Washington Wizards Roundtable Reactions: John Wall’s Injury
By Ben Mehic
Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
4) For the Wizards to beat the Hawks without John, how does the gameplan change?
Nithin: You can’t replace a talent like John Wall. He’s everything for the Wizards, both offensively and defensively.
That being said, I think the Wiz can get by on defense by digging in on the perimeter to chase Hawks shooters off the 3 point line and making smart rotations off of pick-and-rolls to help out on the bigs. The biggest strategic difference should be offensively.
Washington needs to play anyone and everyone who can score the ball in any capacity. That means more Will Bynum, more Kris Humphries, and for the love of God, less Nene.
Matt: The Wizards need to avoid playing hero ball; be smart, be efficient, and take what the defense gives them. Everyone needs to step their game up while still playing within themselves, if that makes sense.
Ramon Sessions needs to be patient and find a nice balance between scoring and setting up others. Bradley Beal needs to read the defense better and take more efficient looks. The duo can’t replace Wall, but they have the ability to give the combined production and playmaking of a strong lead guard.
Otto Porter needs to play an even larger role on offense while continuing to play lockdown defense. Paul Pierce needs to keep hitting big threes and take over even more eldership responsibilities.
And if Nene is gonna break out of his funk, now would be a great time to do it.
David: Even without Wall, the Wizards have one distinct advantage over this Hawks team: size and physicality.
That fast-paced, wide-open style that worked so brilliantly against Toronto more than likely isn’t possible with Sessions running point instead of Wall, so it’s time for Maximum Beef.
Pound it inside, attack the rim relentlessly. Get to the line. That’s what Ramon Sessions can do. That’s what Aggressive Panda Bradley Beal can do. Make the Hawks respond to getting punched in the mouth down low.
Oz: The instant reaction might be to change the gameplan; go back to a post oriented attack featuring Gortat and Nene. The problem is the Hawks are still the Hawks and they’re going to spread the Wizards out.
Nene also is struggling mightily so to expect him the turn it around is wishful thinking. The Wizards have to play the same way they did in game 2 and clean up the unforced errors. When the ball kept moving, the scored; when it stalled, they didn’t.
They also have to emphasize getting back on defense. They won’t stand a chance if they continue to allow free run outs by the Hawk
Next: 3) Who Is The X-Factor?