The Washington Wizards have gotten deserved criticism for not utilizing their players the correct way.

Randy Wittman‘s club has been underwhelming offensively and their star studded back court, John Wall and Bradley Beal, struggled to produce consistently due to lack of spacing and efficiency.

During the NBA Playoffs, though, Wittman’s team started to play a modern brand of basketball.

With Paul Pierce at the four and Otto Porter at the three, Washington’s spacing improved and their offense thrived as a result. Wall and Beal suddenly had room to operate without a clogged paint, and their defense was among the best in the league too.

Basically, Wittman started to play a brand of basketball that Wizard fans have been longing for.

Instead of packing the paint with two traditional big men, the Washington Wizards took advantage of their shooting, speed and versatility. If Wall didn’t get hurt in Game-1 of the semifinals, the Wizards would probably be matched up against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Nevertheless, the Wizards seem to be heading in the right direction — in terms of building a team around their young core.

Before the playoffs, Washington was labeled as a team skeptical of the basketball analytics movement.

Despite making investments in the analytics department, the Wizards continued to play archaic basketball during the regular season. Often settling for mid-range jump shots, which is deemed the most inefficient shot in basketball, Washington took what the defense gave them and their offense never thrived until the playoffs.

Ted Leonsis has been a supporter of analytics for quite some time. Today, his Washington Mystics and the Minnesota Lynx participated in a scrimmage centered around analytics. The Washington Wizards’ brass was in attendance:

Here’s what went down at the Verizon Center:

The official format/rules for today's analytic scrimmage. pic.twitter.com/Yvom8YGROn — Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) May 26, 2015

Essentially, the game was modified according to pace and shot selection — two areas that the Washington Wizards had been criticized the most prior to the playoffs.

Funnily enough, the scrimmage disallowed mid-range jump shots which is a shot that Wittman’s team often settled for.

Given how they played during the playoffs, we could expect the Washington Wizards to continue playing a “modern” brand of basketball next season. With that said, they’ll have to make a number of roster and lineup changes. For instance, Nene will play a different role for the team next year as they look to acquire a stretch four.

It’s great to see the Washington Wizards taking advantage of these opportunities and kudos to Ted Leonsis for continuing to support the WNBA.

Seriously, though. I’d pay to see Wittman’s face after learning that mid-range jumpers weren’t allowed.

#PositivePixels, guys.