I want to preface this article by saying that I like Coach Brooks. He is a good coach and has done a very nice job developing the Wizards’ young talent. Also, I don’t love questioning substitution decisions in general because coaches get paid millions of dollars to make these decisions. With that said, Brooks’ rotations in the 4th quarter last night were objectively terrible.
Early on in the 4th
The Wizards lead the Miami Heat 83-75 with just under 9:30 left in the game. Mortiz Wagner made a layup early in the 4th quarter on a great drive against Kelly Olynyk but was taken out by Rui Hachimura 28 seconds later. Shabazz Napier nailed an and-one 3 with 9:27 left and was taken out with 8:00 left. After these subs, the 5 on the court consisted of Bradley Beal, Troy Brown Jr., Garrison Matthews, Davis Bertans, and Rui Hachimura. Some would say that maybe Brown, Matthews, and Hachimura were “due” for a good stretch since they had played poorly in the first 3 quarters. However, Troy Brown Jr., Garrison Matthews, and Rui Hachimura combined for only 5 points last night & showed no signs of being “due”. Hachimura was not aggressive at all (he wasn’t looking for his shot), Brown looked lost on offense (he went 1/8 & got blocked multiple times), and Matthews looked extremely uncomfortable in his first NBA game in about a month.
By the time Coach Brooks put Napier – a capable scorer who had 27 points last night – back in for Matthews, the lead had already dwindled from 8 down to 1. To cut into the lead in that short span, Bam Adebayo dominated Rui Hachimura, scored 4 points, and had an assist to an open Duncan Robinson who nailed a 3.
Late in the 4th
With 4:16 left and the Wizards leading by 2, Scott Brooks took out Davis Bertans – one of the best shooters in the league- and replaced him with Thomas Bryant who had 5 fouls and 2 points at the time. Bryant is a good offensive player, and the Wizards had gone cold on offense in the previous couple of minutes. However, Brooks could’ve easily taken out Troy Brown jr. in that situation instead of Bertans. Bertans is a lethal 3-point shooter and Brown is an extraordinarily average player on offense. More importantly, Bryant shouldn’t have been subbed in at that point anyway because he is one of the worst- if not the worst – defensive centers in the NBA, and Bam Adebayo was looking unstoppable down low. Bryant gave up an easy layup to Adebayo and picked up his 6th foul in a 46-second run…
At the game, my parents and I could see Mo Wagner looking down the bench – ready to go in – after Bryant picked up his 6th foul. Unfortunately, Coach Brooks decided to go with Bertans instead of Wagner. To be clear, I am very glad Bertans was put back onto the court, BUT he should’ve been put in for Troy Brown Jr. and Bryant should’ve been replaced by Wagner. Wagner is a capable scorer and by far the Wizards’ best interior defender which would’ve been useful against Bam Adebayo’s dominance. So, instead of having a 5 of Napier, Beal, Bertans, Hachimura, and Wagner like I was hoping for…, Brooks went with Napier, Beal, Brown, Bertans, and Hachimura. As I’m sure you saw, Adebayo continued to absolutely handle Rui Hachimura in the paint. Adebayo scored 5 points in the span of a minute to give the Heat a 3 point lead with 2:49 left. Then, he delivered the backbreaker – Adebayo backed Rui into the post, forced a double team, and found a wide-open Kendrick Nunn for 3 to put the Heat up by 6 with 2:12 left. If Wagner – not Rui – was guarding Adebayo, there would have been no need to double, and Nunn would not have been wide open for that 3. The game ended with the Heat winning 100-89 after trailing the Wizards 73-85 with 9:30 left.
Conclusion
Brooks is a good coach, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t point out when he is having a bad day in the office. My last article laid out why Mo Wagner is better than Thomas Bryant very clearly, and I would like to see Wagner be part of this “year of development” a little bit more than he has been. If the thought was to play guys like Matthews, Brown, and Bryant in the 4th for development purposes, then the same argument could be made for why Wagner should’ve been in the game more than he was. The problems with last night were not simply about Mo Wagner’s minutes, but with the rotations as a whole involving Bryant, Brown, Bertans, Matthews, and Wagner in the 4th quarter. This team has a bright future, and Brooks is a good coach. I’m not saying that the loss was solely as a result of the substitutions because it wasn’t. However, I hope I don’t see another blatant mishandling of the rotations again.
Boo On The Bullets 