NBA Week 5 Rewind: Warriors, Kobe Bryant rewrite history
By Tom West
Who’s Struggling?
Even though they have most of the season to correct themselves, these notable teams are off to a seriously shaky start.
The Washington Wizards
The Wiz have taken a major fall down the Eastern Conference after going 0-4 last week and now hang onto the 12th seed. With John Wall and Bradley Beal, things shouldn’t be this bad. Surely an elite backcourt could at least lead them to wins over weak teams, right? Their offense was meant to be more fast paced than ever this season, featuring more ball movement and more possessions, yet things haven’t been working out as they envisioned.
Last week saw Wall struggle far more than we’re used to seeing. He shot 33 percent and averaged only 5.5 assists per game to go with 4.8 turnovers, and finished Sunday night with an appalling shooting display to sum up the Wizards’ recent woes. Against the Toronto Raptors, he shot 6-of-25 from the field, which is a rare performance from Wall all together. Not just for the terrible efficiency, but for the amount of shots he continued to chuck up when they weren’t falling. The Raptors only scored 84 points, but as Cory Joseph sent a three pointer into the basket at the final buzzer, the Wizards were still unable to win.
Last Friday was equally poor, as they totaled just 78 points while surrendering 111 to the Boston Celtics. The Wizards shot 32.1 percent, gave up 58 rebounds, and had 22 turnovers. Their offense isn’t clicking at all, their ball movement is sloppy, and their defense has been generous from all over the floor.
They rank in the bottom seven in the NBA for both offensive and defensive efficiency now, and they don’t look like a team fit to contend at all so far.
The Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks are another team in the East who’ve been struggling more than they should have this season. With Jabari Parker at full health now, the addition of Greg Monroe in free agency, and talent such as Giannis Antetokounmpo to thrill fans everywhere, November should have been more successful for the Bucks. If anything, they were hyped up due to the potential to improve, although that’s been the exact the opposite of their 2015-16 campaign so far.
Last week, they faced no elite opponents as they played the Detroit Pistons, Kings, Orlando Magic and Charlotte Hornets, and they only earned a 1-3 record. Michael Carter-Williams is averaging 3.5 turnovers in just 27.7 minutes per game, opponents shoot 6.4 percent higher than normal against Monroe, and despite so much length on their roster, they only rank 21st in the NBA in blocks per game (4.5). They’re surprisingly in the top seven in the league in three point percentage and assists, but it’s turnovers and their signature asset that’s been letting them down.
The one thing the Bucks should have been counted on for this season was good defense. The arrival of Monroe was expected to have a negative effect due to his common lack of effort at that end of the court, but they’ve still vastly underachieving. Last season, they ranked 2nd in the NBA in defensive efficiency, and have plummeted down to 30th in 2015-16. They’re still protecting the paint well, but have been far weaker when defending the perimeter. If they can’t even count on their defense now, their chance of having a better shot in the playoffs this season could disappear entirely.
Next: Highlights of Week 5