WASHINGTON — Coming off an Eastern Conference Semifinal run last season, in which they played their best playoff ball, hopes were high for the Washington Wizards as they entered the 2015-16 season.
A thunderous sweep of the Toronto Raptors and a hard-fought series loss through injuries to their top two players against the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks hinted that the Wizards might be ready to break through into the elites of the league.
But with Wednesday night鈥檚 home game against the Miami Heat marking the halfway point of the regular season, the Wizards (19-21) are not only on the wrong side of the playoff bubble, they鈥檙e on the wrong side of .500.
So what鈥檚 gone wrong so far, and what needs to be done to fix it?
One of the reasons for hope was the smaller, quicker lineup usage and better floor spacing that head coach Randy Wittman employed to great success during the playoffs.
Washington鈥檚 offensive rating went from a middling 103.7, 22nd聽in the league, up to 105.8, which was better than any Eastern Conference playoff team except for聽the Cleveland Cavaliers who were beaten only by the Golden State Warriors in the finals. They did so while simultaneously running the third most efficient defense in last year鈥檚 playoffs, behind only the Warriors and Chicago Bulls.
But the success of last year鈥檚 postseason has not translated to this year鈥檚 regular season. Despite the best three-point percentage in the East (36.9) and a faster pace — 99.90 possessions per 48 minutes (fifth in the league) up from 16th last year (95.96) — the Wizards鈥� offensive rating ranks in the bottom half of the NBA. Nevertheless, the signs of a potential breakthrough are there.
鈥淧ace on offense has been consistent,聽regardless of the lineup,鈥� says 海角精品黑料 Senior Sports Director Dave Johnson, who calls play-by-play for the Wizards.
鈥淛ohn Wall is the Wizards鈥� best player and Ramon Sessions has been the Wizards鈥� most consistent player from the start of the season. Keep in mind John鈥檚 November was not that great, but since then he鈥檚 been an All-Star.鈥�
The falloff has come on the defensive side of the ball. Washington posted a top-five defense efficiency-wise last season. Right now, they鈥檙e nineteenth. The reasons for this have created a Catch-22 for Wittman鈥檚 team.
After finishing eighth in the league in rebounding last year, Washington has been abysmal so far this season, ranking dead last in the league at just 31.2 per game. And the problem isn鈥檛 confined to one end of the floor — the Wizards are bottom five in the league in both offensive and defensive rebounding.
鈥淣ene鈥檚 absence — and at times, because of injury having to going really small — has impacted the boards,鈥� Johnson says. 鈥淲hat can go unnoticed about Nene is how helps others get rebounds. He might not get the rebound, but he is the one that boxes out and allows others to get the rebound.鈥�
Wizards’ forward Jared Dudley agrees.
鈥淗e鈥檚 probably our best low post scorer,” he says. “He can pass the ball, he is a physical presence defensively. It seems like even when he鈥檚 there, teams go for less offensive rebounds.鈥�
But when the Wizards try to shore up rebounding by playing two big men at the same time, as they did Monday afternoon against Portland, sometimes the defensive game plan falls apart. The Blazers took 31 three-pointers and hit 17 of them, which one might consider lucky.
Many of those shots were wide open and completely uncontested, though, after the defensive rotation fell behind coming off basic pick-and-roll offense.
This has resulted in the Wizards allowing the third highest, three-point percentage in the league (.380) after being middle of the pack last year (.349). That may not seem like a huge deal, but over 1,885 attempts — the number of threes opponents put up last year — it translates to 60 more made shots. That鈥檚 180 points, or almost 2.2 points per game.
There have been injuries other than just to Nene, namely to Bradley Beal, who has missed half the games thus far. But no one player鈥檚 presence or absence can be pointed to as the determining factor in Washington鈥檚 sluggish start.
Sure, Beal has played only 20 games, but the Wizards are just 9-11 when he has. Kris Humphries, a big man with a little more athleticism and who can stretch the floor, has missed 13 games, but Washington is only 13-14 when he鈥檚 been healthy.
It鈥檚 been more about the combination of players missing which has stalled the team鈥檚 progress, especially when they鈥檝e been unable to even practice together.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just trying to weather the storm,鈥� Dudley says of all the injuries. 鈥淚 know once all the chips are available for us, I know that we鈥檙e going to be a tough team to beat.鈥�
On an intangible level, the Verizon Center has not provided the comforts it has in past seasons. Washington鈥檚 10-8 road record is the third best in the Eastern Conference, but the Wizards are an abysmal 9-13 at home, one of only three teams in the East in single digits in home wins. For reference, the team only lost 12 times at home all of last season, where they secured 29 of their 42 victories.
The good news is that the East is far more balanced than the West right now. The Wizards are just two games off the playoff bubble, and astoundingly just 9.5 games back of the top-seeded Cavs. In comparison, Denver is the eleventh seed out West, 21.5 games back of Golden State.
But six of Washington鈥檚 next eight games come against teams with winning records, capped off by a showdown with those 38-4 Warriors in D.C.
If they are going to salvage their season and ready themselves for another playoff run, they can鈥檛 afford to wait any longer to shore up their shortcomings.
