How to salvage James Wiseman’s season
How to salvage James Wiseman’s season
Three simple steps for an overwhelmed big man
BY DAVID THORPE
ESPN recently ranked the 25 best players under 25. The Warriors’ 19-year-old big man James Wiseman didn’t make the list.
I would have put him on there—he’s a player of immense potential—but it’s telling that he didn’t make it. His rookie year has been a giant disappointment. And despite an excellent half the other night, all in all Wiseman’s playing badly. His offense is as bad as it gets, his defense nothing to write home about. The Warriors had big aspirations, now they’re bad enough that Stephen Curry—Stephen Curry—is airing grievances and popping up in rumors about joining other teams.
For Wiseman, this is rock bottom.
I’ve been watching closely and think the season’s remaining few weeks offer a chance to build some new good habits and build confidence. Let’s find the path up.
On December 20, 1995, Kevin Garnett stunk up the gym.
It was his first professional game in Orlando. I was a big Magic fan that 1995-96 season. I loved Anthony Bowie (AB!!) and the Penny Hardaway-Shaq duo. You can watch Garnett’s performance if you want, in all its grainy and gory detail.
Flip Saunders, Minnesota’s head coach, decided to see what this 19-year-old rookie could do to open the second period. He ran a nice baseline screen and post action for KG to post up one of the Magic’s worst defenders: 3-point shooter Dennis Scott. KG caught a post-entry pass on the left block, maneuvered to his left a little, then initiated a “drop step,” attempting to score over Scott going baseline. Instead of a confidence-booster for Garnett it turned into one for Scott. The move could have been timed with a bottle of cold honey. Scott made the easiest strip of his career.
Two possessions later, Garnett caught a pass on the right block and attacked the middle quickly before launching an eight footer from the paint. “Too strong” is how the play-by-play announcer framed the attempt, but really it was excitingly bad. Somehow, this close-up line-drive almost became a “wedgie.” An airball would have been better.
So it went. Garnett played 20 minutes, making two of six shots with three rebounds. By essentially every advanced stat, Garnett was the worst player in the game.
Almost every teenaged big man knows how nightmarish the NBA can be.
Within a few weeks, though, Garnett started to look like a guy on a path to the Hall of Fame.
Wiseman can do the same. But this season is a challenge. Garnett was in Orlando after summer league, a full training camp, and 22 games in 47 days—a schedule that allows for some practicing, some reflection.
Wiseman has had a more intense schedule: 26 games in his first 47 days. This follows just three college games, no summer league, a COVID-constrained training camp, hardly any preseason, and a hilariously barren practice schedule. On top of that, his testing screw up after All-Star break cost him time away from the team.
James Wiseman has played 806 NBA minutes, and I wonder if he has had 806 minutes of real game-speed NBA practice. No rookie class in NBA history has spent less time practicing.
Starting tonight, the Warriors have 21 games left, over five weeks. It’s enough time to get Wiseman back on track. I’d use the time to simplify everything.
STEP #1 NARROW THE INFORMATION HIGHWAY
Kevin Durant calls him! That’s sweet. Knowing that stars are eager or willing to share words of wisdom to an obviously gifted player like Wiseman isn’t a surprise.
Recently we saw Jimmy Butler telling RJ Barrett how to create space by getting into Butler’s body WHILE HE WAS GUARDING HIM! It was a lovely moment for the NBA.
But it’s got to stop. Wiseman just has way too much going on in his head.
In a recent game against the Hawks Wiseman grabbed an offensive rebound off a teammate’s missed free throw and when he shot the layup, the ball bounced off the board and missed the rim entirely. It was a lot like KG’s brick on that eight-foot jumper. That kind of miss doesn’t just happen by accident. It’s from thinking about a whole mess of things when the right answer is “just put the ball in the hole.”
When I speak to professional players after a game, the first question I ask is “what did Coach say?” It’s a mistake to guide a player without first knowing where his coach or coaches stand. As a simple example, I would never suggest a player take 3s if his coach doesn’t want that. The reality is, players get advice from lots of people. Friends, teammates, coaches, former coaches, social media, fans, and even executives sometimes. Advice similar to what Butler offered Barrett is fine, in theory. No one would ever counsel a player to not get into someone’s body when driving. It’s a technique we all teach. However, the problem is that so many things happen almost simultaneously in a game this fast that players get “paralysis by analysis.”
Anyone who has seen Wiseman recently can see the signs.
The Warriors should pick one coach—probably not Steve Kerr—to talk about on-court stuff with Wiseman. Everything that matters to him should come from the Wiseman whisperer. Everything the coaching staff wants him to know should be funneled accordingly. The team can ask Wiseman to be polite when taking advice from outsiders, but ignore it for now. Getting off social media or the news in general would be wise as well. LeBron James claims he does this during the postseason to help him focus. It would be smart for Wiseman to consider these last weeks to be his playoffs, and lock it all down.
STEP #2 PACK A SMALLER SUITCASE
I’ve often referred to Coach Harvey Penick’s advice to fellow coaches in golf: “When your doctor prescribes medication, you are not asked to take the whole bottle the first night.” Wiseman is an A student used to getting As. He’s so eager to earn respect and feel like he is a plus player for his team that he is trying to do … a ton of different things. He sees big men like Nikola Jokic and Bam Adebayo doing guard things and wants to show he can too. Wiseman shoots 3s off the standstill catch. He shoots them coming off screens. He leads the break, dribbles by defenders. He dribbles through defenders into long jumpers. He gets post ups inside to operate one on one. He sets ballscreens. He rolls to the rim for lobs. He sits in the dunk spot and awaits a dish for a dunk. He also tries to block every shot and grab every rebound.
He is bad at almost every one of those skills.
This is window shopping—looking in store windows, and imagining what you’ll pack for a trip. But we can only pack stuff we own, not what we admire.
Wiseman could be good, or even great, at many of these, in time. But for now, he only “owns” lobs.
It reminds me of Kevin Durant’s rookie season, when—after maybe the best freshman season in NCAA history—it appeared he was told “go do whatever you want.” It took him three years to become a plus player for his team. During that time, Durant learned how he could score far more efficiently and in doing so, help his team win.
The Warriors are on a very different time table. Wiseman didn’t have a freshman season and he arrived to a former dynasty with aspirations of a quick return. His mistakes are not met with giggles and a dream for what’s to come, instead he has Hall-of-Famer teammates Draymond Green and Curry, plus Coach Kerr clearly not happy with one thing or another of his game.
So, the message is simple: “Stop doing so much.” It may seem like limiting his on-court actions will stifle his growth, but in the short term, it will help him achieve success and help the team simultaneously. He could use the confidence boost.
People around the Warriors say he hangs his head after mistakes. Think it gets easier after five of them? It doesn’t.
Wiseman does not have a “fake and pivot” offensive game in the post, like Nikola Jokic does.
He can’t score against grown men inside off a post feed.
Nor is he blessed, yet, as a perimeter shooter.
He can race, though, like a seven-foot sprinter, and jump as if he was in training for the high jump at the next Olympics. Asking him to only shoot dunks/layups in transition or off lobs at the rim will lower his touches but lift his efficiency. More efficient Warriors will get more shots. That will probably lead to more wins.
The idea is to make things simpler for Wiseman. Let the incredible starting guards and Draymond figure out the rest. For the rest of this season, Wiseman can play like Clint Capela we saw in Houston his second season (after appearing in just 12 games as a rookie). He should:
Set screens
Catch lob dunks
Race the court
That’s it. Then over the summer, and if there is a summer league, he can add a few more things to the suitcase. In season two, allow him to shoot open catch-and-shoot 3s and maybe feed him in the post once or twice a half. It took Durant three full seasons before his teams were better with him on the court than off. The Warriors don’t have three years to wait for Wiseman to be elite, but that’s not his fault. Their goal must be to see him making weekly progress in just a few areas, rather than in a lot of them. As it happens, he’s getting worse as the season evolves.
STEP #3: PLAY WINNING BLACKJACK
You know who wins at blackjack? Casinos. Their strategy is public: stand on 17. The house loses hands all the time to players who have 16, take a card, and luck into a low card. You can make a lot of money getting people to bet on things that usually fail.
This is how I teach defense to professionals. Be in position, get a solid contest, and by the end of the night you’ll usually be ahead. For all but the most talented scorers, the heroic moments will be lost in a sea of bad misses.
James Wiseman is built to be a badass dealer. This season, however, he is trying to win every hand. When a player scores over him; he looks astonished and angry. He jumps at everything, fouls way too much, and—since he’s airborne attempting impossible blocks—gives up putbacks.
He blocks one shot a game, yet tries to block almost everything, to my eyes at least a dozen a game. That comes with three fouls per contest. Myles Turner leads the league at 3.5 blocks per game, his exact average of fouls per game. Wiseman burns an awful lot of energy for little gain.
Better: Be happy with a good contest. Feet set on the ground, hands up or wide depending on the shot attempt, and then a solid blockout. NBA players do not score efficiently against a steady diet of contested shots. Wiseman should print that one sentence and tape it to his bathroom mirror. It’s advice that, if followed, would elevate his defensive game immediately and significantly.
Development is seldom linear and gradual. Players can make big jumps quickly, like detectives who suddenly have a major clue to help break open a case. Garnett went from lost to “found” in a matter of a few weeks. He had never grabbed 10 or more rebounds before January 30th of his rookie season, despite playing in 38 games. Then: eight times in the next 19 games. He had four scoring games in double figures during those first 38 contests, before going on a 31-game tear starting a few weeks later.
Garnett’s rookie-year 10 points and six rebounds came with a PER of about 15. Wiseman sits at 12 and 7 with a 15 PER.
In Tuesday’s win over the Bucks, Wiseman had a double-double by halftime. He wasn’t needed much in the second half, and finished with 13 points, 10 boards, and no fouls. It was the first game all season he played more than 15 minutes without fouling, and only the second game he didn’t commit a foul regardless of his minutes. That’s progress.
All of his points came off rim attacks, while missing a contested tip dunk and a power right handed slam that he got by racing the court after a Bucks miss. He followed the wide open miss in transition with a defensive rebound that resulted in a Bucks timeout. As Wiseman walked to the Warriors bench, immersed in what was his best overall half in weeks, he sheepishly smiled.
No doubt a teammate said something about that dunk attempt. For him, and that franchise, that’s likely the best way to measure how he is doing. Let’s get him to smile more.
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