NBA Playoffs 2015: Washington Wizards Realizing Potential In Playoffs
By Osman Baig
Sweep the North replaced We the North as the Washington Wizards emphatically closed out their opening round series with the Toronto Raptors with a 31-point win, capping off a 4-0 sweep.
The Wizards found their playoff swagger of a year ago and may have upped it if you consider how they dismantled a favored Raptors squad. The Raptors, like the Wizards, struggled over the second half of the season, but many pointed towards their domination of the Wizards the past two seasons as the basis for prediction…Everyone but ME!
Hold on. Before the series YOU said there was a 75% chance that Toronto would win the series in five games. You have been tweeting @TedLeonsis for the last three months begging for a coaching change and trades. You even wanted the Washington Wizards to bring back Jordan Crawford!!
There’s what I say, and what I know; lets leave it at that.
There was NO WAY you could have known that Randy Wittman was playing rope-a-dope for 82 games and hiding his best hand in anticipation of the playoffs. Were you afraid that your massive following on twitter would leak word to Dwane Casey that you had inside information?
The list of greatest rope-a-dopers of all-time includes only three names: Muhammad Ali, Randy Wittman, and Osman Baig. Remember that!
I’ve already said too much, let’s just focus on what happened versus Toronto.
No, you focus on that….I can’t hear anymore of this.
Well then, I’ll just move along to some takeaways from the series:
1) Randy Wittman to some degree was definitely hiding his hand during the regular season.
It wouldn’t shock me if he did decide not to play Paul Pierce as a stretch-4 very often as a means to keep him fresh for the postseason.
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That being said, if he truly were saving this, that doesn’t explain why Otto Porter wasn’t given consistent time to develop as the other forward to compliment Paul Pierce.
Also, why wasn’t this tactic used last spring versus Indiana, when Washington’s offense came to a halt in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
2) Last week before the series with the Raptors began I recapped my preseason “steps” needed for the Washington Wizards to become a legitimate NBA Finals contender.
Those were improved offense, growth from the backcourt, protecting homecourt, and an x-factor emerging. In my season recap I concluded that they only hit on one of these. That changed in the postseason.
The offense significantly improved, averaging 110 points per game, approximately a 12-point improvement from the regular season. John Wall and Bradley Beal also began to remind people why they have frequently been discussed amongst the best young backcourts in the NBA.
They quickly shook off a rough Game 1 and put their imprint on the series, averaging nearly a combined 39 points in attacking fashion, showing a decisiveness that lacked, in particular from Beal during the season.
The Washington Wizards remained Road Warriors, similar to last season, but more importantly, they supplemented that with strong play at Verizon Center by going 2-0. Last but certainly not least was the x-factor, Otto Porter.
One of the biggest concerns going into the series was figuring out a way to stop DeMar DeRozan.
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There was no Trevor Ariza this year and if the Wizards did want to deploy Paul Pierce as a stretch-4, someone would have to step up and play big minutes at the small forward position. Otto did just that.
He frustrated DeRozan with his defense, disrupted the Raptors’ offense as a whole with his length, and contributed offensively as well.
The ascension was from perceived “bust” to x-factor in the playoffs happened in a flash and could have huge implications for the future of this franchise.
3) If Randy Wittman is going to rope-a-dope through next season, the Washington Wizards, in particular Ernie Grunfeld, will have to do a better job building a versatile enough bench to get the the team through the regular season.
This season the Wizards had the benefit of a weak Eastern Conference, but as the conference improves, the task for Washington to maintain a higher seed will become more difficult. If Randy Wittman wanted to save Paul Pierce from playing the stretch-4 this season, I don’t see that changing in his age-38 season.
The draft will be important to bring some youth into the system and the Wizards will have other tools available including the Mid-Level Exception, Bi-Annual Exception, and Trade Exception from Andre Miller. It’s time for Grunfeld to finally find the stretch-4 position on a permanent basis, and ideally add more shooting to the roster given Bradley Beal’s injury history.
4) Now onto the Raptors.
To start, I have to give it u to their fans.
To have thousands of fans show up to watch the games outside of the Arena in Jurassic Park is impressive. I can’t imagine that happening here so I have to give them a lot of respect.
The basketball team however – not so much. I can’t recall a team more worried about officiating than the game. Kyle Lowry in particular was the most egregious offender.
How can you focus on the gameplan (which is important for point guards!) if half your energy is spent focusing on the officiating?
Add to that how easily the Raptors let Paul Pierce get in their heads and Grevis Vasquez’s dancing after the game TYING, not winning 3-point field goal in Game 1 and you would almost forget that this team played in a 7-game series just one year ago.
Washington’s players also seemed to be under the assumption that the Raptors players wanted this matchup in Round 1.
Who knows if there is any truth to that and it very well could have simply been a motivational tactic by the Wizards, but the way the Raptors seemingly approached this series like a regular season game makes you wonder.
The lack of adjustments and urgency they showed, did not show the characteristics of a team that looked like they came out with their backs against the wall in the playoffs. If anything it looked as though they assumed prior success would carry over.
Well, that puts a wrap on Round 1 here.
While we wait for Round 2 to begin, can someone please let the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets know that the Washington Wizards are waiting?