Appreciating the Washington Wizards’ Recent Success
The Washington Wizards, fresh off of a Martin Luther King Day beatdown of the hapless Philadelphia 76ers, have officially begun the 2nd half of the NBA regular season.
These are exciting times for the franchise, as a repeat of the first 41 games would result in a robust 56 wins and potential home court advantage through two rounds of the playoffs. The team is a couple days away from earning its first All-Star starter since Gilbert Arenas was selected by fans in 2007 and has been racking up national TV appearances as if it’s a league powerhouse in the mold of the New York Knicks or Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite the seemingly rosy outlook, there is some concern around the team that the results thus far are neither indicative of actual performance or predictive of what’s to come.
For starters, the Washington Wizards have played the 2nd easiest schedule in the NBA, with an average opponent winning percentage of just .481. While that may continue to remain suppressed due to more frequent competition vs. the middling Eastern Conference, it will still even out a little, considering teams like Cleveland (5th), Philadelphia (7th), and Miami (8th) all sit in the top 10.
Secondly, Washington has enjoyed great success in close games, currently sporting an 8-2 record in contests decided by 5 points or fewer. The Wizards expected to be better at late-game situations after the addition of Paul Pierce this summer, but their performance is tops in the league and probably unsustainable over the course of a full season.
As it stands today, the Wizards have a win-loss expectancy of 26-16 per NBA.com, three games worse than their spot in the standings. A point-differential of +2.6 is still good for 3rd in the East but a far cry from that of other contenders with similar records such as Toronto (+5.3), Dallas (+6.0), Houston (+4.2), and Memphis (+3.8).
The last area of emphasis for the naysayers of the Washington Wizards has to revolve around an offense that at times looks like it was designed using James Naismith’s peach baskets as practice hoops. With this much talent on the roster and a point guard who was put on this Earth to get players the ball in the right situations, Washington has yet to be able to muster anything more than an average offense under Randy Wittman.
Per Basketball-Reference.com, they currently sit at 13th in Offensive Rating, and when adjusted for schedule difficulty, the mark drops to an ugly 19th in the league. And despite their youthful and athletic backcourt, they play at just the 21st fastest pace in the league.
By now, we all have the potential problematic pitfalls come playoff time (intentional alliteration, give me my due) memorized better than we remember our own family members’ birthdays: too many mid-range jumpers, slowly developing offensive sets, low free throw rates due to phobia of the restricted area, erratic ball security, unproven roster, overmatched coaching, and on and on. But there’s one thought that pops into my head when considering any of these issues:
WHO CARES?!
Do you realize we’re now nitpicking the most successful Wizards team in almost 40 years?
Washington hasn’t experienced basketball like this since Jimmy Carter was in office, yet we spend our time pulling our hair out over whether or not we have enough wins vs. good teams and if Bradley Beal will ever ‘figure it out’ (PSA: He’s 21 freaking years old. At that age, I was trying to ‘figure out’ the optimal route from class to the downtown strip in Blacksburg to make sure I made the most of happy hour. On Tuesday.).
It’s January 21st and the Washington Wizards have 16 more wins than losses. Only last year, it was comic relief to watch this team try and break .500 even once (they finally did so on February 3rd, only to fall back to Earth the very next game).
The Wizards are mowing teams down like never before.
They’ve already won a conference-high 18 home games after coming away victorious in only 22 games at the Verizon Center all last year. Sure, they could score more points and yes, they could be more consistent against the league’s best competition.
But let’s step back for a second and realize a team that is coming off a playoff series victory over a weakened Chicago team isn’t immediately entitled to anything the following season.
One year ago, Ted Leonsis’ postseason mandate looked very much in jeopardy of not coming to fruition. How can people expect that within those 12 months, management, coaches, and players can quickly transition from reserving real estate on the chopping block to contributing to a championship contender?
Even in the East, fortunes cannot be expected to change that quickly.
Pieces have to fit together and chemistry has to be built. The team hasn’t had even two seasons worth of winning under its belt. That being said, 29-13 is nothing to scoff at. Neither is 2nd place in a conference that despite its shortcomings at the bottom of the ladder, still has legitimate contenders up top.
The Washington Wizards will be there at the end, which is more than we could’ve said in almost every season since professional basketball came to D.C.
So my message to everyone (mostly myself, since my Twitter account reads like the Wizards are winless on the season) is this: R-E-L-A-X (™Aaron Rodgers).
There will be time to yell and scream when we draw up an out-of-bounds play for a Kris Humphries iso. We can agonize over why Andre Miller was still in the game with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter and whether Drew Gooden is actually trying to dent the rim on his line drive jumpers.
Until then, appreciate what we do have; a homegrown superstar in John Wall, chemistry that is palpable every time the team takes the floor, a legitimately flourishing fan base within this city and beyond, and one of the most entertaining Twitter communities in the NBA.
No, the Washington Wizards may not be as good as their record indicates. But I promise you this team is a hell of a lot better than any most of us can remember.
Let’s enjoy it for once.