Hachimura’s interior scoring arsenal he developed at Gonzaga comes in handy when the Wizards rest their other primary options and attempt to stagger minutes with their scorers. The appeal of having a guy like Hachimura come off the bench at the forward spot is to be able to punish smaller second units on the interior. This year, that number is up to 54 percent as he joins bigger lineups and has evolved into an efficient 3-point threat. According to his basketball-reference page, about 23 percent of Hachimura’s career minutes coming into this season came at the 3. While he isn’t the fastest in the world and played the big man spot in college at Gonzaga, his game has adapted very well to the perimeter and playing as a big wing. In essence, Hachimura is a 6’8” power wing. In his seven games back, Rui is averaging 18 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists on 58 percent shooting and 44 percent shooting from 3. But Hachimura has been on fire since his return. An injury halted some early season progress back in November, causing him to miss about a month. Rui Hachimura: The Second Unit StingerĪfter a very strong first two years in the league, Hachimura faded into the background last year, missing time and stepping away from the team for a bit. The Wizards can play inside-out and exploit any matchup their opponent gives them. Kuzma’s scoring is far and away his biggest asset, but his development as a willing passer enables the Wizards to play more score-first guys together and why the Porzingis-Kuzma pairing has been Washington’s most successful two-man lineup combination. The Wizards can invert their offense a ton as a result, having big-to-big ball screens where Kuzma is the handler and one of Porzingis, Hachimura, or Gafford the roller: He’s playing with a better change of speed than ever before while using his strong frame to go straight at contact. Kuzma has already taken 103 shots out of the pick-and-roll this season and is on pace to shatter career highs in terms of usage. Since coming to the Wizards, he’s gotten the opportunity to operate with the ball in his hands more and show some real mismatch potential. Kuzma has never lacked confidence and came into the league as a scoring-minded wing with the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s averaging 21.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game. I’m not sure if the general NBA fan realizes just how good Kyle Kuzma has been this season. Along with Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis, the Wizards frontcourt is now a mismatch nightmare, one that each individual cog in the wheel contributes to and can exploit in their own right. to insert Daniel Gafford into the starting unit, committing the Wizards to playing a gargantuan frontcourt. The successful run of late has coincided with a conscious lineup decision made by head coach Wes Unseld Jr. 20, the Wizards have won six of eight, climbing back into the playoff picture and throwing out the narrative about a collapsing group. Injuries played a factor, but the losing streak very much felt like a regression to the mean. Raise your hand if you know what to make of the Washington Wizards.Īfter starting the year 10-7, the Wizards went on a disastrous skid starting at Thanksgiving when they lost 13 of their next 14 games.
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