Washington Wizards’ Kelly Oubre Has Tools To Contribute Right Away by Ben Mehic

The Washington Wizards are serious about playing fast and improving their three point shooting. They’ve changed their training camp this season and made it clear that an improved offense is key to their success.

While it’s nice to hear the chatter, it’s important to see the changes put into practice.

Today, the Washington Wizards started their preseason journey against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers. Needless to say, the changes they made this off-season were evident. Your Wizards — the same team that’s coached by Randy Wittman — are a different club this season.

Right out of the gate, the Washington Wizards made a legitimate effort to push the ball up the floor.

Even after made baskets, the Wizards were quick to inbound the ball and run immediately. They didn’t wait for John Wall to get set — they simply threw it up the court to the first available player. That’s something they certainly didn’t do last season.

Washington knocked down three after three, and more importantly, they appeared to have a functional offense in place.

Wall orchestrated pick-and-rolls with Marcin Gortat, which resulted in open shots from the perimeter for Otto Porter and Kris Humphries, who started the game over Nene.

Porter scored 13 points in the first 12 minutes of action, knocking down three 3-point shots.

In transition, Porter ran to the corner and was found by Wall. It seems like they’re trying to emulate a style that was used with Trevor Ariza. Porter is great at running towards the rim in fastbreak situations, but he’s going to make his money from the corner.

Otto Porter. Giving zero f's and doing whatever he wants to #wet https://t.co/E0nHcx8SU3 — Hoop District (@HoopDistrictDC) October 6, 2015

Virtually everyone who played tonight found a way to impact the game from the perimeter. Perhaps it was Philadelphia’s defense, or lack thereof, but some credit certainly has to go to Wittman’s new offense.

Humphries, who’s used to popping out to the mid-range area, is starting to float out to the top of the key off screens.

Like Porter, Humphries is also starting to find open shots from the corner. He’s been working diligently on his three point shot and it looks like he’s going to continue shooting threes.

Kris Humphries been working on that distance https://t.co/pDHpx6ICFF — Hoop District (@HoopDistrictDC) October 7, 2015

Porter knocked down all four of his three point attempts and finished the game with 22 points in just 24 minutes of action. Humphries made two of his four attempts. Bradley Beal added 19 points in limited time and benefited from the improved floor spacing. DeJuan Blair scored 12 points in 6 minutes. That’s essentially everything you need to know. When Blair is hitting step back jumpers at the buzzer, things are going well.

The Washington Wizards made 15 of their 26 three point tries. Alan Anderson, Kelly Oubre and Martell Webster all missed tonight’s preseason game with injuries. No one is expected to miss time at the start of the season, but the fact that Washington looked fantastic from three without three of their perimeter players is fantastic.

If it’s possible to play a perfect preseason game, the Washington Wizards did that tonight.

Everyone who played contributed. Nene looks comfortable with the second unit along side Drew Gooden, Porter is thriving with the starters and the back court is still amazing. The Wizards are consciously shooting threes and distancing, no pun intended, themselves away from the long two. That’s the main takeaway from tonight’s 129-95 win over the Sixers.