HEAT @ BULLETS

[queridiculo]

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The thing is that this is defense 101. Its one of the first things I teach the kids I coach. If the ball is on the other side of the court, there is no need to play your man tight. You can sag into the middle a little, but you always have to keep your eye on your man and be in a position to recover if the ball gets swung back around.

That to me has been without a doubt the biggest problem with EJ for years. Under EJ this team has played fundamentally unsound basketball on the defensive side since he joined.

Not making an effort to show strong on screens, closing out on the baseline, proper defensive stances, boxing out (espescially free throws), the list goes on and on. Our team doesn't do any of the fundamentals with consistency and at this point the only thing I can conclude is that he simply doesn't care.

That, or he doesn't want to hurt the fragile egos of his players.

[miller31time]

I'm glad to hear Brendan say that, but frankly, he's not the one that needs to be saying that.

I want to hear it from EJ and our perimeter defenders. Until I see or hear them saying they're going to work on perimeter defense, then I don't expect consistent defensive play.

[Rafael122]

Only so much a coach can say. Haywood's been sucking badly the last 2 weeks so I'm not surprised he said what he said. He's been one of the worse defenders the last 10 games or so, he doesn't jump for the block, lets guys slower than he is drive to the basket with ease.

[TheKingOfVa360]

great win, we needed that. 4 straight years baby!

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

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Its not just Arenas. Everyone else does it as well. Whenever any opposing player penetrates against the Wiz or the ball gets dumped down to a post player, the entire team collapses in the paint. I think this stems from a few years back when we allowed two many lay-ups. E.J. changed his defensive philosophy to focus on protecting the paint and preventing lay-ups at all costs. The problem is that there is no reason for weakside defenders to collapse in the paint when their man stays on the perimeter. Its ok to sag off your man if you are a weakside defender, but you have to be in a position to recover. The Wiz players just get caught to far in the paint to do that. Arenas constantly does that, but so does Caron, AD, AJ and the rest of the players.

The thing is that this is defense 101. Its one of the first things I teach the kids I coach. If the ball is on the other side of the court, there is no need to play your man tight. You can sag into the middle a little, but you always have to keep your eye on your man and be in a position to recover if the ball gets swung back around.

If I was a scout for opposing teams, I would just tell my players to just penetrate and kick against the Wizards. An open shot will always be there.

That's all anybody has to do against the Wizards is draw and kick. Swing the ball and the shots will be there.

When I say bad things about EJ, doc and DCZards are quick to defend him most of the time. What I cannot begin to understand is how EJ cannot understand that giving up 40% on threes is like giving up 60% on twos.

I think he's foolish to have small guys collapsing inside to protect the paint.

I believe having McGuire defend Chris Paul was one of the most brilliant moves he's made. Having DeShawn play the kind of perimeter defense against Boston, while letting Haywood hold his own against even KG made a lot of sense.

In all the big wins the Wizards played good defense, inside and out, WITHOUT foolishly collapsing inside and allowing teams to draw and dish to wide open shooters.

It makes a lot more sense to have size and athleticism on the court and in the perimeter and not violate defense 101, as dandridge noted.

[fishercob]

Question for the more intelligent EJ critics (Rico, CCJ, etc):

How is it that Ayers gets the credit for the early season defensive improvement, but EJ gets the blame for the recent lapse? People are treating the situation like we know that EJ did something to undo the defensive progress that was made. If Ayers' main responsibility is defense, why isn't he due more of the blame?

As TSW points out the dropoff in defensive efficiency is very real, but I'm not sure any of us know why yet.

[doclinkin]

"You're idea of Arenas becoming like CP3 is absolutely ridiculous and you're probably the only NBA fan who thinks Arenas can come close to being the player Paul is. "

He can be like CP3 with this team, and for this team. Five years of familiarity in a system and a ton of time and practice with these guys can make up the gap in learning curve and instinct.

The difference between the two is simply that: learning curve, Paul will know his players quicker and get up to speed quicker, Gil took a little more time. With this team the passer-Gil can be even better than CP3 with his squad.

The only caveat is that Gil will still probably try to make a few wild-ass passes. Except now he's got a few finishers at the other end who can catch a ball, we'll actually hit some of them shots.

Now that we have scorers, trying for an assist is that much more satisfying than when Jared Jeffries was running out on the break, or the KFB was in the paint waiting for the post-entry.

[doclinkin]

As TSW points out the dropoff in defensive efficiency is very real, but I'm not sure any of us know why yet.

Said it in another thread but the answer is: exhaustion and injuries. The team is running the same schemes as earlier, they're just unable to recover in time. Earlier in the season they'd trap the ballhandler to kill the pick and roll. Then the helping defender would chase all the way out and force the passer to make a wild attempt to get it out of his hands, or the Big would collapse quick and recover to the paint. Now you've got injured and exhausted players who are slow to jump out on the trap, and even slower to recover, so somebody has to collapse to cover underneath if they get beat. Not good. Now the perimeter is wide open from the man they just left.

In Gilbert's case, not only is he injured (or recovering-- he's a bit slow still) but he doesn't have a year's benefit drilling the team defense with the crew. Compounding the problem: he's trying to recover his feel for the game, not learn entirely new habits. Like Defense.

He's still ball-watching, not doubling down to help on defense, but glancing over his shoulder to see what's happening. Doesn't yet trust that someone will call if they need help, or what not. Communication. He needs to take a lesson from DSteve, never lose you man: take a quick peek behind you but only after you've cut off his lane to that side.

And worse: with Gil's ballwatching he's sagging in to snatch rebounds so he can start the offense. Same as he always does. There's a reason why he's consistently the #2 league leader in rebounds by a PG (after JKidd), he leaves his man wide open trying to catch a missed shot. Trust your Bigs to rebound Gil, they'll find you once they have it.

In Gil's case it's probably too late to change much this year, but for the rest of the team, getting Gil's offense back will steal minutes here and there for other players to rest and regain their legs and energy for defense. If Gil is scoring EJ can sit AJ and CB3 in favor of long young defenders and give them a few minutes to catch their wind. Suddenly it's like we have a bench in that case. You know, or something like it.

[miller31time]

Question for the more intelligent EJ critics (Rico, CCJ, etc):

How is it that Ayers gets the credit for the early season defensive improvement, but EJ gets the blame for the recent lapse? People are treating the situation like we know that EJ did something to undo the defensive progress that was made. If Ayers' main responsibility is defense, why isn't he due more of the blame?

As TSW points out the dropoff in defensive efficiency is very real, but I'm not sure any of us know why yet.

I didn't put Ayers in my post because he wouldn't be a person that would speak to the media about our defense. That would be EJ or the players who do the talking to the media.

I certainly agree that Ayers is just as responsible as anyone. Heck, more-so.