| Defense Not There, Wizards Fall Into 2-0 Hole Authored by Kevin Broom - April 28, 2005 - 2:03 pm
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April 28, 2005
By Kevin Broom
Down 2-0 in their best of seven first round series, the Wizards must find a solution for their woeful defense or the team’s first playoff appearance in years will be nasty, brutish, and short.
The Wizards fell 113-103 in Chicago, but the game two margin was deceptively close. After a slow offensive start left the Bulls behind by double digits, Chicago cranked up their outstanding defense and throttled the Wizards. The Bulls led by as much as 20 in the fourth quarter before a futile Wizards’ rally narrowed the gap.
Considering the quality of Chicago’s defense — ranked second best in the NBA this season — the Wizards offensive output would have been enough to win if paired with an even modestly effective defense. The Bulls have been a poor offensive team all year (ranked 26th out of 30 teams), yet the Wizards could do little to slow Chicago’s attack.
Chicago’s guards could be forgiven for fighting over who would be guarded by Juan Dixon. Against Dixon, the Bulls were a perfect 9.5 – 9.5, including 3-3 from three-point range. The actual impact of Dixon’s defensive lapses was even greater than the defensive box score statistics indicate .
Dixon allowed penetration on five different possessions, and the Bulls scored on all of them. Because each of those possessions involved big men challenging shots (or in one case, inexplicably not challenging), Dixon and a teammate split responsibility for the points.
In all, Dixon was at least partly responsible for the outcome of 13 possessions. The Bulls scored on 12 of them. Dixon’s presence on the court was especially puzzling given his 3-12 shooting.
Eddie Jordan also opted to play Etan Thomas instead of Brendan Haywood, with dubious results. Foul trouble was not an issue in the second half — Haywood had just three personals until late in the fourth.
The defensive horror show wasted a scintillating bounce-back performance by Gilbert Arenas, who poured in 39 points and gave a good defensive effort. Larry Hughes and Antawn Jamison pitched in with 19 and 18 points respectively. If they hope to win the series, the Wizards have to maintain their offensive production and find a way to slow Chicago’s offense.
Kirk Hinrich, who was seen salivating like a Pavlovian dog when Dixon guarded him, led the Bulls with 34 points on 12-15 shooting, including 21 points in the fourth quarter. Game one hero, Ben Gordon, added 14 points in 19 minutes while veteran big man Antonio Davis chipped in 18.
WizFans Goats
Juan Dixon — Dixon tries hard, but he got torched by everyone he attempted to guard and laid bricks offensively. He’d be wise to commission a national degaussing effort to eliminate every recording of this game. It could end up costing him significant money in free agency this summer.
Etan Thomas — Like Dixon, Thomas tries hard. Unfortunately, the results aren’t much better. Thomas played 20 minutes, but gave the Wizards nothing offensively, little on the boards, and next to nothing on defense.
Eddie Jordan — There was no justification for leaving Dixon on the court. He was overmatched, shooting poorly and hurting the team. Similarly, there wasn’t much reason to play Thomas ahead of Haywood. Haywood was more effective than Thomas and wasn’t in foul trouble in the second half. Desperately needing stops in the fourth period, Jordan opted to stick with Thomas and Dixon despite horrendous results.
Notebook
The official scorekeeper apparently has trouble distinguishing Antawn Jamison from Brendan Haywood. The official box score incorrectly lists Jamison with a pair of blocked shots — both were rejected by Haywood.
For those keeping score at home, Bulls forward Andres Nocioni has taken four charges so far in the series. All told, the Bulls have taken seven charges in the first two games — the Wizards have taken one.
Up Next
Game three at MCI Center is at 3:00 PM on Saturday afternoon. It will be the first playoff game at MCI Center and the franchise’s first playoff home game since exactly eight years ago — Saturday, April 30, 1997 at the Capital Centre.
Kevin Broom is a senior writer at RealGM.com and columnist for WizFans.com. He can be reached at kevinbroom@realgm.com. |
