The Wizards are 26th in the NBA in points allowed and 23rd in defensive efficiency. In the next nine seconds, you will figure out why. We’ve known that Andray Blatche is a terrible defender for a long time now, but now there’s conclusive video proof. Blatche guesses that Rondo is going to reject a Kevin Garnett screen and takes a few hard steps in that direction, then completely gives up on the play when Rondo uses the screen and Blatche is left nowhere near any Celtics player.
JaVale McGee doesn’t look much better on this play, but by staying on Shaq instead of stepping out to actually stop Rondo, he confused the Boston point guard and caused Rondo to throw up a floater/lob that fell short of the rim. The apathy defense, ladies and gentlemen. (Hat tip to Zach Lowe of The Point Forward for finding this video.)
