FanPost

Defense? It begins in the middle.

Antawn Jamison talking about the Wizard's defense in the Golden State game:

"The coaches come in and preach it to us and we work on it every day," said Jamison, who contributed to the problem Monday by allowing Warriors guard Corey Maggette to drive by him for three first-half scores. "That's the toughest thing: We know what we're supposed to do. It's drilled in to you. Randy says we have to have someone in the lane helping out and make sure that if someone does get into that gap, we're there. And then, the lane is still open"

 

 

Watching parts of the 2nd & 3rd Quarter will explain a lot about the lack of interior  AND perimeter defense.

For the first 5 minutes of the 2nd Quarter, the team on the floor consisted of
Crittenton and Nick Young at the Guards, McGuire and Jamison at Forward and Darius Songaila at Center.

Everyone here knows that Jamison is not a very good defender, especially against quicker opponents. Everyone in the LEAGUE knows it. Golden State certainly did, because as soon as Blatche left , Corey Maggette started driving right past Jamison to the hole.

 

Four times, Maggette drove by Jamison, resulting in 3 layups and a kick-out assist. Both Crawford and Jackson also started driving the lane - with Crawford picking up a nice assist and Jackson with a dunk.

At the 7:17 mark, McGee replaces Songaila.

Ronnie Turiaf makes a nice Driving Layup Shot on an assist from Crawford, but on the next two possessions, McGee is in the middle altering shots. On the next possession he gets a goaltending call. (Man, he really got up in the air)

Guess what - the next 5 shots by GS are jumpers.

Turiaf makes a Driving Layup Shot - then McGee makes a driving Dunk shot right back.

GS substitutes Biedrins for Turiaf and McGee is taken out for Blatche with 3:47 left in the 2nd Quarter, after having played almost 5 minutes.. never to see the court again that night. He left with 3 points and 1 rebound.

At 4:53 in the 3rd Quarter, Blatche is replaced by Songaila (playing Center again).... and Golden State immediately starts driving the lane again.
Biedrins driving layup, made.
Crawford driving layup, made.
Azubuike layup missed.

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I am certainly not the only one that has noticed the Wizards lack of interior presence. Since Haywood was injured, the Wizards lack the potential to block shots inside - and don't alter many either. Blatche is better than Songaila, but his blocks have fallen off from previous years. (from 3.27 blocks per 48 minutes last year, to 2.0 blocks per 48 minutes this year).

If you have a defensive anchor in the middle, it deters teams from driving the middle. That cuts down on drive and dish 3-point shots. It cuts down on easy layups and dunks - and causes the opponent to take the least productive shot available - a 2-point jump shot.

Without a defensive anchor; someone that can block and alter shots; someone that will deter the opponent from driving the lane - the Wizards will continue to give up way too many layups, dunks and 3-point shots.

This represents the view of the user who wrote the FanPost, and not the entire Bullets Forever community. We're a place of many opinions, not just one.