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<\/p>\nAfter a couple wins against the cellar-dwelling Indiana Pacers, the Wizards took on a surging Charlotte Hornets and got buried under an avalanche of threes. The Hornets made 25 in the game \u2014 one shy of their franchise record. Along the way, Charlotte connected on 12-14 from deep in the third quarter alone.<\/p>\n
The Wizards did give up some open and wide-open looks in that ridiculous third quarter, but in fairness that kind of shooting is largely outlier flukish luck. Even All-Star teams going against All-Star level \u201cdefense\u201d won\u2019t make 12-14 from three-point range.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wizards wing Bilal Coulibaly scored 15 points in the first quarter of the team\u2019s loss to the Charlotte Hornets. | NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Hornets deserve some credit too. Several of those threes came from stellar offensive design \u2014 multiple screens and side-switching player movement that befuddled the Wizards and created open looks. While the Wizards made a habit of dying on screens and not communicating effectively on switches, but those actions are tough to cover, and the league as a whole has had difficulty keeping up with them over the past couple months.<\/p>\n
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Overall, I\u2019d have to say there wasn\u2019t much to learn in this one. Washington was missing several players, head coach Brian Keefe kept the team\u2019s available maintstays on a tight minutes leash, and gave biggest minutes to the two-way and 10-day guys. All part of the Keep That Pick campaign.<\/p>\n
Thoughts & Observations<\/p>\n
With Alex Sarr and Tristan Vukcevic in street clothes, Anthony Gill got his first start of the season and the 16th start of his career. Nice that it happened against Charlotte, so Hornets play-by-play man Eric Collins could talk about Gill coming from Charlotte.<\/p>\n
Kyshawn George played pretty well in his first game back from a toe injury.<\/p>\n
Bilal Coulibaly exhibited shocking offensive aggression (for him) from the opening tip. He scored Washington\u2019s first 11 points, and it was more than three minutes before anyone other Wizards player even attempting a field goal. He finished the period with 15 points \u2014 the highest offensive output in a single quarter in his career.<\/p>\n
Coulibaly\u2019s previous high for a quarter was 13.<\/p>\n
Note I jotted during the first quarter: LaMelo has the weirdest shot in the NBA. It got even weirder later when he hit a contested and fading three off one leg with the shot clock expiring. He hit 10-15 from three-point range.<\/p>\n
Kudos to the Wizards defense for holding Ball to 2-5 shooting on twos. (No, this is not a serious observation.)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a little weird to talk about a 33-year-old lacking experience, but I think it might apply to Gill. Example: in the second quarter, he turned down a wide open catch-and-shoot three and instead drove into multiple defenders\u2026and turned it over. The lesson? Take. The. Open. Shot.<\/p>\n
After Coulibaly\u2019s personal best first quarter, he got zero minutes in the second and just eight minutes the rest of the game.<\/p>\n
The Christian and Scooby halftime show was great. If you haven\u2019t seen the show, Google it. You\u2019re welcome.<\/p>\n
I get that the franchise wants to lose so they can keep that first round pick and improve their odds of getting the highest possible draft slot. Even so, why would they start the second half running a postup for Bub Carrington who was being defended by Ball \u2014 who\u2019s three inches taller?<\/p>\n
Charlotte\u2019s offensive rating (points per possession x 100) through three quarter was 146. League average this season: 115.4.<\/p>\n
Charlotte is on a seven-game road winning streak.<\/p>\n
Four Factors<\/p>\n
Below are the four factors that decide wins and losses in basketball \u2014 shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounds), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made).<\/p>\n
The four factors are measured by:<\/p>\n
eFG% (effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the three-point shot)<\/p>\n
OREB% (offensive rebound percentage)<\/p>\n
TOV% (turnover percentage \u2014 turnovers divided by possessions)<\/p>\n
FTM\/FGA (free throws made divided by field goal attempts)<\/p>\n
FOUR FACTORS<\/p>\n
HORNETS<\/p>\n
WIZARDS<\/p>\n
LGAVG<\/p>\n
eFG%<\/p>\n
63.8%<\/p>\n
59.5%<\/p>\n
54.3%<\/p>\n
OREB%<\/p>\n
36.4%<\/p>\n
19.6%<\/p>\n
26.1%<\/p>\n
TOV%<\/p>\n
13.0%<\/p>\n
11.9%<\/p>\n
12.8%<\/p>\n
FTM\/FGA<\/p>\n
0.207<\/p>\n
0.143<\/p>\n
0.208<\/p>\n
PACE<\/p>\n
92<\/p>\n
99.5<\/p>\n
ORTG<\/p>\n
140<\/p>\n
121<\/p>\n
115.4<\/p>\n
Stats & Metrics<\/p>\n
PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls).<\/p>\n
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