This week...

• Wizard go 2-2 this week after a tough loss to the Bucks on Sunday night

• Who are the 2 relatively unknown G-leaguers the Wizards signed this week and why?

• How the Wizards Analytics teams uses data to TRY and win games

• Zaz's weekly take: 3 Coaching mistakes that Wes Unseld Jr. needs to fix NOW!

• GaffHouse: Is this Daniel Gafford's new "Landlord" clothing line?

• This week's upcoming schedule...

Weekly Recap 

Final scores

Wizards 119  * Hawks 116  (Tuesday)

Quin Synder made his coaching debut with the Hawks in this tightly contested game.  Atlanta seemed to have a slight edge for most of it but the Wizards hung around just long enough to beat the Hawks to the finish line. 

That wouldn’t have been possible without Beal’s 37 points on an efficient 17 for 30 shooting.  Kuzma added 28 points, although only shooting 10 for 26. 

The keys to winning for the Wizards were a lack of turnovers (as many of our readers know, this can be a problem) and late-game defense.  The Wizards had zero turnovers in the 4th and some key stops down the stretch on Trae Young. 

Although Young scored 31 points in the game, he shot only 1 for 8 in the last period and only scored 5 points.  Credit Delon Wright, Kuzma, and Gafford for having key blocks on Young in the game’s final possessions and Beal for hitting some big shots.  Good win considering no KP.

Wizards 119  * Raptors 108 (Thursday)

Overall, a good win on an efficient night for the Wizards.

Our guys came out strong in the first half shooting 54.5% from the field and 41% from the 3-point line. Kuzma led the way with 18 pts followed by Gafford with 10 pts in the first 2 periods.

Our defense was also solid with 3 blocks, 3 steals and holding Toronto to 4/15 from the 3-point line. The Wizards were up 59-50 at the half. 

KP came alive in the second half scoring 19 points followed by Kuzma who added another 12 pts. For a change, the Wizards actually protected the rock, only turning the ball over 5 times in the second half. 

Despite a late Raptors run led by OG Anunoby with 14 points in the 4th quarter, the Wizards were able to hold onto the lead and close out the win. 

We need to give Delon Wright his props who ended the game with a season high 11 assists. He has been awesome! 

Wizards 109 * Raptors 116 (Saturday)

It was expected that the Fred Van Fleet and Pascal Siakam would have bounce back games this time around.  Van Fleet shot 5 of 17 and Siakam 6 of 16 in the Wizard’s Thursday night win. 

On Saturday, both shot over 50% including two key three pointers by Van Fleet in overtime.  It also didn’t help that the Wizards had no answer for Gary Trent Jr., who scored 26 points off the Raptor’s bench. 

The Wizards were down by as many as 13 points the second half but made a push in 4th to get the game into overtime. However, overtime was disastrous for the Wizards. 

They shot only 1 for 9 with the Raptors defense swarming Beal.  Credit Nick Nurse for also making the right defensive adjustments on Kuzma who only had 16 points vs. 30 points two nights before.   

It’s surprising to think the Wizard’s were even able to get it into OT given they had 24 turnovers at the end of regulation, twice as many as the Raptors.

Wizards 111 * Bucks 117 (Sunday)

Tough loss, especially since it felt like one of the Wizards best games of the season.

As usual, KP dominated the first quarter with 18 points but was (pretty much) never heard from again on the offensive end. Bradley Beal started to come alive in the second quarter but it was the Wizards defense and ball protection that kept them in the game. Only 3 turnovers in the first 2 periods and the Wiz held Giannis to 0 points in the Q2. The Wizards trailed 48-59 at the half (Bucks were on fire from the 3-point line).

The Wizards chipped away at the lead in the 3rd quarter shooting 48% from the field led by Avdija with 9 points. We actually took the lead briefly at the beginning of the 4th led by Beal who had 17 points in the quarter alone but... the Bucks were relentless. They made 6 threes and went 6/6 from the FT line. 

Overall, great performance from our guys. They kept fighting, Beal came through in the 4 quarter but it was some key turn-overs at the end of the 4th that kept us from getting over the hump. 

Two players the Wizards signed this week that you probably never heard of...

In the first big move week, the Wizards signed Jay Huff, a now former G-League player from the South Bay Lakers, to a two-way contract per Shams Charania of The Athletic. 

During his time with the South Bay Lakers, Huff averaged 15.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in 27.7 minutes across 37 appearances. 

In the 2021-2022 season, Huff did play with the Lakers after signing an Exhibit 10 contract. He only played 5 games and never scored a point. Check out his stats below:  

There are 2 reasons why the Wizards drafted Jay Huff... 

1. Blocks: Huff is 7'1 and this year alone averaged 3.6 blocks per game. Last year he averaged 2.4 blocks per game.

2. Three Pointers: This season, Huff is averaging 40% from the 3-point line. Granted, it's a small sample size with only 14 3's made but we'll take it. 

In their second move this week, the Wizards signed Jamaree Bouyea, to a 10 day contract. Bouyea recently completed a 10 day contract with the Miami Heat (which was not renewed) where he averaged 3.75 points, 1.25 rebounds and 1 assist.

Bouyea is a 6'2 guard who can score, pass and steal the ball. He is not known for his great 3 point shooting but there is potential. In his 34 games for the Miami G-Leage team Bouyea averaged 17 points and 6 assists, 1.7 steals in 35.4 minutes per game.

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, news dropped that the Wizards were signing Xavier Cooks, MVP of the National Basketball League Australia, for the 2023-2024 season. We'll have more details for you on that move next week. 

How the Wizards use Data Analytics to try and win games

This week, the Wizards and Capitol One launched the Beyond Basketball video series that (seems to) look at the game of basketball from different perspectives (Weirdly enough, or not, there was not a lot of information available online about the series launch). 

Episode 1 focuses on the the Wizards Analytics team and how they use data to try and get an edge on winning by finding opposing team's weaknesses, improve player's shooting, hone defensive strategies and more. 

The first episode is mainly centered around Dean Oliver, the Wizards Assistant Coach of Analytics who has been with the team since 2019. Prior to joining the Wizards, Oliver worked a bunch of different positions in same field with the Sacramento Kings, ESPN, the Denver Nuggets and, going way back, the Seattle Super Sonics.

Check out the episode below. It's actually is pretty interesting (If you want laugh check out the comments) 

Three Coaching mistakes that Wes Unseld Jr. needs to fix NOW! 

Play Calling

In Saturday’s overtime loss to the Raptors, Bradley Beal shot a combined 2 for 11 in the 4th quarter and OT, including going 0 for 4 in the extra period.  The Wizards actually ran the same play for Beal about five times in a row and the Raptors were ready each time.  Even Drew Gooden was pleading on the broadcast to please run something different, like give the ball to KP in the paint. 

Also, what is up with our out-of-bounds plays?  Remember the last play vs. OKC back in November when Deni Avidja couldn’t inbounds the ball?  The defense was all over Beal and there was no backup plan.  Deni ended up having to force a cross-court pass to Beal which resulted in a turnover.  If only we had someone tall enough, like 7’3, that could catch and get a decent look when there’s only a few seconds remaining.  Oh wait, we do. 

Lineups/Rotations

I’m going to reference the November OKC game again.  The reason being, that was the first time Beal was back in the lineup after winning four in a row without him and the “everybody eats” chatter started to resurface. 

We looked incredible going up by 17 points early.  I remember thinking to myself, wow we’re going to do some damage with these three guys together.  Then WUJ subs out all five starters. Not a couple of them, ALL of them.  The lead was gone fast.  

I’m not going to claim that I had been saying all along Daniel Gafford should start before he became a starter, BUT I was always saying, why is Gafford not playing more?  We didn’t see Gafford at all down the stretch or in OT.  Kispert was knocking down shots but I thought we’d at least see Gafford in OT. We all know how OT worked out. 

Timeout Management

Is it me or does Wes Unself Jr. seem to burn timeouts just to make substitutions?  I noticed in Saturday's game against the Raptors in the third quarter the Wizards were down by a few points and trying to take the lead.  WUJ called a timeout not to stop momentum, which was in our favor, but to pull Beal and KP and sub in Kuzma and Gafford for their rotation with the second unit. 

Before you knew it, the Wizards were down by 13 and spent the rest of the game clawing back.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine with having them carry the second unit, but subbing doesn’t need to waste a timeout, especially when the momentum is going your way. I've noticed that on many occasions.   Unfortunately, I haven't noticed timeouts to stop the other team’s momentum, until it gets out of hand.

Has Daniel Gafford opened up a clothing line?

It looks like Daniel Gafford is working his side hustle and banking -off his nickname "The Landlord".  It took some digging but based on comment from Drew Gooden in one of the broadcasts this week we discovered GaffHouse, a Shopify site that is selling t-shirts and hoodies inspired by "The Landlord" persona. 

There was no info online about who is behind the brand but we can speculate. Check out the site below. The designs look pretty good. 

Upcoming Schedule for next week...

• Wizards vs Pistons (Away),Tuesday, March 7th @7:00pm 

• Wizards vs Hawks (Home), Wednesday, March 8th @7:00pm

• Wizards vs Hawks (Home), Friday, March 10th @7:00pm

• Wizards vs 76ers (Away), Sunday, March 12th @6:00pm

Have a great week!