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[This post, and its lineup data, is just one way to look back at the Washington Wizards 2012-13 season that was. More from TAI to come...]
[From the Metro Bus - K. Weidie]
“Come playoff time, what most coaches do, is they play eight,
they rely on seven, and they only trust five.”—Reggie Miller, former NBA player, current television analyst
Martell Webster, in his first year as a member of the Wizards, has had an excellent season and a profound impact on the team. His 3-point shooting and unique style of play has been a great fit, especially with Wall at the helm and Beal with him on the wing. Compare Webster’s pertinent statistics on a month-by-month basis this season:
November: 12 games played, 257 total minutes, 103 total points, 43.8% FG, 41.7% 3P
December: 14 games played, 438 total minutes, 132 total points, 39.4% FG, 40.0% 3P
January: 16 games played, 445 total minutes, 195 total points, 46.3% FG, 41.4% 3P
February: 12 games played, 381 total minutes, 149 total points, 51.5% FG, 56.4% 3P
March: 15 games played, 506 total minutes, 224 total points, 43.7% FG, 39.0% 3P
April: 5 games played, 123 total minutes, 45 total points, 34.1% FG, 25.0% 3P
On the season? 29 minutes per game, 11.4 points per game, 3.9 rebounds per game, 1.9 assists per game, 44.4% FG, 42.2% 3P.
Let’s read between the lines a bit, because numbers enjoy the companionship of context. What is the mark for “excellent” NBA 3-point shooting? That’s debatable, but for argument’s sake, let’s say being one of the top 25 3-point shooters in the NBA. The current 25th best, OJ Mayo, hits 40.6 percent of the time. Webster has been above that mark in three out of the six available months (excluding that lonely October game). Two of those months, January and February 2013, came with heavy minutes from John Wall and Bradley Beal. While Wall’s ability to buttress his teammates’ shooting ability has been well-documented, the less publicized point about Webster’s career year has been how well he and Beal have played together.
John Wall, defensive dynamo (?)
Entering Wednesday night, here are the NBA’s top five teams in defensive rating–a stat that measures opponents’ points per 100 possessions. Essentially, it’s a pure way to track which teams are best at keeping opponents’ points off the board.
How ’bout that John Wall guy?
Against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, John Wall, playing his 165th game in the NBA, finished with 23 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. It was a really good, smart performance from the team’s starting point guard. But it’s also a line we’ve seen before: he has 13 career games in which he’s scored at least 20 points, dished out 10 assists and grabbed six rebounds. It was Wall’s second straight double-double (he had 27 points, 14 assists and seven rebounds in a loss to Cleveland on Tuesday).
Why is that number of games played (165) significant? Because Wall’s story is a coming-of-age tale of sorts. People who talk basketball like to point to a player’s third season as the “breakout year,” and everyone expected Wall to show serious progress in 2012-13—a constant theme in summertime Wizards coverage. In a way, the Wizards-Bucks game was opening day for John Wall version 3.0 (two typical, 82-game seasons add up to 164). So, not a bad “season debut” for the third-year player.
One thing that struck me about Bradley Beal’s shooting zone chart for games 21-50 that I included at the bottom of the previous post was the relatively even distribution in attempts per location. Now, he’s certainly better from certain spots — 12.1 percent better on 3-pointers from the left corner versus the right; 32.3 percent better on above the break 3s from the right side as opposed to the left (even though he’s attempted 14 more on the left side). It’s especially interesting to go back to that post and compare Beal’s game 21-50 chart to those of Eric Gordon, Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen to get a feel about the player each was when they got into the league (and to a certain extent, still are).
Below I’ve re-posted Beal’s shooting zone chart for games 21-50, and below that, Beal’s chart for games 1-20. After that, we have a video of Beal talking about the progression of his jump shot — he says he’s now getting more lift. Given that Beal’s Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%) has gone from 42.1 percent over his first 20 games to 49.8 percent over games 21-50, that is certainly evident.
“[Bradley Beal] is very talented. … He can play without the ball, he can put alot of pressure on the defense and he can shoot it. He is the future of the NBA.” —Jason Kidd.
“Working out to be an Allstar!” via Jan Vesely’s Instagram
Mere hours before the 2013 NBA All-Star Game, Jan Vesely tweeted an Instagram picture of himself working out in a weight room captioned: “Working out to be an Allstar!”
Honza is not in Randy Wittman’s doghouse, per se, but he’s been definitely buried on the Wizards’ bench without a bone lately—the Czech has played just 13 out of 672 total minutes (over the last 14 Wizards games). Many folks on the message boards keep saying that Vesely is bust. Some have come to this conclusion since the former lottery pick, now a sophomore, missed his last chance to appear in the NBA’s Rising Stars exhibition during All-Star weekend. Now, while the wise man might say that setting overly auspicious goals (such as becoming an NBA All-Star) sets you up for failure, it’s certainly good to see that Vesely adopting an “I’ll show you!” mentality. Even if he’s currently frustrated in not playing, he’s still working to prove his critics wrong in the long run. The Czech media, in particular, is waiting to see whether their local hero will produce across the Atlantic.
But, does Vesely really have a chance to become an All-Star? At face value, his chances are slim… very slim, to be honest. Perhaps the question is: has anyone in his situation done it before?
[Wizards 3-Pointers in 2012-13 before John Wall.]
[Wizards 3-Pointers in 2012-13 WITH John Wall.]
“I’m somebody that likes to have my own style, and I call it ‘coolin’ ‘ when I’m doing what I do. I make it work.”
—John Wall, Feb. Interview with Sole Collector
[via Instagram/John_Wall]
[*153 out of 199 possible games, one season being a 66-game,
lockout-shortened season in which Wall played in all 66.]
When Flip Saunders was still calling plays and running practices in D.C., he had some pretty good ideas for changing the team’s culture. One idea in particular stood out, one which science said was “subconsciously driving players toward team behavior through deeply rooted psychological mechanisms.”
Remember? From my story in February 2012:
Peer-reviewed science says there is an incentive for Wizards players to compete like winners. Before this 2011-12 season, the Wizards secured a new whiteboard to the far-right corner of the Wizards locker room: the Charge Board. Players who draw charges in both practice and official NBA games are celebrated on the chart, now crowded with red and blue basketballs (like buckeye leaf stickers on a chrome football helmet), the new standard by which respect and status is measured in D.C.’s pro hoops franchise.
When: Tues., May 21 - 7:30 pm
Where: Lou's City Bar - Columbia Heights, D.C.
Across The ESPN TrueHoop Network
