The Wonderful Wizards
As the Washington-based NBA team pounds the crap out of Philadelphia, some thoughts on this five-game winning streak:
...Looks like the team can win while Brendan Haywood puts up phenomenal stats. And by "phenomenal," I mean "numbers he should have been putting up years ago." I know, I know...Etan Thomas' presence meant less guaranteed minutes, and that affected Haywood's psyche. Well, maybe this experience will lead coach Eddie Jordan to see Haywood as a genuine starting Big Man, and not part of a two-heading center experiment. Regardless, Haywood's noticeable improvement will be a factor in many future games, so let's hope he keeps it up...
...Other than tonight (where Jordan decided to clear the bench) the team has played good defense. Particularly, good team defense. This is significant because teams that rely on one or two players to be "stoppers" don't last very long (those teams get exposed quickly in the playoffs). As much as people joke about the 1999 New York Knicks, it was their team defense that got them to the Finals. ..
...I was under the impression that while this season's bench was younger and more athletic, it would not necessarily mean better production because of the overall lack of experience. But if tonight was any indication, I may be wrong (and if so, I don't mind). Nick Young seems to be an adept scoring machine who can create his own shot. Andre Blatche may be the best scoring Big Man on the team, period (I truly thought it would be Darius Songalia, with Haywood a close second). Add with their length and a new assistant coach who's here to tune up the defense, and these guys can become superb overall players...
...The team is more disciplined on offense with Antonio Daniels at point. Sorry, Arenas, but it's true (not that they don't need Gilbert, because gotdamnit, they do). As a result, they have less turnovers, more assists and a higher field goal percentage...which typically translate into wins...
...This is a classical "when we score we play better defense" team. Teams that like to run and teams that rely on jump shots usually lean this way. It's not too late for them to buck this habit, but with Arenas' status a question mark from night to night, with Thomas out indefinitely and with Daniels as their only true point guard, this may become the status quo...
So in short: they've climbed out of the hole, but there's still aways to go.
...Looks like the team can win while Brendan Haywood puts up phenomenal stats. And by "phenomenal," I mean "numbers he should have been putting up years ago." I know, I know...Etan Thomas' presence meant less guaranteed minutes, and that affected Haywood's psyche. Well, maybe this experience will lead coach Eddie Jordan to see Haywood as a genuine starting Big Man, and not part of a two-heading center experiment. Regardless, Haywood's noticeable improvement will be a factor in many future games, so let's hope he keeps it up...
...Other than tonight (where Jordan decided to clear the bench) the team has played good defense. Particularly, good team defense. This is significant because teams that rely on one or two players to be "stoppers" don't last very long (those teams get exposed quickly in the playoffs). As much as people joke about the 1999 New York Knicks, it was their team defense that got them to the Finals. ..
...I was under the impression that while this season's bench was younger and more athletic, it would not necessarily mean better production because of the overall lack of experience. But if tonight was any indication, I may be wrong (and if so, I don't mind). Nick Young seems to be an adept scoring machine who can create his own shot. Andre Blatche may be the best scoring Big Man on the team, period (I truly thought it would be Darius Songalia, with Haywood a close second). Add with their length and a new assistant coach who's here to tune up the defense, and these guys can become superb overall players...
...The team is more disciplined on offense with Antonio Daniels at point. Sorry, Arenas, but it's true (not that they don't need Gilbert, because gotdamnit, they do). As a result, they have less turnovers, more assists and a higher field goal percentage...which typically translate into wins...
...This is a classical "when we score we play better defense" team. Teams that like to run and teams that rely on jump shots usually lean this way. It's not too late for them to buck this habit, but with Arenas' status a question mark from night to night, with Thomas out indefinitely and with Daniels as their only true point guard, this may become the status quo...
So in short: they've climbed out of the hole, but there's still aways to go.
Comments