30:18)
- Highest individual plus/minus, rate: Fabricio Oberto (+15 in 17:24
- Lowest individual plus/minus, total: DeShawn Stevenson (-1 in 17:54)
- Lowest individual plus/minus, rate: Dominic McGuire (-6 in 2:24)
- Best lineup (one stretch): Gilbert Arenas, Randy Foye, Mike Miller, Andray Blatche, Brendan Haywood (+8 for a stretch in the second quarter)
- Worst lineup (one stretch): Gilbert Arenas, DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler, Andray Blatche, Brendan Haywood (-5 to close the third quarter)
The one thing that struck me about Tuesday's performance was how much we actually resembled a professional team.
I'm sure that's going to ruffle some feathers, particularly those who are fans of Eddie Jordan. I don't come here to suggest that Jordan is not a good coach. Far from it.
But what always struck me about watching an Eddie Jordan-coached team was how the players would alternate between overly robotic and overly free-flowing play. Either they used none of their brains, which happened when they'd take quick contested jumpers and miss a defensive rotation, or they thought too much, mostly when they ran the same three-man weave into the same cut, with the same players settling for the same shots too often. I didn't see enough moments where they achieved that happy medium of playing instinctively while also playing smart. To be frank, they were too inconsistent.
While some of that is our personnel, a lot of that was Eddie Jordan's style. One game in, and I'm starting to see where Gilbert Arenas was coming from when he dubbed Jordan's style as being suitable only for very experienced teams. Jordan's entire offense was reactive rather than proactive. He jammed a zillion different reads and counters into his players' heads, hoping to prepare them for every situation. Jordan also threw out several different defensive "plays" of sorts, also in an attempt to confuse the defense. This meant that Jordan and the Wizards were impossible to plan for, but also were not well-prepared, if that makes any sense. Many of the Wizards tried to pick it all up, but ultimately played too antsy to make a consistent impact.
Flip Saunders' gameplan, on the other hand, is far simpler, and I think it showed tonight. The Wizards came down every possession and ran their offense. If it resulted in an open shot, great. They ran the play and got the shot off it. If that didn't work, the players all knew that the ball was to go one of three places -- Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, or whoever possessed the hot hand. Simple, simple simple. And on defense, the rules were consistent -- contest shots, let Dirk Nowitzki get his, shut down everyone else, deny dribble penetration and seal off the weakside rebounding. No zone defense, no zone traps, no matchup zone, even. Just one philosophy that the players needed to execute.
The Wizards didn't execute Saunders' gameplan perfectly. Too many possessions ended with Butler forcing things. On defense, there were a number of blowbys, particularly from Jason Terry and JJ Barea. But there were also no major defensive breakdowns with guys in the wrong place, at least not the type that seemingly happened every other possession in the past. There were also very few offensive possessions wasted by an unnecessarily quick shot. Finally, nobody was pump-faking, dribbling aimlessly or making passes without a purpose. When a guy was open, he shot in rhythm and without dribbling much.
This is where Flip Saunders has made a dent on this team. Against Dallas, the Wizards did everything efficiently. Every dribble. Every pass. Every defensive slide. Every defensive rotation. Every contest. Every open shot. Things might not have always worked out, but there were very few wasted moments. That's what I mean when I say they resembled a real professional team.
Other quick thoughts:
- Score one for the Gilbert Arenas/Randy Foye backcourt. The Wizards outscored the Mavericks by 14 points when the two of them played together.
- I thought Flip Saunders displayed some masterful psychology in the post-game press conference when he went out of his way to say Caron Butler was "Mr. Steady." This was not a particularly strong game for Butler. He shot just 6/17 and he allowed Shawn Marion to have a solid game against him, a game that, if Dallas gave Marion more touches, would have been better. More importantly, he didn't play in crunch time when the Wizards really extended their lead, which I'm sure wasn't exactly what Butler had in mind (or anyone else). Butler certainly didn't play like a "Mr. Steady" tonight. But Saunders knows it's a long season, and he has to keep one of his stars in good spirits. By praising him, Saunders is indirectly saying, "Yes, I went away from you in crunch time, but it wasn't because of anything you did wrong. It was because the combination we had out there was playing great. I didn't bench you because you made any mistakes." That's great management by Saunders. It eliminates any possibility of Butler getting annoyed for not playing in crunch time, because his contributions were recognized, and it allows Saunders the luxury of not playing the starting five if they aren't the most effective lineup.
- The one guy who didn't play particularly well was DeShawn Stevenson. The offense died when he was out there, and while he tried on defense, I counted him being beat by Terry at least four times in the second quarter. I think he'll probably end up being a utility guy that's useful only against certain teams. Atlanta, with Joe Johnson, is one of those teams, so Stevenson could very well play much better tomorrow.
- I thought Oberto played pretty poorly until the fourth quarter. Then, he played great.
- Brendan Haywood turned in 39 minutes of solid basketball, clogging up the middle, displaying offense when needed and playing great help defense. The most significant number, though, is the 39 minutes. Saunders believes in Haywood, and that's very, very refreshing.
- For all the great things Andray Blatche did, I was most impressed with how quickly he moved his feet to cover for guards on pick and roll defense. He consistently was able to slow down the ballhandler and then recover quickly back to his own man.
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If you think Stevenson is going to be used as a utility guy
does that mean minutes for Young?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laydODN6xVk
Well .. part of looking more "professional"
Is probably due to the players acting, responding, and listening in a more professional manner under Saunders.
Also … the Princeton offense more so operates by taking what the defense gives you …. I see what you are saying in the differences between it and Flip’s.
However, I think it’s stretching it a bit to paint the Princeton as “totally reactionary” to the defense. A lot of the Princeton seems to set the defense up with movement, and then reacting to what’s made available resulting from that movement.
But yes, still very complicated for a not so veteran team.
Representing DC with Wizards & Stuff - Truth About It.net and Bullets Forever.
Yeah, I agree a lot of it has to do with responding to Flip
They probably heard EJ’s voice for too long to respond to it best.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
Something else to bring up as a difference in the Offensive systems
DEFENSE.
When running the Princeton, we frequently saw teams break out (run the fast break) on the Wizards because the players were out of position on Offense – and/or the players didn’t know their defensive responsibilities after they made their umteenth cut, weave or movement.
In Flip’s system, when run properly (like against the Mavs), the Offensive player not only knows where he’s supposed to cut, when he’s supposed to set a screen, and where he’s supposed to be – but also what his defensive assignment is once the play is over. We only saw a few break outs from Dallas last night – only 11 fast break points from a good running Mav’s team. The Wizards had proper spacing (I now know what that means); and no one was caught out of position on OFFENSE – and that leads to good transition defense.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
by Rook6980 on Oct 29, 2009 9:40 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Rebounding
We did a fantastic job on the glass. Especially our perimeter players— over half of our rebounds came from the perimeter. Instead of running out to try to get easy fast break buckets, our perimeter guys were crashing the boards. Eight boards each from Miller and Caron. And five from DeShawn in only 18 minutes— that’s a rate of 10 per 36 minutes! I had no idea that DeShawn had that in him. If we can continue to win the rebounding battle, we are going to win a lot of games.
Surprise
In the NBA, good teams win at home. Even bad teams win about half of their home games. It’s hard for a visiting team to win on the road. Given that, there were only a couple of real surprises during the first two days of the season: Celtics over Cavs in Cleveland and Wiz over Mavs in Dallas. Maybe we’re better than anyone gives us credit for. (And almost as delectable, maybe the Cavs are worse than anyone thinks.)
Don's sleep on the Cavs yet....
They’ve still got LeBron – and all the “entitlements” that entails.
They’ll be fighting with Boston (if the Celts can stay healthy – which I doubt) and Orlando for the best record in the East.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
True;
Their defense against high screen-and-rolls was atrocious.
When James and Shaq were both in the game, LeBron managed only two attacks on the hoop — getting fouled, and then shooting too late to avoid a shot-clock violation.
Whenever LeBron was on the bench, the offense was stagnant and produced mostly hasty perimeter jumpers. Even when James was on the court, the offense had no discernable rhythm.
James often reverted to his unfortunate habit of massaging the ball before making a move. He did this eight times and his stop-actions produced only five points.
Even though LeBron shot a goodly percentage from long-range, his misses were bad ones — including a bricked trey in the clutch.
Shaq is a much better player than Ben Wallace
But Ben Wallace is a better power forward than Shaq. Ben Wallace played a lot of his minutes at the 4 last year. Even when he was nominally the 5 (with Varejao at the 4), he spent a lot of time defending the opponent’s PF. Shaq can’t fill that role effectively. Worse, when he gets minutes at the 5, he takes minutes at that position away from Ilgauskas and Varejao. Z can only play the 5, and Varejao is probably better at the 5 than the 4. Clear case of subtraction by addition. The Cavs are going to struggle until they figure out how to juggle Shaq and Z’s minutes at the 5 and until Leon Powe comes back from injury to play the backup PF. They’re going to look ugly for a while and their regular season record is going to suffer, but they’re definitely a very dangerous team for the playoffs.
I agree with all of that and hasten to add
That they play so slow they make the Slowsky’s look like Usain Bolt. Many of Cleveland’s wins will be somewhere between 72-70 and 82-75 because they can still defend (and get away with fouling). They won’t win the East this year and they won’t be the number one seed.
"Would you like to shoot me now or wait till you get home." --- Daffy Duck
by George Templeton on Oct 29, 2009 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Hmm....
The Cavs are going to struggle until they figure out how to juggle Shaq and Z’s minutes at the 5 and until Leon Powe comes back from injury to play the backup PF.
Good luck of that happening under Coach Kiss-ass.
watching that game
was great. their roster is just not very good. NO ONE other than lebrawn is really a dynamic player. they need a 1b option desperately. and it ain’t shaq.
"a crab dribble is when you travel" - caron butler
by little stevie colter on Oct 29, 2009 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions
I think you're right on about Flip and Caron
Caron was, if anything, a bit weak on D relative to the rest of the team.
In the past
..the Wizards would beat a great team on the road and then lose an easy one at home. For some reason, I sense that this team will be more focused and disciplined. I guess the third game against NJ will test this theory.
"Saunders believes in Haywood, and that's very, very refreshing"
Indeed. Haywood simply changes the way the other teams play; I’ve been saying it for four years. Eddie never, ever caught on. I continue to believe it was personal, and Eddie was to blame for that, IMO.
I liked Eddie a lot as a man. As a coach, not so much.
In support of the Wiz and Halloween
I plan to dress up as G-Man for both Friday and Satuday’s game.
Depending on how they do I might even rock G-Man to the Ravens’ game on Sunday.
shine like bald head, smoke trees call me log head
Contradiction?
Nice analysis Mike.
Isn’t it ironic that the Princeton offense, which Gilbert claims is better suited to veteran teams, earned its notoriety by being used in college? I mean, not only are the players in college not professional but they can only play in the system for 4 years at most!
Something doesn’t jive. Anyone have any ideas for why there is this contradiction?
It's a different game in college
You have 11 more seconds on the shot clock to set teams up, get a read, then counter it. In the pros, you don’t have that kind of time every possession. It’s much more of an instinct game.
You know you'll get devoured by Cheaney, Wallace, and Juwan Howard.
And to further that point – when the Princeton was developed, there was no shot clock in College Basketball.
Pete Carril developed the Offense while coaching at Princeton in the Late 60’s….
The NCAA instituted the 45-second shot clock in men’s basketball in 1986.
The original Princeton Offense is not well suited to the NBA – because it is a very slow developing one, relying on a high number of passes to maintain a low-scoring game. It requires all 5 players on the floor to be good at ball handling, passing, and shooting; especially 3-point shooting. In the original Princeton, the team could just continually run the cuts, back-doors, and motions until they got a good shot – regardless of how long it took.
Eddie Jordan’s variance of the Princeton has been cut back to quicken the pace for the NBA, but it’s still a slow developing Offensive system; and it requires all 5 players to be able to cut, pass, handle and shoot. The quicker pace of Jordan’s variant requires split-second decisions by the players – with movement dependent on defensive positioning.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
Notes from the game
- I disagree on Brendan Haywood, I thought he looked terrible on offense. He forced a lot of terrible hookshots when he should have been passing out for the open 3. One shot resulted in an airball which Blatche saved with a putback, turning a lowlight into a highlight.
- Deshawn Stevenson needs to shave that disgusting growth on the back of his head. Maybe then he’ll start playing like a real man.
- Randy Foye is starter material and the other players need to man-up and recognize this when they get benched (young, stevenson, butler)
- No one mentioned that we won on the road WITHOUT Jamsion, our second best player.
by JaVale McGiggity Giggity on Oct 29, 2009 12:14 PM EDT reply actions
I hate to bring this up -
But I wonder if the improved-looking defense had anything to do with the fact that Oberto and Blatche are better defenders than Jamison.
"a crab dribble is when you travel" - caron butler
by little stevie colter on Oct 29, 2009 1:14 PM EDT reply actions
Yes - 34 points, BUT - they made him work - and contested shots.
or earn it at the free throw line. Not to mention the pick and roll defensive movement looked good. I’m not drawing conclusions, but I want to see Jamison at least work as hard as Blatche and Oberto did when he gets back.
"a crab dribble is when you travel" - caron butler
by little stevie colter on Oct 29, 2009 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions
I agree with this.
Dirk got his points, but had to take a lot of shots to get them. Not an efficient game for him. That’s reflected in Dallas’ low shooting percentage as a team.
I Think
The improved defense had a lot more to do with Flip’s matchup zone and his coaching than any one individual player. I keep harping on this, because I think it is a valid point that many fans keep forgetting – it’s the system, stupid. Rashard Lewis used to be considered a mediocre to poor defender, but last year he was part of the #1 defense in the NBA. If Rashard can contribute to a good defense, I don’t see why Antawn can’t.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
I agree with your overall point 100%
However, we haven’t seen Flip’s match up zone yet…
We saw a few plays in Preseason games…. but I don’t think he’s fully instituted his zone… and we didn’t see any of it in the Dallas game.
He HAS simplified the defensive assignments; and we no longer see 5 guys in the paint.
Admittedly small sample size, but the Wizards have held opponents to 36% shooting from beyond the arc in Preseason, and held Dallas (a good shooting team) to 22% in their first regular season game. We’ve seen some breakdowns, and some individual players have been beaten – but we have not seen the “drive-kick-wide open 3” OR “drive-kick-pass-wide open 3” that was so prevalent last year. Because they’re not collapsing in the paint, the players can get out to shooters at the arc – resulting in fewer threes taken, and more contested shots.
Now if they could just get Caron to stop gambling for steals; and Gil to stay in front of his man……….
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
Sorry About the Inaccuracy
Whatever scheme Flip has gone to is working. Every defender looks better, including guys who didn’t look good on defense for the past several seasons. I think the same scheme will make Antawn look better defensively too.
"It's OK for the Bullets to trade baskets, as long as they can score on their end." -- Words of wisdom from Phil Chenier
Funny thing is – without having watched Flip’s Match-Up zone DVD – I probably wouldn’t be able to recognize it from a switching man-to-man defense either ….
His zone uses man principles – switching on cutters – and tries to force the ball to the top of the key or to the corners. (not the wings).
I’m gonna have a series soon (once I’ve finished studying that DVD more closely) that explains Flip’s match-up zone; with diagrams and hopefully live action plays (if they ever actually show the zone it in a game situation).
I do know that Flip’s basic philosophy on defense is to:
Never leave the dribbler
Deny all dribble penetration and passing into the paint
Switch on all cutters
Contest every perimeter shot
Give up no second shots
Give up no lay-ups
Encourage the ball to the corners and the top of the key (not the wings)
Don’t deny non-penetrating passes… (ie: don’t go for steals when the opponent is just passing the ball around)
Notice that nowhere in his philosophy does it say to “protect the paint” or that 5 players should collapse into the paint on penetration.
It’s my observation that Flip relies less on ‘gimics’ , specialty defensive schemes, and ‘help’ defense – and more on fundamental, stay-in-front-of-your-man contest shots defense; and that instead of 5 players “protecting the rim”, 5 players responsible for their own area or man – and the Center has the ultimate (final – “last man”) responsibility for protecting the rim.
Also, just as the “Hawk” sets are not the only Offensive plays in Flip’s playbook – the match-up zone is not his only defensive system….. His teams (Detroit and Minny) played substantially a switching man-to-man defense – with the match-up zone thrown in occasionally. Opposing teams had a hard time determining whether they were in zone or man-to-man.
Bullets Forever - where "Dagger ! " happens......
by Rook6980 on Oct 30, 2009 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Haywood and Blatche played amazing
Miller Foye Oberto are + all around
Arenas played amazing especially with Foye and Miller
Defense strong
Offense strong
…
For the people complaining about our team, do you really like how our team looked last year? Sheesh
Anyway I truly believe we can win the east, truly. Atleast we will be very, extremely competitive..
Let the array of awesome games begin!
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