Wizards seek progress through adaptation in order to reach next level

Four days. That was it. Four days into preseason play, Washington Wizards coach Randy Wittman rode into the postgame press conference on a cloud of steam. The defense against the New York Knicks in the second preseason game was enough to drive Wittman’s anger. The new-look, high-pace, here-we-go offense was about to be put in the closet, destined for a life among gifts that seemed like a good idea at the time.

“If we have to go back to playing slower to defend, that’s what we are going to have to do,” Wittman said.

Wittman’s threat was empty, though an indicator of angst that can come with modification. The change in offensive style is one of the handful of ways the Wizards are seeking progress through adaptation this season.

The new offense is asking the big to venture away from the basket. Washington used the offseason to flatten the roster, filling it more with interchangeable parts than specialists. John Wall may have to score more. Nene will come off the bench. Bradley Beal is trying to resist those dastardly midrange shots. Wittman needs to find a satisfactory, or at least tolerable, balance between a more potent offense and the possible reduction in defensive strength it will cause.

“That has been a big part of why we have had success, our ability to defend not only through the course of the year, but when the playoffs come,” Wittman said. “That’s what it boils down to. We all know that.”

In last year’s playoffs, a fall led to a tumble. Wall landed hand out, trying to stabilize himself with something that can crack in such instances. Five fractures and four losses later, the Wizards were eliminated by the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Same round as the prior season. Same seed for the opponent. Even the same damn date.

“I’m going to circle it with a big, big red marker,” Wall said.

Which makes the goal of the changes simple: Move to the next step.

Playoff snub stings Humphries

Kris Humphries had to evolve. He was out of the rotation in the playoffs, when the Wizards were using small lineups. A groin injury late in the regular season put him on the bench for most of March. He was back on the floor in April, then shelved in the playoffs.

During the summer, Humphries spends time in his native Minnesota. He likes to wakeboard, something he improved this summer, work out daily and pop out to Los Angeles on occasion.

He began practicing 3-pointers when benched during the playoffs last season. Members of the basketball operations staff had encouraged him to expand his range. He owned a reliable midrange jumper. Next was stepping back to the 3-point line.

“I think at first, you’re just excited that someone believes in you being able to do something,” Humphries said. “Then you’ve got to kind of prove to yourself that you can do it.”

Humphries carried the work into the summer. Monday through Friday, he did traditional basketball workouts. He also included other elements of his typical routine, like Pilates and weightlifting. But, he came back to shoot each night. He had never worked on shooting 3-pointers.

“I’ve got to adapt to what we’re trying to do,” Humphries said.

During the preseason, when he shot 35.7 percent from behind the 3-point line, Humphries learned of the layers involved in his change. Shooting 3-pointers was one thing. He had attempted 26, making two, during his 11-year career. But, once he began to run the floor with Wall, prepare to shoot a three, offensive rebound, then run back and repeat, well, he was worn out.

“You’re further out,” Humphries said. “So, as far as offensive rebounding, that’s a run in, then a run out, then you’re running back. You’ve got to set your feet, have your breath together and shoot it. I’m getting used to it.

“It will be easier the better shape I get in. It’s one thing to shoot the shot, but it’s another thing to run, run, run then shoot it. So, I’ve got a lot of respect for guys like Brad [Beal] and Otto [Porter], any guy that has to be up and down the floor, then stop, pull it all together and let it go.”

This year, he’s one of those guys.

Dudley familiar with change

In Los Angeles, Jared Dudley’s knees began to ache. He was the starting small forward for the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2013-14 season, before being moved to the backup power forward spot, his first step toward stretch-four life. Dudley began regularly shooting 3-pointers four years prior with the Phoenix Suns. In Los Angeles, he was doing it as a small forward before the switch to a spot formerly held by post players. Last season with the Milwaukee Bucks, he was a stretch four in full.

The perimeter is not a distant land to Dudley the way it is to Humphries, though more players Humphries’ size are moving there. That means Dudley ends up with a weight disadvantage and, despite his lack of athleticism by NBA standards, a speed advantage. He also has more room when shooting threes as the stretch four.

“To me it was just so much easier because bigs don’t get up on you as tight,” Dudley said. “Threes and twos are more athletic. Fours, you have more space. I think the hardest adjustment for me last year was the constant banging where you play these fours and fives that like to bang. Then it’s more when the shot goes up [focusing on] rebounding.”

For three seasons in Phoenix, Dudley worked alongside puppet master Steve Nash. The Suns pushed the pace, spread the floor, sprinkled in the ingredients the Wizards are trying to work with this season. Dudley saw defensive counters to the spacing around a pass-first point guard, and he expects them to apply to Wall this season.

“Teams will try to sometimes take away the shooters and make John and the big try and beat you,” Dudley said. “’You’re going to have to get 40 points tonight and we’re going to stay home on the shooters.’ The other thing is they’ll switch and make [Marcin] Gortat have to score over a one sometimes or double down. I think John’s scoring can go up four, five points per game because he’ll get more shot attempts.”

Add that to the list of incremental change for the season.

Midrange game Beal’s focus

Beal’s legs, hands and eyes reacted the way they had for so much of his life. About 17 feet from the basket in the first preseason game, they all went up. Beal’s brain did a rapid calculation: He was shooting the dreaded long two, a shot he has vowed to limit, if not eradicate, this season. The battle between body and synapses produced a travel.

“Sometimes I’m just in that area and open in that area,” Beal said. “I’m just trying to avoid [the shot] as much as possible.”

Despite the aesthetic grace of his shot release, Beal has been ineffective from midrange during his career. He’s trying to make the change in shot selection.

Months prior, Drew Gooden worked out in Florida. No longer did his routine start with jump hooks in the paint. The 6-foot-10 Gooden drifted to the 3-point line and beyond, trying to continue his change to a stretch four. He began the process in full last season when he attempted a career-high 59 3-pointers.

“If they ever do this and make a four-pointer, I’ve been working on that, too,” Gooden said. “You talk about extending the range, I’ve been trying to extend that range.”

A step back here, a step forward there. New roles, the declining of old habits. Wittman will be tasked with holding the changes together.

Whatever it takes to move past May 15.