Instant reaction: Career night for Deni Avdija with 43 points and 15 rebounds!

Wizards forward Deni Avdija has a career night against the Pelicans and Wizards superfan Will Clayton (@WillCIayton) joins the podcast to discuss! Avdija recorded 43 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. He was 13-24 from the field, 6-10 from three, and 11-13 from the free throw line. Yes, the Wizards lost the game 133-126, but who cares? Just let us enjoy our nice moments when we can get them!
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - What was working for Deni Avdija tonight?
3:38 - “Of all the things that Wizards fans can point to and be happy about, Deni’s gotta be at the top of the list right now.” - Will Clayton
6:45 - How can Avdija keep this momentum going?
9:00 - Avdija’s “quickness” as a player
10:20 - Deni’s offensive struggle in the past
12:15 - Kuzma’s impact on Avdija
14:00 - “He’s a winning player, and he’s the kind of player that winning teams look for.” - Will Clayton
15:10 - What’s next for Avdija after his career night
16:35 - What makes Deni such a multi-tool player?
18:45 - “The thing with Deni has always been the consistency.” - Matt
19:45 - “Sometimes shooting a lot isn’t selfish…sometimes the team needs you to do that.” - Matt
20:05 - Will’s takeaways from the Pelicans game
20:25 - Avdija finally had his “signature” night - Will
21:15 - OKC’s playing philosophy & what the Wizards can learn from it
23:30 - Kudos for Kispert
24:40 - Is Deni the best player on the Wizards right now?
28:35 - “We all want him to be better, and it’s tough to see him struggle.” - Will about Jordan Poole
30:00 - The Wizards’ record vs. their growth: Does it really matter?
30:37 - “As far as I’m concerned, tonight was a win." - Will
“We’re supposed to lose this and see growth, this is what we want.” - Will
31:22 - “From the minute we let this guy design his own hat, he’s been going apeshit.” - Matt
33:40 - Will’s final thoughts: “Embrace the process and enjoy it.” - Will Clayton
Presented by betonline.ag!
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[@user-vq5hw6ze6f]

Perfect guest for this night. Best game of the season!

[@bleavinwizards]

Very grateful he was able to do it!

[@zachdzikansky5090]

I love seeing him getting better and better

[@bleavinwizards]

Same! Love seeing any of them improve this year. Kispert has been trending up too

[@chirocket4791]

Nice to see Denni shine

[@bleavinwizards]

hopefully the first of many big nights the rest of the season!

[@merlgarrett9120]

I think the wizards are starting to have an identity. The interum coach is really doing a good job with rotation

[@bleavinwizards]

more emphasis is seemingly being placed on the younger guys as well!

[@rsgomlftw]

Yea I’m not sure if it says more about Wes or Keefe

[@bleavinwizards]

@@rsgomlftw yes. 😂

[@acefstripe]

Great to wake up to some Deni ❤

[@bleavinwizards]

It certainly bests the alternative!

[@cameronleuthy2429]

Improved shooting form, increased physical strength, improved finishing at the rim, better left hand -- he's worked to improve those elements that weren't up to snuff

[@bleavinwizards]

Completely agree! Great to see

[@pinkdifferent5533]

about going left. few can stop the right... so... about quickness for his size he is super fast. almost like a guard with big body.

[@bleavinwizards]

Still good to be able to have counters

[@milesliss3664]

Great to see Deni have this game. He just had an easy look on his face the whole night. The Pelicans were getting frustrated 😂. Hitting all those free throws was big, too.

[@bleavinwizards]

That might be my favorite part!

[@ElizabethHaydon]

Jalen Brown also don't go left. All of us Deni stans knew his pros and cons, but some of us saw the potential and others compared him to Johny Davis (apologise for the comparison). Wizards could have develop him a year or two years ago, but they draft a prospect to a win now team. Though even I cannot believe he improved to a 40% 3 point shooting.

[@bleavinwizards]

And it's also significantly capped what Jaylen Brown can do, hence his struggles to close games against playoff defense. I wouldn't want to limit Deni and say he can't add that element to his game. But I'm with you on the 3pt shooting, that's been an impressive jump

[@davidangevine9819]

Deni now shooting 40.5% from 3 for the season, after 54 games. This has increased in last 4 weeks and Deni's focus on offense has paid major dividends. Love the discussion on adjusting / counters. I can see Deni making changes / adjustments just like he has done with left hand. Left hand is not "super" but he now uses it 10-15% of the time and knows how to slow down / Eurostep to the left. As long as that threat exists, his quickness on the right will guarantee scoring diversity.

[@bleavinwizards]

Well said

[@cameronleuthy2429]

The other thing about Deni's performance in that game is that Poole and Kispert scored as well -- Deni's numbers weren't just because Kuz was out

[@bleavinwizards]

Also a great point

[@ThisGuyLoots]

tbf, ever since Brian Keefe joined you can hear him on the sideline shouting to Deni ani Bilal every time they have possession to "get it", maybe for Deni what he needed is that raise of the bar from the management.

[@bleavinwizards]

Very interesting! Hadn't realized that. That can't hurt!

[@rsgomlftw]

I could definitely see this forcing all coaching staffs around the nba start telling all their players to force Deni left every time

[@bleavinwizards]

They're gonna need to try something different after this!

[@acefstripe]

Can Deni help the other first round picks with his commitment to get better?

[@bleavinwizards]

From what I've heard, effort isn't an issue. I think the question has been how smartly are they all working and I wondered if that was an issue for Deni previously

[@cameronleuthy2429]

I would argue that previous coaches held back Deni's development by taking the ball out of his hands

[@bleavinwizards]

Probably one of several factors but I would still argue he needed to polish the skill set more first before he could even take advantage of the on-ball reps. If your defender sags off you then there's only so much you can do on-ball unless you're an elite athlete

[@pinkdifferent5533]

6.9 who can play the point guard for minutes and can play the 5 for min. and can play good D vs guards. thats a mismatch in so many ways. now with this efficiency on offense. you can build around this guy. or build around him together with one more player who fits with him.

[@bleavinwizards]

Yep, him being able to shoot from three now just unlocks so much from him

[@danielmerriman8118]

Deni hat= Deni stats

[@bleavinwizards]

Love that for a new slogan!

[@bigjay52]

Yo Deni !!! Rui who....😂

[@bleavinwizards]

The Rui who had 30+ points last night would also still look good on this roster, I think!

[@seventyfive7597]

What? Kuzma is superior to Deni? How? I mean even ignoring defense, have you watched Deni's playmaking? I mean right now many of his passes are wasted on Poole missing them, but are you watching the games or are you just watching the stats? Deni's the best offensive player even when he scores 14, just due to his decision making. And that's before considering defense. Deni's a starter for a good team, Kuz a 6th man for a good team.

[@bleavinwizards]

I appreciate you sharing your opinion! Will be fun to see Deni's game continue to grow

[@seventyfive7597]

@@bleavinwizards While I appreciate you acknowledging your fans, a reply that addresses the content of my comment and not just its existence, would have been more respectful towards the effort of the commenter

[@bleavinwizards]

@@seventyfive7597 and you accusing us of not watching the games was so respectful? No offense intended but that type of comment doesn't warrant a detailed response.

[@seventyfive7597]

​@@bleavinwizardsnow you're just trying to shift blame. Can't you just address the professional discussion? Look, if this is the spirit of discussion here, then I'm done supplying engagements to your channel.

[@bleavinwizards]

@@seventyfive7597 if you're going to insinuate we aren't watching games simply because you have a different prospective and then be critical of the response you get to that, then perhaps this isn't the show for you. If you would like to try again to make your point respectfully then we'd be more than happy to put some energy into the discussion as we've done with literally everyone else here.

[@lockedonlaw]

Empty Stats. If you lose the game, and virtually every game, your individual statistics mean nothing.

[@davidangevine9819]

By this same logic, every individual stat from Wemby means nothing. And, everytime the Celtics win - their stats mean something even if they make 24 three points and go 4/17 from the paint. So, I can't complain about bad paint scoring by Jaylen Brown - cause the team won. I believe that your opinion is wrong. Every player can be evaluated on how stats improve over time. Then, mix in whether that improvement leads to team success.