Weekly Rewatch 5: Nets-Wizards

The Nets' poor point of attack defense, Hachimura's promise, sounding the Claxon.

This is the fifth in a recurring series; in previous installments I looked at Celtics-Jazz, Bucks-Pelicans, Nets-Clippers, and Heat-Jazz matchups. I would love suggestions/requests for games that you would like to see featured in this space going forward.

This week’s rewatch was originally going to be on the March 18th Hornets-Lakers game, but I’m still sad about the subsequent injuries to Lebron and LaMelo Ball. Perhaps at some point down the road, but until then, let’s look at Sunday’s Brooklyn Nets win over the Washington Wizards.

The Nets under Kenny Atkinson took an “if you build it, they will come” approach to shot efficiency. Those teams trended more Moreyball than mid-range in their shot profile (D’Angelo Russell aside) and forced their opponents to the mid-range. This year’s Washington Wizards follow similar defensive principles: No team forces a higher proportion of opponent shots from the mid-range and a lower proportion at the rim. Unfortunately, the Wizards abandon those principles on the other end, adopting a mid-range heavy diet without the shooters to justify that. Two related items to keep in mind: the Nets have the league’s second most accurate mid-range offense, potentially primed to take advantage of the Wizards’ defensive schemes. On the other side, in Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook, the Wizards have two guards primed to exploit the Nets’ poor point of attack defense. More on that below.

Quarter 1: Lineups to monitor

Although Kevin Durant continued his absence with a hamstring injury, the Nets had enough personnel intrigue with Blake Griffin making his debut in this game. Griffin played just 15 minutes on the night as the Nets ease him in, but the Nets were +12 in those minutes (a team high across all 10 Nets players who saw action.)

One aspect of Blake’s game that isn’t talked about enough is his IQ. This manifests, for instance, in his knowing where to be; on the defensive end, this can make up for his declining athleticism. Blake can still read plays and maintain his awareness of when to bring the help. I wouldn’t bet on Blake being much of a rim deterrent once Bradley Beal gets to the restricted area, but his early rotation leads to a drawn charge.

(Side bar: Watch Landry Shamet zoning up perfectly on the weakside there. The numbers may not reflect it, but I hold firm that Shamet is a solid defender.)

On the other side of the ball, Blake’s value has been talked about as a spacer in small ball lineups and as a passer on the short roll. He saw a few minutes in the front court with Bruce Brown and Nicolas Claxton; color me intrigued! One might worry about cramped spacing with such lineups.

That’s - count ‘em - six players below the free throw circle in the paint! The promise with these lineups might lie in the ability of Griffin and Brown to make quick passes in small spaces.

Blake makes that pass look deceptively easy, but he adds enough English to hit Brown in stride. Claxton’s vertical spacing is a necessary element in these lineups.

In 118 possessions, lineups with both Brown and Claxton have mopped up 30% of the Nets’ misses, good for 94th percentile in the league per Cleaning the Glass. Brown is an excellent rebounder for a guard; per NBA advanced stats, he ranks third amongst guards in offensive rebounds this season (6’10” Ben Simmons is first.) Blake’s teams have historically been moderately better on the offensive glass with him on the floor as well. Trot those three out with Shamet and one of Kyrie Irving or James Harden and you have the makings of a bench crew with a defined offensive identity: high pick and rolls with Claxton, elbow pick and rolls with Blake, two excellent players on the short roll in Brown and Blake, and pounding the offensive glass with ferocity to generate second chance points. On the other side of the floor, the Nets have a 105.8 defensive rating when Claxton and Brown share the floor, two points better than the Lakers’ league-leading defense. As the Nets figure out a coherent rotation, I would love to see this combination get some run.

Quarter 2: Nets defensive foibles and Beal’s gravity

Watching the Nets guards defend in this game was disorienting. On the one hand, Joe Harris face guarded Bradley Beal and hounded him all game long. On the other, Kyrie Irving and James Harden seemed to just float through passages of play. Watch James Harden on this first quarter play caught in no man’s land.

He is neither far enough in to help on Russell Westbrook’s drive, nor close enough to the corner to put in a contest on Garrison Matthews’ shot. Later in the third quarter, he is too upright and on his heels, virtually ushering Westbrook to the rim:

The eye test indicates that Kyrie Irving has locked in more often this season at the point of attack, getting low in his stance (is anyone better equipped to do that than the man who can practically dribble while sitting down?) The second quarter of this game was not the best exhibition though.

Russell Westbrook is still blindingly quick at times, but that’s just too easy. Efforts like those can undermine an entire possession’s worth of work. After Joe Harris puts in the hard yakka denying the pass to Bradley Beal, Kyrie dies on this screen far too easily:

No one is calling for Jrue Holiday there, but surely it’s possible to be less lackadaisical!

Since I mentioned Beal, a word on the oft-mentioned concept of gravity. Your mileage may vary on where Beal ranks in the star hierarchy, but there is no denying that he possesses some serious gravitational pull. I mean…

I would direct you to Mike Prada’s piece on Beal’s ability to cover lateral space rapidly.

Beal may not be able to dunk from the foul line like the three guys you’ll see in Sunday’s halftime dunk contest. (At least I’ve never seen him do it). He in fact only has 12 dunks this season, putting him in a tie for 104th among NBA players. They make up less than two percent of his shot attempts.

But he can glide nearly as far forward as those guys without requiring as much of a running start. It matters little if he’s running pick-and-roll, curling around an off-ball screen, or surging through a driving lane he created on his own. Once he decides his best move is to get all the way to the hoop, he doesn’t need much time to explode. It’s like he has infinite Mario Kart mushrooms on call whenever needed. 

Defenses are forced to proactively form a wall, since reaction does not offer them enough buffer. The Wizards’ rim attempts spike by 5% with Beal on the floor, good for 97th percentile in the league per Cleaning the Glass. That comes both through Beal’s own ability to get to the rim, but also the open looks he creates for teammates when opposing defenses throw all their resources at walling Beal off.

Robin Lopez just waltzes through the line of Nets defenders there since they are all preoccupied with staying in front of Beal.

Quarter 3: There’s a there there with Rui

I gather that Wizards fans are underwhelmed by Deni Avdija thus far. Aside from the usual exhortations to cut a rookie some slack, I would suggest looking at second year player Rui Hachimura for some solace. He has the tools to be a capable, switchable defender.

Sliding one’s feet and staying in front of Kyrie Irving isn’t easy! Hachimura shows good footwork, not getting his feet crossed and tangled up, while staying close enough in Kyrie’s airspace without fouling.

Watch Hachimura right at the end of that possession. He is off down the floor and would subsequently get an easy transition look at the basket (which he flubbed; improved rim finishing is one margin Hachimura could improve on.) Three seconds after the ball is on the Wizards’ rim, he is receiving the pass at the other end.

Hachimura is still developing the right instincts on offense. Too often he just stands around the arc calling for the ball. Should his shooting improve (34% from three on the season thus far), he might be able to provide some spacing benefits in those positions. Until then, I would love to see Hachimura cut with a bit more panache.

Jeff Green has his back completely turned to Hachimura there and the pass that Rui seems to be calling for just doesn’t exist.

Hachimura cuts with a frequency that would put him in the bottom third of the league per NBA advanced stats. Good things already happen when Hachimura cuts; he brought the Wizards within 1 on a well timed backdoor cut in the game’s final minute. Here is another example, even if Raul Neto doesn’t need it ultimately.

Defenses don’t respect Hachimura on the perimeter just yet. Until that changes, by camping out on the arc he just lets his defender clog up the paint for Beal and Westbrook.

Quarter 4: Sound the Claxon

Like most Nets fans, I am very excited about Nicolas Claxton. He possesses a defensive versatility that no one other than Kevin Durant has on this Nets roster. He had something of a national coming out on last night when he repeatedly held his own when switched onto Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. He has the physical tools, but what stands out even more is his court awareness. On a crucial possession in the fourth quarter, he starts off by blitzing Bradley Beal and hounding him to half court, following which he sprints back to pick up the odd man and plug any openings that may result from a four-on-three.

He very rarely loiters, allowing him to hedge more aggressively on picks before recovering back into the play.

Claxton is quick to recognize Blake Griffin’s help there, immediately pivoting around to pick up Deni Avdija on the drive.

If he often seems to be in the right place at the right time on offense, it’s because Claxton is quick to recognize when to cut towards the basket. Scenarios that start with sub-optimal spacing turn in a trice into a Claxton dunk.

That’s the sort of awareness that makes Claxton especially enticing. It is little surprise that he has closed multiple games for the Nets, including this victory against the Wizards. Nets fans are champing at the bit to see Claxton fully unleashed, but the Nets’ slow burn rollout has paid off thus far. When it’s all said and done, the Nets may have somehow managed to retain their most promising player in the James Harden trade.