Armchair Coaching, Scouting, etc thread.

[fishercob]

Always nice when a blogger breaks down some Wiz tape.

Here's a quick piece on Wall covering for Nick on the final sequence against Toronto.

http://somebasketballthings.wordpress.c ... der-thing/

[fishercob]

Prada with a nice breakdown of a really well executed play late in the game last night: http://www.bulletsforever.com/2012/3/8/ ... dy-wittman

Kevin's screen was huge here. That piece of the play is the same desigsn as the old Brendan Haywood screen in the back of Gilbert's man at the top of the arc, and Gil would flare out for a wide open 3.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2012/3/8/ ... nick-young

RANDY WITTMAN

On how the game turned: "We started making some shots, the crowd got into it, and suddenly, there were no more Lakers fans."

On John Wall's struggles: "He was played differently tonight than he was played probably all year in pick and rolls. That's something he'll adjust to."

On when he sensed a momentum changed: "When we hit those three threes in a row, and all of a sudden you get nine quick points. Now, you look up, and you say, 'Ooh, it's respectable. We can maybe push this even closer.'"

On the team's preparation: "We talked about this in the last game, but today, our minds were right. We came out, it was the best shootaround we've had all years. The attention to detail was fabulous. We did stuff today in trapping because they're so big up front that we really haven't done since I've taken over. We walked through it, we walked through it and we through it, and they did a magnificent job in that."

On how they defended Kobe Bryant: "That's all you can ask to do. He shot 31 times to get 30 points. I'll take that every night."

From the Lakers game thread:

Wizards Players on Limiting Kobe.

Booker and Young just said and I quote on the CSN broadcast

"Coach said trap and double him at all times and keep a body on the bigs, the other ones can't beat you. Don't worry about them making plays, just do that and we will win"

That is some disrespectful, hard to swallow, but truthful **** about us 4-12

--Reading quotes from Wall and Young, they reflect more maturity and perspective.

--Wittman is starting to impress upon the young guys the importance of being focused.

--Meritocracy is determining playing minutes now under coach Wittman. Minutes are being earned and the guys have bought in. Check out this picture from near the end of the Laker game, with guys cheering from the bench.



-Randy Wittman has their ears and I believe he's also got their hearts receptive to what he's preaching.

I want Joerger to be the next coach of the Wizards, but Wittman is IMO doing a real nice job redirecting and teaching these guys how to play the right way. They don't always execute but I can see this coach's vision is an improvement over the past.

[closg00]

Nice post CCJ. Isn't this post-Flip team more-fun to watch? Sure, we've had a lot of ups and downs, but Witt at-least thinks outside the box and is flexible with his rotations. Coaching matters.

[go'stags]

For an interim coach who probably won't be back next season, Wittman seems to have as much passion about this team and the players developing as anyone on this board. I appreciate and respect that a lot.

[tontoz]

Agreed. I like what i have seen from Wittman.

I can remember two games last year where they could have easily won but didn't because Flip stayed with Yi/Blatche too long. Last night could have been one of those games if Flip was still here. It seemed like Blatche would never get benched no matter how bad he played.

[go'stags]

Sometimes I think I can't even blame Flip for that. Blatche is a great tank option late in games. If we can't unload him, he will make for a great "break glass in case of emergency" guy to keep the tank alive.

[fishercob]

Very interesting piece from Hoopsworld's Anhony Macri on how the Nuggets were using Javale McGee effectively: http://www.hoopsworld.com/coach-javale- ... -the-court

It would be great with some accompanying pics or vids, but the description is still sold. Enjoy.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Very interesting piece from Hoopsworld's Anhony Macri on how the Nuggets were using Javale McGee effectively: http://www.hoopsworld.com/coach-javale- ... -the-court

It would be great with some accompanying pics or vids, but the description is still sold. Enjoy.

Weakside positioning means that McGee’s responsibilities include screening away from the ball (an easy task for him to handle), cutting and diving when there is penetration to an open area for a potential dump-off and easy score, and the mandate to go to the offensive glass. His positioning on the weakside means his defender is constantly in help, which is a difficult place to be when a shot goes up: McGee can crash hard and often, and is in great position to finish plays from there.

Finding the best way to utilize a player’s specific skill-set within the confines of a larger offensive framework is a challenge for every team. In JaVale McGee’s case, Denver seems to be discovering that a less traditional approach makes him much more likely to reach performance expectations.

Makes sense to me. Give the ball to McGee off Lawson's bounce. By putting him on the empty post, it creates spacing, rather than clogging the lane. Don't have McGee forcing things from the post, like Flip tried to do. He doesn't have the strength for it and that isn't his strength. Denver is maximizing the strength of McGee's game, weak side blocks and rebounding. They are enabling him to score rolling toward the hole and on the break.

That is smart basketball, and McGee doesn't have to process a whole bunch to succeed, either.

[theboomking]

I thought McGee was used fine offensively in Washington. I just thought he was otherwise coached and developed terribly, and if they wanted to keep him, they should have dumped Dray and NY waaaay earlier.

As much as I think McGee sucks for performing so far below his potential, he was making significant improvements on offense this year, and I think that he will become even better on offense. He had a nice little hook shot going this year.

[pancakes3]

McGee's skyhook isn't going to justify contracts. His screens will.

[closg00]

Keith Smart played for Gregg Popovich and has applied some of his techniques to the way he coaches.

"The NBA is a league that copies," Smart said this week, "and teams look at trends.

"The trend right now suggests the game is coming back to a time where the floor is open, teams have stretch fours (power forwards who can shoot), and point guards who can make plays for themselves and their teammates. When you look at the Spurs, how many times do you see a guy dribble, then pass? They just pass. They also get into their offense so fast, it allows for more time to move the ball to the open player."

Smart helped the Kings transition to a team that plays faster on offense and dribbles less.

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/22 ... z1wf83BoiP

The Spurs system

[fishercob]

From BulletsForever:

How Trevor Ariza Can Help The Washington Wizards' Offense

A really nice breakdown and a worthwhile read and watch. It's pretty consistent with what I have been saying on why Ariza complements Singleton.

There are a few keys to The Rza's effectiveness IMO:

1) Him knowing his role and understanding what he can and can't do. If he goes rogue and takes contested jumpers off of ISO's, he's going to be bad an unpopular very quickly.

2) Wall. If Wall is great, Ariza can be really effective. If John struggles, we are more likely to see Ariza try to create and get into the bad stuff in #1.

3) Nene and to a slightly lesser extent Seraphin. Ariza did not have a post threat in New Orleans who could score efficiently and create with his passing. Nene has the skill set and willingness to do so and Seraphin appears to be headed in that direction.

As Wall and Nene go, so to will Ariza. They can get him corner 3's that he can make and they can create space for his cuts and get him the ball when he does so.

[Hoopalotta]

Taken from the Bradley Beal thread as it's more appropriate here:

I don't think it's that simple. It's hard to play when you're looking over your shoulder at the coach who is ready to yank you for any small mistake. Having the confidence of knowing you're going to get at least 25 minutes each night allows you to play loose and not stress about making mistakes.

Do we know that Wittman is the kind of coach who will yank a player (Seraphin in this case) for any small mistake? Or are we making an assumption?

It's an assumption. My own assumption is that Wittman's marching orders are to win games AND develop the young players. Not easy stuff by any stretch, I know. BUt I think while Oak and Nene are going to start together, Randy is going to do his best to keep one of them on the floor for much of the game. I do not that we'll see -- at least initially -- long stretches with two of the young bigs together, unless they have made big strides on the boards and/or in defensive awareness.

I wonder, though....unless the coach is willing to either end a half with a reserve on the floor as the default position or go hyper gimmicky with the substitutions (ie. yanking a starter four minutes into the 1st or the 3rd), starting two bigs who play relatively modest minutes lends itself to platoon substitutions. That's just the most graceful way to do it if you want everyone playing 7-10 minute stretches before a sub.

[Madden Voice]The catch is, the third big can never be on the floor playing two positions at the same time[/Madden Voice]

It'll look really awkward in a flow chart if you try and do otherwise as you'll end up with guys out there for really short stretches.

[fishercob]

Excellent two-for from SB Nation

The first section is an explanation of the "nail" in an NBA defensive alignment. Long term, I can see the Wiz's defensive scheme thriving by getting Porter's length, quickness, and anticipation to the nail as much as possible.

Second section is a great breakdown of the Wiz's, um, breakdown against ATL. Enjoy

[fishercob]

Bump for a merge with drk3351's awesome video breakdown of the Wizards OT win in Orlando.

[fishercob]

http://bballbreakdown.com/2014/11/20/armchair-coaching-john-wall/

Talking about John taking more pull up two pointers than anyone else in the league. I've been saying that Randy Wittmans philosophy of taking any open shot they have is hurting the development of Wall and the wizards. Watching John play at times can be maddening when he settles for pull up jumpers. Part of this is Wittman telling him its ok to do that. These are some of the reasons why we go through so many stretches of terrible offense where we cant score. Too many possesions end in 17 foot postups with gortat/nene or john wall pullup midrange jumpshots which are extremely inefficient. If John can just learn to try to beat the big man when he switches instead of pulling up or even just keeping the dribble alive for another second, he would be able to find more situations where a pocket pass would be available or if the weakside defender cheats in a little his signature crosscourt corner three pass. Just keeping the dribble alive for a little longer instead of settling.

I do thing the fact that the only coaches he has ever played for in Randy Wittman and Flip Saunders who shoot more mid range jumpers than any other coaches has hurt his development. This offense is not playing towards John Walls strengths. I would love to see him in another more spaced out offense that isnt always playing inside out.

The video companion to the article further highlights the problem. The Wizards offense is designed too much around long 2's (even if open) and iso'd post-ups. Gortat is one of the best pick and roll bigs in the league and much more efficient in the PnR than he is on post-ups. The inside-out approach doesn't make sense when Wall and Beal are your two best players; worth through those guys!

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL5iL9BOoUs&list=UUSpvjDk06HLxBaw8sZw7SkA[/youtube]

There's a reason for some hope, though -- Nene's injury. Interesting and hopefully instructive that against Milwaukee -- on a night when neither Otto nor Webster were available, but Blair, Gooden, Hump and Seraphin all were -- Pierce played 12 minutes at the 4. The Wizards were +9 in those stretches. A healthy wing rotation means more Pierce at the 4, which I love.

[Nivek]

I'm a big fan of Coach Nick and Seth, but Seth could really use some...umm...coaching on his presentation. First, maybe don't go to Bill Belichick for fashion advice. Second, look at the camera, not everywhere else. Darting eyes = bad look.

The content is really good, though.