- 14 minutes ago
Kevin Sheehan reacts to the NBA debut of Washington Wizards rookie AJ Dybantsa vs the Cavaliers, comparing the palpable excitement of his arrival to legendary D.C. rookie debuts like RG3 in 2012 and Stephen Strasburg in 2010. Sheehan breaks down Dybantsa’s poised 19-point performance on a strict minutes restriction, the Wizards’ late fourth-quarter collapse against the Cavaliers, Anthony Davis and Trae Young’s late-game execution and Bilal Coulibaly’s defensive impact
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00:00when the debut of A.J. DeBonsa went well, very well. Good morning. As promising a debut for a
00:10rookie in this town that I can remember since RG3's first game against the Saints in 2012.
00:17That was an all-timer for D.C. sports fans. Maybe someone will correct me with another
00:25rookie debut. Strasburg's debut in 2010 was pretty special. Understood. The 14 strikeouts against
00:34the Pirates. That's got to be on the list. But last night was really, really good. A.J. DeBonsa,
00:42zero signs of nerves. I mean, this dude was not tentative. And you would expect that, you know,
00:50from a player in his first NBA game after missing the first four games with an ankle injury
00:57and on a minutes restriction last night. The minutes restriction apparently was 27 minutes.
01:05He started the game and played 27 minutes of the game. I thought he was sensational. And I'll start
01:13with him because I do want to talk about the game briefly as well. On the very first possession
01:20of the first NBA game he played in last night in Cleveland, Wizards controlled the tip. He drives the
01:29lane, gets fouled, goes to the free throw line, and makes two free throws. He wasn't looking to get rid
01:34of the ball. He felt like he belonged from the beginning. And it just got better from there. He had
01:42nine points in the first quarter, finished with 19 overall. He was 8 for 12 from the floor. I mean,
01:48it was an array of dunks, step backs, floaters. He connected on a three. His defense was solid. He
01:57guarded James Harden a bunch. You know, initially there was a lot of switching, but he was on Harden
02:04a bunch. And Harden had a difficult time last night shooting it. Couldn't have gone better.
02:10It wasn't just that he looked the part, like athletic, skilled, aggressive, confident. There
02:17was a poise as well. There was like a recognition that I'm not just in here playing basketball. We're
02:24trying to win the game. Because with roughly six minutes left, a little bit over six minutes left in
02:31the game. The Wizards took their last lead on an A.J. DeBonsa step back. It wasn't really even a
02:38step
02:39back. He drove right, pumped. Defender went flying by him. He gathered himself, shot clock winding down,
02:46and he knocked down a 10 to 12 footer. Super patient, super poised. That was the Wizards' last
02:53lead. But I loved the debut of A.J. DeBonsa. Cannot wait to watch his next game and the games
03:01after that.
03:01What I didn't love last night is that the Wizards lost a winnable game.
03:09I know that there are going to be some of you, and I'm speaking to, you know, you Wizards fans,
03:16that some of you are just going to enjoy the season because, hey, they're trying to win. Hey,
03:23they've got some really good young players. Hey, they may have, you know, a real star in their
03:28first overall pick in this last draft. Hey, it's fun to watch Trey Young and Anthony Davis play for
03:35this team, and maybe we'll win more games than we lose, or maybe we'll win 35-36. It's just going
03:41to
03:41be a different year. It's going to be enjoyable to watch this next step in the process of trying to
03:48become a contender. I've watched this team start to finish all five games so far, and it's only five.
03:56It's a very small sample size. I think they're capable of winning a lot of games. I mean, that
04:03may look silly, you know, when we get to the end of November or the end of December, and they're
04:0811
04:08and 23 or something like that, but I'm watching a team that has players, and then they've got
04:16veteran players who have won before, and what I saw last night was a 10-point underdog team
04:25in Washington go on the road against a really good Cleveland Cavaliers team and really dominate them
04:32for two-plus quarters, and they were in that game. They took the lead with just over six minutes to
04:39go
04:39on the A.J. DeBonsa, you know, 10- to 12-foot jump shot with a defender flying by, but
04:46for the second
04:47consecutive game, they gave up way too many offensive rebounds, 20 the other night against
04:54Charlotte and 15 more last night against the Cavs, and they got a little bit sloppy. They are really
05:03interesting to watch because there are a lot of players that kind of all have similar traits.
05:10Super athletic, high-flying, I don't know how many dunks they had last night. See if you can look that
05:16up, Max. They had a lot of dunks last night. There were a lot of lobs at the rim with
05:23Koulibaly,
05:24with DeBonsa, with Anthony Davis, with Keyshawn, with Saar, with Aiton, just flying through the air,
05:33long-armed, heads nearly at the rim, dunking. Like, this is an athletic basketball team.
05:42This is a, I hate to say it because this really could look dumb. They're deep. They've got four or
05:52five guys. Trey Johnson didn't play last night. Champagny's hurt. He's going to be out for a
05:58while. So they were missing two key pieces last night. But they've got a lot of pieces that are
06:05similar, and they're going to be a problem for teams. Good teams on some nights. This is completely
06:13different than anything we've watched for the last three seasons. Really, for the last 10.
06:21Totally different. Again, I mean, it's a new group playing together, you know, because Anthony
06:28Davis didn't play at all. Trey Young barely played. A.J. DeBonsa's new. So you've got three guys
06:33in the starting lineup that have not played together at all. So it's going to take some time.
06:40And Anthony Davis, knock on wood, five for five. Five games in, he's played all five. He hasn't gotten
06:47hurt. He hasn't gone down and rolled around on the ground for 15 minutes, which usually leads to
06:52injured reserve, no matter what the injury is in his career. I'll tell you what about Anthony Davis
06:59last night. I would have liked to have seen him been, you know, I wish they had gone to him
07:05more
07:05down the stretch. The games, when they're close, and they're going to play in more close games than
07:11they have. And this game was close. It was close in the fourth quarter. And this became a possession
07:17by possession game. And the Wizards have done a good job of, you know, for a high flying athletic
07:24team that wants to get out and run. They're doing a good job protecting the ball. They're not, you know,
07:30a turnover machine. The balls aren't flying overheads out of bounds. Guys aren't cutting back door with a
07:35pass that goes to where they, the passer thought he should be standing. And they're, they're still
07:40feeling each other out, trying to figure out how to play with one another. They're doing a good job.
07:45But I thought down the stretch last night, we're going to have to see this team. I think they've
07:52got three guys. This is my guess right now. Three guys that you've got to focus on in close games
07:57down
07:57the stretch in terms of depending on them to close it out. Anthony Davis is one, you know, with his
08:04back
08:05to the basket on the post. That's a good way to start a big possession. They did it a couple
08:11of
08:11times. I think they should have just kept going to it. Trey Young's another one. Trey Young's really
08:17played well here, you know, to start this season. I thought he got defended really well in the second
08:23half last night. And he ended up with, you know, an eight assist, four turnover game. A couple of the
08:29assists I thought he could have had were not converted. And I didn't think it was his fault. He did
08:34not
08:34shoot it well last night. He was defended well. The Wizards were defended well, especially down the
08:39stretch. Cleveland really picked it up defensively. But I think Trey Young and Anthony Davis and then
08:45Keyshawn George, and maybe it'll be DeBonsa too. We'll see. But those three players need to start
08:53the key possessions. One of those three. The ball either gets to Anthony Davis on the block,
08:59Trey Young's in a high pick and roll to start the possession, or Keyshawn's got the ball preferably
09:06right around the elbow to start because he is strong and he can finish. And I thought last night
09:15it got a little sideways at times down the stretch. Give Cleveland some credit for that. But I don't want
09:22to, I don't want to do this all year long where every night against a good basketball team, if you
09:31keep it close, it's like, whoa, they are really making progress. I actually think this team with
09:37Anthony Davis and Trey Young on it, two veterans, one, one of the greatest to ever play a top 75
09:44all
09:45time player. I think they can close out a lot of these games and register them in the win column.
09:53It's funny how Cleveland went off as a 10 point favorite. And if you had the Wizards last night,
09:59plus 10, there was never a doubt you were going to cover, but it is the NBA. And of course,
10:03Cleveland made the run down the stretch. They went from that DeBonsa shot to take the lead to a 9
10:09-0 run.
10:10And that really sealed it, but it's fun to watch him, you know, last night without Trey Johnson,
10:16you know, Chris Middleton got a bunch of time. DeAndre Ayton is a force when he comes in there.
10:21I'm going to tell you right now, I think my, the player that for me is a lot of fun
10:29to watch
10:29because I love guys that play with this level of energy on both ends. Bilal Koulibaly is a valuable
10:38player to this team. He is a relentless defender. He is a guy that gets hands in passing lanes. He
10:47knocks balls away. He'll rebound. He can block shots. He can finish at the rim offensively with
10:53his athleticism and his length. I think he's got a good stroke when he shoots it. Bilal Koulibaly,
11:02zero, number zero, agent zero is an absolute key to this team becoming a team that wins more games
11:12than it loses to qualify for at the very least in 2027 when we get there in the spring, a
11:20play-in game
11:21or two. He is fun to watch defensively. He is the guy that other teams. Yeah. I'd rather him not
11:32guard
11:32me. I'd rather Koulibaly guard somebody else. Uh, yeah. And no Trey Johnson last night, no Trey Johnson
11:41and the Champagny loss will be a key loss, but look, AJ Devon's debut. We can certainly, you know,
11:50appreciate that and be excited about that. It's just that last night would have been one of those
11:56games. They weren't expected to get, and they had a shot. They had a legit shot to get that done.
12:02Uh,
12:02and they didn't get it done. So next up is Charlotte, uh, tomorrow night. That'll be the home debut
12:10for AJ Devonza. I would imagine they'll have a really good crowd for the debut of AJ Devonza
12:17tomorrow night at Capital One. It's also, by the way, the NBA Cup group play first game for them.
12:24That's the, you know, in-season NBA Cup tournament thing. Who knows? Get a win. Maybe they can make
12:31some progress in that. We can have something to talk about in December. Brandon Miller had 39
12:36against them the other night and Diabate had 11 offensive rebounds against them tomorrow night
12:41in their last game, uh, over the weekend. They just, they got to become a better rebounding team.
12:48They cannot continue to give up these, you know, second and sometimes third and fourth
12:54opportunities to their opponent. Right now, that would appear to be the thing you'd be most concerned
12:59about. The thing that you'd be most excited about is they are athletic. They have playmakers.
13:06It'd be nice to have, uh, you know, Trey Johnson last night would have been nice to have on the
13:11floor
13:11to really be able to space the floor, um, with, uh, with, with, you know, longer range shooting ability,
13:19but there aren't many guys on the team that I feel like I'm cringing when they pull up and shoot.
13:26You know, Sar has a good stroke. Keyshawn, of course. Um, and I think Koulibaly is fine. Bub's fine.
13:34They didn't make a bunch last night, but impressive for, you know, a bunch of it until the game came
13:41down to crunch time and Cleveland pulled away. I will just say this one last thing on last night's
13:46game. I say this every single time I watch him play. I think James Harden for me is the least
13:54enjoyable pro sports team athlete to watch maybe of all time for me. And you guys know that have
14:05listened to me. I love basketball more than anything. I cannot stand watching James Harden play.
14:11He's the most joyless player to watch in terms of a player. That's been great scoring wise,
14:17and he's going to go to the hall of fame, but there is nothing enjoyable about watching James
14:23Harden play basketball. All right, Kev Harden or Luca. Would you rather watch play? Honestly,
14:29I think Luca. Interesting. Luca to me comes off as more competitive. Harden comes off as a guy
14:39that's just looking to get his. Luca's insufferable because of the complaining and the whining.
14:46But yes, the ISO ball with Luca, the dribbling the air out of it with Luca is hard to watch.
14:52There are a lot of players like that in the league. Harden's the one though, that just for me is
14:57the
14:57most off-putting to watch. I mean, whether it's all, you know, some of the craftiness to his game,
15:05the ability to draw fouls, a lot of that, you know, people appreciate. It's not that I don't
15:11appreciate some of that part of it. I just don't, I don't get it. Like ball goes to him and
15:17yes,
15:18he is a good passer once he decides to drive, but those drives in which literally he will take 14
15:24seconds and then try to hit a step back three or try to draw a foul with the ball, just
15:31not moving
15:32at all. Yeah. This is a player who's, you know, overall scoring ability would have always had him
15:39on the court for any generational, you know, group. But it would have been very hard for him to have
15:47played the way he plays back when five players were usually involved in offensive basketball.
15:54I like the way the wizards move the basketball. You know, I was afraid that with Trey Young,
15:59there was going to be a lot of ISO and two man. He is so good in pick and roll
16:04basketball. He is such
16:06a good passer. He is such a good lob guy. I mean, he has perfect feel for where that ball
16:13needs to go.
16:14He's also got some athletes that can finish at the end. All right. Wizards are two and three
16:21through the first five.
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