Line-ups, rotation, analysis thread.

[montestewart]

Disagree.

When I was watching the games often the person with the ball was the first up the court (that goes for Deni, Kuz, Goodwin, etc.). Everyone has to go - that is why our pace is so low (opinion).

Reminder that pushing the pace also helps break a zone.

I’m not against running more fast breaks. I just think you typically need a small, fast PG on the court to do it well.

Deni is simply not fast enough with the ball in his hands to regularly lead the fast break, IMO. Very few 6-9 and taller players are.

I believe that’s at least part of the reason we’re not seeing more fast breaks when Deni is at lead guard.

We can agree to disagree. I think both Kuz and Deni are capable of pushing the pace a great deal. I don't think you need to be small to have that capability.

Magic agrees with you

[DCZards]

I’m not against running more fast breaks. I just think you typically need a small, fast PG on the court to do it well.

Deni is simply not fast enough with the ball in his hands to regularly lead the fast break, IMO. Very few 6-9 and taller players are.

I believe that’s at least part of the reason we’re not seeing more fast breaks when Deni is at lead guard.

We can agree to disagree. I think both Kuz and Deni are capable of pushing the pace a great deal. I don't think you need to be small to have that capability.

Magic agrees with you

We’re talking Kuz and Deni…not Magic, who happens to be a top ten all-time NBA player who revolutionized the PG position.

[dckingsfan]

We can agree to disagree. I think both Kuz and Deni are capable of pushing the pace a great deal. I don't think you need to be small to have that capability.

Magic agrees with you

We’re talking Kuz and Deni…not Magic, who happens to be a top ten all-time NBA player who revolutionized the PG position.

We are talking 6'9" guys that can see over the defense. Both Kuz and Deni are rebounding at a high rate, they need to get the rebound and start pushing the pace. That can be drive all the way or more likely a pass forward.

The point here, they rebound the ball and no one runs. Then we are back in those unproductive half-court sets (because our 3 point shooting is lacking). Given that we rank 6th in defensive rebounding, we shouldn't be 22nd in pace.

IMO, this is on Wes.

[nate33]

Magic agrees with you

We’re talking Kuz and Deni…not Magic, who happens to be a top ten all-time NBA player who revolutionized the PG position.

We are talking 6'9" guys that can see over the defense. Both Kuz and Deni are rebounding at a high rate, they need to get the rebound and start pushing the pace. That can be drive all the way or more likely a pass forward.

The point here, they rebound the ball and no one runs. Then we are back in those unproductive half-court sets (because our 3 point shooting is lacking). Given that we rank 6th in defensive rebounding, we shouldn't be 22nd in pace.

IMO, this is on Wes.

We could probably push pace a bit more, but let's not overrate the personnel we have here. Kuzma and Avidja are good rebounders who can handle the ball, but both guys are turnover-prone on the open floor. And we have a bunch of guys who can't really handle the ball in the open court, including Kispert, Rui, Porzingis and Gafford. Heck, is anyone on the roster an above-average open court player? Maybe Kuzma and Beal.

[doclinkin]

Magic agrees with you

We’re talking Kuz and Deni…not Magic, who happens to be a top ten all-time NBA player who revolutionized the PG position.

We are talking 6'9" guys that can see over the defense. Both Kuz and Deni are rebounding at a high rate, they need to get the rebound and start pushing the pace. That can be drive all the way or more likely a pass forward.

The point here, they rebound the ball and no one runs. Then we are back in those unproductive half-court sets (because our 3 point shooting is lacking). Given that we rank 6th in defensive rebounding, we shouldn't be 22nd in pace.

IMO, this is on Wes.

Scottie Barnes says hello.

Likewise, hell, Wes the elder who was a master at starting the break with an outlet pass off the rebound. He might not handle it but was looking for a teammate before he even landed with the ball. I'd agree with Nate though that we lack the personnel to play much of an uptempo outlet passing open court style. You have to have players who can catch and finish, running forwards while looking backwards, handle the ball while moving top speed. I don't know that those guys are on this roster. Rui actually seems like the one guy who would fit that mold. Huge soft hands, able to rise and crush it when given a little bit of space.

[dckingsfan]

We’re talking Kuz and Deni…not Magic, who happens to be a top ten all-time NBA player who revolutionized the PG position.

We are talking 6'9" guys that can see over the defense. Both Kuz and Deni are rebounding at a high rate, they need to get the rebound and start pushing the pace. That can be drive all the way or more likely a pass forward.

The point here, they rebound the ball and no one runs. Then we are back in those unproductive half-court sets (because our 3 point shooting is lacking). Given that we rank 6th in defensive rebounding, we shouldn't be 22nd in pace.

IMO, this is on Wes.

We could probably push pace a bit more, but let's not overrate the personnel we have here. Kuzma and Avidja are good rebounders who can handle the ball, but both guys are turnover-prone on the open floor. And we have a bunch of guys who can't really handle the ball in the open court, including Kispert, Rui, Porzingis and Gafford. Heck, is anyone on the roster an above-average open court player? Maybe Kuzma and Beal.

You make a valid point. I would say we should also look at where TOs are happening. My take (only from watching the games and no real analytics) is that the TOs are happening in the 1/2 court sets and not in transition. I "think" that our TO% would go down if we pushed the ball and had more pace. And this is even more the case with the second unit.

[DCZards]

We’re talking Kuz and Deni…not Magic, who happens to be a top ten all-time NBA player who revolutionized the PG position.

We are talking 6'9" guys that can see over the defense. Both Kuz and Deni are rebounding at a high rate, they need to get the rebound and start pushing the pace. That can be drive all the way or more likely a pass forward.

The point here, they rebound the ball and no one runs. Then we are back in those unproductive half-court sets (because our 3 point shooting is lacking). Given that we rank 6th in defensive rebounding, we shouldn't be 22nd in pace.

IMO, this is on Wes.

Scottie Barnes says hello.

I’d love it if Deni and Kuz could handle and pass on the run like Scottie. B. …but they can’t. I’d also like to see the Zards run more but I’m not expecting much fast break bball with this crew.

[FAH1223]

We are talking 6'9" guys that can see over the defense. Both Kuz and Deni are rebounding at a high rate, they need to get the rebound and start pushing the pace. That can be drive all the way or more likely a pass forward.

The point here, they rebound the ball and no one runs. Then we are back in those unproductive half-court sets (because our 3 point shooting is lacking). Given that we rank 6th in defensive rebounding, we shouldn't be 22nd in pace.

IMO, this is on Wes.

Scottie Barnes says hello.

I’d love it if Deni and Kuz could handle and pass on the run like Scottie. B. …but they can’t. I’d also like to see the Zards run more but I’m not expecting much fast break bball with this crew.

I'm in Toronto this week and went to the Raps-Mavs game.

When healthy, besides VanVleet, they'll have Scottie B, Siakam, Anunoby, and even Thad Young bring up the ball and initiate the offense. And they're all 6'8'' and above..

[DCZards]

Scottie Barnes says hello.

I’d love it if Deni and Kuz could handle and pass on the run like Scottie. B. …but they can’t. I’d also like to see the Zards run more but I’m not expecting much fast break bball with this crew.

I'm in Toronto this week and went to the Raps-Mavs game.

When healthy, besides VanVleet, they'll have Scottie B, Siakam, Anunoby, and even Thad Young bring up the ball and initiate the offense. And they're all 6'8'' and above..

We’re not talking about the ability of Kuz and Deni to bring the ball up and initiate the half court offense. That they can do. We’re talking about their ability to run the fast break.

[dckingsfan]

sigh.

[FAH1223]

I’d love it if Deni and Kuz could handle and pass on the run like Scottie. B. …but they can’t. I’d also like to see the Zards run more but I’m not expecting much fast break bball with this crew.

I'm in Toronto this week and went to the Raps-Mavs game.

When healthy, besides VanVleet, they'll have Scottie B, Siakam, Anunoby, and even Thad Young bring up the ball and initiate the offense. And they're all 6'8'' and above..

We’re not talking about the ability of Kuz and Deni to bring the ball up and initiate the half court offense. That they can do. We’re talking about their ability to run the fast break.

They can do it

They're just gonna turn it over

[dckingsfan]

I'm in Toronto this week and went to the Raps-Mavs game.

When healthy, besides VanVleet, they'll have Scottie B, Siakam, Anunoby, and even Thad Young bring up the ball and initiate the offense. And they're all 6'8'' and above..

We’re not talking about the ability of Kuz and Deni to bring the ball up and initiate the half court offense. That they can do. We’re talking about their ability to run the fast break.

They can do it

They're just gonna turn it over

And it isn't like we aren't 29th out of 30 teams in TOs by sticking to our slowed down offense

We wouldn't want to change that...

[dobrojim]

I'm struck by much of what Broome says in his recent analysis of the team
which is strongly based on actual data.

https://www.bulletsforever.com/2022/11/27/23479562/check-up-is-the-wizards-defense-reason-for-hope

In direct contrast to what I might have said/thought, we're above
average defensively and below average offensively.

In the famous words of Firesign Theatre, Everything you (I) know is wrong.

[payitforward]

Note that in Kevin's PPA roll up, our 5th best player (after KP, Beal, Kispert & Goodwin) is... Monte Morris.

[dobrojim]

You can increase your PPA in 2 ways:
Increase good things you do
Decrease bad things you do

Morris has his limitations but is great at minimizing doing bad things.

[Frichuela]

Using ESPN's real plus minus (RPM), here is how our top players rank:

13. Porzingis (and 3rd among Cs).
20. Kuzma (and 2nd among SFs...he would be 5th among PFs).
97. Wright (and 20th among SGs...he would be 23rd among PGs)
114. Beal (and 25th among SGs...and 54th in Defensive RPM among SGs).
121. Morris (and 26th among PGs).

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm

All our other players have a negative RPM...with Corey Kispert next at 192. Goodwin is surprisingly the following at 202. And I say surprisingly as I would have expected him to rate positive and higher than Morris...

Apart from Goodwin, the other glaring result is Beal ranked at 114...

I know ESPN's RPM is often subject to criticism. But if we look at the top-10 players in RPM, I'd say most of them make sense: Doncic, Tatum, Curry, Jokic, Greek Freak, Embiid, Mitchell, Halliburton, Jaren Jackson Jr, Morant.

Sorry but Brad has to do much better, particularly defensively (at least in offensive RPM he ranks 13th among SGs). Quite depressing to think we are paying the 114th player in RPM the super max...

[Kanyewest]

Using ESPN's real plus minus (RPM), here is how our top players rank:

13. Porzingis (and 3rd among Cs).
20. Kuzma (and 2nd among SFs...he would be 5th among PFs).
97. Wright (and 20th among SGs...he would be 23rd among PGs)
114. Beal (and 25th among SGs...and 54th in Defensive RPM among SGs).
121. Morris (and 26th among PGs).

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm

All our other players have a negative RPM...with Corey Kispert next at 192. Goodwin is surprisingly the following at 202. And I say surprisingly as I would have expected him to rate positive and higher than Morris...

Apart from Goodwin, the other glaring result is Beal ranked at 114...

I know ESPN's RPM is often subject to criticism. But if we look at the top-10 players in RPM, I'd say most of them make sense: Doncic, Tatum, Curry, Jokic, Greek Freak, Embiid, Mitchell, Halliburton, Jaren Jackson Jr, Morant.

Sorry but Brad has to do much better, particularly defensively (at least in offensive RPM he ranks 13th among SGs). Quite depressing to think we are paying the 114th player in RPM the super max...

Kelly Oubre listed at number 2 among shooting guards.

[Frichuela]

Using ESPN's real plus minus (RPM), here is how our top players rank:

13. Porzingis (and 3rd among Cs).
20. Kuzma (and 2nd among SFs...he would be 5th among PFs).
97. Wright (and 20th among SGs...he would be 23rd among PGs)
114. Beal (and 25th among SGs...and 54th in Defensive RPM among SGs).
121. Morris (and 26th among PGs).

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm

All our other players have a negative RPM...with Corey Kispert next at 192. Goodwin is surprisingly the following at 202. And I say surprisingly as I would have expected him to rate positive and higher than Morris...

Apart from Goodwin, the other glaring result is Beal ranked at 114...

I know ESPN's RPM is often subject to criticism. But if we look at the top-10 players in RPM, I'd say most of them make sense: Doncic, Tatum, Curry, Jokic, Greek Freak, Embiid, Mitchell, Halliburton, Jaren Jackson Jr, Morant.

Sorry but Brad has to do much better, particularly defensively (at least in offensive RPM he ranks 13th among SGs). Quite depressing to think we are paying the 114th player in RPM the super max...

Kelly Oubre listed at number 2 among shooting guards.

Yes, that is head scratching but what does it say about Brad? I don't see any other top tier players ranked that low. For context, these are the other 9 players ranked 110-120: Klay Thompson, Landale, Sengun, Alvarado, Monk, Portis, Vassell, Mobley, Banton, Moses Brown. In that group there is a promising young player with all star potential (Mobley) and the corpse of Klay. All other players....meh..

[Kanyewest]

Using ESPN's real plus minus (RPM), here is how our top players rank:

13. Porzingis (and 3rd among Cs).
20. Kuzma (and 2nd among SFs...he would be 5th among PFs).
97. Wright (and 20th among SGs...he would be 23rd among PGs)
114. Beal (and 25th among SGs...and 54th in Defensive RPM among SGs).
121. Morris (and 26th among PGs).

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm

All our other players have a negative RPM...with Corey Kispert next at 192. Goodwin is surprisingly the following at 202. And I say surprisingly as I would have expected him to rate positive and higher than Morris...

Apart from Goodwin, the other glaring result is Beal ranked at 114...

I know ESPN's RPM is often subject to criticism. But if we look at the top-10 players in RPM, I'd say most of them make sense: Doncic, Tatum, Curry, Jokic, Greek Freak, Embiid, Mitchell, Halliburton, Jaren Jackson Jr, Morant.

Sorry but Brad has to do much better, particularly defensively (at least in offensive RPM he ranks 13th among SGs). Quite depressing to think we are paying the 114th player in RPM the super max...

Kelly Oubre listed at number 2 among shooting guards.

Yes, that is head scratching but what does it say about Brad? I don't see any other top tier players ranked that low. For context, these are the other 9 players ranked 110-120: Klay Thompson, Landale, Sengun, Alvarado, Monk, Portis, Vassell, Mobley, Banton, Moses Brown. In that group there is a promising young player with all star potential (Mobley) and the corpse of Klay. All other players....meh..

His offensive plus minus is similar to Paul George (around 11th vs 13th). His defensive plus minus is similar to Terry Rozier/Donte Divincenzo (who Steve Kerr said is the best perimeter defender). There seems to be a lot of noise in this stat especially the defensive plus minus- Kelly Oubre for instance is a full 3.5 points better than Alex Caruso.

[DCZards]

Using ESPN's real plus minus (RPM), here is how our top players rank:

13. Porzingis (and 3rd among Cs).
20. Kuzma (and 2nd among SFs...he would be 5th among PFs).
97. Wright (and 20th among SGs...he would be 23rd among PGs)
114. Beal (and 25th among SGs...and 54th in Defensive RPM among SGs).
121. Morris (and 26th among PGs).

http://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm

All our other players have a negative RPM...with Corey Kispert next at 192. Goodwin is surprisingly the following at 202. And I say surprisingly as I would have expected him to rate positive and higher than Morris...

Apart from Goodwin, the other glaring result is Beal ranked at 114...

I know ESPN's RPM is often subject to criticism. But if we look at the top-10 players in RPM, I'd say most of them make sense: Doncic, Tatum, Curry, Jokic, Greek Freak, Embiid, Mitchell, Halliburton, Jaren Jackson Jr, Morant.

Sorry but Brad has to do much better, particularly defensively (at least in offensive RPM he ranks 13th among SGs). Quite depressing to think we are paying the 114th player in RPM the super max...

I love Kuz but any measuring tool that has him ranked ahead of Kevin Durant, Lebron James, Pascal Siakam, Jaylen Brown, Jimmy Butler, Paul George, etc., and has Bam Adebayo at 80 (just below Sam Hauser) and the reigning rookie of the year Scottie Barnes at 155, is suspect.

This might be a snapshot of where players rank according to one standard but it's a questionable measurement of a players' real value.