Washington Wizards Selling: Dedication Hats by Danny Avdia/washwizardsil
Danny Avdia recorded his tenth double-double of the season and maintained his impressive dry numbers from the last period, but everyone agrees that his game this morning (Tuesday) in the 127:115 loss to Utah, was one of his worst this season.
Avdia finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, but shot just 33% from the field (6-for-18 from the field, 0-for-4 from three, 4-for-4 from the free throw line), had 5 turnovers, and was an integral part of Washington's breakdown in the quarter The latter, with scattered and ineffective play.
"It wasn't Danny's best night. He wasn't effective offensively, and on the other hand he finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. It was his good and bad game at the same time," they said on the "Locked On Wizards" podcast to summarize Avdia's performance.
"Good - because he didn't hesitate to take the shots, and that's what you want to see from him. And bad - because they just didn't go in today. When players build their confidence and become less hesitant, like the process Danny is going through, you take into account that they will also have days like this It's not a disappointing evening for him, but it is important that he works on his efficiency, because this team still has a serious problem of inefficiency."
Some of the bloggers and reporters who cover the Wizards were a little less merciful towards Avdia, who was also ineffective in the previous game, against the Clippers, and finished with 36% from the field.
Michael Sykes from "USA Today" wrote following Avdia's fouls in the last minutes: "What the hell is this shot selection by Danny and Kuzma? They're being guarded by tiny guards and they're taking shots from the outside."
In the blog "BulletsForever" they wrote: "Can someone teach Danny to do something else besides entering the paint with his shoulder and trying to go through players?".
Disappointing ending.
Abadiah is frustrated/Reuters
The move that changed the momentum.
Avdia tries to dunk on Collins, and is blocked/GettyImages, Alex Goodlett
Either way, Avdia gets a lot of credit.
Tonight he played all 12 minutes in the last quarter, the most on the team alongside Kyle Kuzma.
Unfortunately for him, the balls didn't go in either and he finished the decisive quarter with 1 of 4 from the field including 0 of 2 from three, after Utah made adjustments in defense and placed the tough and physical forward John Collins in front of him.
In one of the moves, three minutes to the end, Avdia entered the ring strongly and tried to dunk with power, until he was blocked by Collins during momentum.
"We changed the matchups a bit on defense," Jazz star Colin Sexton analyzed the defensive improvement in the last few minutes, and in an amusing moment he tried to recall Avdia's name without success: "I started guarding Kuzma, Kris Dunn moved to guard Jordan Paul , and John Collins was guarding...on...someone else. And when Washington gets to the final minutes, you know they want everything to go through the hands of Kuzma and Paul - but the adjustments we made defensively were perfect."
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