Brandon Scott here, the host of the daily Locked On Wizards podcast, with your daily Locked On Wizards newsletter. Each day we bring you the biggest stories about the Wizards and the NBA, including the hottest links to other stories you need to read. Plus, Josh Lloyd delivers daily fantasy notes to crush your league.
The Wizards head to the ATL to see if the third time is truly a charm.
The Wizards head into the Peach State on a 6 game-losing streak but face a familiar foe in the Atlanta Hawks. At 2-8, the Wizards only two wins came at the hands of these very Hawks but the third meeting won’t be as easy. The Hawks are ready and looking for a little getback. The Hawks just beat the juggernauts of Boston and have now set their sites on the young but unproven Wizards. Next is my keys to development.
(Keys to development)
1. Overall team defense
Wizards need to lock down the paint, close out to shooters, and get back on defense. The Hawks are 9th in the NBA in points, averaging 116 points per game. They are also 5th in the NBA in assists.
Matchup to watch- Bilal Coulibaly vs Trae Young
2. Ball movement
The Hawks love to steal the ball and do it well—so well, in fact, that they’re second in the association. Ball movement has to be fluid, especially in transition.
3. Rim protection
The Wizards are a really good paint-defending team. Defending the paint and winning the battle of rebounds will give the Wizards an edge over Atlanta.
I held off on writing about the apparent rash, or rise, of early-season athlete injuries because there’s always some recency bias involved when the subject comes up. Are there really more injuries this year than any other? Do we have the data to support it? Is there a new, underlying cause? Or are injuries due to the same compounding mix of bad luck and the NBA’s 82-game schedule running into a long postseason, running into the offseason, running back into a brand new long regular season and the erosion of bodies this eventually leads to?
A report early this week showed early-season injuries were up 35%, and indeed ESPN’s list of injuries, at a glance, looks like a ferocious Christmas tree, lit up in blazing reds and yellows. A handful of teams (the Grizzlies, Pelicans, Raptors) are cobbling together rosters game-to-game depending on who’s still healthy. TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott ran a draft of the injured list this week and each team reads like an All-Star squad on steroids, and when Abbott printed out the league’s official injury report it was 10 pages long.
Injuries are definitely up — but why?
The Paris Olympics proved extra playing time for a few top-tier stars, but most of them remain healthy. The early season schedule hasn’t served up any more back-to-backs to longer road game stretches, which tend to be more gruelling on athletes, than usual. However, when everything appears to be normal and the bodily price is anything but, perhaps it’s time to examine that “normal”.
The NBA’s current schedule of 82 games was adopted in 1967. Already, I’m sure your brain is picturing black and white basketball, that’s good. When you picture that grainy, glitchy footage, how fast is it going? The reality is that the game used to be a lot slower. Not just in its mechanics (think of an offensive passing sequence, the ball flipping from set of hands to hands at a speed that can be hard to follow), but the athleticism too. Bodies were moving slower. The game was still physical — the trope of players from the 80s and 90s complaining about the “softness” of current athletes is a trope for a reason — but full tilt sprinting, cutting, complex rotations, these weren’t the norm. Given that, the bodily mechanics were different. Guys weren’t stopping on a dime, pivoting hard, having to force their ligaments and muscles and bones into exacting motions with all sorts of volatile force behind them.
Katie Heindl is a credentialed NBA and WNBA writer, her bylines have appeared with The New York Times Magazine, SLAM, The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, Dime, Rolling Stone, among others. She writes the bestselling Substack, Basketball Feelings and is working on a book of the same name.
Analysis A few weeks into the season, and there have been some surprises. The Athletic looks at eight players to get to know better. (The Athletic, subscription required)
Must Read Jordan Poole has never been shy about showing off his personality. Now he’s embracing it even more. (The Washington Post)
Preview The Wizards head to the ATL to take on the Hawks in the group stage of the NBA Cup. Read the preview.(NBA)
Fantasy Cheat Sheet
Fantasy Cheat Sheet
Replay: Navigating the injury bug
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) holds his leg after a hard following a play against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter at Paycom Center.|Photo by Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
This week in the fantasy basketball world has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. A major talking point has been Chet Holmgren’s unfortunate injury, which has fantasy managers scrambling for replacements as the Oklahoma City Thunder adjust with potential lineup changes. Keep an eye on players like Aaron Wiggins and Cason Wallace — who might see increased minutes — and consider them as temporary pickups in deeper leagues.
