The Wizards' inside-out offensive playstyle can sometimes leave little margin for error in the possession battle, and Wednesday night against the Atlanta Hawks, that philosophy was tested.
Pre-game, I asked coach Brian Keefe if playing against teams like Atlanta that try to hoist as many threes as possible brings any changes to the Wizards' approach, especially when trailing, and he replied, “No.”
The Wizards held strong to their approach as Atlanta turned up the pace in a game where they attempted 49 threes to Washington’s 26. The Hawks made 19 to the Wizards' six.
Washington dug a hole early, traded twos for threes, and lost the rebounding battle 57-41, a recipe for a convincing home 120-105 loss.
Postgame, Trae Young said, “We’ve got a lot more to focus on than just rebounding” on a night that also saw the Wizards give up plenty of dribble penetration, leading to some quality Hawks looks from three.
There is still a recipe for the Wizards to play their brand of ball successfully, but alluding to what Trae said, rebounding is important, but there is still more the Wizards can do in games like their last contest.
Playing the Math Game
In today’s NBA, being an Inside-out scoring team can leave you vulnerable, as there are plenty of teams like Atlanta that play a math game where statistically launching more quality threes is a recipe for maximizing the number of points you can score, a strategy built from the simple fact that three is more than two.
While shooting more threes to catch up is an option, the Wizards also have a window to “play to their strengths,” as Coach Keefe said.
This ideal is similar to the Mystics, the other Monumental sports team under similar basketball leadership that I covered this summer, and their success, while not a one-to-one comparison, showed how an inside-out scoring team shooting a low volume of three-pointers can succeed.
To play to their size and strength as an inside-out team, they have to control the possession game and especially on the boards.
The difference between the two Monumental teams is that the Wizards are not dominating the glass.
Despite being a tall, athletic team, the Wizards are still struggling on the glass and rank near the bottom of the league in offensive rebounds allowed. The lack of defensive rebounding is one thing, but the quality of looks they give up on second-chance points is another.
The Wizards currently give up 18.1 second-chance points per game, which puts them 26th in the league as of November 5th. Giving up second-chance points is one thing, letting them turn into open shots is another.
Last night, many of the second-chance opportunities turned into Atlanta threes, so not only did the Wizards fail to protect the glass, but they also gave up great looks on the second possession.
When Washington secured rebounds, Atlanta did a great job of hustling back to prevent Washington on the break.
The silver lining is that plenty of the Wizards' early-season errors are fixable, and it will be interesting to see how Coach Keefe and squad rebound from a tough loss.
The Wizards get a second chance to bounce back against the Hawks this Friday in NBA Cup action.
