Washington Wizards: Wizards Have to Stop Being Cavalier with Defense

Not just against Cleveland, but the Washington Wizards have been cavalier about their defense to start the season. However, although the Wizards were unable to stop LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, there’s no need to panic.

On Friday, the Washington Wizards hosted the defending Eastern Conference champs, the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Wizards were coming of an embarrassing loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, where they managed to give up a double-digit lead. The team was aware of their lack of defensive intensity, and planned on correcting that going into the Cleveland matchup.

However, neither team played any type of defense. It was more like an All-Star game, on who could score the most. The Wizards aren’t going to beat the CAVS in a shooting duel, they needed defensive stops.

The CAVS were coming off four straight losses, while the Wizards lost games that they should’ve won (Warriors, Lakers, Suns). In the end it came down to which team wanted it the most.

Although, Bradley Beal had said, hours before the game, that the Wizards are the best team in the East, that may have lit a fire under Cleveland, but that shouldn’t have stopped the Wizards from playing a little thing called ‘defense‘.

This game marked Markieff Morris‘ return to the Wizards lineup. He was on a minutes restriction and played 14 minutes. He ended the game with 2 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

However, Mike Scott put in a solid performance with 12 points, including two shots from downtown.

Wizards Defensive Lapses

According to John Wall, prior to their matchup against Cleveland, the Wizards should’ve been 7-0, but for their defensive lapses. Because they didn’t do a good job on the defensive end against the Suns, they let their guys “get into a rhythm”, Otto Porter, Jr. added.

Porter also said, that they can’t allow players to get “straight lines to the basket”.

The Wizards recognized their mistakes against the Suns, and had planned to correct them against Cleveland. However, it was deja vu on Friday, and once again they got burned.

They had allowed the Suns’ T.J. Warren to drop a career-high 40 points on their court. Then they allowed LeBron James to drop 57. James got to 57, with only having made two 3-pointers.

For two consecutive games, opponents were allowed to score at least 40 points, as a result of the Wizards’ lack of defense.

Granted, there wasn’t much they could do to stop James. But they still could have done something, like double-team him, so he’s forced to either take a contested shot or pass the ball. Or they could have started guarding him once he crossed the timeline.

Maybe put someone out there who wasn’t expected to play a lot minutes, to foul James, to take him out of his rhythm. Anything to slow down the runaway train.

They threw everyone to guard James one-on-one, but that played exactly into his hands. After the game, he said the Wizards played him a lot one-one. Also that he practices those tough shots, even the one-legged fadeaway 3-point shot.

James even knew his stat line, where he mentioned he only missed 11 shots. He ended the game with 57 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals.

If James is the best player in the world, it’s fair to say you’re not going to beat him one-on-one. The best option is to get the ball out of his hands.

Derrick Rose, on the other hand, turned back the hands of time. He was playing like the former MVP Derrick Rose. It’s almost as if players, such as T.J. Warren, get superpowers once they enter the Wizards’ court. Rose had 18 points in the first half, and ended the game with 20.

Later in the game, Wall asked Coach Scott Brooks to defend James for the final quarter. Wall chose to guard James, even after he went down in pain after colliding with Channing Frye in the third.

Afterwards, Wall said, maybe he shouldn’t have returned to the game, after sustaining that shoulder injury. According to Chris Miller of NBC Sports Wizards, “there’s no serious injury”, but that left shoulder is “expected to be sore”.

After the game, Wall was asked whether he’ll be able to play against Toronto on Sunday. He responded, “I hope so”.

"“I tried to split a screen and it was shoulder to shoulder contact. But I feel like he threw his shoulder into me,” Wall said. “I’ve been on split screens before and hit somebody’s shoulder or hit their body and never had that type of injury. I think his impact, the way he was coming, kind of gave me a stinger.”"

Still Searching for Tim Frazier

There is no rest for the weary when Tim Frazier is on the floor. If you watch him on the offensive end, he does everything in his power not to shoot the ball. He literally hides on the floor.

After waiving Carrick Felix on Thursday, the Wizards have an open roster spot. Two positions need a lot of help – the backup point guard and the backup center. Ian Mahinmi isn’t cutting it right now, and maybe he’s still trying to get into the flow of things, after only playing 31 games last season due to injury.

But there’s no excuse for Frazier. He’s playing scared just like Brandon Jennings did last season. In a shootout with Cleveland, he had a career night, putting up 0 points. Once he crosses the timeline, and after dribbling the leather out of the ball, he passes it and hides, hoping his teammates doesn’t pass the ball back to him.

This was the third game that Frazier put up 0 points.

I’m standing by my earlier article, that Frazier is an offensive liability, and will afford Wall no rest during the regular season, and forget about it come playoff time.

Wizards Backcourt

The House of Guards have a lot of work to do, but they have been in this position before. Last season, they started 2-8, yet still found themselves one game away from the Eastern Conference Finals. Currently, they’re 4-4, and it’s still very early for them to make adjustments.

Bradley Beal is having a great season. He’s averaging 24.1 points per game. Against, the Suns he dropped 40 points, and Cleveland, 36. Beal is certainly putting in an All-Star performance.

Although, Wall only had 13 points last night against the CAVS, he was playing injured, and he doesn’t have a reliable backup. Where Beal has Meeks, who can shoot lights out, and also was put in the fourth quarter as Coach Brooks went small ball.

Wall still had 15 assists against Cleveland.

Wall is competing against himself, so he will rise from this and come out guns blazing. It’s only a temporary glitch in the two-way guard’s performance.

There’s no need to push the panic button, but maybe the reset button when it comes to the backup point guard.

Wall will get it together, because he’s one of the best players in the league.

There will be some nights where it’s Beal’s night, and some night’s Wall. And hopefully, most nights down the stretch of this season, it will be both their nights.

Otto Porter was still able to put in a quality performance against Cleveland, although he appeared to be a little sick. Porter ended the game with 15 points and 5 rebounds. He shot 3-for-7 from 3-point range. He’s taken his game to the next level, and this year should be exciting to watch him play. Don’t be surprised if there’s another level to Porter, and be ready when he unleashes.

Wizards Frontcourt

Marcin Gortat has been solid this season. He scored 15 points against the CAVS, but only had 5 rebounds. No doubt the Polish Machine will be back crashing the boards.

Kelly Oubre, Jr. scored a career-high 21 points, including 5 shots from 3-point range. But to add insult to injury, the league is reviewing the coat that Oubre wore to the game. On the back of it contained foul language in large print.

Let’s run it back. It’s still early in the season, and the Wizards started off last season with a worst record, and look how far they went. So there’s no need to panic.

Once Markieff Morris is fully operational, teams won’t be able to run roughshod over the Wizards. Washington has a lot of shooters on their payroll, so they’re fine offensively. Let’s put that to the side.

On the defensive end, they need a lot of work. That means getting those 50-50 balls, rebounding, and defending the perimeter. Most importantly, don’t open up the lanes, allowing opponents to skip towards the basket, without passing “Go”. No more free rides to the bucket.

Whether or not the Wizards are the best team in the East, they know that they’re better than what we saw this week.

The Washington Wizards know what they need to do, they just have to go out and do it. This is just a minor blip on the radar for what will be a long season for the Wizards, once they reach the playoffs.