Wizards Vs. Blazers Clipboard: JaVale McGee Sets A Backscreen, Frees Nick Young

by Mike Prada on Feb 15, 2012 2:50 PM EST in Clipboard

I'm running through MySynergySports.com video now while working on a post for sometime to demonstrate some of the things Jan Vesely does well, and I came across this play the Wizards ran last night against the Blazers that merits a quick look, mostly because it involves a lot of things the Wizards haven't done offensively all year.

The situation: the Wizards have the ball late in the second quarter up by six points.

As you can see here, the Blazers seem a bit confused, with some players (Jamal Crawford) playing a man-to-man defense and others (Nicolas Batum) looking like they're in a zone. Marcus Camby is somewhere in between, since he's is way behind Jan Vesely as he sets a high ball screen for John Wall. But pay attention to the two players on the baseline: JaVale McGee and Nick Young.

Wall seemingly is coming off looking for his shot, but as that's happening, the Wizards have another play really being run. Young starts running the baseline, and Batum, thinking the Blazers are still in a zone, points to Gerald Wallace to pick up Young.

Wallace tries to pick up Young, but here's where McGee comes in. We get on McGee a ton, and rightfully so, for not setting good screens. On this play, he sets a beautiful back-screen on Wallace to free Young up for a wide-open corner jumper.

This was a pretty critical play for a couple reasons. First, Young had only six points at this time, and this open look certainly helped give him confidence to keep knocking shots down. Second, the Wizards, like many young teams, often close quarters poorly against veteran squads, and they had already seen a double-digit lead cut down to six. This play helped keep the Blazers at bay early on and helped spurred an 8-2 run to close the first half.

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Flip was not a teacher IMO

He wanted to coach a playoff team to a championship.

Witman wants to be an NBA head coach and is teaching his ass off with the help of the new basketball development guy. You bring in a big man coach and the growth of JaVale will be astronomical. You don’t let this kid go via free agency and you don’t trade him.

Redskins @RGIII - 2012

by Copious 1 on Feb 15, 2012 3:33 PM EST reply actions 1 recs

it's amazing how much Flip ignored Wall and Javale having to play well together.

Handful of games under Witman and you can already see a marked improvement in how they are meshing….shame on you Flip

by DCrez on Feb 15, 2012 3:40 PM EST up reply actions

This isn't really fair

I don’t think Flip was the right coach for the team, but he certainly had a major impact on breaking Nick and Javale of their worst habits.

by Elvin_is_my_Elvis on Feb 15, 2012 4:00 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Well that was his job. Unfortunately he didn't do it enough.

by ThePGPhenomenon on Feb 15, 2012 4:05 PM EST up reply actions

He didn't do enough in the earliest stages of their careers for them to be where that should be developmentally.

What you are seeing out of JaVale and Wall now should have been their at the beginning of the season. However, I feel as though the lockout about 40% – 50% of that.

Redskins @RGIII - 2012

by Copious 1 on Feb 15, 2012 4:07 PM EST up reply actions

*they

*there

Redskins @RGIII - 2012

by Copious 1 on Feb 15, 2012 4:13 PM EST up reply actions

Flip was like an Orchestra conductor

Who was great at squeezing extra out of expert players. He was very much like a President/CEO, expecting professionalism and wanting players to come to him.

The Wiz needed more of a HS Music Teacher mentality…teaching people how to effectively use their god-given gifts and proactively giving instruction. There was really no reason to keep Flip around other than $$ as soon as we traded everybody in 2010. It was a disservice to both parties.

I agree that not having the lockout would have been a HUGE help to this team though. As much as I love winning I am now worried that if this play keeps up in any way shape or form, we miss out on our high lottery pick that we so desperately need. Maybe Wall can average 25-10-5 for the rest of the year and D12 will come :P

by Maroon and Black on Feb 15, 2012 4:22 PM EST up reply actions

But if we play that much better, do we really need a high draft pick

Maybe the players might turn out to be better than we thought. It is better to have success then to have no success and sit here and wonder if this team is even capable of every winning no matter who you bring in.

by ThePGPhenomenon on Feb 15, 2012 4:46 PM EST up reply actions

Its true

Would be a nice surprise to finally watch some of our own develop. Luckily for the wiz, I would say that picks 2-7/8 are pretty wide open right now. This is a really deep, really good draft that could very quickly help out even if we end up picking in the middle-lottery.

by Maroon and Black on Feb 15, 2012 4:51 PM EST up reply actions

OKC played well the second half of Durant's second year

They seem to be doing just fine.

by ZonkerBL on Feb 15, 2012 6:36 PM EST up reply actions

FWIW

Lamb would be a better pick outside of the top 5. Would not be upset with him as the pick.

Redskins @RGIII - 2012

by Copious 1 on Feb 15, 2012 4:48 PM EST up reply actions

Lamb has a 7 foot wingpsan. That is crazy long for a guard

by gregjohnson1229 on Feb 15, 2012 9:44 PM EST up reply actions

Nick Young has a 7-foot wingspan....

and a 42.5" vertical…

I used to have super powers until my psychiatrist took them away.

by Rook6980 on Feb 15, 2012 10:08 PM EST up reply actions

Well said

by ThePGPhenomenon on Feb 15, 2012 4:10 PM EST up reply actions

I'm out of the tanking business

Winning is better than an extra ping pong ball, and we don’t need the projects at the top of the draft.

by Unselds on Feb 15, 2012 4:35 PM EST up reply actions

Thanks for the analysis.

Screen shots are great.

by mogoman on Feb 15, 2012 4:01 PM EST reply actions

I can not remember if this was one of them

but I was incredibly impressed with the plays called and the execution coming out of time outs last night. Quick, effeicient and effective.

by WDCCTID on Feb 15, 2012 4:18 PM EST reply actions

Agree completely

Even the Portland announcers who gave us no credit for anything said that we did a really good job at that

by oakhillswag on Feb 15, 2012 4:40 PM EST via mobile up reply actions

Believe this was in the flow of the game but I could be wrong

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by Mike Prada on Feb 15, 2012 4:49 PM EST up reply actions

It was out of time outs and during regular flow

There were quite a few P&Rs with back screens off the ball and baseline screens/movement creating open guys to look for while driving. It was like a real offense or something!

by Maroon and Black on Feb 15, 2012 4:52 PM EST up reply actions

Fine analysis, Mike

Wizards starting to look like a legitimate team, which is all any of us were asking for in the waning days of the Flip administration.

by khrabb on Feb 15, 2012 5:11 PM EST reply actions

What do the Wizards have to do over the rest of the season for Wittman to coach here next year?

Win ~44% of our games? For Wall/McGee/Vesely to continue playing as they have been recently?

I do like how Wittman knows our players, personalities, strengths, weaknesses, who plays well together, etc. And presumably he’s working his ass off, knowing this may be his only head coaching opportunity. We’d have to start over from scratch with a new coach, which might not necessarily be a bad thing, but hinders continuity of development

by Max Zamphirescu on Feb 15, 2012 5:36 PM EST reply actions

I'm not convinced

Wittman has gone on record a number of times saying that he doesn’t want to be an NBA head coach. Plus, I agree he’s done a great job so far and we’re starting to see some good improvement from the players, but I really want a new HC, one who has experience and a reputation for developing players and winning. We’re liking what we’re seeing because its better than the pain we had to watch early in the season, that doesn’t mean we’re any good or the development will sustain.

We need a new HC, and new GM and most importantly, new medical staff, or at least a very, VERY thorough evaluation of whether we can upgrade. Some teams like the Suns have excellent medical guys, I’m sure they’re a big part of why Nash and Hill are still ballin like they’re 25.

I am all for keeping Wittman on as an assistant next year though.

by BballBrit on Feb 15, 2012 5:57 PM EST up reply actions

Yes, its the medical staffs fault

A player like McGee came with 2 things when he joined the team; a family doctor and a mother. If they don’t know he has sports asthma, then how are the Wiz medical doctors supposed to know this?

by hambonejackson on Feb 15, 2012 6:05 PM EST up reply actions

Um.....

Well it was a Head Coach (with presumably NO medical training) that first saw something wrong with JaVale’s breathing…. Flip was the one that sent McGee to be checked out – and they found out he has this athletic asthma.

Seems to me that the trainers should be alert to things like changes in a player’s gait, breathing, energy level, jumping ability, etc…. Seems to me that the Wizards medical staff should be monitoring the players for any physiological changes; and then looking into the causes…

Instead, we have a medical and training staff that allows the players to create their own rehab schedules… to go mis-diagnosed for weeks at a time… and a staff that seemingly has no clue when something is wrong with a player….

I used to have super powers until my psychiatrist took them away.

by Rook6980 on Feb 15, 2012 10:15 PM EST up reply actions

While a head coach with “Experience” would be great….let’s see how this season plays out. If Randy can get them playing .500 ball or better the rest of the way as its close to being now, and we pick up another first rounder, unload the dead weight and add a top tier FA, why not give him a shot unless he “really” doesn’t want to be an NBA Head Coach. He clearly IS an NBA head coach now, so….if he’s doing well, he isn’t going to down a paycheck on a team rising up. Maybe he’ll be our “Randysanity” … alas.

by festivusball on Feb 15, 2012 6:19 PM EST up reply actions

We're much better when JaVale plays like this

Instead of trying to post up down low.

Open looks for Nick outside. Open driving lanes for John inside. Well worth sacrificing JaVale’s low post back-to-the-basket points.

by yop32 on Feb 15, 2012 6:59 PM EST reply actions

Yeah

McGee has to learn to play this way. I don’t consider a post player a must on the offense. Moving is better than watching McGee try to score.He needs to learn that the opportunity to score will be there if he does what he is told to do. He doesn’t have to create it himself, but he still tries anyway and usually with poor results.

by hambonejackson on Feb 15, 2012 7:16 PM EST up reply actions

Here's three points manufactured by Vale

And its little stuff like this that this team has been missing out on by having him as the starting center.

This stuff is why Chuck Hayes can be just as impactful a player as Javale with 1/10 of the hype. And if Javale learns to do it… uh-oh for the NBA.

I'm a Wizards fan. We've been trying to tell you about Lebron for years. Hated the man before it was cool.
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by returnofswagger on Feb 15, 2012 7:46 PM EST via Android app reply actions

I know this

Is of topic, but I wanna know if Jordan Crawford got some love for his play last night. I’ve been at work since last night, pretty much on the train all night. Just watched the game, finally. Wall and Young were obviously phenomenal, but I think Crawfird FINALLY played like I expected him to play at the beginning of the year. Aside from actually hitting his shots, his passing is exceptional. Hopefully he will keep it up.(Though, admittedly, I’m not too confident)

Where do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City "Sailor wanna hump-hump" bar, or is it getaway day and your last shot at his whiskey? Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.

by CJHutch on Feb 15, 2012 8:35 PM EST reply actions

Crawford had a very, very good game...

only overshadowed because Wall and Young were incredible….

Craw shot great last night (55%). Didn’t break the offense… and generally took good shots. His passing was as solid as ever (4 assists)…. and he even offset his 3 turn overs by taking away 3 steals.

The Wizards back court as a whole (and that includes Shelvin Mack) simply dominated last night’s game.

I used to have super powers until my psychiatrist took them away.

by Rook6980 on Feb 15, 2012 10:21 PM EST up reply actions