Wizards vs Sixers (10/18/17)

Washington’s first season opener at home since Bradley Beal’s rookie campaign in 2012 went reasonably well. Besides Robert Covington doing his best Steph Curry impression and the Wizards collectively forgetting how to shoot the three, Washington seemed crisp on offense and their defense still exhibited the same old habit of only showing up after going down double digits, letting up 59 first half points and 42.9% from three. The revamped bench dropped a healthy 41 points, a far cry from Brandon and the Bricklayers of the 2017 season. However, they all still managed to have a negative plus-minus which is slightly concerning. I wouldn’t be so quick to label the bench a bust from these early performances as they’ve barely played together and Frazier missing the majority of the preseason only compounded that. Overall, Washington played a flawed game but was able to out-talent the Sixers and defend when it mattered.

Wizards vs. Detroit (10/20/17)

Coming into the second game of the season, the Wizards’ already weak front court depth was hurt further by a Jason Smith shoulder injury, so Kelly Oubre got his first start of the season. While his offense still comes and goes, Oubre’s experience and minutes defending elite offensive talents is starting to show. The silly touch fouls and gambles have been replaced by excellent defense, successful navigation of screens, and even more crazed clapping when he deflects one of his twenty almost-steals per game into the stands. Not to be outdone, Otto Porter carried the Wizards offensively for much of the night. While the big three would eventually combine for 79 points on 67.3 TS%, Otto’s twenty first half points, half of them being unassisted, played a large part in keeping the Wiz in the game while Wall and Beal slowly heated up. The defense and bench play were much the same as in the opener, with both looking to be areas for improvement. The bench simply needs more time and the defense is a matter of effort. A lineup with four plus defenders in it like the Wizard’s starters shouldn’t consistently allow opponents nights of ~50 FG% and 40+ 3P%.

Wizards @ Nuggets (10/23/17)

Otto Porter is an elite SF in the making and both Washington and Otto would be best served by making a more consistent effort to keep him involved in the offense. While Otto’s strengths have always laid in his catch and shoot prowess, this season he’s shown an increased propensity to create for himself and others off the dribble. Porter’s been the best player in two of the Wiz’s first three games and his ability to affect the court on both sides is consistently growing. Leading the league in steals while playing excellent defense on Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, and Paul Millsap shows a defensive versatility that is at more sought after in this league than just about anything except 3-point shooting and Lavar quotes. Additionally, my earlier article on Wall’s efficiency and how it could be boosted by a change in play style seems to have been off-target. Wall’s averaging 9.8 FTA/G, three more than in his 2017 campaign and nearly double his career average. While I don’t expect Wall to continue leading the league in free throw attempts, he’s shooting a career high 41.6% of his shots from 0-3 feet and those shot attempts are more likely to send him to line than any other.

While Washington held the high-powered Nuggets to 104 in the final game of week one, it didn’t feel like a particularly earned defensive victory. Denver shot 30% of largely open three point attempts and the Wiz got lucky (first time for everything, I know right?) with some cold nights from normally potent offensive players like Murray and Harris. To their credit, this was the first game of the season where Washington flashed the turnover forcing ability (15.3 OPP TO/G last season, good for third in the NBA) which made them so scary in transition last season.

Stats That Might Mean Something But Also Might Be an Overreaction to a Small Sample Size