The Washington Wizards need to take more three pointers
By Cem Yolbulan
Despite all the training camp talk about playing with more pace and shooting more threes, the Washington Wizards failed to play a modern brand of basketball in their regular season opener against the Indiana Pacers.
There was certainly pace, mostly dictated by the Indiana Pacers and Tyrese Haliburton. The Wizards did their best to keep up with the high tempo but couldn’t maintain the intensity and discipline through four quarters. Perhaps more disappointing was the inability to generate open shots against a poor Pacers defense.
The Wizards finished the game with only 24 three-point attempts, a miserable number, especially in a fast-paced game. In contrast, the Pacers shot 43 threes, converting 20 of them. If your opponent almost makes as many threes as you attempt, you are not going to win in the modern NBA.
No other team in the league has attempted fewer threes per 100 possessions in their first game than Washington. This is concerning considering that the Wizards ranked 21st in this department last season.
Last year, the average three-point attempt rate (percentage of a team’s field goal attempts) in the NBA was .387. In their game against Indiana, the Wizards had a three-point attempt rate of .250. That is simply unacceptable.
It’s not like this team doesn’t have good shooters. Corey Kispert, Mike Muscala, and Danilo Gallinari are elite shooters for their positions while Jordan Poole, Tyus Jones, and Kyle Kuzma are at least close to average. However, the issue is more the volume than accuracy.
The Wizards need to prioritize the three-point shot. Generating good looks from behind the arc happens with a drive-and-kick game that requires good penetration, solid passing, and smart off-ball movement. The Wizards ball-handlers, except for Tyus Jones, have a tunnel vision on their drives, looking to score first. The emphasis needs to be on keeping the ball moving until finding an open shot.
Perhaps Kispert needs to play more. Having him out there coming off screens more could give the team a shooting threat that they can run plays for.
Especially considering that the Wizards defense will be bad all season, they will need to outscore opponents. And they are not going to do that in today’s NBA if they are only putting up 24 threes.
