Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. blasted his team’s defensive effort after Saturday’s 127-118 loss to the Blazers, Ava Wallace of the Washington Post writes. Washington allowed Portland to shoot 52% from the floor and 37% from three-point range. The Blazers were led by Josh Hart, who scored 44 points.
“It’s not something schematic, it’s some of the same issues,” Unseld explained. “We talked about the one-on-one containment, there’s no scheme for transition defense. “You can say okay, well, let’s take care of the ball, we can do that better. But when the shot goes up, there’s no scheme to say, ‘You have to be here, you have to be here, you have to be here,’ it’s an effort, a level of focus, communication that takes care of that.”
The Wizards also allowed 122 points in a loss to the Lakers on Friday. Los Angeles, led by LeBron James (50 points), shot 53% from the floor. On the season, Washington ranks just 24th in defensive rating and 18th in points allowed per game (111.2).
There’s more from the Southeast Division tonight:
- Heat veteran Markieff Morris returned on Saturday for the first time since November 8, but the forward has no interest in hearing from Nikola Jokic, as relayed by Joe Vardon of The Athletic. Jokic’s hard shot on Morris caused whiplash for the 32-year-old, forcing him to miss most of the season. The hit came after Morris delivered a hard foul just seconds earlier. “F– nah, I don’t want to hear from him,” Morris snapped, according to Vardon. “He did what he did and it is what it is.”
- Magic center Mohamed Bamba has stepped up for the team in recent games, specifically in the paint, Khobi Price of the Orlando Sentinel writes. Bamba recently finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks against the Timberwolves on Friday, helping his club win 118-110. He was drafted No. 6 overall in 2018 and is in his fourth season with the organization.
- Hornets veteran Isaiah Thomas is impressed with young star LaMelo Ball, Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer writes. “I mean, he’s going to be the face of this league,” Thomas said of Ball. “He’s already an All-Star. Give him two or three years and he’s going to be top-five, top-10 in this league easily. He’s a special talent. He’s very young. He has great energy. His pace to the game, you can’t teach his pace. And he’s, what, 6-foot-7? He has the full package.” Thomas is currently on his second 10-day deal with the Hornets and could be part of the rotation moving forward, Boone notes (via Twitter).
Remember all the haters that said Melo would never make it in the league lol there were so many and they were so sure he’d fail. Where they at now?
Why can’t you just praise him without bringing other people down? Put some positivity into the world.
Typical wall street 1% scum…
I was a (wouldn’t) draft Ball high guy…
20 games in, had no problems completely reversing
LaMelo is VERY good, no question. Now if I had a choice, I’d take Jordan Poole over him, especially for the Warriors.
It’s called hindsight, and it happens to be 20/20
Never said he’d fail. But thought he was overrated. I’ve given him his props since. Thought he’d take longer. Still don’t see him as a true PG. More a combo guard with good vision. Makes a better 2 with his size. He’s looking good so far. Still young and not an all star to me. Maybe I don’t watch him enough. But he’s still needs to more consistent.
Bamba is having a nice yr. Magic won’t let him walk. Better to sign him then move him. He’s got good value now. His offense is coming along. But he could be a dominant Defensive center.
Dinwiddie the Closer ….. man can we use one.
I normally don’t agree with holding in hate.. but I feel for Markieff Morris… he did what 99.99% of the NBA does.. a late game frustration hard foul… and in return almost got his neck broken. The guy who did it lost 1 game.. Morris lost 6 months and had to sit and watch his team be one of the best in the NBA without him. Jokic deserved a much longer suspension.. even he admitted he was out of line.
At the end of the day everybody loves Jokic & hates Morris… anyway he is just a very below average bench warmer, no biggie if he plays or not… now Jokic is light years the best player in the league, as simple as!
So your point is… if people like you it’s ok to break people’s neck’s for fouling you? Are you insane?
I like Bamba but his offensive game is extremely limited. I hope he continues to improve, but gotta be weary on his next contract
Bamba is awful. He has the physical tools, but his basketball IQ just isn’t there…
I couldn’t agree more with IT… LaMelo is sooo scarily good!
If CHA manages to build a good team around him, he will be in the MVP convo very soon!
As I said before anyone who watched the Nuggets Heat game knows the truth between Jokic and Morris. Whoever deleted my comment you will lose a loyal site follower if you deleted another comment of mine. This is America not China.
No, actually this is a website and people visit this website from all over the world.
Oh no not a loyal site follower…whatever will we do.
Let me know when you find the “refund” button lol
with your attitude you have quite an ironic user ID.. and I bet you have zero clue what that means lol