![\"Bilal](\"https:\/\/platform.bulletsforever.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/52\/2026\/03\/gettyimages-2265673472.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBilal Coulibaly took over the team\u2019s offense in the fourth quarter, leading a Wizards comeback that sent the game to overtime. NBAE via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Now, the offensive takeover was creaky at times. That banked in three was lucky, and Orlando defenders made him convert some very difficult shots.<\/p>\n
And yet, the takeover was something I\u2019ve wanted to see since they traded up a spot to draft him. In a close game the players wanted to win, Coulibaly tried to dominate and mostly succeeded. Orlando couldn\u2019t keep him out of the paint when he committed to driving.<\/p>\n
Maybe the creaky, clunky experience last night will lead to a smooth and confident takeover in the future.<\/p>\n
At least we got a taste of hope last night.<\/p>\n
Back to reality, it\u2019s still in Washington\u2019s best interest to keep on losing. They\u2019ve lost 10 in a row to move into third worst behind the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings. The Pacers are currently on an 11-game skid. The Kings \u2014 a franchise as committed to getting things wrong as the Wizards \u2014 have won four of their last six. The race to the bottom is real.<\/p>\n
Trae Young is a truly abysmal defender. I\u2019ve known this, as has everyone else who\u2019s watched him play over the course of his career. Seeing it up close again has been\u2026well\u2026a tough reminder. I mean, I\u2019m used to seeing terrible perimeter defense from guys wearing Wizards uniforms. Young is a whole new thing \u2014 I haven\u2019t seen defense this ineffective since Isaiah Thomas was starting.When the Magic saw Young between them and the basket, they drove right at him and mostly got layup line opportunities. He seemed to try to take a charge once, though I suspect he just couldn\u2019t get out of the way fast enough.We\u2019ve probably all seen highlights of Draymond Green having wrecking ball defensive possessions where he moves around the floor blowing up the opponent attempts to run offense. In the first quarter (possession ending around 6:57), Young had the opposite of that. He matadored dribble penetration that produced a paint touch, peel switched onto a cutter, who he fouled.Sure sign that I\u2019m a curmudgeon \u2014 watching Tre Johnson turn down a semi-open three-point attempt to drive in and toss up a floater annoys me. For all but a few \u2014 and Johnson is not among the few \u2014 floaters are crummy shots. Necessary at times, but only as a last resort. Just. Drive. To. The. Basket.The Wizards coaching staff has done a great job all season designing halfcourt set plays. They ran a beautiful one to start the second quarter \u2014 Tristan Vukcevic set a back screen at the three-point line for Justin Champagnie, who came wide open on his cut to the rim. Unfortunately, it was Bub Carrington making the lob pass, and he\u2019s terrible at throwing lobs. Champagnie could barely tip the ball, and the Wizards failed to score.Too many injuries in this one. Sharife Cooper took a hard fall for the Wizards and didn\u2019t return. Jonathan Isaac sprained his left knee after leaping for an alley-00p. Jalen Suggs banged knees, took a hard fall on that knee, and then took another hard fall going for a block. Orlando needs him healthy.I had many notes last night about Suggs and his teammates picking on Young. Suggs especially.Orlando\u2019s broadcast team made a big deal of saying Vukcevic\u2019s name correctly. Only problem? They got it wrong. Every time. For the record, it\u2019s pronounced Vook-sevitch. Not Vook\u2026chevitch.Leaky Black has been a problematic defender in his (brief) stint with the Wizards, and he had some rough possessions last night. He also had some good possessions \u2014 the first one I\u2019ve seen from him since he arrived in Washington.I continue to think Paolo Banchero is mightily overrated. Black, Coulibaly, and Anthony Gill repeatedly forced him to take fading midrange twos \u2014 exactly the shots NBA defenses want to give up. And he\u2019s not good at shooting them.Speaking of Wizards coaches designing good set pieces, the sideline out of bounds play with 18 seconds left was great. They slalomed Coulibaly through a couple screens, which forced Orlando to switch Banchero onto Coulibaly and put Tristan da Silva in weakside help position. Banchero was out of position on the catch, and Coulibaly attacked fast. da Silva came to help, and Coulibaly dropped a pass to Black for a dunk. Great design and execution.If the goal was to win, the Wizards coaches blundered when they didn\u2019t foul on what turned out to be Orlando\u2019s final possession of overtime. They let the Magic run the clock to about six seconds, and then failed to even get a shot up when they got the ball back. If.<\/p>\n
Below are the four factors that decide wins and losses in basketball \u2014 shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounds), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made).<\/p>\n
The four factors are measured by:<\/p>\n
eFG% (effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the three-point shot)OREB% (offensive rebound percentage)TOV% (turnover percentage \u2014 turnovers divided by possessions)FTM\/FGA (free throws made divided by field goal attempts)FOUR FACTORSWIZARDSMAGICLGAVGeFG%52.4%54.5%54.3%OREB%25.5%23.9%26.0%TOV%13.1%11.3%12.7%FTM\/FGA0.2000.2700.208PACE10499.3ORTG114118115.4<\/p>\n
PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls).<\/p>\n