Bullets Forever - Wizards vs. Cavaliers: Washington survives furious Cleveland rally "Ain't No Luck"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48097/BulletsForever-fv.png2013-11-21T10:34:56-05:00http://www.bulletsforever.com/rss/stream/48922192013-11-21T10:34:56-05:002013-11-21T10:34:56-05:00Wizards late-game execution needs work
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<figcaption>Eric P. Mull-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Washington nearly blew a once 25-point lead Wednesday night in Cleveland in large part due to their offensive execution late in the ball game. What exactly went wrong, and how can it be rectified? We break it down here.</p> <p>A little over a week has passed since <a href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/15/5107954/wizards-spurs-breakdown-john-wall-bradley-beal">Nene aired his dirty laundry out to the media</a>, expressing his displeasure in how his young teammates were performing while urging the guys in the locker-room to take on San Antonio's cultivated approach to the game.</p>
<p>Since then, the Wizards have come off two vastly different victories. After falling to a double-digit lead by halftime to the <a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Timberwolves</a>, the team ramped up their defensive pressure and rallied in the fourth quarter to finally snap their four-game losing streak. The script flipped against Cleveland on Wednesday night, as the Wizards held on after nearly blowing a double digit lead in the second half thanks to a sluggish offense that featured three of their top players logging over 38 minutes on the back-end of a back-to-back.</p>
<p>As fans, we've become all too familiar with this team struggling to closeout games. This year, they have often gone away from <span>John Wall</span> in favor of running a two-man game with <span>Bradley Beal</span> and Nene. These oversimplified sets have brought the offense to a screeching halt, to the point where it's three guys, including their best player, standing around while defenses key in on Beal and Nene. With no semblance of weakside movement or any complexity to these sets, you're essentially laying out the red carpet for defenders to overplay their man and gamble for steals.</p>
<p>Several possessions from Wednesday's game stood out:</p>
<h4><b>Offensive possession 1:</b></h4>
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<p>Anytime you have more than two players standing around, you're in trouble. Here, Matthew Dellavedova kills over 10 seconds off the clock by denying Beal the ball. By the time the hand-off is completed, there's not many options to choose from. Anderson Varejao is still agile enough to switch onto the Beal and blow up the entire play, and with the shot clock winding down and the defense scrambling, the chances of Beal making the correct read that quickly are slim to none. The Wizards turn the ball over on a shot-clock violation.</p>
<h4><b>Offensive possession 2:</b></h4>
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<p>On the very next trip down the floor, Beal enters the ball into Nene, cuts into the paint, and curls back out. With Dellavedova once again playing excellent ball-denial defense on Beal, Nene is forced to go to work on Varejao in the low post, a low-percentage play given how poorly the floor is spaced. To make matters worse, Martell Webster makes no effort to slide to the top of the key to provide any sort of outlet pass, and your franchise player once again watches the play in the corner. Luckily, Nene gets fouled and sinks both free throws.</p>
<h4><b>Offensive possession 3:</b></h4>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3607921/wall_standing_2.png"><img src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3607921/wall_standing_2.png" class="photo" alt="Wall_standing_2"></a> <br id="1385023573285"></p>
<p>The Wizards run the same post up for Nene, except this time, Beal gets just enough space from Dellavedova off the screen to catch and shoot. He sinks the jumper, but it's still a contested jumper that we've seen him miss far too many times this season. Oh, and both Martell Webster and John Wall are standing in almost the exact same spots.</p>
<h4><b>Offensive possession 4:</b></h4>
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<p>For the third straight possession, the Wizards run the same post-up for Nene. You'll never believe this, but after running through the exact same screen set by Gortat at the exact same spot on the floor as the previous two possessions, Dellavedova blows up the play and forces Beal to cut back inside to take a handoff from Nene. With the shot clock running down to four seconds, Beal is forced into an off-balanced jumper that clanks off the front of the rim. Luckily, the offense gets bailed out once again with a loose-ball foul on <span>Earl Clark</span>, sending Gortat to the line.</p>
<h4><b>Offensive possession 5:</b></h4>
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<p>The Wizards finally change it up. Wall enters the ball into Nene on the left block, and Beal runs off a pin-down screen on the opposite side of the floor. Dellavedova once again blows up the play by fighting over the screen, which forces Beal to put the ball on the floor and make a play. He draws the help defender on his drive to the basket, kicks it out to Webster who fumbles the pass and eventually gets called for traveling. This is not an awful play by any means, but once again, the ball is out of your best playmakers' hands.</p>
<p>John Wall hasn't exactly lit the world on fire with his shooting, but it speaks volumes towards his improvement as a floor general that he's still managed to maintain his All-Star level of play. It remains to be seen whether his reduced role down the stretch has anything to do with his <a href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/19/5121678/john-wall-injury-back-washington-wizards">back spasms </a>or not, but his drop-off in production does add to the speculation. Not only does his assist percentage plummet to 28.9 percent in the fourth quarter (a full 10 percentage points down from the previous three quarters on average), but his defensive rating soars to a revolting 114.2 points per 100 possessions, <a href="http://stats.nba.com/playerStats.html?PlayerID=202322&groupFeedtype=splitsGame&MeasureType=Advanced&PerMode=PerGame">per NBA.com's stats page.</a></p>
<p>Whatever the case is, <span>Randy Wittman</span> has to find more efficient ways to get the offense going. Whether it's developing a set of pet plays that the offense can fall back on or simply putting the ball in Wall's hands and letting him work, he won't get away with the execution displayed on Wednesday night against many other teams. The win is nice, but there's work to be done.</p>
<h4>More from Bullets Forever:</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/20/5128010/wizards-vs-cavaliers-final-score-washington-almost-blows-another-huge?utm_source=bulletsforever&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">Wizards vs. Cavaliers final score: Washington almost blows another huge lead, hangs on to win, 98-91</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/20/5128178/wizards-vs-cavaliers?utm_source=bulletsforever&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">Wizards vs. Cavaliers: Washington survives furious Cleveland rally </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/20/5126262/wizards-vs-cavaliers-preview-chat-with-fear-the-sword?utm_source=bulletsforever&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">Wizards vs. Cavaliers preview chat with Fear the Sword</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/20/5124502/john-wall-timberwolves-wizards-nba-2013?utm_source=bulletsforever&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">John Wall continues to search for the right balance</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/20/5125560/john-wall-and-bradley-beal-tear-up-the-timberwolves?utm_source=bulletsforever&utm_medium=nextclicks&utm_campaign=blogs">John Wall and Bradley Beal tear up the Timberwolves</a></li>
</ul>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/21/5129046/wizards-late-game-execution-leaves-a-lot-to-be-desiredUmair Khan2013-11-20T21:48:22-05:002013-11-20T21:48:22-05:00Washington almost blows it, still wins, 98-91
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<figcaption>Eric P. Mull-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>After leading by double digits for almost the entire game, the Washington Wizards allowed the Cleveland Cavaliers to make things interesting before pulling out their second victory in a row, 98-91.</p> <p>Twenty-four hours after snapping a four game losing streak with a home win over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.canishoopus.com/">Minnesota Timberwolves</a>, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bulletsforever.com/">Washington Wizards</a> went on the road and did a ton of things right against the Cavaliers. Bradley Beal had another huge game, finishing up with 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to go along with 6-7 shooting from deep. John Wall took a couple of bad shots but still managed to be a huge net positive, finishing with 15 points, nine assists and four steals. Washington also got solid contributions from Nene, Jan Vesely and Marcin Gortat, and more or less had this one wrapped up by the end of the first quarter</p>
<p>... and they proceeded to almost blow it in the fourth.</p>
<p>Washington's offense completely fell apart in the in the fourth quarter, even with the usually-good starters on the court. After spending the first 36 minutes of the game relentlessly attacking the rim, Washington started settling for jumpers and the results were about what you'd expect. The starters are playing a lot of minutes, with Beal and Wall both averaging more than 37 a game right now, so it's not surprising that they keep on running out of gas like this. At the same time, the coaching staff needs to figure out a way to put up points without Wall and Beal on the floor together or else we're going to keep on seeing stuff like this.</p>
<p>Yes, Washington was able to pull this one out, 98-91, but that had as much to do with sloppy play from Cleveland as it did with anything Washington was doing.</p>
<p>Cleveland's defense looked horrible tonight and this contributed quite a bit to Washington's success through the first three quarters on offense. Even usually reliable defenders like Anderson Varejao were a step slow with their rotation and the Wizards were able to take advantage time and time again by getting all the way to the rim. Even when the ball gets kicked out, the opposing team's defense is thrown into chaos as it attempts to recover and help so the Wizards wind up with a lot of open looks from behind the arc. In a related story, four of the team's five starters finished with more than five assists, and it's not like they were dribbling more than normal or anything. The team as a whole simply did an excellent job of moving the ball around the perimeter and passing up good shots in favor of great ones. Beal and Webster in particular deserve a lot of credit for this.</p>
<p>Oh well. A win's a win, and at the end of the day, the Wizards beat a solid team in a road game, and by what wound up being a fairly comfortable margin. They really need Trevor Ariza to get healthy start soaking up some of Beal and Webster's minutes, allowing the team to play more consistently throughout the entire game. They don't play again until Friday, though, so they should be a bit more energetic for the full 48 when they face the the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.raptorshq.com/">Raptors</a> in Toronto.</p>
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<li><span>Washington looked great in the first quarter, jumping out to an 11 point lead early in the game. Nene and Martell were awesome and connected on a couple of nice plays, including a one-handed no-look pass from Nene for a dunk. Washington as a whole did an excellent job of controlling the tempo of the game and taking advantage of defensive breakdowns by the Cavaliers.</span></li>
<li><span>Jan Vesely didn't have a huge game or any particularly highlight-worthy plays (the one possible exception was a great block of a Waiters floater), but I've really liked what I saw from him. He was all over the place crashing the boards and is doing a great job of tapping the ball to his teammates a la Okafor. If he's going to stick in the league as a big man without a jump shot, he's going to need to start rebounding like a mad man, and at least for now, he's doing just that.</span></li>
<li><span><span>Bradley Beal's</span> all around game was on full display tonight. His points will probably get the headlines, but his passing and rebounding were just as if not more impressive. He's really stepped it up as a playmaker lately and this ability to excel at things other than hitting jump shots is going to be the difference between him being a core player on a decent team and being a core player on a good one.</span></li>
<li><span><span>Dion Waiters</span> probably helped Washington as much as Cleveland. He spent too much time looking for his own shot and repeatedly lost his man on defense. He needs to stop trying to do everything and develop at least one elite skill that he can fall back on when his shot isn't falling. He reminded me a little bit of JR Smith tonight, and not in a good way.</span></li>
<li><span>Wall's defense on Irving left a lot to be desired. He needs to settle down, stop trying to force a turnover on every possession and simply focus on not giving up quality shots to his opponent. With his size and length, he should have been able to play a step off of Irving and keep him out of the paint.</span></li>
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https://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/20/5128010/wizards-vs-cavaliers-final-score-washington-almost-blows-another-hugeThomas Pruitt2013-11-20T18:58:50-05:002013-11-20T18:58:50-05:00Your Wizards-Cavs game thread
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<figcaption>David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Discuss the game here.</p> <table cellpadding="5" align="center" border="1" cellspacing="5"><tbody> <tr><th bgcolor="silver" colspan="3" align="center">2013-14 NBA Season</th></tr> <tr> <td width="240"><center><img width="72" height="72" src="http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/wizards_alt_logo_hand.gif"></center></td> <th width="20" align="center">@</th> <td width="240"><center><img width="80" height="72" src="http://www.nba.com/cavaliers/sites/cavaliers/files/elements/cavs-nav-logo-230.png"></center></td> </tr> <tr><td bgcolor="silver" colspan="3" align="center" style="text-align: center;"><strong>November 20, 2013</strong></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" align="center" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Quicken Loans Arena</strong></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" align="center" style="text-align: center;"><strong>7 p.m.</strong></td></tr> <tr><td colspan="3" align="center" style="text-align: center;"><strong>CSN, 106.7 The Fan</strong></td></tr> <tr><th bgcolor="silver" colspan="3" align="center" style="text-align: center;"><strong>Projected Starting Lineups</strong></th></tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240" align="right"><span>John Wall</span></td> <th width="20" align="center">PG</th> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240"><span>Kyrie Irving</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240" align="right"><span>Bradley Beal</span></td> <th width="20" align="center">SG</th> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240"><span>C.J. Miles</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240" align="right"><span>Martell Webster</span></td> <th width="20" align="center">SF</th> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240"><span>Earl Clark</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240" align="right">Nene</td> <th width="20" align="center">PF</th> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240"><span>Tristan Thompson</span></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240" align="right"><span>Marcin Gortat</span></td> <th width="20" align="center">C</th> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240"><span>Andrew Bynum</span></td> </tr> <tr><th bgcolor="silver" colspan="3" align="center"><strong>2013/14 Advanced Stats</strong></th></tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240" align="right"><span>95.7 (12th)</span></td> <th width="20" align="center">Pace</th> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240">93.6 (17th)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240" align="right"><span>101.7 (22nd)</span></td> <th width="20" align="center">ORtg</th> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240">96.2 (29th)</td> </tr> <tr> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240" align="right"><span>105.5 (19th)</span></td> <th width="20" align="center">DRtg</th> <td style="text-align: center;" width="240">103.4 (9th)</td> </tr> <tr><th colspan="3" bgcolor="silver" height="20">Also see: <a href="http://fearthesword.com/">Fear the Sword</a> | <a href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/20/5126262/wizards-vs-cavaliers-preview-chat-with-fear-the-sword">Preview</a> </th></tr> </tbody></table>
<p> </p>
<p>Time for revenge.</p>
<p>GO WIZARDS!</p>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/20/5127684/wizards-vs-cavaliers-game-time-tv-schedule-and-open-threadMike Prada2013-11-20T12:54:57-05:002013-11-20T12:54:57-05:00Wizards-Cavs chat archive
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<figcaption>Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Come by and ask questions about the Cavaliers.</p> <p>Hey all,</p>
<p>We're going to try something different with today's <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bulletsforever.com/">Wizards</a>-Cavs preview. Rather than our standard bullet-point thing or a Q&A with a <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.fearthesword.com/">Cavaliers</a> expert, we're going to do a live chat.<b> At 2:30 p.m. EST</b>, <a href="https://twitter.com/ConradKazNBA">Conrad Kaczmarek</a>, editor of SB Nation Cavaliers blog <a href="http://fearthesword.com">Fear the Sword </a>and SBNation.com NBA contributor, will come by to answer all your Cavaliers questions and any others you might have. Surely he'll settle the Kyrie vs. Wall debate ONCE AND FOR ALL.</p>
<p>As a heads up, I'll be doing the same thing at the same time over at Fear the Sword.</p>
<p>This whole thing won't work unless you all ask questions, though, so get them in and stick around at 2:30 to ask some more.</p>
<p><b>UPDATE: </b>The chat is done. Hope you guys enjoyed it.</p>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2013/11/20/5126262/wizards-vs-cavaliers-preview-chat-with-fear-the-swordMike Prada