Since the arrival of Wes Unseld Jr. on their bench two years ago, the Wizards have been treading water. The numbers prove it perfectly since Washington finished the 2021/2022 season with a record of 35 wins – 47 losses, 12th place in the Eastern Conference and no playoffs, nor “play-in” therefore.
This season ? Only 34 successes and 45 losses so far, a 12th place in the East and no playoffs or “play-in” again… The franchise will obviously have to do better to hope to find the playoffs, disputed only once in five years (in 2021).
However, Wes Unseld Jr. is not in danger. “He will be our coach in the future”announces the president and GM of the Wizards, Tommy Sheppard, for The Athletic.
For the manager, his coach has not been helped this season, in particular because of injuries. Like last season, Bradley Beal was injured too often and only played 50 matches. Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porziņgis also missed matches. So much so that the Beal – Kuzma – Porziņgis trio only played together 35 times.
A defense still just as permeable
Still, it’s clear the son of late 2020 legend Wes Unseld hasn’t found the right formula to move the Wizards forward on defense. Even as he arrived with this will and with his successful experience as a specialist in this field in Denver, as an assistant.
Again, the figures show it very well: the players of the capital were certainly the 25th defense of the league in 2021/2022 and the 20th this year, but in reality, their efficiency has regressed: 114.5 points against 100 possessions the last year against 115.6 this season.
Delon Wright’s performances were interesting in January, to help show a better defensive face. Except that, like his teammates, the playmaker spent far too much time in the infirmary (two months, between the end of October and the end of December) to weigh in the long term.
| Shots | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | bp | Int | CT | party | Points |
| Bradley Beal | 50 | 33.5 | 50.6 | 36.5 | 84.2 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 5.4 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 23.2 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | 65 | 32.6 | 49.8 | 38.5 | 85.1 | 1.8 | 6.6 | 8.4 | 2.7 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 23.2 |
| Kyle Kuzma | 64 | 35.0 | 44.8 | 33.3 | 73.0 | 0.9 | 6.4 | 7.2 | 3.7 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 21.2 |
| Rui Hachimura | 30 | 24.3 | 48.8 | 33.7 | 75.9 | 0.6 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 13.0 |
| Corey Kispert | 70 | 28.4 | 50.0 | 43.0 | 86.1 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 10.8 |
| Monte Morris | 62 | 27.4 | 48.0 | 38.2 | 83.1 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 5.3 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 10.3 |
| Deni Avdija | 76 | 26.6 | 43.7 | 29.7 | 73.9 | 1.0 | 5.4 | 6.4 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 2.8 | 9.2 |
| Daniel Gafford | 75 | 20.5 | 72.6 | 0.0 | 65.7 | 2.1 | 3.4 | 5.4 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 2.4 | 8.6 |
| Will Barton | 40 | 19.6 | 38.6 | 37.7 | 77.8 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 7.7 |
| Delon Wright | 49 | 24.5 | 47.2 | 35.0 | 86.0 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 7.3 |
| Kendrick Nunn | 27 | 12.9 | 45.3 | 38.2 | 91.7 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.9 | 6.5 |
| Jordan Goodwin | 58 | 17.2 | 45.1 | 33.0 | 76.2 | 0.9 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 6.1 |
| Johnny Davis | 24 | 11.4 | 39.6 | 23.7 | 52.9 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.5 | 3.9 |
| Taj Gibson | 49 | 9.8 | 52.0 | 33.3 | 71.4 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 3.4 |
| Anthony Gill | 55 | 9.9 | 55.9 | 13.0 | 78.6 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 3.1 |
| quenton jackson | 5 | 5.9 | 40.0 | 20.0 | 100.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 2.2 |
| james huff | 4 | 3.8 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.8 |
| Jordan Schakel | 2 | 3.1 | 50.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| xavier cooks | 6 | 3.7 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| Vernon Carey, Jr. | 11 | 2.6 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Devon Dotson | 6 | 8.9 | 10.0 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 |
| Isaiah Todd | 4 | 3.1 | 25.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Jamaree Bouyea | 1 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
