Bullets Journal 1996-97 Headlines 1996-97 Columns 1996-97 Roster 1996-97 Statistics

A Quick Review Of The Playoff Experience

We Didn't Quite Make It To May

Unfortunately, the Bullets couldn't quite extend the series into May. That would have been nice - to actually claim to see the Bullets play a basketball game in May (for those of us who didn't watch previous playoff experiences). But it was a heady experience, nonetheless, and there are some lessons to be learned. And they serve as a summary of the regular season as well.

Sizing them up quickly...

The Positives

1. Team defense. Wow, I thought they were okay at it under Lynam (it was an improvement over the pre-Lynam years, though that was in part because the team had better athletes on the court). But Bickerstaff got the players to understand their defensive assignments and got them to execute them.

   The Bullets also benefited from the emergence of Cheaney (who CWebb says is the best athlete on the team) as a defensive stopper. But where it still has some problems is knowing where the double-team should come from. On occasion, you would catch two players going to double-team, when ideally only one should go. As they play more games together, they'll better understand those roles. And if they do, their team defense (which held teams to 44% shooting on the year) will only get better.

2. Emergence of Cheaney and Murray. Calbert Cheaney and Tracy Murray played much of April like we had hoped at the beginning of the season. They provided scoring when asked, though Murray was more likely to explode. Cheaney became a stellar defensive player, rarely allowing a player around him and forcing. He was focused on a nightly basis for maybe the first time in his career, something I've been harping on him for a while. Murray, though not a good defender, still hustles and tries hard and is often good for going after rebounds and not backing down.

   I still want Cheaney to develop a 3-point shot, but that may be asking too much. But if Murray can improve his offense and become more consistent, he's a great sixth man to have come off the bench when one of the big three (Howard, Strickland, Webber) needs to sit.

3. Strickland. Okay, I shouldn't have to say much here. Since Bernie took over and put the ball in Rod's hands, the offense has flourished. Strickland has a good mid-range jumper and he can penetrate and create opportunities for his teammates or for himself at the rim. Some of his shots in traffic are amazing to watch. But Rod is a big plus for this team, and he knows how to guide his young stars to get the most out of them.

   He wasn't quite as effective in the Bulls series, in part because Michael Jordan worked at defending him and keeping him out of the lane. For the most part, Jordan was successful. Strickland got his points, but he didn't get on many rolls offensively, both for himself and getting his teammates involved. His struggles (if you can call them that) didn't help the team any when they needed some points.

4. Coaching. This team was floundering at the midseason break. There was no team concept. And the losses were getting more and more frustrating. Then Bernie showed up. It took a while, but things changed.

   I no longer believe that Bernie will move up into management. Rather, he's going to remain on the bench. The players have bought into his philosophy and listen to him. They have, for the time being, subsumed their egos for the good of the team. They know their roles, they move the ball, they play good defense. Lots of the pieces that were problems with Jimmy Lynam as coach.

   This team won 16 of 21 down the stretch in the regular season. That's better than .750. The way they were playing at the end of the season, even with the occasional lapses, they were probably the equivalent of a 50-55 win team. And, to be honest, I think they could have taken out maybe any other team in the Eastern Conference playoffs. But there's a lot to look forward to next season.

The Negatives

1. Turnovers. These were especially critical in the Bulls series, where the Bullets were holding the Bulls to a low shooting percentage every night. But then they would come down and make a silly mistake, often unforced (22, 12 and 19 turnovers, respectively). Those missed scoring opportunities really hurt. Because the margins of victory were narrow (12, 5 and 1 point), every missed scoring opportunity hurt.

2. Rebounding. Another area the Bullets hurt themselves, especially in allowing the Bulls offensive rebounds. The Bulls settled for a lot of jump shots, and they (with the exception of Jordan) missed most of them. However, they were able to gather enough missed shots (20, 11 and 16, respectively) to get second chance points and stay in the game (we all remember several Rodman tip-ins in the first quarter of game 3, don't we?).

   Some of this was because of the switching the Bullets did on defense, which was forcing bad jump shots to begin with. But the team needs to figure out how to recover from the switching and minimize these second chance opportunities, because it killed the Bullets in games 1 and 3 in particular.

3. Transition Defense. This has been a problem all season, and opposing teams look to take advantage of it. Despite the fact that this is a young and athletic team, they are allowing single opposing players to beat them down the court on occasion and get easy transition buckets. This has got to stop. It was one of the problems that got Jim Lynam canned, but these mental lapses have got to end. No premature celebrating, no whining to the officials about a non-call. Just get back on defense and get the ball back while preventing the other team from scoring. There is no other excuse.

4. Focus. This is a young team, so this may be asking for much. But the transition defense is one element of it. Another is how the team sometimes settles into allowing Webber or Howard to go one-on-one repeatedly, without trying to generate some motion in the offense. It's when there is motion and ball movement that this team generated numerous scoring opportunities or trips to the foul line.

   The first half of game 2 was a perfect example of the success of this movement. Yet even when the opponent shuts you down temporarily, as the Bulls did in the third quarter of game 2, you can't go back to your one-on-one instincts. Keep with the team offense concept, and you will be rewarded.

The Future

People are focusing on how this team has been called the future. We'll see. But it's exciting to know that the 6 key ingrediants (Cheaney, Howard, Muresan, Murray, Strickland, and CWebb) will be back next season, barring any trades. And defensive stopper Harvey Grant (who I'd like to see a more consistent jumper from) will also be back. Five slots are open, though the Bullets don't have any salary cap flexibility to go after anyone serious.

Soon, they shall be known as the Wizards. But they are a young promising team with some holes to fill. Still, though they went down in three straight, they fought hard and showed why many teams don't want to face this team in the future.

wtf 2 May 1997

Member of the Internet Link Exchange