When Ted Leonsis hired Wes Unseld Jr. back in July of 2021, it felt like an all-around win. The fans believed a defensive head coach would solve our longstanding issues, and the organization came full circle when hiring the son of their greatest legend. A promising 10-3 start brought forth a moment of intrigue, but once teams caught on to us, we had no answer. Now, a year later, the same holds true. Teams have devised game plans to neutralize our best players, and Wes hasn’t adjusted accordingly. If he wants to stay put as the HC in DC, he must improve in that area.
Poor adjustments, defensive woes, and confusing rotations have defined this three-game slide. Below is a dive into why these issues have lingered throughout Unseld’s tenure.
Confusing Rotations:
Once we signed Delon Wright, the dialogue surrounding the starting point guard began. While most believed Monte would start, many preferred Wright’s defense. Although Morris started the season at PG, Wright’s second unit played better defense and the team flourished when he was on the floor. So, after the first three games, prior to Wright’s injury, why did WUJ never make that switch? It’s trivial things like this that every fan can clearly see that makes you second-guess his philosophy.
If you thought the starting PG debate was complex, look no further than the SF position. Heading into Indiana on October 20th, we all expected Barton to start. Then, after playing in zero preseason games, Deni took that spot. This was a win in my book. Deni’s defensive skill and versatility are far superior, making him the better fit with the starting group. He played well for the first six games, taking on the toughest defensive assignment each time. Then, unexpectedly, Wes benched him after essentially calling him out in his postgame presser. Now, obviously some games he’s going to get beat on defense. That’s to be expected when guarding the league’s top talent. However, it doesn’t mean he deserved to get pulled this early into the season.
Pulling Deni was not the right move, especially because he was replaced with Anthony Gill. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love what Gill brings to the locker room. He boosts morale and is the perfect glue guy. That being said, he’s a 10th/11th man at best. If you watched any of the game vs Philly, they hid Harden on Gill and played off of him in the corner. Doc Rivers knew he wouldn’t shoot the open jumper, and even if he did, Gill would miss most of them. Washington essentially played 4 v 5 on offense against a top defensive team. That’s not a winning formula.
Finally, you have Johnny Davis, your lottery pick, being forced into a bigger role. He looks lost, confused, bamboozled, and dumbfounded. When the ball comes his way, he can’t get it to someone else quicker, including the other team. We all had our reservations about this front office’s ability to draft, but this most recent selection has truly raised concerns. He’s literally unplayable. Why not just send him to the GoGo? Bring Kris Dunn up to replace Wright in his absence, and have Davis develop in the G-league.
Defensive Woes:
A major point in Tommy’s head coach search was defense. We had it under Whitman, lost it under Brooks, and hoped to regain it under Unseld. There’s been moments where I thought this team was the ‘88 Pistons, and times where they looked like the 2020 Wizards. It’s been more like the Wizards of old to begin the season, which must change.
Let’s start with the perimeter defense. It’s horrific. The lack of communication between players, especially in transition, is worrisome. About five to six times over the last two games, our opponent has walked into a wide-open three-pointer. That’s inexcusable! Another thing I want to highlight is weak closeouts, specifically Kuzma and Barton. Instead of chopping their feet and getting a hand up to contest, I’ve watched these two lazily jog out to the open man. They give up before even trying, which sets an awful precedent for this team. Simply can’t have that on winning teams.
Poor Adjustments:
It’s one thing to devise a solid game plan. However, if you can’t adjust to what your opponent does in-game, you’re in a world of trouble.
In two of our last three games, teams have put a guard on KP. This was definitely unexpected, but is something you would expect WUJ to have a counter for. We struggled to get KP good looks inside and allowed 6’5 PJ Tucker to hold his own against our 7’3 center. That’s just awful, and is a result of Wes over-complicating his offensive sets. I mean all you have to do is isolate Porzingis and play off the double teams. And if they don’t double, he will feast. It’s quite simple.
Another instance of poor adjustments came against Philly when they spammed the Harden and Maxey high pick & roll. Instead of doubling at the top or aggressively switching, we stayed in drop coverage and allowed them to torment us. What’s so infuriating about this particular blunder is that we could’ve just gone small. If we weren’t using our bigs effectively on offense, then why not go small with Kuz or Gill at the 5 so we can at least compete defensively!? It’s mindboggling.
With all this being said, I still believe WUJ can turn this around. His defense has worked before, so hopefully he can finally make some adjustments and do it again. The problem is that his coaching has become stale, and Wizards fans are fed up with watching the same BS over and over again. If he doesn’t start to improve this record, he’ll lose the support of the fans, and possibly the organization.
As always, feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts, or send me a DM on Twitter to discuss this topic further. Hope you enjoyed the blog!