Washington Wizards: The Magnificent Markieff Morris

Washington Wizards’ Markieff Morris is clearly the toughness of the team. He needs to focus on staying out of foul trouble, but the Wizards can’t let the team’s aggression leave the court with him.

When the Washington Wizards’ Markieff Morris is not on the court, the Boston Celtics know that the Wizards’ toughness just walked off the floor with him. Boston then begins their coordinated attack on Washington. Therefore, no matter the sizable lead that Washington has built up, those double-digits evaporate once Keef is sidelined.

As Keef leaves the game so does the Wizards’ aggression.

The mettle that Morris brings to the Wizards is infectious. While Keef is on the floor with the team, Washington has no fear attacking the rim and crashing the boards.

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But the second Keef leaves the game, the Wizards not only allow the Celtics to walk to the basket, they allow Boston to walk all over them. The Celtics are literally stepping on the Wizards to take their uncontested layup.

To the Celtics it looks like this – a bunch of Wizards players lying down, creating a bridge for Boston to walk on to the basket. Boston senses blood in the water, and on the floor, once Keef is not out there with Washington.

Like the Great White Sharks off the Boston shores, the Celtics capitalize on Washington’s fear, becoming dominant both inside and outside the paint.

The Celtics are literally eating Washington alive and cleaning up the glass on both ends of the court. After Game 2, Boston told the Wizards, you’re going to need a bigger basket.

Keef also takes with him the Wizards’ momentum

The second Keef walks off the floor and sits on the scorers’ table, the score itself goes down.

Without Keef at the helm, the Wizards stopped chasing those 50-50 balls, and those balls’ prices have gone up in these semifinals. This led to the Celtics tying their franchise playoff high of 19 three-pointers in the first game of the series.

Then again in Game 2, Washington missed three chances to get the offensive rebound, allowing Thomas to hit an uncontested corner three. That three built up the Celtics confidence, which would carry them down the stretch and ultimately secure the overtime win.

Fearless v. Careless.

On the other hand, Keef is fearless. It doesn’t matter who he’s guarding or who’s guarding him, he’s attacking the rim, and not giving the Celtics any airspace.

After he had to leave the game on Sunday, because of a sprained ankle, Jae Crowder was unconscious from the three-point line, going 6-8, and ended the game with 24 points.

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Keef was having none of that careless play by his teammates, and brought Jae Crowder crashing back down to earth in Game 2. Not literally like he did to Al Horford less than a minute into the game. (Keef had a nice conversation with Horford before the game, to find out if Horford purposefully injured him on Sunday, and then Keef continued that conversation.)

But when Keef, regardless of the doctor’s orders, returned on Tuesday, he turned Crowder turned into Clam Chowdah (Excuse my Boston accent).

Crowder didn’t hit any of his three-point shots in Game 2, going 0 for 3, and only scored 14 points. However, Keef wasn’t finished getting his point across to the Celtics.

Both Keef and Isaiah Thomas would later receive double technicals, when Keef confronted Thomas after Otto Porter’s nose cascaded with blood.

Since the Celtics have a habit of making dirty plays look clean, Keef sent a message to Thomas to pass on to his merry band of gladiators that he is not going to accept borderline dirty play from him or anyone on the Celtics team, not even the mascot.

Wizards forgot who their playing and why their playing

The Wizards who know the Celtics well enough during their regular season matchups, know that the Celtics are physical, yet Washington still chooses not to match their physicality.

The Celtics aren’t playing any different against Washington than they have throughout the regular season, and seasons past. It’s the Wizards who have changed, and are wilting at any sign of aggression.

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Washington has regressed to its former self from last season, when former Wizards coach Randy Wittman called his team soft.

Nonetheless, instead of Horford taking Keef out of the game on Sunday, Keef took himself out of the game on Tuesday with foul trouble. He picked up his fourth foul midway through the third quarter,and later fouled out completely in Washington’s overtime loss.

Without Keef, the Wizards lack the toughness they needed to match the physicality of the Celtics. Washington didn’t protect the paint or the three-point line.

The Wizards also aren’t playing with any sense of urgency, and is treating this like a regular season game. You’re playing for a chance to be in the Eastern Conference Finals. There are no do-overs, this is it.

Wizards Are Not Being the Aggressors and Letting the Fight Come to Them

The Wizards are getting crushed in the paint, because they appear too timid to go inside to take and contest shots, and absorb the Celtics’ body blows.

Washington is not driving the lanes, nor trying to win the game by outside shooting.

If ever there was a game where you have to play bang-bang basketball down low this is it.

After Tuesday’s overtime loss, Keef had this to say about his team’s quality of play:

“We didn’t have to make shots. We didn’t have to get stops. All we had to do is play tough” – Markieff Morris on the team’s play in Game 2

“We’re not playing tough enough. We had the advantage late in the game and all we had to do is play tough. We didn’t have to make shots. We didn’t have to get stops. All we had to do is play tough,” said Morris, who returned from a bad left ankle sprain from Game 1 to post 16 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes of play. “We let them get offensive rebounds late in the game. Guys just walking to the basket and we’re worrying about our own personal (expletive). It’s about the team. It’s about winning. We didn’t care about that too much tonight. We let them back in the game and got to regroup and get the next one.”

“When we watch film. That’s what they do. When they go small they play tough. Guys going in head first. That’s what we got to do. It’s the playoffs,” said Morris, who is in the postseason for the first time in his six-year NBA career. “Every possession counts. We seen that tonight when those guys got those offensive rebounds, got those extra possessions to win the game.”

If the Wizards want to win this series, they have to literally stop lying down for the Celtics.

Washington must attack the rim, chase down those 50-50 balls, defend the three-point line, take more shots, and rebound.

Unfortunately, there are times Keef won’t be there with you, foul trouble, what have you, but you have to keep up the aggressive attitude from tip-off until the shot clock winds down.

The Celtics without a doubt drew first blood. Now let them clean it up.

Next: Washington Wizards: Is Physicality Good for the NBA?

The Wizards have a choice they can either lay down or overcome their fear and get back into the water and fight.

I hope you choose to fight. Tonight, “at my signal, unleash hell.”

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