Bullets Forever - Wizards vs. Heat: Rasual Butler turns back the hands of time in 107-86 victory"Ain't No Luck"https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48097/BulletsForever-fv.png2014-12-02T15:12:00-05:00http://www.bulletsforever.com/rss/stream/70823622014-12-02T15:12:00-05:002014-12-02T15:12:00-05:00How Wall ignited the offense vs. Miami
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<figcaption>Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>After stringing together three consecutive games without cracking 90-points, the Wizards finally broke out of their offensive slump with a 107-point outburst Monday night against the Heat. We break down how John Wall got things going, and what we can take from this performance moving forward.</p> <p><span>John Wall</span> was responsible for 51 of Washington's 107-point outburst last night. 27 of those points came directly off his assists, six came off passes that led to free throws, and 18 were of his own variety. As a team, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bulletsforever.com/">Wizards</a> scored at a rate of 122.9 points per 100 possessions <a href="http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201412010WAS.html">per basketball-reference</a>, by far the best of this young season, and a huge step-up from their previous three games where they failed to eclipse 90 points.</p>
<p><span>There's some obvious caveats lingering on the surface. For one, Miami is one of the few team's that consistently send their big men to bump, or "hedge," on ball ball handlers as they come off pick and rolls. They've implemented one of the more aggressive show and recover schemes in the league under <span>Erik Spoelstra</span>, and they bolster it with a series of sharp rotations to clog up any openings along the help side.</span></p>
<p>No player is more adept at exposing those openings quicker than John Wall. He's strong enough to absorb contact from the big man, and he's wily enough to catch one of those help defenders sleeping, even if it's for a split second.</p>
<p>Watch him toy with <span>Luol Deng</span>, who's serving as the help defender, on back-to-back possessions.</p>
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<p>This is terrifying for a defense. Wall receives the ball on a side pick and roll going toward the middle of the floor, meaning Gortat will be rolling into the lane on the weak-side of the floor -- where there's only one help defender in his vicinity. Oh and that help defender happens to be marking the hottest three-point shooter in the league. Deng doesn't fully commit himself to either player, and Wall wisely throws the ball over-the-top to Gortat for the easy layup.</p>
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<p>So what happens on the next trip down the floor? The same action, except this time, Deng does commit himself to Gortat, so Wall counters by throwing his patented skip pass into the corner.</p>
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<p>And it wasn't as if the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.hothothoops.com/">Heat</a> stood back and watched Wall pick them apart. They tried throwing different looks at him, hoping to coax him into turnovers like they had in the season opener, but it wasn't happening tonight. John read the floor as well as he ever had last night, knowing exactly where the ball to go against Miami's rotating defense.</p>
<p>Watch him perfectly orchestrate this high-low between <span>Kris Humphries</span> and Gortat.</p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/uiOqpIB4qKI" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>This is what has been lacking in their offense since Nene's injury. Guards are oftentimes dribbling around a trap or getting caught picking up their dribble too early, and it's resulted in a heap of turnovers. John may have done so here, but he knows if Humphries slides up and makes a quick enough decision, Bosh will be forced to take a step away from the basket, leading to an open window for the high-low. It's a simple, off-the-cuff action that yielded an easy basket, something this offense hasn't seen enough of recently.</p>
<p>A lot broke right for Washington last night, and while it's just one game, it is a recipe for how they should strive to play. Again, they kept things simple, and stuck to what works best. I could count the number of times they ran a post-up for <span>Marcin Gortat</span> on one hand, which is to say the least, a promising development considering their propensity to exploit match-ups down low. And while they didn't get much out of their starting wings, they had Wall lifting the play of everyone else, and probing the defense like he's capable of doing on a nightly basis.</p>
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<p>If you think you've seen this exact set-up before, it's because you have. The Wizards come out of the sideline out of bounds running one of their pet plays, the Hawk set, for Rasual Butler. Wall comes off the pick with plenty of room in front of him, but instead of pulling up like he's so often done this season, he waits, and allows Butler to spring free off the curl for the jumper.</p>
<p>The win against the Heat was so impressive because Washington finally broke out of their offensive slump not with red-hot shooting, but with crisp execution. They didn't shoot themselves in the foot with an excess of turnovers, and they didn't make things harder on themselves than it had to be.They have a chance to improve their offensive rating with a favorable schedule coming up, this was a nice start.</p>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/2/7320649/film-study-how-john-wall-lifted-the-washington-wizards-offense-vs-miami-heatUmair Khan2014-12-02T11:39:59-05:002014-12-02T11:39:59-05:00Watch highlights of Wall's double-double vs. Heat
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<figcaption>Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>John Wall's got his ninth double-double of the season, but the raw stats don't do justice to how well John Wall controlled the game against Miami.</p> <p>Rasual Butler's 23 point game stole most of the headlines after Monday's win over the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.hothothoops.com/">Heat</a>, but make no mistake, <span>John Wall</span> was the best player on the floor last night. It's easy to look at an 18 point, 13 assist game and dismiss it, because Wall has done it so often this year. More often than anyone else, other than <span>Chris Paul</span>, who needed an extra game to get there.</p>
<blockquote lang="en" class="twitter-tweet">
<p>here’s how <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnWall">@johnwall</a> is stacking up against other point guards around the league. not too shabby... <a href="http://t.co/9A8GCnL73I">pic.twitter.com/9A8GCnL73I</a></p>
— kelly cohen (@politiCOHEN_) <a href="https://twitter.com/politiCOHEN_/status/539802115938328576">December 2, 2014</a>
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<p>But even still, just looking at Wall's points and assists doesn't do Wall justice, and for that, I'm glad Dawk Ins included some of Wall's plays that didn't end up leading to points, because it further reiterates just how good Wall was last night.</p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/_TRo1tQ-05A" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>On the scoring side, Wall was super-efficient, scoring 18 points on 10 shots last night. You can discredit the phantom foul on his four-point play, but it takes skill to make that three while selling the foul. But the real story was his passing.</p>
<p><span>It's not easy to get 13 assists in 31 minutes, but consider all the extra stuff he did. </span><a style="font-size: 12px; background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://stats.nba.com/game/#!/0021400250/playertracking/">According to NBA.com/stats</a><span>, Wall also had three secondary assists and four assists on plays that drew free throws. So if you count those plays (which you should), Wall had 20 assists, to go along with his 18 points in 31 minutes of action. Just something to keep in mind </span><a href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/2/7315675/why-john-wall-might-not-make-the-all-star-game-this-season">when you make your All-Star selections</a><span>.</span></p>
<h3>Update</h3>
<p>We just ran the numbers, and here's how much Wall played into the Wizards' production:</p>
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<li>The Wizards <a href="http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612764/onoffcourt/?PerMode=Totals&GroupQuantity=2&LastNGames=1">made 26 field goals when Wall was on the court</a><span>. Wall scored six of those, assisted on 13, and had a secondary on three others, so he played a part in 22 of the team's 26 field goals when he was on the floor.</span> </li>
<li><span>The Wizards attempted 15 free throws with Wall on the floor. He took five himself and had those four free throw assists. None of them were and-one opportunities, which means Wall helped generate 13 of the team's 15 free throw attempts while he was on the floor.</span></li>
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https://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/2/7319569/john-wall-highlights-video-washington-wizards-miami-heat-december-1-2014Jake Whitacre2014-12-02T09:30:55-05:002014-12-02T09:30:55-05:00Wake-Up Call: Wiz use teamwork to avenge Heat loss
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<figcaption>Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>In today's Wake-Up Call, we take a look at how the Wizards got their revenge for their season-opening loss to Miami, thanks to some big contributions from some unlikely sources.</p> <h3>1. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bulletsforever.com/">Wizards</a> get revenge against <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hothothoops.com/">Miami Heat</a>
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<p>That was the performance this team needed to remind all Wizards fans, and perhaps even the players themselves, that their early-season record is no fluke. When they play the way they did en route to a 107-86 romping of the Heat, this Wizards team is hard to beat. They were clicking on all cylinders -- tight defensively, getting contributions from all players, and moving the ball with a purpose offensively to the tune of 29 assists on 39 field goals. This was a really fun game to watch.</p>
<p>To the recaps!</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/1/7317817/wizards-top-heat-107-86-3-things-we-learned-butler-wall">Bullets Forever</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball-washington-wizards/talk/fast-break-wizards-wallop-heat-blowout">Comcast SportsNet</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://wizofawes.com/2014/12/01/miami-heat-vs-washington-wizards-final-score-wizards-obliterate-heat-home-107-86/">Wiz of Awes</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.truthaboutit.net/2014/12/wizards-vs-heat-game-16-twitter-storify.html">Truth About It</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/recap?gameId=400578542">ESPN</a></p>
<h3>2. <span>Rasual Butler</span> is leading the NBA in three-point percentage</h3>
<p>Butler's 55.6 percent from three-point land is tops in the NBA. He is shooting 61.2 percent from the field overall. In twelve games this season he is rapidly approaching his point total in all 50 appearances during the 2013-2014 season with the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.indycornrows.com/">Indiana Pacers</a>. Yes. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wizards-insider/wp/2014/12/02/james-ennis-posterized-rasual-butler-on-opening-night-but-butler-got-revenge/">this is the same Butler who was a long-shot to make the team during training camp</a>. Needless to say, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.csnwashington.com/basketball-washington-wizards/talk/rasual-butler-continues-pay-wizards">he's been an extremely pleasant surprise off the bench</a>.</p>
<p>Let's not forget his moment of revenge from last night, either.</p>
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<h3>3. Buying or selling Wizards' success</h3>
<p>Is their 11-5 record a fluke? <a target="_blank" href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2286123-buying-or-selling-washington-wizards-hot-start-and-monday-nba-takeaways">Will the wins continue to pile up as the season progresses?</a> Whatever happens, they have certainly shown that they have the ability to play tremendous basketball when they do it together.</p>
<h3>4. Hear from the team</h3>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/consors-exclusive-one-on-one-with-rasual-butler-12-1-14">Glenn Consor one-on-one with Rasual Butler</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/john-wall-postgame-12-1-14">John Wall</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/paul-pierce-postgame-12-1-14">Paul Pierce</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/marcin-gortat-postgame-12-1-14">Marcin Gortat</a></p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://www.monumentalnetwork.com/videos/randy-wittman-postgame-12-1-14">Randy Wittman</a></p>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/2/7318817/washington-wizards-teamwork-miami-heat-107-86Ryan Gracia2014-12-01T21:41:18-05:002014-12-01T21:41:18-05:00Butler drops 23, Wizards drop Heat
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<figcaption>Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Wizards improved to 11-5 on the season after 21-ing the Miami Heat. If it were a game of 2K, John Wall would have told Dwyane Wade to "pass the sticks, bruh."</p> <p>After opening the season with a 12-point road loss to the Miami Heat, the Washington Wizards were looking for revenge.</p>
<p>They got it on Monday night in the Phone Booth, topping their eastern conference foes 107-86 on their way to their second straight win to prove to 11-5 on the season.</p>
<p>The Wizards were without Nene, but Kris Humphries stepped up and scored eight points and grabbed five rebounds in his place, but it was Rasual Butler who led the Wizards in scoring with 23 points off the bench.</p>
<p>Here's what we learned tonight, complete with Vines.</p>
<h4>1. The Wall-Gortat two man game is tough to stop</h4>
<p>John Wall ran circles around the Heat's guards tonight to score 18 points and dish out 13 assists; most of those dimes hitting his big man Marcin Gortat streaking towards the rim. Wall assisted the Polish Hammer on five of his six made field goals, one of which created this highlight.</p>
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<p>Gortat finished the game with 15 points and 10 rebounds.</p>
<h4>2. Rasual Butler continues to shine off the bench</h4>
<p>In the Wizards season opening loss to Miami, James Ennis dunked all over Rasual Butler, but tonight The Butler got his revenge with a big dunk on Chris Bosh.</p>
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<blockquote data-partner="tweetdeck" class="twitter-tweet">
<p>Yesterday, Rasual Butler joked he was gonna get back at the Heat for James Ennis's dunk over him in the opener. So he does that on Bosh.</p>
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgeccastillo) <a href="https://twitter.com/jorgeccastillo/status/539602000623976448">December 2, 2014</a>
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<p>Not only did Butler staple himself on the post-game highlight reel, but he continued to shine off the bench as he has done all season, scoring 23 points, a team-high, to go along with three rebounds and three assists. Butler hit shots from behind the arc and around the rim and was a valuable asset in the win. Butler's signing in the off-season flew under the radar a bit, but he is proving to be a key player to the Wizards success with his play off the bench.</p>
<h4>3. Professor Miller is still teaching this semester</h4>
<p>We haven't seen too many lessons from Prof. Miller this season, but he is teaching winter courses and Shabazz Napier signed up for class just in time...</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="320" width="320" src="https://vine.co/v/OvzYJrFdTBx/embed/simple" class="vine-embed"></iframe></p>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/1/7317817/wizards-top-heat-107-86-3-things-we-learned-butler-wallMitchell Northam2014-12-01T21:19:53-05:002014-12-01T21:19:53-05:00Professor Miller's School is In Session<iframe class="vine-embed" src="https://vine.co/v/OvzYJrFdTBx/embed/simple" width="600" height="600"></iframe>
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Andre Miller is 38 years old, and he's still schooling folks with moves like this.</p></p></div>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/1/7317941/professor-millers-school-is-in-sessionAkbar Naqvi2014-12-01T21:12:02-05:002014-12-01T21:12:02-05:00KSLife Assist<iframe class="vine-embed" src="https://vine.co/v/OvzEXUExDbw/embed/simple" width="600" height="600"></iframe>
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Kevin Seraphin has always been a good scorer in the low post, but it's not often he's shown this kind of interior passing.</p></p></div>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/1/7317905/kslife-assistAkbar Naqvi2014-12-01T20:38:02-05:002014-12-01T20:38:02-05:00John Wall Can Pass on the Move, Too<iframe class="vine-embed" src="https://vine.co/v/OvzIlwbEliw/embed/simple" width="600" height="600"></iframe>
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>In a trend of impressive assists, Wall makes this one in transition, and boy is it pretty.</p></p></div>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/1/7317781/john-wall-can-pass-on-the-move-tooAkbar Naqvi2014-12-01T20:16:47-05:002014-12-01T20:16:47-05:00John Wall lobs to Gortat<iframe class="vine-embed" src="https://vine.co/v/Ovz66m5E3r6/embed/simple" width="600" height="600"></iframe>
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>We don't see these often, but Wall is on fire in terms of passing in this game, and he shows it here.</p></p></div>
https://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/12/1/7317717/john-wall-lobs-to-gortatAkbar Naqvi