The "Culture Change" and Defense

[fishercob]

Bump. Tiny sample of 3 games. The Wizards are 8th in defense rating in the league and Okafor and Ariza are terrible.

[Nivek]

Tiny sample against teams that were terrible offensively last season. Boston ranked 25th in offensive rating; Cleveland ranked 24th.

[fishercob]

Bump.

The Wiz have won 4 of 6 to improve to 8-30. While still ranked last in the league in offense, the Wizards are 10th in defensive rating.

Pasting this from the Clippers game thread:

The best part I think about the game was the fact the Wiz did not havea great game and still were right there, they just never let the Clips put them away and if not for a couple big plays from CP3 and some bad FT shooting really could have had this one down the stretch. I just like the whole vibe of the team right now, everyone seems into it and they are getting contributions from so many guys.

This.

Despite playing poorly offensively, despite lopsided officiating, and despite missing a boatload of free throws, the Wizards gave one of the best teams in the league all they could handle, on the road, on a back to back. If the Wizards can bring this effort and defensive intensity every night, they're going to easily win more than half of their remaining games.

I hate to say this, because it's dangerously close to giving EG credit, but I kinda like the way the team is constructed. Everybody on the roster defends. The bigs are all physical on defense. With Beal, Webster, Price and Cartier Martin on the perimeter, the guards actually shoot like professional basketball player should. Nene and Seraphin can score on the block and usually require a double team. Most of the players are unselfish and are willing to move the ball.

I really feel like the overall character and style of play of this team is that of a contender. They play the right way. The only problem is that there isn't contender-level talent on the roster. Okafor does his best with the gifts God gave him, but he's no Tyson Chandler as a defensive anchor. He's just not long enough. Likewise, Nene and Seraphin are good at PF when they're at their best, but Nene is rarely 100% and Seraphin is still way too inconsistent. I like Ariza and Webster for the things that they bring to the team, and both are borderline starting-caliber players, but neither are above-average starters. If you could combine Ariza's defense with Webster's shooting you would have the ideal SF. Beal has been great on offense in January, but he still suffers from typical rookie inexperience on defense. Wall is fine.

Now we all know what Red from Shawshank said about hope being a dangerous thing. But you do sort of see the blueprint here. It will be interesting to see how a full-strength team finishes (well, full strength with a gimpy Nene) and what this team does next season assuming the roster remains basically intact. Wall, Beal, Crawford, Ariza, hopefully Webster, Nene, Okafor and Seraphin as your top 8. If the vets can stay healthy and maintain their level of play while the kids continue to elevate theirs, it could be real solid.

Then it gets interestign heading into next offseason; before Wall's extension we will have but 4 players under contract at $24M. 3 and $20M were we to dlecline Vesely's option. There will be opportunity to add to/reshape the roster, potentially coming off of a good season.

[tontoz]

They are 10th and closing on the teams ahead of them. The Wizards are giving up 101 pts per 100 possessions. 6th place OKC is giving up 100 pts.

[pancakes3]

This is why I don't get the Whitman hate. His "lineups" are directly affected by the (lack of) talent he has to work with. The defense is the true testament to his coaching. He can't go in there and force Craw or Ariza to shoot better, but he can coach up the D.

[GhostsOfGil]

This is why I don't get the Whitman hate. His "lineups" are directly affected by the (lack of) talent he has to work with. The defense is the true testament to his coaching. He can't go in there and force Craw or Ariza to shoot better, but he can coach up the D.

I fully support Whitman and think he's done a great job here. With that said, I think its ridiculously stupid to have Wall and Crawford share significant court time together.

[popper]

This is why I don't get the Whitman hate. His "lineups" are directly affected by the (lack of) talent he has to work with. The defense is the true testament to his coaching. He can't go in there and force Craw or Ariza to shoot better, but he can coach up the D.

Does the new coach we have from San Antonio have anything to do with our improved defense?

[fishercob]

Bump for the Knicks win. The Wiz are now 6th in the league in DRtg and still 30th in offense. Nate tells me they're 1st in D since Wall's return -- where do you find or how do you compute this? Where are ranked in offense since John's return.

The Knicks were second in Ortg and 15th in DRtg coming into the game. Holding them to 96 looks good. Is there a place to find what their Ortg or points per possesion was for the game?

Anyhow the Knicks are 31-16. The 29-20 Nets are 9th in offense and 17th in D. If the Wizards can add enough offense -- either organically via improvment from Wall/Beal and Nene getting healthy, or via draft/trade/free agency -- to improve to average or slightly below, they could post a good record next year. Perhaps inline with what the Wages of Wins blog predicted for this season: http://wagesofwins.com/2012/06/22/will- ... yoff-team/

[nate33]

I used Nivek's data. He posted our ORtg and DRtg since Wall's return. With Wall on the court, we have a DRtg of 98.3. When he is off, it's 99.8. I figure our actual rating is somewhere in between, but a little closer to the "with Wall" rating because he plays more minutes than he sits. I guestimate about 98.9. Indiana lead's the league in DRtg with a score of 99.5.

The data does not include the Knicks game.

[Nivek]

In the 15 games since Wall's return, the Wizards drtg is 98.6, including last night's game against the Knicks. The league's best defensive rating this season: 99.5 by the Indiana Pacers. So yeah, the Wizards have been defending extremely well since Wall got back.

Since Wall's return, the Wizards have an efficiency differential typical of a 50-win team, including that blowout win over Orlando. Drop that, and their differential is consistent with a 45-win team.

If they continue to play as they have since Wall returned, they project to finish the season with 31-34 wins.

[JAR69]

And what is their ortg since Wall's return?

[Nivek]

And what is their ortg since Wall's return?

102.1

[JAR69]

Thanks. I see that would bump us all the way from 30 to 27 (between Orlando and Boston). The post-Wall return differential looks very similar to Indiana.

[fishercob]

Considering how infrequently I'm right, I'm really enjoying re-reading the first few pages of this thread. Who knows if the Wiz sustain this level of defensive excellence -- and ride it to continued success in the win column -- but the stylistic metamorphosis of this team is striking.

[fishercob]

Per basketball reference, the Wiz are now 4th in the league in DRtg. Still last in offense (offense? we don't need no stinking offense!).